Which is more interesting, more rewarding, a freebuild, where you just start building using the pieces you have to work towards the end product you want or a carefully designed set from Lego themselves.
This is a car that I free built. I had a idea that I wanted something a little bit Jeep boxy - I think I sort of got there but not really. More on why I think it works and doesn't work below.
Whereas I could have gone a bought this set and got exactly what I wanted - the perfect pieces, no more, no less. But would that have been more fun - it would have a been some fun, what makes a set a set you want to buy. Is it the end product, is it a challenging build, is it a set that will give you more pieces to make other stuff once it's finished?
You see I only really got my Lego back out about a week or so ago, so I've only been building with 30 year old pieces so it's all a bit limited, but I've decided to start buying sets again.
Last week I bought my first Lego Technic set - 42101 - which is a small Buggy set - I enjoyed it - I find Technic to be really challenging so these sets will be bought to that reason - I found a really dodgy looking website where I've ordered some more sets - big ones, a Truck, a Porsche and the Millenium Falcon, they were all cheap - so cheap I'm only 50/50 on whether the whole site was a scam and I've just thrown away $90 (If you are doing the maths you'll know that's about $500 worth of sets so you'll understand why I'm sceptical) I'm pretty daunted by these - if they ever turn up I think they are going to be tough to build.
I've also bought a couple of non technic sets - A Harry Potter great hall, mainly because it is $15 and it pushed me over the 'free shipping' order level for the technic above - but I'm excited about the brown bricks (old Lego literally came in Red, White, Blue, Grey, Black and Yellow and that's it) - My wife has decided she wants to build this if/when it arrives so I guess that solves my 'is it interesting enough to build' question - and I'll get the pieces for other projects after that.
But back to the car here are some thoughts
I'm really not happy with the front - I really needed some round headlights, and the grill is not quite that iconic Jeep look.
The wheels are a real problem - old Lego didn't have large chunky wheels, the only big wheels I could find were a little skinny for my liking.
I do like the Steering wheel concept as well as the gear level.
The seats worked quite wheel, hard to see in the pic but they are black underneath and grey on the top.
And the winch and the stairs at the back work for me.
These are both examples of why I like freebuilds - I was never expecting to use those parts in this build, and I had no idea how I was going to make a steering wheel so this is how you problem solve.
All in all I give it a C+ - just a little better than average - but hey I'm learning.
Oh and I think I might go see if I can find 31037 anywhere for cheap.
I get a lot of satisfaction our of both sets and free-styling so I'm going to sit on the fence and say 50/50. Lol.
I do mainly Technic so they can be quite complicated so rewarding when completed, and they work, although there's something cool about creating something cool by combining whatever bits are available and one's imagination.
I enjoy both freebuilding with my children as well as the sets. My youngest son has some fine-motor development needs, and building the sets with the instructions helps him with it. We also have some space shuttles that I'd have no idea how to even begin to try to freebuild. A master builder I am not. 😀
That truck you made is pretty awesome! And I hope you don't get ripped out of some cash. If it means anything, though, I bought what looks to be a knock-off from a place I'm not entirely sure I trust, either, and am still waiting for it in the mail. Sometime in June they said. Crossing fingers!
I'm not confident my dodgy lego exists as I have a tracking number for the shipment and it's slowly moving from China to here in Australia. What I now think it is is Lepin not Lego - after some internet searching I've realised Lepin make counterfeit lego - suggestions are it's not great quality but passable - so it might still be fund to build.