LEGO City 2018 Passenger Train set review! 🚄 60197

It's a huge relief and joy to have now built, tested, & reviewed both of the 2018 LEGO trains, two major releases I've looked forward to for months!

• Video: LEGO City 2018 Passenger Train set review! 🚄 60197

This gets me very near the end of the review queue from my June 1 haul, but New Jang City fans can't celebrate yet; the next release drop is just around the corner.

LEGO City Cargo Train 60198 review

I was finally able to buy one of these sets from overseas at a lower-than-ripoff price! This is my first time getting hands-on with the new Power Functions 2.0 or "Powered Up!" electronics system, which uses Bluetooth instead of infrared for communication and integrates receiver & speed controller circuits right into a battery box that's no larger than the one it replaces.

• Video: LEGO City 2018 Cargo Train review! 60198

LEGO Creator Modular Sweet Surprises 31077 review

This is one of LEGO's smaller attempts to make a mini-modular floor & window dressing system work consistently across multiple builds & sets, and it doesn't work out to be much more useful than it was in the larger sets.  Basically the display window and door can be swapped to the sides, or the whole thing can be mostly mirrored left to right if you want.  The two alternate builds abandon the system altogether, with good results.

• Video: LEGO Creator Modular Sweet Surprises 3-in-1 review 🥧 31077

More LEGO 2018 Arctic Exploration theme set reviews

I'm keeping busy with a regular stream of reviews of the newest sets!

Videos:

• LEGO City Arctic Supply Plane review! 60196
• LEGO City Arctic Air Transport review! 60193
• LEGO City Arctic Ice Crawler review! 60192
• LEGO City Arctic Exploration Team review! 60191

LEGO City People Pack - Outdoor Adventures review! 60202

Here's the latest City minifigure "Fun in the..." style pack, this time focusing on the great outdoors with an explicitly American flavor.

• Video: LEGO City People Pack - Outdoor Adventures review! 60202

LEGO City 2018 Arctic theme reviews begin

Orange vehicles with white terrain pieces have returned after a mere 4 year hiatus and I've started my coverage with the two biggest sets of the wave.

Videos:

• LEGO City Arctic Mobile Exploration Base review! 60195
• LEGO City Arctic Supply Plane review! 60196

LEGO City Hospital 60204 set review

It's been awhile since we got a medical building made for minifigs and I am truly delighted that the comeback set has some real substance and a large number of figures instead of the increasingly common pretty, but annoyingly thin facades.  Now the question is, does the product justify the price?

• Video: LEGO 2018 City Hospital review! 60204

LEGO City 2018 Monster Truck 60180 review

Big truck!  At first glance I thought this thing was comically oversized, but in reality it has a standard sized cab plays (really) well with the modern standard size of City cars.

• Video: LEGO City 2018 Monster Truck review! 60180

LEGO City Dirt Road Pursuit 60172 review

Well hello, Mountain Police, nice to meet you, how do you do?  I see you forget the old adage, "You don't get a second chance to make a first impression."  Pity.

• Video: LEGO City Dirt Road Pursuit review! Mountain Police set 60172

LEGO City 2018 Forest Tractor 60181 review

This.  This is a good toy.  The articulating arm is so simple in its construction, but its playability gets a 10/10.  Plus the whole vehicle looks pretty nice just sitting idle on a table.  This is City at its very best, a proper modernization of everything that made the late 80s & early to mid 90s Town vehicles so well-loved.

• Video: LEGO City 2018 Forest Tractor review 🚜 60181

LEGO City Ambulance Helicopter review 60179

It's always good to see LEGO retaining their focus on making what their primary market wants & likes.  This may even be one of their better medevac chopper toys (for play) of all time, thanks to a handful of much-needed and often missing details.

• Video: LEGO City Ambulance Helicopter 2018 review 🚁 60179

LEGO City 2018 Pickup & Caravan review 60182

I feel like a broken record at this point, repeatedly conveying my jubilant satisfaction with every camper & RV set LEGO makes.  I almost feel like I'd be excited to see them get one wrong.

• Video: LEGO City 2018 Pickup & Caravan review! set 60182

LEGO City Heavy Cargo Transport review 60183

Welcome to Flashback Friday!  Here's a 2018 set that hearkens back up to 30 years into the past.

• Video: LEGO City 2018 Heavy Cargo Transport review! 60183

LEGO Creator Winter Village Station review 10259

I might not have gotten the UCS Falcon, but here's another set that was released in stores today, and I think it's quite nice!  It costs 1/10th as much and comes with just two fewer minifigures :)

• Video: LEGO Creator Winter Village Station review! 10259

LEGO City Jungle Buggy review 60156

Here's one of the smallest sets in the Jungle Exploration line, released with what in the US is the second wave of Summer sets for City.

• Video: LEGO City Jungle Buggy review! 60156

LEGO City Jungle Air Drop Helicopter playset review 60162

Months after its limited release overseas, the Jungle set everyone's been asking me to review has finally made it to North American stores, where it's apparently a Toys R Us retail exclusive.  Was it worth the wait?

• Video: LEGO City Jungle Air Drop Helicopter playset review 🐯 60162

LEGO City Coast Guard Starter Set review 60163

Yet another theme completed for now!  A lone straggler, Sailboat Rescue has not been released for sale on this side of the Atlantic (or Pacific!), so I won't be reviewing it until that changes.

• Video: LEGO City Coast Guard Starter Set review 🌊 60163

LEGO City Jungle Starter Set review 60157

This should be my last LEGO City Jungle theme review until the Air Drop Helicopter is made available on my side of the world (it's one of many sets released in Europe & Asia months before the Americas this year, following LEGO's standard rotation of distribution).

• Video: LEGO City Jungle Starter Set review 🐊 60157

LEGO City 4x4 Response Unit review! Coast Guard set 60165

This set has one of the better uses of the large RHIB hulls I've seen to date, but everything together is somewhat unremarkable, or at least there's nothing more to it than meets the eye.

• Video: LEGO City 4x4 Response Unit review! Coast Guard set 60165

LEGO City Jungle Mobile Lab review 60160

This is a pretty near-perfect set for what it is.  The vehicle looks awesome to me and has excellent utility.  The terrain build looks nice and has some play possibilities.  The price of the set, though, at least in the US, is a bit unfortunate in my view.

• Video: LEGO City Jungle Mobile Lab review 🐊 60160