LEGO Star Wars: General Grievous’ Wheel Bike 75040 REVIEW

LEGO Star Wars 2014 set. Read, leave a comment and keep it clean.

LEGO Star Wars: General Grievous’ Wheel Bike 75040
Set number 75040, $35 from Big W which works out to roughly $0.13 a brick.

Items Included:
261 pieces
2 mini figures
1 instruction booklet
3 numbered bags

Like all others, I’ll begin this review by mentioning the above short list. Not everyone cares, but for those that do, it can make a big difference.

This set just seems to go round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and now I’ve got a headache…

Mini Figures
Im just going to say this right now, if you enjoy the prequel trilogy of Star Wars films, it doesn’t make you any less of a Star Wars fan. People will always have their opinions on what makes a good or bad film. But this is a discussion for another time and blog post. What can’t be denied though is the fact that the Star Wars films have some amazing designs.

So when it comes to the mini figures in this set, we get two. Talking about cool designs, we get the first which is General Grievous. All four arms are included on this mini figure. Plus four lightsaber pieces. What I really enjoy is how LEGO has managed to changed the standard mini figure design to take advantage of the different look of the General.

By that, I mean he isn’t a normal looking mini fig. He is unique design figure and I love it. Did I mention he has four arms?!? Best of all, Grievous has moveable legs, arms (all four) and completely adjustable head. Its just an overall brilliant little mini fig. And with the four lightsaber pieces, you can pull off all those fun battle scenes from the movie.

To help pull off those scenes is the second mini figure. Obi-Wan Kenobi. With printing on the legs and body, Kenobi sure looks the part. Based on the Episode III look, he comes with the short hair and a printed on beard look. Best of all, he even has double side face printing.

Included accessories are a gun blaster and energy staff used by the Magma Guards of Grievous. I’m a little confused why Obi-Wan doesn’t come with a lightsaber himself, but since its based on a scene from Episode III, the lightsaber was missing at that point. So it all makes sense. All in all, two great mini figs added to my growing collection of LEGO.

Main Build
You know, when I opened the box and saw three numbered bags, I was surprised. You may be also. How can such a small build have three complete bags? Trust me, I was and still am thinking the same thing. But, and let me explain, it all makes sense.

You see, the build itself is actually very detailed. Not only does the Wheel Bike roll around on…its wheel, it also has four very sturdy legs that even have claws.

The total of Bag 1 is the Wheel. The main centre piece of the wheel is one solid, and very clear piece of LEGO. Its the outside of the Wheel Bike itself where all of bag 1 goes. The problem is, its so repetitive. The same 4 or 5 LEGO pieces are used over and over and over and over and over and over again. It would be boring if the end product wasn’t such an amazing product. Once all the sections have been finished, you lock them in together and snap it around the wheel, and its done.

Bag 2 is devoted to the extra sections on either side of the wheel. Both are fairly detailed in themselves and one works as a cockpit for General Grievous. What I really like is that at first sight, you’d be forgiven for thinking its just another weapon bay, like the other side, but once you get Grievous in place, you notice a LEGO piece you thought was redundant actually turns out to be a control panel. Well made.

Even has a flick missile type of thing going on, but this time, it has a LEGO piece which you press forward to fire the missile. With bag 3, you build 4 duplicate legs and a rear part of the Wheel Bike.

Usually I hate a repetitive build, and thats what this entire set is, but….hang on, I’ll get to that in a few moments. With the legs attached, you can either have the Wheel Bike in “landing” or “driving” mode, and in both modes, its looks great. When the legs are down, the Wheel sits off the ground allowing you to leave it in place and display the set. If you want to play around with it, just fold the four legs up and hold the back of the set and go nuts.

Final Thoughts
The best part about this LEGO build is the Wheel Bike actually spins around. It works like a real wheel. Never once has it stuck in place while rolling it over carpet and never have I lost a brick piece from it. It holds itself together perfectly. Very sturdy and solid build.

With all the repeating of pieces over and over again, it gets to be a rather boring build. And with the legs themselves looking completely out of place because of the colour of bricks used, there is a lot to dislike….but, its really hard not to like this LEGO build. The finished product truly is an amazing sight.

At the end of the day, for the price this is a must buy…if you don’t mind repetitive builds. Just a warning.