LEGO 60016: Tanker Truck - REVIEW

When I was a kid, I was mostly interested in the Castle and Space lines of LEGO sets.  However, I did have a few different town/city sets (including a sweet space shuttle with launch pad).  There was, however, one city set that I always wanted yet never owned...



You might have guessed:  A tanker truck!

Thanks to my brother (and the Christmas holiday), I now own my very own tanker truck as he bought me LEGO 60016:  Tanker Truck.  Oh sure, it might be twenty years too late for me to play with it like I would have, but it's still much appreciated!

As for the set itself, it contains 191 pieces.  Within those almost 200 pieces, you build a tanker truck, a small gas pump, and you get a single minifigure.  I should note that this set is (I believe) no longer being made by LEGO so if you want your own copy you might want to scoop one up now while they are still somewhat easy to find...prices will probably go way up once the big box stores' stock is used up!

Once you open the box, you are greeted by two numbered bags.

As I mentioned above, the set contains only one minifigure - and he's nothing overly special (but he gets the job done).

I would have preferred a second minifigure (but then again, when wouldn't someone want an extra figure)?!

The first bag builds two things besides the figure - the small gas tank and the bottom chassis of the truck.  The gas tank would look good with a full gas station - but by itself its pretty small and insignificant.

That said, I'm glad LEGO included it because it does help with the play value of the set (not to mention it is yet another small piece to add to a growing City layout)!

The rest of the first bag is used to build the bottom portion of the truck.  As with many LEGO City sets, you get a wide variety of colors used (many of which eventually get hidden by later pieces).  In this set, you get green, brown, red, white, and blue along with the grey and black.

Moving onto the second bag, you begin by building the cab space.  I happen to like cab a lot - you get moving doors plus the hanging side-view mirrors.  The top pops off for easy access to the driver's spot - and of course you get a red mug since that's apparently a "must have" in all recent LEGO City sets.

After building the cab, the only thing remaining is the big tank on the back of the truck.  Of course, without the tank you have a hauling truck should you wish to play that way instead!

Despite the tank being the largest part of the truck, it actually uses the fewest total number of pieces.  It's basically made up of two large green half cylinders, two large white half cylinders, and a few red plates.  However, the finished product is really, really nice!

As a whole, I think the Tanker Truck looks awesome.  I love the dual exhaust stacks and the fact that you get a cabinet on one side of the vehicle (complete with a small fire extinguisher) while on the other side you get a winch and hose (good for filling up that small gas tank)!  I also like the dual wheels on top of the truck - they help to complete the look of the set!

The only bad thing about the set is that you have way too many stickers.  In fact, the 191 piece set uses TEN stickers in its construction!  That's way too many - though I will say that the stickers add a lot to the overall look of the set (especially for the large tank portion in the back of the truck).  I would like to see LEGO go back to including more printed pieces rather than relying on stickers - but I guess cost savings trump anything that a lowly blogger might want!

When all is said and done, you get a fun truck along with a gas pump for your city.  You also get a decent sized stack of extra pieces including a hose with nozzle.


The Bottom Line (out of 10):
Fun:  6
Play Value:  7
Kid Value:  6
Adult Value:  7
Overall:  7

This is a decent little set that provides your city with a great looking tanker truck.  The set's play value is limited by the fact that there is only a single driver for the tanker truck, though the small included pump does help somewhat.  Had LEGO included a second (small) car and driver to use the included pump, this set would have been a 10 across the board.  As it stands, it's still a solid set - and one that I'm plenty happy to now have in my own collection.

Comments

  1. Did I know you branched out and made a Lego blog? Well it's going on my toy blog's sidebar blogroll.

    Funny you should post this set as it's one of my favorites too and I purchased it not that long ago. I actually like any of the larger truck sets, particularly 18 wheelers. The new 2014 car carrier set looks very nice. I saw it @ Walmart while finishing up my Christmas shopping. I believe I'll be making that set my first of 2014.

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