Last week, I found myself inside my local Wal-Mart doing some grocery shopping. While there, of course I had to swing by the LEGO aisle, just to see if anything caught my eye. There wasn't much of anything there for me - but I did find this LEGO Speed Champions car that I thought my two-and-a-half-year-old son would like. 
I must preface this review by saying that I am most definitely NOT a "car guy." I couldn't tell you much about any cars, never mind the specifics of the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Race Car that this set purports to mimic. I can, however, assure you that my son loves his new "blue race car" and that's good enough for me! This is also my first-ever Speed Champions branded set that I've built, so there was at least that small draw for me as I purchased the set!
The set comes with 198 pieces and retails for $14.99. It should be noted that I got it for a few bucks cheaper at Wal-Mart (I think I paid about $10).
Opening the box, you'll find three small plastic bags of pieces, a loose chassis piece, and two sheets of stickers. The build is perfectly fine - in fact, there's a variety of SNOT ("studs not on top") techniques but it's not a difficult car to put together (hence the 7+ age suggestion on the box). There are a few printed pieces include the pieces that go over the tires to say "Camaro" but the vast majority of the details are stickers.
So. Many. Stickers.
In total, there are 29 stickers that you'll have to apply to the car. That's one sticker for about every 6.8 pieces. Craziness. That aside, once you've managed to apply all the stickers that car does look the part...that is, it looks like a proper race car.
There aren't a ton of included play features here but you can lift the roof off the car and pop up the roll bar to free the driver. The set comes with a wrench accessory (which I didn't think to photograph before my son took off with the set to play with). There is also a small, brick-built fuel tank - and a spot on the car to act as the fuel tank for filling (a nice touch). I also like the driver's printed torso with the Chevy logo on it (and matching color scheme with the race car).
Overall, this was a purchase that was 100% for my son...and he 100% loves it so it's a winner in my book!
It's probably worth noting that the car glides super well over a flat surface but because of the low ground clearance, this car doesn't perform nearly as well on shaggier carpet. Other than that though, it's pretty much perfect. The car has held up well to the rigors of a not-quite-yet-three-year-old's play with only the back spoiler pieces coming off occasionally (two of the three pieces are only attached by a single stud which is probably the biggest misstep of the entire set's design in my eyes).
The Bottom Line (out of 10):
Fun: 9
Play Value*: 9
Kid Value*: 9
Adult Value*: 3
Overall: 8
*value scores based on the price of $10 that I got the set for. I'd knock it a point on both play value and kid value if I had to pay the original $15 price tag. In addition, I'd probably knock it two points on the adult value rating at the $15 price point. There's not much here for adults unless you want the car itself...once you've plastered the stickers all over it I don't think there's a ton of re-use options here.
Still, at $10 for a car-loving kid? This set is hard to beat!
Cool car... and well worth the $10. Crazy there are so many stickers (especially for a 7 year old). I thought about diving into Speed Champions a few years ago, but opted not to... because it's a slippery slope. I already collect way too many things and there's enough Lego Star Wars (and Harry Potter to an extent) for me to track down.
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