This is a short and sweet review of the LEGO Creator 5865 Mini Dumper. It’s basically an impulse Creator set, consisting of 60 pieces and while it’s called “Mini Dumper” and resembles (and functions like) a dump truck, it includes alternative instructions for two other vehicles: An SUV resembling a Land Rover or Range Rover, and an open wheel race car.
By the Numbers:
Set: Creator 5865 Mini Dumper
Year of Release: 2010 (available 2009)
Type: 3-in-1 Mini Vehicle in Creator line.
# of Pieces: 60
# of Extra pieces: Not really – as far as I can tell, all were used in at least one of the 3 vehicles you can make.
# of Minifigs and what kind: N/A
Stickers? No
Ages: 6-12
Time to Complete: 15 minutes or less
Price: $5.99 at the LEGO Online Shop, Amazon.com
Creator 5865 Gallery at flick (click the images below to enlarge them)
Box Art:
The Parts:
Completed:
Alternative Build:
Thoughts – Pricing, Design, and Build:
It’s a neat little Creator set, well designed given the fact that it’s a 3-in-1 with only 60 pieces. The pricing is good, working out to around $0.10 a piece.
Thoughts – Parts:
It’s a Creator set – it has pretty standard parts and so most of the parts could easily be used in numerous MOCs. It’s got a good variety of 1×1 and 1×2 pieces, including transparent pieces, along with a lot of plates. It’s also got two of the 4558952 pieces that you will probably be seeing a lot more of in the future. If you are thinking about just buying this for the parts, keep in mind that it’s mostly green and white.
Conclusion:
This is a decent little impulse Creator set – it’s pretty hard to find any negatives because it’s cheap and because the parts are fairly standard. You’re not going to be stuck with any that can’t be used elsewhere. It would make a good (cheap) gift for a LEGO fan, especially a child. “Cheap” is not a negative, by the way. As I mentioned a few times, the selection of parts is great.
Sets in the Creator line normally make a good way to introduce people/children to LEGO, but if you were looking to introduce somebody to the LEGO system, I would recommend the 5866 Rotor Rescue that’s twice the cost, but has over twice the pieces, and is large enough to teach somebody quite a bit about how to build LEGO sets as far as structure, strength, etc. This set is basically an impulse or a low-cost gift for somebody.