REVIEW: 30193 250 GT Berlinetta

[WhiteFang]

Hello everyone,

I am sure many of you are as surprised as myself, to actually see me playing and building something that is irrelevant to my core collection. I will must admit that having bought some other sealed racers or equivalent polybags, this is my very first experience of having to finish building a LEGO Racers! So, without further ado, I really hope you will sit back and relax this fast pacing reviewing experience.

Name: 30193 250 GT Berlinetta

Theme: LEGO System / Racers / Ferrari

Year: 2012

Pieces: 26

Minifigs: 0 minifigure

Price: USD N.A, GBP N.A, EURO N.A, SGD $5.95 (purchased at least SGD $50.00 worth of Shell Petrol in order to buy a piece of it)

Resources: Brickset, BrickLink

An original polybag image of the 30193 250 GT Berlinetta

Back view of the original polybag image of the 30193 250 GT Berlinetta

A close up of the official Ferrari Licensed Sticker Label

I had noticed at the back of the polybag, that there is an official Ferrari Licensed Sticker label with an unique serial number behind it. I believe this serial number is meant for the cashier at the petrol kiosk to record for each issued and valid receipt, in order for the purchase of this special and exclusive polybag to go through.

This motor car is a legend in the motor racing world!

LEGO, Ferrari and Shell, together with their combined efforts of marketing and releasing a brand new LEGO Racers excitement to promote these 3 brands altogether in this collaboration. As you can see, LEGO is in-charge of designing in our favourite bricks, while Ferrari is there for its design and licensing and Shell who takes on the role of marketing and distribution to promote sales and the other 2 brands in the global Shell petrol kiosks. So far, this exclusive promotion is first seen in Hong Kong, and now, Singapore. This exclusivity range is selling like hot cakes and the 250 GT Berlinetta had sold out in less than 10 days, where the promotion for each polybag is supposed to last for 14 days. For those who don't own a car, it is pretty challenging to acquire them, but it is definitely possible to get it through some hardwork.

More information of the LEGO Shell Promotion can be found here and here. Coverage is provided by Smashing-Bricks.com.

This Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta is known to be a legend in the motoring world, and it is definitely pleasing to see it in a LEGO set. I am sure for those racing cars fans will find this a rewarding treat and you can't be mistaken of the iconic Ferrari Red. This will appeal to many polybag collectors out there and those who enjoy a good fun of racing with their favourite Ferrari racing cars.

Instruction Manual (Front)

Instruction Manual (Back)

The back of the instruction manual shows all 6 exclusive new design of the upcoming Ferrari Racers. Ain't that a nice poster?

The LEGO building content

These are the laid out content of building up this fantastic LEGO Racers which is part of the Ferrari theme. The building process is similar to those existing LEGO Racers (Tiny Turbos) type and to be honest, I am having lots of unexpected fun. After finishing the built, this is the only remaining spare parts in transparent colour for the headlight.

Highlighting the most interesting and useful parts

It comes with plentiful interesting and useful parts. Notable ones, are the chrome looking wheels which can be used for those Classic Town vehicles. Although the specialised Racers parts are quite different scale, but I believe there are of usefulness for builders who could think out of the box. Last but not least, the black looking pull-back motor which adds lots of fun to it. Did anyone view this video? It give you a pretty good illustration of what you can do with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sGdX8J3YXg

Printed car parts

Did I mention that these 2 printed car parts are my favourite piece, even though the scale can be mostly suited and used for LEGO Racers vehicular scale instead of minifigure scale. I am very impressed that these 2 specialised racers vehicular parts are actually printed instead of stickers, which definitely welcoming for any LEGO fans.

A piece of LEGO sticker stored in a small little box

This is a sweet surprise! I did not expect to see a small tiny sticker sheet being stored safely in this little paper box that is normally used to store strings, cape, and any other delicate parts. Normally, the sticker sheet without proper packing, it will end up being bent. In this case, this is a very good move done by LEGO and I will never thought of seeing it inside a polybag.

Different views of the 250 GT Berlinetta (without stickers applied)

Without the stickers applied, it just looks like a very nice vintage sports car!

Different views of the 250 GT Berlinetta (with stickers applied)

I rarely applied stickers to my LEGO sets, but this is definitely an exception as I want to capture the authentic look of the 250 GT Berlinetta and this can be done through applying this sticker sheet.

Bottom view of the 250 GT Berlinetta

I am very sure, or almost sure that the pull-back motor for the smallest racers scale had not appeared or at least re-appeared for a very long time. I am aware that non-electric pull-back motor has been there for quite awhile to enhance playing experience for children who enjoy a good fun and fast moving experience where the speed thrill kicks in to race against one another, and the simple pull-back motor can achieve it. I am even so tempted right now and I had begun to mess the new pull-back motor and coupled it and attempt to integrate it with my miniature Batmobile. I am also wondering if this is a new part? I don't have much knowledge on the LEGO Racers theme and I try to understand it by viewing and clicking through Brickset and BrickLink for an introductory lesson. So, please pardon me for my lack of knowledge in this aspect.

It comes with pull-back motor feature and it is real fun to play with!

I just love to pull this motor as much as I could, and let it go! Zoooooom, and the car just flew off in an instant. Just pure racing fun! I will strongly suggest to use this or customise this to play or having a mini competition in events like our own Eurobricks! I am sure this kind of competition was thought of for some nice relaxing fun at the recreational programme. Wish I could attend too, one day!

This LEGO racer is taking a nice pose with the legendary 250 GT Berlinetta

All in all, I got little complaint or rant about this set. I enjoyed this very much until I had placed this in front of my office desk and mess around with it by pulling the motor back and release it to see the car zooming from one end to another! It is pure nostalgic childhood fun and with the combination of both experiences together, it is certainly a nice feeling. My only problem is that these polybags don't come easily and I suspect with the exclusivity 'tagged' in LEGO fans mind, I will think there will be a demand for it. I will be trying to complete and collect the entire range, but please do not buy this polybag at a costly price through secondary marketplace. Be patient enough, I am sure other parts of the world will also get their chance by pumping petrol in Shell! Who knows, by then, the cost will go down once more stocks are readily available.

Hope to share with all of you again, once I had gotten the rest.

Summary review

Playability: 10/10 (Pull-back motor is very fun to play with and it is great for racing with friends.)

Design: 10/10 (Excellent design and similar to the real one plus the beautiful printed parts.)

Price: 7/10 (Hard to sought for as this is a promotional item with a purchase requirement condition to fulfil.)

Overall: 9/10 (This is a very fun set and even for a non-LEGO Racers like myself, also find this very enjoyable.)

I gave it a "5" based on my Review Score Card. What about yours?

I hope every one of you enjoyed reading this simple review of mine. Comments and Criticisms are strongly welcomed.

Pictures can be found in My Flickr and My Brickshelf (When moderated)

[Ceroknight]

Thank you for the review!

It's a nice tribute to the new Berlinetta

[Darkdragon]

That car is so cute

Great review! I hope these make it to the USA soon.

[WhiteFang]

Thanks both for your kind thoughts. Glad you liked it.

Meanwhile, I realised I had posted in a wrong theme forum, now this review ought to be inside our LEGO Licensed Forum!

Topic moved.

[Clone OPatra]

This car is so cute! Just glancing at the sheet showing all six, this one is by far the most adorable. I love that LEGO has employed the Cars pieces for more vehicles. Just like the Cars sets, the big pieces here have the odd effect of making the car seem extremely light parts-wise while it actually isn't. The curves those pieces provide are wonderful.

I was surprised to find out that there's a pullback motor here! That's an excellent new design for it (I think it's new anyway). It doesn't get any better than a super-cute car that zooms on it's own!

I look forward to reviews of the other ones!

[Krulis]

I love that car. The printing is great but I'm dissapointed that front part is stickered.

[The Cobra]

Thanks for the review; this one looks like the weakest set in the lot. I rate it "below average" but I was tempted to rate it poor.

Still, there are some interesting sets in this promotion (last time I checked, Ferrari was an Italian pride. I wonder if we can finally find some Lego polybags in our local shops instead of buying them on the Internet...)

[WhiteFang]

This car is so cute! Just glancing at the sheet showing all six, this one is by far the most adorable. I love that LEGO has employed the Cars pieces for more vehicles. Just like the Cars sets, the big pieces here have the odd effect of making the car seem extremely light parts-wise while it actually isn't. The curves those pieces provide are wonderful.

Didn't occurred to me that these are actually from the Disney Cars parts! Yes, it is really great to see these parts expanding into other themes. Those are actually some great moulds.

I was surprised to find out that there's a pullback motor here! That's an excellent new design for it (I think it's new anyway). It doesn't get any better than a super-cute car that zooms on it's own!

Pull-back motor is fun stuff!

I love that car. The printing is great but I'm dissapointed that front part is stickered.

It's a pity indeed.

Thanks for the review; this one looks like the weakest set in the lot. I rate it "below average" but I was tempted to rate it poor.

Still, there are some interesting sets in this promotion (last time I checked, Ferrari was an Italian pride. I wonder if we can finally find some Lego polybags in our local shops instead of buying them on the Internet...)

Your thoughts are always very insightful especially you are one of the few who are interested in Racers stuff. I hope you are able to find some locally as well.

[Ferrik]

This is an excellent review, WhiteFang.

The car looks great, with all that red. The printed parts will be useful for making race-car MOCs. Overall, the car has a cute little design.

[Old Brick]

I second that I hope this offer makes it to the US, have similar offers like this been more global or restricted to certain areas?

[Bilbo Baggins]

Great review, I really like the classic look that this car has

[gundamz]

I think the car looks great.

Where can you buy polybags? It seems the only place I know that carries them is Target, and they don't have much of a selection.

[Fikko3107]

Aww. I'm just back from Malaysia and the only one I failed to get is this one and the minifigures...