[REVIEW] 42138 - Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

[Jim]

REVIEW - 42138 - FORD MUSTANG SHELBY GT500

INTRODUCTION
I have said it two times before, but now I genuinely think this is my last Technic review for this year (combined with the 42137 review). I was surprised to see that this set has a pullback motor, since we will be getting two smaller pullback sets like we do each year. Makes me wonder why this set and the Formula E Porsche have pullback motors. Usually a set this size has steering and some manual other functions like opening doors etc. 

PICTURES
Pictures can be clicked to view hi-res versions. My Flickr album contains all the photos taken for this review.

DISCLAIMER
The CEE Team of TLG has provided this set. It's not my goal to promote this set. It's my goal to give you an honest opinion about it. Therefore, the opinion in this review is my own and is in no way linked to TLG.

SET INFORMATION
Number: 42138
Title: Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
Theme: Creator Expert
Released: 2022
Part Count: 544
Box Dimensions: 38,0 cm x 25,7 x 6,7 cm
Weight: 855 gr
Set Price (RRP): €49,99
Price per Part: €0,092
Links: Brickset, Bricklink

THE BOX
The front of the box shows the pullback sign in the upper right corner and that's not something I am very happy about. Why does a car this scale need a pullback motor?

The back of the box shows a kind of launch system, which can be interesting. It also shows the AR (Augmented Reality) Experience. Hopefully this will be available before I finish the review.

CONTENTS OF THE BOX
The box contains:

• 1x Instruction booklet
• 1x Sticker sheet (undamaged)
• 4x Numbered bag

INSTRUCTION BOOKLET

STICKER SHEET

BAGS

   

HIGHLIGHTED PARTS
This section describes new or interesting parts (possibly in new colors).

TECHNIC, PANEL CAR MUDGUARD ARCHED 9 X 2 X 3 STRAIGHT TOP
This is the first time these panels appear in lime green. I was under the impression that I shot a pic, but I somehow forgot to take one, so I cut one from a later pic.

TECHNIC, PANEL CURVED 11 X 3 WITH 2 PIN HOLES THROUGH PANEL SURFACE
These panels are available in two other sets (one of them is the Sian). I stumbled upon a funny thing when I was looking up these panels. I accidentally searched the one with 10 holes instead of 2. Apparently, these are available on Bricklink, marked as rare. They haven't been released in an official set, so I wonder where those lime panels come from.

PULLBACK MOTOR
This is the first set (together with the Formula E Porsche set from this year) containing not one but two pullback motors.

LIME PANELS

PART LIST
The complete part list for all 544 parts.

 

THE BUILD
Funny thing is happening at the start of the build. If you take a look at the picture you see two indentations at both ends of the axles. I haven't seen this before. But when you take a closer look at the example you see the indentations perpendicular on the pins, while the building instructions show the indentations in the same direction as the pins. I'm sure this is minor detail, but it caught me eye.

The launch system doesn't use any gears. It's a lever touching a ball joint, which is linked to a rubber connector. So, no gears for the launch system, but more importantly, no steering. Tears are rolling down my cheeks. I can live with the omitted suspension, but leaving out the steering is a major no no in my book.

Instead of mounting a single pullback motor, you will be adding two. This car has 2HP (or rather, 2 PBP) :laugh: It's the first time, two pullback motors are used in a set.

Picture below shows the end of the first stage. I know matching sticker and part colors can be difficult, but I'm pretty sure it would have been possible to use a slightly different shade of green on the stickers to match the bodywork. So far the build is okay, but nothing exciting.

I hereby present the completed model. The parts in the picture are the left-over parts for the second stage. The red lever is detachable and needs to mounted at the back (more on in the features section).

COMPLETED MODEL
The design of the car is very appealing to me. I do like the choice of lime green. And yes, the connectors and stickers are a different shade of green, but I can live with that. In all honesty, the stickers can easily be omitted and you will still have a proper looking car.

Usually I do like the front of a car better than the rear, but this time I absolutely love how the rear of the car worked out. Thumbs up!

FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS
Let's talk a bit about the functions and features. Done.

Okay, that's a silly joke. But actually it isn't really a joke at all. This set has one function and that's the launch control for the pullback motors. And the worst thing about the mechanism is that you need to detach a part of the rear bumper to use it.

I appreciate that the lever can be removed to maintain the proper design of the car. But it would have been cool to have a hidden launch control, like pushing down the spoiler. 

SUMMARY
To summarize, we get a 50 euro set without any functionality besides the pullback mechanism. On top of that you need to partially take the model apart to use the mechanism. I simply cannot fathom why we need two extra pullback vehicles in the line-up. I'm pretty sure TLG has asked a bunch of kids in a focus group, so this decision will probably be well-founded, but as an AFOL the tears are rolling down my cheeks.

PROS

• Great design
• Parts in new colors
• Nice set for MOD'ing (into the set it should have been in the first place)

CONS

• No steering or other features
• Another pullback set
• For this price you expect some functionality

SCORE
How do I rate this set?

8 DESIGN

Design works for me.

6 BUILDING EXPERIENCE 

Not a single gear.

4 FEATURES

No steering.

6 PLAYABILITY 

Pullback....that's it.

7 PARTS 

Nice selection of lime green parts for MOC'ing

5 VALUE FOR MONEY 

For 50 bucks I'd expect some functions.

6,0 WHY MORE PULLBACKS?

COMPARISON
Here are some additional pictures of the Shelby and the Porsche.

Thanks you for reading this review. All pictures can be found here.

[Jim]

Review is online!

[thekoRngear]

Great review as always! Your 42128 review is now helping me building the set 

This is not Technic. That's what I just have to say.

[Jim]

By the way; I notice I missed the 1x2 thin liftarm in lime as a new part.

7 minutes ago, thekoRngear said:

Great review as always! Your 42128 review is now helping me building the set 

This is not Technic. That's what I just have to say.

Hehe 

Can't argue with the "not Technic" comment.

[Johnny1360]

Since I already have a bucket of pull back motors, I decided long ago to not buy anymore sets with them in it, lol. As with many things LEGO does, I just can't understand why, lol. Only way I will get this is if I find it for at least 30% discount, just for parts. 

I did enjoy the review though and it helped me make up my mind, thanks Jim.

[Zerobricks]

It's a weird driection they took this set... I understand the formula E using pullbacks, but not this model... But there's planty of space to add proper steering, fake engine, or maybe even motorize it.

The only function - the pullback release mechanism looks really interesting though.

[thekoRngear]

1 minute ago, Zerobricks said:

It's a weird driection they took this set... I understand the formula E using pullbacks, but not this model... But there's planty of space to add proper steering, fake engine, or maybe even motorize it.

The only function - the pullback release mechanism looks really interesting though.

While I cannot say "it is incoming" I hope you'd come with a video demonstrating a proper steering system with working fake engine (and also motorizing if possible). I just love what you did to the semi-Technic Rubicon 42122 to a full-fledged Technic one 

[gyenesvi]

It looks better on your pictures :) and they nicely show some key stages of the build. But I agree that it's better to view it from the rear end.. The sticker color mismatch is a shame, it feels cheap. I was wondering whether it would work without them, but I'd guess if omitted, the remaining parts of the race stripes would be out of place.

I think the steering is omitted because of the pullback feature. With steering it would not go straight I guess. Or do any of the pullback sets have steering?

[Seasider]

Has anyone worked out what the sticker is for on the black liftarm “4 413X” ?

[Jim]

32 minutes ago, gyenesvi said:

I think the steering is omitted because of the pullback feature. 

Of course, but that is exactly the reason why we don't want it to be pullbacks 

19 minutes ago, Seasider said:

Has anyone worked out what the sticker is for on the black liftarm “4 413X” ?

It is an oddly placed sticker. I was wondering the same thing.

[anyUser]

7 hours ago, Jim said:

It's the first time, two pullback motors are used in a set.

No, but it's been a long time ago: 8651 (2005).

1 hour ago, gyenesvi said:

Or do any of the pullback sets have steering?

The buggies from 8363 (2003) seem to have pendular front axles. 

Edited December 5, 2021 by anyUser
2nd set found

[Polarlicht]

1 hour ago, Seasider said:

Has anyone worked out what the sticker is for on the black liftarm “4 413X” ?

I wonder about that too. It's rare to see these hidden random stickers in builds, but it happend before...

[Jim]

10 minutes ago, anyUser said:

No, but it's been a long time ago: 8651 (2005).

You are absolutely right. I didn't find it because it's a different pullback motor.

It's the first time two of THESE pullback motors are used in a set.

[paul_delahaye]

And those 2 ses were branded "Racers" on their boxes, this is probably a first for a set branded "Technic" on the box.  But I see due to the limited functions, Jim decided to classify it as Creator Expert in his review  

[Void_S]

14 minutes ago, Jim said:

It's the first time two of THESE pullback motors are used in a set.

And first time they are used at a single axle!

[msk6003]

At least I think TLG use knob wheel for launch mechanism...

[Rebel_Lego]

I really like the looks, except for the stickered rear windshield, but why oh why does it need a pullback motor? This set would be so much better with just the fake V8 and HOG steering. TLG really screwed this up in my opinion…

[astyanax]

1 hour ago, Rebel_Lego said:

TLG really screwed this up in my opinion…

... or maybe the people of this forum are simply not the target audience here. 

[mostlytechnic]

4 hours ago, astyanax said:

... or maybe the people of this forum are simply not the target audience here. 

Yep, this is clearly a set for "not us" - but on the other hand, if having this available at Target and other stores, at a lower price point, and kid-friendly, means getting more kids INTO the Technic world, then go for it. I'll keep building my BWEs and other expensive, complex sets, and be glad that kids are getting to see a different style of building. 

However, I just can't find this set good-looking. Some angles work - like directly from behind. But I don't like the front, and from side angles, the whole back (everything behind the rear wheel arches) just feels like a lump of stuff stuck on the back. It doesn't feel like it's cohesive with the rest of the car. 

[Rebel_Lego]

9 hours ago, astyanax said:

... or maybe the people of this forum are simply not the target audience here. 

50% agreed.

I think it's better to have a car with gears etc. if you want kids into technic, but it's a nice toy anyway. I'm Just a bit dissapointed because the McLaren showed how Lego also can do cars in this sale.

[jfbat]

To me, this isn't a Technic set. It's a set that uses Technic parts, because it delivers a more sturdy car that can withstand the crashes it will undoubtedly get into because of the pull-back function.

Somehow Lego decided that there is a market for a larger pull-back car, where people are willing to pay 50 bucks for such a car. I haven't been in a toy store for a while, but I have a feeling Lego is trying to create a very niche market for themselves here.

 

[Erik Leppen]

5 hours ago, Rebel_Lego said:

50% agreed.

I think it's better to have a car with gears etc. if you want kids into technic, but it's a nice toy anyway. I'm Just a bit dissapointed because the McLaren showed how Lego also can do cars in this sale.

Kids won't get into Technic this way, because there's hardly anything offered by Lego to "get into" anymore. Yeah, other companies offer Technic sets, but not TLG, or so it seems.

Sorry for the sour remark, but if this is the quality of TLG Technic sets, I may need to seriously consider taking a look into other brands. And I'm one of the more purist people around here!

[Lakop]

I was pleased to see these sets but I'm not sure about the red stop bush in the wheel hubs. Could have used grey or some new black ones. Pull back cars were a big thing back in the day so who knows how these sets will go down. Not a fan of the bright green colour though.

H

[Void_S]

29 minutes ago, Lakop said:

I was pleased to see these sets but I'm not sure about the red stop bush in the wheel hubs. Could have used grey or some new black ones. Pull back cars were a big thing back in the day so who knows how these sets will go down. Not a fan of the bright green colour though.

H

Possibly it was a reason to have a visual control - the wheels slips off (that's why they have 1/2 spare stud at the axles) and red bushes easilly indicate if they are reached the ends already or not yet... 

Regarding the color, I guess it was a choose of necessity. The iconic colors are blue with white stripes, or white/gray-metallic with blue stripe ("Ford Performance Blue"). Blue was just used for Mclaren, white goes to Porshe. Gray was an option (and I expected to see it) but possibly was too boring for bright and fast car. Now we see, that "fast" is a literal property of this set. So, they took the next iconic color, "Grabber lime" which returned in 2020 (since 1970th) and possibly was taken to distinguidh the new geberation. Like vibrant ornage for Raptor. 

[Jim]

8 hours ago, Void_S said:

Regarding the color, I guess it was a choose of necessity. The iconic colors are blue with white stripes, or white/gray-metallic with blue stripe ("Ford Performance Blue"). Blue was just used for Mclaren, white goes to Porshe. Gray was an option (and I expected to see it) but possibly was too boring for bright and fast car. Now we see, that "fast" is a literal property of this set. So, they took the next iconic color, "Grabber lime" which returned in 2020 (since 1970th) and possibly was taken to distinguidh the new geberation. Like vibrant ornage for Raptor. 

The choice of color probably hasn’t been made by TLG alone. There are pictures in the manual showing a lime-ish green real Mustang.