5899 House Building Set - alternate uses

[Matt Dawson]

There was a discussion about these 'Bricks And More' sets (the other set being 5898), and I decided to buy this one. Brickset page, and Bricklink Page. The insructions include those for the small car, house, dog, chair/tables,

The Set Itself

Before you ask, here's MY scan of the instruction set:

There's quite a lot of parts for £7.99:

But most people will be concerned about what's below - the MINIFIGS:

The 'Mechanic' (on the right) is the more common looking of the minifigures - the torso has been in 3 farming, Winter toy shop and this set. He is almost the same as the minifig in 7634 Tractor Set, except with the hair piece from 4802 Sports Car.

The 'Girl' (on the Left) is quite rare compared to the 'mechanic' - the torso has only appeared in 3 sets, the 7639 Camper, this set and a bricks & more tub set (5560). The hair piece has been in 20 sets in "reddish brown" colour, but over 131 sets in total (in any colour).

The Large pieces (i.e. parts in main bag):

There are many different parts in the 'large' bag, and some in rarer colours. The same could also be said of the small bag, with some 1x1s in rare lime green!

So what do the instructions build?:

A large odd-shaped dog (perhaps a stores toy dog for kids to climb on & around?), a rather 'flat' house frontage, a blocky tree (wasn't actually instructionised, but easy to fathom out of the picture in the book), a table & chars set (chairs on the big side), and a loose fence panel.

The spares from the build are :

Is it of any use to me?

Well, yes. The minifigs, minifig accessories (cup & spanner) and table can easily be transferred without modification. Although the 'mechanic' is a bit common, you could easily use him 'hidden away' in an office or shop as another minifig which can be seen but is not part of the main scene. Alternatively, you could use the parts for extending/modifying your resident minifigs.

The house, after rebuilding and extension, could become a useful part of suburbia; or alternatively, a construction site! The car, on the other hand, is easily modified to a more realistic design - 2 mudgaurds, 4 1x1 'washing machine' bricks and a few plates are alll that's needed to correct the main errors.

The dog, as already mentioned, could be used in a fast food resturaunt or kids store as part of it's play area. The other bricks (mainly green, blues or brown) have many uses for scenery or buildings that they could easily be integrated without too much fuss.

Edited February 23, 2010 by Matt Dawson

[Fugazi]

Well at about 16 parts per Pound or £0.06/part it's not a bad deal, although there are few specialized parts included. The minifigs are good, and the part selection reminds me of the McDonalds kids meal toys back in the day before they went Bionicle and Racers. A fun spare parts pack, and I'm sure people can come up with some creative alternate builds! Thanks for the review!

[Rick]

The 'Mechanic' (on the right) is the more common looking of the minifigures - the torso has been in 3 farming, Winter toy shop and this set. He is almost the same as the minifig in 7634 Tractor Set, except with the hair piece from 4802 Sports Car.

Hey, that's me in my farming outfit...

A large odd-shaped dog (perhaps a stores toy dog for kids to climb on & around?)

That dog is pure cuteness.

[Zorbas]

I bought this last month (along with the 5898) for €7.99 each and I think that it's a great deal. A good number of pieces, some of them being pretty interesting and two minifigs. What else can you ask for?

Btw, I noticed that yellow pieces included in this set look better than some of last year's.

[Johan J]

I think I'll buy one and save it for my neices 4th birthday.

(and get one for myself....)

[prateek]

Nice "review". I agree with the whoole thing, and this set has good value.

[lightningtiger]

Thanks 'Matt Dawson' for the review.

It looks a combo of classic town and the latest in early ed. for schools (dacta) - I guess this and the vehicle is modelled around them - as children see simular things at school they can then build at home - almost fun homework eh ?

The designs can easily be pimped up to city standard - just with a lot more parts.

I'm a conformist! everyone !

[ILikePi]

Thanks for the mini review!

I really want this set, mainly to use the dog as my sig-fig (way too cute! ), but the minifigs and parts look great! I don't own the Camper, so the awesome female torso will come in handy. I was really hoping that the set would come with Agent Trace hair or a type of untied hair though, as I only have one each of those hair pieces.

But still, I'm definitely going to be purchasing this set soon!

EDIT: Lime green 1 x 1 round studs aren't rare - they appear in 46 sets!

Edited February 23, 2010 by ILikePi