Review: 31104 Burger Monster Truck
Posted by benbacardi,Please welcome the newest member of our review team, benbacardi! - CapnRex101
Vehicles always make for popular sets, and LEGO has released a number of food and drink vans over the years. None, however, have doubled as a monster truck, until now!
At 499 pieces, 31104 Burger Monster Van is the second largest set that’s been revealed in next year’s Creator line (surpassed only by 31105 Toy Shop Town House with 554). As a three-in-one model, the relatively high piece count should provide ample opportunity to impress.
The box is surprisingly large, and contains three numbered bags and four large tyres. A thick instruction booklet providing directions for all three models is packaged with a small sticker sheet for three stickers.
Minifigures
Two minifigures are included. The first is a young man in a hooded top and red cap, and the second the proprietor of the burger van. Both have no printing on their legs, but the torsos are printed on both sides.
The burger seller, particularly, has excellent detail on the torso, depicting a sleeveless vest underneath a belt with braces. This particular design has only previously been included in two Lego Movie 2 sets, so it is good to see it available in an alternative theme. Additionally, he’s wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses and what looks like a leather hat with goggles. Clearly this is no ordinary burger seller; although perhaps that is easy to surmise from the fact that his van is no ordinary burger truck!
Although each particular combination of minifigure parts is unique to this set, the young man’s torso is fairly common, and unprinted legs particularly so. That is unsurprising for a Creator set, however, and these two figures fit well with the theme of the set.
The Completed Model
This burger truck is certainly one with a unique appeal! I haven’t personally seen a monster truck selling any kind of food before, but I can see how it wouldn’t be out of place at a large sporting event or occasion; its novelty would certainly draw the crowds. Four oversized tires with bright orange rims lift the burger van high above the usual position, and the resulting model is quite imposing; larger than I had expected.
The large burger on the roof is an excellent rendition, including lettuce and some ketchup and mustard. A menu (one of the three stickers) is attached to the side, featuring a monster burger, drink and fries (the latter of which, however, is not included in the set).
The roof is removable, providing easy access to the interior where we find a grill with a burger on top, condiments, drinks bottles, and a cupboard with a spare burger bun. Also included, I’m glad to see, is a fire extinguisher for that all important safety aspect!
Included with the truck (in fact, the first things you build) is a small table and chairs for customers to sit and eat at, and a cute little dog. It's unclear whether the dog belongs to the customer or the owner, but regardless, it is a very effective model for so few and small parts. The use of binoculars for the front legs is particularly clever.
The chairs can fold up and all three furniture items stored in the rear of the van.
There were two parts to the build that I found particularly well executed. The first is the suspension; although it is a rudimentary design, it is very effective and the resulting flexibility of the wheels provide for a satisfying vehicle to drive around.
The second is the mechanism for retracting and storing the steps beneath the truck. A simple arrangement allows them to slide neatly out of sight where they can be held securely in place while the vehicle is in motion.
Secondary Models
As a three-in-one set, there are two alternative models that can be built. The first is some kind of off road pickup truck, but using a significant number of parts from the main model.
The truck is solidly built, very sturdy, and a lot of fun to roll around on the huge tyres. There's no suspension included in this model, but it's not lacking because if it.
The third model is a very unusual design, reminiscent of a dragster combined with a tractor. It is pulling spare wheels on a sled behind it, perhaps inspired by the niche American sport of tractor pulling.
This is my least favourite model, with less playability than the others, and not making good use of all four of those fantastic tyres.
Conclusion
At first, I was sceptical that the monster truck aspect of the burger van would detract from the appeal of the set, and ultimately be a gimmick. Instead, I think it provides more fun and playability with fantastic suspension and a great driving experience. Unlikely as the real thing may be (and particularly frustrating for the less able-bodied burger lovers out there who can't make it up the steps!) this is, after all, a LEGO set designed to be played with, and in that regard it excels. For those of us wishing to add a burger van to our realistic city layout, the truck would be easily modified to include a more standard wheelbase.
Three stickers is not a large amount, but the vehicle is definitely lacking if they are not applied. Likewise, the rear of the truck and the side without the serving hatch is relatively bland and would have benefited from more decoration (and how often do we wish for more stickers in a set?!)
The alternative models are not as diverse as some other three-in-one sets, but still provide interest for when you wish to build something new.
Overall, this is a great build; surprisingly large, fun to “drive”, and a decent amount of features to play with. Aimed at ages 8 plus, I think most people would not be disappointed.
This set was provided for review by The LEGO Group but the review is an expression of my own opinions.
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50 comments on this article
Lego? This wasn't what I was expecting but... ITS REALLY COOL I WANT IT
Welcome, @Benbacardi ! And let me say you have an excellent writing style! Great review.
I’m kinda in the fence on this one. On one hand it looks really cool. On the other it seems not too practical in my city but as he said it could be easily modified. But hey, who knows maybe I’ll pick it up.
That staircase though... *this trip to the burger truck is rated PG—for some peril*
I believe a more appropriate name for the burger truck would be “Big Mac”
The perfect example of something that you didn't know you wanted until you realised it exists.
Indeed, welcome! Very nice writing and review.
I really hope that this leads to real life imitating Lego.
Great debut @benbacardi!
Welcome! Nice review. I love the little brick built dog, and those retracting stairs. This set looks more fun than I originally thought.
This is like one of those Lego movie sets like three ice cream machine or the trash chomper
Excellent first review, benbacardi. Keep up the good work!I
I love that little dog, and the driver/owner is great. XD
Also, that third model definitely looks like a tractor pull.
Can honestly say this is one of the only time I'm glad there is stickers in a set. I was planning on MOCing it to be more like the pizza truck, and this will just make it easier.
Great job with your first review @benbacardi ! Overall, I think this set could be really fun to own, and plan on buying it at some point. I do agree that the dog is one of the cutest non-prefab animals included in a Creator set.
I don't mean to sound like an echo chamber, but excellent review, @benbacardi ! You clearly have a passion for this. I hope to see more reviews from you in the future!
Great review. This set wasn't on my list, but it is now :-)
Excellent review, truly. Hit all of the notes a good review would do while providing personal commentary in places!
I LOVE this dog design.
I love this truck. I can't remember the last 3-in-1 I bought but this is great.
@lordofdragons It's a hot dog.
Welcome and thanks for the excellent review. This said, I'm not too impressed by Legos Creator Sets for 2020. My son is a huge fan of Creator, but to me it looks like next year is a good occasion to hunt for some better models from the past...
My son already loves this set, and I don't think he cares about the alternative models. He's 5, so hey! :)
This appears to be the first time an offical LEGO set has included a minifigure of a hipster.
The best part about this Monster Truck is that this is the silliness we love from LEGO, they actually formed a good excuse for alternative fuel source as this truck can simply use the used cooking oil to drive itself saving monwy on gas. As you say it's strange that the truck could use more stickers, not my set but this would look great at any City.
Edit: welcome to the team.
Great review! Though I agree that generally next year's Creator line is rather mediocre, I already had firm plans to buy this set. Your review has just confirmed my initial assessment :)
I'm really, really tempted to mix this with the upcoming Ice Cream Truck. I imagine kids lining up at the stairs of the Monster Ice Cream Truck near my city park, while the standard Burger Truck sits in front of Town Hall for the 9-to-5 crowd.
On the official images of the set a rather massive 2x2 burger is included but that's missing here?
Let me see if I can word this any differently than the others before me... uh... umm... nope! Excellent review, @benbacardi. Glad to have you with us!
Kind of a rule-breaker for Creator, comes with Minifigs (in something other than a house), and a...
...Sticker Sheet?
Well that's £24.99 that I will save on not buying this, looks too ugly for my likings.
It's just such a strange idea for a set.
But 2020 is the year of the monster truck, right? There's this one, a smaller-scale Creator one, the City one (which I probably will buy), and the Hidden Side one. I do wonder which focus group, Lego polled, to reach the conclusion, "Need more monster trucks!"?
@benbacardi A very well laid out review - welcome! It seems like a fun play set - i'm now trying to reverse engineer that dog.
Nice review, only critic I have is that the green looks almost like teal in the photos.
Folding Chairs/Table really reminds me of 2016 Vacation Getaways and 2018 Sunshine Surfer Van sets. (which both are still excellent vehicle sets even at 8 wide)
Ugh, double windscreen thing. :-(
Welcome to benbacardi, and good review indeed for your first!
Great review thank you!
I would have to mod this to a normal sized food truck, don't care for the monster truck aspect of it. I do love how the table and chairs fit in the vehicle.
If this had included spare wheels and instructions on converting to a regular wheelbase I’d buy it in a heartbeat.
As a collector of small to mid-sized Creator sets, I'm a little sceptical of the fact that LEGO are now including stickers as part of their inventory. This takes away from their core aspect in being able to use all the parts in any way you like - it's a bit limiting when certain pieces have stickers on them. And from the pictures provided for the review, it would appear that the stickered pieces in the main model are used in the alternative builds without them. As @benbacardi rightly states in his review, the model would definitely be lacking without their application, which is a shame as the context for the model should come from the build itself, not stickers.
I haven't bought any sets with stickers yet, but I can see myself buying extra pieces for use when building MOCs from these sets. I would hope that LEGO might consider including these extra pieces - as well as additional sticker sheets - in future releases.
Yeah. Great set! Model no. 2 looks great too!
I will buy this as probably my only Creator set in 2020.
Price is a bit high for my taste. Waiting for discounts.
Welcome to the reviewing staff, @benbacardi! Great opening salvo! You've completely changed my mind about this set...you and the designer of that adorable brick-built dog. Although the folding steps so people can place orders are another winning touch. I'm not ordinarily a fan of monster trucks, but this seems a must-have addition to the fairground I'm planning!
You should watch some tractor pulling if you are in any way into engines!
omg a tractor pull, haven't seen one of those in AGES. that alt build turned this into a must-buy wowzers
I think the combination of monster truck and food truck is very weird and there are already too many sets with monster trucks. However the task of bringing such a weird idea into a proper lego set was well executed in this case. I like the details in this set and while its a rather crazy idea, the model itself looks much better than lets say the over the top craziness of many of the announced superheroes or Ninjago vehicles. Definitely one of the better sets coming out in a line of rather disappointing Creator/City sets in 2020 so far. Not going to buy it but if I would get this as a present I would be happy and find a nice place for it in a Lego city amusement park section, placing it between two rides.
How hard would it be based on your experience with building it to put wheel well trim pieces in instead of the arches?
I was highly skeptical at first, mostly because the concept sounds ridiculous. I was actually very impressed! The minifigs are good, the monster truck features are good, and the other two builds look good. Definitely on my wishlist now.
@MrClassic said:
"On the official images of the set a rather massive 2x2 burger is included but that's missing here? "
This photo wasn't included in the review, but you can see the burger in this one on Flickr: https://flickr.com/photos/brickset/49228341862/in/dateposted/
@TeriXeri said:
"Nice review, only critic I have is that the green looks almost like teal in the photos."
Yes, that's something I realised afterwards. I need to adjust the white balance, I think—I'll try and get it more accurate next time!
Thanks everybody for your comments!
Cool review, thanks. Excellent first effort. Welcome to the team.
About the set: at first I thought "A Monster Truck Burger Van? WTH?"
But somehow it has grown on me. I especially like the colour scheme.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: this looks like it came straight out of Rebuild the World.
Great first review, although there is a glaring omission of a pic of the minifig-scale burger!
it is a shame the colors don't continue on the back doors....
I'll probably pass on this one...feels to much like a gimmick
Great review! I like the off road pick up better than the burger truck. I will probably pass on this and buy a Speed Champions set.
Take my $$$$$. Hopefully my stickers end up crooked and off centered. That way they will match every other Lego sticker I have. (_8^(|)
This set is firmly in line with Lego's Fortnite-inspired aesthetic. It's a great design- a bit too big for City streets, but kids should have a lot of fun with it.