Daily Fail: Racing Car

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So. Small, impulse-sized LEGO bootlegs. The next one out of the "to be reviewed" box is yet another race car and driver. Will there be anything new to write about?

As a matter of fact, there is. Today's bootleg comes to us from a new "company": LWDRAGON

It's a toss up on which side of the box is meant to be the front, so we'll just pick a side at random.

Let's start off by checking out the text - that's always good for a chuckle or two.

The logo has a little "TM" next to it, suggesting once again that somewhere paperwork may exist on these people. But I somehow doubt it.

Alpha Test - Building Bricks - Hours of Fun

Hrm. Okay. I guess that makes "Alpha Test" the line name - like "Hot Wheels" is a part of Mattel. Maybe the huge block of text under the Alpha Test/Bricks logo will clarify things...

Set your imagination free and try to build as many coloured models as you can with the pieces you find in the box. Follow the photos on the box or invent other 1000 coloured models of your own!

Wow. That almost makes sense. "Coloured Models" sounds a bit racist, though.

No. LW19131 - Dynamic racer world

Apparently a stock number and yet another line/theme name. I guess they couldn't make up their mind what to call this set. And yet "Racing Car" get the biggest font. Sad, really.

Oh. And "Collet Them All!" I'm sure "Collet" would like that.

The other side of the box encourages you to "test your skill" with the 22 pieces inside. There's also a big "02" in the lower right corner, suggesting this may be set two of a larger batch. (But then why would the stock number end in "1" instead of "2"? It's a mystery, I tell you. A mystery.)

But wait! Racing Car is apparently also a "Little White Dragon Product of Honor". Heh. A bootleg. A "product of honor." Riiiiiight. This also means the the company name is extensible to "Little White Dragon" from the LWDRAGON seen in the logo.

One side of the box has the usual batch of safety warnings.

There's also this little line of icons. They express, from left to right: "I could have had a V-8", "Sad Pac-Man", "Sad Pac-Man wearing a turtleneck", and "The Comedian and The Comedian's Little Pal Joey"

(Click for larger view)

The other side has all this mysterious text. I have no idea what any of it says. We do get ye another stock number added by sticker: HFY03012

The bottom(?) of the box has even more safety warnings. These are also pretty funny, as they seem to instruct you to hurt yourself and others:

This toy contains tiny parts. Do not put into the mouth to avoid accidental swallowing.

(Of course not! You put into to the mouth to feast on delicious plastic.)

Do not allow children under 6 years to play.
(Children under 6 should be putting in a full day of work at the coal mine.)

We also get yet another line name for this bootleg: Intelligence Toy Bricks. (A possible tie to Xin Qi Le?)

Inside the package was a small slip of paper with the following printed on it:

Inspected by "06" perhaps? Made on 2006? The mystery deepens... And note the full(?) company name has expanded to "St Little White Dragon Toy Industry Co. LTD."

Despite the text suggesting you follow the pictures on the box, LWD (or SLWDTCL) also provided this instruction sheet. How nice of them.

The pieces included are pretty generic - while a few (the grill tile, the steering wheel assembly) are clearly recast from LEGO molds, the rest of the bricks could be from any bootleg line. The top of the studs are blank - a change from the other bootleg lines we've seen.

There is one strange innovation, though: Hubcaps!

I'm somewhat surprised LEGO doesn't have something similar in their product line. It's a nice effect.

The included mini-figure is a strange mix of MegaBlok and LEGO styling. While the body is mostly MB in shape, the head is nearly LEGO-standard. The helmet is a LEGO re-cast. The visor for the helmet is a complete joke - it doesn't attach at all.

Here's the completed toy - note the joy the figure has in holding his visor aloft. "Here I am," he seems to say. "Love me, or leave me to rot. It matters not to me, for I have a chunk of curved plastic to call my own."

I'll end this review by pointing out that despite the high production values on the box, the apparent concern for children, and the inspection by 06, this is still a crappy product.
The pieces don't fit together at all. You can really tell in the rear view - at the slightest bump the mis-aligned red tiles at the bottom will pop apart, shredding the entire rear of the Racing Car.

I think that's what the bootleggers would call an "action feature."

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Once again, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.