Theme: 18+
No: 10300
Release Year: 2022
Cost: US $169.99 / DE €169.99 / UK £149.99 / AU $269.99
Pieces: 1856 (with two minifigures)
One of my favourite movie series is the Back to the Future trilogy. Great storyline, action packed, and that car – the DMC DeLorean. It’s such a unique car – Stainless steel body, straight and angular, no curves, and those superb gull-wing doors. There was only 9000 made, and apparently there’s only 6500 in the wild today. I’ve seen 2 in real life before, but only one of them was actually out on the roads driving, so they’re incredibly rare and exciting to see if you get the chance.
This isn’t LEGO’s first foray into Back to the Future. It all started back in 2013, with 21103 The DeLorean Time Machine, back when LEGO Ideas was known as LEGO Cuusoo. Small and sort of recognisable as a DeLorean, and only because of the BTTF details, this was an interesting build. There’s also been a Dimensions level pack and a BrickHeadz pair, but this? This is something incredibly special. 10300 is big, highly detailed and has the ability to be either one of the three DeLorean Time Machines seen in the series, plus it comes with Doc Brown and Marty McFly as minifigures! Let’s take a look.
The box includes 13 numbered bags across 11 build stages, and one bag of larger parts. There’s also a sticker sheet with 14 stickers, and the sticker for the Flux Capacitor is on a separate sheet. Watch this one – it’s easy to miss! I didn’t realise it was not on the main sheet until I needed it in the build. Interestingly, the windscreen element is covered in a protective sticky plastic wrapping to minimise scratches. I’ve not come across this before. The build is a lot of fun, with the first 10 build stages forming the majority of the vehicle, and bag 11 giving you the three different build options. The instructions include loads of information and movie images before the actual set instructions. It’s a good read.
The two brand new minifigures are great, with excellent printing and a good attention to detail. Marty McFly in his trademark red vest, and Doc Brown in the BTTF2 yellow suit and red tie! It looks fantastic. He’s also got a new hairpiece. Marty also has side printing on his legs, to show off his self lacing Nikes.
I feel like Marty’s faces are a bit too generic and don’t suit the character at all (I’ve seen images of the other versions of the minifigure which I think work better), but Doc’s alternate face with the futuristic glasses is spot on, giving a great nod to the heavily quoted scene in BTTF2 – “where we’re going we don’t need…roads”. It’s just a shame the UCS style plate doesn’t actually include the word DeLorean, and the minifigures don’t actually fit comfortably on the stand side by side! It’s not by much, but it is noticeable.
Interesting build features definitely include the unique axle assembly, allowing the wheels to turn flat for the BTTF2 version of the car. There’s a red bar underneath the car that when moved over, satisfyingly changes the positions of the wheels. It works a treat. It’s great to watch the length of the car grow throughout the process too. All in all the build is fun. I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I’ll let you explore it more yourself. The final product is a sight to behold.
As an extra bonus build, there’s the iconic hoverboard and a plutonium crate. These are nicely packed away under the hood of the car.
The final build is obviously unmistakable, but there’s no other car around like it. The level of detail in the rear end is spectacular. Cables, hoses, gizmos and gadgets galore, all haphazardly thrown in yet meticulously planned out around the nuclear reactor that powers the whole vehicle. The shape of the vehicle is almost perfect. The interior includes some stickers for the date console and the Plutonium chamber. Not too cluttered, but still with a lot of detail.
If I was to be picky, the LEGO set must be a short wheel base version of the DeLorean, as the cab and rear of the car looks to be a good amount shorter than the real deal, but the front looks great. Clever build techniques include using ball joints to get the angle of the A-pillars by the windscreen just right. The other downside to the build is the gull-wing doors.
Now don’t get me wrong, they look great and feel good when lifting them up, but the problem is that they don’t stay up by themselves. As soon as you let go of them, they drop very quickly. It took me a long time to get that picture above! I didn’t want to have anything propping it up, so I had to remove my hands and take the shot almost instantly! The bonnet is also not easy to lift up if you don’t have nails! It’s great that it sits flush with the rest, but there’s no simple way that I found to lift it.
The little details in the set are great. The hoses and cables that run the length of the car – for some reason I love them, the Mr Fusion on the back of versions 2 and 3 that can be opened to reveal a banana and a drink can, the white and red rims, even the electricity hook on the first version, which happens to be my favourite version and the one I’m keeping built. It’s just so iconic – the first time we saw the setup, the craziness. There’s also a light up brick inside the Flux Capacitor for added effect. Press the button on the back of the vehicle and it will light up. It looks so good.
One final problem is with the numberplate – not so much the stickers (there’s two of them), but with the idea of changing them. They’re on a window and window pane, so it’s impossible to remove to swap out for the other one! Wedged between the two big black vents looks great, but not easy to swap out.
I had an absolute blast building this set. For the movie buffs this is a must have. For the large scale vehicle fans, this is a unique addition to the fleet. There’s even something in there for the technique aficionados, and new parts in to sweeten the deal. The ability to change the design to suit your favourite movie of the franchise is a huge win, but the doors in my opinion are the biggest let down. There’s nothing like showing a car off with it’s gull-wing doors open. It’s just asking for it. I’m looking forward to putting this on display and seeing what other displays come from the set.
A special thank you to LEGO for sending me a copy to review. All thoughts on this set are my own and are not influenced in any way, shape or form. The provision of sets for review does not guarantee a favourable review.
