LEGO Creator 31148: Retro Roller Skate [REVIEW]
The LEGO Creator 3-in-1 theme has expanded their focus from play sets to include a variety of display sets in recent years. And it looks like 2024 is going to continue this trend with a recently announced wave of Creator sets. Joining the Adidas shoe in the footwear department is the retro roller skate. Riding the recent wave of nostalgia, generation X’ers get ready to jump in to the disco roller-rink with this latest entry. LEGO Creator 11348: Retro Roller Skate includes 342 pieces and will be available starting January 1st for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Unboxing the parts and instructions
The set comes in a square-shaped box branded with the Creator 3-in-1 visual elements. With this set being a roller skate, the background illustration is a roller rink with a disco ball. Along the right edge of the box front are the two alternate models, a portable tape player (or boom box), and a skateboard that I at first mistook for one of the flat roller skates that attach to the bottom of a regular sneaker. The back of the box shows the three models from different angles.
Inside the box were 2 numbered paper parts bags printed with the standard line drawing of LEGO elements. Unlike the Astronaut set, these bags contained smaller paper bags inside.
The build
The build starts with the skate shoe’s base, using various outward-facing stud elements and angled curved parts in light azure for the curved sides. The set is mostly built using this color, but the interior does sport a variety of other colors that are hidden in the finished model.
A separate mini-build for the shoelaces and the tongue of the skate is then added to the base structure. The “curved” shape of the tongue and laces sub-assembly is achieved using 1×3 rounded plates in addition to the usual hinge plates.
Continuing on, we finish shaping the front section of the skate, and move on to the heel section. This includes a bunch of sideways studs for adding custom decorations using rounded tiles – or an alternate rainbow cloud, which I chose for my skate. The overall shape of the heel section looks a bit odd with straight sides and small curved bricks rather than a more rounded shape.
The skate body wraps up with a teal decoration around the top, and a yellow detail to represent the little tab for pulling the skate on.
The underside of the skate is a fairly basic brick and plate structure with axle holes for the four wheels and a pink cone is used for the toe-mounted brake.
Finally, we add the wheels which have pink tires. This is the first time we’ve seen tires in this color, but not the first time that LEGO rubber has deviated from black. The most notable exception has been the SpongeBob SquarePants set 3830 The Bikini Bottom Express from 2008. To finish up the skate model, there are 2 tied shoelaces that are a bit fussy and detach easily, but do provide a nice detail to the finished model.
The finished model
The completed skate model is nicely detailed, and a super-fun build with interesting parts and building techniques. The color choice may not make the most sense for a creator set in general, but for the 70’s vibe of the disco roller skate it works quite well. I also like the way you can customize your skate, especially if you have some DOTS sets lying around.
Conclusions and recommendations
If you are nostalgic for the era of disco roller-skating rinks, or you are looking for a colorful display model with style, I can honestly recommend this set. Even as a parts pack, this set has a lot of curved and multi-directional elements that are a pretty decent value for the price. The choice of colors fits the disco aesthetic well, and the pink rubber wheels are fun. Would you buy 2 copies of the set to have a proper pair? LEGO Creator 11348: Retro Roller Skate includes 342 pieces and will be available starting January 1st for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
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