The LEGO Movie

MetalBeard's Heavy Metal Motor Trike!

A pirate captain who turned himself into a motorcycle, and somehow it works.

Brick Rated Score

3.7/5

Set 70834 · 2019

Pieces461

Minifigs2

Year2019

Set number70834

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The verdict

This is one of those sets where the concept alone made me grin before I'd even opened the box.

MetalBeard doesn't ride a trike, he is the trike, and that single weird decision carries the whole build. It's a fast, fun assembly with very little repetition, and the huge front wheel gives it real road presence on a shelf. Where it stumbles is value, three characters and 461 pieces for its price point felt thin next to other The LEGO Movie 2 sets at the same money, so I'd point this at people who love the character or the film more than people counting pieces per dollar.

Best for: The LEGO Movie 2 fans who want MetalBeard as a display piece more than a dense parts pack

The full review

What it is

I'll be straight with you, the first time I saw pictures of this set I assumed it was going to be a gimmick that didn't land. MetalBeard is one of the best characters in The LEGO Movie franchise, and turning him into a motor trike sounds like the kind of idea that reads better on paper than in plastic. It doesn't. The huge front wheel, the built-in scowling face, the crow's nest with the little flag up top, it all comes together into something that genuinely looks like it rolled in from a Mad Max movie. The build itself moves fast too, there's very little of the repetitive stretches that slow down a lot of vehicle sets, so it's a satisfying afternoon rather than a slog.

The catch

Where I have to be honest with you is the value side. At 461 pieces and three characters, including General Sweet Mayhem and Apocalypse-borg Benny, it sat at the same price as sets like Emmet's House that gave you noticeably more for the money. The rotating double-barrel turret works well and is genuinely fun to fiddle with, but the shark-jaw cannon on the other side, which should have been the showpiece gimmick, barely snaps shut the way it's supposed to. It's a case of one great mechanism and one that falls flat right next to it.

Who it's for

If you love MetalBeard as a character or you're chasing a complete The LEGO Movie 2 shelf, this earns its spot, the display value is real and nobody else makes anything like it. If you're building a collection around piece count or play features that all function well, I'd let this one pass and put your money toward a set that gives you more for it.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

Building this one feels less like assembling a vehicle and more like sculpting a face, most of the early stages are shaping MetalBeard's scowl and beard out of layered plates and slopes before the trike frame even shows up underneath him. It's a clever bit of design, the kind where you can feel the model come together as a character before it comes together as a machine, and that keeps the pace brisk.

The standout piece is easily that oversized front wheel, it gives the whole trike its stance and its Mad Max attitude the second it goes on. The turret assembly with its adjustable double cannons is the mechanical highlight, simple but satisfying to swivel and aim. For 461 pieces you're not swimming in rare elements, but the beard and face pieces are unique to this set and worth grabbing on their own if you're a MetalBeard completionist, and General Sweet Mayhem's printed accessories add a bit of extra color to what's otherwise a fairly monochrome build.

Fun facts

01MetalBeard doesn't get a traditional minifigure in this set, his head and face are built directly into the trike itself as the model's centerpiece
02The set released in December 2018 alongside The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part and carried an RRP of 59.99 dollars
03It was retired after roughly a year on shelves, by late 2019, and has since climbed in secondary market value to around 66 to 75 dollars sealed
04Star, one of the three included characters, is a brick-built figure rather than a standard minifigure or mini-doll