Toy Story RC Car

To Infinity And Beyond! Lego Toy Story Sets January 2010

LEGO and Disney have gotten together before but this is the first time that the Pixar Studio characters have featured in the main Lego range so when the pairing was announced in 2009 it caused some excitement amongst kids and adult animation fans.

Toy Story holds a seminal place in both 3D animation history and in the hearts of kids from numerous generations. With Toy Story 3 set for worldwide cinematic release in July 2010 these sets are bound to be highly sought after. The first wave of Toy Story LEGO sets were released in January 2010 and they are a good mix of small and large sets at varying price ranges. The Lego minifigures of Pixar characters are one of the main drawcards with this range and they do not disappoint.

Probably the best value for money set, and the hardest to locate on store shelves is the set Buzz and Woody to the Rescue. This set, numbered 7590 and priced at $19.99, is the only set that comes with both Woody, and Buzz. The minifigures are accurate and highly detailed, instantly recognizable and endearing in their LEGO format. This set also comes with fan favourite RC who, in the film is a little remote control car. In this set RC is not remote control but has pull back friction power to make it race across the floor.

The largest set, at 502 pieces, is Woody's Roundup which recreates the set of Woody's television show and features Woody, The Prospector (otherwise known as Stinky Pete), Jessie and Bullseye the horse. This set numbered 7594 and priced at $49.99, is a fun playset and features a Sheriff's office, a jail and a goldmine cave along with heaps of accessories like a safe, money and explosives. It's great to have Woody, Jessie and Bullseye all together and the buildings provide locations for them to gather or have a shootout with Stinky Pete.

The smallest set in this first wave is Army Men On Patrol retailing for $10.99. It features the green army men featured highly in the first Toy Story movie. The cool thing about this set is the color. Save for the wheels of the jeep, everything is green. The set comes with four figures, three troopers and one medic (nicely distinguished by the white cross on his helmet). The figures come with various accessories and the base plates on their feet which nicely attach to a lego base plate. The jeep is very cute and carries a stretcher for those army men injured in the line of duty.

The next biggest set, at 257 pieces is Buzz's Star Command Spaceship. Featuring minifigs of Buzz and the evil but paternal (I am Your Father) Zurg, this set weighs in at $29.95. The spaceship is very swooshable and the back opens up to reveal a small moon buggy for Buzz to zoom around on, perfect for planetary exploration. The cockpit opens up and Buzz fits perfectly inside, even with his wings on. It's a very playable set and even the age is recommended for 7 and up I would safely say that dextrous younger kids could play with it easily.

The last two sets in this first ever Toy Story LEGO wave are the two Construct-A-Sets. These are basically buildable, poseable figures of both Buzz and Zurg (sold separately). Each figure stands about 7 inches high, is sturdy for articulated play and comes with a little alien minifigure (the little green men). They are much more detailed than the regular minifigures (for example Buzz's helmet can close on the Construct-A -Buzz figure but not on the minifigure) but can't be played with in the vehicles or playsets, having more in common with Bionicle figures in their size. Nevertheless when the rest of the range is released these figures will make great display or play action figures.

These sets make up the complete first wave of Toy Story Lego for 2010 but there is more to come. In the lead up to Toy Story 3's release in cinemas another wave will come out in a few months. With names like Western Train Chase and Pizza Planet Truck Rescue this LEGO theme has alot more life left in it yet and hopefully its success will pave the way for more Pixar themed Lego sets.