Welcome all, to our LEGO 10303 review, and welcome to a world of fun! That opening line might have let the cat out of the bag already in terms of how we'll be reviewing it, but we don't care. This LEGO Loop Coaster set is one of the most exciting things we've seen from LEGO in a long time, and we want to talk about. There's no guesswork involved in today's post folks. No. We LOVE this set - and our LEGO 10303 review will tell you why...
Also read: LEGO Express Passenger Train 60337 Review
Set Details
This LEGO 10303 Loop Coaster is part of the Creator Expert range and is, as you may have guessed, a LEGO roller coaster with loops. In fact, there's 2 loops on offer here, 1 teardrop shaped loop, and 1 perfect circle, and the result is one of the most entertaining amusement park themed sets we've ever seen.
You might recall the earlier roller coaster set released in the Creator Expert range back in 2018, and sure, that was fun, but everybody knows modern roller coasters have to include an upside down loop section, or else it just doesn't give you the same rush of blood to the head (literally and figuratively).
Although this set is for adults only (18+), that's largely because of the sheer size of the model itself once completed. This thing is HUGE. And that's no surprise considering there are 3756 pieces altogether, and a lot of negative space too, so you can imagine just how large this set is by the time you've built the elevator, track, base, and tower.
The size alone makes it perfect for display and the theme of the set makes it perfect for play - so this set is already ticking a lot of boxes for us. What's that? It's ticking a lot of boxes for you too? Well, we're not surprised! And we also have some great news: LEGO 10303 Loop Coaster is available worldwide right now, having been released on July 1st 2022.
But before you rush off and buy the set, you might want to stick around for our more detailed LEGO 10303 review below.
Price
As always, let's kick things off with the price. If you want this LEGO roller coaster set, then you can expect to pay $399.99 for it today, which is no small investment we know. Once you've worked out the price per part like we always do, it also costs just over 10 cents per brick, which is on the more expensive side of LEGO's sets.
Within the Creator Expert line of LEGO sets alone, it's one of the most expensive sets in terms of price per brick, and we completely understand why that might put some of you off.
In fairness to LEGO though, there are a number of unique parts on offer here, a working elevator, unique loop sections, and 11 minifigures to boot, so although it's pricey, you get a lot of bang for your buck. With play and display opportunities galore, we're personally happy with the price you pay, but there may be some of you out there who want to hold off a while before purchasing until the price comes down a little, and we completely understand why.
Building Experience
Arguably, one of the most enjoyable elements of this set is the building experience. Yes, it will take you upwards of 6 hours to complete, but the time you put in is more than rewarded by the time the finished model is up and you're able to enjoy it in all its glory.
From the moment you start, you're instantly transported to amusement park magic because the very first bag will have you building the minifigures and the food and balloon vendors, so you'll instantly feel excited about what's to come. Then things only improve from there, as you'll be moving on to the roller coaster carts themselves next.
Whilst, yes, we accept the criticism that the carts themselves would have been more fun to build from scratch (as it stands, you currently just add the wheels and a bar for the minifigures to hold on to and that's your lot), we also think the carts get the job done perfectly fine, and it's the roller coaster track itself that brings all the innovation and fun to the build overall.
Building the base, support, tower, and elevator mechanism is exciting, and with each step it feels like you're getting closer to the ultimate goal: sending those minifigures whizzing down the track and through the two loops. And when you finally get there, the loops won't let you down.
LEGO has been really innovative with their design here, creating 1/4 loop sections with a 2 stud offset each time, meaning the coaster and all the minifigures can clear the loops every time without snagging or falling off. Both the teardrop and perfect circle loops look incredible and are satisfying to build and add to the track.
Overall, the resulting finished set looks impressive, and it's a helluva lot of fun to build!
Minifigure Deep Dive
With 11 new minifigures on offer in this set, we won't bore you all with a deep dive into each one, but what we will do is pick out some of our favorite things about them and leave you to discover your favorites for yourself when you inevitably buy this amazing set.
So, let's start with the selection of 11 minifigures as a whole. Truly, we love them all because they have clear and distinct character stories, personalities, and roles within the set. From adrenaline junkies to LEGO coaster operators, there's a story to be told with each of them. If you want to know our personal favorites, it's the minifigures that we're affectionately nicknaming 'The Bright-Haired Pair'! The electric blue-haired minifigure and the flaming red-haired minifigure make quite the colorful pair, but the blue-haired figure looks slightly more nervous than the red-haired one, creating an instant unique dynamic between the pair that you won't often see from minifigures in other sets. Our point? Every minifigure is well thought out, and the possibilities for play and display stories are endless.
If we had just one small criticism, it's that we wished the only kid in the set could actually ride the roller coaster. His legs are too short for him to sit in the carts and hold on to the safety bar like the others, so he'd fall out if you ever tried to send him around the loops. It's a shame, but also realistic since we've all been too short to ride a coaster in the past, and maybe LEGO just wanted to represent that heartbreaking reality in this set.
Talking of representation, our final note on the minifigures is that we're happy to see the minifigure head piece with a hearing aid back again in this set, and we're even more excited to see that the body it belongs to is the roller coaster LEGO worker. As the old saying goes, unless you can see it, you can't be it, so seeing a hearing aid user in an exciting working role in a LEGO set feels important. Sure, it's just bricks at the end of the day, but when put together in the right way, they can have a big impact.
The Goods
Before we give our (obvious) verdict, let's take a look at some of the goods and the bads. Starting, of course, with all the best bits about this LEGO Loop Coaster set:
- Completed model is play and display perfection - This LEGO roller coaster with loops is exciting, innovative, and fun, both when playing with it and displaying it (if you have a large enough space, of course, because this set is massive).
- Brand new loop pieces - The 1/4 loop sections with their 2 stud offset is an inspired solution to LEGO's 'How do we build a loop coaster?' question, but it also could make for some interesting similar pieces in the future, meaning even more innovative sets to come!
- Colors are in-your-face - The colors are bright, vivid, and in-your-face, and we LOVE it! It's exactly what you'd expect from an amusement park - a complete assault on the senses - and LEGO captures that perfectly here.
- Elevator mechanism - We have to give a special shout-out to the worker bee of this set, the elevator mechanism, which functions perfectly every time and with just a quick crank of the handle will take the coaster back to the top of the track again for another round of fun. It's an ingenious mechanism that does its job brilliantly.
- MOC possibilities - Personally, we're excited by the MOC possibilities on offer with this set. It almost feels like LEGO wanted you to get creative and add more to this coaster, and we, for one, can't wait to see what some of you guys come up with moving forward.
The Bads
As much as we love this set, there are a few things we love a little less:
- Motorizing the elevator mechanism - For many display LEGO fans, motorizing the elevator mechanism is an obvious solution if you want to keep the elevator moving constantly so you don't have to manually send the coaster to the top each time using the crank. However, we've seen people attempt this online with mixed results. It seems you'll need to get used to frequent accidents as the coaster falls off the elevator often before it has a chance to make it on the track. With adjustments and some creative thinking, you might be able to find a fix for it, but for now, manually cranking the elevator mechanism might be your best bet.
- Price - It's higher than most other Creator Expert sets, so it might leave a sour taste in your mouth. With that said, it's also more innovative than most other sets too, so we can forgive them for the higher price. But can you?
The Verdict
It's been obvious which way our LEGO 10303 review was going from the start, so let's not beat around the bush now either. This set is innovative, creative, fun, and perfect for play and display. Truly, it's LEGO at their best - so buy this set as soon as you can afford to, because it's worth every cent!
The Bright Lights Of Amusement Parks...
Of course, LEGO has missed out on one obvious part of the amusement park experience: the bright lights. But thankfully your pals here at Lightailing are on hand to put that right.
