Review: 3080 The Bikini Bottom Express

Review: 3830 The Bikini Bottom Express

Intro:
Bikini Bottom is quite in a peaceful mood as usual, the jellyfish are floating around and everyone is happy. Spongebob and Patrick set off, and they came across The Bikini Bottom Express. As they board the bus with their tickets, they are ready for the adventure of their lifetime......

So what attracted me to this box? Well... the nice bright colours are great. The Spongebob and Patrick minifigs were another reason why I wanted this set. it is listed at a reasonable price, so I feel it was a good deal. This is definitely not a set which I will be disappointed with.

Name: 3830 The Bikini Bottom Express
Theme: Spongebob Squarepants (Nickelodeon Liscensed)
Year: 2009
Pieces: 210
Minifigures: 3
Price: USD 19.99 / GBP 18.59 / EUR 24.99 / AUD 34.99

Resources: [url="http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=3830&cn=355&d=70"]S@H[/url], [url="http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=3830-1"]brickset[/url], [url="http://www.peeron.com/inv/sets/3830-1"]Peeron[/url]

The Instructions

Unfortunately I no longer have the box, but the instructions will do. I have to say the instructions show a bright and colourful theme and it’s sure to catch your eyes'.


The set has a large number of orange pieces in it, which was very comforting for me as they lack in my lego collection.

Rare and Interesting Pieces

The most noticeable and intriguing parts are the rare white tyres, the submarine windows and the large orange Wedge 8 x 3 x 2.

Minifigs

Well to start of the Spongebob minifig shows it resemblance to the real character. Patrick has one of the best moulded head since Jar Jar Binks and the bus driver is he's ok, but they could have given him green hands instead of the yellow.


The back of them is nothing special, just the usual main colour of the torso, though the bus driver does look like a muppet from the back.

Bus Stop Sign

Well personally it’s pretty bland and it gave me no fun when playing with it.

Ticket Dispenser

This is about one thousand times better than the Stop Sign, it has functionality and looks great as well. The only downside after pushing the bar in and out six times is that you have to put the pieces back in It’s annoying.

The Build

The build starts of pretty simple, brick by brick.


The build continues with its simple style, the windows and windscreen are added in.


Strangely it then adds the back and the fins after the rest has been built.


The top is then added and you have the complete bus.

The Bus

Well to start it looks awesome it is like a submarine cross bus. The colours are mad and using white tyres made sure they didn't clash with the orange. The circular windows give more detail and a sense of realism.

By taking the top layer of the bus ceiling, you are able to spot 3 seats allocated for the bus passengers.

The Whole Set

It looks great together and it’s even better to play with but you'll have to buy it to experience it.

My Rating
Playability: 9/10
Design: 6/10
Price: 7/10
Overall:8/10

Conclusion:Well it’s a great set, the minifigures are great awesome, its build is great. The only thing I didn't like about it is the sticker, they irritate me. So summing it up it’s a great set a I would recommend it to any lego fan.

Thanks for the review! Very informative and plenty of great pics. I don't think I'd buy this set, but thanks for sharing!! :

Nice review Keetong. Good choice of photos. Spongebob is also not my thing (I dont think I've ever seen the show) but I might look at the ticket machine instructions online. I had no idea it was functional.

I agree that its good to have more colours but what lego is doing annoys me first theres sand colour then orange and light blue. its a bit silly because you need to get alot of each colour for it to be any good apart from for the actuall set

Tychop wrote:I agree that its good to have more colours but what lego is doing annoys me first theres sand colour then orange and light blue. its a bit silly because you need to get alot of each colour for it to be any good apart from for the actuall set

I know what you mean, but since I can't afford to buy every lego set, what colour the bricks are becomes one of my selection criteria. For instance I won't be buying this set because I can't think of an immediate use for the orange bricks on my train layout.

Thanks for the review!
I kinda regret not getting the set when I could of, now.