LEGO Immortalises Paul Walker And His Nissan Skyline GT-R
A quick review of the 2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) #76917 LEGO set.
Believe it or not, I used to work for Nissan. I was what they called a brand ambassador, which was in reality just a fancy title for a customer support agent. Wanna guess what pissed most Nissan dealers off? People wanting to test drive their GT-R models. If I recall correctly, we only had them at two dealerships in Hungary, and I kid you not, we regularly had teenagers calling in requesting a test drive. If only they had a LEGO alternative to play with instead…
While I’m fairly certain that the Danish toymaker wasn’t persuaded by the Nissan dealers’ frustration when deciding to launch their new #76917 Nissan Skyline GT-R set in January 2023, it’s still nice to see they did. Its fairly organic continuation of the Speed Champions movie cars line they started in 2022 with the Dodge and the Aston Martin is most appreciated.
When I saw the early sneak-peeks in late 2022, I can’t say I was overly sold, but I am to an extent invested in the Speed Champions theme. I think it’s one of the best value series of sets LEGO ever produced, and every time they release a new one, I feel compelled to buy it and build it. On that note, this is a 25 euro set, which still makes this an affordable toy or collector’s item. For your money, you actually get a whopping 319 pieces, with LEGO even attempting a first-ever print of the wheel arches, a welcome advancement in their technology as it definitely improves the overall look of the model.
In terms of build experience, I’d say it’s one of the better and more intriguing ones out there. Both the front and the back of the car employ some pretty exotic building techniques, relying on hinging and SNOT building in all directions, most certainly contributing to an authentic enough look for something as blocky as LEGO bricks.
This is also the Speed Champions set with one of the most detailed interiors. A great-looking roll-cage, a nice dash and three canisters of NOS all scream of attention to detail, and heck, even an improved play experience — which these sets are for, after all.
While there is some criticism among fans around the visible studs on the bonnet, the not so visible slope of the front and the presence of stickers, I actually think it’s all very unfair and misses the point.
A reminder to all LEGO fans: sets are meant to be played with, to trigger one’s creativity and imagination.
As it stands, I think The LEGO Group managed to pull off a great-looking set, with an impressive build experience. Fans of all ages are never discouraged to take these sets further, modify them to their liking, and make it their own. That’s the whole point of LEGO. That was the whole point since the very beginnings of the first classic red brick.
And yes, the set does come with 23 stickers, but I honestly don’t feel like any of those ruin the look of the vehicle in any way. Sure, prints would have been maybe preferable in some instances, but one could also argue that a print makes a piece a lot less reusable in the future and offering this much value for 25 bucks is perhaps easier with stickers than prints. And Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), I think he looks just fine for a minifig.
LEGO’s Nissan Skyline GT-R set is a close enough immortalisation and a fitting homage to both the car and driver we all learned to love over many movies.
Paul Walker, rest in peace. 🙇♂️ ✝️
Attila Vago — Software Engineer improving the world one line of code at a time. Cool nerd since forever, writer of codes and blogs. Web accessibility advocate, LEGO fan, vinyl record collector. Loves craft beer! Read my Hello story here! Subscribe and/or become a member for more stories about LEGO, tech, coding and accessibility! For my less regular readers, I also write about random bits and writing.