Toy Wizards Review: Micro Machines Super Van City Playset

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Toy Wizards would like to that Hasbro for providing us with a sample of the brand new Micro Machines Van City Playset for review. You can pick up your own for $50-$60 today from Target or Amazon!

For the Micro Machines 2020 toy review, I teamed up with my seven year old son Avery to help review this awesome playset from a child’s perspective. From the moment this toy showed up in the mail, Avery was eager to crack it open and drive the cars all around, to the point where he wanted to be part of the review video as a guinea pig!

Micro Machines, as many toy collectors know, was a line of miniature cars, tracks, and playsets from the 80s and 90s. Along with Hot Wheels and Matchbox, these little cars (with limited licensed releases but many pieces inspired by actual cars) were a hit among kids and collectors that enjoyed playing with them and setting them up. Thus, Hasbro purchased the Micro Machines license from the now-dead Galoob (can you just hurry up and buy Golden Girl warrior babe toys already, please?) and now they are pumping out the plastic (and I mean plastic) for these playsets.

In my review video, I mention how Hasbro recently released the Power Rangers Green Ranger Dragon Dagger toy (yes, toy. That is not an adult collectible) which had a $60 price tag. This Super Van City playset has a $60 price tag. The upcoming Animatronic Baby Yoda (holiday season 2020) has a $60 price tag. $60 for a higher-end kids toy is not a bad thing, but embrace these things for what they are. Just because this set is $60, you don’t see Hasbro calling it a collector’s piece.

Individually packaged Micro Machines have started popping up at Walmart as well, but this is the first playset to ship out. And ultimately, it is a good set! The instructions were very convoluted and there was a lot of visual noise happening with the drawings. I managed to figure out where the stickers and decals went and how the wrecking ball adhered to the board. I love that the set came with three cars. One piece of Micro Machines trivia that I wished I remembered– were these things ever die-cast? Or were they always plastic?

Super Van City is fun and my son spent a surprising (and pleasing!) amount of time making stories and adventures inside of it. Then, his little buddy came over for a play date and he went crazy on the Micro Machines Super Van City set. My five year old daughter enjoyed it, and I had fun with the mountain drop, making the cars fall inside and drive out the opening. I think Hasbro is off to a great start with the revival of a (previously) dead toy line and it will be fun to watch a whole new generation get stoked for these little cars.

And hey, if you have to have a revival, toy cars isn’t a bad place to start. No one will go all collector nerd for not adhering to an aesthetic, lore, or character trait of a car.

I give Micro Machines Super Van City 4/5 Wizard Vans.