Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
The set comes with a small strip of pavement, with a small crossing light and a trash can. Inside the trash is a lump of poo. Is it some sort of commentary from the LEGO designers? Just a silly inclusion? In fact, just the stairs and upper bar area would probably have done to 'sacrifice' parts. The taxi looks awesome, it's so nice getting vintage cars in Lego (and we rarely ever get them) so it's very annoying that they are all GWP these days.
I think the interior is probably the weakest section of the model, with only enough space for one passenger, squeezed right behind the driver. There is ample luggage space though, housing a suitcase, another slice of pizza and a dark blue cap, adorned with the Avengers logo. The cap also appears in 76269 Avengers Tower and presumably belongs to the taxi driver, although he cannot really wear it with his double-sided head. Well, a passenger, anyway. There’s only room here for the driver and a single rider. There is, however, space in the trunk for some luggage. Too bad our driver has already claimed that spot for his donut stash. In addition, the vehicle includes no fewer than five exclusive printed parts! The number plates allude to 76269 Avengers Tower and their flame yellowish orange colour matches the 'Empire Gold' plates found on many New York taxis. The designs on either side look appealing as well, complete with the same waving minifigure logo featured on the taxi in 76178 Daily Bugle. At first I also thought this looked really underwhelming, but on closer inspection it's actually a rather nice and clever build, with the exclusive printed parts making it highly desirable. And while the curbside scenery would take some modification to work into a Modular Building layout, the use of Medium Stone Grey curbstones and Dark Stone Grey paving stones seems like deliberate invitation for builders to make those modifications. The signal lamp/sign marking the taxi stop makes a great new type of street furniture to add to a layout, and uses common enough parts that it can be easily be duplicated to create additional stops for a larger layout.Taxi is, in many ways, a confusing companion for 76269 Avengers Tower. The four minifigures have little relation to the tower and LEGO fans interested in Avengers Tower may already own 76178 Daily Bugle, which includes another taxi. Honestly, this model feels like the result of designers not knowing what to make, which I would understand, as 76269 Avengers Tower already includes most things associated with this location. You can see more photos and details on their review but the 163-piece set comes with an old-school taxi, a street section, and what looks like the Doughnut Thief, who you may recall from the 2020 Police Station Modular, who seems to have cleaned up his ways and has made a career change from illicit sugary treats/news publishing to transportation. For those of you that hate vehicles in modular sets (there have only been three so I don't understand what all the whinging is about), I would like to know how this taxi would have 'completely ruined' Boutique Hotel, had it been included? The inclusion of the small strip of sidewalk makes this set feel more like a tiny vignette than “just” a car and driver. A second minifigure would have been a nice addition, though. Even if it would just help us know if this is a self-driving Vintage Tesla Taxi or not.
A perfect addition to the Modular Boutique Hotel, and a great incentive to pull the trigger on it if you haven’t got one! And truth be told, even at the standard of detail we've come to expect in adult-targeted sets like the Modular Buildings Collection, there's a LOT of stuff even in the buildings alike that gets "condensed" in one way or another due to the practical limitations of the scale. The inclusion of the flat cap is very nice and just adds to the characters look, along with the suitcase, that of course has a donut inside. Either that or he’s using this as a front to deliver doughnuts to high-flying guests staying at the Boutique Hotel. And I think a big part of why LEGO was able to work side-by-side seating into those earlier vehicles in the Modular Buildings Collection is that they were vehicle types with no roof, no side windows, and either flat side walls or none at all! All these factors made it quite a bit easier for them to deal with the minifigure's awkward, unwieldy proportions.
No official minifig taxi has ever had space for more than one passenger, at this scale I don't think more than that would be feasible. It's a shame there are big gaps in the floor though, but I suppose that if a plate was put in to conceal them there wouldn't be enough clearance between the driver's head and the windscreen?" Being such a small set there aren’t numbers on the bags but there are three of them in total and an instruction manual, which again is nice and small, perfect to slip into the box. As for the car itself, it looks great, I love that it is based on a Citroen Avant (one of my favourite cars of that era) and it also proves the usefulness of that new inverted slope piece, which I immediately recognised as perfect for vintage car fenders when it first appeared in Police Station. As for the taxi itself, 4 wide windscreen on a 6+ wide base looks really odd to me, and I had told myself last year after buying too much stuff I didn't need* that I should stop chasing GWPs, but oh well... I wanted the boutique hotel anyway.
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