In 2008, LEGO worked with Vestas to build a wind turbine set to be released to employees of Vestas. Of course that created an opportunity and the set is now currently going for almost $400 on the secondary market sites. If you were like me and you weren’t able to get #4999-1, you’re in luck as the re-release of the Vestas Wind Turbine (#10268-1) happened on 24 November 2018. Or as the LEGO Designer video says, there is now a “Vestas for the rest of us.”
The 826 piece set retails for $199.99 in the US which works out to $0.242 per piece. Yikes! It’s high, but it also includes a 32x32 stud baseplate and Power Functions gear. So is it really not that bad? Maybe. Let’s take a look at the set.
Here’s what the box looks like. The front shows the set, the back shows the functionality. It also highlights the fact that the tree pieces are made from the sustainable plastic similar to #40320-1.
The contents are 12 parts bags, a wrapped instruction booklet and a 32x32 stud base plate. The parts bags are not numbered so you just open them all and start building versus opening bag one to build a specific part. With 826 pieces this method was manageable. I knew that some of the bigger pieces weren’t needed right away so I didn’t have to open them all at once.
The instruction booklet is part instruction booklet and part propaganda campaign. LEGO gets a chance to boast about their program to go green and to talk about how great wind turbines are for the world. Not only does the front of the booklet contain a few pages of details, but throughout the build there are little tidbits here and there that talk about wind turbines.
I think what the LEGO Group is doing is great in terms of becoming more sustainable, but I didn’t need all of the information in the instruction booklet to tell me that. I’ve read articles on it and have seen news videos about the program. I don’t want to have to spend money on a set and pay for instruction booklet pages for something that I could just click a link to online.
The build starts with the Vestas maintenance vehicle, the 2 workers, and their equipment. The truck looks more like an ambulance than a maintenance vehicle. The back even has a place to stick their equipment which could also be used for a stretcher. Page 8 of the instructions shows a pick up truck and a small SUV next to a wind turbine tower. I would have preferred a pickup versus the bulky ambulance.
Next up is the house at the base of the wind turbine. I’m not sure what to make of the house. None of the pictures of wind turbines in the instruction booklet shows a house nearby and I have never seen one in the US or in Europe. I understand the concept of trying to show that we can use wind energy to power our houses, but I’m not sure if the house fits. The house has a mailbox, a small patio with 2 chairs and a table, a small cot (not really a bed), and some simple random appliances. The house build doesn’t do anything for me. I would have preferred a transport truck to carry blades or some sort of equipment used to install or maintain the turbine.
The bottom of the tower contains a small park which is not realistic. Have you ever seen a park bench at the bottom of a wind turbine tower? Enough complaining. The green BURPs are a nice touch and will be great for future MOCs needing green settings. The door on the back leads to… nowhere, but I get what they’re trying to do. It works as you see some of the pictures in the instruction booklet where there’s a door at the bottom.
Okay, so I’ve been pretty negative so far, but I will say that the building of the turbine was much better and made up for what I didn’t like about the building and the vehicle. So 5 positive things to make up for my negativism:
1 - There are zero stickers in this set. YAY! All of the parts with logos are all printed.
2 - Having recently built the Technic #42083-1 Bugatti Chiron, I was a fan of using System pieces to detail a Technic set. This set is mostly System, but it has Technic pieces to make it function. I’m a big fan of the combination of the two. I know the Creator Expert carnival sets use this as well and it would be cool to have more of the same in the LEGO world.
3 - The set is expensive, but having the Power Functions stuff included makes worth it in my opinion. Instead of having to build the set without it all, you can just install it at once. The set is not ideal for building and then easily putting in Power Functions equipment later. Some of the train sets that I own are good at designing it so you can easily add Power Functions. For this set, you might as well re-build the whole turbine, tower, and house.
4 - The tallest set out there is the #21309-1 NASA Apollo Saturn V set. This set is the second largest and it is a big one. I don’t have a photo shoot area (as you have seen) so trying to get a picture of this one was tough. I think between the movement with the Power Functions and the sheer size, this set will be a great addition to some of the LUG displays out there. I’m looking forward to seeing pictures and videos of this one being used in large City scene displays.
5 - The turbine can spin about the tower portion as the wind changes. So not only do the blades turn, but you can rotate the turbine itself. There are Power Functions wires inside so it doesn’t spin forever, but you can spin it about 180 degrees in either direction. Also, the blades can be inserted in a separate Technic pin to change their angle. This mimics how changes in conditions require changes to the blade directions of an actual turbine. Two simple things, but they really add to the set in my opinion.
I fit the entire blade section into one picture and then put a foot long ruler next to one of the blades.
The diameter of the blades is 28 inches (72 cm) so each one is about 14 inches. The tower is 26 inches (67 cm) so almost 40 inches total to the top of the blade.
Overall was it worth it? The wind turbine is great, but the rest of the set is lacking in my opinion. I picked this one up during double VIP points, I used EBates to get 2.5% back, and I got a free #40292-1 set along with it so it wasn’t a complete waste. Will this one go on sale? Hard to say. I’d like to see it on Amazon.com for 20% off, but there’s no telling what LEGO will do with the sales of this set. Should you get it? I think it depends on what you plan to do with it. Like I said, it would be great in a large City display, but on it’s own it is a tough sell.
What are your thoughts?