Set Review - #21323-1: Grand Piano - LEGO® Ideas

It took a while, but I was finally able to get Ideas set #31. In case you aren’t aware, LEGO now has the ability to set up email notices on Shop @ Home to let you know when an item is back in stock. I got the notice this set was back in stock and by the time I checked, it was already on backorder. I placed my order and was entered into the backorder line. I had saved up VIP points so this $349.99 priced set in the US only cost me $50. With 3,662 pieces, at the full retail price it works out to $0.096 per piece. The release date was 2 August 2020 and this set has spent a lot of time listed as out of stock on Shop @ Home in the US. As of the writing of this post, it is still out of stock. Keep an eye out for it if this is one that you’d really like to pick up.

Onto the review…

The set showed up as a box within a box. While it makes it a bit heavier, it helps to protect the set box. At $350, you definitely want your set to show up looking pristine so I’ll take the extra packaging. For reference, the sticker on my set box shows that it was made in January 2021 in the Mexico production plant.

When I opened the box up, the set was placed with the bottom facing up. After taking the set box out and finally opening it, the internals include a number of bags of parts and then another box with more parts bags inside.

Backing up… forgot to mention the box itself. The front shows the full set with the name in fancy lettering. It highlights that it is an Ideas set and is #31. The bottom right has the Powered Up logo. It definitely gives the set a classier look as opposed to most sets. This set also as the 18+ branding on it.

The back shows the piano in a theater or concert hall. It also shows the piano with the top closed and highlights the Powered Up functions.

---

Onto the contents. There are 19 bags once you open the set. It is bags 10 through 21 and then 5. Opening up the other box reveals 33 numbered bags, three un-numbered parts bags, a long Technic axle, three 6x16 tan plates, and then the instruction book which is wrapped.

The instruction book contains some information about the model, about the fan designer (Donny Chen), and some information about the LEGO Designers Woon Tze Chee and Steen Sig Andersen. Throughout the instructions, there are numerous quotes about music scattered throughout. There are 563 pages in the instruction book if you count the back cover. So get ready!

---

There are 21 sets of numbered bags. Instead of going through them all one by one, I’m going to try and group them together to get you through the set quicker. Builds 1 and 2 assemble the main base of the piano and then add in the Powered Up battery box, motor, and sensor. It also adds the gears that will eventually make the keys move in self-play mode.

Seeing the size of this section of the build makes it clear how big the piano is going to be when you’re done.

Of note, one of my bags numbered one was opened when I opened the box and the pieces were all over the place. I ended up not having one piece. Not sure where it was lost, but I was able to account for it from my parts stash. I wrote LEGO about it, but never heard back. Hopefully my issue was a one off and not a repeat for multiple people.

---

Builds 3 and 4 add in the Technic elements that will connect to the hammers that hit the strings. Adding them became a bit repetitive, but it wasn’t too bad. After that, you add a top layer which covers the Powered Up elements. Thankfully, you can still access them very easily so don’t worry about them being stuck in there and having to take the model apart to get to them.

---

Build 5 adds more to the top section and then expands on the outer black cover of the piano.

---

Build 6 and 7 step away from the first section of the build. You move onto the front of the piano which is added to the rest of the piano next.

---

Build 8 adds the section built in 6 and 7 and adds some pieces to round out the front. Additionally, it adds the “strings” to the piano. Definitely a lot of gold colored pieces in this build.

---

Build 9 finishes up the outer shell/covering of the piano. I’m impressed how they captured all of the angles without making large gaps. You’ll notice from the picture that you add a door to the shell. This allows you to easily access the battery box to turn it on/off or switch out batteries as needed. Smart thinking!

---

Build 10 adds the legs to the piano which are all on wheels that can change direction as you need to roll your piano into the appropriate space. It also adds the pedals to the piano. Only one of the pedals actually has a function which is the far right “damper” pedal. Pressing the pedal will eventually lift up the dampers so that your note or notes continue to vibrate instead of stopping when the damper hits it (or at least mimicking the function of what a real damper pedal would do).

---

Builds 11, 12, 13, and 14 build the keyboard. There are 10 black keys and 15 white keys. They all move independently. This section of the build is a bit repetitive, but not too bad. Just make sure you follow the directions carefully or you may build the keys incorrectly and they won’t fit together. You also have to make sure all of the pieces line up evenly. Otherwise, if a 1x1 is slightly angled, it will rub against one of the adjacent keys and cause it to not work as freely.

Build 11

Build 13

Build 12

Build 14

---

Build 15 has you install the keyboard. The instructions just show you placing the keys in and really there are no attachments. It is fairly easy to remove the keyboard if required. You build a sub assembly, if you want to call it that, which is attached via Technic axles. You remove the axles, slide the sub assembly out, and then you can pull the keyboard out.

---

Build 16 is the cover for the keys. Like a real keyboard, you can raise or lower it. Of note, one of the pieces on the inside of the cover has the word “LEGO” printed in gold on it. A nice touch as this is where the piano logo would be located.

---

Build 17 adds the music stand. The stand can be raised or lowered and can hold the sheet music provided or your phone. You can also completely remove the stand fairly easily if you’d prefer it to not be there. Finally, you install some Technic pieces which will end up as the arm to hold up the top cover to the piano.

---

Build 18 and 19 build the cover. It is a bit bigger than I expected and uses all black pieces.

---

Build 20 finalizes the cover and then you can install it on the piano. You can completely close it, just open the front, or open up the whole thing. Definitely cool how they re-created the actual function of a real Grand Piano.

---

Build 21 finishes up the build. You build an adjustable seat. This build was pretty impressive in my opinion. At first, I couldn’t understand where the build was going, but it made sense and works in a cool way. I’m a big fan. You also get a large tile which has the song the fan designer wrote to go along with his original Ideas submission.

Overall, this was a great build. It uses some great techniques, it was pretty challenging, and has some great piece usage. I hooked up the Powered Up, but my batteries died. I need to get some new ones to test both of those functions. Even without Powered up, it’s a cool build. I highly recommend it. VIP points definitely helped to soften the blow of the cost. Not sure if this one will ever go on sale so save your pennies.

Of note, my Non-Lego Spouse (NLS) said this might be a set she is willing to display in our house outside of my bricking space so I’ll take it. It looks good!

What are your thoughts on this one?

Happy building!

Set Review - #80107-1: Spring Lantern Festival - Chinese Traditional Festivals

I finally finished building and taking pictures of the second 2021 Chinese Traditional Festival set. This one is #80107-1: Spring Lantern Festival. The first one was #80106-1: Story of Nian in case you missed my review. This one was also released on 11 January 2021 in the US. It retails for $119.99 and contains 1,793 pieces. This works out to $0.067 per piece.

This set sold out very quickly on Shop @ Home and shows on backorder at the time I’m writing up this post. I found it here locally at one of the few stores deemed “essential” to be open during Germany’s winter lockdown. As an added bonus, the set was on sale for $99.95. $20 off a brand new, hard to find set. Done! I grabbed the last one off the shelf.

Onto the review… the box is similar to #80106-1. The front shows the whole set, highlights the minifigures on the bottom right, has a drawing of an ox in the upper right for the “Year of the Ox,” and has the Chinese Traditional Festivals logo on it. It highlights in the lower left that this set contains a light brick. The back of the box shows off some play features and details. This set is built similar to the modular buildings in that it has Technic pins to connect it to itself or other buildings. This is a nice addition we have yet to see in other sets.

The set contains 15 numbered parts bags numbered one through eleven. There are two dark grey base plates. One is 32x32 and the other is 16x32. You also get a sealed instruction book (actually two) and some plastic streamers. Like set #80106-1, there is a two page spread in the instruction booklet with a cartoon showing the spring lantern festival.

The streamers I mentioned are here. They have Chinese writing on them which I have no idea what it translates to. Hopefully LEGO got it done right and it’s not making fun of us. The streamers are a thin plastic, but not too flimsy. I don’t recall seeing this type of thing in a set before. Usually it is the cloth like pieces that become minifigure capes. Have these appeared before?

---

Before I begin, I didn’t picture it, but you get a piece separator with this set. Bag one starts with the 32x32 plate. You build up an outer sidewalk and then start to lay in the outer base of the festival area. Lots of bricks to include 2x6s. Bag one contains a male minifigure with a spoon, bowl, and a 1x1 round tile with printed food. I didn’t picture him until bag two (sorry).

The second bag continues with the base. It lays in where the pond area is located and some of the walkway. Like many sets, LEGO used different colored parts to help you with the build. You don’t actually see them later on so if you want those pieces or colors, you can easily swap them out from your parts stash to use them elsewhere. Bag two has a female minifigure holding a smart phone 1x2 tile. She is pictured along with the minifigure from bag one.

The third bag adds in the pond with a lot of 1x2 translucent blue tiles. I wasn’t sure I would like the finished product, but I think the tiles over the dark green plates work as a pond. Some of the tiles have printed koi fish on them with which helps to add to the scene. I’m a fan!

Next up, you continue to build out around the pond adding some green plates for grass. You also add in a few light gray pieces to be used later and then build up a round stand for your brick built ox to stand on. The brick built ox is mostly red with some gold. It fits in well with the box art and the head is on a ball and joint so you can turn it as desired. The light brick is used here and you push the ox’s rear to light it up. Then it looks red.

Two minifigures in this bag. A male and a female with matching 2021 shirts. The male has a cup with a straw and the female has a selfie stick and 1x2 tile smart phone. Not the first time we’ve seen a selfie stick, but the first time I’ve seen a cup with a straw. The straw is one of the poseable minifigure pieces that I think I first saw with the collectible minifigures. Maybe in #71026: DC Super Heroes?

The fifth bag adds the sidewalk over all of the colorful pieces you spent time laying down and a bridge over the pond. It also adds part of the fence around the festival area. The bridge is pretty simple, but has some good aesthetics to it with the curves and light grey round pieces. The sidewalk isn’t just studs or tiles. It is a mix of studs, a few tiles, and some modified tiles. I think my preference would be to have fewer studs showing and more of the modified tiles. I guess I can do that myself instead of complaining about it…

Next up, we add some plant life in the form of bamboo type plants in the corner and them some lily pad type plants on the pond. You also get some lanterns hanging from posts behind the ox. There are two 2x2 tiles with more calligraphy on them. The streamers are added in this part of the build on poles on the fence. I assume the thought is these would be blowing in the breeze so you could actually see the one behind the other. Back to the brick built world, you put one streamer in front of the other and can’t see it unless you move it with your fingers. I guess it doesn’t matter since I have no idea what they say anyways.

This bag comes with a minifigure. It’s a boy with a scarf on and he is carrying a lantern on a pole similar to the cartoon in the front of the instruction book.

As for the seventh bag, I have failed you as a reviewer. I finished the step, but didn’t take a picture of it. Don’t fear though as you will see the completed set at the end which includes the last part of the build on the 32x32 plate. This build adds the wall around part of the festival area with the entrance. It also adds a small tree.

I apologize for missing this step.

---

Back to the review… Bag eight starts the build on the 16x32 base plate. Much like the last one, it builds the base and a sidewalk on part of it. This one has Technic pins so you can connect it to the other base plate.

This bag comes with a male minifigure with a camera.

The ninth bag starts to build up the… um… is it a temple? a gazebo? a hut? Anyways, you build up a base and then start to build the supports to connect the roof to the base of the small shrine like area.

This bag includes a girl minifigure. She has a toy rabbit on wheels as pictured in the cartoon in the front of the first instruction book.

The tenth bag puts the dark blue roof on the hut structure. The design is pretty intricate with some great piece usage. I like the dark blue colors and the way the angles make it rounded. The dark blue banana pieces are the key for me. #80106-1 had teal blue colored banana pieces. This one also has a 2x4 tile with printed calligraphy on it. Again, I’m not sure what it says.

#11 finishes up the build with some extra details. You get plant life, some lanterns strung on string between poles, the wall with a portal to enter the space, a lamp with some lanterns on it, and then a red minifigure statue.

Here’s the final picture of the set assembled. I’ll be honest and say that I wasn’t completely won over by this set. The build was just okay. Nothing overly complicated, but some good piece usage. There are some good pieces for MOC builders and the minifigures are good. Maybe it’s the price and then what you get at the end. $120 for a park scene? I realize the number of pieces involved and some of the cool pieces used, but this one just didn’t do it for me. Maybe I would have to put it together with a city scene or something in order to get the full effect.

What are your thoughts? Am I out to lunch or right in line with my opinion on this set?

Happy building!

Set Review - #80106-1: Story of Nian - Chinese Traditional Festivals

The Chinese Traditional Festivals theme started in 2019 with sets that were just released in the Asia-Pacific region. Now we’ve had set number six here and seven will be reviewed shortly that have been released to the world. This line started in 2019 and #80106-1: Story of Nian was released on 11 January 2021 in the US. The set retails for $79.99 with 1,067 pieces. This works out to $0.075 per piece. I found it for $69.95 and can’t complain about $10 off.

I had never heard of “the story of Nian” before this set came out and used the internet to learn about it. I won’t go into the Chinese tradition here, but I recommend searching it on your own to see what it is about. It makes the build make more sense as you go.

The box front has the full set displayed on the front along with the “Chinese Festival Special Edition” logo and a golden ox highlighting the year of the ox (2021). The back of the box shows some of the play features and details of the set.

The set contains eight numbered parts bags, two 8x16 white plates, a bag with translucent orange “fire” pieces, and instructions and stickers packaged up for protection. The instructions include a two page “cartoon” of the story of Nian, but other than that it is a standard instruction booklet. To be honest, I had to look up the story before I understood the cartoon. It made more sense after I read it.

Only two small stickers in this set. I can’t complain. The rest of the details are printed on pieces which is great!

The first bag builds up the “snowy” base. It also starts the foundation of the façade of the building and some of the snow build up. You also get the start of the doorway. This bag has one male minifigure who has a small bag to carry with him.

Bag two completes a good chunk of the façade. I like the large amount of textured bricks with the brick texture (both light and dark gray). The red windows are cool as well. The doorway has some simple details and thankfully the red tiled scrolls are printed. This bag includes a girl minifigure.

The third bag builds a lot of the roof area. The overhang has some snow with icicles dripping off. I like the detail of the icicles and how the snow build up on the roof is “connected” to the icicles. You also get a boy minifigure who is excited to throw a snow ball.

This bag adds the doors which are not just solid pieces. They are made up of plates and tiles connected by clips to a bar. Then the two stickers are applied to the doors. The door handles are two gold ring pieces which get placed over a stud. The red with the gold handle and then gold trim around the door looks really good.

The fourth bag builds the overhang over the doorway. It has roof (dark gray) and then snow covered roof. I like how the designers used bricks to show snow build up in certain areas with melt towards the bottom. There are also two red lanterns that get added in the doorway. This bag contains an older female minifigure with a shovel to remove snow.

The fifth build adds some more of the “snowy base.” It also includes a ladder and bucket for the older male minifigure to use his sponge to clean up.

Bag six adds some final details to the main part of the build. This includes some fireworks that attach behind the façade, fire crackers exploding, and a snow man. The minifigure is a person dressed up as an ox. He/she is holding a large string/rope of fire crackers.

Side note… look up a video of firecrackers on a string/rope going off. It’s pretty cool to see how it works.

Last piece is some plant life to include various small trees/saplings with snowy branches and some flowers popping out. There are three dispersed across the set with one towards the front and two towards the right side.

Bags seven and eight build the Nian itself. I’m not sure what the creature is supposed to look like, but I think this LEGO built creature is awesome! There are some great details, pieces, colors, and movable pieces in the creature. It all fits together very well and besides the studs sticking out, it could be looked at as not a brick built model. I’m a big fan!

That wraps up this set… Should you get it? If you’re a fan of the Chinese Traditional Festivals line, definitely pick it up. The details are great, you get 6 minifigures, and the Nian is an awesome build. The downsides… I wish there was more to the building then just the front, but this is in line with some of the previous sets. For MOC builders, you get some great pieces to include some good colors and some of the printed pieces.

I am glad I got it on a discount locally. I’m not sure how the pricing is in the US right now, but LEGO Shop @ Home hasn’t had a lot of stock on hand. It sold out soon after being posted on sale. You might have to wait to get this one, but don’t wait too long as these sets are usually out for just a year.

What are your thoughts?

Happy building!

Set Review - #75980-1: Attack on the Burrow - Harry Potter

Finally got the last of the 2020 Harry Potter sets. I ordered it back in December 2020, it was out of stock, it showed up, it shipped, USPS “lost it,” I’m working with LEGO on a replacement, and I reordered to have to wait for it to come off back order to actually get it. So let’s hope it’s worth it…

Released back on 3 July 2020, #75980-1 contains 1047 pieces and retails at $99.99. This works out to $0.096 per piece. Not too bad, but I have yet to see this set on sale (even in Germany). Onto the review…

The box shows both sides of the set on the front with some designed features. The back shows all of the different play features like most sets do.

The set contains seven numbered parts bags, an un-numbered bag with larger plates, and the instructions are sealed up with the stickers.

Here are the instructions and stickers. Nothing special about the instructions. No special write ups or pictures. There are two sticker sheets which are both fairly small. One is the normal sheet and the other is clear stickers. There aren’t a ton of stickers so I can’t complain too much. As a technique, I’ve started using the piece separator to apply stickers versus my fingers. It’s actually worked very well. Maybe you all already do that, but if you haven’t, give it a try.

The first bag contains a piece separator and starts the base of the building. It is connected with hinges so you can get to the inside later on which works out nice for play features. You get a pig with this set… I didn’t even know they had pigs, but I won’t complain. You also get Arthur and Molly Weasley.

For the rest of the build, I decided not to include the minifigs by bag and I’ll bring them all up at the end.

The second bag of parts builds out the living space. You get a table loaded up with a breakfast of eggs and waffles. There’s a small little sink area as well. The living space has a couch, a chair, and various decorations to include lamps, candles, and plants. Outside, you can see some of the clear stickers which actually look pretty decent. I managed to put them on without getting any air bubbles in them so that was good.

The third bag finishes up the inside of the first floor and starts on the roof. Inside, you can see the fireplace where they enter the floo network. The fireplace is connected to a Technic axle that you can spin between flames and the floo network green. I show it in translucent green here and then in the translucent orange below.

Here’s the orange, “normal” fire place. On the other side of the fire place, you see a clock which shows where everyone in the family is located. There’s also a picture on the wall and a book shelf.

Bag four finishes up the roof on the ground floor and adds a room on the second floor. I assume it is Ginny’s room with the hair brush and mirror. The bed has multiple colors and then a sticker that matches the colors. It was tricky to line up the sticker with the parts, but I think I got it close to being right. The downside to this set up is the sticker is smaller than the tile it goes on so there is a gap between the sticker and the sloped bricks which from far away isn’t a big deal, but close up looks bad.

The fifth bag starts the next level. This eventually becomes Arthur and Molly Weasley’s room. For now, there is a chair with some magical knitting going on at it. There’s also a family picture on the wall.

The sixth bag puts a bed in Molly and Arthur’s room with a quilt on it. It also adds in a room above. Maybe Ron’s room? There’s a bed and a picture on the wall, but that’s it. From the room, there’s a small stair way that leads up to a small upper porch area. That area has a broom so you can either sweep it off or fly away from there.

The last bag finishes the roof and adds a chimney. You also get two owls to include Hedwig. The roof is made with 45 degree slopes, but they vary in color so it adds to the design other than just using one color. I’ll cover the last part of this build with the minifigures.

The set comes with eight minifigures. Seven of them are unique to this set and then #8, Harry Potter, also comes in #75967-1: Forbidden Forest Umbridge’s Encounter. As mentioned in the bag seven section, it includes more besides the roof. It also includes a section of flames as can be seen in the sixth movie. The two minifigures included in bag seven are Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback. They both come with wands.

The remaining six as shown in the picture are Nymphadora Tonks, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter, Molly Weasley, and Arthur Weasley. They all come with wands as well.

I think this is a pretty good mix for the set and you get a decent amount. For minifigure collectors, you get seven unique Harry Potter minifigures so not bad.

Here’s the final set. I like how they created the offset angle of the upper level. My Non-LEGO Spouse originally saw it and thought I didn’t connect everything. I had to explain that it was built that way. A nice touch.

Overall a good set that closely follows the Harry Potter version from the movie at an age 9+ range with just over 1,000 pieces. There are some good building techniques, but nothing overly challenging. For MOC builders you get some good pieces to pick from for your own builds. Price wise it is not bad, but it could be cheaper. I didn’t find it on sale, but I did get it with a freebie so that helped. If you wait a bit longer, you might be able to pick it up on sale. Just don’t wait too long and have it retire.

And that closes out the 2020 Harry Potter line for me. What are your thoughts on this set?

Happy building!

Set Review - #71029 - Series 21 - Collectible Minifigures

Yeah, yeah… I complained about them and now I finished the collection thanks to SteineHelden.de. These 12 minifigures were released on 1 January 2021 and are still available at the time of this post. I had a not so fun time trying to get all of these, but I finally managed. Supposedly the new box of 36 has three full sets. Only where do you get a full box?

I paid the full $4.99 from LEGO Shop @ Home, I bought a few from LEGO.de for ~$4.84 and then SteineHelden’s price worked out to about $4.50. Not my ideal price, but I can’t complain as compared to prices in the US.

If you’ve read any of my Collectible Minifigure reviews, I’m a big fan of the non-licensed versions. I think the designers come up with some creative minifigures that can be used in individual scenes, in cities, or whatever MOC you are working on. Series 21 is no different. Despite having only 12 in this go around, I think the mix of minifigures is good between costumed minifigures, fantasy and historical minifigures, and modern day city people.

If you’re a fan of Collectible Minifigures, definitely pick these up. Try and find sales if you can as these things are not cheap in my opinion.

A quick write up on each figure is below. What are your thoughts?

Happy building!

---

Two costumed minifigures in this set. Ladybird Girl as Brickset refers to it comes with the ladybug wings, 2 1x1 round tile printed ladybugs, and a hat with antenna. This one is pretty cute.

Pug Costume Guy is a fun dog that comes with two toy bones to hold onto. I like the ears on the dog helmet.

---

The Paddle Surfer is decked out with a lot of gear. You get a surf board, a paddle, a life jacket, and a dolphin. The minifigure head is either sun glasses or without on the other side. This one is good for any beach scene and the dolphin is a great add for any city beach or even a pirate scene.

The Shipwreck Survivor has his bottle to put a note in and a small hermit crab to go with the minifigure.

---

Two kids in this series. Violin Kid comes with a kid sized violin and then he uses a wand as his bow. This one is pretty creative and I like the idea of minifigures with instruments.

Airplane Girl come with a full up airplane costume along with a helmet and goggles. She also comes with a hair piece if you want to use her without the costume. Has anyone seen the Amelia Earhart gift with purchase release coming out? I wonder if these two are tied in?

---

The Beekeeper is a fun concept. I could see someone making some bee hives to go with a farm scene.

Space Police Guy is a nod to the space fans from back in the day. I still have some of the original space police sets and it’s cool to have another more modern figure to go with them.

---

Ancient Warrior seems to be from the Aztec type days. Or maybe Mayan? I’m not sure, but it’s cool looking.

Alien comes with a crystal and a crow bar. Your chance to be creative here to come up with what that alien could be doing.

---

The Cabaret Singer comes with a microphone stand, a microphone, a giant head piece, and a cape. This picture is big only because of the next minifigure and I couldn’t fit them in together…

---

The Centaur Warrior is cool looking, but my only complaint with the set. She comes with a quiver of arrows for her back, but if you put the quiver on, you can’t put her hair on without her head sticking up. I tried to angle the head slightly, but the hair still doesn’t fit. The simple answer is to take the quiver off. Then why have the bow and arrow? Maybe she can just hold the apple…

---

Set Review - #71028 - Harry Potter Series 2 - Collectible Minifigures

I ranted last week about Collectible Minifigures and this week I can stop complaining. I placed an order with SteineHelden.de (sorry USA, they only sell in Germany) and finally was able to complete this series released in the US back on 1 September 2020 and since retired at LEGO Shop @ Home.

This series has 16 total minifigures which differs from the first series where they had 22 total. Pricing is still $4.99 each in the US. The extended German lockdown has made it impossible to go to stores for the “feel” check so you have to buy a bunch online and hope for the best. I got a few on sale here for around $3.45 each which was great, but the rest ranged from $4.70 to the US retail price of $4.99. Apparently the days of sales on these things where they are around $3.50 or less are gone.

I won’t spend a ton of time going over these minifigures as they are already retired and I’m late to the game. I will say that I appreciated how the minifigures could be mixed in with some of the 2020 Harry Potter sets. For example #75969-1: Hogwarts Astronomy Tower includes a scene from the sixth book/movie where they are at the Slug Club Christmas party. The Ginny minifigure can be added to that scene. Also the astronomy tower has part of the green house where Professor Sprout teaches. So good job LEGO on that one.

Onto the minifigures…

---

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are in the outfits from book/movie #6 (“The Half Blood Prince.” They go to The Three Broomsticks for butter beer with Harry. They each come with wands and a mug of the beverage.

---

Harry’s parents, James Potter and Lily Potter always appear in flashbacks or as ghosts in the books/movies as they are no long alive. In minifigure form, James comes with a picture that Harry has and Lily has a baby Harry which is wrapped up tightly.

---

As mentioned, Ginny Weasley is in her Slug Club Christmas party outfit. Harry has the potions book from “The Half Blood Prince.”

---

Fred and George Weasley have their tricks to sell other students from the sixth book/movie (I think) and the Marauder’s map which they gave Harry. Fred is on the left and George is on the right in the picture. Or at least that’s what Brickset.com says.

---

Griphook is a goblin who works at Gringotts Bank. This figure is from the last movie where he helps the gang break into a vault. He comes with a key (actually a set of 2) and then the sword of Gryffindor (which is cool looking). Next is Moaning Myrtle. She comes with a copy of Tom Riddle’s diary from the second book/movie. I like how they added the poseable stand so you can make it look like she is floating as she is a ghost.

---

I’m not sure which book/movie he first appears in, but Kingsley Shacklebolt is a member of the Order of the Phoenix and comes here in his full robes with a wand and broom. As mentioned already, Professor Pomona Sprout is decked out to teach students how to re-pot mandrakes from book/movie #2 (“Chamber of Secrets”). I like how they created the mandrake plant by printing on a 1x1 round brick.

---

Neville Longbottom comes with a Monster Book of Monsters and a wand as depicted in “The Prisoner of Azkaban” (book/movie 3). Luna Lovegood is decked out in her quidditch lion hat to show her support for Gryffindor. She also comes with a blond hair piece if you want to switch them out. This is from book/movie #5.

---

Next is Bellatrix Lestrange in her Azkaban uniform. She has a wand, hand cuffs, and her prisoner number on a 1x2 tile. This is from “Order of the Phoenix” (book/movie 5).

Albus Dumbledore is last in my review with a wand and Fawkes his phoenix. Fawkes first appears in the second book/movie (“The Chamber of Secrets”).

Now that I finally collected them all, it’s a good mix of characters from various parts of the book/movie series. I like the mix and the ability to use them in other sets.

Now LEGO needs to figure out how to sell them to allow you to get all of them without going through great pains or spending a lot of money.

Set Review - #21324-1: 123 Sesame Street - LEGO® Ideas

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street? If not, don’t worry because LEGO can. Ideas set #32 is #21324-1: 123 Sesame Street. Released on 1 November 2020 in the US, it contains 1,368 pieces and 6 minifigures. At $119.99 this set works out to $0.088/piece. This took a while to arrive after I ordered it and then it took me even longer to find time to build it. I’m finally finished so here’s the review.

The box shows the full set on the front and then the back side of the set on the back. It has all of the Ideas logos on it, but the bottom also shows the 18+ packaging. So interesting how it falls into two product categories that LEGO has. The back of the box as well as one of the sides have pictures of some of the actual characters too. I posted a picture of the minifigures on the box as well.

This set contains 12 parts bags. The bags are numbered one through six with two each number except for bag four. There is one unnumbered parts bag that contains some of the larger plates.

The instructions and stickers are packaged in a bag as well.

The instruction book is similar to other Ideas sets. It has some info on Sesame Street, info on the LEGO designers, and info on the fan designer.

There are a number of stickers. I’m not a fan of stickers, but there aren’t too many here and they do help add some fun details.

The first two bags assemble the base and start on the main part of 123 Sesame Street. The base is similar to Architecture themes or some of the recent Ideas themes. Instead of a big base plate, a number of plates are attached together. This makes sense for this set as it allows you to create the corner of the street.

You don’t build much of the base of the first building. It is mainly the foundation with a start to a few details on the outside to include Big Bird’s nest area, the front stairs, and the area where Oscar lives. There’s a spider and web that you bury in the foundation area. I’m not sure of the reference to Sesame Street or if it is just included for fun, but it’s there. You also get some fun colored pieces in the bottom that you can substitute out for other uses if you want.

The minifigure is Big Bird. Big bird is taller than the rest as expected, but the torso and head is rubbery versus the ABS plastic. Not really a complaint in my mind. Just an observation.

The second set of bags builds up the first floor of 123 Sesame Street. You get a bedroom which we can assume belongs to Elmo (the minifigure included in these bags). It includes some pictures of Elmo and his Dad and Rosita and Zoe. There’s a lamp and the standard 2x2 printed tile with a picture of a bridge on it that appears in a lot of sets. There’s an old fashioned phone on the wall. The floor includes a large 6x6 tile piece as a rug. There are some additional details which are completed later.

The third set of bags builds up the second floor which is where Ernie and Bert live. On the outside, the window pattern is the same as the first floor. It adds in the doors to the first floor, the lights on the sides of the door, and an architectural design above the door.

Inside the second floor, you build up the tub along with Rubber Duckie. Additionally, there is a book shelf along the wall and a rug on the floor. More details will be built later.

Ernie comes in this set of bags and he is smaller than Elmo. I think the show portrays Elmo as smaller, but I’m not sure. I realize LEGO has limitations when designing and probably not a huge deal, but I would think Ernie would be larger. Although you have to watch proportions as then you’d have to make Big Bird even bigger.

The fourth bag finishes up the second floor. Included are beds for Ernie and Bert, a picture of Ernie and Bert, some toys on shelves to include a dinosaur and ball, and Bert’s paper clip collection. You also add in the chair Bert usually sits in. The roof is not a complete cover, but two triangular plates. I’m not sure why this is, but it can easily be fixed if you have your own parts stash. You add in a chimney, a TV antenna, some birds, and a cage area. Maybe the cage is for Bert’s pigeons?

The Bert minifigure comes in this bag. He is taller than Ernie so that is good and they accurately portray the outfit he is always found in.

The fifth set of bags builds Hooper’s Store. The first floor is the small store area with a few food items to buy, and a counter to sell from. Outside is a box with some veggies and the recipe to Bert’s oatmeal. The second floor has a small sitting area with a chair, an old fashioned TV showing Guy Smiley, a portrait of The Count, a bus picture on the wall, and a gold frog and minfigure statue on the shelf. There is a bat on the roof for The Count. The roof here also has a triangular section like 123 Sesame Street. It has a small air conditioning unit/ventilation unit. Lots of details here… very fun and nostalgic. I like the VCR and 1x2 tiles used as video tapes.

Cookie Monster comes in this build. He has 2 cookies in his hand to go with another one you can attach to the floor.

The sixth set of bags wraps this set up. The final minifigure is added which is Oscar the Grouch. Oscar is really just a head that is added into some pieces with the trash can. It’s not a full minifigure which I’m okay with as usually you only saw his head and hands anyways.

Details are added in the corner to include a seating area for Hooper’s Store and a lamp post. On the side of 123 Sesame Street is a fire escape, a small garden near the sticker of Abby Cadabby (this was added earlier), and a sticker advertising Biff and Sully’s Construction company.

At this point the build goes in a few directions. Additional details are added on the first floor to include some toys for Elmo. Big Bird’s nest is built up and Radar, his bear is added in. Trash is added near Oscar’s can. A UFO is placed on the roof for the aliens that say “yep, yep, yup,” and the mailbox that can walk around is placed on the street.

The famous 123 Sesame Street sign is added with the green lamp post. Thankfully this is not a sticker. I failed to pay attention to the clear minifigure head used inside of the light. Take note that there are two and one has Elmo’s fish Dorothy on it.

I’m probably missing a bunch of details here. There are a lot in the set and the designers definitely tried to capture as many as they could to truly make it Sesame Street.

Overall, I think this is a great set, but then again I grew up watching Sesame Street and I’m sure that’s why. It might not be a big hit for non-Sesame Street fans. Pricewise, it’s not too bad at just under 9 cents per piece. I doubt you will find this one on sale in the future, but you can get it on a future double VIP point day or with a cool gift with purchase deal in the future. I definitely recommend this set for current or past Sesame Street fans. For MOC builders, there are some cool parts to use elsewhere too. If you aren’t into Sesame Street, then I would skip this one as you probably won’t enjoy all of the details.

One final note… I saw this on another review… the edges of the buildings have holes for Technic pins. One thought is just so you can attach this to other buildings you create or have as desired. The other is that potentially there will be more coming from Sesame Street in the future. You never know if they will have more of a licensed theme, but I like the idea of being able to attach it to City themed buildings, MOCed buildings, or even modulars.

What did you think of this one? Did they capture the aspects of Sesame Street? Did they get the minifigures right or should they have included others?

Happy building!

Set Review - #75978-1: Diagon Alley - Harry Potter

I’ve had this one for a bit and finally got it finished and a blog post ready to go. #75978-1: Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter line is built! The last big one for the Harry Potter theme was #71043-1 - Hogwarts Castle in 2018 and this is the next big set in 2020. It was released on 1 September 2020 in the US. It contains 5,544 pieces and 17 minifigures. The set retails for $399.99 in the US which works out to $0.072 per piece.

I’m a Potter fan and decided to pick up the set. I got it before Christmas along with two free gifts (#634602: Buildable Teal brick and #40410-1: Charles Dickens Tribute). I also got 10% back on Rakuten versus their normal 2.5% so $40 back is awesome (you can see post about it here… and no I am not getting paid to advertise for them). I also had a $50 gift card so $90 off and two gift with purchase sets work for me.

Onto the review… It’s a giant box. The box is labeled as a 16+ set. The front shows the full set and the back shows some details, lists out the separate buildings, and shows the insides of the set. On the side of the box you can see all of the minifigures as well as some of the scenes you can create.

The box has a large white box in it as well as some parts bags. Those bags are numbered 9 through 20. Opening the white box reveals bags 1 through 8, box 21, the instructions and stickers, the base plates, and an parts bag without a number. I count 41 bags of parts, a box, and the base plates. I might be off a bag or two.

There are four instruction books. Each book is tied to what is built on one of the 16x32 gray baseplates. The books have some good write ups about the set to include details on each building, info on the designers and product team, and info on the minifigures.

Each building comes with a sticker sheet. As you can see, the Weasley’s Joke Shop has quite a few. I am not a fan of stickers, but these really do add some great detail to the set. The only downside is how some stickers are split up between pieces. A sign should have a smooth flow, but instead is broken up between two or three pieces. If you center the stickers, it looks weird, but if put two closer together, the third may look odd. Has anyone built the set without stickers? How does it look?

The first buildings are Ollivanders™ Wand Shop and Scribbulus.

The first bags start the base. This build and the rest have a sidewalk made mostly with tiles and then part of the street made up of various plates and tiles. Bag one starts the front of Ollivanders and then the first floor of Scribbulus. I don’t recall Scribbulus being in the movie at all so I will assume the designers got this shop correct.

The second bag includes Garrick Ollivander. He is holding a wand box with a wand on the inside. I don’t recall seeing this item before. The box allows for a 1x3 tile to be placed on the top and it fits the standard Harry Potter wand size. Throughout the build, there are numerous versions of these boxes to show the stock of the store along with some plates and bricks to look like boxes on the shelf. This part of the build includes a set of stairs. The stairs are on a hinge and can fold in. This allows you to place the buildings back to back versus all connected in a row.

Bag 3 starts work on the second floor and adds in windows on the first and second floors. The tiles in the windows are translucent yellow which adds a nice touch to the building versus just using clear. I also like the use of all of the textured bricks to add some detail/texture to the building façade.

The windows appear to be round with the use of curved plates and tiles. This style of build has been done before and I think it fits in good here.

Hermione Granger comes with this bag.

The fourth bag adds a sitting room with a fireplace above Scribbulus. It looks like it would fit for any wizard who needs it. It adds to the second floor of Ollivander’s too.

The fifth bag finishes this build with the roof and chimneys, another room of wands in Ollivander’s, and some owls. The chimney that is slightly crooked is a nice touch. The hinge pieces don’t exactly fit in asthetically, but the chimney seems to fit the magical world of Harry Potter. The second floor of Ollivander’s has a desk, a ladder, a chair, and another shelf of wands. You get 3 owls with this build. Hedwig and then two others. Hedwig is connected with a clear pole piece and he is flying a copy of the Daily Prophet. The other two are perched on Ollivander’s.

One last item is the various flags/signs on the buildings to advertise for the stores. I like how they are done and think they look cool, but the stickers are a pain. One on each side of the piece. It really put my sticker applying skills to the test.

The sixth set of bags start Quality Quidditch™ Supplies and The Daily Prophet™. The sidewalk and road are similar to the previous building. The Quidditch shop has some fun details inside to include brooms, minifigures displaying uniforms, and various uniforms stacked on shelves.

The Daily Prophet seems like an after thought. Or there weren’t a lot of details available. It’s just an empty space with 2x2 tiles of the newspaper laying around.

The seventh bags add the front façade to the first floor of the Quidditch shop. The brick red with the greenish color fits in well. I love the printed red on the clear bricks to create the windows with the added clear cheese slopes. It almost has an Asian/Chinese Festival look to it. The Quidditch equipment above the door looks cool too.

I forgot to throw him in the picture, but Ron Weasley’s minifigure comes in this bag.

The eighth bags build the second floor of the shop to include more gear, clothes, and then a minifigure displaying a uniform. The pink color brightens things up after the dark grey and tan-ish color from Ollivander’s

The ninth set of bags finishes the set up. As mentioned, the Daily Prophet leaves a bit to be desired. A large spider web, stacks of papers, a rat eating cheese. and more newspapers. A desk or a magical printer maybe?

The Daily Prophet photographer shows up in this bag with a camera.

This one is another great building for the set. The Quidditch shop is the main selling point for me with the design of the first floor exterior. The interior details are cool too. No minifigure to work in the shop though.

The tenth bags build Flourish & Blotts and Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. Flourish & Blotts is used in the second book/movie “The Chamber of Secrets.” They actually go inside the store so I’m sure the designers had a bit more to go on than just some quick movie stills.

This part of the build includes Mrs. Weasley. It also starts to build Flourish & Blotts. A similar window type piece is used for this one as the Quidditch shop only it is green colored.

The eleventh set of bags builds the first floor section of Flourish & Blotts with some book shelves, a book display, and the stairwell. The stairs are on a hinge and they fold up if you want to put the buildings back to back.

This section also starts on the Ice Cream Parlor with the black and white checkered flooring, a shelf with some ice cream dishes, and the fun sticker with flavors on the wall.

Ginny Weasley’s minifigure comes with this bag to include a copy of Gilderoy Lockhart’s book “Magical Me.”

My pictures of build 12 are awful. Sorry about the bad lighting.

Here you build the counter in the ice cream parlor, some books on display outside of Flourish & Blotts, the first floor ceilings, the façade of Flourish & Blotts, and the awning of Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. There are some interesting build techniques. The awning is rather simple, with 1x3 plates stacked with clip pieces mixed in. They clip onto the building and then some lipstick type pieces are used to hold the awning up. The Flourish & Blotts façade with the signs is all brick built and stickers. I like how the angles were achieved and I’m glad they didn’t use a big piece to get it all done. The use of different sized slopes to achieve the roof of the first floor present a cool effect as well.

Florean Fortescue comes in this set of bags.

Bag 13 adds Harry Potter.

You also build the second floor of Flourish & Blotts. There is a window section that matches the signage below and then inside you get a book shelf, a lamp with a book on display, and another book display on the floor. Externally there is a simple, yet cool dragon head like gargoyle on either side of the windows. You also build the main sign and attach more stickers.

Bag 14 finishes up this section. You get Gilderoy Lockhart with another copy of his book, the desk for him to sit behind to sign books, a seating area outside of the ice cream parlor, the seating area display on the roof area of the ice cream parlor, and a lamp on the front. Inside the second floor of the ice cream parlor is a small sitting room with an arm chair, coffee table with tea set, lamp, and rug. The roof is completed for both buildings. The roof on the ice cream parlor matches the one on the first floor. Flourish & Blotts has a simple set of slopes.

As mentioned, there is a seating area outside of the ice cream parlor. The table is attached by studs, but the chairs are not. No big deal really unless you need to pick the set up. The desk is another story as it really doesn’t fit inside. I guess you could put it outside or build up a scene with additional bricks in the back? It kind of seems out of place.

I like this building with the different green colors of Flourish & Blotts and the roof and awning pieces of Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. So far, I’m enjoying the build. Even if there are a ton of stickers…

The last of the four buildings is Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes & Knockturn Alley. This one helps to mix up the movies/books a bit as Flourish & Blotts was spotlighted in the second book/movie and Weasley’s is from book #6. Knockturn Alley shows up a few times. Either way, I’m okay with the mixing of books/movies. You can set it up as desired and include/exclude buildings as you want.

Bag 15 starts off the Weasley’s store with some bright orange bricks to contrast some of the other buildings in the set. Knockturn alley is started too with an archway.

This bag contains Draco Mallfoy’s minifigure.

Bag 16 helps build out the first floor with a lot of details and items for purchase on shelves and display. This also means a lot of stickers too so get ready. You build a stairwell to the next level as well.

Lucius Malfoy comes in this bag. Unlike other Harry Potter sets, the minifigures don’t come with accessories here. Most of the other ones include wands for characters. Here they do not, but Lucius comes with his cane that he walks around with.

Bag 17 finished up the first floor. I like how they achieved the rounded section of the building while building up the windows to be at different angles. You also start work on the second floor. In the picture, I show the side of the building to highlight some of the larger stickers. The stickers for this build are numbered up to 41 and that doesn’t count where there are multiples of some stickers. Thankfully, the largest one is shown and the rest are smaller.

The George Weasley minifigure comes in this bag.

Bag 18 continues work on the second floor and completes the two story rounded window section. They use some clever techniques to fill up the corner and then put the figure in tipping his hat. Putting the brick built figure in was a bit challenging. I had to give it a few tries to get it right and it wasn’t exactly clear to me on the instructions.

Lots of stickers go on the outside of the building. As mentioned before, it was a challenge for me to space them out properly. This was especially hard on the orange curved pieces. I didn’t want the words to look disconnected, but I didn’t want there to look like there were large gaps in the lettering either. It would be nice if the stickers more closely matched the size of the brick you were putting it on. That way you wouldn’t have to guess as much.

Fred Weasley comes with this bag. If you can tell him apart from George that is…

Bag 19 finishes up the second floor and gets you stairs to the third level. The stairwell has a very colorful railing to brighten things up. You also add some balloons which need to be removed if you want to put the sets back to back.

On the outside, you build up Knockturn Alley with a “window to nothing” above the alleyway. I guess you could take it upon yourself to build up a building behind it. No complaints from me though. I like how the designers were able to achieve a crooked, angled window look without huge gaps.

Bag 20 wraps it up. The head is added to the figure in the front and there are some Technic elements used to make the character “tip” his hat. In the movie, a rabbit appears every other time he tips his hat. Obviously LEGO didn’t create that effect, but it’s cool to have some motion with the building. The hat doesn’t tip up too high for me, but I’m sure I could adjust it more if I wanted it to.

This building is a bit taller and the third floor has some inventory as well. The color contrast with the black and light purple/lavender color looks pretty cool.

You get another small build with this bag. It is a table where you can buy love potions as highlighted in book/movie #6. It’s a fun addition to the building, but like the desk for Flourish & Blotts, you can’t fit it in the building. So either extend the building or just set it behind the building with some of your own bricks.

This building was fun to put together with lots of different building techniques, colors, and elements. So many stickers though…

Then there’s box 21. It says “Silencio! Keep it between us.” I guess this is supposed to be a secret box so pretend you’re not reading this section. Although the instructions are included in book for so it’s not really secret. The box includes another Harry Potter minifigure. He has two faces with the other not pictured having dirt and dust from when he went through the flue network incorrectly during the second book/movie. It also includes Hagrid with his pink umbrella. You build a small stand for them to stand on and then behind them you attach a plate with a printed sign. It has the LEGO and Harry Potter logos along with a quote from the movie (and book?) from Hagrid to Harry. I think this is a nice addition to the set. Especially if you want to use this set as a display piece.

Besides the Harry and Hagrid minfigures in box 21, you get another 13 characters from the book/movie. I think it’s a good collection of minifigures to include some of the more popular and some of the ones we don’t normally see. They don’t come with too many accessories, but I think that’s okay. In the movie, you don’t see them with wands or other items unless they are buying things.

Here’s a picture of the final build all lined up. They are similar to the modular building series in that you can connect them, rearrange them, and for these you can put them front to back. No corner buildings or anything, but I guess that leaves it up to you to build them. I’m okay with the backs being open so you can see the details inside. I understand these are not modulars.

$400 is pretty steep for this set so definitely look for opportunities to get gifts with purchase or double VIP point bonuses. I got cash back and had a gift card so that helped.

Should you buy this set? I say this set is for Potter fans. A great addition to the world and a fun build if you know some of the details. This set is also for MOC builders. There are a ton of great pieces and great colors in this set. For about 7 cents a piece you can get some great parts. I’d love to see what some of the pro builders out there could do with this set.

If you aren’t a Potter fan or don’t want the pieces, I’d consider other sets first. Just my opinion.

I’m a Potter fan and I think the set was great. On a YouTuber I follow, it was mentioned that it would be great for the 2021 Potter sets to add onto Diagon Alley. What if they did a Gringots set you could add to this street? It would be pretty awesome!

What did you think of this one? Better or worse than Hogwart’s Castle?

Happy building!

Set Review - #75551-1 Brick-Built Minions and Their Lair - Minions: The Rise of Gru

We had the original “Despicable Me” movie, then the sequels, then spin offs, and now that we have brick built Minions, we’re all set, right? Released on 27 April 2020 in the US, this set contains 876 pieces and 3 minifigures. It retails for $49.99 in the US which works out to $0.057 per piece. I found it for 20% off on Amazon.com so $10 off which helped although five cents a piece is pretty good.

This set contains minifigures for the three main Minions who are Kevin, Stuart, and Bob. Then you can build larger versions of all three. Unfortunately you can’t build all three at once. You can build Stuart and then Kevin or Bob. You need another version of the set or some of your own bricks to have all three at once. Is it worth it? Onto the review…

Here is the front and then the back of the box. The front shows the larger Stuart and Kevin with all three minifigures. It also shows how the larger Minions open up in the back to show their lairs. The back shows the internals of all three, it shows you how the eyes spin, and then shows that you can switch Kevin to be Bob.

The set contains five parts bags. Two are labeled with a 1 and three are labeled with a 2. One of the first bags contains a piece separator. There is a sticker sheet with a bunch of stickers and then two instruction booklets. The first booklet builds Stuart and the second builds Kevin and Bob.

The first two bags build Stuart. He is distinguishable by his sole eye. The outer body is a similar build for all three minions except for some minor differences (height, eye color, hair, and the mouth piece. The eye and mouth are all printed pieces so if you just wanted the Minions without all of the internals, you could get away with out using any of the stickers.

One thing that doesn’t quite work with this build is the torso and head of the Minion is not even with the top part of the head. There is a slight break where the curves are not quite even. Considering it’s built with LEGO bricks, we can’t complain, but it does make me wonder if there’s another way to make the head seem a bit more smooth.

Stuart has a cool pad to hang out in with a sound system, dart board, boomerang, and a fold down bed. Above his bed and connected to his eye is a 2x2 round brick to spin his eye around

The second set of bag builds Kevin (listed first in the instructions). Kevin is built similar to Stuart only he is a few studs taller. Additionally, he has two eyes versus the one. There are gears in place so both eyes can spin. He has a small smile compared to Stuart’s open mouth. Additionally, he has a small sprig of hair versus Stuart’s hair.

Inside Kevin has his command center with various screens and dials. He also has his fire extinguisher and some tools along with a banana to snack on. Lots of stickers, but not too bad to assemble. The minifigure is pretty similar only smaller.

The second set of instructions starts from scratch again. It doesn’t give any guidance as to whether you should disassemble all of the parts of Kevin or certain parts. I kept the bottom intact and then parts of the top, but the internals are all swapped out so you are forced to make take apart most of the pieces.

The assembly of Bob is similar to that of Kevin only he is shorter. Inside he has some weapons and a few posters. Also one of his eyes is green versus two brown like Kevin.

Overall it’s a good build. The three Minions are built mostly the same, but they have enough differences to make it interesting. You get some decent pieces as well. The larger Minions have some good play features and while you can have all three assembled at once, you can easily switch them out. The minifigures are pretty good too and you get some hats to put on them as well. With a 20% discount, I couldn’t complain with the price. Definitely a must buy for any brick and Minion fans.

What are your thoughts on this one? We saw a larger character with #75979-1: Hedwig. We also have the larger sized Minions. Will there be more? Should they have put all three larger Minions into the set? Will it force people to buy two sets so they can get all three?

Happy building!

How I Got an Orange Classic Space Minifigure

I attended BrickCon 2020 virtually back in early October 2020 and finally got to building the convention model (I was building something else). You can see my other posts here and here. If you look at the post about SWAG you can see all of the stuff I got (for a fee). The set came in this small box with a printed sticker on it. The sticker has the Convention logo and some views of the set.

One of the big highlights is the minifigure in the set. It’s an orange classic space minifigure. If you’re reading this after 2020, this was the year the orange spaceman joined the crew which could be found in the LEGO Minifigure: A Visual History. Instead of buying the book to get the minifigure, I got this set. The difference is the minifigure cranium. The one from the book is the classic yellow with two dots for eyes and the single line smile. The one in the BrickCon set is a female with some eyebrows and lipstick. Anyways, this adds to the other recent additions to include the ones found in #70841-1: Benny’s Space Squad (2019) and then the LEGO Ideas #21109-1: Exo Suit from 2014.

Since it’s not an official set, it comes with some instructions and a standard plastic bag filled to the brim with parts. No piece separator here and the instructions don’t have anything about the designer. By the way, the designer was Chris Malloy. He’s the managing editor of The Brother’s Brick and designed a great set. His page is here.

Here’s the completed set. There are four 8x8 stud plates. Each one is connected to the others with Technic pins. It is designed so that you can add additional plates to the set as well. From left to right, you start with the the ladder from the space ship that the spacewoman climbed down. Then the next one is part of a castle wall with a deceased guard next to his spear and flag. There are a few pumpkin like plants with some leaves growing out of them. The final plate has part of a façade that has fallen over. There are some plants growing on them and the paint is wearing off (from white to gray).

Unlike official LEGO sets, there are some connections that wouldn’t fly. They are a bit flimsy and you have to be pretty delicate when assembling everything.

Also, the parts selection is pretty impressive. Besides the orange spacewoman, there are some less common parts. The pumpkins, the plants, the yellow and black branches, a silver curved tile, and a few others. Even if you don’t like the model, there are plenty of parts for other sets.

Did you attend Virtual BrickCon 2020 and did you get the set? Did you like it?

Happy building!