Set #21333-1: Vincent Van Gogh - The Starry Night was released in the US on 28 May 2022. I’ve had the set for a bit, but it took a while to put together as my NLS wanted to help and doesn’t dedicate as much time to brick building as I do. It’s finished now and I’m happy to review it as this one is completely out of the ordinary from any set we’ve seen in the past in my opinion. It contains 2,316 pieces and retails for $169.99 in the US. That works out to $0.073 per piece which isn’t too bad.
We’ve seen a lot of designs hit the 10K votes mark on the Ideas platform and this was one that when it hit 10K, I really hoped it would become a set. It was selected and I think the designers did a great job sticking to the original design while making it better. I usually wait until the end to give my overall impressions, but I’ll give it up front for this one. This set is incredible! The colors and how the original work of art is portrayed in brick form are amazing. It was a fun build and it’s quickly recognizable as to what it is. I understand that it might not be something everyone will like, but if you have the slightest interest in this set, I recommend giving it a shot. You won’t be disappointed in my opinion.
The box shows the set on the front and then the back shows it on display, a comparison to the actual painting, and then the minifigure feature where you can put it on a stand as if it is painting while looking at the larger set.
The contents are 20 parts bags labeled one through nine, two loose plates, and then the instruction manual comes wrapped.
I got this note in my set. I have yet to see a set without any of the single use plastic packaging. Looking forward to it though.
The first bag builds the Van Gogh minifigure with a small easel to paint on. The minifigure comes with a brush and painting palette. Thankfully, there are no stickers and everything is printed.
You then start the build with some mostly sub structure underneath to support the village and the rest of the build.
The second bag starts some of the microbuild of the village. Even if you’re not a fan of the set, you still get some great parts in some cool colors. This build has a lot of plate usage so get ready for that if you decide to jump in.
The third bag builds a separate section of the painting that is attached later. We did a lot of double checking the instructions and making sure it was all done right after each layer. It helped having two people as we could check work and hunt for pieces to make the build go smoother. With that being said, we still made a bunch of mistakes during the build.
The fourth set of bags completes the separate build and attaches it to the main build. The interlay of colors and staggering of the plates looks fantastic. I like the micro build houses and the church in the center is cool.
The challenge we found was when you go to attach pieces or try to press parts together, various pieces would fall off since it is a SNOT build. I recommend being careful in how you hold it and where you apply pressure so it doesn’t fall apart.
The fifth set of bags builds the sky background. There was a definite bonus here to team building as one person grabbed plates while the other attached plates. We did our best to match the instructions, but could have been slightly off somewhere. I’m not sure it really matters as in the end, the goal is to build the sky and I’m pretty sure no one is going to sit next to your build and figure out whether it matches the instructions perfectly or not. For this section, you also attach some of the connections on the front for the stars as well as the piece on the back to hang the set up on a wall. This is the same piece used with the LEGO Art sets so I’m guessing it works fine, but I haven’t tried to hang it up yet.
Here’s a close up of the village area with the sky background and then some of the extra pieces. Most sets will have a few one by one plates or tiles left over, but this section had a larger number of plates left. I assume this was because you would have made a mistake and the designers understood how painful it would be to tear down the whole sky to grab a specific plate or two. Good thinking!
The sixth set of bags adds the frame. Don’t be intimidated by all the black pieces. It wasn’t too hard to assemble and I think it looks great and helps to make the set pop out versus just having the set on its own. It also includes a Technic pin on the bottom in the front right side that you can use to help the set stand up vertically on its own if you don’t hang it on a wall.
Number seven adds in some of the stars and then more of the sky just on the horizon. The printed disc/saucer pieces are a nice touch to the set and I think are an improvement from the fan build.
The eighth set of bags adds the… um… not an art history buff here… swirl? I’m not sure what it is, but it’s a cool add and I like how the designers created the curves and angles using the various pieces.
The ninth set of bags adds the big tree in the front, a few buildings, and then the Technic element to allow the minifig to “paint” in front of the set. I really enjoy how parts are added on top to show depth and to give it a three dimensional feel. The tree especially has a more realistic look on top of the “painting” as it is built on in layers of pieces.
It was great build, you get a lot of great pieces, and I think it looks amazing. This won’t go on sale anytime soon so wait for double VIP points or a cool GWP to snag this set. I highly recommend this one.
Happy building!
