There I was wondering where I was going to Ramble Next in my LEGO® Journey. I had a copy of the LEGO Minecraft set 31131 ‘The Ice Spikes’ in one hand, and the 31065 Creator Park Street Town house sitting on my desk, and the 10703 Classic Creative Builder Box waiting to be unboxed.

Why? You may well ask.  As regular readers may know, I frequently wax nostalgic, recalling the halcyon days of LEGO® sets in the mid 1970’s: The Basic Sets ushered in an era of blocky building styles, with a limited colour palette.  Basic Set #8 in particular springs to mind.  When looking through the old box art, I found this one reminded me in part of something I had seen a little more recently.  With 700 pieces in 7 colors, (including green and transparent clear), this was how many growing up at the time remember what building with LEGO bricks was like.  A few sloped bricks, but not many.  Overall,  it reminiscent of 3D 8-bit graphics, but from an era before 8 bit graphics were even considered.  Then mini figures came along, and nothing was quite the same again.

The spirit of these Basic Sets lives on in many themes: Creator would be where you go to build a house or other model based on everyday life, but those sets are particularly model driven.  Classic sets such as the Creative Building Box provide the elements for free building, but the colour palette is a little broader, with over 35 different colours appearing in the set.

And then there is Minecraft.  Originally an open world, sandbox sale game on multiple gaming and computer platforms, Minecraft was originally ported to LEGO® set form as an Cuusoo set in 2012 in microscale.  Now, twenty two sets and 5 years later, this is a theme in its own right. Capturing a variety of environments, with a relatively limited color palette, and a very blocky construction style, I could almost feel myself flashing back to childhood merely by looking at these sets.  And they actively encourage rearranging the set in different forms, but with less strict instructions than rearranging creator sets.

So there I was… getting ready to look at the a comparison between 3 sets with approximately 500 pieces each…and this arrives in my inbox:

THE PRESS RELEASE: 21137 The Mountain Cave

Ages 12+.  2,863 pieces.
US $249.99 – CA $299.99 – DE 249.99€ – UK £259.99 – DK 2099.00 DKK
*Euro pricing varies by country.  Please visit shop.LEGO.com for regional pricing.

Experience the Mountain Cave!

Build and experience the Mountain Cave, featuring an amazing minecart track with an integrated redstone‑powered minecart elevator, and an array of other features and functions, including TNT blasting, rotating spider‑spawner, charged Creeper™ explosion and a lava burst. Position the light brick to illuminate the rotating spider-spawner, wall of redstone, jack o’lantern, first-night shelter, furnace, lava or the torch above the cave entrance. Enjoy hands‑on Minecraft™ adventures featuring your favorite characters and objects with this easy-to-reconfigure, modular LEGO® Minecraft set designed for young fans of the highly successful sandbox video game. Includes Steve and Alex minifigures, plus 13 mobs including a charged Creeper™.
● Includes 2 minifigures: Steve and Alex, plus a cave spider, wolf, baby wolf, slime, 2 small slimes, 2 bats, zombie, enderman, skeleton, sheep and a charged Creeper™.

● Features a minecart track with an integrated redstone-powered minecart elevator; 2 minecarts; first-night shelter with bed, crafting table and torch; a mountaintop shelter with bed, torch and furnace; plus a light brick, trees, waterfall, lava and extra torches.

● Open up the model to access the detailed interior and remodel with easy-to-connect modular sections.
● Remove the diamond ore elements and activate the lava burst function.
● Activate the revolving cave-spider spawner.

● Trigger the charged Creeper™ explosion function.
● Jump aboard the minecart and race around the track, and travel to the mountaintop aboard the redstone powered minecart elevator.
● Blast through the mountain with the TNT to extend the rail track.
● Position the light brick to illuminate the rotating spider-spawner, wall of redstone, jack o’lantern, first-night-shelter, furnace, lava or the torch above the cave entrance.
● Enjoy easy access to the detailed interior.
● Put on your golden armor, grab your diamond sword and shield, and prepare for battle!
● Weapons include a sword and a bow.
● Accessory elements include a Minecraft™ clock, spider eyes, signs, map, golden armor, shield, TNT and 8 ore style elements, including diamond, lapis lazuli, emerald, redstone, golden, iron and 2 coal ores.
● Easy-to-reconfigure, modular design—choose from 3 different model configurations.
● Set your imagination free—rebuild the set for more LEGO® Minecraft™ creations!
● Measures over 12” (31cm) high, 20” (53cm) wide and 11” (29cm) deep.

Available for sale directly through LEGO^® beginningJuly 1, 2017 via shop.LEGO.com, LEGO® Stores.  VIP Access will be available from 15 June.

So, this brings back so many ideas of how 6 year old me would have built with LEGO bricks, if I had the bricks.  A lot of LEGO as a kid is never nearly as much as ‘quite a bit of a LEGO collection’ as an adult.

I’ll get back to comparing those sets i mentioned soon. But what do you think of the Mountain Cave?  It’s huge! I wonder what I will cost when it arrives in Australia? Last year’s Village 21128 with 1600 pieces retails for $AUD350.  With 2800 pieces, it may be edging closer to $500 or more.[thanks to Dean: Australian RRP will be $AUD399.99]  Do you like the look of it? Or do you think its a few too many light blueish grey bricks out of 2800 odd elements?

Write your thoughts in the comments below.

Play Well