The Tropical aquarium is a premium LEGO® set, which at first glance seeks to tie the neat parts usage that characterises the Botanicals range, with the less official ‘Life Size Objects’ sub-theme that we have seen in recent years across LEGO ICONS and IDEAS. This represents a landmark in LEGO Set marketing: to date, it is the most expensive set released that does not tie in with any preexisting external intellectual property. I also recognise that if you are considering whether or not you are going to spend $AUD699.99/USD379.99/ €449.99 / £399.99, you probably want to be pretty sure that this is a set for you. The set represents a significant multifactorial investment – in monetary terms, display space and the time taken to assemble. I am grateful that the LEGO Group sent a copy of this set over for review: all my opinions are my own, as much as can be possible.
In this first part of a multi-post review, I will look at the set itself, including the building experience.
In our next installment, I’ll show you some of the things that I learned from building the set. In part three, we will consider some ways you mightchoose to customise the display. In our final part, we will examine whether or not there is actual value for money in the set.
