LEGO® Creator 3 in1 is going in for creature modeling in a big way in 2025, with six of the nine new sets featuring creatures, real or imagined. The LEGO Group have sent a few of these sets over for review. (all opinions are my own)
Today, I’d like to look at 31165 Wild Animals: Panda Family. With 626 pieces, and priced at $AUD59.99 / $USD39.99/ €39.99/ £34.99. the set brings us builds with the theme of animal families – featuring an adult and its young. Here the builds include Pandas; Orca and Penguins. Lets take a closer look.
Another review from Branko today. We asked for a copy of 31158 Sea Animals to look at (Thank you LEGO® Team), and what started as a simple look at a nice looking set got a bit out of hand!
Botanical sets have become an integral part of the Grown-up LEGO® Experience. Since the release of the first life-sized flowers in 2021, they have become such a regular and expected release that LEGO has now decided to explicitly dedicate a theme to it: Botanicals, rather than continue to release them under the generic ‘ICONS’ banner. The theme is expanding in a way that suggests that it is popular (see these newly announced sets and this Botanic garden). But today I would like to look at an alternative to these plants, that may serve a similar purpose: Aquascaping!
An aquarium serves a similar purpose of colourful natural decoration, emphasizing moving living creatures more than plants, so how does this translate to LEGO? Is it possible to create a pleasant natural decoration based on underwater creatures as an alternative to plants?
[Words: Ramblingbrick; Pictures: BrankoTheFather] Since we posted Branko’s review of the Lunar Rover a couple of days ago, I have been asked several questions, including “What is the Scale?” and “Will the 31152 Creator 3in1 Astronaut fit in it?” Branko didn’t really address this in his original review, so today, we thought we should take a closer look.
Dinosaurs are a perennial favourite of the LEGO® Creator range, with no fewer than 18 sets released since 2004, and the latest 31151 T.Rex brings us several alternatives: new brick-built T.Rex, Triceratops and Pteranodon models to put together. But wait. This combination of dinosaurs has appeared in the same box before: in 2017’s 31058 Mighty Dinosaurs – (and its colour-swapped alternatives77940 and 77941), a 174-piece Creator 3in1 set that has been diligently moving off the shelves since 2017. If nothing else, this demonstrates the popularity of Brick-Built dinosaurs, even in the setting of great-looking (but expensive)moulded models from the Jurassic World saga.
This model is part of the latest(June 2024) wave of LEGO Creator 3in1 sets and has 626 pieces. It has a recommended retail price of $AUD89.99/$USD59.99/€59.99/£54.99. Thanks to the LEGO Group for sending this set for an early review.
But perhaps the most intriguing matchup with the options in this set released in recent years is 21320 Dinosaur Fossils – a LEGO Ideas set from 2019 that features skeletons for each of the dinosaurs depicted in this new set. Let’s take a closer look at the models in this set and compare them against the models present in 21320 and what is involved in putting them together.
Today,we have another of our 2024 Creator 3in1 set reviews from Branko: 31149 Flowers in Watering Can. It’s available now, But is it for you? Read on to find out what he thinks…
When faced with the question ‘what LEGO set should I buy’ an easy answer would always be :”Go for a Creator 3-in-1 set, you cannot go wrong.” Until now. I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this set ‘31149 Flowers in Watering Can’, released on the 1st of January 2024, with 420 pieces priced at $AUD49.99 /USD29.99 /€29.99 /£24.99.
I firmly believe that this set is the right set for someone so I will set out what it has to offer and how it compares to other offerings from LEGO.
Read on to find out if this set is for you.
This review will consist of the following sections:
Today, I’d like to welcome Branko as a contributor to the Rambling Brick Team. He’s been providing some editorial assistance for a little while, and today we publish the first of his reviews.
When LEGO recovered from their near bankruptcy, they re-focused on what LEGO does well; building different things with the same bricks. For me that was highlighted best with the animal sets, and this Wild Safari Animals box reminds me a lot of one of my old-time favourites: 4884 Wild hunters. That is a very good start.
31150 Wild Safari Animals is the largest of LEGO’s creator 3-in-1 set launched in January 2024 and will set you back AU$99.99/£59.99/$64.99/€64.99 for 780 pieces (pretty similar across currencies at time of writing). The tent-pole of this set is the tall giraffe with flamingo and tree, both of which are already great, but in addition alternate instructions are included for a lion with butterfly or a pair of gazelle. With this set you should not be wondering if you should buy it, but rather, should you buy one, two or more!
This box is filled with pieces in soft colours that are usually quite rare (Medium Orange, Nougat, Medium Nougat, Magenta, Dark Pink, Bright Pink), a nice build experience without repetition, and five models that each deserve to be seen
Isn’t there anything disappointing about this set? Surely LEGO cannot release a perfect set right at the start of the year? Read on to find out; there will be animals, there will be LEGO pieces, there will be Pilates with impressive core control and there may be a crocodile and perhaps even a tiger (in Africa?)!
I’ll look at three mains aspects of this set to determine its worth; the finished sets, the pieces provided in this set, and the experience of building these models. For a set to be considered perfect it will need to score well in all these categories, as well as a final value-for-money adjustment.
Here at the Rambling Brick, photography has given us a lot of joy over the years – from travel, our earliest dabblings in Toy Photography, work with other organisations, and even with the family around the home. My father was definately an influence with regards to this: He has been giving thought to how he takes photographs for a while. I remember him getting a new Pentax SLR prior to a trip to New Zealand back in the 70’s, following on to a chain of EOS… both analog and digital, before settling in recent years on a mirrorless Fuji device. How things have changed over the last 24 years!
And so it was with some seriously nostalgic vibes that I approached this build.
31147 Retro Camera is part of the January 1 2024 Creator 3in1 range, which (for creator 3in1) is unique, as it is the first time in some years that no sets in the wave have been designed at minifigure scale (with the possible exception of 31152 Space Astronaut, which has room for a minifigure to sit down inside its head.) No houses. No Vans. No Shopping Strips or Amusement Ground Rides. Just real world objects (along with a 35th anniversary helicopter carrying truck), all competing for display space on your shelves.
