When we got our first peek art the 2020/ Year of the Rat LEGO Sets, my first impression was that they were some of the most beautiful LEGO sets I have ever seen. The design aesthetic is quite different to that seen typically with LEGO City, Castle or even Creator Expert sets. What I must say is that I appreciate the work done by the AFOL Engagement team at LEGO, who made representation to the Global Marketing team last year – and as such, these sets are now available around the world – not merely limited to the Asia-Pacific region. When they became available locally, I headed out to pick them up, and I must say, I am delighted.
I have been feeling a hankering for Mandalorians, following the series finale of ‘The Mandalorian’ on Disney+ last week. Unfortunately, I have been unable to secure either of the sets associated with the series at this time. So I had a look through my shelves and found the next best thing: a set with Boba Fett: the 75423 20th Anniversary Slave I. The LEGO® AFOL Engagement Team sent this set to me last year, along with other sets in the 20th Anniversary range (20th anniversary of LEGO® Star Wars that is). However, by the time I got those sets built, I was a little exhausted by LEGO® Star Wars – and so I put the set on the shelf for a while, awaiting inspiration. And today inspiration had finally arrived, so I opened up bag 1 and started to build . All opinions are my own.
Slave I is one of the spaceships from Star Wars most frequently represented in LEGO® form. Despite having less than 2 minutes of screen time between 1980 and 2000, Boba Fett’s spaceship has appeared in at least 10 sets – 1 UCS, 5’minifigure’ scale and 4 microscale, 2 magazine cover gifts, a keychain and two Advent Calendars. Certainly it has a distinctive shape, and is readily amenable to representation in LEGO bricks, at any scale. That said, none of these representations is perfect.
I was recently sent some examples of the new Xtra sets for 2020. These can be great little parts packs to enhance the quality of a small vignette, but perhaps can be expensive compared with other ways to increase your supply of the elements enclosed. I compared the new 40376 Botanical Accessories with 40310, from 2018.
The older set has retired in some markets from shop.lego.com (including Australia), but you might still find it in your LEGO Branded Stores. The new pack was released on 1st January 2020.
When we look at the bags side by side, you get a pretty good idea of what you are getting yourself into, with all elements illustrated on the front.
The original version had a large and a small tree, a shrub, some examples of the ‘new flowers and leaves’ as well as a white picket fence, and some spurs of 3 leaves. In addition to these parts, we also receive 2 frogs in yellow.
In the new version, we have two small conifer trees, as well as a small brick built tree in blossom. Again there are two fence elements (in reddish brown) and some of the relatively new ‘curly grass.’ We also have some of the new flowers in light royal blue and the new daisy design. We have two ‘bamboo elements’ used for the base of the flowers, although the 2018 leaf is included, in both bright green and orange. We also have 2 small 2×3 foliage elements in white.These can be substituted for the bright yellowish Green ones on the tree, for a more wintery feel. I like the addition of the buildable tree to this set – it feels as though there is a little more to it than the set from 2018.
Here are elements included in each set, initially as they are in the bag, and then after putting together the flower stems and the like.
Its all very well having these parts around the place, but what can we do with them. I think each pack works quite well as a way to create a lilt garden/pice of parkland:
Perhaps I would have been better off aiming for a wintery tree instead of using the white elements here… but I thought they both work quite well as a way to provide some scenery for a simple minidoll.
I think I prefer the versatility of the new set over the old: the 3-leaf plants feel quite different to the current generation of LEGO flowers. Personally, I am not a fan of the bamboo leaves under the flowers, but there are plenty of other elements to use with the flower stem.
At $USD3.99/€3.99/£2.99/AUD6.99 each, I would not recommend these as a way to buy these parts in bulk, with the possible exception of the trees. The floral elements, as well as the new leaves in green I have found in pick a brick walls at our local certified stores.
I was sent a copy of the 40376 Botanical Accessories by the LEGO group for review purposes, and had a copy of the earlier set floating around, looking for an opportunity to escape from its polybag. With the exceptions of a couple of polybags, that may not find their way into routine retail channels, the Xtra sets (and classic Blue/Green boxes) are some of the only sets available this year with a RRP less than £5/$USD5. I give both of these backs 3/5 Arbitrary praise units. As a way to quickly enhance a small scene, they are great BUT they are not necessarily the best way to bulk up your supplies of the smaller elements.
What do you think of these two sets? Do you prefer the old or the new? Leave your comments below and until next time,
Play Well.
While you are here,
You have probably heard about the current Bushfire emergency, currently engulfing the eastern states of Australia. Over 11 million hectares has been affected by the fires.
The new Brickheadz 40383 Bride and 40384 Groom sets arrived just in time to sit down and build them together with my wife on our wedding anniversary. Do they have everything we need to customise a happy couple on their wedding day? Read on to find out…
I would like to share a little bit of personal news with you. It’s not directly related to LEGO bricks, but stay with me. I’m sure we can find a way to bring it around.
No sooner is Christmas in the immediate past ( as I write this, it was yesterday), but the LEGO Group have a new range of seasonal sets to release. Back in October, it was announced that following the unprecedented success of the Chinese New Year/Spring Festival sets last year, that there would be a follow up this year as well, focussing on the Temple Spring Market and Lion dance. These are now available in the Asia Pacific markets, with global release following in January.
But wait, there’s more. Just as last year we had the Brickheadz Dragon Dance Guy, this year we have another Asian cultural icon, 40436 Lucky Cat. Perhaps the relative paucity of BrickHeadz sets in 2019 was a correction, after filling the market with licensed characters. Perhaps the seasonal Brickheadz, with the occasional licensed character will be the new norm. This set is due for release on January 1st, and I was fortunate enough to have been sent a preview copy by the AFOL Engagement team of the LEGO Group.
80 Years ago this year, Batman made his first appearance in Detective Comics #27. Thirty years and three weeks ago, Tim Burton’s Batman (with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson) premiered in Australia, a couple of months after it appeared in the USA. I couldn’t get to the film for a couple of weeks…so I guess this week is probably the 20th anniversary of me seeing that film, which rewrote what we came to expect of superhero movies at the time.
And finally, for reasons I don’t quite understand, Warner Brothers/DC have declared September 21st to be Batman Day, 2019.
Recently, I have found myself becoming nostalgic for a childhood I never had.
As I have previously mentioned, this year marks the 30th anniversary of LEGO Pirates. Now, thirty years ago, I had just turned 20 and was well established in my personal Dark Ages: So Pirates essentially passed my by. Or vice versa.
Earlier this year I came across a copy of 6270: Forbidden Island – available locally, for a reasonable price. Set sail with me now as I put the set together, and come to see just what made the Pirates sets so amazing back in their day!
I’ve been a bit distracted, by other things in life, over the last week or two, but I’m starting to get back on track.
If you are the parent of small children, there is a better than even money chance that you have been exposed to one of the Disney adaptations of a Classic Fairy story at some point or another – either animated, or reimagined in real life. Or even, considering the recent Lion King CGI release, Real Life™
Sets related to the Disney Princess branding have been a staple of licensed minidoll sets for several years now, but I have not spent much time with them. Today I have taken a look at one of this year’s sets based on Aladdin: 41161 Aladdin and Jasmine’s Palace Adventures. Is it based on the 1992 Disney Animated film, or the 2019 Live Action remake? This year, we see two of the three sets ever related to this story (ever) released, so I think it is safe to think that perhaps more than a little inspiration was taken from arrival of the new film. Join me as we explore the set, and take a couple of liberties along the way…
In which we briefly consider the joys of treehouses, and then find ourselves stranded on a desert island, with only the native flora and fauna, and the parts we salvage from our shipwreck to make shelter. Somewhere along the way I review the LEGO Ideas Tree House 21318
Almost a year ago now, we first heard that the Ideas Submission by of a Tree House was approved I started to reflect on why treehouses have such appeal. As a youngster, I always like to keep my feet firmly on the ground. However, as we entered our teenage years, by brother, and a friend of ours took to a large pine tree in my parent’s back yard with a ladder and a couple of beams of wood. After some careful bolting on, additional planks were added, and after a few weeks, they had constructed a platform to escape from the world and hang out, free from the demands of secondary school, even if only for an hour or two.
Fifty years ago this week, television sets around the planet echoed Neil Armstrong’s now famous words: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Myself? I was slightly less articulate. My best effort to date had been “Goo Goo, Gah. Mumum, Waaaaah” This was, however, age appropriate. Apparently I was in the same room as a television showing the broadcast. At the age of three and three quarter months, however, to say I was watching it would be a stretch of the imagination. By the time Apollo 12 was launched in November 1969, I was up to cruising around some furniture, and I was allegedly distracted from watching a moon landing in the attached photo.
