The Dune Ornithopter got me back into LEGO since my childhood, it's not overly complex, but I really liked the mechanisms hidden in the body of the Ornithopter. I don't see your point as to why Ideas should be discontinued and you even contradict yourself on that (you call them great sets, and just want to add some filters; which is the opposite of discontinueing the entire thing).
I guess you meant Icons, and not Ideas :) I don't see any contradiction, I think the theme has way too many very different sets squeezed in, the best would be to discontinue Icons and create a few, more specific themes. The other solution would be to introduce the label of the difficulty levels, but that would still leave us with way too many adult-focused sets in a single bucket.
Just received my set. Interestingly, the box looks like the one in your review, but does not have the lift off lid. Just the end opens and the contents removed that way. Thanks for your review, it was very informative.
Some agreements here, although I hate the term AFOL, there probably should be a distinction for building technique and skill in their products. I think 3rd party IPs like Dune or Lord of the Rings should be within their own product range, and objects and botanicals such as the Typewriter, or radio, could belong in their own too. Really the Icons line is just there as a premium product for people with money, and not quite intended for the main child audience. A child really into Lord of the Rings is NOT being bought the $400 Barad-Dur set. Looking at the Star Wars examples, there are child friendly $20-$50 sets and then the adult display sets for hundreds. The new smaller scale $100~ ships are a great bridge between child and adult though. LEGOs main problem now is they're making too many 'Iconic' big sets, and the average LEGO consumer now has no reason or space to buy more than 1 large product. I have the Lion Knights Castle and Medieval Town Square, and already ran out of storage space for big sets. Smaller builds to fit onto bookcases, desks, and nooks are really the ideal way to keep LEGO propelled. The impulse purchase nature of a $300 set is just not the same as walking up for some battlepacks or diorama $50 sets, especially considering birthday/Christmas present budgets and gifts. To get the large $300+ sets now you have to buy it for yourself, and that crowd of LEGO fans is a very niche group.
I don't mind the icons theme. It's a good catch-all. I only wish we would get regular pirates/ Castle themes so that I could mix and match my purchases and share the themes with my kids better.
While I was among those who were surprised (I actually told a guy two months before it was revealed how IF Lego ever did stray from their avoidance of religious themed buildings as an architecture set it would probably be something like this or St. Peter’s Basilica but I didn’t think it would be very likely. Shows what I knew.
Now I know what would happen if Meccano had a one-night stand with Lego and didn’t use protection, it will create this! I’m currently working on this one, but I got the MOC static one and honestly you do need full concentration, especially when the instruction manual is PDF and admittedly my fingers are sore as some of the complicated pieces are apart and you have to fit them together, (the other side of not being able to buy the Lego version as it’s usually up to 3 times more expensive than the MOC version, but seriously who doesn’t like a sweet bargain???) I must admit I’m enjoying this build, it’s challenging when you’re old like me with nerve problems but it’s intriguing as well as mesmerising to see how all the parts connect. I would recommend this set
I will say, the green color of the Aston Martin F1 looks more blue on the box than it should. That's mostly because the real life car is metallic green, and when photographed outdoors, this color tends to look noticeably bluer because of how much the sky color reflects in the paint. In contrast, gloss green paint (or plastic) doesn't do this nearly as much. I saw someone learn this the hard way when trying to paint their car in a nice forest-y metallic green, only to be greeted with something that looked so much more turquoise when it left the paint shop. The Aston green certainly leans a little bluish, but perhaps they should have color corrected the picture on the box, to reduce the additional tint of sky reflections that pull it even further away from the LEGO green. It doesn't help that blue sky reflections often look more extreme on camera than in person, where your eyes can better differentiate what's going on and "correct" what you're seeing. Ferrari famously painted their cars orange at one point to make them appear more accurately red on TV. I guess Aston doesn't care to paint the car specifically to compensate for a similar type of issue. I heard (though I dont have the source) that Aston Martin personally selected the regular LEGO green as the color they wanted. I imagine it is closer to the true paint color than it appears. You'll also notice on the F1 TV info graphics that the color for Aston is actually pretty darn green. Though ironically, none of this fixes that the toy doesn't really look like most images of the real car... lol.
thank you for this review. I've been broke for a long time and I could only afford the most special sets. I've been eyeing the concorde since it got released and I will finally be able to afford it for my birthday at the end of the month. I was kind of bummed when the Artemis set came out, because it seemed like ANOTHER set aimed at my weakness, but after this review, I'm glad that I can skip it. I'm really into the space stuff, but have never been able to afford the good star wars sets. I absolutely LOVED Saturn V and the Space shuttle for the construction techniques and functions. But that after seeing the inside of that Artemis build... yeesh. I think I'll go back to looking at Technic.
Im not a Lotr fan, but this is really well made. Lego really keeps improving trought the years. Amazing sets ( rivendel and barad dur), wish the fans many hours of fun 👍. I will wait for the next 1:8 racing car.
I just built this car and I came the nearly all the same conclusions as you Balazs! I thought the car was a bit ugly from the box but in real life it looks really good. I was also perplexed and annoyed at the tiny sticker for the side plate, but I got them on straight on the first go so I was happy!
If u want to nitpick little things like size and proportion then just get megablocks they’re way more versatile and have a specific mold for everything
7:33 If you were to add more sheaves to the load block and run the line from the boom to the block several more times then the motors will be able to lift more weight.
Personally, I'd like to go back to a time when Lego sets were capable of being held in one hand or two so you can enjoy and admire what you've made while ensuring playability. Sure, accuracy is great, but I always thought of Lego as a means to showcase one's ingenuity and creativity with limited parts. They should give the creators of speed champions and technic a shot at Icons since they seem to be more innovative with their part usage and size parameters so that Lego could ensure that Icons becomes more profitable to all Lego enthusiasts.
Completely agree that 18+ rating on ALL icons sets makes no sense whatsoever. Holiday Main Street and Rivendell in the same category by all means, meanwhile difficulty / intricacy rating is on opposite ends of the spectrum. If both "Icons" and "18+" mean that these sets suit adults for one reason or the other (be it nostalgia, displayability, difficulty or something else entirely) they should add a separate complexity rating.
I like that lego kept this set at €50 given its 800+ piece count. The G wagon was a awesome build, reminded me of a miniature creator build. I also like the convertible, yes a straight forward build, but It looks great. Totally understand the frustration of having to overstate this is only ever your opinion B. I believe you always give a measured approach to critique and praise. I enjoyed your review as always.
I think it's easier to market LEGO Ideas than LEGO Miscellaneous Themes. Castle fans have been asking for their own theme despite their being enough interest.
I bought Barad- Dur yesterday. Haven't built it yet. But why do people KEEP saying LOTR is back? It's not. 2 of the actual sets are under ICONS line not LOTR theme. All we have is brickheads for cheaper sets. Until they come out and fully announce that the LOTR theme is back and actual produce more cheaper play sets the theme is not back imo. Also the line at the LEGO store was insane. It was at least 3 times longer than the Rivendel line last year.
I think they should name sets after theme of the build and set the age according to difficulty. Who cares what the intended audience is? If I was 10 and liked a set intended for adults I wouldn't care who it was designed for just if it was too difficult for me to build (and if I could afford it).
I wanted this car as soon as I found out it was coming out from a rumor in December of last year absolutely love it don't care about any of it's flaws because I just love this car so much as though the minifig looked like Supercar Blondie when I say it
