I’ve been a fan of the Chinese Festival Special Edition sets since they came out a few years back. I’m not sure why these are considered special editions as LEGO produces two sets every year. If you missed some of the earlier sets, you can pick some of them up from the Bricks for Bricks Bricklink Store. Maybe the plan is to have this line go away at some point? I’m not sure. Set number 80110-1: Lunar New Year Display is the first of two sets this year. Well technically this one was released 8 November 2022, but I guess it’s the 2023 set. The retail price for this set is $89.99. It contains 872 pieces and works out to $0.103 per piece.
The set builds two display items which get away from the various minifigure based sets from the past and seems to be more in line with an Icons style set. I’ll go into each of them individually.
The box shows both builds on the front and then another angle on the back. The back highlights the dimensions and also that you can split the build between two people with the separate instructions and bags.
The set contains 10 parts bags with one each for numbers one through nine and then a tenth bag is not numbered with some larger pieces. You also get two instruction booklets and no stickers!
Bags one and two build the base and frame of the first display item. I like the gold colored tiles and grills. These give the set a cool look and have some great potential for future MOCs.
The third bag adds more detail to include a lot of printed pieces with the Chinese symbols. The two cloud/smoke pieces were seen at the top of #76403-1: The Ministry of Magic. Maybe we’re going to see this piece show up in more sets in the future?
The fourth bag adds in two Koi fish to go along with the two gold ingots and the “red pockets.” According to the instructions, this display presents a greeting which loosely means “ushering in wealth and prosperity.” I can’t read any of the language, but I think it’s a great looking set and I like the cultural references. The colors are cool and the use of printed pieces is great. It makes a nice display piece (so far I’ve gotten away with leaving it out… we’ll see how long it lasts).
Bags five and six build the base and edge for the second display. Again, you get more of the gold colored tiles and grills which will be great for MOC builders.
Build seven adds in the a bunch of details to include some smaller flowers, more printed pieces, the cloud pieces (in a gold color), and the butterflies which were new to this set, but have already been used elsewhere in 2023.
The eighth bag adds in the Moutan Peony. The flower is incredible and could easily go into a Botanical Collection type set. The parts usage and coloring is great. Nice work LEGO design team!
The ninth bag adds the remainder of the edge pieces and the base to allow the display to stand up. This display has a greeting that loosely translates to “the richness of being in full flower.” Again, I can’t translate this, but I think this one looks great as well. The colors and piece usage really help this one to stand out. I’m a fan… still!
Here are both display pieces. Sorry, for the glare. I think these look great and I enjoyed both builds. The price per piece is on the borderline of being high so look for opportunities to get it on sale or with Double VIP points/GWPs. No guarantees it will happen at the end of 2023, but the 2022 sets went on sale at the end of their life. You might be able to get a 20% discount in the future if you are willing to wait.
I’ll be curious to see where the Chinese Festival Special Edition sets will go in future years. Will we see more display pieces? A mixture of displays and minifigure sets?
Happy building!
