Set Review - #80111-1: Lunar New Year Parade - Chinese Festival Special Edition

Here’s the second Chinese Festival Special Edition set for 2023. I reviewed #80110-1: Lunar New Year Display last week. This week it’s #80111-1: Lunar New Year Parade. It was released on 8 November 2022 in the US and retails for $129.99. It contains 1,653 pieces which works out to $0.079 per piece.

By the way, if you’ve missed any of the previous Chinese Festival sets, I have some in the Bricks for Bricks Bricklink store so check them out.

The box for this one shows the full set on the front with all the minifigures. The back shows some of the play details. You can connect each of the floats together and each of the floats has movement in it as you move it along a flat surface. I included a shot of the edge of the box as well as it shows the 18 minifigures that come in this set.

The box also has the “Build Together“ logo with an x3. The bags and instructions are split up so you can share the process. My NLS built the first set (rabbit float), my son and I built the second float (drum), and my daughter build the dragon float. It worked out pretty good in my house to split it up that way.

The set comes with 10 parts bags numbered one through 10 and then a paperboard envelope to protect the instructions. There are three sets of instructions and they are printed on white which makes it easier to see the darker pieces.

Unfortunately, there’s a sticker sheet in this one. Most of the stickers are transparent which isn’t a big issue, but can be a challenge if you get finger prints on them. We tend to use the piece separator method to transport and place the stickers so I think we’re good.

You also get a thicker plastic sheet of banners. While I like the additional detail, I wish there was a better way to do this with the set. I think they look odd and out of place, but that’s just my opinion.

Bags one and two kick off the rabbit float. My NLS built this one. Bag one builds the base and initial structure of the float. I didn’t take pictures during the build process, but you add in some Technic gearing which attaches to a wheel. Then when you move the float around on a flat surface, the wheel turns and causes the Technic bar to move which will eventually make the rabbit “hop.” Bag one comes with two parading minifigures. They are each holding banners with the plastic sheeting and then a pink head that can be used as a mask. They both come with a clear dish piece so you can pose them as they are moving along with the parade and you don’t have to worry about them toppling over with the weight they are carrying (banner and mask).

The second bag adds in some more details along the side of the float and then the stand where you can place a minifigure to wave at the parade goers. This bag comes with a girl holding a tablet and then a woman with a smart phone.

Bag three wraps up this float. The rabbit build is good, but the red eyes make it look rather creepy. The round printed tiles that look like Chinese coins are a fun detail and I like how they are placed to look as if they’ve been dropped on the float. This bag comes with the rabbit costume minifigure who can hold a lantern with printing similar to previous years. Last year we had a tiger print on the lantern. This year is a rabbit. If LEGO continues this, we’ll get a repeat eventually. Unless they re-design it after they’ve gone through all the animals.

Bags four and five start the next float. Bag four builds up the base of the float and the SNOT pieces to allow for decoration. The Technic pieces make an axle spin as you move the float on a flat surface. Bag four comes with two minifigures. One is an adult female with a beverage container. The other is a parade participant who comes with some cymbals to play. She also has a clear saucer piece to allow you to pose the minifigure without her toppling over.

Bag five adds some details along the sides of the vehicle. Both of my kids had to really focus on getting the piece placement to match the instructions as there are a lot of angles and curves that make assembling this portion a little tougher. This bag comes with two minifigures. One is playing a drum with two microphone pieces. The other has a gong to play.

The sixth bag wraps up this float. You add a lot of detail to this one to include a cloud type build in the front, various golden colored pieces for decoration, the giant plastic sheet for… whatever it is, some lanterns which look pretty good, and then a big drum. The action on this float is you can place the drummer minifigure on a little stand and she “hits” the drum as you move the float on a flat surface.

My 5-year old was able to build most of this, but there were a few parts that were challenging. The bluish-teal arch type assembly on the back was not easy and I built it for him. He also had trouble with the drum and getting everything angled up right. Still, he did pretty good with the build.

Bags seven and eight begin the third float. Bag seven starts the base of the vehicle and you can see better what the Technic assembly looks like under the float at the end of bag seven. This bag comes with a parade participant with fire crackers. This minifigure is also on a clear saucer which works out good as the fire crackers are a bit heavy and would make it challenging for the minifigure to stay standing without a support. You also get a boy minifigure holding a 1x2 red tile with a dragon printed on it. His torso is a festive print and different from some of the standard minifigure torsos.

Bag eight continues to build up the base and some of the SNOT pieces for adding decorations on the side. This one comes with a girl holding a… not sure what it is… food on a stick? a noise maker? This one also comes with the infamous purple space minifigure/parts to help you make a purple classic space minifigure. So you take the torso from the Series 22 Collectible Minifigures space creature, switch out the arms if you desire, and then use the helmet, pants, and air tank from this minifigure to get your purple classic space minifigure. Die hard space fans are all over it, but it’s quite the hefty spend to get a minifigure. I haven’t checked on Bricklink, but I’m sure it’s not cheap. I don’t have Series 22 in the store yet. Sorry.

Bag nine adds some details to the sides of the float. It also adds a crate with a top and then another box. One will hold fireworks. The other will hold some extra hats for minifigures. Towards the front of the float are some lime green plates and tiles that have “LEGO” stickers on them. This bag comes with two minifigures. One has a Castle type hat and the other has a pirate hat. They have the same red torso as the spaceman and one holds a banner while the other holds a… um… not sure.

Bag 10 is the last bag of set. It finalizes the details of the set to include a larger orange 2x2 brick on the front and two larger plates on the rotating part with a dragon. The dragon moves around 360 degrees unlike the other two floats that have very limited ranges of movement.

Here’s the final set assembled with all of the minifigures. Each float comes with pieces that can be used as clips to connect the floats and have them move as a train instead of individual vehicles. Overall, I think this is a great addition to the Chinese Festival theme. The price per piece isn’t bad, but it is still slightly expensive in my opinion considering what you get for $130. This set has some great build techniques and it was fun to put together as a family. I like the moving parts as well. This is a fun integration we don’t normally see in sets. As mentioned, I could do without the plastic flag/banner pieces.

I didn’t take a separate minifigure picture, but I think you get a good collection of minifigures with some different torsos and hats. Note, the 16x16 plate was from my own collection and was not included in the set.

If you’re a fan of this theme, I’d look to pick this one up. If you can get it on sale, definitely go for it. You might find it on sale closer to the end of it’s life if you’re willing to wait. Or take advantage of double VIP points or GWPs straight from LEGO Shop @ Home.

Happy building!

Set Review - #80110-1: Lunar New Year Display - Chinese Festival Special Edition

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!

Set Review - #80108-1: Lunar New Year Traditions - Chinese Festival Special Edition

Here is the second of two Chinese Festival Special Edition sets for 2022. This one is the lower priced set with it retailing for $79.99 in the US. It was released at the same time as #80109-1: Lunar New Year Ice Festival which was 10 January 2022. This set contains 1,066 pieces so the price per piece is $0.075 per piece.

This set has branding for “Build Together” and it says 6X on the front of the box. The set is designed so that you can build it with others. There are multiple instruction booklets which apply specific numbered bags. I tested it out and did this build with my kids. My 4 year old and I as a team and then my 8 year old going solo. My NLS originally was supposed to join us, but found excuses not to.

The front of the box also has the Chinese Festival Special Edition logo, a picture of the set and then all of the 12 minifigures included in the set. The back of the box shows that you can display the set rounded or stacked on top of each other. It also gives a few details of some of the individual builds.

This set includes seven numbered parts bags. The instructions are wrapped in a bag with the stickers.

There are six instruction booklets so you can split up the build as desired. One slight challenge is that the instruction booklets don’t match up with the bag numbers. So instruction booklet one uses bags one and two. Then after that instruction booklet two uses bag three. The bags and booklets continue the disconnect throughout. Not a big deal, but make sure you pay attention to it when building.

Here are the stickers. There are a bunch. I learned that my 7 year old is really good at putting stickers on LEGO sets. I might have to keep that in mind for future builds.

Bag one builds the first vignette. It has two minifigures cleaning a store that sells pants. There are some fun details in this one to include a small bird, the sticker shows where the window is still being cleaned, and the minifigure pants hanging on the wall.

The second bag builds the piece that holds each of the vignettes together if you want to put them in a circle. Each side has a 2x4 tile with a picture depicting the scene. The top round dish piece is all printed and looks pretty good.

The third bag has a vendor selling various items. There are some chicken drum sticks, some sausages, some green… um… not sure what they are, and then the little minifigures. There are a few boxes on the side with some extra inventory. The use of the textured tiles for the roof area is a nice touch here. I also like the different colored tiny minifigures.

Next up are two minifigures putting up decorations and an orange/tangerine tree. While I think it’s a fun scene, I think LEGO is missing an opportunity to educate the world. What do the various signs say? What are the different traditions? The instructions could have a short little statement on each scene and translations of the various signs and stickers. At least that’s my opinion.

The fifth build has two adult minifigures and a girl watching television right before midnight. The scene is pretty fun with a clock on the wall telling the time and the scene on the TV screen. This bag comes with two smartphone tiles because we are incapable of watching TV without being on our phones at the same time. Also, there are some cups for tea perhaps and some cookies or orange slices. Not sure which they are.

One wall has a fish tank with a brick fish inside. The other wall has a sticker photo taken at 2021’s #80107-1: Spring Lantern Festival. This is a fun reference to a previous set.

The sixth build is of two grandparents giving their grandchild some gifts. From my knowledge, the red 1x2 tile is supposed to be an envelope with money in it. The scene has some fun decorations to include a picture of a tiger on the wall, a flower in a vase, a bookshelf on the wall, and then all the gifts. The best gift is obviously the LEGO bag on the floor. Or maybe it’s not a gift and the grandparents bought it for themselves.

The last build is of a minifigure surrounded by a pot of gold. I’m sure there is some symbolism and once again it would have been great if LEGO shared some of the story in the instructions. The little gold hot dog bun type pieces are fun. You also get a bunch of gold bars and coins which could be useful for MOC builders.

Here is what the set looks like all connected together using the assembly built with bag two. You can spin it around to see each side as desired. The pieces connect pretty easily and can be removed easily, but they don’t just fall out when you try to move the set.

Here are pictures of the set with different views. I tried to line them up with the pictures on the 2x4 tiles so hopefully I came close.

Here’s what it looks like when stacked. There are no instructions to guide you and I didn’t line them up correctly the first few tries so don’t feel bad if it doesn’t look pretty like the example on the set box right away. I prefer this version better as you can see all the vignettes at once.

As mentioned, I built this set with my kids. It actually worked out pretty good to do it this way and we had fun assembling it together and seeing how the different vignettes connect together. My 8 year old did great on her own and my 4 year old did fine working with me so I can endorse the “build together” strategy.

Overall, it’s a fun set with some cool vignettes that I have no idea what they mean. The build can get slightly repetitive with some minor differences between each vignette, but it wasn’t overly boring. This also opens up a chance for you to create your own vignettes using this design or to add your own. For the price it wasn’t too bad, but it does feel rather small for $80. You do get a lot of minifigures though so no complaints there.

What are your thoughts on this one? Has LEGO exhausted the Chinese Festival sets? Should the line continue?

Happy building!

Set Review: #80109-1: Lunar New Year Ice Festival - Chinese Festival Special Edition

LEGO started the Chinese Festival Special Edition sets for everyone back in 2019 (it actually started sooner, but that was only for Asia). The theme continued in 2022 with two more sets. #80109-1: Lunar New Year Ice Festival was released on 10 January 2022 in the US. It is one of two sets. The theme has had a smaller set around $80 each and then a larger set around $120 each. This one retails in the US for $119.99 and contains 1,519 pieces. That works out to $0.079 per piece which isn’t too bad.

This one is a big scene with a lot of minifigures. You get a full 13 in this set. It’s a great play set, but unlike #80107-1, it has many fewer pieces. It also doesn’t use Technic pins to hook into others which is disappointing to me, but isn’t a hard challenge to fix if you want to link this up to another set.

The box is pretty standard. The front shows the full scene with all of the usual logos. The back shows some of the details.

The contents are 13 numbered parts bags, 2 16x16 white plates, and the instructions which are wrapped along with the plastic piece used as the photo board.

The first bag starts the base. To the left of the base is an odd set up which didn’t become apparent until later in the build so I won’t spoil it. One fun bit is you add a smart phone to the base which ends up being a phone that someone dropped into the water and the ice froze over. A humorous little detail which is fun to see.

This bag comes with two minifigures. There is a kid with a winter hat, glasses and gloves/mittens. He can ride in the little cart which the adult minifigure can push around while on skates.

The second bag finishes up the base. Not too much overly interesting here other than laying down plates and connecting them with plates, tiles, and bricks.

The third bag starts to put the layer of “ice” on top for skating. Most of the large window screen pieces used for the ice are a newer color that seem to be a white with a slight sparkle to it. I’m sure there is a technical term for the color, but it’s cool. There is also one of the light blue translucent pieces for where the ice fishing hole goes.

You add edges to the ice rink throughout the build. While this is okay, it continually makes the rink smaller. I’d rather have a larger skating area given the number of minifigures. I guess you can modify the set later to get rid of some of the edging that takes away that space.

Bag four finishes up the “ice.” You can see that you place a few LEGO fish pieces underneath the ice to “swim” around. Maybe one will find the phone.

This bag comes with a minifigure ready to play hockey. He has a hockey stick and it comes with a few round 1x1 tiles for pucks. This face has two sides which both look beat up from playing. He needs a helmet with face shield.

The fifth bag adds more edging around the ice.

You also get an older female minifigure who sits on a chair with skates.

The sixth bag finishes up a lot of the edging. You get the base of the sales hut in the upper left corner of the picture, a number of tiles and round 1x1 plates as stone paths, and then just some white plates as snowy areas to walk over.

This bag comes with a female minifigure holding a chain saw. There’s a translucent blue penguin which you can assume was carved out of ice using the chain saw. There are a few translucent blue cheese slopes on the ground nearby which you can assume are pieces of ice that she sawed off.

The seventh bag builds the walls to the small store that sells/rents gear for the ice. It’s a simple build, but has some fun colors and details as well as a small sign out front. It comes with a male minifigure as the shop worker. Inside is a skate sharpening machine, some skates, some hockey sticks, a cash register, and some trophies.

The eighth bag adds the roof to the hut and some red lanterns out front of the hut. I like how they added some snow still on the roof while keeping the shape of the roof.

The ninth bag adds in a spot where minifigures can pose behind a picture with cutouts for their faces. To do this, you build two brick built posts for a frame and then you slide in a plastic card with the cut outs.

This bag comes with three minifigures. There’s a boy, a man with a camera, and then a woman with a cart selling… um… I’m not sure what it is…

Here’s a closer look of the plastic piece for the minifigures to pose behind.

The tenth bag adds a few more details. There’s a vending machine near the building that is added in. Then there is an ice fishing hole with a minifigure fishing in it. Finally, there’s some fencing and plants added in for decoration.

The eleventh bag begins the build of the ice sculpture in the back of the set. It comes with a bunch of clear and translucent blue pieces to form a ramp for skating down maybe and then an arch. There are also two flags added in.

The costumed tiger minifigure comes with this bag.

The twelfth bag finishes the ice sculpture. I’m sure it’s designed after something, but I don’t know what it is. On either side of the ice sculpture is a pole with some decorations. There are two lanterns and then a sign on the top with some… not sure if it is calligraphy or just a design.

This bag comes with a girl minifigure.

Bag 13 wraps up the build. You add in a few more details to the build. This includes the snow covered tree on the left side, another sign with lights hanging down, and you finally make use of the drawer underneath the rental hut. You fill the drawer with some extra skates, snow shoes, hockey gear, and ski poles, A pair of skis are added on the outside of the hut near the vending machine. This is a handy feature to keep all of the extra gear with the set. In the very front of the set, you add a sign. It’s a picture of two minifigures running or skating maybe. One has a red flag. There’s also a thermometer showing it is cold and then a map of the area (maybe). I’m super thankful this was printed on and there are no stickers at all in this set. Win!

The 13 minifigures you get with this set really make it. Without them, the set would be boring and dull. You really need them to pose them and have them do different things around the scene in order to make it worthwhile.

Here’s the final build. For those of you that like to build, this isn’t the greatest set although there are some great pieces for MOC builders to use. However, this is a great play set with lots of minifigures to do different things with. With a bit of work and some modification, you could connect this to the other Chinese Festival Themed sets. You could also add this to a Winter Village themed build.

The price for the larger set remained the same, but it has less pieces. However, it did come with a lot more minifigures. Definitely check around to see if you can pick it up at a discount.

I recommend this set if you collect this theme or like to learn about the Asian culture. Stay away if you are a builder and don’t want a play set with lots of minifigures.

Happy building!

Set Review - #80105-1: Chinese New Year Temple Fair

I’m excited LEGO has continued with this special edition theme of sets related to Chinese culture. This is the third one. The first was #80103-1: Dragon Boat Race and the second was #80104-1: Lion Dance. #80105-1: Chinese New Year Temple Fair was released on 15 January 2020 in the US. It contains 1,664 pieces and 14 minifgures. It costs $119.99 in the US which works out to be $0.072 per piece. I found it locally for around $99. Be on the lookout for discounts in your area if you can find them. It’s priced well already, but a $20 discount is even better.

Onto the review…

The box is bright red and picks up the theme with fireworks, a rat for the “Year of the Rat,” a depiction of the set, and then showing all of the minifigures. The back shows the various play features.

The set contains 10 parts bags. They are labeled one through nine with two bags labeled numbered one. There are three instruction booklets that are packaged and in good shape. Most importantly there are no stickers! WOOHOO!

The first two bags include a tree with some decorations to include some banners and a lantern. The tree is a simple build, yet it still fits in well to the overall design.

It also includes the first stand for the fair. This stand is a food stand with some cooking food on a stick, some cookie type items, some chicken legs, and some fun cake type items with faces. There is a red flower bouquet attached to the stand as well. There is a small cooking area with some extra supplies, a knife, and space for the minifigure to work. My favorite part of the stand is the roof. I like how the designers were able to replicate the look of Chinese architecture and that each stand was done in a slightly different way to make a similar styled effect.

This bag includes the first two minifigures to include a stand vendor/cook and then a happy festival attendee.

The second bag includes another stand. This one is a toy stand with a lot of fun details. There are some lollipop looking items, some balloons, and then various toys to include a small airplane, a panda bear, a duck, a rabbit, and a rat.

I included this stand in a picture with the stand from the first set of bags as they are connected by a string with lights, lanterns, and banners.

Additionally, you get two more minifigures. One is a vendor and the other is another male minifigure attending the festival.

The third bag starts the temple build. It begins with the base. I like the base as it includes a great flower design with the 1x1 flower piece and some greenery for leaves in the front. The stairs are a simple yet useful design as they added in studs for minifigures to be fixed to and they added in some design other than increasing the number of plates to climb up. I’m also a fan of the greenish colored pieces under the light gray arches. I’m not sure what they are called, but I like the effect it achieves.

This bag includes a boy minifigure. He has a red scarf and his holding a… um… I’m not sure what it is. Anyone know?

The fourth bag starts the structure of the temple gate. The build is fairly simple, yet full of detail. You can see initially some of the printed tiles that add to the design. Along with the lanterns and the gold colored pieces, it really stands out. The pieces on either side of the door are the brown 2x2x2 “box” pieces used in other sets stacked on top of each other. It’s a great technique to get some texture versus using plain bricks.

This bag includes a female minifigure with a small purse.

The fifth bag starts part of the roof of the temple entrance. The color scheme really pops with the yellow, orange-yellow, gold, and red. I like how it sticks with the Asian roof theme used elsewhere.

You get a girl minifigure with a scarf and holding a lai see or red envelope typically given as a gift with money in it.

Bag six adds part of the roof section with more printed pieces with Chinese calligraphy.

You also get a male minifigure holding a baby bottle (a hint of what is to come).

The seventh bag finishes off the temple with the second layer roof. It is built in the same manner as the first layer and looks equally impressive. My only complaint is that it is just this gate and not an entire building. Perhaps that would be a future challenge… building the full structure.

One note in building the roof slopes is to make sure the orange 1x1… um… I’m not sure what the new pieces are called. “U’s” or tunnel looking pieces? Whatever they are called, you just have to make sure they are in line. If they are not all straight, the build doesn’t look as good. I had to adjust a few as the angle I put them on were slightly off. Not a big deal, just something to pay attention to when building.

The last bag had a male minifigure with a baby bottle. This one has the female minifigure, the baby, and a stroller. The female minifigure has a fun hat on over her hair which is new (I think). The stroller is fine although a bit big. The parents have to put their arms up in order to push the stroller. I may have to look into adjusting this later on.

The eighth bag come with another stand and another tree. The tree is very similar to the last tree. The stand sells some pottery type items and some microfigures in various colors. The set comes with a bunch of extra microfigures too which is a nice bonus.

You get two more minifigures in this bag. An older adult female and then a younger one.

The ninth bag assembles the last stand which is a shadow puppet theater. The highlight of this build is the cool shadow theater pane that is printed and not a sticker. It goes along with the rest of the set which doesn’t have stickers. Yay for the amazing number of printed pieces! This bag also assembles some fire crackers, and some gifts to sell or give away.

You get two more minifigures. An older male to run the puppet show with his microfigures and dragon for the show and then a boy with a lai see envelope. The boy has a fun winter hat which I don’t recall ever seeing before.

The final part of this build is another strand of lights with Chinese lanterns and a banner to connect the stand from bag eight and this bag.

So that does it. Here’s a picture of the full set. It’s not a great angle, but you can see everything you get. There is a lot going on in this set which definitely helps to justify the price. Besides the great price per piece, you get 14 minifigures, the temple entrance area, two trees, and the four stands. To encourage you to spend money, this one goes well with the other two Chinese themed sets. You could easily make a larger themed “China Town” or festival area. I’m thankful to have found this one at $20 off, but probably would have paid full price had I not seen the sale.

Finally, a few pictures a little closer and at different angles. LEGO has said they’ll keep these around for six months or so. We’ll see how long they stay on shelves, but don’t wait too long to buy if you are interested. As of the writing of this post, LEGO is running double VIP points so it might be a good opportunity to scoop this up (along with a few freebies).

I was very positive on this set. What am I missing on the negative side?

Happy building!

Set Review - #80104-1: Lion Dance

After two regional exclusives where everyone was mad they had to buy on the secondary market, LEGO has stuck to their word. #80103-1: Dragon Boat Race was released in 2019 and in 2020 so far two sets have been released. The first one I’ll review is #80104-1: Lion Dance and it was released on 15 January 2020 in the US for $79.99. With 822 pieces it works out to be $0.91 per piece. I manged to pick it up locally for ~$67 so I can’t complain.

I didn’t do any research behind the traditions behind the set, but the Brother’s Brick did. Check out their set review here if you want to learn more about the choice of colors and symbols used.

The box is bright and colorful with the set displayed on the front with a rat for the”year of the rat.” The back shows some of the play features and details of the set up close.

This set contains six parts bags and an instruction booklet that is wrapped to protect it. Additionally, you’ll notice there is no sticker sheet. WOOHOO!!!! There are a lot of printed elements in this set, but no sticker attachment required.

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The first bag begins with a minifigure holding some lettuce to feed to the lions and two lions with identical builds. The lions both have minifigure legs attached into 2x6 bricks. The remainder of the lion is built off of there. The slopes on the side of the dragon are all printed which was awesome! The lion’s head has some fun details and piece usage with white banana pieces, white frogs, and the printed eye pieces. The head can rotate up and down and the mouth can be opened or closed.

Of note, this bag includes a teal piece separator for when you just can’t pry apart those plates.

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The second bag includes a minifigure with fire crackers, three minifigures who play music (cymbals, a drum, and a gong), and then another dragon with a similar build technique as the previous two, but with some slightly different details and colors.

I like how the musicians were done. Especially the use of a large wheel as a drum. The stand they are on works great to fit them all and they tie into the color scheme of the set well. The drummer is on a spinning piece so you can move him back and forth as if he is drumming.

Lion number three has a slightly different mouth and some gold details along the edge of the body. Other than that, it is built pretty much the same except for the mostly white coloring.

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The third bag is the stage. The lions don’t exactly fit on the stage after it is built and I didn’t try to have a dragon balance on one of the poles like shown on the box. Seems like it would fall over pretty quickly unless you got the center of gravity just so. And while it may not work great for a minifigure, you should definitely check out some of the videos of Lion Dances on YouTube. There are some crazy stunts that they do and the set will make more sense to you after you see what is going on.

The front paneling pieces in the center of the stage are pretty cool though. Could be useful in other MOCs down the road.

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The fourth bag builds the last 2 lions and then a minifigure with Chinese calligraphy on a scroll or tablet. The lions use the same technique as the other 3 only have slightly different coloring with a focus on the color gold.

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Bag 5 starts the gate structure. It’s a simple build, but I am a big fan of the printed tiles. The design on them is very cool and so is the coloring. You also get some more teal pieces and some gold fencing for decoration.

This bag includes an older male minifigure holding a paint brush. Supposedly it is the mayor and he is finishing painting one of the dragons.

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The last bag (number six) finishes off the gate. The roofing is added, more frogs appear, and brightness of color abounds. The yellow and orange really make this gate stand out. I like how the designers achieved the Chinese architectural style without getting too crazy into detailed building.

Lastly, you get a minifigure dressed as a rat for the year of the rat. He rounds out a great assortment of minifigures in the set which help to make the set worthwhile.

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Here’s the final set. Overall I think it’s great. You get 8 minifigures (not including the legs of the lion dancers) and some great pieces. There are no stickers and a lot of great printed pieces with some fun new details. Building this set really made me want to create my own scene with crowds watching, food stands, and other details. I’ll add that to my list of all the things I want to build in my spare time.

I definitely recommend this set and I think this line is worth it. I hope LEGO continues this line and comes up with other similar ones. Hopefully like me, you can find this one on sale to save some money. Just keep in mind that the shelf life of the set will not be long. I believe it is only supposed to be 6 months so don’t wait (can someone confirm that?).

What are your thoughts?

Happy building!

Set Review - #80103-1: Dragon Boat Race

If you actively track the LEGO world, then you might be familiar with this set and how it came to be. If not, here’s the short history. LEGO released #80101-1: Chinese New Year’s Eve Dinner, then #80102-1: Dragon Dance, and then this set #80103-1:Dragon Boat Race in 2019. These sets were only available for purchase in the Asia Pacific region of the world. These sets along with a few others that had various exclusivity tie ins, like only available at Target or Walmart, caused a lot of fans of the brick to be upset that they missed out or to pay a lot on the secondary market. LEGO listened and set a date where they would offer exclusive sets for a 3-6 month period everywhere after the initial run at the region intended.

The first set to be released everywhere (to my knowledge) is #80103-1: Dragon Boat Race. It was released on 1 July 2019 in the US. The cost is $49.99 for 643 pieces and 15 minifigures. It works out to $0.078/piece which is pretty good if you ask me.

The front of the box shows the full set. In the upper right corner is a logo with some characters that I am unable to read. In English on the logo it says “The Dragon Boat Festival” and “Chinese Festival Special Edition.” Like most sets, the back shows the various features of the set and that the boats have wheels so you can push them on a floor or table.

The contents are 5 parts bags, a sticker sheet (which got folded up in the box), and an instruction book.

The first bag starts off with the red boat and 4 minifigures. The boat is pretty simple to build and there are stickers along the edges that my picture doesn’t capture. There is also a course marker in the form of a flag for the water. The minifigures are all in similar uniforms and a few have 2 facial expressions.

Bag 2 finishes off the red boat with the dragon face and the tail. It also adds the drummer to help the rowers keep pace. I really like how the designers made the cranium and tail of the dragon. The piece usage is pretty simple, but very clever. My favorite is the red croissant piece on the nose.

Additionally, this bag comes with part of the dock which has a noodle seller and a potential buyer/dragon boat race spectator. The stickers for the decorations really add to the set in my opinion and there are some cheese slopes with printed noodles on them.

And yes, I forgot to add on the bar across the front until after I took the picture (in case you were looking that close).

The third bag starts the green boat. The build is very similar to the red boat and the 4 rowers are included in this bag. The minifigures have orange torsos and white pants. Similar to the other boat crew only a few have dual faces.

Bag 4 completes the dragon boat and includes the drummer to keep the pace. The dragon’s head is just as clever as the red boat. I like how the minifigure flippers are ears and the telephone piece help make the nostrils.

This bag also includes an addition to the dock area started in bag 2. There’s a viewing area with 2 minifigures. The minifigures have flags to wave and one got some noodles to eat while watching. The dock doesn’t have much to it in terms of design and there are steps that will go to the stand in bag 5.

Bag 5 finishes the build with the construction of a viewing stand where we assume the race judge minifigure views the race. He also keeps track of the trophy for the winners. The stand has some great details to help it fit the culture. The brick design on the top with brick hot dogs is actually a pretty cool design. The flags in front with the stickers showing two dragons racing is also a cool design. That’s right, I just said stickers were good.

Below the dock in the water is some plant life and a frog hanging out. The water is created with clear tiles on top of blue plates

Here’s the whole set once you are done. There are some mixed reviews out there, but personally I am positive on this set. It is something different and opens up a whole new realm of possibility for LEGO. To have cultural builds and to sell them everywhere could help expose the rest of the world to new things. The age range is listed as 8+. If a kid builds this, they may want to know more about that culture and what is being presented. It could be an opportunity to do some internet searches and show what it is all about. When I lived in Alabama, they actually had an annual dragon boat race so maybe there is something nearby that you can go see.

The set price and price per brick isn’t too bad and the assortment of pieces is actually pretty decent. Plus the amount of minifigures you get in this set is a bonus. I’m a fan overall and I look forward to seeing how people add this set to their CITY scenes.

What other cultural builds should LEGO take on?

Happy building!