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 - #80107-1: Spring Lantern Festival - Chinese Traditional Festivals

I finally finished building and taking pictures of the second 2021 Chinese Traditional Festival set. This one is #80107-1: Spring Lantern Festival. The first one was #80106-1: Story of Nian in case you missed my review. This one was also released on 11 January 2021 in the US. It retails for $119.99 and contains 1,793 pieces. This works out to $0.067 per piece.

This set sold out very quickly on Shop @ Home and shows on backorder at the time I’m writing up this post. I found it here locally at one of the few stores deemed “essential” to be open during Germany’s winter lockdown. As an added bonus, the set was on sale for $99.95. $20 off a brand new, hard to find set. Done! I grabbed the last one off the shelf.

Onto the review… the box is similar to #80106-1. The front shows the whole set, highlights the minifigures on the bottom right, has a drawing of an ox in the upper right for the “Year of the Ox,” and has the Chinese Traditional Festivals logo on it. It highlights in the lower left that this set contains a light brick. The back of the box shows off some play features and details. This set is built similar to the modular buildings in that it has Technic pins to connect it to itself or other buildings. This is a nice addition we have yet to see in other sets.

The set contains 15 numbered parts bags numbered one through eleven. There are two dark grey base plates. One is 32x32 and the other is 16x32. You also get a sealed instruction book (actually two) and some plastic streamers. Like set #80106-1, there is a two page spread in the instruction booklet with a cartoon showing the spring lantern festival.

The streamers I mentioned are here. They have Chinese writing on them which I have no idea what it translates to. Hopefully LEGO got it done right and it’s not making fun of us. The streamers are a thin plastic, but not too flimsy. I don’t recall seeing this type of thing in a set before. Usually it is the cloth like pieces that become minifigure capes. Have these appeared before?

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Before I begin, I didn’t picture it, but you get a piece separator with this set. Bag one starts with the 32x32 plate. You build up an outer sidewalk and then start to lay in the outer base of the festival area. Lots of bricks to include 2x6s. Bag one contains a male minifigure with a spoon, bowl, and a 1x1 round tile with printed food. I didn’t picture him until bag two (sorry).

The second bag continues with the base. It lays in where the pond area is located and some of the walkway. Like many sets, LEGO used different colored parts to help you with the build. You don’t actually see them later on so if you want those pieces or colors, you can easily swap them out from your parts stash to use them elsewhere. Bag two has a female minifigure holding a smart phone 1x2 tile. She is pictured along with the minifigure from bag one.

The third bag adds in the pond with a lot of 1x2 translucent blue tiles. I wasn’t sure I would like the finished product, but I think the tiles over the dark green plates work as a pond. Some of the tiles have printed koi fish on them with which helps to add to the scene. I’m a fan!

Next up, you continue to build out around the pond adding some green plates for grass. You also add in a few light gray pieces to be used later and then build up a round stand for your brick built ox to stand on. The brick built ox is mostly red with some gold. It fits in well with the box art and the head is on a ball and joint so you can turn it as desired. The light brick is used here and you push the ox’s rear to light it up. Then it looks red.

Two minifigures in this bag. A male and a female with matching 2021 shirts. The male has a cup with a straw and the female has a selfie stick and 1x2 tile smart phone. Not the first time we’ve seen a selfie stick, but the first time I’ve seen a cup with a straw. The straw is one of the poseable minifigure pieces that I think I first saw with the collectible minifigures. Maybe in #71026: DC Super Heroes?

The fifth bag adds the sidewalk over all of the colorful pieces you spent time laying down and a bridge over the pond. It also adds part of the fence around the festival area. The bridge is pretty simple, but has some good aesthetics to it with the curves and light grey round pieces. The sidewalk isn’t just studs or tiles. It is a mix of studs, a few tiles, and some modified tiles. I think my preference would be to have fewer studs showing and more of the modified tiles. I guess I can do that myself instead of complaining about it…

Next up, we add some plant life in the form of bamboo type plants in the corner and them some lily pad type plants on the pond. You also get some lanterns hanging from posts behind the ox. There are two 2x2 tiles with more calligraphy on them. The streamers are added in this part of the build on poles on the fence. I assume the thought is these would be blowing in the breeze so you could actually see the one behind the other. Back to the brick built world, you put one streamer in front of the other and can’t see it unless you move it with your fingers. I guess it doesn’t matter since I have no idea what they say anyways.

This bag comes with a minifigure. It’s a boy with a scarf on and he is carrying a lantern on a pole similar to the cartoon in the front of the instruction book.

As for the seventh bag, I have failed you as a reviewer. I finished the step, but didn’t take a picture of it. Don’t fear though as you will see the completed set at the end which includes the last part of the build on the 32x32 plate. This build adds the wall around part of the festival area with the entrance. It also adds a small tree.

I apologize for missing this step.

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Back to the review… Bag eight starts the build on the 16x32 base plate. Much like the last one, it builds the base and a sidewalk on part of it. This one has Technic pins so you can connect it to the other base plate.

This bag comes with a male minifigure with a camera.

The ninth bag starts to build up the… um… is it a temple? a gazebo? a hut? Anyways, you build up a base and then start to build the supports to connect the roof to the base of the small shrine like area.

This bag includes a girl minifigure. She has a toy rabbit on wheels as pictured in the cartoon in the front of the first instruction book.

The tenth bag puts the dark blue roof on the hut structure. The design is pretty intricate with some great piece usage. I like the dark blue colors and the way the angles make it rounded. The dark blue banana pieces are the key for me. #80106-1 had teal blue colored banana pieces. This one also has a 2x4 tile with printed calligraphy on it. Again, I’m not sure what it says.

#11 finishes up the build with some extra details. You get plant life, some lanterns strung on string between poles, the wall with a portal to enter the space, a lamp with some lanterns on it, and then a red minifigure statue.

Here’s the final picture of the set assembled. I’ll be honest and say that I wasn’t completely won over by this set. The build was just okay. Nothing overly complicated, but some good piece usage. There are some good pieces for MOC builders and the minifigures are good. Maybe it’s the price and then what you get at the end. $120 for a park scene? I realize the number of pieces involved and some of the cool pieces used, but this one just didn’t do it for me. Maybe I would have to put it together with a city scene or something in order to get the full effect.

What are your thoughts? Am I out to lunch or right in line with my opinion on this set?

Happy building!

Set Review - #80106-1: Story of Nian - Chinese Traditional Festivals

The Chinese Traditional Festivals theme started in 2019 with sets that were just released in the Asia-Pacific region. Now we’ve had set number six here and seven will be reviewed shortly that have been released to the world. This line started in 2019 and #80106-1: Story of Nian was released on 11 January 2021 in the US. The set retails for $79.99 with 1,067 pieces. This works out to $0.075 per piece. I found it for $69.95 and can’t complain about $10 off.

I had never heard of “the story of Nian” before this set came out and used the internet to learn about it. I won’t go into the Chinese tradition here, but I recommend searching it on your own to see what it is about. It makes the build make more sense as you go.

The box front has the full set displayed on the front along with the “Chinese Festival Special Edition” logo and a golden ox highlighting the year of the ox (2021). The back of the box shows some of the play features and details of the set.

The set contains eight numbered parts bags, two 8x16 white plates, a bag with translucent orange “fire” pieces, and instructions and stickers packaged up for protection. The instructions include a two page “cartoon” of the story of Nian, but other than that it is a standard instruction booklet. To be honest, I had to look up the story before I understood the cartoon. It made more sense after I read it.

Only two small stickers in this set. I can’t complain. The rest of the details are printed on pieces which is great!

The first bag builds up the “snowy” base. It also starts the foundation of the façade of the building and some of the snow build up. You also get the start of the doorway. This bag has one male minifigure who has a small bag to carry with him.

Bag two completes a good chunk of the façade. I like the large amount of textured bricks with the brick texture (both light and dark gray). The red windows are cool as well. The doorway has some simple details and thankfully the red tiled scrolls are printed. This bag includes a girl minifigure.

The third bag builds a lot of the roof area. The overhang has some snow with icicles dripping off. I like the detail of the icicles and how the snow build up on the roof is “connected” to the icicles. You also get a boy minifigure who is excited to throw a snow ball.

This bag adds the doors which are not just solid pieces. They are made up of plates and tiles connected by clips to a bar. Then the two stickers are applied to the doors. The door handles are two gold ring pieces which get placed over a stud. The red with the gold handle and then gold trim around the door looks really good.

The fourth bag builds the overhang over the doorway. It has roof (dark gray) and then snow covered roof. I like how the designers used bricks to show snow build up in certain areas with melt towards the bottom. There are also two red lanterns that get added in the doorway. This bag contains an older female minifigure with a shovel to remove snow.

The fifth build adds some more of the “snowy base.” It also includes a ladder and bucket for the older male minifigure to use his sponge to clean up.

Bag six adds some final details to the main part of the build. This includes some fireworks that attach behind the façade, fire crackers exploding, and a snow man. The minifigure is a person dressed up as an ox. He/she is holding a large string/rope of fire crackers.

Side note… look up a video of firecrackers on a string/rope going off. It’s pretty cool to see how it works.

Last piece is some plant life to include various small trees/saplings with snowy branches and some flowers popping out. There are three dispersed across the set with one towards the front and two towards the right side.

Bags seven and eight build the Nian itself. I’m not sure what the creature is supposed to look like, but I think this LEGO built creature is awesome! There are some great details, pieces, colors, and movable pieces in the creature. It all fits together very well and besides the studs sticking out, it could be looked at as not a brick built model. I’m a big fan!

That wraps up this set… Should you get it? If you’re a fan of the Chinese Traditional Festivals line, definitely pick it up. The details are great, you get 6 minifigures, and the Nian is an awesome build. The downsides… I wish there was more to the building then just the front, but this is in line with some of the previous sets. For MOC builders, you get some great pieces to include some good colors and some of the printed pieces.

I am glad I got it on a discount locally. I’m not sure how the pricing is in the US right now, but LEGO Shop @ Home hasn’t had a lot of stock on hand. It sold out soon after being posted on sale. You might have to wait to get this one, but don’t wait too long as these sets are usually out for just a year.

What are your thoughts?

Happy building!