I’m a big LEGO train fan, but sadly, LEGO has not released a lot of train sets geared towards adults as of late. On 1 December 2023, LEGO released Ideas set #21344-1: Orient Express which is set number 52 on the Ideas line. It contains 2,540 pieces and retails for $299.99. This works out to $0.118 per piece which is high and this set was met with a lot of negative responses due to the high cost. Also, the fan design and the LEGO Designer design have some big differences with the engine so there were many complaints there as well. Finally, the engine does not come motorized or with instructions on how to motorize the set. Numerous fans have posted instructions on how to motorize the set so don’t worry there.
I held off on purchasing until LEGO added a 20% discount during a double Insiders Point sale with a GWP. It’s still a bit expensive, but the discount, extra Insider Points, and GWP helped.
Onto the review…
The box shows the full set on the front with the Ideas and 18+ logos. I like how the greebling on the bottom of the box, the Orient Express logo on the box, and the stripes on the train all match with the LEGO gold color. The back gives another view of the train along with some views of the inside of the train cars.