The Gimme LEGO Awards 2016

Welcome to the sixth annual Gimme LEGO Awards and my personal take on the LEGO highlights and lowlights of 2016. Those who have waded through my choices in previous years will be well aware that the majority are entirely subjective and it's therefore likely that you'll disagree with at least some of them; please therefore feel free to argue the case for alternatives in the comments below. Let's get started....

1. Best Theme

Last year's winner: LEGO City

2016 winner: Ninjago

Ninjago burst onto the scene back in 2011, and if you'd told me then that the theme would still be going strong five years later, and that I'd be choosing it as my LEGO theme of the year for 2016, there's an excellent chance that I'd have laughed you out of the room. And yet here we are....

In some ways it's not actually such a surprise that Ninjago gets the top spot this year - it merited an honourable mention last year in the 'Best Theme' category, and 70751 Temple of Airjitzu got the award for 'Best Non-Licensed Set', so the signs were there. The theme has reinvented itself year on year and has retained it's popularity, defying LEGO's attempts to kill it off in 2013 and eventually arriving in 2016 with an excellent and varied line up of quality sets to suit all tastes and budgets.

It could reasonably be argued that unlike the Temple of Airjitzu in 2015 there isn't a true stand-out set in the 2016 Ninjago line-up, but what eventually propelled Ninjago to the number one spot this year was the sheer volume of excellent offerings across all price points. Ninjago has also been astonishingly eclectic this year, continuing to provide fans with theme staples such as dragons while also including a selection of sets which embrace a distinctly Steam Punk-like aesthetic and even offering up a Ninjago-styled Batcave in the form of 70596 Samurai X Cave Chaos (below) which frankly gives the various official LEGO Batcaves a run for their money.

Aside from the way the sets look, most are also packed with play-features, a great example being 70595 Ultra Stealth Raider (below) which splits into sub-models each of which itself incorporates multiple mechanisms and moving parts. While the main focus of the Ninjago theme has always been one of 'play' rather than 'display', the designers have nevertheless managed to make the many of the builds look great, thus broadening the theme's appeal well beyond the 7-14 target audience.

It's testament to the fantastic Ninjago line-up this year that I found it genuinely difficult to decide which five sets to feature in the pictures above and below as there were so many great sets to choose from; in the end I had to leave out the likes of 70605 Misfortune's Keep, 70594 The Lighthouse Siege and 70602 Jay's Elemental Dragon but they could just as easily have featured. So well done to Ninjago - still going strong after five years!

Honourable mention: Architecture. Yes, really. When I reviewed 21029 Buckingham Palace (below) for Brickset earlier this year I felt duty-bound to admit that I was largely ambivalent about LEGO's Architecture theme which has at times felt like the epitome of style over substance. The early Architecture years featured a slew of grossly overpriced and frankly risible representations of world landmarks which only caught the eye thanks to their plush packaging and luxurious instruction booklets. The emperor's new clothes, basically.

Over the years the quality of the offerings has definitely improved, though, and 2016 has been a watershed for me with some really rather nice offerings such as Buckingham Palace rubbing shoulders with a new sub-theme of city Skylines which have taken the theme off on a promising new tangent. They're still overpriced, to be honest, but most of this year's Architecture sets look great and are definitely worth seeking out.

Honourable mention #2: Technic. My historical lack of enthusiasm for LEGO's Technic theme has been well-documented, so to some folks this honourable mention might be the biggest surprise of all in this year's Gimme LEGO Awards....

My historical downer on Technic can be traced back to two main factors, the principal one being the unsatisfying skeletal appearance of many older Technic sets, with the mind-numbing tedium and misery of deconstructing the builds sealing the deal. While the latter obviously remains, the increasing use of panels has greatly improved the appearance of official Technic builds, to my eyes at least. This year has seen the release of a number of Technic sets which have combined complex mechanisms with interesting subject matter and great looks; I'd go as far as to say that the summer 2016 Technic line-up was possibly the strongest of any theme, with 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (above) possibly the pick of the bunch. Definitely Technic Temptation rather than Technic Torture....


2. Most Disappointing Theme

Last year's 'winner': Not awarded

2016 'winner': LEGO Classic

This is basically a ‘victory’ for quantity, and specifically the lack of it, rather than quality; for what it's worth I'm actually a fan of LEGO Classic sets, so I guess you could say that this is a relatively minor rebuke....

I’m sure that, like me, many of you have rolled your eyes at the oft-repeated mantra that LEGO "isn’t what it used to be", how creativity is being stifled by all the licensed sets, and how “in my day it was all basic bricks and we had to use our imaginations”. Like me you may have defended the LEGO company, making the point that it’s actually about choice, and that purchasers can still buy just basic bricks if they want. Except that when you think about it, getting hold of basic bricks in anything other than small quantities isn't actually as easy as it should be, is it?

Out of a total of 811 set releases during 2016, just three were LEGO Classic sets supposedly comprised of basic bricks. Furthermore, it turns out that those three Classic sets actually contain a fair few relatively specialised elements such as SNOT bricks. OK, so in-store and online Pick-a-Brick also offer a potential solution, but few LEGO fans have access to a Brand Store, and have you seen the price of a single 2 x 4 brick purchased direct from LEGO online? I strongly believe that LEGO should continue to provide the general public with ready access to basic elements, and I think the company is currently failing to do this sufficiently; a quick look at the 2017 release schedule suggests that the company will be releasing more Classic sets than it did in 2016, so maybe LEGO is already on the case - we shall see.


3. The "Medieval Market Village" award for Best Non-Licensed Set

Last year's winner : Set 70751 Temple of Airjitzu

2016 winner: 10251 Brick Bank

A Modular Building has won this award for two out of the last three years, so giving the nod to yet another Modular this year feels a bit lazy. Thing is, though, the alternative would be to somehow pretend that the Brick Bank isn't as good as it actually is, and that definitely wouldn't do, so the Brick Bank it is....

Designer Jamie Berard has picked up where he left off with previous Modulars and given us an attractive model which is packed with interesting architectural details on the outside, fun to build, and overflowing with detail on the inside. What's also impressive is the attention to detail, for example interior floors which are attractively tiled with interesting patterns and colours despite being barely visible, and intelligent use of the available internal space to accommodate as much interior decoration and furniture as possible.

Another treat is the ingenious usage of elements, examples of which include the inclusion of sand blue Nexo Knight shields in the ground floor tiling pattern, the use of light bluish grey ingots to tile the exterior of the buiding, and the inclusion of black animal tail elements to represent ironwork in the bench outside the bank. As well as including a host of interesting elements, the set also utilises relatively uncommon colours such as sand blue and sand green in the build, while the inclusion of a laundrette in one corner of the build means a whole different design and colour palette for this section which looks amazing.

Honestly, apart from feeling a tad small compared with other Modulars the Brick Bank is pretty much faultless, and it's a delight. There's a risk that we might become blase about Modulars and start to take them for granted; if that happens, and folks stop acknowledging how good they are, and worse still stop buying them, then LEGO might stop releasing them which would be a travesty. So Brick Bank deservedly, and unashamedly, gets my vote for 'Best Non-licensed Set", and I wouldn't bet against another Modular gettting the prize next year either....

Honourable Mention: 10253 Big Ben. I did a live build of this set over a weekend at Bricktastic in the summer of 2016 and Big Ben absolutely wowed the show attendees. The build employs some seriously clever element usage in order to approximate the real building's exterior detail, and the ability to simultaneously turn the clock hands on all four clock faces by turning a discretely-located knob is a real crowd pleaser.

As you'd expect there's inevitably a fair bit of repetition involved in the build - I certainly wouldn't recommend rushing it like I had to - but the spectacular end result is well worth the effort; Big Ben is one of the few models which my wife will allow to be prominently displayed in our house such is its allure. Incredible, and my runner up for 'Best Non-licensed Set' of 2016.

Other contenders: 31052 Vacation Getaways, 41180 Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle, 21029 Buckingham Palace, 31044 Park Animals. 


4. Best Licensed Set

Last year's winner: 75060 Slave I

2016 winner: 75827 Firehouse Headquarters

Given my love of the Ghostbusters movies I guess the winner really had to be the Firehouse Headquarters, didn't it? While 2016 has in my opinion been unusually strong for licensed sets, with some outstanding candidates to choose from, I knew from the moment that I first spied this set that it was going to take something truly extraordinary to shift it from top spot.

On account of the enduring popularity of the Ghostbusters franchise I suspect that any official LEGO version of the Ghostbusters HQ would probably have sold regardless of its quality, but the set we got thankfully turned out to be wonderful. The size and attention to detail is remarkable - a dream come true for Ghostbusters fans - but in truth there's a huge amount for non-fans to admire as well, both in terms of the exterior appearance, and in the interior furnishings and decoration. There's also an excellent selection of minifigures to populate the model, and just about enough room inside to accommodate the LEGO Ideas Ecto-1 set.

It isn't perfect, not least because dark orange would have been a more appropriate colour for the exterior than dark red, but overall it still looks wonderful both inside and out, and you don't need to be a Ghostbusters fan to enjoy and appreciate it either. A serious build, and an excellent display piece.

Honourable Mention: 71040: Disney Castle. Huge, spectacular, and only a whisker away from taking top spot in the Best 'Licensed Set' category, the Disney Castle impresses both inside and out. The back of the model is exposed, which facilitates play but ensures that for some the set will fall a little short as a display model compared with the Firehouse HQ, and the minifigure selection is perhaps a little disappointing, but it's otherwise hard to find fault.

Disney fans will be delighted by the frequent references to their favourite Disney movies, but you don't need to be a Disney fan to delight in the attention to detail, the thoroughly enjoyable building experience, and the beautiful completed model. Highly recommended.

Other contenders: 76057 Spider-Man: Web Warriors Ultimate Bridge Battle, 21307 Caterham Seven 620R, 21306 The Beatles Yellow Submarine, 42054 CLAAS XERION 5000 TRAC VC, 42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS  


5. The "Phantom Menace" Award for Most Disappointing Set

Last year's winner:10249 Toy Shop

2016 winner: 75098 Assault on Hoth

If some of my 2016 Awards have come as a surprise then this one was about as nailed-on as they come. Honestly, what on earth were LEGO thinking when they decided to slap the revered UCS badge onto this sub-standard collection of Hoth-related System Scale sets?

Yes, I've heard all the arguments. AFOLs aren't LEGO's target market, they say. And this set allows younger Star Wars fans to get caught up with a number of older Hoth sets in one fell swoop. It's basically nonsense, though, because when it comes down to it UCS has always stood for quality, detail and fan service for older builders, and this just isn't it at all. And the thing is, even if you set aside the UCS thing it's still fundamentally an overpriced, mediocre set. I'm not going to waste any more of my time criticising the set here but I can recommend CapnRex101's exhaustive review in the event that you want to better understand why it's so bad. Thoroughly miserable.


6. Best Minifigure

Last year's winner: The Eleventh Doctor

2016 winners: Gizmo and Stripe 

With the ever-increasing quality of LEGO minifigures, not to mention the ever-growing number of minifigures being released, trying to pick a winner in this category was already a nightmare, and that was before LEGO added a bunch of Dimensions Fun Packs, Level Packs and Team packs to the mix. I've said it before, but the quality of minifigures is now so high that trying to make an even vaguely objective judgement is almost impossible, so I haven't bothered to even try this year and have instead just picked the minifigures that put the biggest smile on my face in 2016, Gizmo (below left) and Stripe (below right).

LEGO Dimensions has turned out to be a massive boon for people like me who were teenagers in the 1980's or 1990's and therefore grew up with the likes of Ghostbusters, E.T., Gremlins and the multitude of other 'retro' film and television franchises currently being snapped up by LEGO and introduced into Dimensions. The various Dimensions expansion packs are a fantastic source of exclusive and beautifully designed minifigures, and it's within these packs that many of my favourite minifigures of 2016 can be found. Gizmo and Stripe ultimately get the award, but only just - the wonderful E.T. minifigure below came very close, and a bunch of others including the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Cyberman weren't that far behind either. I'm now waiting with bated breath to see what old franchises LEGO revive next - Thunderbirds, anybody?

Other contenders: Maleficent, Mickey Mouse, Penguin Boy, Nate in hot dog suit.


7. The "Better than Expected" Award

Last year's winner: LEGO Dimensions

2016 winner: Elves

Dismissed by some seemingly by virtue of the inclusion of minidolls rather than minifigures, the Elves theme didn't really strike a chord with me in its first year but it has increasingly piqued my interest in 2016 thanks to some rather nice-looking sets.

I think the problem for me last year was that some of the early Elves sets such as 41071 Aira's Creative Workshop and 41072 Naida's Spa Secret with their brightly coloured, minidoll-populated cutesy builds felt a bit like they were a part of a covert, by-the-numbers Friends subtheme. It wasn't until the 2016 arrival of 41180 Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle (above), a set which I've been meaning to review on Gimme LEGO for some time now, that I really sat up and started to pay attention.

I wouldn't say I'm entirely won over as yet - there are aspects of the theme such as the goofy-looking dragons which really haven't impressed me - but I've seen enough so far to be genuinely interested to see where Elves goes in 2017 and beyond. Definitely a theme to watch, I think.


8. Most Welcome LEGO-Related Announcement

Last year's winner: Set 75827 Firehouse Headquarters

2016 Winner: London Leicester Square LEGO Brand Retail Store and pre-opening event

I'm well aware that folks in the UK have been somewhat spoiled when it comes to LEGO Brand Retail Stores; back in 2012 LEGO even opened a store a few miles from my house so I've been particularly fortunate. That having been said, the announcement back in May 2016 that LEGO would be opening the world's largest Brand Retail Store in London's Leicester Square was still met with considerable excitement in these parts.

The day before the grand opening of the new store LEGO hosted a pre-opening event at the store to which they invited over a hundred AFOLs from UK-based LEGO User Groups. Attendees got to explore the store and meet with LEGO staff including set designers Jamie Berard and Rok Kobe as well as being provided with drinks, nibbles and freebies courtesy of LEGO; you can read more about the pre-opening event here if you're interested.

There has been a suggestion over the past year or two that the LEGO Company is currently so flush with success that it's losing interest in AFOLs. This event, not to mention a number of superb AFOL-oriented set releases in 2016, thankfully provides some reassurance that the AFOL community is still viewed as being important to the company, and long may that continue.


9. Gimme LEGO Reader's Choice Award

Last year's winner: Set 70751 Temple of Airjitzu.

2016 winner: You tell me....

OK, so you've seen my choices and now it's your turn. At the top of the page on the right of the screen you'll see a selection of LEGO sets which I consider to be some of the best that 2016 had to offer. Please carefully peruse the list and vote for your favourite set of 2016; if your favourite isn't on the list then select 'None of the above' and leave a comment below or send me an e-mail via the contact button letting me know which set you think is the best of 2016. Cast your vote - one person, one vote - and at midnight on 14th January 2017 the poll will close and we'll have our winner.... If you're reading this on a device which isn't displaying the poll as described then click "view web version" at the bottom of the page in order to see the nominations and cast your vote. Thanks for participating!

*Voting has now closed - results coming soon!*

Previous Gimme LEGO Awards: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

"And the Gimme LEGO Readers' Choice Award for Best Set of 2015 goes to...."

….Set 70751 Temple of Airjitzu.

I must admit that I'd expected the Readers' Choice poll to be fairly close, with the Temple of Airjitzu, Slave I and the Detective's Office slugging it out to the death. After just a couple of hours of voting, however, it was already evident that there was only going to be one winner. The Temple of Airjitzu opened up a big early lead, and that lead was never meaningfully troubled. Slave I managed to erode the lead a little during the last few days of voting, but it was too little, too late. So Set 70751 Temple of Airjitzu wins the Readers' Choice award, having already bagged the Gimme LEGO Best Non-Licensed Set award a couple of weeks earlier. You can see a couple of the set designers, Adrian and Tom, talking about the set in the LEGO Designer Video below.

The final Readers' Choice rankings are shown below, together with the number of votes polled by each of the sets. With 29.7% of your votes, the Temple of Airjitzu ended up amassing 104 votes more than its closest challenger, Set 75060 Slave I. In third place was Set 10246 Detective's Office with 14% of the votes, and Set 21303 Wall-E finished a distant fourth with only 8.4%. A second LEGO Ideas set, 21304 Doctor Who, finished a respectable seventh in the poll with 5.5% of the vote, highlighting the popularity of the Ideas theme in 2015. Set 10247 Ferris Wheel, which barely got a mention in the 2015 Gimme LEGO Awards, picked up 69 votes to finish in fifth place. Only 3.6% of voters favoured a set outside of the eleven choices presented in the poll; Chris Pearce, better known as CapnRex101 from Brickset, led the calls for Set 75103 First Order Transporter, a.k.a. the big grey box, while a couple of other folks nominated Set 76042 SHIELD Helicarrier as their top pick of 2015.

Voter numbers were marginally up on the 2014 poll. As ever, however, only around 10% of those who viewed the 2015 Gimme LEGO Awards posting actually placed a vote; this low 'conversion rate' is pretty typical for online surveys of this kind. Thanks are therefore due to Chris Pearce (Brickset), Mark Guest (Bricks and Bricks Culture), Jeff Maciorowski (BrickPicker) and Tim Johnson (New Elementary) for helping to publicise the 2015 Gimme LEGO Awards and the readers' poll; without their help there would undoubtedly have been fewer votes cast and a less representative result. Thanks also to all of you who took the time to vote - it's much appreciated!

So that's 2015 finally done and dusted, then, and with the new year only a couple of weeks old we've already had a couple of early contenders for 2016 awards so this should hopefully be another good year for LEGO fans. Happy New Year to all Gimme LEGO readers, and play well!

The Gimme LEGO Awards 2015

Welcome to the 2015 Gimme LEGO Awards and my annual end-of-year trawl through the good, the bad and the ugly of the year viewed through LEGO spectacles. This is the five year anniversary of the awards and as ever my selections are entirely subjective so please feel free to leave a comment if you think I've got it badly wrong....

1. Best Theme

Last year's winner: The LEGO Movie

2015 winner: LEGO City

Surprised? Yes - me too. It's all too easy to dismiss the perennial City theme on the basis of the tiresome and interminable Police and Fire rehashes - God knows I often fall into the same trap myself - but dig a little deeper and you'll realise that in 2015 the City theme has actually offered a wealth of superb and varied sets.

Let's get the negatives out of the way first. Fire did make an obligatory appearance in 2015, but it was in the form of just a single small starter set, and we were furthermore spared any standard Police rehashes this year. Also, POOP tends to be more prevalent in the City theme than it is in other themes, and this year was no exception. In mitigation, however, it's used sparingly and judiciously; indeed, one of the better City sets of 2015, Set 60095 Deep Sea Exploration Vessel (below), likely wouldn't have seen the light of day without it.

Having quickly dealt with the minor gripes it's time to start highlighting the positives. Firstly, Swamp Police. Yes, I know it sounds stupid and probably shouldn't work, but the sets are almost universally excellent, featuring some interesting structures, unusual vehicles such as airboats, hovercraft and tracked vehicles, an interesting parts selection, and even occasionally worthwhile scenery. I vowed to cut down on my spending this year, and City sets were top of my "must resist" list, but despite that I just couldn't stop myself picking up a couple of the Swamp Police sets as they're so neat.

Next up for praise is the Deep Sea Explorers subtheme. Consisting of six sets, I first got my hands on the full line-up while doing a review for Bricks Magazine and was really impressed with the set designs, with Set 60092 Deep Sea Submarine (below) particularly standing out for its realism and play value. Another highlight is the previously-mentioned Set 60095 Deep Sea Exploration Vessel which looks great and is literally dripping with play features.

LEGO City also gave us a handful of welcome Space releases in 2015, with the highlight being Set 60080 Spaceport (below) featuring a good-looking Space Shuttle complete with external fuel tank, solid rocket boosters and a mobile launch pad. Other notable City offerings in 2015 include an attractive new cargo train in the form of Set 60098 Heavy-Haul Train, and Set 60097 City Square.

Overall, a very impressive showing for LEGO City in 2015, and a richly-deserved Gimme LEGO Best Theme award, the first time that LEGO City has achieved that feat - well done to the design team!

Honourable mention: LEGO Ideas. Having merited an honourable mention last year, LEGO Ideas once again delivered. Of the four Ideas releases, all seem to have been well-received; only Set 21302 The Big Bang Theory fell short as a LEGO set in my opinion, and even that one was a hit with the TV show's legions of fans. Ideas is far from perfect, with its reliance on I.P. rather than genuinely innovative original creations its main achilles heel, but even so if it keeps delivering sweet hits like Birds, WALL-E (below) and Doctor Who then I won't be complaining; let's just hope that the ridiculous controversy over the Ghostbusters Firehouse HQ doesn't convince the LEGO Company that Ideas is more trouble than it's worth....

Honourable mention #2 : Ninjago. Back from the dead. Literally. Only LEGO knows the truth, but the story goes that LEGO killed Ninjago to make way for Chima, the next big thing. Except that despite a hugely stripped-down output in 2013 and 2014, Ninjago refused to die, and to their credit LEGO listened to their fans and breathed new life into the theme with an impressive set line up in 2015. You could admittedly accuse LEGO of a somewhat scattergun approach to the Ninjago releases this year - they've pumped out a staggering 46 Ninjago sets in 2015 including magazine promos - but within those 46 sets are a surprising number of gems. Set 70751 Temple of Airjitzu is obviously the stand-out, but Ninjago 2015 is far from being a one-trick pony, with the likes of Set 70737 Titan Mech Battle, Set 70734 Master Wu Dragon and Set 70738 Final Flight of Destiny's Bounty also catching the eye, amongst others. Surprisingly strong.


2. Most Disappointing Theme

Last year's 'winner': Not awarded

2015 'winner': Not awarded

Not awarded again? Indeed. Sorry to be so non-controversial, but once again there isn't really a theme bad enough to merit the wooden spoon this year. OK, so I do have continuing reservations about the DC and Marvel Super Heroes themes and their minifigure-centric design choices which come at the cost of some rubbish builds, but even those mediocre themes are saved by a sprinkling of decent sets (Set 76035 Jokerland anybody?) which would make a 'worst theme' gong seem unreasonably harsh. So no standout candidate this year, then, and therefore no award.


3. The "Medieval Market Village" award for Best Non-Licensed Set

Last year's winner : Set 10243 Parisian Restaurant

2015 winner: Set 70751 Temple of Airjitzu

Wow - where did that come from?! It seems like every year one of my 'Best Set' awards, be it licensed or non-licensed, goes to an offering which has emerged from left-field with a minimum of fuss or fanfare - the likes of Set 70810 Metalbeard's Sea Cow and Set 10228 Haunted House immediately come to mind. That trend continues this year with the sumptuous Temple of Airjitzu.

Given the enduring popularity of the Ninjago theme, its rehabilitation in 2015 wasn't perhaps entirely unexpected, but what was a surprise was the appearance of a big AFOL-oriented Ninjago set, particularly one of this undoubted quality.  With its mix of interesting colours together with a nicely-integrated selection of buildings - the temple itself plus a blacksmith's workshop and a smuggler's market - it has a definite hint of Japanese-themed Medieval Market Village about it, and that impression is further reinforced by the inclusion of a host of attractive little details and clever building techniques. Look at some of the neat curved roof sections above, for starters, not to mention that wonderful bridge....

The attention to detail extends to the interior of the buildings which are furnished and incorporate a number of play features, most notably an illuminated spinning shadow theatre at the base of the temple (above) which uses a light brick and a crank to create the effect, while the inclusion of a dozen minifigures, some of them exclusive to the set, help to bring the beautifully crafted oriental scene to life.

This is a beautiful, grown-up set, and you can buy with confidence regardless of whether you're a Ninjago fan or not. Wonderful!

Honourable Mention: Set 10246 Detective's Office. LEGO has been cranking out superbly-designed Modular Buildings for so long now that I'm starting to get the feeling that some AFOLs are beginning to take them for granted. There's no sense of complacency so far as the design of the Detective's Office is concerned, however. Levels of external detail remain extremely high, and the use of clever building techniques continues to amaze and educate - check out the design of the balustrades in the picture below, for example. Interior detail, meanwhile, is typically impressive with a host of neat interior features and furnishings shoehorned into the set.

Overall, the Detective Office is superbly realised, with its clever design on this occasion being driven by an amusing back-story. It's blessed with a ton of wonderful interior and exterior detail, and if I'm honest it probably loses out to the Temple as much by virtue of being "just another excellent Modular" as anything else. Unreservedly recommended.

Other notable candidates: Set 31031 Rainforest Animals, Set 31039 Blue Power Jet, Set 60095 Deep Sea Exploration Vessel, Set 10247 Ferris Wheel, Set 70173 Ultra Agents Ocean HQ


4. Best Licensed Set

Last year's winner : Set 70810 Metalbeard's Sea Cow

2015 winner: Set 75060 Slave I

Given that fans of LEGO's long-running Star Wars theme had been waiting patiently for fully 15 years for a UCS version of Boba Fett's iconic Slave 1 craft, there was always going to be the potential for disappointment and anticlimax when LEGO finally got around to releasing one. Thankfully, any trepidation was quickly dispelled when the set hit the shelves.

We need not have worried - it's stunning. At almost half a metre long and comprising almost 2,000 elements it's also huge, not to mention richly detailed and accurate - everything LEGO Star Wars fans could have wanted, basically, right down to its display stand and UCS plaque. It's tough as well - unlike some of the older UCS offerings which would fall apart in a soft breeze, Slave 1 is made of stronger stuff. You can even grab it and swoosh it and it'll survive to tell the tale.

Like its UCS brethren before it, this version of Slave 1 is first and foremost a display model. Even so, it still manages to incorporate a slew of features such as hidden weapon compartments, a rotating cockpit and wings, an opening cargo bay door, and rotating twin blaster cannons. All things considered, it's pretty much the perfect UCS set, and one of the very best Star Wars offerings for literally years in my opinion - magnificent.

Honourable Mention: Set 71016 Kwik-E-Mart. I'm no particular fan of the Simpsons, but even then I couldn't fail to be impressed by the Kwik-E-Mart. Although this model could comfortably pass for a typical U.S. convenience store in anybody's City layout, it's far from being the most eye-catching or imposing set from the outside; really this 2,179-piece monster is all about the interior and the incredible attention to detail. While stickers are predictably prominent in recreating a realistic interior, there are thankfully lots of printed elements used, a number of which are unique to the set. The build is packed to the brim with references to the show and as such the set provides superb fan service, but there's also more than enough to engage those without a passion for The Simpsons but who are looking for a big, interesting and detailed build.

Other notable candidates: Set 10248 Ferrari F40, Set 75902 The Mystery Machine, Set 21303 WALL•E, Set 21304 Doctor Who


5. The "Phantom Menace" Award for Most Disappointing Set

Last year's winner: Set 76014 Spider-Trike vs. Electro

2015 winner: Set 10249 Toy Shop

Let's cut to the chase: this set is a stinker - a lazy and massively disappointing re-release. I know that I wasn't the only person to cringe in embarrassment as I watched the official LEGO Designer Video and witnessed poor Morten try to suggest that Set 10249 wasn't in fact basically the same as Set 10199 Winter Village Toy Shop; just to be clear, a few inconsequential part substitutions do not a new set make. For every LEGO fan pleased to be able to get what is effectively a copy of a retired set at less than the inflated aftermarket price, there's another LEGO fan (myself included) who was eagerly anticipating the latest instalment of what has become a popular Christmas tradition and who is now bitterly disappointed.

It seems bizarre for LEGO to consciously take a decision which was always guaranteed to unnecessarily alienate a part of its fanbase - they surely can't have failed to foresee the negative reaction. Word on the street is that we didn't get a 'new' Winter Village set this year because all the designers were busy on other projects; I'm not sure how credible this is, but if true then it's a really short-sighted decision considering the popularity of the Winter Village line and the way that so many fans have taken it to their hearts. Whatever the reason, the release of Set 10249 was a big misstep in my eyes, and let's hope that it's not a taste of things to come.


6. Best Minifigure

Last year's winner: Itchy and Scratchy

2015 winner: The Eleventh Doctor

All my awards are inherently subjective to some degree, but with the explosion in quality of LEGO minifigures over the past few years I think that's doubly the case so far as the 'Best Minifigure' award is concerned. The fantastic, intricate minifigure designs that we're seeing, in tandem with the stellar print quality, make it pretty much pointless to try and pick a winner on the basis of technical merit. Which is kind of liberating, in a way, as it means I'm free to choose on more esoteric grounds....

As a nerdy Brit of a certain vintage, I've loved Doctor Who for almost as long as I've loved LEGO; given the prodigious speed that the LEGO Ideas Doctor Who submissions accumulated 10,000 fan votes I'm evidently in good company, and many rejoiced when LEGO did the right thing and greenlit a Doctor Who Ideas set for production. This in turn made it inevitable that my toughest job in choosing Best Minifigure this year was merely to decide which of the two versions of the esteemed Doctor included in the set I should give the award to.... In the end The Eleventh Doctor edges it, mainly because at this point Matt Smith has seeped into my consciousness slightly more than Peter Capaldi has. The figure itself is nicely realised, and I like the way that the jacket print continues downwards from the torso to the legs, but it truth there's nothing especially technically outstanding about this minifigure - it's all about the Doctor!

Honourable Mention: Scooby-Doo

I'm actually dubious whether Scooby-Doo even counts as a minifigure, but that's the great thing about hosting your own awards - you can make up the rules as you go along.... Scooby-Doo was another chunk of my childhood that LEGO chose to immortalise in ABS in 2015, and LEGO Scooby himself was everything I hoped he'd be - goofy-looking, grin-inducing and delectable. And just to seal the deal, bloody Scrappy was nowhere to be seen - Scooby-Dooby-Doo!

Other contenders : Collectable Minifigures Series 13 Hot Dog Man, Collectable Minifigures Series 14 Plant Monster


7. The "Better than Expected" Award

Last year's winner: The LEGO Movie

2015 winner: LEGO Dimensions

Although the allure has admittedly started to wane, I've been a huge fan of TT Games' LEGO offerings for years now and have played my way through many of them. Having staunchly resisted the lure of the "toys-to-life" craze until now, however, I wasn't convinced that I needed LEGO Dimensions in my life. The developers were very clever, though, gradually adding an ever more appealing collection of third party I.P.'s to the Dimensions roster to tempt me in, to the point where it was hard to resist. I think Portal 2 was the clincher; once I knew that Chell and co. (below) were on the way, and that I'd effectively be able to play Portal within a recognisable LEGO world, I decided to take the plunge.

I went in with my eyes very much open, however; my scepticism of the toys-to-life craze has largely been founded on the belief that the USP is a shallow gimmick which, when all is said and done, doesn't really add anything meaningful or profound to the actual gameplay. Sure, there's something cool about watching a real object warped into a virtual world, but once you've seen it a few times.... Still, if ever I was going to throw myself into the fray and give it a chance, the time was now.

The fact you're even reading this would suggest that Dimensions has won me over, and to an extent it has. Firstly, I think the involvement of LEGO has enhanced the genre, insofar as it's not just a case of dropping pre-fabricated junk onto a pad before losing it under the sofa - there's actually a LEGO Vortex to build, plus characters, objects and vehicles to assemble, prior to warping them into the game. OK, so the construction isn't strictly necessary - the LEGO Toy Pad and character bases function perfectly well without it - but for the LEGO fan it undoubtedly enhances the experience. Also, the game requires some degree of subsequent interaction with the characters and Toy Pad, for instance moving them from one sector of the pad to another at certain points during the proceedings. Again it's far from perfect, and it even feels contrived and a bit irritating at times, but at least there's the possibility of moving the mechanic beyond pure gimmickry to something potentially worthwhile.

Thankfully the game itself is pretty good, for the most part - vintage TT Games fare - and overall I'd have to say that the involvement of the Toy Pad and other accessories has enhanced the overall experience. Better than expected then, although I can't give Dimensions an unreserved thumbs-up by any means - the high cost of the character packs, plus the fact that you now need to pay extra to access game areas that would previously have been unlockable for free, make it hard to love Dimensions like I loved TT Games' previous output.


8. Most Welcome LEGO-Related Announcement

Last year's winner: UCS Slave 1 incoming

2015 Winner: Set 75827 Firehouse Headquarters

I have to admit that I was highly sceptical when I heard the whispers about a Ghostbusters Firehouse release - a set of the size and scale quoted seemed just too niche, even for LEGO. I should have known better, though - any company capable of putting the likes of Set 70810 MetalBeard's Sea Cow into production isn't averse to confounding expectations with a few bonkers releases.... Even so, I think LEGO have outdone themselves this time - at 4,634 pieces, Set 75827 Firehouse Headquarters is absolutely massive, with the third largest parts count of any LEGO retail release ever and 2,000 more elements than the Sea Cow.

Regular readers of Gimme LEGO will know that I have a long love affair with Ghostbusters, having previously chronicled the design and construction of my own ECTO-1 and Ghostbusters Firehouse HQ MOCs here on the site. Having already got my hands on the official Firehouse set, however, I can confirm that it's of a different order of magnitude to my own efforts; its use of predominantly double-walled construction techniques means that it's solid and weighs a ton, while the incredible attention to detail lavished on most of the interior spaces will delight LEGO fans, not to mention taking them many hours to complete the build.... It'll be available at retail in just a couple of days, so start saving....


9. Gimme LEGO Reader's Choice Award

Last year's winner: Set 10243 Parisian Restaurant.

2015 winner: that's up to you!

Now it's your turn.... At the top of the page on the right of the screen you'll see a selection of LEGO sets which I consider to be some of the best that 2015 had to offer. Please vote for your favourite set! If your favourite isn't on the list then select 'None of the above' and leave a comment below or send me an e-mail via the contact button letting me know which set you think is the best of 2015. Cast your vote - one person, one vote - and at midnight on 14th January the poll will close and we'll have our winner.... If you're reading this on a device which isn't displaying the poll as described then click "view web version" at the bottom of the page in order to see the nominations and cast your vote. Thanks!

*Voting has now closed - click here for the results!*


Previous Gimme LEGO Awards: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

Bling

Thinking back to holidays gone by, I can still remember how I used to agonise about which books to throw into my suitcase while I was packing. Given the lack of space, and the dire consequences of making the wrong choices and being left without suitable reading matter, such decisions were not to be taken lightly. The advent of the Kindle and the iPad has thankfully rendered such trials and tribulations largely obsolete, with a lifetime's reading material now available at my fingertips on a device weighing less than just one of the Stephen King novels that used to sustain me for a couple of days of leisure, but I now have a different choice to make. Rather than books it's now shelves full of unopened LEGO sets I stare at, waiting for inspiration to strike....

Every family holiday I try to take at least one LEGO set with me to build while I'm away, particularly if we're holidaying in the UK and space isn't at a premium. Last year a holiday we took in the UK just so happened to coincide with a 3-for-2 promotion at a prominent UK LEGO retailer, so on that occasion I left home with one set and returned with thirteen.... Good holiday, that, even though I did spend a good part of it in the doghouse as far as my wife was concerned. Usually I have just one set to build, however, so it's a decision that merits some deliberation. A pity then that on my most recent holiday I was in a rush and pretty much grabbed the last set I saw before I ran out the door. So would I regret my choice....?

My last-minute selection was Ninjago Set 9448 Samurai Mech, not an altogether left-field selection given my recent dalliances with the Ninjago theme (here) and mechs (here). The front of the box (above - click to enlarge) features the now-familiar green Season 2 Ninjago branding and is dominated by an image of the titular Samurai Mech brandishing an unfeasibly large sword in the direction of a rather weedy trebuchet and a couple of odd-looking non-human minifigures, one of whom has been catapulted through the air. Despite my ownership of a number of Ninjago sets, I have to confess that the words "Samurai X included" on the box really didn't mean anything to me at all, but I assume that they carry deep significance for the considerably younger target demographic. The back of the box (below) highlights a number of play features of the set which we'll get on to later.

Inside the box are three large numbered bags of parts, each of which contains a couple of smaller bags. There are also two instruction booklets and a modestly-sized sticker sheet; while the sticker sheet contains a total of 11 stickers, all are thankfully small. I'm not a fan of stickers, but if I do have to apply them, please let them be small like these ones.... The covers of both instruction booklets are pretty much identical to the front of the box, and both booklets weigh in at 48 pages in length. The first booklet walks the builder through construction of the minifigures, the trebuchet and the torso and legs of the mech. The second wraps up the build and also contains an inventory of parts, pictures of a number of the 2012 Ninjago sets and spinners, advertising for the Ninjago.com website and the LEGO Club, and the now-obligatory picture of a kid shouting "WIN !" on the back cover which is supposed to encourage us to take an online survey. There's also a two page centre spread (below - click to enlarge) showcasing what looks like all of the weapons which appear in the Summer wave of Ninjago sets. This looks very similar to the weapons listing that I highlighted in my review of Set 9455 Fangpyre Mech, albeit a Summer 2012 version.

Set 9448 Samurai Mech contains lots of interesting parts, some of which can be seen in the picture below. Pride of place goes to a brand new and potentially really useful part - an inverted 2 x 2 tile - which makes its debut in this set in dark bluish grey. While it hasn't appeared in any other sets yet, it's pretty likely that it'll start cropping up all over the place before long I reckon. The dark red slope curved 4 x 1 double with no studs and dark red window are also unique to this set, as is the flat silver propeller blade 2 x 16 with axle. Other noteworthy parts are the pearl gold mechanical arm and Ninjago Spinner Crown, both of which only appear in one set apart from this one, and there's a generous supply of pearl gold round 1 x 1 tiles, four of which are extras. The handful of dark red cheese slopes are also welcome, as are the red round 2 x 2 bricks with grille.

The set contains three minifigures. Given the shout-out on the box, I'm assuming that Samurai X (below) is supposed to be the star of the show. According to Brickipedia, Samurai X is the alter ego of Nya, another Ninjago character; Nya is one of the few female Ninjago characters, and younger sister of the fire ninja Kai. Apparently. The Samurai X minifigure features printed legs and a back-printed torso, although the detail is unfortunately hidden by her somewhat clunky armour which covers her torso front and back. She has a reversible head and a pretty neat 3-part helmet featuring a removable red face guard and pearl gold decoration on top. Apart from this set, Samurai X appears in Set 9566 Samurai X, a spinner set.

Nya's adversaries in this set are a couple of seriously ugly dudes called Aytar and Snike. Short and squat with an elongatated face and snake-like teeth, Aytar has half-height minifigure legs and a torso printed front and back. His headpiece is really the highlight, curving backwards and downwards to meet his back, and covered with bright orange lumps. I think he looks excellent !

Aytar is tooled up with a wicked cuved blade; spot the lightsaber which forms the handle. There's a trans orange printed 1 x 1 round tile on the hilt printed with a Constrictai symbol which only appears in this set and one other, Set 9443 Rattlecopter.

Snike is another creative variation on the snake theme, more humanoid than Aytar but still squat and seriously ugly, with yellow eyes and slightly protruding fangs. His torso is printed front and back with a scaly pattern and he too has a spectacular textured headpiece which curves downwards and backwards from the top of his serpentine face. Snike only appears in this set.

Samurai X is a perfectly fine minifigure with some neat headgear, but for me it's the baddies that steal the show; overall the minifigures get a big thumbs up from me.

Minifigures constructed, there's the small matter of a trebuchet to build before getting cracking on the mech. And small it is, albeit perfectly functional. I think the majority of buyers would probably be quite happy for LEGO to refrain from throwing bits and pieces like this into the sets if it brought the prices down a bit, but there's no sign of LEGO doing this so we'll just have to learn to love this stuff. Just about the best thing about it is that it heralds the first apearance of the inverted 2 x 2 tile in any set ever, which is something to celebrate for me at least. There are also a few dark tan parts, which are nice to have, including a couple of modified 1 x 2 bricks with brick pattern. The trebuchet seems designed to fire Aytar and Snike through the air at high speed, and this it accomplishes with some aplomb, although how effective this strategy is likely to be against the Samurai Mech is in some considerable doubt....

And so on to the mech. After guiding the builder through construction of the minifigures and the trebuchet, the remainder of booklet 1 is dedicated to the construction of the mech's torso, feet and legs. Booklet 2 then takes up the mantle, leading the builder through construction of the arms, shoulders and head. It's an interesting and quite fiddly build at times, and you can see the finished mech below in all its glory.

You'd expect the mech to be readily posed into an almost infinite number of positions on account of a generous number of articulation points - the torso rotates 360 degrees on the hips, rotation joints permit both forwards/backwards and outward movement of the legs, there's a ball and socket joint at the ankle, and there are also ball and socket joints at the shoulder and elbow. And yet I unexpectedly struggled to pose the mech into many good poses. This was partly I think because the ball and socket joints in the ankles are quite weak and therefore the positions often didn't hold for long, and also because movement of the arms is significantly restricted by the epaulets on the shoulders. You can lift the the epaulets in order to allow more arm movement, but the guns which are mounted on top of them then bump against the mech's helmet (which is actually the hatch to get into the cockpit), so it's far from ideal.

Similar to Exo Force Set 7714 Golden Guardian which I reviewed a few weeks ago, the Samurai Mech isn't short of weaponry.... The primary weapon is obviously the huge silver sword, but if Samurai X grows tired of using her exo-suit for close quarters combat, the two shoulder-mounted guns offer some ranged options. One of these guns is a good old-fashioned cannon, capable of firing a trans blue and gold projectile via a spring-mounted firing pin at the back. The other is a blue-tipped laser or somesuch. Both guns can be rotated and elevated or lowered to secure the perfect shot.

Too many LEGO mechs have a distinctly unfinished look when viewed from behind. This one is better than many, with gold detailing on the backs of the feet, part-tiling on the rear of the torso, and a pair of red tanks mounted on the upper back. The exposed red 2 x 3 brick looks incongruous, however, as do some of the exposed grey areas. Just a little additional effort here would definitely have lent a more polished air to proceedings.

Samurai X fits snugly into the cockpit on top of the mech's torso (below). When the mech's hatch is closed she's barely visible, but the black fan-shaped 'windscreen' is hinged at its base and can be dropped down to provide Samurai X with an unobstructed forward view.

The finished mech certainly assaults the eyes, with the garish red and gold colour scheme making it look decidedly bling... It's a brave, bold design, perhaps a little too fussy and ornate for my tastes, but undoubtedly pretty spectacular. There's commendable attention to detail in the design and it's certainly anything but boring....

At an RRP of £29.99 / $39.99 for 452 pieces, I think this set offers reasonable value for money. It's an interesting build, offers a selection of interesting pieces, and I like the three minifigures it comes with, particularly the baddies. I do have some concerns about play value, though - it's trickier than expected to pose, and unless I'm unknowingly heavy-handed, it feels a bit too fragile to cope with robust handling. Even so, if you're a fan of mechs, Ninjago or both and don't plan on giving the completed model too much abuse it's easy to recommend. Amazon are currently selling the set at 20% off RRP in the UK (click here to buy), while our American cousins can get it here, albeit at only 5 cents under RRP....