Review: 80116 Trotting Lantern
Posted by Huw,
LEGO has been producing large sets to appeal primarily to the Chinese market since 2019 and one thing that most of them have in common is that they are well-designed with (almost) no expense spared, but priced well below average compared to similarly sized models. Many have high minifigure counts, too.
Consequently, their appeal often extends to those of us in the West, even if we have no knowledge of the subject matter portrayed.
However, I am not sure that 80116 Trotting Lantern will continue this trend.
Summary
80116 Trotting Lantern, 1,295 pieces.
£89.99 / $129.99 / €99.99 | 6.9p/10.0c/7.7c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
An attractive model with a working projector inside, but it's pricey and has few minifigures
- Projector works well
- Only five minifigures
- Expensive compared to other CTF sets
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Decorated elements
Decorated parts are a mixture of prints and stickers, so some expense has been spared. The printed ones are functional: the two 1x2 panels are used in front of a light and their pattern is projected onto the window panels on the right. The camera did not pick up that they are actually opal trans clear, with a blueish sheen to them.
Six stickers are used elsewhere on the model.
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Minifigures
Chinese Spring Festival sets are usually stuffed full with a dozen or so minifigures, but that's not the case here: there are just five: a family of four and a Year of the Snake costumed figure.
The mother of the family has a new torso print and is carrying a tray of dumplings, which is one of two new elements in the set.
The girl has the same torso as her mother.
The main attraction, as far as minifigures go, is the 'Year of the Snake guy' which is unique to the set. It's the 7th 'year of the...' figure, and one that collectors of the series will no doubt want to get hold of.
As well as sporting a new 'hairpiece', his torso is also a new print. I've no idea why he's carrying scissors!
The completed model
The 'trotting lantern' should more accurately be called a trotting horse lantern, or simply just revolving lamp. I believe real ones are a bit like slide projectors, powered by an oil lamp and the rising hot air from it which causes a propeller to rotate. As it does so, different images of a horse in motion are projected onto the faces of the perimeter, giving the impression of movement.
It's about 23cm tall and, as with most Spring Festival sets, red and gold are the dominant colours. You'll notice in the images below that the tassels -- tan broom heads -- dangling from the top have not been caught sharply at a shutter speed of 1/30th second: they keep swinging from side to side for ages when the model is moved!
The model is constructed, and comes apart, in three sections. Being 8-sided, some interesting techniques have been used to create the angles, including hinged plates, of course, but also Technic axle connectors to hold the sections in the corners of the top part.
The base houses a light brick and a 'projector' which casts an image on one of the transparent 1x2 printed panels onto the translucent windows around the circumference.
One of the sides can be removed to access the interior and swap the panel.
Pressing down on the knob at the top causes the light to illuminate and project the image. The knob can also be rotated to move the image from one panel to the next. It works fairly well!
The middle section is hinged to reveal a food stall, decorations stall and a shadow theatre (according to the description at LEGO.com). These provide something for the minifigures to interact with.
Verdict
The projection mechanism works surprisingly well and while I appreciate that it needed to be included in a model of a lantern, I suspect the novelty of operating it to view the image will wear off pretty quickly.
The minifigure selection is perfectly fine, but having only five of them is disappointing given we've become accustomed to these sets being packed with them.
As for the price, that is disappointing, too. Previous ones have come up at 7c / 5p per piece, but this 1,295-piece set, costing $129.99, £89.99, €99.99, works out at 10c / 7p, and that's with far fewer figures than usual.
It's certainly an attractive model, and definitely something different, but I don't think it's as appealing to those of us in the West as previous Spring Festival sets, in terms of its subject matter, dearth of minifigures, and price.
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44 comments on this article
Great review. Money saved.
I love seeing these, even if I don't have many of the CTF sets. They're always very pretty and it's nice to see a focus on non-Western culture and designs. I did get the Auspicious Dragon though, because it looks so bonkers cool and barely like Lego.
Snake Guy is hands-down the biggest draw of this set.
carrying a rat/mouse would been funnier
It is very expensive, but it is also lovely. I’ll wait for a discount…
As always, very stereotypical minifigs in theese chinese sets.
I think this looks excellent as a 'display' set but I do rather miss the 'location' type sets (like 80107, 80109, 80111) as there's been in previous years.
One can hardly say it doesn't look good, but it's ANOTHER 'item' to put in a display case... How many display cases does LEGO think we have in our houses (and how many empty walls)?
80101, 80107, 80109 and 80113 were all perfect additions to one's LEGO city, this not so much...
@Ridgeheart said:
"At this point, TLG's transparent attempts to curry favour with the mighty People's Republic are getting tired and cloying. We get it, you like each other, get a room already, just stop trying to involve me.
That aside, I'm also really, really bored with this colour-scheme. If you're going to continue this flirtation - and let's face it, you absolutely will - maybe spice it up a little? Add some purple and silver to the mix? I'd say trans neon, but we've all got our biases.
I am pleasantly surprised by how much this set reminds me of Kung Fu for the NES, but that's just a happy byproduct of my misspent youth, and doesn't really count as a plus for this particular design."
Well, this is a gross comment.
Not everything is about you, you know?
And maybe... just MAYBE... this isn't some sinister political whatever-you're-saying-it-is, but just LEGO working to provide sets to an emerging fanbase? Maybe they want to create things designed for these new fans?
And maybe it's available everywhere because Western fans begged for it after the first few sets in this line came out?
And maybe, since SO MUCH of what LEGO makes is Western-oriented (just look at the Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter products made), it's ok for a few sets to NOT be Western-oriented? Because it's a wide world and you're not the only one in it?
Just thoughts.
I really like this set, I'm looking forward to having it. It's unusual and intriguing. I would have appreciated more stuff for the projector and I don't see the point if it having an interior market or minifigures, but aside from that, I look for to getting it.
I ran out of shelf space a long time ago, I've got used to the fact that the majority of my sets are back in their boxes, and I can only have certain sets up because of room.
Where are the horses?
@gunther_schnitzel said:
"Where are the horses?"
Next year
Sigh. Every year it’s the same icky comments. Here we go:
1. Yes, the CNY sets are primarily targeting the massive middle class Chinese market.
2. The line is also popular with the massive Chinese diaspora, as well as many Asian countries where CNY is A BIG DEAL.
3. Yes, it would be nice to have representative sets from other cultures. But it’s always great to see something from Lego that’s not Eurocentric.
4. A government does not equate to a nation’s people.
Here is an article I contributed on the 2023 Year of the Rabbit event in Taipei, Taiwan.
https://brickset.com/article/90081
@riversarl said:
"Yes, it would be nice to have representative sets from other cultures. But it’s always great to see something from Lego that’s not Eurocentric."
Would be great to have the reviews done on Brickset by someone with that cultural background too to provide a bit more context and a different viewpoint.
@Ridgeheart said:
" @hawkeye7269 said:
" @Ridgeheart said:
"At this point, TLG's transparent attempts to curry favour with the mighty People's Republic are getting tired and cloying. We get it, you like each other, get a room already, just stop trying to involve me.
That aside, I'm also really, really bored with this colour-scheme. If you're going to continue this flirtation - and let's face it, you absolutely will - maybe spice it up a little? Add some purple and silver to the mix? I'd say trans neon, but we've all got our biases.
I am pleasantly surprised by how much this set reminds me of Kung Fu for the NES, but that's just a happy byproduct of my misspent youth, and doesn't really count as a plus for this particular design."
Well, this is a gross comment.
Not everything is about you, you know?
And maybe... just MAYBE... this isn't some sinister political whatever-you're-saying-it-is, but just LEGO working to provide sets to an emerging fanbase? Maybe they want to create things designed for these new fans?
And maybe it's available everywhere because Western fans begged for it after the first few sets in this line came out?
And maybe, since SO MUCH of what LEGO makes is Western-oriented (just look at the Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter products made), it's ok for a few sets to NOT be Western-oriented? Because it's a wide world and you're not the only one in it?
Just thoughts."
Ah, you're right. TLG is just doing this to be inclusive! It's nice of them! It's surely got nothing to do with China being an untapped goldmine. You'll notice though that they're doing precious little to include, I dunno, India? Africa? Oz, yes, but not so much Australia. Or Austria, for that matter. Hey, where's Russia's sets, or the Ukraine's? Where's the North Korean sets, why aren't we including them? And dang man, what about poor Belgium?
Let's not pretend that this has anything to do with altruism or inclusivity. I would love for all of us to hold hands and sing the songs of unification, but we appear to be a few hands and voices short."
Using Ukraine as an argument point while using the currently-disfavored name of "*the* Ukraine" doesn't necessarily help your positioning here. Do you really care about these other places you cited getting cultural representation, or are you just unhappy that a country you dislike is? I agree China's CCP policy and aims are atrocious, but no government has clean hands and no corporation is going to abandon profit for a moral stance. Corporations only sever ties when it's unprofitable. It's just how things go. And not all Chinese people live under or support the governance of the CCP. And these sets aren't at all related to modern governing politics.
These sets have never appealed to me. Lego needs to make things from other cultures too.
Whilst not a bad set by any means, this is a noticeable regression from other ones we’ve had in recent years.
Sure wish these kinds of sets could be discussed without people getting racist about them—and yes, I would consider conflating Chinese people or Chinese immigrants in other countries (the sorts of customers these sets target) with the Chinese government (the thing most people actually seem to take issue with) a form of racism. It's not like the subjects of these Lunar New Year sets are associated with the Chinese government, which is notably not the case of themes like Architecture that frequently depict Western government buildings to comparatively little protest.
Anyway, I generally like the look of this set, but I'm not 100% satisfied with it. Part of this might be due to the light brick not really being fit for the purpose... it's too small, and too directional, to project light and imagery in all directions like authentic versions of this sort of lantern seem to. If anything this set is begging to be modified with third-party lighting of some sort to allow for images to be projected in multiple directions at once.
So it doesn't really do what original ones are supposed to do all that well. And the entire upper half isn't even for that function anyway and has an interior to make said function even more half as effective.
Got it.
@Ridgeheart said:
"
These are some fair points. In hindsight, I should have focused on the mighty Yuan, rather than the People's Republic. I don't think TLG are trying to gain political clout; I think they're just seizing the opportunity to get their foot in the door in the Chinese market, and also get a leg up on their many competitors and clones, many of whom are firmly entrenched that market. Neither goal is inherently wrong, I fully realise that this isn't a small mom and pop toy-maker just trying to scrape by. A political stance doesn't even really feature into this - and yet, I confess that I have difficulty separating the country's market from their government's practices.
I'm not sure how to answer your question. Yes, I think China's practices are ghoulish, yes, I think some people are dangerously naive and/or staggeringly willing to turn blind eyes, no, I don't hate the country for what it is, no, I don't hate TLG for trying to make a buck. Yes, I would like to see other countries and cultures receive a fraction of this attention. So the answer is "C, all of the above".
Fair point on '*the*'."
Glad you walked this back a little but it was an insane comment to get mad about Lego producing sets marketed towards the largest diaspora in the world because you don't like the Chinese government. Typical reminder often needed on brickset applies here: lego will inevitably produce things that aren't intended for us and we don't need to get upset about it.
I, for one, plan on boycotting LEGO until it recognizes the new U.S. Territory of Greenland. ;o)
Another expensive dust-gatherer. I hope the days of CNY playsets aren't completely over ... fingers crossed for next year
@yellowcastle said:
"I, for one, plan on boycotting LEGO until it recognizes the new U.S. Territory of Greenland. ;o)"
And don’t forget the Panama Canal!
;-)
I am part of the Chinese diaspora, the fourth generation in my family to live outside the country. As others have pointed out, it’s not only people in China who celebrate the Lunar New Year. Many countries in Southeast Asia also celebrate this, along with the large Chinese diaspora. I was thrilled when Lego began producing these Spring Festival/Lunar New Year sets, both for the cultural resonance and because the sets are so beautifully designed.
What irks me the most about criticism of Lego “pandering” or “selling out” to China by producing these sets is that a commercial decision is immediately portrayed as a political or ethical one. (I happen to deeply disagree with many actions of the Chinese government, but I should not feel the need to state this to somehow "prove" that I am unbiased.) Can we just let other people in the world enjoy nice things that are meaningful to them? Not to mention, it’s good that more people can afford these nice things, when they were previously considered too poor to matter as consumers.
As for this specific set, while it certainly is pretty, I’m not really one for Lego versions of real-world objects.
@Allons_y said:
"I am part of the Chinese diaspora, the fourth generation in my family to live outside the country. As others have pointed out, it’s not only people in China who celebrate the Lunar New Year. Many countries in Southeast Asia also celebrate this, along with the large Chinese diaspora. I was thrilled when Lego began producing these Spring Festival/Lunar New Year sets, both for the cultural resonance and because the sets are so beautifully designed.
What irks me the most about criticism of Lego “pandering” or “selling out” to China by producing these sets is that a commercial decision is immediately portrayed as a political or ethical one. (I happen to deeply disagree with many actions of the Chinese government, but I should not feel the need to state this to somehow "prove" that I am unbiased.) Can we just let other people in the world enjoy nice things that are meaningful to them? Not to mention, it’s good that more people can afford these nice things, when they were previously considered too poor to matter as consumers.
As for this specific set, while it certainly is pretty, I’m not really one for Lego versions of real-world objects.
"
I couldn’t have said it better. Whilst I am not ethnically Chinese my wife is, and my son finds these sets interesting to learn about his heritage. These sets are in no way political in nature, they reflect traditional customs that long predate Communism and apply equally to people who celebrate Lunar New Year all over the world including many non-Chinese Asians.
If the original post in this comment section passionately dislikes the Chinese Government guess what? Asian people who dislike the Government of China also usually still celebrate Lunar New Year, it is an enormous diaspora. It is like hating Christians because you dislike the Russian Government due to the Russian Orthodox Church being one branch of Christianity. It makes absolutely no sense.
I've bought all of the minifig scale Chinese New Year sets since 2020 (I missed out on the first year, annoyingly, and they had TWO minifig scale that year!). I really like the variety of costumes and scenes they've provided, but the first sign that the theme may be changing came in 2022 with set 80108, but they also released 80109 that year, so I wasn't too concerned. Last year was a return to form with two minifig scale sets and other decorative sets, but this year they are really just releasing decorative sets with this one including a minifig component to satisfy the collectors, but I'm not feeling satisfied. I will buy this when I can get it 20% off, but I am not eager to get it like I have the past five years. It won't really add to the scene and that's disappointing. I was really hoping years ago that the modular nature of 80107 was the start of modular CTF sets—clearly my hopes were dashed. Gotta get that snake-headed mascot though!
I have really liked many of the CNY sets over the last few years. When pictures of this year’s wave were first released I was very underwhelmed. I just wasn’t excited about any of these unfortunately. On the other hand it just means my money can comfortably go to all the great botanical sets coming out :)
The snake mascot holding golden scissors is sort of a homage to the Chinese culture where cutting red paper to make decorations... something like folded paper and when you unfold it, it becomes a pretty art piece. A comment earlier mentioned why these CNY sets are always red, gold...and not silver, it's because of prosperity. Gold symbolises wealth
@UProbeck said:
" @yellowcastle said:
"I, for one, plan on boycotting LEGO until it recognizes the new U.S. Territory of Greenland. ;o)"
And don’t forget the Panama Canal!
;-)"
You forgot to mention Canada becoming the 51st state!
Kidding aside, what does CTF stand for?
also, wouldn't it just be easier to refer to it as the Lunar new year. Out here in Canada I usually attend more lunar new year events than new years events. The Lunar New Year usually has celebrations and things to do during the event!
BTW, in sticker 1, the last (fifth) character on the left means "happy", the last (fifth) character on the right means "high/tall".
Those two characters put together is the Chinese name for "Lego".
@Chopstix89 said:
" Kidding aside, what does CTF stand for? "
Chinese Traditional Festival
Chinese culture is full of cool dragons, temples, monkey gods, fantasy creatures and colourful festivities that make exceptional themes for lego, most european cultures have traditions originating from Christianity and Lego doesn't do religous stuff. Can't think of a single european non-religious festivity that would make an interesting lego set.
Thanks for the review. Got to agree with your conclusions really - the value is really quite a lot worse than for prior CTF sets. I was very partial to last year's selection, 80113 in particular, but I think this is a miss. Not too sorry about that though, I can't get everything I want anyway!
@UProbeck said:
" @yellowcastle said:
"I, for one, plan on boycotting LEGO until it recognizes the new U.S. Territory of Greenland. ;o)"
And don’t forget the Panama Canal!
;-)"
And the 51st US state of Canada. ??
I might not have got the set if it was not for the fact that I started collecting them and so now want to complete the series, the same with the 'Year of' GWP.
I thought the Snake Guy's headpiece had lipstick, until I realized that it was a snake tongue.
Great review, especially the fun remark about the ever-dangling tassles
@ChocolateFrog said:
"Every year the same comments about China… and every year they’re right. It seems distasteful for Lego to try so hard to enter the Chinese market - even to the extent of selling sets more cheaply - when China as a country and as a people tolerates a vicious totalitarian regime as its government. For me that overshadows anything else about this set."
Sadly, I don’t think the people can do anything much about the vicious totalitarian regime that controls the army, even if they want to!
I saw this set in a LEGO store yesterday, and it looked stunning!
Then I saw the price - $150 Australian! - and I quickly lost interest!
Didn’t realise there was a working projector feature inside, which somewhat explains the high price.
Might try pick this up used in a couple years….
I can see the golden scissors appearing in a few monkie kid sets this year.
I've got quite a few of the CTF (CNY?) sets because I like the designs, the scenes and the good value.
When I first saw this one it didn't look interesting any of those 3 points and this review nicely confirms my initial impression.
I've been sourcing the parts to make the costume figure for the various years a few months after the release of each respective set, and I'll continue to do so with this one. It's a good way to collect the figure without breaking the bank.
Just bought this yesterday with GWP Year of The snake!
Normally a US$130 set would be selling here at around S$200, but for some reason this set only costs S$150. Plus I had member discount at the shop where I bought it so only costs me S$120 with the GWP somemore. :-)
Comments are weird by some. This year new year sets are a bit off as the review mentioned. I almost bought all the NY sets but usually one set is “playable” with mini figures and the other one was mostly decorative. But this year two sets are mostly decorative which make me don’t really want to buy. However this set is a good set. The lantern is highly culturally related (and historical for this generation because I guess even young Chinese may not have good idea of what meaning of this and what was the original thing it refer to). It should be able to light up but I was “disappointed) it look like it cannot move. I think this set is referring to the traditional lantern that you light up the candle inside and the fire heat up the air inside and the “picture outside” will start to circulate by itself. So people will stand below it, seeing all the pictures which related to stories and it moving slowly.
@Ridgeheart said:
"At this point, TLG's transparent attempts to curry favour with the mighty People's Republic are getting tired and cloying. We get it, you like each other, get a room already, just stop trying to involve me.
That aside, I'm also really, really bored with this colour-scheme. If you're going to continue this flirtation - and let's face it, you absolutely will - maybe spice it up a little? Add some purple and silver to the mix? I'd say trans neon, but we've all got our biases.
I am pleasantly surprised by how much this set reminds me of Kung Fu for the NES, but that's just a happy byproduct of my misspent youth, and doesn't really count as a plus for this particular design."
The world's Chinese are not represented purely by the PRC.
And if you are going to demand them to depart from traditional festive colours, do you also demand that from Christmas sets which look the same year after year for decades?