Review: 80117 Good Fortune
Posted by Huw,
80117 Good Fortune is one of a number of sets that have just been released to appeal primarily to the Asian market.
The model comprises brick replicas of objects that in Chinese culture symbolise a future filled with love, good health, prosperity and joy.
Summary
80117 Good Fortune, 1,021 pieces.
£69.99 / $89.99 / €79.99 | 6.9p/8.8c/7.8c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Five symbols of future prosperity and good health make up this attractive display model
- Reasonably priced
- Clever building techniques
- Great parts pack
- Appeal may be limited to those to whom the objects have significance
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The objects depicted are a persimmon, red berries, a fan decorated with a pair of magpies, a scroll, and gold ingots. Together they combine to make an attractive, but arguably slightly cluttered, display model.
The five cultural objects are mounted upon a 16x16 plate which is lavishly decorated with medium azure and gold tiles.
A reddish-orange persimmon fruit, associated with luck and prosperity, sits upon the 'wooden' stand in the middle. The four leaves that fit snugly on the top to form the fruit's calyx look just like those on the real berry and help make it look very realistic.
A clever stud-reversal technique involving a pair of black 'lamp holders' has been used to allow the large 4x4x4 quarter domes to be connected upside down.
Three twigs of fortune red fruit stand in a small vase decorated, like many that originate in China, with an elaborate blue pattern. Unfortunately, the angles that the twigs emerge from the opening doesn't look quite right.
Two small banners that read 'Good Fortune' and 'Spring Festival' hang from them. The 8x8 dishes on both sides of the vase are printed, the banners are stickers.
This picture shows how the curved sides of the vase, which closely follow the contour of the dishes, have been constructed.
The fan is embellished with a twig of cherry blossom upon which two oriental magpies (Pica serica) are perched, signifying that good things come in pairs.
An additional bag of pieces is provided to decorate the fan with a different but less attractive pattern, which can be seen in this official image.
A calligraphy pen rests on the red scroll upon which a single Chinese character, Chuntian, meaning spring, has been written.
I particularly like the way both sides look to be rolled up on gold cylinders.
Finally, rounding off the model, are three gold boat-shaped yuanbao gold ingots.
The vase can be affixed to the corner of the display plate, but I think it looks less cluttered when it's positioned to one side and evidently LEGO does do, judging by the official imagery.
It's an attractive model that will be especially appealing to those to whom the objects have cultural significance.
The 1,021-piece set costs £69.99/$89.99/€79.99, which does not seem too bad, although unless you fall into that camp, I suspect you'll find more appealing sets elsewhere in the product range at that price.
98 likes
29 comments on this article
Nice set, good review!
I really like the pictures showing the building techniques.
The vase looks real. Best part of the set.
There's some pretty interesting building techniques in this
I'm not the target audience, but I absolutely love how much effort is put into the design of these sets.
I once ate a persimmon; it was an odd experience.
I would never have thought in a million years that LEGO would make a brick-built persimmon.
As much as I love the details and beauty of these sets (especially the brick-built details of the fan), I just can't see myself spending my money on these when there's so much other lego to buy. I'm Asian, but not the right Asian I guess, as I'd prefer Japanese culture. But I can understand TLG's thought behind this line of sets to cater to the Chinese market (and people interested in Chinese culture), I just hope it can be expanded to other cultures as well...
These do not have any significance for me, but I really like the set. Sort has that feel of things being taken from a portrait, like the Holbein ambassadors. If it hadn't been for the modular, I would have got this at new years.
@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
"I once ate a persimmon; it was an odd experience.
I would never have thought in a million years that LEGO would make a brick-built persimmon."
Persimmons contain astringent tannins, which are responsible for the distinctive and surprising "cotton-mouth" sensation. To avoid, either wait until the fruit is jelly-soft (i.e., nearly rotten), or cure it (soak in vinegar, submerge in boiling water, expose to ethylene gas).
Once TLG started producing Chinese-cultural sets with auspicious, festival, zodiac and household topics, it was predictable every traditional symbol accumulated over the past couple of millennia would eventually appear (see Brickset subtheme=Chinese Traditional Festival). I mean, look at the obscure ships TLG has found to fill 25 years of Star Wars sets.
Bamboo and other botanicals, the boat-shaped yuanbo gold ingots, lion dancers, the new dumpling element. From the mythological side, there's the 6444659 God of Fortune, and Monkie Kid has some demons, albeit in cartoonish form ... but human characters shade into the religious (e.g., Guanyin, the Buddhist-derived goddess of mercy) or deified historical figures like the general Guan Yu, which TLG's usual policies would avoid. Oddly there haven't been any fu dogs, which I've seen made by the Chinese clone brands.
Looks like a random mishmash of things. I think just the vase with the twigs and banners and fan were enough.
A fascinating set in the series, which I'll certainly get at some point. I just hope that they come up with a location based set for next year
It's a very pretty set, and I like a lot of the pieces, colors, and techniques. The 3-D magpies are particularly a favorite bit of mine.
I definitely prefer the Chinese culture sets that are more minifig-based, but I think I'm mostly just not a fan of these LEGO "still life" type sets. I'm thinking of the Hogwarts trunk and Disney Villain Icons sets as well, for example. IDK what it is, I'm fine with Botanicals but for some reason a brick-built, life-size VHS tape just feels weird! To each their own!
I quite like this set. We have lots of antique Chinese furniture in our house and the vase would fit right into our home decor. I also love the persimmon and it makes me want a buildable fruit bowl set!
I have no connection to China or Chinese culture, but I've got this one on order because it looks great and will go well with the others I have.
I have plenty of art & objects around the house representing cultures other than my own. It's nice to have some variety.
the vase build would have been a great ~$20 set on its own
@Lexomatic said:
" @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
"I once ate a persimmon; it was an odd experience.
I would never have thought in a million years that LEGO would make a brick-built persimmon."
Persimmons contain astringent tannins, which are responsible for the distinctive and surprising "cotton-mouth" sensation. To avoid, either wait until the fruit is jelly-soft (i.e., nearly rotten), or cure it (soak in vinegar, submerge in boiling water, expose to ethylene gas)."
Oh. I don't have any ethylene gas lying around.
@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Lexomatic said:
" @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
"I once ate a persimmon; it was an odd experience.
I would never have thought in a million years that LEGO would make a brick-built persimmon."
Persimmons contain astringent tannins, which are responsible for the distinctive and surprising "cotton-mouth" sensation. To avoid, either wait until the fruit is jelly-soft (i.e., nearly rotten), or cure it (soak in vinegar, submerge in boiling water, expose to ethylene gas)."
Oh. I don't have any ethylene gas lying around."
Use a banana.
@Huw said:
" @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Lexomatic said:
" @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
"I once ate a persimmon; it was an odd experience.
I would never have thought in a million years that LEGO would make a brick-built persimmon."
Persimmons contain astringent tannins, which are responsible for the distinctive and surprising "cotton-mouth" sensation. To avoid, either wait until the fruit is jelly-soft (i.e., nearly rotten), or cure it (soak in vinegar, submerge in boiling water, expose to ethylene gas)."
Oh. I don't have any ethylene gas lying around."
Use a banana."
Especially if you need to make a phone call.
I collect all the Lunar New Year minifig sets. The real-life item reproductions don't hold the same draw for me.
Although, the Lucky Cat looks hilariously attractive.
Not for me. I like some of the structures in this series, but others just look like a mishmash. The trotting lantern has already been on Amazon for 25% off for a couple of weeks at least.
The lucky cat is the only one I liked this year.
@StyleCounselor said:
"I collect all the Lunar New Year minifig sets. The real-life item reproductions don't hold the same draw for me.
Although, the Lucky Cat looks hilariously attractive."
If I didn't already have 40436, I'd be sorely tempted to get that one.
I'm generally a fan of the CNY sets, I have the Trotting Lantern ready to make beside me as I type. This one though.... each component is quite pretty with nice building techniques, but it doesn't seem to make a unified set - I feel like these might have been better released as 3 GWPs or small sets instead.
For example, the scroll, with some extra (cheap) pieces to write different characters might have been more fun and a more interesting introduction to Chinese characters for those not familiar with them.
But presumably someone in TLG has decided it makes more sense to bundle and sell this together as a 1,000 piece set, I just hope they miscalculated and it shows up on clearance discounts later for the pieces :)
@Lexomatic said:
" @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
"I once ate a persimmon; it was an odd experience.
I would never have thought in a million years that LEGO would make a brick-built persimmon."
Persimmons contain astringent tannins, which are responsible for the distinctive and surprising "cotton-mouth" sensation. To avoid, either wait until the fruit is jelly-soft (i.e., nearly rotten), or cure it (soak in vinegar, submerge in boiling water, expose to ethylene gas)."
There are tannin-free persimmons, called Fuyu or crunchy/firm. You can even eat an unpeeled unripe one, if that's your thing.
I agree that this set is kind of cluttered. I like the idea of the scroll and brush, the vase, and the persimmon, but it doesn't all come together in an attractive display. I feel like some of new heavily molded botanical pieces like the leaves of the persimmon feel less and less lego.
I assume “(-) Appeal may be limited to those to whom the objects have significance” will be noted on every tedious upcoming Marvel, Star Wars, etc., model as well.
@brentsleeper said:
"I assume “(-) Appeal may be limited to those to whom the objects have significance” will be noted on every tedious upcoming Marvel, Star Wars, etc., model as well."
Yes, good idea.
"a single Chinese character, Chuntian"
? is just chun, ?? would be chuntian. (Edit: Seems like characters aren't showing up well for me. Here's the words as a percent-encoded Wiktionary link. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%98%A5%E5%A4%A9)
Romanization of a single character usually looks like a single syllable when read phonetically.
Isn't it reassuring to know that whenever you feel like you need some good fortune, you can now literally buy some from LEGO?
;-)
My family is vietnamese. I love that LEGO has embraced this theme and have bought almost every set of this collection, including this one. I just wish they would have used "Lunar New Year" instead of "Chinese", which would be more accurate and felt more tactful towards all the other countries in the region that celebrate it.
These cultural sets look amazing with their vibrant colors and intricate building techniques. I just filtered to see all of them to remember what we had before, beautiful, beautiful sets.