What is your favourite set of 2025, costing less than $50?
Posted by CapnRex101,
Although the biggest sets understandably tend to monopolise attention, lots of superb smaller sets have been released in 2025 as well, from a variety of themes.
We set the limit at under $50 this year and your nominations have narrowed a field of 302 sets to twelve finalists. View the shortlist and cast your vote after the break...
There were a few clear favourites in the nomination phase, but other smaller sets that received quite a few nominations include 43277 Cruella De Vil's Car and 77241 2 Fast 2 Furious Honda S2000.
Which set received your vote? Let us know in the comments and vote in our gift-with-purchase poll here. There is still time to nominate your favourite set overall and favourite minifigure too.
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33 comments on this article
Happy Plants FTW!
At the very inexpensive end of the spectrum voted for 71487 Z-Blob, I bought two of these, and they are sold out on Lego.com in the UK now. Just a great idea, mix of parts and a nice Dreamzzz nod to classic Space; honourable mention to the 10363 Da Vinci's Flying Machine with its working mechanism, Da Vinci figure and opportunity to engage in science, art and history through Lego.
71487 Z-Blob's Robot and Vehicle Adventures not only has Futuron styled minifig :-) but also 20-in-1 concept allows for a lot of fun with only 121 pieces
Out of the nominees, I've only got 31165 Panda Family (for now), so I guess my vote goes to that one.
I was so convinced the Bulldozer was under €50, because I bought it for €34..., but on LEGO it's €59.99. Still killer set.
Idk if ROTS brickheadz counts if it is at the $50 price point. When it comes to voting here tho Plo Koon Starfighter def that new minifig went so hard. Also had a blast making the alt build thx to Will_Crafting!
75400 Plo Koon's Jedi Starfighter Microfighter is a great little set,
but how much of that is down to the minifigure?
if it were an Obi Wan starfighter with a very similar/ identical build but the figure from 75333 would the set be anywhere near as good?
yes the Plo figure is amazing, but, in my opinion, that should put him in the minifigure catagory rather than the small set catagory.
A niche place in cost.
Went with the pandas, gotta love a 3-in-1
Not a great selection and stuff like Happy Plants has been consistently reduced, so obviously not that popular.
Happy plants for president!
Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine soars to victory!
Interesting choice of price point...
$50 feels steep for the lowest end of the scale, and risks overshadowing many of the smaller sets this year. I wish an under £35 category or so was included this year, but I guess that pool is shrinking year on year, and indicative of the ever growing prices. Long gone it seems are the era of pocket money sets.
I feel like 10363 Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine cheating here, given that it's £55, and is included by technicality by having the threshold set in $USD and not £GBP.
There were some beautiful Friends sets in this range this year, but I imagine the average Brickset user is not their target demographic.
31165 Panda Family is nice, but for me, it's not the best of the Creator offerings this year.
I love Plo, and appreciate an updated figure in such a cheap set, but this is for best set. 75400 is here purely because of the figure included.
10349 Happy Plants are adorable. Their personalities derived from their simple yet effective faces are undeniably charming. On the flip side, they are essentially entirely reliant on two printed tiles, without which the simplistic builds would be underwhelming.
From the shortlist, 77037 Aloy & Varl vs. Shell-Walker & Sawtooth (the oversimplification of set names is a ramble for another day) takes my vote. While I tend to avoid branded sets in these polls, the figures are intricately detailed, we get two articulated machines and even some token terrain thrown in for good measure. It works as a display and a playset, and sits at the fantastic value of £39.99 (currently £28.99 at Amazon) for 768 pieces.
Quite a few good ones. I really want to say Happy Plants (just an awesome set and a fun little build), but I think 10363 is the choice.
Voting for the Lego Horizon set, cool enemy builds and a lot of value for the price and wonderful figures. The Arcade is a good second. Haven't build the SC two-pack and the Flying Machine is underway (rrp over here is €59,99 but got in a flash sale for +€27).
Cruella was robbed, that car is beautiful and provides a very good building experience. The da Vinci set is the winner among these.
@MegaBlocks said:
"Not a great selection and stuff like Happy Plants has been consistently reduced, so obviously not that popular."
Shoulda nominated something you liked better then.
Disappointed that 72031 isn’t on here, but 10349 is also a great set, so I’ll pick that.
None of these to be honest, if I had to pick it'd be 77053
PANDAS!
77037 is making me play with my sets again as a 40something man. They're just so posable, I can't resist rearranging the scene on my shelf very week. Such bang-for-the-buck too.
I won't be mad if Happy Plants wins. It wasn't for me, but I knew it would be an appealing set. Nor Z-blob (though I think Bunchu's Creative was the better delivery of the "same" set). The twin Lamborghini set is an undeniable value. Panda's a good choice for the 3-in-1 line, though it wasn't personally my selection. Arcade Machine is a solid fun set that's a good take on the "display set opens up for play".
All-in-all, this is a good lineup. I was initially skeptical of the $50 cutoff (thought maybe $100 would've been better), but I was proven wrong. (Poor 3-in-1 dragon is going to get destroyed in the "anything goes" category since it missed the cutoff for this one.)
@MegaBlocks said:
"Not a great selection and stuff like Happy Plants has been consistently reduced, so obviously not that popular."
@MegaBlocks said:
"Not a great selection and stuff like Happy Plants has been consistently reduced, so obviously not that popular."
don't know how many were made, or if stores over bought.
Happy plants has been my go to gift for anyone's birthday when I'm not sure what to get. It's just too cute to pass up!
It's weird to say that I had to decide between Happy Plants and the F1 Ferrari...
We all know that happy plants will win, but my vote will go to Aloy and Vassal vs Shell walker and sawtooth is my top pick. Usually im apposed to licensed sets getting nominated but it has such insane value. Plenty of the new parts from this year in good quantities, it's a moc builders best friend. Ive picked up 2 of them already.
I felt $50 is a bit of a high barrier, but then I realised this is basically the price of 'small' sets these days.
I picked 40805 Arcade Machine since I'm in game development, and it is the perfect, fun and affordable option compared to the Game Boy and Pac Man Arcade.
Z-Blob was a great little set, but I do like the Creator Panda set more. (Although personally I prefer the alt Orca build to the Panda myself.)
The great artist/inventor Leonardo DiCaprio’s Flying Machine for the win!
Normally a speed champion set would get my vote, but this year my favorite “cheaper” set is the Arcade machine! A nice display piece with a surprising interior and some nice easter eggs.
I went with 10363, but I'll definitely admit that 71487 (I need to build some of the other models on that one) and 75400 are fine sets, too. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a Renaissance ornithopter to play with.
@Retroblox77 said:
"Idk if ROTS brickheadz counts if it is at the $50 price point. When it comes to voting here tho Plo Koon Starfighter def that new minifig went so hard. Also had a blast making the alt build thx to Will_Crafting!"
Do you have a link to that alt build?
@bnic99 said:"yes the Plo figure is amazing, but, in my opinion, that should put him in the minifigure catagory rather than the small set catagory."
Speaking of which, where's the best minifigure poll?
Though one here. I have 10363, 77037 (my favourite video game so far) and 40805 (heavy nostalgia bait) which I all like very much. In the end, I chose 10363 as it is almost a Technic set and has a tiny bit of educational value. I also have 10349 and 71487 but I (kind of) consider them in a different class: less than $25 - nice but not comparable IMO.
Have to go with Speed Champions, though the pickings seem pretty slim in this category. Still would have preferred to see Friends here, those are good bang for buck.
@TheOtherMike said:
"I went with 10363 , but I'll definitely admit that 71487 (I need to build some of the other models on that one) and 75400 are fine sets, too. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a Renaissance ornithopter to play with.
@Retroblox77 said:
"Idk if ROTS brickheadz counts if it is at the $50 price point. When it comes to voting here tho Plo Koon Starfighter def that new minifig went so hard. Also had a blast making the alt build thx to Will_Crafting!"
Do you have a link to that alt build?
@bnic99 said:"yes the Plo figure is amazing, but, in my opinion, that should put him in the minifigure catagory rather than the small set catagory."
Speaking of which, where's the best minifigure poll?"
Yep :D https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-220978/Will_Crafting/plo-koons-starfighter-alternate-build-of-75388-31160/ details
Theres 2 options one with the microfighter parts and one without