Holiday gift guide: $50-$100
Posted by Huw,
Today's holiday gift guide examines sets costing $50 to $100, in which an outstanding range of 91 sets have been released this year.
There are plenty of 'adults welcome' sets at this price that would make great gifts for those who might not (yet) be AFOLs, as well as many that will be appreciated by kids.
Find out what Brickset staff have picked after the break then let us know what you would have chosen in the comments.
Huw
42158 NASA Mars Rover Perseverance ($99.99 / €94.99 / £84.99)
Among a plethora of cars and plant, this was the stand-out Technic set of the year, something that had not been made in the medium before.
As you would hope for a Technic set, it's packed with realistic functionality, most notably the suspension, and looks great on display when it's not being played with.
Every kid loves space exploration, so this is sure to be a well-received gift for the older child who thinks they have grown out of regular LEGO.
MeganL
41756 Holiday Ski Slope and Café ($79.99 / €84.99 / £74.99)
I'm sure many were expecting me to list 41757 Botanical Garden in this spot - and it's my second choice! That is a beautiful set, as I've mentioned in my review.
However, for these selections I like to highlight sets that perhaps haven't got the same attention. For this, I love 41756 Holiday Ski Slope and Café. There's a lot of play value in this set. The ski slope and café have been incorporated much better than previous iterations. I also love that there's a wheelchair skier, that speaks to the Friends team's efforts around inclusion.
It's a great gift not just for kids, but for those adults (like me) who build their own Winter Village every year - this fits right in.
CapnRex101
71794 Lloyd and Arin's Ninja Team Mechs ($79.99 / €84.99 / £74.99)
I am surprised by my own selection in this category, but when looking back across the sets released this year, 71794 Lloyd and Arin's Ninja Team Mechs stands out as one of the most enjoyable to play with. Both mechs have a unique character and their combination function is brilliantly implemented.
Given the sheer number of mechs released nowadays, including 25 this year alone, developing examples with a completely unique aesthetic and building experience must be challenging, but this pair of mechs succeeds.
75352 Emperor's Throne Room and 75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer are only narrowly beaten in this category, especially in the case of the Executor, which fulfils my long-held wish for midi-scale to return.
TheBrickPal
71426 Piranha Plant ($59.99 / €64.99 / £57.99)
Like usual, this category yields some wonderful sets; you're spoiled for choice. Some of my favorites include 10325 Alpine Lodge, 43217 'Up' House, and 75347 TIE Bomber. 21342 The Insect Collection, 41757 Botanical Garden, 71460 Mr. Oz's Spacebus, 76248 The Avengers Quinjet, and 76993 Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman's Death Egg Robot are also exceptional runner-ups.
Additionally, as I said in my review, 43230 Walt Disney Tribute Camera is one of the best sets of the year - a true marvel on display. But what if the person you are gifting to is not a movie fan, but a gamer instead?
71426 Piranha Plant is the answer. It is easily the best Super Mario model in this price range, with a fantastic parts selection, superb building techniques, and a great presence on display. Any Nintendo fan who receives it would be pleased. If you want more on why this set shouldn't be missed, stay tuned for my review coming soon!
For a kid who is interested in the Italian plumber, 71424 Donkey Kong's Tree House is a good alternative pick. After all, it includes Donkey Kong...
Alice
10313 Wildflower Bouquet ($59.99 / €59.99 / £54.99)
You can sense a theme here with my picks! I have again gone for a botanical set, 10313 Wildflower Bouquet. This is my favourite of this year’s botanical collection because it’s so colourful!
This bouquet is sure to add a pop of colour to anyone’s room. I think it’d make a great gift for your partner, parents or even grandparents, whether they’re an AFOL or not!
benbacardi
43230 Walt Disney Tribute Camera ($99.99 / €99.99 / £89.99)
For this price range, I was torn between 43230 Walt Disney Tribute Camera and 31208 Hokusai - The Great Wave—both excellent display sets from totally different themes!
Ultimately, however, I feel like the Walt Disney Tribute Camera just takes the top spot. It's a truly unique LEGO set that adds a talking point to any shelf, and it would make an excellent gift for the Disney fan in your life, LEGO-loving or otherwise!
On the flip side, 31208 Hokusai - The Great Wave is a fantastic LEGO-styled rendition of a famous painting, and I'm sure many people would gladly find a spot for it on their wall.
SetToBuild
75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer ($69.99 / €69.99 / £59.99)
Affordable and Star Wars aren't usually found in the same sentence. However, 75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer offers an excellent display piece for a great price. This midi-scale Dreadnought packs an impressive amount of detail and a fun Easter egg into a small model.
We haven't seen LEGO make an Executor Super Star Destroyer since 2011, so this set is a no-brainer for someone lacking the funds or the space for this set's UCS counterpart.
FlagsNZ
41757 Botanical Garden ($79.99 / €84.99 / £74.99)
One thing I have noticed this year is how spectacular the Friends buildings look compared to the City buildings, and the stand-out for me is 41757 Botanical Garden.
It has everything that a botanical garden glass-house should have besides plants: ducks and goldfish in a pond that includes a waterfall, bees pollinating the plants and frogs standing guard.
Central to the Botanical Garden is a lepidopterarium or butterfly house which also provides space for a tropical tree to grow underneath the glass dome. There is plenty of NPU (Nice Parts Usage) to assemble a range of tropical plants.
To enable the play features, this is an open half of the building with only half of the glass dome present. For this reason, I have two of these sets and will be merging them together to build a Modular-style Botanical Garden.
Which of the 91 sets would you choose to gift?
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23 comments on this article
My pick would be the botanical garden, one of the best sets of the year!
@Lemerbrix06 said:
"My pick would be the botanical garden, one of the best sets of the year!"
+1
Affordable price range and a lot of good sets for play or display.
Personally my favourite offering from Ninjago would be the 71796 Elemental Dragon vs Empress Mech, but it is well over $100.
I do really love the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer, and whenever I pick up the long-rumoured midi-scale Invisible Hand I'll be sure to pick this one up as well.
Botanical Gardens definitely. Another one of the sets Brickset has skipped reviewing, like Ninjago City Markets.
The two friends sets are my favourites on this list. (I have the Disney Camera already).
Some interesting picks, but I would like to add a few.
Star Wars: 75347 , finally a decent remake of an actually desirable set. Decent figs and not outrageously expensive. Would still look for a discount though. Fortunately a local grocery retailer has 50% off of them this week. Might take a trip…
Creator: 31139 , I’m yet to build this one but it seems to offer great value and some amazing details, even for fans of nostalgia (the toys)
If you’re looking for more fantasy oriented themes I think the Disney Up House 43217 would make for an enjoyable experience, as well as a Dreamzzz set like 71459, giving some major Elves vibes, with a decent amount of figs and interesting new pieces. I don’t own either of those but looking to get these whenever I find a good enough discount. I would go for the Up house first.
@Kynareth said:
"Botanical Gardens definitely. Another one of the sets Brickset has skipped reviewing, like Ninjago City Markets."
@MeganL is saving the best for last...
glad to finally see some ninjago sets on the list! its been a great year.
"given the sheer number of mechs this year, including 25 this year"
oh boy, you are not going to like whats in store for next years sub theme.
41757 is the no-brainer this year. @MeganL is still playing with and forgot the review ;)
Botanical Garden was an instant classic the moment it was revealed.
A set so good it turns Friends haters into... Friends haters that own the Botanical Garden!
Man, I'd love to see what 2 Botanical Gardens look like combined!
To CapnRex's point about 75352, the Emperor's Throne Room - now it's available with a discount in various places, it's more palatable. It is by far my favourite Star Wars diorama. A brilliant recreation of a great movie scene.
Alpine Lodge would have been my pick.
41757 is an absolute top on this list. This is such a beautiful build, almost no colorDNA of the friends line, plenty of new and unique pieces and a lot of npu.
42158 on the other hand was quite a letdown for me. It's great in that it is an original vehicle. It's moving arms are well executed, these are some nice mechanical features. But the wheels almost don't roll (they are too light and too hard) they fall apart whenever I pickup this set, the 'suspension' is not good for Earth gravity. And an absolute lack of background info in the manual is a major letdown from educational point of view. I can only recommend this set as a parts pack or for die hard space exploration collectors. Don't buy this for kids, it doesn't work as a toy.
I think 71786 is a great set.
For those of us in the UK, 41756 is just £49 at Argos at the moment https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3428672?cjdata=MXxZfDB8WXww&istCompanyId=a74d8886-5df9-4baa-b776-166b3bf9111c&istFeedId=36e094b5-4873-4656-8e75-75db46377ddc&istItemId=lwiaawtpl&istBid=t& $ja=tsid%3A11674%7Cprd%3A3797016&utm_source=Brickset&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_campaign=IntelligentReach+Argos+Feed&utm_content=13874228&utm_custom1=3797016&utm_custom2=Other&cmpid=cojun&cjevent=2ed9315087c111ee811e394b0a18b8f6&dclid=CLWps8n-0oIDFcbQUQodwggK2Q
Fire plane 42152 probably is only for technic enthusiasts.
The green house 41757 is nice but I am not that much into minifig world.
Therefore my pick is 21342 critters.
I can recommend 75347 TIE Bomber and 75352 Emperor's Throne Room Diorama to any original trilogy Star Wars fan. These are both awesome sets.
Additionally, I think 42158 NASA Mars Rover Perseverance (which is also still on my own wish list) and 21342 The Insect Collection are worth mentioning.
Surprised and happy to see many nice sets here in this range for the little ones.
And overall many well designed kits throughout.
My top 10 picks...
- 10411 Learn About Chinese Culture (so many great Duplo printed elements here).
- 10788 Gabby's Dollhouse
- 10990 Construction Site
- 11032 Creative Color Fun (1500 pieces, $65 bucks)
- 21342 The Insect Collection
- 42158 NASA Mars Rover Perseverance
- 43230 Walt Disney Tribute Camera
- 60361 Ultimate Stunt Riders Challenge
- 60371 Emergency Vehicles HQ
- 71786 : Zane's Ice Dragon Creature
Can’t go wrong with the Botanical Garden, but the Executor, TIE Bomber and any of this year’s botanical collection should receive a shout out too.
Got the 75356 SSD on day 1, it looks amazing!
For someone who generally collects Star Wars, I found all the SW sets in this price range to be really good.
However, surprisingly, I found the Disney Tribute Camera to be the stand out set for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the build and think is looks fantastic. It also happens to coincide with very well with a new hobby I'm teaching myself, hand drawn animation - time consuming and a steep learning curve and so far, a lot of fun.