Result: What are your favourite smaller sets of 2024?
Posted by CapnRex101,
The biggest LEGO sets often attract particular attention, but there are plenty of outstanding smaller sets released annually as well.
2024 was no exception, so we invited Brickset readers to vote for their favourite gift-with-purchase sets of the year and their favourites among sets costing less than $40. Nearly 11,000 votes have been submitted between the two polls, which is more than ever in these categories.
Find the results below...
What is your favourite gift-with-purchase set of 2024?
Winner: 40712 Micro Rocket Launchpad - 1209 votes
- 40712 Micro Rocket Launchpad - 1209 votes
- 40698 Books Are My Passion - 1181 votes
- 40693 The Lord of the Rings: Fell Beast - 727 votes
- 40686 Trade Federation Troop Carrier - 637 votes
- 40681 Retro Food Truck - 564 votes
- 40697 Halloween Pumpkin - 470 votes
- 40729 Shackleton's Lifeboat - 438 votes
- 40690 Tribute to Jules Verne's Books - 375 votes
- 40699 Retro Record Player - 355 votes
- 40687 Alien Space Diner - 191 votes
40712 Micro Rocket Launchpad was introduced in February last year and I have expected it to top this poll ever since. Beyond the inherent appeal of Classic Space nostalgia, I think this is a clever idea for a set and its execution is superb, thanks in part to the delightful mini astronauts. The presence of stickers is unfortunate, but I still consider this a worthy winner.
Its victory was remarkably narrow, however, beating 40698 Books Are My Passion by only 28 votes. This little vignette is relatively simple, but includes plenty of detail and was launched to acclaim in October. I wondered whether it might be overshadowed by some licensed sets and pushed into fourth after counting the nominations, but instead this set almost won!
The results otherwise present few surprises, so I will take this opportunity to mention the need for LEGO to improve availability of gifts-with-purchase, especially in North America. Several of these were gone within mere hours of their release, including 40693 The Lord of the Rings: Fell Beast and 40729 Shackleton's Lifeboat, which is not good enough. Anticipating demand is not easy, but there is obviously room for improvement.
What is your favourite set of 2024, costing less than $40?
Winner: 60430 Interstellar Spaceship - 857 votes
- 60430 Interstellar Spaceship - 857 votes
- 75372 Clone Trooper & Battle Droid Battle Pack - 589 votes
- 10369 Plum Blossom - 588 votes
- 60407 Double-Decker Sightseeing Bus - 474 votes
- 76964 Dinosaur Fossils: T. rex Skull - 435 votes
- 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life - 326 votes
- 31147 Retro Camera - 311 votes
- 76934 Ferrari F40 - 310 votes
- 76919 2023 McLaren Formula 1 Car - 302 votes
- 71431 Bowser's Muscle Car - 203 votes
- 76923 Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision Gran Turismo - 186 votes
60430 Interstellar Spaceship nearly received enough nominations to be considered among the best sets of 2024 overall, so its comfortable victory among those costing less than $40 is richly deserved! This set is essentially faultless, looking fantastic, including a neat function to change its engine profile and offering incredible value for money,
I wondered whether 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life may be its nearest rival, which would be a splendid showing for the City Space range, but 75372 Clone Trooper & Battle Droid Battle Pack took second place instead. Just like Sauron from the minifigure poll was a character fans wanted for many years, the massive demand for a Battle Pack featuring standard phase II Clone Troopers was finally met in 2024.
I should also mention 71431 Bowser's Muscle Car. Brickset users tend to pay relatively limited attention to the Super Mario range, so for one of its sets to reach the top ten in any category is remarkable and testament to the quality of Bowser's Muscle Car.
My only other comment on this category is that I was pleased to see many themes represented. The increasing number of huge and increasingly expensive sets has attracted some criticism in the last few years, but as long as a wide selection of more affordable sets is available across as many themes as possible, I think most LEGO fans of all ages will be happy.
There is still time to vote for your favourite set overall of 2024 and the results of that poll will be published tomorrow.
Are you at all surprised by the results announced today? Let us know in the comments.
148 likes
54 comments on this article
I'm glad to see that 40698 Books Are My Passion actually gave 40712 Micro Rocket Launchpad a run for its money in the poll. I figured that 40712 would win easily.
I feel bad for speed champions sets. Many of them are just perfect, like Ferrari F40, Ford Mustang Darkhorse or F1 sets. The last ones are of course worse than this year's, but they were still great at the time of release.
Fascinating, of all three categories so far, the winning entry was the one I voted for.
Never had that before since usually my tastes don't necessarily agree with the masses ;-)
I agree, Interstellar Spaceship is an almost perfect set and a great throwback to classic space sets. I don’t think there’s a more swooshable set either
@MZ_1 said:
"I feel bad for speed champions sets. Many of them are just perfect, like Ferrari F40... "
Imho the F40 is far from perfect, instead having several major issues/flaws. Even though I love the F40 car in real life and have models of it at many scales (plus both the 6-wide Speed Champions version and 10248), I never even thought about getting the 8-wide.
Good results! If you think 60430 is good value, have a look at 60441.
Congratulations to the winning sets.
Stickers and changing the faces of the babies to make them micro figures made me loose interest in the Rocket Launchpad. I do hope for the ones that got one that there will be some follow ups.
If the Jules Verne set didn't make the list I would have voted for Books are My Passion.
Interstellar Spaceship is the rightful winner. For me there is some nostalgia here with the battery powered boost and it's super swoosh-able.
I did think the double decker would give it some competition, but that's quite a gap.
@AustinPowers said:
" @MZ_1 said:
"I feel bad for speed champions sets. Many of them are just perfect, like Ferrari F40... "
Imho the F40 is far from perfect, instead having several major issues/flaws. Even though I love the F40 car in real life and have models of it at many scales (plus both the 6-wide Speed Champions version and 10248), I never even thought about getting the 8-wide. "
I know what you mean, but I personally appreciate the work that designers do on 8-wide models, even if it often means compromises. I really like the original car, that may have an additional impact on my rating, but even ignoring that, I don't think 76934 is a bad set, as many people say.
I absolutely love the 40712 Rocket Launcher set. It looks splendid sitting on my shelf alongside its big brother 6950
SPACE for the small set sweep!
Yay for Space!
Classic Space is always a winner (10497 was *amazing*) and the new City Space sets are equally awesome.
This year I got 40712, 60430, and 60431 and couldn’t be happier
@CapnRex101:
28 votes, not 18.
@MZ_1:
The F40 is the mullet of Ferraris, and badly needs to be taken out back and shaved bald.
Very pleased that there was a 2nd run for 40712 Micro Rocket Launchpad... nothing drew me to February but plenty of tempting August releases!
Ended up with 6 of the cheapies and 7 of the GWPs
Not surprised. The winners are the sets I thought would win, so congrats!
On a side note, I went on Bricklink to check on a few of these sets and I saw that the inventory for 40693 Fell Beast was not out yet. Anyone knows why? Not that I need it, it's available here. But as the inventories of much more recent GWP are available on BL, I was curious why it was not.
I'm glad I own the top three GWP. My vote was for the Fell Beast.
A lot of gift-with-purchase sets should be released as regular retail sets so that it'll be more available and people can get multiple of them easily.
To reinforce what you said about Bowser's Muscle Car, I own all the D2C Mario sets, but the muscle car is the only Mario "playset" set that I own. It works perfectly as a funny little Mario scene to put on your desk or whatever, totally independent of the electronic game aspect. I decided to buy it as soon as it was revealed and I love it! It got my vote in the poll.
I'm impressed that Books Are My Passion came so close to catching a set with a huge built-in fan base that was also very well executed. So far my choices have come well down all the lists, but I won't deny that the winners have all been very deserving. Of course, IMO all the *finalists* have been very deserving! Although I'm a little surprised Interstellar Spaceship didn't win by a much larger margin--clearly I underestimated the power of Star Wars battlepacks!
Too bad most, including the winner, are GWP.
AFOLs love the space!!!
I have 3 sets... Interstellar BUT 4th and 5th is possibility!
Good results. I would've thought the Speed Champions sets would be higher though, particularly the Ferrari F40, which I voted for.
I voted for the Fell Beast, but glad that the Micro Rocket Launchpad won; definitely deserving of the win!
As for the Interstellar Spaceship, I'm a little disappointed that the Clone and Droids Battle Pack didn't win, as it was easily one of the best Star Wars sets this year (EASILY), and this year was the 25th Anniversary of LSW — I guess that's just a statement on how underwhelming the 25th offerings were....
@besch64 said:
"To reinforce what you said about Bowser's Muscle Car, I own all the D2C Mario sets, but the muscle car is the only Mario "playset" set that I own. It works perfectly as a funny little Mario scene to put on your desk or whatever, totally independent of the electronic game aspect. I decided to buy it as soon as it was revealed and I love it! It got my vote in the poll."
I was also excited to see 71431 in the final results; it's a neat little set! The only other Mario set that I own is 71428 , which is also a really cute little build.
I asked for 60430 for Christmas, and received 60429 instead. It's the thought that counts I suppose. I haven't been out Lego shopping yet in 2025 to pick up the "real" ship.
I'm glad to see the bundled-with-super-premium-set ones performing not as well. I wish Lego would stop doing them and sell them separately. A few models, like Endurance, seem incomplete without the GWP. And these flagship sets don't need a GWP to sell them usually. They're awesome and sell themselves!
Maybe early ones can be "free with purchase" and sold later -- but I wish all GWPs were available for purchase separately in general. Or at least make them "unlimited quantities for first weekend" that they'll backorder and make enough of.
@kyrodes said:
"Too bad most, including the winner, are GWP."
You haven't read the whole article, have you?
I’m surprised that Star Wars GWP finished only fourth, especially considering Clone Wars’ popularity among SW collectors.
60430 Interstellar Spaceship fully deserves its win!
Whoo-hoo! My votes for the top GWP and top <$40 both won! "Classic Space! Space! Space!" (in a Benny voice)
On the other hand, I'm not sure how embarrassed I should be that I own all ten of the GWPs listed. ¯\_('-')_/¯
Speed Champions had a very uninspired year in 2024, suffering from the departure of their design lead to City, and it's reflected in the poll. Two years ago SC came first and second, now eigth, ninth and eleventh.
@Duq said:
"Speed Champions had a very uninspired year in 2024, suffering from the departure of their design lead to City, and it's reflected in the poll. Two years ago SC came first and second, now eigth, ninth and eleventh."
I don't know about that; there are plenty of great SC sets this year (although also a few duds), but City had an amazing year IMHO. The F40 had an obvious flaw in the headlights, although I had to buy it regardless having missed the 6-wide version. The Lambo is a stunner as well, although I really wish it hadn't been olive green (or babysick as I usually think of it) The 60430 though is basically a perfect small set.
On another note; I'm also surprised that my vote has come top in all 3 revealed categories; that's never happened before!
I'm glad 40712 won, even though I voted for 40690. See, I'd actually nominated the launchpad, but wasn't really thinking when it came time to actually vote. And I really need to get around to building 31147's B and C models.
@HOBBES said:
"Good results! If you think 60430 is good value, have a look at 60441. "
The latter didn't come out until I'd already bought the former, but since I wanted the other two (and wasn't sure if I'd be able to find 30663 in stores), I ordered it and gave the duplicate to my third nephew for his birthday.
@Darth_Dee said:"SPACE for the small set sweep!"
To quote a very wise man: Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!!!
Close race. But clearly the best Micro Space set won.
Definitely agree with the Micro Rocket Launchpad. It’s the only GWP I kept. I think I voted Fell Beast though as that’s the one I got the most money for.
@Duq said:
"Speed Champions had a very uninspired year in 2024, suffering from the departure of their design lead to City, and it's reflected in the poll. Two years ago SC came first and second, now eigth, ninth and eleventh."
Two years ago Speed Champions consistently provided some of the best value in Lego's product line, but prices have gone up 35% since then. I think the sets themselves are still excellent for the most part, but maybe the novelty of having such creative, high quality car designs is wearing off.
@Reventon said:
"Definitely agree with the Micro Rocket Launchpad. It’s the only GWP I kept. I think I voted Fell Beast though as that’s the one I got the most money for."
I have it, 40690, and 40698. The last one is the only one I got with an order, though; I bought the other two, still in sealed boxes, on Bricklink. 40698 became available right after I'd placed an order that almost qualified, so when the order got here, I sent it back and placed the same order again, adding something I'd forgotten to order the first time anyway, and one or two other small items to hit the threshold.
I really like Bowser’s Muscle Car, but mostly for the d-bricks and purple elements
@cflyg said:
"Whoo-hoo! My votes for the top GWP and top <$40 both won! "Classic Space! Space! Space!" (in a Benny voice)
On the other hand, I'm not sure how embarrassed I should be that I own all ten of the GWPs listed. ¯\_('-')_/¯"
You should be SUPER embarrassed. Your affluence and customer loyalty are shameful. ;)
@Reventon said:
"Definitely agree with the Micro Rocket Launchpad. It’s the only GWP I kept. I think I voted Fell Beast though as that’s the one I got the most money for."
SCALPER ALERT!!
Get 'em!!
SCALPER ALERT!!
@Duq said:
"Speed Champions had a very uninspired year in 2024, suffering from the departure of their design lead to City, and it's reflected in the poll. Two years ago SC came first and second, now eigth, ninth and eleventh."
Who was the design lead that is now with City?
@whiteghost said:
" @Duq said:
"Speed Champions had a very uninspired year in 2024, suffering from the departure of their design lead to City, and it's reflected in the poll. Two years ago SC came first and second, now eigth, ninth and eleventh."
Who was the design lead that is now with City?"
Chris Stamp.
Very talented guy, I love what he has done to the City vehicles in 2024. Of course he's "just" the lead, credit is also due to the people he's leading.
@Crasha said:
" @whiteghost said:
" @Duq said:
"Speed Champions had a very uninspired year in 2024, suffering from the departure of their design lead to City, and it's reflected in the poll. Two years ago SC came first and second, now eigth, ninth and eleventh."
Who was the design lead that is now with City?"
Chris Stamp.
Very talented guy, I love what he has done to the City vehicles in 2024. Of course he's "just" the lead, credit is also due to the people he's leading."
I know that Speed Champions didn't use any (thank Ole Kirk), but I still think it's funny that the line's design lead was named STAMP.
Well deserved for Interstellar Spaceship. As soon as I built it, I knew it was just a perfect $20 set. The fact it beat out sets that cost twice as much says a lot.
I fail to see what's so special about the spaceship. looks fine but not particularly outstanding
Nailed it for the sets under $40. It's truely a beautiful set (That's why I got two of them, one is heavily modified to act as a capital ship). Close second for the GWP set. Micro Rocket Launchped is nice homage to classic sets and worthy winner. I guess I just felt closer to books after certain age.
@Fauch said:
"I fail to see what's so special about the spaceship. looks fine but not particularly outstanding"
A not insignificant amount of this is simply due to the fact that the model has a top profile that’s a fairly decent match for the spaceship in the Classic Space logo.
I'm surprised 60430 Interstellar Spaceship won. It looks kind of basic, almost juniors style. Having the vastly superior Lightyear 76832 XL-15 Spaceship might be making me biased.
Classic Space sets won in both categories? Clearly someone was embracing their inner "Benny the 1980-something space guy."
Now I expect 60446 to be voted as best set (in some category) of 2025.
@BrickAnomie said:
"Classic Space sets won in both categories? Clearly someone was embracing their inner "Benny the 1980-something space guy."
Now I expect 60446 to be voted as best set (in some category) of 2025."
Or maybe we'll say "Oh, that's cool. I didn't really want to build a spaceship, anyway..."
@BrickAnomie said:
"Classic Space sets won in both categories? Clearly someone was embracing their inner "Benny the 1980-something space guy."
Now I expect 60446 to be voted as best set (in some category) of 2025."
Sure, I'll nominate it for Best Spacecraft That's Not 10355. Because the Renegade II will wipe the floor with it.
@PurpleDave said:
" @BrickAnomie said:
"Classic Space sets won in both categories? Clearly someone was embracing their inner "Benny the 1980-something space guy."
Now I expect 60446 to be voted as best set (in some category) of 2025."
Sure, I'll nominate it for Best Spacecraft That's Not 10355. Because the Renegade II will wipe the floor with it."
The Renegade reads more (to me, at least) as an Eighties spaceship than the Modular Spaceship does, anyway.
Voted to 40712 and glad to see that it won, love this GWP and have 5 of it so far, and 6950 is in my top 5 favorite Classic Space sets. Also voted for 60430, picked it up a while back and it is an excellent set and a worthy winner in the <$40 category.
Interstellar Spaceship got a well deserved win. I may be exagerating, but It's the best small set in a while.
The reappearance of the B2-series Super Battle Droid in a battle pack also helped 75372 Clone Trooper & Battle Droid Battle Pack getting some extra votes.