Sherlock Holmes Book Nook revealed!

Rumoured price was 119… seems like they increased both the US and EU price

Jawa robe potential.

Too many pieces, thus too expensive but it looks great, I like it.

@CapnRex101 The price in € is actually 120, not 130.

The price is €119.99 when you click on the actual link to the Lego site.

I love the vibe, however, I don't care much of the format
will not buy it day one at that price

Like it, but haven't I seen knock-off brands advertising nooks like these for the last year on Insta? A little late to the party LEGO.

LEGO Elementary, my dear Watson

I love this, great for my bookshelves. No matter how many books I have, and I have a lot, there's always a gap because of height or width. Hope to see more than HP or Lotr though.

Looking forward to this new theme and can't wait to see a modular 221B.

Only the Barnes & Noble website has this [with distorted product photos] here in the US. $130 USD. The link to the US Lego website gets a 404. Searching for the set here in the US produces the same results. Will Lego ever get it together? If you're gonna promote a set to websites and such, at least create a web page for the set on your own website.

It's funny that all images on the box seems to be renders only and the only picture with an actual person shows all the known bad quality bricks with highly visible mould marks.

So Lego is aware how bad the quality has gotten and they simply don't care and lie on the box about it.

@CCC said:
" @GirlWoman said:
"I hate fleshy minifigures. And I don't even understand the rules around it anymore? Literary figures are now skin-colored, too? Why? "

Now? Scrooge and Co. were fleshie five years ago. Personally, I prefer all real or fictional characters to be fleshie and only LEGO's in-house figures to be yellow.

"

See my other reply.

A solid maybe

If the other book nooks are good I might end up with a few of them.

Really looking forward to seeing the Balrog one

This is really cool. At first I was concerned by it just being a facade, but it looks very playable and my kids would enjoy those aspects of it. Folding up to make Baker Street is just brilliant, and it really would fit nicely along modulars or the HP sets, or books. And having it made to be displayed with books suits the material perfectly.

I like how DOTS lives on with the bookcover too. You know exactly what's on the other side with that silhouette.

Excellent. Looking forward to this and other upcoming releases in the series. Will get with a suitable offer. i.e. not the now pointless pre-order!

This is far to expensive for the way it looks.

Love the idea of lego books nooks and the concept, just not overly sure of the price given the way your meant to display folded up shows so little of it, and the cover. That and splitting 221B as they've done feels like I mistake. Think its still going on my buy list for sets I'll definitely own at some people.

Would prefer some different authors though... Maybe Sir Terry Pratchett, but thats something for later sets in the series.

@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @GirlWoman said:
" @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Tuzi said:
" @GirlWoman said:
"I hate fleshy minifigures. And I don't even understand the rules around it anymore? Literary figures are now skin-colored, too? Why? Why are some historical figures fleshies like Galileo and others not like Shakespeare? I think both should simply be yellow. I mean, that what lego is aught to be right? What is lego's stance on the issue anymore? Is it all about diversity or is the lego figure neutral? In the same vain of recent discussions around waist prints on torsos and that all female-coded minifigures need to wear make-up. I think flesh-colored minifigures look kind of grotesque and dip into the uncanny valley for me."

Then just replace the fleshy parts with yellow parts. It's LEGO, you can just do that."

See, I used to share @GirlWoman 's opinion but guess what converted me to fleshies? The D&D minifig series. It was the first one that I collected all of (plus spares) and I am soo happy I did- it's awesome. I've realised that the flesh tone really adds to the realism of a scene since it doesn't mess with the colour scheme and you can give your characters a bit more of a 'real' feel. Now I don't have anything against yellow skin tone minifigs, I probably use it more tbh since I have about 5 times as many yellow skin minifigs as fleshies, but if I could magically change all my yellow heads to more realistic coloured heads, I would. I don't have opinions of what should be yellow and what should be fleshy other than movie characters being skin-tone, but I do think that they should make sets with skin-tone minifigs the same value as yellow minifigs rather than keeping fleshies exclusive to overpriced HP and SW sets."

D&D minifigs included heads for different genders. Why not one head for each gender and each skin tone? At the end of the day it only seems diversifying. But in reality it is limiting. Imagine you find a face print that is what you're looking for. Maybe it represents you. But it has the wrong skin tone and Lego never reprinted it on a different colored minfig head, so you're out of luck. This is what you're experiencing with fleshy heads being locked behind expensive licensed themes as well. If there were no fleshies you could take heads from anywhere.

On the topic of realism the only thing I have to say that lego exists kind of in a cartoony world. And as long as Lego sticks to the blocky minifigure that doesn't represent human proportions at all this won't change."

The problem with having only yellow heads is that if you find one that represents you, it's guaranteed not to look much like you, unless you have really bad jaundice, and if you have two people with different skin colours, there's no way of represnting that. But both of those are only issues if you're making a sigfig, which isn't much of an issue tbh.

Also we're probably thinking too deeply about this. Some people prefer traditional yellow minifigs. I get that, and you're in that category. Some people prefer skin-tone minifigs. I get that too, and I'm in that category. It doesn't really matter what camp we fall into, we're all LEGO fans at the end of the day."

It wouldn't be an issue if your team wasn't annexing my turf (historical sets) (I'm only kidding) (kinda)

Can we add a new tag «Book Nook»?
I think it's going to be useful considering the other upcoming sets.

@GirlWoman said:
" @GirlWoman said:
"On another note: I'm a huge sucker for anything historical themed and I am very disappointed by these Victorian minifigs. Not one cravat. And especially the dress is so inaccurate :("

And the hair! No black woman in the Victorian era would have worn her hair like this. This could've been our chance to get some old-school female hairdo as a mold and they flunked it. I was legit so looking forward to this and now not even one of them got sideburns :("

Yeah, I have no problem with The Woman being black, but that hair was the wrong call. Moriarty looks rather cartoony, as well. Watson, OTOH, is a great figure.

@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
"Irene's dress would actually be perfect for my Wolfpack queen"

Would it? That dress seems completely Victorian, unless ye have an eclectic idea in mind.

Interesting set, but not sure what time-period this is supposed to be representing.

I hope it has enough weight to hold the books

Imagine paying that much for 1/4 of modular xD

Stickers? Disappointing. Also very overpriced in SEK compared to EUR. Otherwise instant buy. Now, I think I'll pass.

I really thought this was a new modular.

@AliveAndBricking said:
"I love this set and I love 'fleshies,' and Irene Adler isn't a character who is particularly defined by race/ethnicity (Adler is commonly a Jewish surname, but that doesn't preclude her from being Black).

I'll do my best to avoid criticising certain posters for their 'issues' with diversity, but dare I say that it is worrying that some of these 'concerns' are coming from nations like Austria and Germany? (uh-oh, here comes the backlash...)"

^&*£^$*)(£"*&^$2(^*"£($&*(£&$&£^%$("£*$&^%*£"$)("£&$%^!"*£(^*!"^£&"*&!(£*$^&£"*$(!!!
:P

@AliveAndBricking said:
"I love this set and I love 'fleshies,' and Irene Adler isn't a character who is particularly defined by race/ethnicity (Adler is commonly a Jewish surname, but that doesn't preclude her from being Black).

I'll do my best to avoid criticising certain posters for their 'issues' with diversity, but dare I say that it is worrying that some of these 'concerns' are coming from nations like Austria and Germany? (uh-oh, here comes the backlash...)"

Don't misconstrue my argument. I'm not against DEIB or this character being portrayed as black.

@EvilTwin said:
" @AliveAndBricking said:
" (uh-oh, here comes the backlash...)"

Maybe try not making such inflammatory comments then
Good grief these threads get toxic sometimes
"

One could expect that people brought together over a love of the plastic brick will find something to hate each other for.

@GirlWoman said:
" @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @GirlWoman said:
" @alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Tuzi said:
" @GirlWoman said:
"I hate fleshy minifigures. And I don't even understand the rules around it anymore? Literary figures are now skin-colored, too? Why? Why are some historical figures fleshies like Galileo and others not like Shakespeare? I think both should simply be yellow. I mean, that what lego is aught to be right? What is lego's stance on the issue anymore? Is it all about diversity or is the lego figure neutral? In the same vain of recent discussions around waist prints on torsos and that all female-coded minifigures need to wear make-up. I think flesh-colored minifigures look kind of grotesque and dip into the uncanny valley for me."

Then just replace the fleshy parts with yellow parts. It's LEGO, you can just do that."

See, I used to share @GirlWoman 's opinion but guess what converted me to fleshies? The D&D minifig series. It was the first one that I collected all of (plus spares) and I am soo happy I did- it's awesome. I've realised that the flesh tone really adds to the realism of a scene since it doesn't mess with the colour scheme and you can give your characters a bit more of a 'real' feel. Now I don't have anything against yellow skin tone minifigs, I probably use it more tbh since I have about 5 times as many yellow skin minifigs as fleshies, but if I could magically change all my yellow heads to more realistic coloured heads, I would. I don't have opinions of what should be yellow and what should be fleshy other than movie characters being skin-tone, but I do think that they should make sets with skin-tone minifigs the same value as yellow minifigs rather than keeping fleshies exclusive to overpriced HP and SW sets."

D&D minifigs included heads for different genders. Why not one head for each gender and each skin tone? At the end of the day it only seems diversifying. But in reality it is limiting. Imagine you find a face print that is what you're looking for. Maybe it represents you. But it has the wrong skin tone and Lego never reprinted it on a different colored minfig head, so you're out of luck. This is what you're experiencing with fleshy heads being locked behind expensive licensed themes as well. If there were no fleshies you could take heads from anywhere.

On the topic of realism the only thing I have to say that lego exists kind of in a cartoony world. And as long as Lego sticks to the blocky minifigure that doesn't represent human proportions at all this won't change."

The problem with having only yellow heads is that if you find one that represents you, it's guaranteed not to look much like you, unless you have really bad jaundice, and if you have two people with different skin colours, there's no way of represnting that. But both of those are only issues if you're making a sigfig, which isn't much of an issue tbh.

Also we're probably thinking too deeply about this. Some people prefer traditional yellow minifigs. I get that, and you're in that category. Some people prefer skin-tone minifigs. I get that too, and I'm in that category. It doesn't really matter what camp we fall into, we're all LEGO fans at the end of the day."

It wouldn't be an issue if your team wasn't annexing my turf (historical sets) (I'm only kidding) (kinda)"

I'm just saying, it's not an issue unless you make it one. It's a difference in opinion, which is fine.

@EvilTwin said:
" @AliveAndBricking said:
" (uh-oh, here comes the backlash...)"

Maybe try not making such inflammatory comments then
Good grief these threads get toxic sometimes
"

Good grief these threads get long sometimes

Next do a Dune one! Would go great with the upcoming movie and ornithopter..
Could have Paul riding a sandworm towards the viewer with micro ornithopters and city or a sietch in the background

@IgelCampus said:
" @Adrienn said:
" @IgelCampus said:
"It's funny that all images on the box seems to be renders only and the only picture with an actual person shows all the known bad quality bricks with highly visible mould marks.

So Lego is aware how bad the quality has gotten and they simply don't care and lie on the box about it."

I... don't really see what you're talking about.

If it's about the moldlines (e.g.: on the sides of minifig legs) those have always been there.
If it's about the little dots of lighter plastic on bricks where the mold gets filled, those have (AFAIK) also always been there."

But they have never been so visible and noticeable. In some of last sets I've build they were so dented that they matched Xingbao's quality level. I guess they are using the molds much longer than in the good old days.

For example the 42128 was so horrible that I started to look for the mold mark on each part before putting it into place it looked really ugly especially when several beams where combined into one flat area."

You want to know the set I have with the most visible mould marks? It was 6382 from the 80s. Every red brick has a horrible white spot and is by far worse than all the mould marks I have from modern-day sets (excluding the 6x6 tile). I think that Lego's mould marks have gotten better over time rather than worse.

@dimc said:
"Would love to see a Book theme. Either fold-out like the Harry Potter, nooks like this, or bookends for something like LOTR where there aren't a lot of streets to recreate, but you could easily make Bag End/Hobbiton and Minas Tirith. For something like LOTR, you could even make it a special type to hold your fancy editions, and with Technic pieces it could slide open to fit whatever version you have. "

I knew a guy who had designed LOTR bookends, put them on Lego Ideas, got 10,000 votes, and then had it taken down by Lego when the LOTR theme was rebooted. It would have been cool!

So one problem with this when it’s opened is that it puts odd and even numbers on the same side of the street. Looks like 222 ends up in the other side when it’s folded (not that you can read it from the other end of the alley). And they went with the deerstalker hat. I’ve never read single Sherlock Holmes story, but even I know he only wore that _once_.

@magpie9:
How exactly would you block the end? Presumably the street continues on, and doing a forced perspective street that fades off into the distance would be incredibly difficult without using up most of the depth.

@Jotahesse1:
We’ve known that a Balrog has been coming for several months, so if images leaked early enough, it’s always possible that your clone brands cribbed the concept and just rushed to post.

@Adrienn:
The issue with pips (aka gate marks) is that sometimes they’ve been located somewhere unobtrusive (top of the stud, somewhere on the underside, etc.), and other times they’re on a side or end where they’re more likely to be visible in the middle of a MOC. For instance, the double cheese wedge used to have some on the left end and others on the right, so you could frequently pick which one to put where so the pip was hidden. Now they all have them on the same end, so frequently half of them end up showing.

@AliveAndBricking:
I won’t say which one (spoilers), but one adaptation even has Adler secretly being Moriarty, and at least one has Watson being female, so there’s definitely some flexibility.

Amidst all the other wrong opinions in this comment thread (as usual), I'll add my own inflammatory remark: WTF is this? A "book-nook"? What kind of stupid idea is that? If you have a gap in your bookshelf, why not fill it with... I don't know... a book? Maybe read it, too, while you're at it. You might learn something.

And $130 for a little facade - which you can't even see when the set is used according to its stated purpose - is ridiculous. Anyone could build one of these with their spare parts and it'd look just the same when crammed into a bookshelf.

It's well-designed and nicely detailed, no doubt - LEGO designers really are at the top of their game these days - but it's such a silly concept. And if the above comments about the LotR one of these are true, ouch. Not interested in a pancaked Balrog and a grey wall. Slap in the face to anyone that wanted a proper full-size Balrog set.

@IgelCampus said:
"It's funny that all images on the box seems to be renders only and the only picture with an actual person shows all the known bad quality bricks with highly visible mould marks."

Not sure about that actually - on the box art, you can see the color differences between the dark tan and dark orange bricks in the wall, you can see how a lot of the bricks don't fit together cleanly (and some are misaligned), and I believe you can also see the photography equipment reflected off the dark green dome piece. This one might be a real photo for once, perhaps only touched up a bit during editing.

@BLProductions said:
"Amidst all the other wrong opinions in this comment thread (as usual), I'll add my own inflammatory remark: WTF is this? A "book-nook"? What kind of stupid idea is that? If you have a gap in your bookshelf, why not fill it with... I don't know... a book? Maybe read it, too, while you're at it. You might learn something.

And $130 for a little facade - which you can't even see when the set is used according to its stated purpose - is ridiculous. Anyone could build one of these with their spare parts and it'd look just the same when crammed into a bookshelf.

It's well-designed and nicely detailed, no doubt - LEGO designers really are at the top of their game these days - but it's such a silly concept. And if the above comments about the LotR one of these are true, ouch. Not interested in a pancaked Balrog and a grey wall. Slap in the face to anyone that wanted a proper full-size Balrog set.

@IgelCampus said:
"It's funny that all images on the box seems to be renders only and the only picture with an actual person shows all the known bad quality bricks with highly visible mould marks."

Not sure about that actually - on the box art, you can see the color differences between the dark tan and dark orange bricks in the wall, you can see how a lot of the bricks don't fit together cleanly (and some are misaligned), and I believe you can also see the photography equipment reflected off the dark green dome piece. This one might be a real photo for once, perhaps only touched up a bit during editing. "

Lol you can see a bunch of that person's home reflected off the dark green dome haha

You guys know that minifigures are made up of individual pieces you can swap out, right? That's like the whole point of Lego.

If you're gonna be that (to put it kindly) nitpicky, I expect to see that same fervor about the Katara and Sokka minifigs when light brown ("Metru brown") existed. I expect the same opinions on the Rodian and Duros rebels we never saw in the films in 71533 as you do about the POC we never saw in the films in 40557.

Always loved book nooks, no matter what they are made of....yet somehow I have none. Well, main reason is I'm already short on shelf space for alle the actual books....

Have looked at some from other brands before, Lego is indeed a bit late to the pary, but for most part I like what they did here. There's some nice depth to it, and good detail. And I like how the outside is finished, even when you're not gonna see it.

That said, the open back end is a bit disappointing, a solution you often see in those book nooks is to make it all curve away to one side. They could have done that here, but at the cost of not making it look weird when folded open. But then again, what's supposed to be the primary way to display it, open or closed? Well, guess the front of the box kinda gives us the answer....

Also would have prefered the top to be closed, and book nooks kinda really need some lights.

Still, good set, with a decent discount I might just pick one up....

Love the concept, but the price is, once again, ridiculous. £100+ for a folding facade? Even compared to other Lego sets that's absurd

Not for me, but looks interesting but I’m not sure about the look of it folded in. It looks far too cramped and difficult to notice all the sweet details. I’m hoping the LotR booknook executes that better.

I'm glad that it can open up, because having it fixed as a book nook wouldn't be as good or visually striking as it is opened up.

From the looks of it, the Moriarty minifigure could also be Lupin.

I hope this bombs so it doesn't get turned into a series, but I'm sure it will do well and we will get more half-done overpriced facades in our lives

@IgelCampus said:
[[It's funny that all images on the box seems to be renders only and the only picture with an actual person shows all the known bad quality bricks with highly visible mould marks.]]

Not sure about that actually - on the box art, you can see the color differences between the dark tan and dark orange bricks in the wall, you can see how a lot of the bricks don't fit together cleanly (and some are misaligned), and I believe you can also see the photography equipment reflected off the dark green dome piece. This one might be a real photo for once, perhaps only touched up a bit during editing. ]]

Lol you can see a bunch of that person's home reflected off the dark green dome haha]]

You are right. But this is even worse because then they have taken actual images and photoshopped them so all the mold marks are removed. Just look at the gold bars or other typical bricks with always visible marks. So my argument stands that they know about the quality issues and simply lie on the packaging.

... and Holmes only wore a cap with flaps in one ACD story.
It's not supposed to be authentic, Holmes has always been reinterpreted.
I really like the idea of The woman being black: to have European royalty trying to cover up a diverse relationship in 1890-something would be a great plot enhancement.
No pipe! Ahhh... actually, yes, I see. Don't want to encourage the young chaps to smoke, what?
Jolly Good.
Carry on.

@PurpleDave said:
"So one problem with this when it’s opened is that it puts odd and even numbers on the same side of the street. Looks like 222 ends up in the other side when it’s folded (not that you can read it from the other end of the alley). And they went with the deerstalker hat. I’ve never read single Sherlock Holmes story, but even I know he only wore that _once_."
No, never. In none of the stories written by ACD is Holmes said to be wearing a dearstalker. That said, illustrations published in ACD’s lifetime showed Holmes wearing one. Whether the author approved those illustrations or not is unclear.

@Pongo said:
"... and Holmes only wore a cap with flaps in one ACD story."
Almost certainly ear flaps. A cap’s peaks weren’t called ‘flaps’ in ACD’s time. Besides, if he had meant a dearstalker, he would have said.

@CCC said:
" @emQ said:
"I'd consider this if they were yellow. Why the heck aren't they yellow? Especially since it doesn't seem to be based on a particular item. And Holmes is in the public domain.

This significantly reduces the ability to mix-and-match pieces. I'd strongly consider this if they were yellow. But in flesh-tones, I'm not even wishlisting it."

Which pieces can't you mix and match? The torsos here are perfect in that they have no skin printed on them so anyone wanting yellowskins can switch heads and hands for yellow and you have the set you want. "
I already have yellow heads prepared for three of the minifigures in the forthcoming Fantastic Four set: Richards and the two Storms. And yes, I will be taking a yellow Sharpie to Galactus’ face.

@VoidSeeker said:
"From the looks of it, the Moriarty minifigure could also be Lupin."

Oh yeah there were some crossover books weren't there?
Speaking of Lupin, I really want some Netflix Lupin sets. Those would be awesome. I'd like Omar Sy to have a minifig other than https://brickset.com/minifigs/jw005.

@Your_Future_President said:
"Wait I really like this...
Lego saw a problem and came to fix it.
Like anyone reads books anymore "

Good timing...unpacked all my books into my library...sadly need more shelves :)

@IgelCampus said:
" @Adrienn said:
" @IgelCampus said:
"It's funny that all images on the box seems to be renders only and the only picture with an actual person shows all the known bad quality bricks with highly visible mould marks.

So Lego is aware how bad the quality has gotten and they simply don't care and lie on the box about it."

I... don't really see what you're talking about.

If it's about the moldlines (e.g.: on the sides of minifig legs) those have always been there.
If it's about the little dots of lighter plastic on bricks where the mold gets filled, those have (AFAIK) also always been there."

But they have never been so visible and noticeable. In some of last sets I've build they were so dented that they matched Xingbao's quality level. I guess they are using the molds much longer than in the good old days.

For example the 42128 was so horrible that I started to look for the mold mark on each part before putting it into place it looked really ugly especially when several beams where combined into one flat area."

I've built a knock-off set and the mold marks/pips were way better than Lego.
They were indented a bit more so you don't see the 'white' mark as much and were smoother too than Lego so those pips really blend in.
When I switched out many parts for official Lego elements, Lego's pips were way more noticeable.

Even the newest Temple of the Golden Idol Indiana Jones set...Indy's hat, which is a great new element with dual molded hair, had two extremely noticeable pip marks, one on top of the crown of the hat and the other on top of the brim. Which for a top of the line set and great new minifigure, l thought was poor quality control especially with white spots clearly standing out over the reddish brown hat.

@GirlWoman said:
"I hate fleshy minifigures. And I don't even understand the rules around it anymore? Literary figures are now skin-colored, too? Why? Why are some historical figures fleshies like Galileo and others not like Shakespeare? I think both should simply be yellow. I mean, that what lego is aught to be right? What is lego's stance on the issue anymore? Is it all about diversity or is the lego figure neutral? In the same vain of recent discussions around waist prints on torsos and that all female-coded minifigures need to wear make-up. I think flesh-colored minifigures look kind of grotesque and dip into the uncanny valley for me."

And why is Irene Adler dark skinned?

I find it funny that LEGO this time copied a concept that has been available from alternative manufacturers for years, as obscure and useless as it already might have been with those others. But somehow they must have seen a market for something like this.
LEGO sets are getting weirder and weirder.
I guess skin colours are the least of this concept's problems. But hey, what do I know, maybe this will sell like crazy.

@PurpleDave said:
"Nobody complains about all the Smurfs being white because they’re all blue."

Not all are blue though....and that has caused it's own bit of controversy: https://i.imgur.com/6a58WwQ.png

@WizardOfOss said:
" @PurpleDave said:
"Nobody complains about all the Smurfs being white because they’re all blue."

Not all are blue though....and that has caused it's own bit of controversy: https://i.imgur.com/6a58WwQ.png"

All are blue. The black ones were just the result of being infected by a disease, and the purple ones were a retcon because explaining the thing about black ones gets...awkward.

@Ridgeheart said:
"Spoiler alert: Irene Adler is a powerful precognitive mutant going by the codename Destiny, and she ends up marrying Mystique. She's also Nightcrawler's real mom, which means he's Destiny's Child.

This is canon, fight me. It doesn't matter, Destiny told me I'd be okay."

Considering Destiny gave Mystique very precise directions on scattering her ashes, and those ashes blew right back in Mystique's face, I'd take anything she said with a grain of salt, as she's a known prankster.

@Aanchir said:
" @LegoMiniNZ said:
" @GirlWoman said:
"I hate fleshy minifigures. And I don't even understand the rules around it anymore? Literary figures are now skin-colored, too? Why? Why are some historical figures fleshies like Galileo and others not like Shakespeare? I think both should simply be yellow. I mean, that what lego is aught to be right? What is lego's stance on the issue anymore? Is it all about diversity or is the lego figure neutral? In the same vain of recent discussions around waist prints on torsos and that all female-coded minifigures need to wear make-up. I think flesh-colored minifigures look kind of grotesque and dip into the uncanny valley for me."

And why is Irene Adler dark skinned?"

I guess 'cuz why not? In the original stories, she's a foreigner of dubious repute born in New Jersey, who toured continental Europe as an opera singer, and at some point had a scandalous fling with a Bavarian monarch who desperately wants to keep their past together covered up. None of that characterization requires that she be white.

In fact, there were several real-life black opera singers who toured Europe in the late 20th century, in part because they had such promising career opportunities there which were denied to them at many American venues. At least one such singer, Sisieretta Jones, even attested that she experienced less discrimination for her skin color in Europe than she had in America. And if anything, it adds to the story's intrigue if the monarch who sought out Holmes's services was trying to cover up an extramarital tryst not only with a commoner, but a commoner of a different race."

Grasping at straws

Same size regular paperback books? or hardback?

@CCC said:
" @emQ said:
"I'd consider this if they were yellow. Why the heck aren't they yellow? Especially since it doesn't seem to be based on a particular item. And Holmes is in the public domain.

This significantly reduces the ability to mix-and-match pieces. I'd strongly consider this if they were yellow. But in flesh-tones, I'm not even wishlisting it."

Which pieces can't you mix and match? The torsos here are perfect in that they have no skin printed on them so anyone wanting yellowskins can switch heads and hands for yellow and you have the set you want. "

Pulling hands out harms the arms. I done this 3 times, and never again.

Since we are getting into tedious detail about skin tone, can I just point out that Moriarty is clearly described as clean shaven in the story.

Nice idea, shame the buildings don't have any depth but then they wouldn't be book ends.

Personally, I like both fleshy and yellow heads, and am only bothered if there’s a mismatch between sets I’d like to display together - but not that bothered. It isn’t like it will *stop* me. It’s all Lego.

I do wish the book nook had a back, though, as the clever way of executing that is in my opinion one of the best things about book nooks. That aside I like the little moving bits and the facade and details are all lovely, and the minifig selection is charming. It does feel rather pricy for what you get, but it’s so extremely up my (Victorian) alley I’ll be hard-pressed to resist.

(And yes, I suspect avoiding hassle from the notoriously litigious estate was part of the motivation for official licensing. Most people who pay attention to such things have been waiting for the timer to finally run out with some exasperation.)

@Aanchir said:
" @LegoMiniNZ said:
" @GirlWoman said:
"I hate fleshy minifigures. And I don't even understand the rules around it anymore? Literary figures are now skin-colored, too? Why? Why are some historical figures fleshies like Galileo and others not like Shakespeare? I think both should simply be yellow. I mean, that what lego is aught to be right? What is lego's stance on the issue anymore? Is it all about diversity or is the lego figure neutral? In the same vain of recent discussions around waist prints on torsos and that all female-coded minifigures need to wear make-up. I think flesh-colored minifigures look kind of grotesque and dip into the uncanny valley for me."

And why is Irene Adler dark skinned?"

I guess 'cuz why not? In the original stories, she's a foreigner of dubious repute born in New Jersey, who toured continental Europe as an opera singer, and at some point had a scandalous fling with a Bavarian monarch who desperately wants to keep their past together covered up. None of that characterization requires that she be white.

In fact, there were several real-life black opera singers who toured Europe in the late 20th century, in part because they had such promising career opportunities there which were denied to them at many American venues. At least one such singer, Sisieretta Jones, even attested that she experienced less discrimination for her skin color in Europe than she had in America. And if anything, it adds to the story's intrigue if the monarch who sought out Holmes's services was trying to cover up an extramarital tryst not only with a commoner, but a commoner of a different race."

Well-reasoned.

@Jackthenipper said:
"Since we are getting into tedious detail about skin tone, can I just point out that Moriarty is clearly described as clean shaven in the story."

He's also described as "a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker." If you'd shown me that minifig out of context and asked to to describe what kind of character it represented, I would not have chosen those words.

@TheOriginalSimonB said:
"Needs Mrs Hudson."

That is a glaring oversight!!

I really like this idea. I think different themes for this kind of thing would convince me to buy one.

To be honest I thought there will be two hinges, so kind of three buildings and when folded middle green facade would be back of "book". It would look also cool.

I have problem with figures. I googled "Irene Adler" and was like "och, that one!". Of course I remember that pretty character in movies/tv series but minifigure doesn't look close to any of them! I know set is not based on tv series/movie but still, what is a point of changing character?
Scherlock is main character so he could have printed legs to look more elegant.

Beside that idea is good.

@yellowcastle said:
"
Not to belabor the point, but I think the E is for equity. :o)
"

No. If so, then the orange German and Afrikaner bigot (is that redundant?) wouldn't have a problem with it. What they are against is equality even though that is the foundation on which the United States was formed.

@IgelCampus said:
[[ @Adrienn said:
[[ @IgelCampus said:
[[For example the 42128 was so horrible that I started to look for the mold mark on each part before putting it into place]]

I do that all the time: making sure those ugly marks aren't visible. None of my childhood (80's sets) have that problem: they appear to be much less visible or in places you eventually wont see.]]]]

@sotwuser said:
" @yellowcastle said:
"
Not to belabor the point, but I think the E is for equity. :o)
"

No. If so, then the orange German and Afrikaner bigot (is that redundant?) wouldn't have a problem with it. What they are against is equality even though that is the foundation on which the United States was formed.

"

You speak as though those two had any kind of consistent principles.

@Briczk said:
"To be honest I thought there will be two hinges, so kind of three buildings and when folded middle green facade would be back of "book". It would look also cool."

Interesting. I spotted two hinges at the top, but apparently one is non-functional, and only there to maintain symmetry in the unfolded building.

If that green facade was the 'back' when folded - i may have been interested but sadly it isn't. This is then NOT a book nook unfortunatley.

I LOVE SHERLOCK HOLMES. Absolutely getting this.

@hoarder40 said:
"If that green facade was the 'back' when folded - I may have been interested but sadly it isn't. This is then NOT a book nook unfortunately."

I was thinking they could've had the facade detach, not hinged, two halves left and right, and have another build of say like the city-scape, flat mosaic, showing more of a vanishing point (buildings, street extending, etc) to be the 'back'. Which would attach to both halves.
But of course, the price would've increased.

Beautiful. I love all the books (never watched the show or the movie) and this looks really appealing to me. In fact it makes me want to reread the books again. My only complaint is with Holmes and Moriarty's faces. Especially Holmes, I just don't see any of his personality in that face, and he really should have had sideburns. It really is a shame that they did not create a new face for the MAIN PROTAGANIST.

Moriarty's minifig is terrible. The skin color, the cartoonish face, the clothes he's wearing... Everything is wrong about him, not only according to the books, but he also doesn't mix with the other minifigs in this exact same set!

@PurpleDave said:
" @Briczk said:
"To be honest I thought there will be two hinges, so kind of three buildings and when folded middle green facade would be back of "book". It would look also cool."

Interesting. I spotted two hinges at the top, but apparently one is non-functional, and only there to maintain symmetry in the unfolded building."

Good eye! Yes, left one is fake. Now I see also that there are two knobs at roof of green building also for symmetry because only one works with door.

Also my idea with back wall would complicate floor and for sure Lego wanted streets to be stable.

@LotRBrickfan196 said:
"Beautiful. I love all the books (never watched the show or the movie)..."

"The" book? "The" movie? I can call multiple examples of both to my mind without even doing any research.

Huge Holmes fan, this does not sit well with me... Sorry but I just don't like it... and certainly not at that price :(

@GirlWoman said:
" @Aanchir said:
" @LegoMiniNZ said:
" @GirlWoman said:
"I hate fleshy minifigures. And I don't even understand the rules around it anymore? Literary figures are now skin-colored, too? Why? Why are some historical figures fleshies like Galileo and others not like Shakespeare? I think both should simply be yellow. I mean, that what lego is aught to be right? What is lego's stance on the issue anymore? Is it all about diversity or is the lego figure neutral? In the same vain of recent discussions around waist prints on torsos and that all female-coded minifigures need to wear make-up. I think flesh-colored minifigures look kind of grotesque and dip into the uncanny valley for me."

And why is Irene Adler dark skinned?"

I guess 'cuz why not? In the original stories, she's a foreigner of dubious repute born in New Jersey, who toured continental Europe as an opera singer, and at some point had a scandalous fling with a Bavarian monarch who desperately wants to keep their past together covered up. None of that characterization requires that she be white.

In fact, there were several real-life black opera singers who toured Europe in the late 20th century, in part because they had such promising career opportunities there which were denied to them at many American venues. At least one such singer, Sisieretta Jones, even attested that she experienced less discrimination for her skin color in Europe than she had in America. And if anything, it adds to the story's intrigue if the monarch who sought out Holmes's services was trying to cover up an extramarital tryst not only with a commoner, but a commoner of a different race."

Don't scare them with facts and reality"

Irene Adler has appeared in drawings created by Sidney Pagent for Sherlock Holmes stories as far back as 1891. In those drawings (printed as part of the publications of the stories, hence considered ‘canon’) Irene Adler looks VERY white.
It’s interesting that the proverbial accusations of ‘White Washing’ when a Caucasian person portrays a character of a different ethnicity isn’t reflected with the same vigour when it’s the other way around!!!!

@alLEGOry_HJB2810 said:
" @Tuzi said:
" @GirlWoman said:
"I hate fleshy minifigures. And I don't even understand the rules around it anymore? Literary figures are now skin-colored, too? Why? Why are some historical figures fleshies like Galileo and others not like Shakespeare? I think both should simply be yellow. I mean, that what lego is aught to be right? What is lego's stance on the issue anymore? Is it all about diversity or is the lego figure neutral? In the same vain of recent discussions around waist prints on torsos and that all female-coded minifigures need to wear make-up. I think flesh-colored minifigures look kind of grotesque and dip into the uncanny valley for me."

Then just replace the fleshy parts with yellow parts. It's LEGO, you can just do that."

See, I used to share @GirlWoman 's opinion but guess what converted me to fleshies? The D&D minifig series. It was the first one that I collected all of (plus spares) and I am soo happy I did- it's awesome. I've realised that the flesh tone really adds to the realism of a scene since it doesn't mess with the colour scheme and you can give your characters a bit more of a 'real' feel. Now I don't have anything against yellow skin tone minifigs, I probably use it more tbh since I have about 5 times as many yellow skin minifigs as fleshies, but if I could magically change all my yellow heads to more realistic coloured heads, I would. I don't have opinions of what should be yellow and what should be fleshy other than movie characters being skin-tone, but I do think that they should make sets with skin-tone minifigs the same value as yellow minifigs rather than keeping fleshies exclusive to overpriced HP and SW sets."

On this note, I would like to acknowledge the inclusion of diversity in this interpretation of Irene Adler. I am not familiar enough with the Sherlock Holmes fandom to say whether or not this is a new idea. But if it is, kudos to Lego for being first.

Frankly, I don't consider Alder to be a very interesting fictional character. But if I buy this set, that minifigure is definitely getting re-christened an OG character, because I love it!

@obiron17 said:
"Irene Adler has appeared in drawings created by Sidney Pagent for Sherlock Holmes stories as far back as 1891. In those drawings (printed as part of the publications of the stories, hence considered ‘canon’) Irene Adler looks VERY white.
It’s interesting that the proverbial accusations of ‘White Washing’ when a Caucasian person portrays a character of a different ethnicity isn’t reflected with the same vigour when it’s the other way around!!!! "

The problem stems from the fact that most characters are written white to begin with. When they aren't written as anything, they are assumed to be white. And when they aren't written white, they have historically been more likely to be criminals.

Some older stories have a long history of being reimagined. I've watched a stage performance of Macbeth that was set in 1990's South Africa, The Lion King is Hamlet, and West Side Story is Romeo & Juliet. Sherlock Holmes is not new to this game, either. I've got Young Sherlock Holmes on DVD, and Elementary cast Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson, with the setting moved to modern day NYC. At some point, a story has been told often enough that it gets boring to keep playing it straight, so people look for ways to start changing things up, either because the idea of a new setting seems cool, or because they want to use the story as a vehicle for social commentary.

The problem is that some attempts are more successful than others, and some are more welcome than others. Recently, some high-profile actresses have come out against the idea of recasting James Bond as a woman, because they would rather see better original roles being written for women instead of just coopting successful male roles. I haven't seen the same sentiment expressed regarding race changes, but those also get awkward. A few literary classics have been reimagined with black casts, but it's never Treasure Island or A Christmas Carol. It's always The Wizard of Oz or Annie, where everybody (except Daddy Warbucks) is dirt poor. That sort of recasting appears to be broadly accepted by society (except me).

The reason why "whitewashed" casting gets so much grief is that there aren't a lot of minority roles available to begin with, and most of those aren't very good. So taking a minority role, especially a prominent one, and recasting it with a white actor, carries a lot more significance than doing the same for one of the abundance of white roles. Even so, it's still more frequently supporting cast that this happens with, rather than main characters. Or it's non-human characters, where race isn't much of an issue. DC did this rather adeptly with their Justice League/Unlimited series. They took the original Justice League roster and swapped out Hal Jordan for John Stewart (a character who already existed), and did the same for Hawkman with Hawkgirl (another character who already existed). Then they cast Martian Manhunter with a black actor. So, in a main cast of seven, they ended up with three white men, two white women, one black man, and one green man who would shapeshift into a black man when he wanted to pass for human. And all that was accomplished without having to fundamentally change any of the characters involved.

Compare that to Doctor Strange, where they have stated that they didn't want to play into the tired old trope of the wizened old Asian mentor, so they made the Ancient One a younger woman...and it might not have backfired so spectacularly if they hadn't cast a white actress in that role. To get around the trope, they had to avoid any AAPI actresses, which basically would have left them with Latina or African, neither of which would have been likely to draw as much criticism.

@BrickAnomiesaid:"On this note, I would like to acknowledge the inclusion of diversity in this interpretation of Irene Adler. I am not familiar enough with the Sherlock Holmes fandom to say whether or not this is a new idea. But if it is, kudos to Lego for being first."

I can't speak for Irene Adler, but the CBS series Watson has black actors for John Watson and his wife Mary Morstan, who is another character from the books.