What's the best LEGO set released since 2020?
Posted by CapnRex101,
Five years ago, we invited Brickset members to choose their favourite set of the millennium, as part of our 20th anniversary celebration. The sets with the most nominations then proceeded to a knockout phase and 70620 NINJAGO City emerged as the eventual winner!
However, the range of LEGO sets has grown and changed enormously since 2020, offering larger and more ambitious sets than ever, plus many other impressive sets of various sizes.
With that in mind, we are asking you to nominate the best set of the last five years, in celebration of Brickset's 25th anniversary. Like last time, the sixteen sets in receipt of the most nominations will move forward to the tournament stage, when we will be asking for advocates to explain why their chosen set deserves to be the winner. You can view all the sets in scope here.
More details about that will be provided once nominations are closed, but for now, please use this form to nominate up to five sets by midnight, Wednesday 23rd July.
What defines the 'best' set is completely up to you, whether it is the most fun to build, the most detailed or a set with particular meaning to you.
Thank you and we look forward to seeing your suggestions!
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142 comments on this article
I really, really wanted to nominate 77092, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. The minifigures are fantastic, but the rest of the set is about as fun as slogging through the Water Temple, while being charged $300 for the privilege.
With so many impressive models released in the past five years it is quite difficult to choose the best out of the best, especially when the piece count and size should not be the main factors.
So many impressive models, but nothing can beat 10316 Rivendell. It’s quite possibly one of the most beautiful things LEGO has ever put out, and I’m saying that from an objective standpoint.
Honourable mentions to 77015, 10350 and 21315. They might give Rivendell a run for its money.
Let's be honest with ourselves, with The Brickset audience being what it is, it's going to be 10497 or 10305
10316 is unbeatable.
While I think Barad-dûr draws the eye when next to it, Rivendell has everything, great figures, good colours,variety of building...
10497 is really good as well.
Perfect re-imagining of a classic
My choice has to be 71741, and I suppose there's precedent for that to make good progress. I'm sure Icons will give it a run for its money though...
Hah, thanks for listing those numbers, I'll have to look up
More (names / numbers) for my nomination, I'm just curious how many of my favorite sets that I remember as quite recent are in fact older than 5 years now - time flies. Saturn V? Downtown Diner?
10497
75367
76269
10283
10316
10295
10333
42143
10300
10337
910008
76911
75275
75331
10270
10278
21322
10277
76419
Without a doubt, One set to rule them all deserves at least a nomination … is 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell. It is simply put, a magnificent piece from top to bottom, that goes beyond even the LEGO form factor.
I was thinking of the Favourite Set of the Millennium just a couple of days ago. Despite being the final advocate for Ninjago City, I was wondering if I'd still think Ninjago City was my favourite set ever. Part of the appeal of it was how out of the blue it was and so crazy-detailed that it felt like a one-off MOC. So even though all the additional Ninjago City modulars have arguably made Ninjago City even better, they have detracted from the feeling of the original NC being such lightning in a bottle. So now, I'd be tempted to go back to my second choice of the UCS Falcon, even though we're another five years down the line and I STILL haven't built the one I got on day one.
Going back to the last five years, there have been so many incredible sets that it's going to be incredibly difficult even to make a shortlist of the top ones.
There’s been a number of top tier sets but I can easily see Rivendell taking this one. I also nominated the three classic themed revival sets, Lion Knight’s Castle, Galaxy Explorer, and Barracuda Bay, as it is evident tremendous care and experimentation went into the designs and production, and the final products are all superb.
I hope it's upcoming Icons Black Pearl!
To limit and advocate for builds that set my heart afire... difficult.
1. 10316 Rivendell (2023)
2. 21325 Medieval Blacksmith (2021)
3. 10305 Lion Knight's Castle (2022)
4. 10497 Galaxy Explorer (2022)
5. 71705 Destiny's Bounty (2020)
I realize most of these are high price sets, and there are many at the lower price end that feel amazing to experience, and yet these just captured everything I wanted from a Lego set in every way.
41757 Botanical Garden is not only amazingly priced its fun to play AND educational.
Nothing in 10 years came close.
And dont make me laught with 100$+ sets. Most of them were meh at best.
@Lvl said:
"There’s been a number of top tier sets but I can easily see Rivendell taking this one. I also nominated the three classic themed revival sets, Lion Knight’s Castle, Galaxy Explorer, and Barracuda Bay, as it is evident tremendous care and experimentation went into the designs and production, and the final products are all superb."
My thoughts exactly! All 4 of those I have voted for and I've included 10283 for the excellent realism and building experience (apart from applying those stickers inside the payload bay).
I’m not really a fan of licensed themes - hoping the beautiful stickerless A-Frame Cabin will be in contention.
I think people will obviously vote for the bigger sets as they are more mineable and take longer to build. However, really some of the smaller sets should have recognition. Nowadays Lego relentlessly churns out £250 sets, which are far out of the price range for pocket money to be spent or for birthday gifts. I wish Lego would provide more smaller sets - I love seeing releases like the crocodiles or seals in the City line. Giving us great parts without having to remortgage the house!
I intentionally went with playsets mostly as popular IP themes like LotR, SW, and Marvel will get enough nominations anyway.
The beautiful 21353 Botanic Garden was a very easy pick as my favourite since 2020, mainly because my Mum loved being wheeled around Kew Gardens, but partly because I was delighted that the Friends version didn't rule out its existence!
The rest of my favourite 5 were;
10350 Tudor Corner
10306 Atari 2600
10294 Titanic
80107 Spring Lantern Festival
Nothing against 10316 , but I gotta make sure 10333 gets at least one vote !
I went with sets that, upon seeing a leak or announcement photos, were "instant buys."
This includes things like Rivendell (10316) down to the wonderful Land Rover (40650) and the in-between Botanical Garden (41757).
31154 would get my vote. I also picked 42209, 42114, 42116, and 42133.
My top 3. All incredible builds.
10316 Rivendell, 10294 Titanic, 10305 Lion Knights' Castle
Other personal favorites that may not top the list but I enjoyed from start to finish:
21326 Winnie the Pooh, 72037 Mario Kart, 10315 Tranquil Garden
My favorite small sets:
31128 Dolphin and Turtle, 40410 Charles Dickens Tribute
And the most influential sets in the last 5 years for kicking off the botanical line:
10280 Flower Bouquet. 10281 Bonsai Tree
Limited myself to sets I actually have built, and that was already quite a challenge....
Ended up with these five, in no particular order:
10274 Ghostbusters ECTO-1 (Looks great and the functions are mind boggling)
76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck (Never played the game, but this looks awesome)
31208 Hokusai - The Great Wave (Proof that art sets don't have to be tedious to build)
10497 Galaxy Explorer (Perfect re-imagination of the original)
21060 Himeji Castle (Impressive model of the most impressive castle in my favorite country)
And well, 42102 Mini Claas Xerion should have made the list, but already submitted those five before I realized it was from 2020 :-(
Honourable mentions for:
31152 Space Astronaut (I mean, I even bought two so Space Astronaut could have company from Space Dog)
30709 Ferrari 499P - Hypercar (Tiny but brilliant)
10363 Leonardo da Vinci's Flying Machine (That mechanism....)
31124 Super Robot (Still fighting 31145 Red Godzilla in front of Himeji-jo!)
31147 Retro Camera (Main model really evokes the classic camera feel, alternate models suck though)
10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery (Would have made the list if not for the stickers...)
21057 Singapore (If only the Tokyo skyline set was this good....)
76908 Lamborghini Countach (If only Lego print quality was up to par....)
60333 Bathtub Stunt Bike (I mean.....it's a bathtub....bike....)
77015 Temple of the Golden Idol to me. It's a stunning and accurate display piece of a memorable scene, while also being a good playset packed with lots of functions and clever mechanisms. It was fairly priced for a licensed set of that size, and included a good diversity of part shapes, sizes and colors.
So many wonderful sets in the last 5 years... almost every one I would suggest it's already been suggested, including my first choice, but nobody yet suggested my second choice: 10307 Eiffel Tower. I admit it's not on everybody's wanted list because of the size, but you can't deny it's an amazing build.
But I also disagree on that Ninjago city being the previous winner, so...
Giving no prices ranges makes this very boring
I voted for (on the form provided):
43217 UP house
10277 Crocodile Loco
21322 Pirates of Barracuda bay
40448 Vintage Car
21344 Orient Express
1. 21326 - Winnie the Pooh
2. 10315 - Tranquil Garden
3. 71848 - The Temple Bounty
4. 42143 - Ferrari Daytona SP3
5. 10298 - Vespa 125
6. 71795 - Temple of the Dragon Energy
7. 10281 - Bonsai Tree
8. 31154 - Forest Animals: Red Fox
9. 31161 - Medieval Dragon
10. 71822 - Source Dragon of Motion
@Zelt said:
"1. 21326 - Winnie the Pooh
2. 10315 - Tranquil Garden
3. 71848 - The Temple Bounty
4. 42143 - Ferrari Daytona SP3
5. 10298 - Vespa 125
6. 71795 - Temple of the Dragon Energy
7. 10281 - Bonsai Tree
8. 31154 - Forest Animals: Red Fox
9. 31161 - Medieval Dragon
10. 71822 - Source Dragon of Motion"
Did you use the form seen in the topic header? You can only vote for 5 sets.
So many great ones to choose -
Concorde - 10318
NASA Apollo Saturn V - 92176
Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter - 10327
Vincent van Gogh - The Starry Night - 21333
Hokusai The Great Wave - 31208
Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers - 31215
The Milky Way Galaxy - 31212
The Globe - 21332
NASA Space Shuttle Discovery - 10283
International Space Station - 21321
Space Astronaut - 31552
Disney Pixar Luxo Jr. - 21357
It may sound silly but Happy Plants is one of the few sets that when I first saw my reaction was "Hey, what is this? I gotta have it!". I guess I wasn't alone, it went to backorder online quickly after release and next time I went to the Lego store I heard people asking about it but it was sold out already.
I know it's a small set and may not be as spectacular as a large fancy set but to me it is special because I find it interesting, funny, refreshing and not only made me want to get it but also it made me want to see more of this, like a new Botannicals subtheme full of happy, crazy, funny plants. That doesn't happen to me often with any other Lego themes.
My original comment failed to post for some reason so here is the short version:
10320 - not flawless but simultaneously the perfect Lego set. Includes many fun details and Easter eggs while also retaining the conceptual play elements characteristic to classic Lego. Great display presence, iconic design, and playability. Honestly, I’ve been surprised by how much I love this set.
21343 - great build, display, and value
31120 - castle theme combined with tremendous versatility
21348 - sheer awesomeness plus a great and varied building experience
76429 - Lego being bold to produce a giant talking poop emoji
In no particular order:
-Ninjago City Gardens
-Lion Knights Castle
-Eldorado Fortress
-The Endurance
-Galaxy Explorer
Ninjago City Gardens was the what got me out of my Dark Age about 2 years ago, so it holds a special place. An honorable mention would be 71819 Dragon Stone Shrine. My list only includes set I own or have built. That being said I will be surprised if Rivendell isn't in the top spot when this is all said and done. It is a masterpiece.
I feel like if this is done again, with the current state of Lego, I would appreciate two separate categories for over and under $100, as I feel it’s pretty likely all smaller sets will be voted out in favor of huge majestic builds, that while are beautiful, are also completely out of reach to a large majority of fans.
I'd like to see 10497 win this, or 71821 which I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mention yet, over sets that barrel straight through that $100 mark.
The answer in my heart, though, is absolutely 71488.
No, it's not 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell. It can't be. The best set has to consider an element of cost/number of people who get it. Rivendell is so big and expensive, that drops it down a lot. (And, to be frank, would be a slog of a build if I were a millionaire to afford it... All those 1x1 tiles are everything that's wrong with so many modern sets, especially Bricklink Designer and Ideas ones.)
I'm not saying it can't be a bigger set... but it sure shouldn't be that one.
3 of my 5 nominations were under $100, and all under $200. I only expect one of them to make the "top 16" cut sadly. (Pirates of Barracuda Bay, Medieval Blacksmith, Horizon Tallneck, Bonsai Tree, 3-in-1 Sea Animals)
60433: Modular Space Station
Biggest surprise! Very fun to build and set idea is Interstellar
76252: Batcave – Shadow Box
Great idea and a real MOC challenge. I have 2 boxes.
77015: Temple of the Golden Idol
Almost perfect year (2023) - only 1 set missing...
10302: Optimus Prime
Even BETTER than Castle and Spaceship which I both have also.
76832: XL-15 Spaceship
PLAY, display, enjoy, MOC, minifigure, animal, accessories. Everything in 1 small package.
10316 Rivendell takes the number 1 spot for me, easily. It's an incredible set, and looks great from all angles. The building techniques are inventive and flawless, and the building experience itself never slows up. Not to mention the S-tier minifig selection, which may very well be one of the greatest minifig lineups for any set ever.
Rounding out my Top 5 would be:
- 76269 Avengers Tower (an iconic building with a superb minifigure selection and fun references to the MCU),
- 21325 Medieval Blacksmith (an all-around great build, with appealing colors, fun minifigs, and plenty of display/play potential),
- 76956 T. rex Breakout (a fantastic display piece with four unique minifigures of classic characters, a solid Tyrannosaurus build, excellent Ford Explorer build, and my personal favorite of the Diorama series), and,
- 10305 Lion Knights' Castle (an incomparable LEGO Castle set with a bountiful minifigure selection and multi-layered castle build that provides hours of play and display value).
Sad to say that no Star Wars sets crack my Top 5 for this ranking.
@legoapprentice said:
"My favorite small sets:
31128 Dolphin and Turtle, 40410 Charles Dickens Tribute
And the most influential sets in the last 5 years for kicking off the botanical line:
10280 Flower Bouquet. 10281 Bonsai Tree"
Thank you fellow-minded person. I almost nominated 31128 as well, but went with 31158 instead. And absolutely agree on the two "not yet botanicals". They're MASSIVELY successful sets that I see everywhere, even outside of typical Lego people.
@Murdoch17 said:
"40448 Vintage Car"
Holds the record for the most GWPs I've ever got (5).
Must have been a lot I was waiting for and very poor GWPs in the week/months before!
21355 The Evolution of STEM
It's 21322 or 10305, obviously.
Given the large amount of incredible sets released in the last five years this should be a difficult choice, but 10316 is just that good.
42639 is probably the most underrated set. It's the most complete build experience I've ever done. It has a little bit of every build type.
Interstellar Fighter managed to crack my top 5. An absolute joy to build and swoosh around, and the perfect gift to give out to a bunch of nieces and nephews.
76252 hands down. Under appreciated classic
I can't believe no one else has said this yet, because this is hands down one of my favourite sets of all time to build and display - while also coming with some play features - 10300 Back To The Future Time Machine (aka The DeLorean) is by far my nomination for this list. Honourable mentions for me go to 21330 The Home Alone House and 42145 The Airbus Helicopter. I love Rivendell as well, as well as the UCS Razor Crest (now that is a massive yet still minifigure-compatible set) but I find these UPPER END sets contrite to nominate, as at their price point, they are expected to be of exceptional quality.
So that's it - my nomination goes to The DeLorean.
60431 is probably the best play set in recent years. 71821 is the best mech we've ever gotten from LEGO, so that's a no-brainer. 71765 is the perfect power rangers set, combining things is just too much fun and should appear more often in set waves.
I think these sets will go down in history as some of the most iconic sets in their niche for very different reasons:
60446 Galactic Spaceship - Best playset in a box I think I've ever seen from one of the most cohesive original subthemes ever
10305 Lion Knights' Castle - Just a beautiful castle build, but also highlights LEGO's shift toward the adult market
71821 Cole's Titan Dragon Mech - Absolutely insane articulation and engineering
75336 Inquisitor Transport Scythe - The most polished LEGO spaceship build ever
21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay - The iconic LEGO pirate ship is only the ALT build
Dune ornithopter or Daily Bugle all the way
10302
10497
10270
60407
60430
Guys, you forgot to mention 21353 Botanical Garden. One of the best-looking sets for the last decade!
Many have been nominated already. So I will go for 76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck
Tangentially related to this new competition:
Is there a way to collate the articles that made up that original best-of-the-millenium show-down?
It was great fun, and a few times since I've wanted to relive reading it from start to finish, but couldn't seem to acces them all, or get them in order.
Perhaps it warrants a new tag (other than "Competition", which could be reserved for the sort of contest that people enter to win prizes). Something like "Anniversary Showdown".
Anyway, I'm glad it's all happening again; thanks for putting this together, Brickset!
@Darth_Dee said:
"Given the large amount of incredible sets released in the last five years this should be a difficult choice, but 10316 is just that good.
42639 is probably the most underrated set. It's the most complete build experience I've ever done. It has a little bit of every build type. "
I agree with you on those two sets. I nominated both! Rivendell is a perfect set. It's beautiful to look at. Andrea's Modern Mansion is beautiful too! I agree that every building technique is used.
These two sets are so fantastic that I actually downloaded the instructions for both. I studied both of them to see those "hidden gems" of building.
my choices:
- 10330
- 10300
- 21335
- 10293
- 10277
Hard choice. So many great sets.
DailyBugle
Sanctum Sanctorum
Mos Eisley Cantina
NES
Bowser
Temple of the golden idol
Gringotts
Lion Knights Castle
Dungeons and Dragons
Dragon Stone Shrine
Jabba’s Sail Barge
That ucs ship of Jango Fett
The ship of the Guardians of the Galaxy
I even like the Galactus set because i really wanted a Galactus for a long time
Too much, too much
Limiting myself by only picking from the sets I own:
21343
10332
40567
10320
10305
If you're going to headline the competition as the "best LEGO set" released, you really can't say we're free to choose what "best" means. Most people will simply pick their favorite sets. If we were to look at this more objectively, I'd say there are several criteria a set needs to satisfy to be good:
- 2-3 or more minifigures/minidolls/figures
- ~1,000 pieces (realistically, with today's level of detail)
- reasonable price within $50-$100 USD (+/- $30 or so)
- several well-designed play functions
- polished enough to look good on display
- interesting/complex/enjoyable building experience (factoring in sticker application if any)
- interesting/unique use of parts or a good parts pack (minor factor, IMO)
These features embody the qualities that made/make LEGO so popular. The "best LEGO set" should then be the single product that scores the highest across all these categories.
I look at the just-reviewed 72042 and see it hits most of these criteria rather well. Most of the giant buildings and Icons sets LEGO releases do not. 10316 is beautiful, but it's also huge, expensive, and not very playable. I'll have to go through later and pick out some nominations for myself, but I think realistically something mid-size from Dreamzzz, Ninjago, Friends, or Creator should be the winner here, even though it very likely won't be. (And yes, I know I'm looking at this too seriously, but I dislike how people conflate "best" (a nominally objective measure) with "favorite" (a subjective measure) in polls.)
This always turns into a "what did I spend over 200 dollars on" competition, with the "I spent over 300 dollars on it" inevitably winning. There's a need to justify expensive purchases baked into every single response and it's a shame because the best Lego set won't be the one represented here.
I do appreciate the form was included, which should make it easier to sift thru all the nominations and have a bit more structure for what I was going to submit, heh.
I ended up limited myself to sets I've personally purchased / received, but my list is:
71819
21338
77015
41757
71741
The Endurance 10335. So beautiful, and such a great building experience. For me it was a dream come true.
I think I’ve always preferred sets that are large with a classic brick-based wall build that have lots of rooms and interior details to tell stories with. So I’ve nominated the 10305 Lion Knight’s Castle, which is my favorite set of all time, a colorful and classic build at every stage. I’ve also picked the 76178 Daily Bugle, %10326 Natural History Museum, 21338 A-Frame Cabin, and 21330 Home Alone. All were thoroughly enjoyable builds with a ton of minifigures and detail inside and out. The subject matters always interested me since I was a kid.
I almost gave a vote to the 75394 25th anniversary Imperial Star Destroyer, but I felt like I had to prioritize the completely original projects that may never be remade as a set again!
Not enough love for the wonderful A-Frame Cabin here. You lot disappoint me!
Only Lego original sets or also from the Bricklink Designer Program?
910029 Mountain Fortress should be amongst best sets of the last 5 years.
@BLProductions said:
"If you're going to headline the competition as the "best LEGO set" released, you really can't say we're free to choose what "best" means."
Oh yes they can. It's just a bit of fun. If you don't like it just move along and leave others to enjoy seeing people's favourites without your strictly regimented rules.
One of my favorites is 43242 for sure.
I voted for:
10316
75290
77015
10497
21348
Did I miss someone providing the normal query of eligible sets?
Also, since all previous crowd sourced favorites were done through comments, I think a number of folks might get confused that we’ve moved to a form.
I love everyone’s posts so far but for the love all things LEGO, can you include names next to set numbers?
Additionally, the date range here is confusing. Is it 2001 —>, 2000 —->, or maybe July 2000 —->?
Off to find a list of applicable sets.
Unless you'll split it into groups, the one that will win will be a random one from the expensive/lots of bricks sets.
My absolute favorite set released in the last 5 years is 21335 . It's absolutely gorgeous and captures the expected atmosphere so perfectly. The mechanism that allows it to function like a real lighthouse is genius & looks stunning in-person. I wish more sets around this pricepoint had play features and weren't just static display pieces. On that note, I also nominated 10273 , 10327 , and 10497 . My final nomination went to 910049 even though it hasn't been released yet. I just already know I'll love it when it finally arrives.
I would've nominated 75409 , but unfortunately that set ended up having far too many problems IMO.
@Nokturn - this is why the date range is confusing. We know everything about 910049 Adventure in Transylvania but it doesn’t release for another 5 1/2 months. Is it eligible for this poll or the next poll? 10273 Haunted House was released before the last poll (July 1 2020) so my guess is that it was covered then, though most of us would not have had a lot of time to experience it.
If we’re starting from mid July 2020 until Today, then the below late 2020 sets jumped out as me as eligible candidates so I’m going to consider them along with anything 2021 to July 2025: (unless/until we get more guidance):
71374 NES
75288 AtAt
75293 Resistance Transport
71369 Bowsers castle
31199 Iron Man ART
21323 Grand Piano
75967 Diagon Alley
75290 Mos Eisley
And thus, the below possible candidates are a NoGo were just before the cutoff:
10277 Crocodile Loco
10273 Haubted House
I have created this query to clarify the sets in scope: https://brickset.com/sets/query-11622
Huw and I discussed this in advance and decided that anything eligible for the previous tournament should not be included this time, including sets released in the early part of 2020. Anything released from the 1st of July 2020 onwards is eligible, which I should have made clear in the original article.
I think the only particularly memorable sets affected by this are 10270 Bookshop, 10273 Haunted House, 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay and 75275 A-wing Starfighter, all of which were eligible last time.
The Endurance
21343 Viking Village
I only nominated sets that I own:
- 21338 A-Frame Cabin
- 10497 Galaxy Explorer
- 21358 Minifigure Vending Machine
- 76265 Batwing: Batman vs. The Joker (simply because I have it hanging on my wall and it looks fantastic!)
To address comments about sub-dividing the nominations by size or price, I appreciate wanting to see smaller sets receive their due, but there comes a point where having an overall tournament of everything together is just more fun.
Also, while I understand some people's concerns about how to define 'the best' or 'your favourite' and I realise that those can have different meanings, there is again no perfect solution. Everybody is going to define those terms differently, so it is probably best to let readers answer as they wish.
Honestly, if I was trying to get the most objective possible response to a question like this, I would probably gather around 100 people who have built the majority of sets in scope and have interests in the broadest variety of themes possible, trying to balance things so fans of LEGO Star Wars were not overrepresented relative to fans of LEGO Sonic, for example. From there, I think you could have either a secret ballot or bring everyone together for a day-long conversation about ranking the top 100 or so sets.
Interesting though that could be for the 100 people, it would be very difficult, potentially expensive and very boring for everybody else!
Thanks, Cap, though the query seems to be broken as it only lists 5 Bricklink but then also includes One piece sets and Neuschwanstein Castle which haven’t released.
@yellowcastle said:
"Thanks, Cap, though the query seems to be broken as it only lists 5 Bricklink but then also includes One piece sets and Neuschwanstein Castle which haven’t released."
They are 'released' in as much as they are available to order at LEGO.com.
Roger tha @Huw , though I’m being encouraged to not vote for 910013 Bowling Alley or 910029 Mountain Fortress. ;o)
@yellowcastle said:
"Roger tha @Huw , though I’m being encouraged to not vote for 910013 Bowling Alley or 910029 Mountain Fortress. ;o)"
By all means. I don't know why they are not in the query but they are eligible.
The best sets are the ones that fit in with what LEGO *should* be: affordable (by which I don't mean "cheap", but I do mean "not vastly over-priced") and offering good play value (by which I don't mean that they aren't displayable, but I do mean that play is a primary factor in their design). And I'm honestly struggling to think of sets that meet those very simple criteria. Even City and Creator sets have largely lost the plot in recent years. Yes, there are a few, but with City/Creator it should be the majority of sets, not a handful.
(Cue the fanboys telling me that I'm wrong.)
10316 Rivendell
What’s been really interesting out of this fun exercise is seeing set ownership.
I personally think my only Technic to date 42181 VTOL may make my top 5 for this vote and yet only 1139 members own it compared to 3615 for IMHO the clunky 42179 Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit.
3176 folks own the busy 80036 City of Lanterns while only 2104 show ownership of a comparably priced and picturesque 80024 Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain.
It seems like the general consensus is that 10292 The Friends Apartments was a bust but 8651 own it, dwarfing the well received 10335 The Endurance with only 3011 (so far).
Our LEGO Cities will apparently support local building/repair projects (2985 owning 60420 Construction Excavator) much more so than emergency services (649 owning 60414 Fire Station with Fire Truck).
And the biggest takeaway, I guess, is that we love Star Wars and more specifically the prequels. Almost all of the helmets have more than 10,000 owned while a whopping 27,747 members own the 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers and 19791 owning 75283 AAT.
Thankfully, we have the Ideas 21325 Medieval Blacksmith keeping Star Wars at bay with ownership by 20,331.
I'd like to nominate:
71819 Dragon Stone Shrine
71469 Nightmare Shark Ship
80107 Spring Lantern Festival
40516 Everyone is Awesome
80037 Dragon of the East
All these sets bring me joy and are impressive in many different ways!
I don't bother wasting time voting because it's already known who the winner will be.. A lot of fandoms here...
Titanic x10.
..That was easy
About 10 years ago was LEGO's sweet spot. Sets that ticked so many boxes. For example, look at 70738 Final Flight of Destiny's Bounty. It worked well as a display set, with plenty of detail without resorting to 60% of the pieces count being 1x1s. It was a great play set, with lots of minifigs and lots of functionality. It was a decent build experience, at a level that was a fun challenge for younger builders while also not being tediously fiddly for adults. And it was very reasonably priced as well. A win in every respect. You can see why it's now worth so much more than its original price. You can also see why LEGO's recent output is so poor by comparison.
My nominations were for:
92176 NASA Apollo Saturn V - a great building experience, no stickers, and so popular that Lego had to release it twice!
10305 Lion Knights' Castle - another great building experience, also no stickers, and a complete package for a playset.
60430 Interstellar Spaceship - the best small spaceship Lego has released in a long time, a great little build, and again no stickers!
21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay - a love letter to pirates fans, a great building experience, no stickers, and includes a pirate ship as the B model!
10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell - I resisted putting this one down as I can see that it's probably going to win and wanted to offer alternatives, but it is an impressive build, does justice to the license it is designed for, and probably set a new bar for large-scale detailed Lego sets that other sets have (so far) struggled to meet. On the downside it has stickers (ugh!). It is also expensive but less so when you look at it on a price-per-piece basis.
Rivendell all the way but I also really liked Medieval Blacksmith and Dune Ornithopter
@Gus_teXeda said:
"I don't bother wasting time voting because it's already known who the winner will be.. A lot of fandoms here..."
Just one fandom here…LEGO.
31111
31107
21322 is just so incredibly beautiful! I have it built since 2020.
10316 Rivendell has to be my favorite - an absolutely gorgeous set at a reasonable value.
21325 Medieval Blacksmith, 10497 Galaxy Explorer, 10305 Lion Knights Castle, and 75409 Jango Fett's Starship are also close contenders.
10280: -Bonsai Tree
76178: -Daily Bugle
21332: - The Globe
21333: - The Starry Night
75290: - Mos Eisley Cantina
10316 Rivendell is the clear winner in my eyes. However there were so many fantastic sets in recent years. My other 4 included 71741 Ninjago City Gardens, 71705 Legacy Destiny's Bounty, 76832 XL-15 Spaceship, and 31154 Red Fox. I also wanted to include 77015 Temple of the Golden Idol, numerous other Creator "Majestic" animals, the original Bonsai tree, Andrea's Modern Mansion, and the Friend's Botanical Garden to name a few. I'm sure there are other sets that escape me right now.
I have no doubt that 10316 Rivendell will win this competition. And I think it is a great set, which I was lucky to build.
However, it is not one of the sets that I look at the most over time and that make me think “how cool was that”. Having said this, here they come:
71741: NINJAGO City Gardens
21335: Motorized Lighthouse (the overpriced beauty)
30653: Batman 1992 (my personal polybag goat)
10318 Concorde
60430: Interstellar Spaceship (representing the many great City sets we had in the past years)
Obvious picks
71374 NES
10497 Galaxy Explorer
Not as obvious, but great sets
41708 Friends Roller Disco
21333 Starry Night
I assembled Starry Night while watching Marx Brothers movies (none of which I'd seen to that point) and now I will forever associate the two. Also, while I don't have Rivendell, I'd concede it's an amazing set and would certainly deserve the top spot if it got it.
I wrote about the Parisian Restaurant the first time around and I can't believe it's been five years since then!
I voted for 21325, 76269, 10307, 10276 and 71411 - although as many have said there are many that deserve special mentions.
And I can't believe I didn't vote for a modular or a Star Wars set.
In no particular order
21322 - Pirates of Barracuda Bay
10335 - The Endurance
10294 - Titanic
75313 - AT-AT UCS (my childhood dream set)
10316 - Rivendell
It seems an impossible survey.
Here is a list of sets I have, love, desire... surely I'm missing some masterpiece and the previous posts influenced this list (simply because they highlighted some sets that didn't occur to me), but I think the list reflect my preferences anyway.
10281 Bonsai Tree (2021)
10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery (2021)
10316 Rivendell (2023)
10332 Medieval Town Square (2024)
10497 Galaxy Explorer (2022)
10497 Galaxy Explorer (2022)
21060 Himeji Castle (2023)
21061 Notre-Dame de Paris (2024)
21325 Medieval Blacksmith (2021)
21343 Viking Village (2023)
31120 Medieval Castle (2021)
60430 Interstellar Spaceship (2024)
60433 Modular Space Station (2024)
60446 Galactic Spaceship (2025)
71738 Zane's Titan Mech Battle (2021)
71819 Dragon Stone Shrine (2024)
76956 T. rex Breakout (2022)
76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck (2022)
77015 Temple of the Golden Idol (2023)
I'll choose five sets among them, but I'm quite sure that if I'll make this choice tomorrow, the list will be different.
I really thought about some more size and price variety, but still landed one these 5 giants:
Rivendell
Titanic
Tudor Corner
Barad-Dur
Lion Knights
For me, these represent the very pinnacle of licensed and non-licensed LEGO sets, and I'm pretty sure my list of all-time favourites would be very similar (bar one set maybe)...
@CapnRex101 said:
"I think the only particularly memorable sets affected..."
Well, that's the trouble, isn't it? You asked us what WE thought, and you've invaluated quite a few of my choices (that you didn't think of).
Look. It's fine. I've given it a lot of consideration, and I've come up with five new submissions. I just think we a little time apart to re-evaluate some other things as well. I'll call you when I'm ready.
@Crux said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
"I think the only particularly memorable sets affected..."
Well, that's the trouble, isn't it? You asked us what WE thought, and you've invaluated quite a few of my choices (that you didn't think of)."
I listed four sets, conscious that there would presumably be others readers had in mind, but favouring brevity over listing hundreds. I am curious to know which others from the first half of 2020 you originally selected.
Seeing that there are well over 2,000 sets to choose from, I have first narrowed it down to the 265 sets from that period that I actually own.
Out of those I have picked the top 20 I would absolutely recommend without doubt, and then from that selection I picked the top 5 to actually list here.
Those five are
10277
10497
21349
42114
60430
@CapnRex101 said:
" @Crux said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
"I think the only particularly memorable sets affected..."
Well, that's the trouble, isn't it? You asked us what WE thought, and you've invaluated quite a few of my choices (that you didn't think of)."
I listed four sets, conscious that there would presumably be others readers had in mind, but favouring brevity over listing hundreds. I am curious to know which others from the first half of 2020 you originally selected."
So full disclosure, 21322 was on there. It's a good set - it's TWO good sets. I don't need to defend that choice, it defends itself. And yes, I liked 10273 as well, even though the drop-mechanism is still a bit janky at times.
Jan-Jun of 2020 had some other quite good sets, though. Even though I'm not much of a car-guy, I genuinely liked 60258 and 76895 . I think Hidden Side was a great line, marred only by that stupid app - which, when ignored, meant we still ended up getting some really good last hurrahs with sets such as 70429, 70434 and 70437. I thought 40501 was a delight, I still have 31107 in my Space-setup even though we do not want for more modern/futuristic vehicles, and I think 80012 is still much, much better than its successor.
And I just really like 76157. I haven't seen the movie, maybe that makes that set _worse_ somehow, but it's a good build with nice printed pieces. They're very shiny, they spark a lot of joy (even if the movie might not).
There were also several cool sets that I don't own, but most of those were terrible value for money imho, and therefor I would never nominate them.
Reading the comments, this will be a lotr fans vs. everyone else competition.
10291
@MisterBrickster said:
"Let's be honest with ourselves, with The Brickset audience being what it is, it's going to be 10497 or 10305"
You don't think any Star Wars sets have a chance?
I nominated 21325: Lego Ideas Medieval Blacksmith. That set offers a great building experience, has significant play potential, and looks wonderful as a display piece.
@Crux said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
"I think the only particularly memorable sets affected..."
Well, that's the trouble, isn't it? You asked us what WE thought, and you've invaluated quite a few of my choices (that you didn't think of).
Look. It's fine. I've given it a lot of consideration, and I've come up with five new submissions. I just think we a little time apart to re-evaluate some other things as well. I'll call you when I'm ready."
I hope you pick up the phone at some point. Cap didn’t likely mean to exclude your two fine cars or those Hidden Side sets with very, very, hidden positives. Don’t just toss him down a janky elevator shaft. It will haunt you. He had been up late working on his UT-OH, knowing full well Germany would soon throw bricks of blue back at him. It was late and he had missed second breakfast.
Listen to Gabriel and the burning Bush…Don’t Give Up on Rex.
P.S. Those Wonder Woman squares were printed?!
@yellowcastle said:
" @Crux said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
"I think the only particularly memorable sets affected..."
Well, that's the trouble, isn't it? You asked us what WE thought, and you've invaluated quite a few of my choices (that you didn't think of).
Look. It's fine. I've given it a lot of consideration, and I've come up with five new submissions. I just think we a little time apart to re-evaluate some other things as well. I'll call you when I'm ready."
I hope you pick up the phone at some point. Cap didn’t likely mean to exclude your two fine cars or those Hidden Side sets with very, very, hidden positives. Don’t just toss him down a janky elevator shaft. It will haunt you. He had been up late working on his UT-OH, knowing full well Germany would soon throw bricks of blue back at him. It was late and he had missed second breakfast.
Listen to Gabriel and the burning Bush…Don’t Give Up on Rex.
P.S. Those Wonder Woman squares were printed?!"
https://brickset.com/parts/6298838/four-sided-sign-w-snap-no-4
@Crux said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
" @Crux said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
"I think the only particularly memorable sets affected..."
Well, that's the trouble, isn't it? You asked us what WE thought, and you've invaluated quite a few of my choices (that you didn't think of)."
I listed four sets, conscious that there would presumably be others readers had in mind, but favouring brevity over listing hundreds. I am curious to know which others from the first half of 2020 you originally selected."
So full disclosure, 21322 was on there. It's a good set - it's TWO good sets. I don't need to defend that choice, it defends itself. And yes, I liked 10273 as well, even though the drop-mechanism is still a bit janky at times.
Jan-Jun of 2020 had some other quite good sets, though. Even though I'm not much of a car-guy, I genuinely liked 60258 and 76895 . I think Hidden Side was a great line, marred only by that stupid app - which, when ignored, meant we still ended up getting some really good last hurrahs with sets such as 70429, 70434 and 70437. I thought 40501 was a delight, I still have 31107 in my Space-setup even though we do not want for more modern/futuristic vehicles, and I think 80012 is still much, much better than its successor.
And I just really like 76157. I haven't seen the movie, maybe that makes that set _worse_ somehow, but it's a good build with nice printed pieces. They're very shiny, they spark a lot of joy (even if the movie might not)."
Fair enough. As I said, we should have made it clear which sets from 2020 would be in scope from the start, so I apologise for not doing so. I will mention that 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay actually made it to the round of sixteen in our tournament in 2020, but came up against the eventual winner immediately: https://brickset.com/article/52692
After limiting myself to sets that I own, I came up with a list of 22 sets worthy of consideration. The 5 I nominated are:
40516 Everyone Is Awesome
21334 Jazz Quartet
910043 Forest Stronghold
71374 NES
43115 The Boombox (likely the only nomination Vidiyo will get, but I love it)
The Majestic Tiger 31129 and The XL-15 76832 just missed the final 5.
10497 Galaxy Explorer. I never had the original. I wasn't born yet but I did had a lot of classic space. Maybe this is the best set ever because it looks good,
it catches that classic Lego vibe and with its € 100 price it is also affordable for everyone.
21322 Pirates of Barracuda bay is the set that drew me back into Lego after a long dark age. The Island is a fun playset and the ship is a beautiful display set. Changing between the two is quite easy. And for €200 a lot of value for tour money
10305 Lion Knights castle is the ultimate throwback to the eighties. It's fun to build, it has a fun story in the instructions about the different factions while building. It's not only a display set but a playset as well. Not many Lego sets are able to do both. It's perfect.
10316 Rivendell is perhaps the most beautiful display set I have ever seen. I am not a fan of Lord of the Rings but still I did buy it. Just because it's a piece of art.
910029 BDP Mountain Fortress. As a castle fan I had to include this. My Black Falcons need a castle and after wanting more after the release of the Lion Knights castle, this was the perfect choice. Black Falcons are the old rivals of the Lion Knights and displaying both castles side to side makes them even better. And I love that Gothic architecture.
After thinking about it for a bit:
10318 Concorde
10305 Lion Knights' Castle
60409 Mobile Construction Crane
10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell
10320 Eldorado Fortress
Rivendell is the only one from my nominations I don’t own, but by all accounts amazing set
My top 5 have already been mentioned except for:
60419 Police Prison Island
I know it's a City set but the inner child on my found this set so much fun to build and play with that it must go on the list. It's also a different take on the typical police stations and arguably based on a real legendary one.
Without a doubt 10316 Rivendell
I don't feel like I really have a horse in this race, tbh.
Not counting a handful of CMFs, I only own literally six sets from this period - some of which, like 40581 or 43243, I do really enjoy but the idea of either of them winning out over e.g. Rivendell is laughable. I also rather like the only modular I own, but not having got close up with any other modulars to compare it with I can't really say it's the 'best' even of that series, never mind over all.
Of the sets on my wishlist... I could vote for them, sure. But let's be real most of them are more on the list because I like the subject matter rather than *necessarily* for the quality of the set (although I certainly HOPE that's good too!); and I don't even anticipate owning most of them due to price, so is it really fair to vote for them?
And everything else really just falls under "looks cool but I'd never buy it even if I could afford" so I don't feel super-inclined to give them my vote either.
That said, I look forward to seeing the end result, and if it turns out to be predictable or an unexpected surprise! :D
My nominations:
71741
10281
21342
10315
10316
@Pietersheim79 - POBB 21322 is not covered in this poll, though I do love it too.
@ThatBionicleGuy - 6 sets in 5 years?!? I bought 6 sets while typing this! ;o)
@lordofdragonss said:
"41757 Botanical Garden is not only amazingly priced its fun to play AND educational.
Nothing in 10 years came close.
And dont make me laught with 100$+ sets. Most of them were meh at best."
What about 21353?
60446 Galactic Spaceship. The shoe-in was 10497 Galaxy Explorer, but I like 10355 Blacktron Renegade's build more. The GS is mostly a gray triangle with overengineered corners. Butvthe Blacktron set misses interior. The City set, however is just pure goodness and something not derivative, unlike most sets produced now. It's the cherry on top of the outstanding City Space range, and on its oen an amazingly complete package! It has modularity and a great surface base section and it can believably deploy an asteroid mining bot. It does a lot more for its size than many far more expensive icons sets IMHO.
71459 The Dream Stable comes close too, IMHO. That set is as underrated as it gets! It feels very complete, looks beautiful and is functional all for a very economic size and price. And looking at it just makes me happy in a way few sets achieve :)
Personally I hestitate to immediately go for one of those 300+ euro sets as often they are not really fun to build.
I love my Titanic build so much I have not finished it in 19 months as I always want to be building it. Forever. And ever. And ever.
@yellowcastle said:
" @ThatBionicleGuy - 6 sets in 5 years?!? I bought 6 sets while typing this! ;o)"
Specifically six new sets; I have made some more Lego purchases than this during that time, but mostly they tend to be sets from my childhood years that I could only admire from a distance at the time, so they're not really eligible for the vote unfortunately! xD
That said, it is true that a lot of what Lego makes at present is cool enough but not to my tastes these days, or I like but is beyond my budget in my present circumstances. So while I like to keep up with what they offer, will only rarely buy or ask for as a gift. I'm mostly into Lego for the nostalgia factor at present, and that nostalgia is for the stories and characters from my childhood, the pre-Ninjago era, which naturally don't get much of a look-in on Lego's current range!
10316: The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell
10326: Natural History Museum
80109: Lunar New Year Ice Festival
71477: The Sandman's Tower
80028: The Bone Demon
Selecting only from sets I own, I voted for
21348 [Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale (2024)]
10316 [The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell (2023)]
21343 [Viking Village (2023)]
10305 [Lion Knights' Castle (2022)]
40566 [Ray the Castaway (2022)]
The first is my favourite set of all time, great on display, fun to build, good minifigs, and (judging from my daughter) fun to play with too, with a story that can be played or adapted.
Rivendell is obviously superb on display and I'll be amazed if it doesn't win.
The Viking Village is affordable, fun, and looks great, it's exactly what Ideas should be.
Lion Knight's Castle exceeded my expectations, the design is incredible and it also makes a great playset (again going by my daughter).
And finally Ray the Castaway is my favorite GWP of the last 5 years, fun and nice to display.
I am confident I put way more thought into this than was commensurate. It felt wrong to pick a BLDP set but Mountain Fortress, Sheriff’s Safe, and Studgate know how I feel about them. I love the modulars but this was not the best drop of modulars we’ve seen. Rivendell seems like a shoe in but i want to draw attention to other sets. Lastly, it felt wrong to just go with all the obvious, flagship, extremely expensive sets so I limited myself to only 2.
76178 Daily Bugle
76417 Gringotts
42181 VTOL
41714 Andreas Theater School
40615 Tusken Raider
So close were 75290 Mos Eisley, 10283 Space Shuttle, 10305 Lion Knights Castle, and 40767 Space Baby.
If it’s anything other than Rivendell, it’s rigged. It’s just too beautiful. The build was amazing & even that roof wasn’t the nightmare it looked to be.
I also said Mighty Bowser, Heavenly Realms, Source Dragon of Motion, & Cole’s Dragon Titan Mech. All fantastic sets & builds & I know it’s not quite fair to put them up against a $500 set like Rivendell, but it’s easily the clear winner.
My list in no particular order and I only own three of them. I had other sets on my list but had to whittle it down to five. There were a lot of great sets like 21344 Orient Express that I couldn't include.
77092 Great Deku Tree
10305 Lion Knights Castle
10294 Titanic
10316 Rivendell
10497 Galaxy Explorer
Clearly 10316 Rivendell, the best set of all times ! It is probably not even worth organizing this contest, since we already all know that Rivendell will win :-)
Nobody has talked about the best unreleased set of 2023 - 010423 Majestic Horse. It deserves to win
I would only choose from sets I own. With that in mind, Rivendell was the first and most obvious thought. The UCS AT-AT, MBS Mos Eisley, 2020 Diagon Alley were the other choices that came to mind. No obvious flaws, no obviously poor minifigures (Jango’s Slave I and the UCS Sail Barge were ignored on this criterion), a good premise for a set and beautiful execution. They all happen to be very large sets, which I don’t think is necessary but very much helps a set be better due to the capacity for so much more detail and advanced techniques
Out of any of the sets I own my votes would have to go for:
10316 Rivendell
10283 Space Shuttle Discovery
I also believe that 42114 6x6 Volvo Articulated Hauler is underrated pick too. Looking at Technic in the past 5 years, it is one of the few that is clearly function oriented, especially with a gearbox.
Biggest is not always the best. 80109 is amazing build!
I chose
10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell - simply a spectacular set from all angles, even if you know absoluteley nothing about LOTR, like i do.
77015 Temple of the Golden Idol - A fantastic scenery, clever functions, some neat references - I'm a proud owner of one.
76178 Daily Bugle - This set is actually so awesome: a heckton of figures, many easter eggs, a very solid build... I really want to get one :)
10274 Ghostbusters ECTO-1- Probably one of the most detailed 18+ car sets we'll ever have. The amount of decorations is outstanding, the functions are good too, and why won't you dislike a set that's about GHOSTBUSTERS?
910034 Brick Cross Train Station - probably the most random pick out of all these, but I thought that Bricklink Designer Program needed to get some representation. Why? Because nearly every set is an absolute masterpiece. But this particular one just makes me feel so comfy, every detail is included, openings, passages, platforms - everything is done so precisely, I can't even describe the beauty of this set. Serious thanks to the fan that designed this one - although I'll never be able to get it, of course. :(
Overall, it was actually really hard to choose - and I didn't even bother to look at non-adult sets :)
Honorable mentions...
21336 The Office
10327 Dune Ornithopter
910008 Modular Construction Site
21330 Home Alone House
10335 The Endurance
76956 T Rex Breakout
10333 Barad-Dur
21348 Red Dragon's Tale: Dungeons and Dragons
77015 Temple of the Golden Idol
21335 Motorized Lighthouse
Runner Up
75313 UCS AT-AT
Winner
10316 Rivendell
Rivendell is gorgeous, has great minifigures, is fun to build and display, and I hope is enough to keep LEGO making Lord of the Rings sets for years.
@Pietersheim79 said:
" 10497 Galaxy Explorer. I never had the original. I wasn't born yet but I did had a lot of classic space. Maybe this is the best set ever because it looks good,
it catches that classic Lego vibe and with its € 100 price it is also affordable for everyone.
21322 Pirates of Barracuda bay is the set that drew me back into Lego after a long dark age. The Island is a fun playset and the ship is a beautiful display set. Changing between the two is quite easy. And for €200 a lot of value for tour money
10305 Lion Knights castle is the ultimate throwback to the eighties. It's fun to build, it has a fun story in the instructions about the different factions while building. It's not only a display set but a playset as well. Not many Lego sets are able to do both. It's perfect.
10316 Rivendell is perhaps the most beautiful display set I have ever seen. I am not a fan of Lord of the Rings but still I did buy it. Just because it's a piece of art.
910029 BDP Mountain Fortress. As a castle fan I had to include this. My Black Falcons need a castle and after wanting more after the release of the Lion Knights castle, this was the perfect choice. Black Falcons are the old rivals of the Lion Knights and displaying both castles side to side makes them even better. And I love that Gothic architecture. "
This is why I nominated 21322 . It's a well designed 2-in-1 with actual play value (shooting cannons, strings, sails, working anchor, etc.), that isn't attached to an IP, manages to be physically larger than 10305 despite being half of the cost, is associated with LEGO's history and I've personally seen numerous comments over the years--including on both the IDEAS and BrickLink Designer pages, about how it brought adults back into LEGO.
It would be kind of disappointing to see it excluded.
It's also kind of mind-boggling to me that so many comments are saying 10316 - Rivendell considering the price point. That's effectively like saying that 10316 is better than 10305 - Lion Knights Castle and 10497 - Galaxy Explorer combined, or 21335 - Motorized Lighthouse and 21325 - Medieval Blacksmith combined, or any other similar combination, which is absurd.
@Vesperas said:
"...It's also kind of mind-boggling to me that so many comments are saying 10316 - Rivendell considering the price point. That's effectively like saying that 10316 is better than 10305 - Lion Knights Castle and 10497 - Galaxy Explorer combined, or 21335 - Motorized Lighthouse and 21325 - Medieval Blacksmith combined, or any other similar combination, which is absurd."
Rivendell is indeed expensive, so expensive in fact that I just had it on my wish-list without buying it. But for my 40th birthday, some amazing friends of mine went together and gave it to me, so thankfully I now have the privilege of the experience it offers. And I can see what the fuss is about. You get what you pay for is the short of it. It's sad that it sits in a tier that most people can't justify, because it's truly awesome, and not at all as tedious as it looks with all those tiny tiles.
Comparing Rivendell with two other sets is completely justifiable, each of its three main parts could basically be compared to another more regular set. Put together as one, it's huge. Is it "better" than two sets combined? Well, that depends how you define what's good. Is it a question of most bang for the buck, or simply just the best experience, for example? The amount of display-value, and build experience, is definitely fair in terms of the examples you gave here in my opinion. In that regard it's not absurd at all.
If it wins, it's totally deserved. The only thing that speaks against it is that its price is high for a single set. But compared to multiple other sets that together cost the same, or have the same number of parts, or take up the same shelf-space, or takes the same effort and time to build, in most cases Rivendell will be hard to beat overall.
(I do agree Pirates of Barracuda Bay is up there among the top, though. I would love to have it, but I spent my money elsewhere. And I'm not expecting any other amazing gifts like that for at least another 10 years or so...)
10497
10305
I think this will be pretty controversial and pretty Star Wars heavy but
10316 Rivendell
75367 UCS Venator
75290 Mos Eisley Cantina
75337 AT-TE Walker
75311 Imperial armored marauder
21322 is criminally undermentioned. It's such an amazing set, and I wish it didn't have such a short run. I do love 10497 and 10305 , though.