Brickset bouts: eighth bout result, plus quarter finalists

I'm glad that the Titanic made it! Maybe not the GOAT but definitely the most majestic LEGO set of all time for me...

Bugle: Maybe... maybe there's room for both of us on that door?
Titanic: Hahahahaha, no.

The Titanic is the only LEGO set my wife lets me display, and every time we have guests, they're amazed by how stunning it looks!

So the winner will be either Classic Castle or Classic Space, Brickset users are so predictable.

It is interest that it turned around the position compared to the best set of 2021 poll, where The Daily Bugle scored higher.

Some factors...
It wasn't head to head
Titanic was late in the year
Other later sets (Avengers Tower) make The Bugle appear less good compared to when released

@MegaBlocks said:
"So the winner will be either Classic Castle or Classic Space, Brickset users are so predictable."

The winner will be Rivendell, your argument is invalid.

Can Rivendell hold out against the Castle and Space Mafia? I doubt it.

:-((

LKC vs Tudor Corner will be interesting.

@thor96 said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
"So the winner will be either Classic Castle or Classic Space, Brickset users are so predictable."

The winner will be Rivendell, your argument is invalid."

Classic Literature?

That wasn't the landslide victory I was expecting for the Titanic, but it's good it won nonetheless. It will be interesting to see in the quarterfinals if the incredible Titanic or the Galaxy Explorer which is here solely because of nostalgia wins in the next bout.

@Maxbricks14 said:
"...or the Galaxy Explorer which is here solely because of nostalgia wins in the next bout."

Seriously? It's a genuinely excellent build in it's own right. I bought it and love it, and it's not even from my era so no major nostalgia buttons being pushed for me.

I think the only question before the final will be whether Rivendell beats the Lion Knight's Castle...

Mind you, I am surprised that most of the votes are within 10%, still time for surprises.

@thor96 said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
"So the winner will be either Classic Castle or Classic Space, Brickset users are so predictable."

The winner will be Rivendell, your argument is invalid."

I don't know, the anti-licensed vote can be significant sometimes.

I expect Blacksmith, Galaxy Explorer, Lion Knights, and Rivendell will all advance comfortably.

21325 Medieval Blacksmith vs. 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery

Don't feel like either of these are top 4 sets. I think I would rate all of the other 6 remaining above them.

@darthsutius said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"...or the Galaxy Explorer which is here solely because of nostalgia wins in the next bout."

Seriously? It's a genuinely excellent build in it's own right. I bought it and love it, and it's not even from my era so no major nostalgia buttons being pushed for me.
"

Also, they're all largely nostalgia-driven, not just Galaxy Explorer.

Medieval Blacksmith is essentially classic Castle, and evoking an imagined lost era; the NASA set harks back to a space program that effectively ended with the last shuttle flight 15 years ago; Titanic riffs off a supposed golden age of travel and an almost 30-year-old film; Lion Knights' Castle as per Medieval Blacksmith; Tudor Corner has the clue in the name, despite being an ostensibly contemporary setting (and the entire modular range has nostalgic 'Main Street' vibes); Rivendell is the pinnacle of LotR fantasies about a lost sylvan arcadia; and Mos Eisley originates from a film fast approaching its 50th anniversary!

If the results show one thing, it's that Brickset users are a naturally nostalgic bunch, which is hardly surprising, given that most of them are pursuing a hobby they first encountered in early childhood.

Run the same contest with a different demographic, and you'd likely see lots more Ninjago, DREAMZzz and the like, but this is a Brickset contest, so why begrudge the nostalgia?

@MegaBlocks said:
"So the winner will be either Classic Castle or Classic Space, Brickset users are so predictable."

This is why, the last time we did this, I nominated one of the Mixels sets. There’s got to be a more outside the box approach we can take for this kind of thing.

@darthsutius said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"...or the Galaxy Explorer which is here solely because of nostalgia wins in the next bout."

Seriously? It's a genuinely excellent build in it's own right. I bought it and love it, and it's not even from my era so no major nostalgia buttons being pushed for me.
"

The original Galaxy Explorer is more than a decade older than I am, and I own it, voted for it and will vote for it in the next round. It's definitely not nostalgia in my case (though there might be a little anemoia).

I'm happy to see that every set I voted for made it through! Let's see if that happens again this round...

Also, the last 5 years have definitely been LEGO doing landmarks, either LEGO landmarks like the remakes or others like the Titanic or Rivendell. The Icons theme rebranding says it all. So no wonder these are the winners here.
Compare it to 2014-2019 when LEGO was doing the movies and therefore we got new groundbreaking sets like the Ninjago City and Apocalypseburg. This just isn't the case this time around.

@darthsutius said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"...or the Galaxy Explorer which is here solely because of nostalgia wins in the next bout."

Seriously? It's a genuinely excellent build in it's own right. I bought it and love it, and it's not even from my era so no major nostalgia buttons being pushed for me.
"

You're taking the bait from a guy whose profile-picture is the very face of nostalgia-remakes. Let's not do that.

Titanic won? Booooo!

@Crux said:
" @darthsutius said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"...or the Galaxy Explorer which is here solely because of nostalgia wins in the next bout."

Seriously? It's a genuinely excellent build in it's own right. I bought it and love it, and it's not even from my era so no major nostalgia buttons being pushed for me.
"

You're taking the bait from a guy whose profile-picture is the very face of nostalgia-remakes. Let's not do that."

That.....is a great point.

And you can't really get any more nostalgic than the damn Titanic, lol.

@lampstand said:
"I have never come to terms with the purpose of releasing a Titanic.
To play or to disPlay?
The size is massive.
Its like buying a massage chair and where you do not always use it and yet it takes up a chunk of your space at home... "

Some people like display sets, and some people are into ships. It hits a reasonably niche spot, but then so do many other big sets. Fortunately LEGO make such a huge range of sets, pretty much all tastes can be catered for. As long as people are willing to pay, of course.

I love you Mos Eisley Cantina, but I love Rivendell more.

Again, I would like to advocate for a sub $100 category in the future, as @GirlWoman said I don’t own any of these, and I would go a step further and say, I have never seen one of these sets in person. This whole vote seems to be for what is the biggest most impressive set, not the best. (Maybe it’s me and my definition of ‘best’ but still)

@Maxbricks14 said:
"That wasn't the landslide victory I was expecting for the Titanic, but it's good it won nonetheless. It will be interesting to see in the quarterfinals if the incredible Titanic or the Galaxy Explorer which is here solely because of nostalgia wins in the next bout."
You've apparently not built the Galaxy Explorer or seen what it offers. There are plenty of reasons to vote for it without even bringing in the nostalgia factor at all:

- the build is great and lots of fun, with plenty of ingenious techniques and NPU
- it's a three in one set, the only one to offer such a feature in all of the sets in these bouts
- it has tremendous value for money
- it shows lovely attention to detail and an appreciation for premium quality in the box design and the prints-only approach

Nostalgia is just an added bonus which the set doesn't even need in order to prove its merits.

@GirlWoman said:
"I have no interest in ever buying any of the quarter-finalists that's crazy but I guess that's what the Brickset community is into"
What would have been your favourites?

@ClutchPowers7306 said:
"Again, I would like to advocate for a sub $100 category in the future, as @GirlWoman said I don’t own any of these, and I would go a step further and say, I have never seen one of these sets in person. This whole vote seems to be for what is the biggest most impressive set, not the best. (Maybe it’s me and my definition of ‘best’ but still)"

I nominated 60407 Double-Decker Sightseeing Bus and 60430 Interstellar Spaceship. I think there was some love for the Spaceship, but the big sets are just more popular.

So, the cheapest set will go against the most expensive set. And for once in my life, I'm actually hoping the Titanic sinks.

@Crux said:"Bugle: Maybe... maybe there's room for both of us on that door?
Titanic: Hahahahaha, no."

As someone who was a Titanic buff well before James Cameron got his hands on it, It ordinarily annoys me when people only associate the ship with that movie, rather than with the actual historic events of the sinking, but that definitely got a laugh out of me.

@darthsutius said:"And you can't really get any more nostalgic than the damn Titanic, lol."

How do you know there weren't people who voted for Lion Knights' Castle or Medieval Blacksmith not out of Lego nostalgia, but out of nostalgia for the actual Middle Ages? Tudor Corner is based on building styles that predate the ship, too.

Interesting to see that Mike Psiaki was a designer on half of the quarter finalists - this guy is amazing

@Jman007 said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"That wasn't the landslide victory I was expecting for the Titanic, but it's good it won nonetheless. It will be interesting to see in the quarterfinals if the incredible Titanic or the Galaxy Explorer which is here solely because of nostalgia wins in the next bout."
You've apparently not built the Galaxy Explorer or seen what it offers. There are plenty of reasons to vote for it without even bringing in the nostalgia factor at all:

- the build is great and lots of fun, with plenty of ingenious techniques and NPU
- it's a three in one set, the only one to offer such a feature in all of the sets in these bouts
- it has tremendous value for money
- it shows lovely attention to detail and an appreciation for premium quality in the box design and the prints-only approach

Nostalgia is just an added bonus which the set doesn't even need in order to prove its merits. "

Ok, two things:

First of all, yes, Galaxy Explorer very much won over Ninjago City Gardens because of nostalgia. Just look at half the comments on the voting page. Nostalgia is not a bad thing. I’ve built both sets and most that are in the top 16, the Galaxy Explorer does have its perks but we are comparing sets here. The Galexy Explorer has nothing on some of these sets when it comes to building techniques and NPU even in considering their relative size. Ninjago City Gardens is literally the definition of NPU and fantastic build techniques and experience.

Secondly, I recall you saying you owned, but haven’t built Ninjago City Gardens am I correct? You’ve apparently not built Ninjago City Gardens or seen what it offers. Seems kinda hypocritical to me… "

I voted Galaxy Explorer, and may even vote it over Rivendell. The original is from a time nowhere near mine. I liked Classic Space, but the Galaxy Explorer is what made me fall in love with it. I have two, and I 100% agree with everything @AustinPowers said.

Mos Eisley is a worthy competitor for Rivendell, but it’s still no contest. Rivendell is just a beautiful model. And yes, it still feels weird saying that about a toy. Mos Eisley is amazing as well, for essentially being a tan blob.

@Jman007 said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"That wasn't the landslide victory I was expecting for the Titanic, but it's good it won nonetheless. It will be interesting to see in the quarterfinals if the incredible Titanic or the Galaxy Explorer which is here solely because of nostalgia wins in the next bout."
You've apparently not built the Galaxy Explorer or seen what it offers. There are plenty of reasons to vote for it without even bringing in the nostalgia factor at all:

- the build is great and lots of fun, with plenty of ingenious techniques and NPU
- it's a three in one set, the only one to offer such a feature in all of the sets in these bouts
- it has tremendous value for money
- it shows lovely attention to detail and an appreciation for premium quality in the box design and the prints-only approach

Nostalgia is just an added bonus which the set doesn't even need in order to prove its merits. "

Ok, two things:

First of all, yes, Galaxy Explorer very much won over Ninjago City Gardens because of nostalgia. Just look at half the comments on the voting page. Nostalgia is not a bad thing. I’ve built both sets and most that are in the top 16, the Galaxy Explorer does have its perks but we are comparing sets here. The Galexy Explorer has nothing on some of these sets when it comes to building techniques and NPU even in considering their relative size. Ninjago City Gardens is literally the definition of NPU and fantastic build techniques and experience.

Secondly, I recall you saying you owned, but haven’t built Ninjago City Gardens am I correct? You’ve apparently not built Ninjago City Gardens or seen what it offers. Seems kinda hypocritical to me… "

With all due respect, this is straight up poodoo.

@AustinPowers presented several reasons for why the Galaxy Explorer is great beyond nostalgia. Your only argument for nostalgia is your interpretation of the comments which we've already seen have very little to do with final voting results. Additionally, I don't see where he ever denigrated Ninjago City Gardens.

Also, just as a reminder, "BEST" was never defined for this competition. Building Techniques and NPU are simply available aspects one could leverage when determining "BEST."

@oldtodd33 said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
"So the winner will be either Classic Castle or Classic Space, Brickset users are so predictable."

I don't consider Rivendell to be Classic Castle but it kind of fits the category. "

Classy Castle?

@Huw , @CapnRex101 - I imagine I'm not alone in wanting to do this all again but limit the eligible sets to sub $100 USD (and equiv other currency). I realize this was a lot of work but your consideration would be appreciated. And since our 2 big polls had no value restrictions, I'd recommend this include all 25 Brickset years.

7628 Peril in Peru for the win!

@vDanII said:
" @kinggregus said:
"The Titanic is the only LEGO set my wife lets me display"

I hope this is a healthy relationship because this sounds sad."

You think that's sad? My wife won't even let me on the door though there's plenty room for us both.

The impression I’ve got is that Lego Space fandom might (or might not) be as large as Lego Castle fandom, but it’s more inclined to fragmentation. There aren’t many Castle fans who are only really interested in Forestmen, but a fair few Space fans are only super interested in Blacktron. And there are an awful lot of different Space subthemes to help that along.