Brickset Bouts quarter final results
Posted by Huw,
During the last week we've been conducting quarter-final contests in our quest to determine the set released in the last five years that you, our readers, think is the best.
The clashes have reduced eight contenders for the title to just four and in all cases the victors achieved at least a two-thirds majority, or thereabouts.
Find out if the sets you voted for prevailed after the break!
Bout 1
A total of 3994 votes were cast.
- 21325 Medieval Blacksmith, 2731 votes - 68%
- 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery, 1263 votes - 32%
Winner
21325 Medieval Blacksmith
Bout 2
A total of 4038 votes were cast.
- 10294 Titanic, 1361 votes - 34%
- 10497 Galaxy Explorer, 2677 votes - 66%
Winner
10497 Galaxy Explorer
Bout 3
A total of 3528 votes were cast.
- 10305 Lion Knights' Castle, 2282 votes - 64%
- 10350 Tudor Corner, 1246 votes - 36%
Winner
10305 Lion Knights' Castle
Bout 4
A total of 4115 votes were cast.
- 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, 3021 votes - 73%
- 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina. 1094 votes - 27%
Winner
10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell
Semi-finals
The semi-finals will be as follows and will take place next week.
21325 Medieval Blacksmith vs 10497 Galaxy Explorer
10305 Lion Knights' Castle vs 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell
If you'd like to advocate for one of the sets please get in touch via the contact form. Thank you!
168 likes
140 comments on this article
Quite what I was expecting. Interesting that the first three have about a 1:2 distribution ratio of votes.
Fingers crossed 10305 wins over 10316.
All four bouts went the way I voted. I think the biggest shock was the magnitude of Rivendell vs Cantina. Star Wars has lost its star power over the past five years. Other themes have caught up in the type of sets they now get. UCS may be a Star Wars badge but ICONS are outdoing them now.
All bouts were pretty emphatic though, at about 2:1 or higher ratios.
As expected, Brickset continues to strongly exhibit a nostalgic Lego classic theme bias.
Most of these are good enough to become the ultimate winner. But it should have been 71411
Every one get their plastic chains and baseballbats, it's Castle Mafia vs. Space Mafia... ;)
I am disappointed that 10497 won, I don't have the set, but it pales in comparison to 10294. While there are improvements that could be made to the latter, it is a challenging and interesting build, like all the others that won.
Out of these four sets, I would pick either 10316 or 21325. As good as 10305 is, I prefer the other two over it, as I have found the bricklink castles more interesting builds by comparison.
@Shadowcloner said:
"As expected, Brickset continues to strongly exhibit a nostalgic Lego classic theme bias. "
Yes, nostalgia is strong. Not sure that is called a 'bias'. It is a called a preference
Well, can't say I'm surprised at all by the results, though it was good to see a passionate minority defending their favorite sets. The latter semi-final bout should've been the final as the winner of that contest will likely take home the win.
@Shadowcloner said:
"As expected, Brickset continues to strongly exhibit a nostalgic Lego classic theme bias. "
Two of the best sets of the past five years happen to be made to celebrate the 90th anniversary. Is it really a surprise that LEGO put a lot into the design of such sets and based them on sets from their history?
It is not a shock at all that an older theme does better than a new one such as Dreamzzz.
SPACE MAFIA!!!
Crazy.....
I like how much this is considered a contest that actually has any kind of meaning
Insane that the Titanic lost. If you asked anywhere else on the internet the Ttianic would have cleared easily.
Celebrating 25 years and fans have voted for Lego sets based around Lego circa 1970.
Has there been any point of Lego making sets for the past 50 years when people just want the 1970s sets?
These were all such great builds. Each is truly deserving of praise for design and features. All of these were in my own top 5.
I have to say that it's just a pure joy to share each of them with friends and family to this day.
Surprised by the margins on some of these. Disappointed but not at all surprised with the results considering the general populous of Brickset users. Only one of these sets deserves to be anywhere near the top 4 and I’m glad it’ll likely win.
@lordofthedreams9 said:
"Fingers crossed 10305 wins over 10316 ."
I hold the same hope, though judging by the absolute number of votes, that outcome is far from certain.
I wonder why about 500 less votes were cast in the bout between Tudor Corner and Lion Knights’ Castle.
@Shadowcloner said:
"As expected, Brickset continues to strongly exhibit a nostalgic Lego classic theme bias. "
Not brickset, but its members. The ones who participate in these polls.
@dudeski said:
" @lordofthedreams9 said:
"Fingers crossed 10305 wins over 10316 ."
I hold the same hope, though judging by the absolute number of votes, that outcome is far from certain.
I wonder why about 500 less votes were cast in the bout between Tudor Corner and Lion Knights’ Castle. "
It was the last of the 4 bouts, so only 2 days to vote - the other bouts had a few extra days - I guess some people don't read Brickset 17 times a day :)
@dudeski said:
" @lordofthedreams9 said:
"Fingers crossed 10305 wins over 10316 ."
I hold the same hope, though judging by the absolute number of votes, that outcome is far from certain.
I wonder why about 500 less votes were cast in the bout between Tudor Corner and Lion Knights’ Castle. "
I know I for one didn't vote in that bout specifically, because it was such a difficult choice. Most of the others I had a clear preference.
Play, not display, won the day.
The fact no models of real subjects made it, saddens me - been doing lots of Cobi rather than Lego lately - models of real things - albeit "war machines".
@FireFox31 said:
"Play, not display, won the day."
Very citable!
@Jman007 said:
"Surprised by the margins on some of these. Disappointed but not at all surprised with the results considering the general populous of Brickset users. Only one of these sets deserves to be anywhere near the top 4 and I’m glad it’ll likely win."
I am curious about this, the only one I don't feel should have made it this far personally is the Blacksmith, as while it is an excellently designed set, there are several others that I would consider better, but I think it probably was the best of the ones it was up against in this tournament so far.
Ultimately any tournament comes down to the winner, and that set (in theory) would have beaten every other set to win, so which sets make it here is almost immaterial.
The real question for me is who wins between LKC and Rivendell, because I expect that winner will probably beat out either of the opponents, unless I've severely misunderstood how people feel about these sets.
@lordofthedreams9 said:
"Fingers crossed 10305 wins over 10316."
I don't think so ;)
un peu décu que le TITANIC ait seulement 34% des votes.je m`attendais a un score plus élevé.Je ne pensais pas que 10294 gagne contre le tout puissant représentant STAR WARS .Félicitation au gagnant et a son concepteur.
It's a gross injustice that 10320 Eldorado was knocked out first round, yet 10305 defeated Tudor Corner easily.
Just look at the architecture. 10350 definitely gave Eldorado a run for its money, but compared to either of them, Lion Knight's Castle is a huge flat gray monolith with no texture. Star Wars sets, criticized for being gray monoliths, have lots of intricate brick-built texture, unlike 10305. Almost all it has is the specialized masonry bricks. And Eldorado brings amazing color blocking into the mix. Apart from the awkward suicide balcony, the architectural design of 10320 is easily better than that big gray flat-walled castle.
The original classic castle sets used slopes to break up their walls, such as widening towards the top to create protruding battlements, or towards the bottom to create a wide foundation, both features found in real castles that were also practical to keep intruders from easily climbing the walls. Overcoming the Lion Knight's wall is hilariously easy, requiring no rope or ladder or any equipment. There are some nice grassy ledges making stairs up, with a tiny tree on the summit to help anyone get up over the wall.
So if it doesn't work as a pretty Neuschwanstein, nor a secure austere stronghold, how has it made it this far? It already beat a better, and more affordable, throwback set, 10320, which was also a straight up remake rather than a loosely inspired model, so even the nostalgia argument is weaker than usual.
@Lamarider said:
"I like how much this is considered a contest that actually has any kind of meaning"
Some seem to think that Big Brother Lego is watching and will be base their future production on the results of a just for fun contest.
Judging from the comments I thought all bout results would be a bit closer.
@Feroz said:
" @Lamarider said:
"I like how much this is considered a contest that actually has any kind of meaning"
Some seem to think that Big Brother Lego is watching and will be base their future production on the results of a just for fun contest.
Judging from the comments I thought all bout results would be a bit closer."
The silent majority is a powerful thing.
Think this vote is showing, that what it all boils down to is that the fans want a proper castle/medieval theme again.
@Lamarider said:
"I like how much this is considered a contest that actually has any kind of meaning"
I suspect it does have meaning, albeit as one of many datapoints. When making set planning decisions, LEGO will look at their own sales and market research data of course but also third party data such as those from Recognized LEGO Fan Media such as Brickset.
The previous round dropped out my top picks, but all the ones I voted for this round made it thru. And, heh, it looks like three castles and one spaceship move forward. :D
@Jman007 said:
"Surprised by the margins on some of these. Disappointed but not at all surprised with the results considering the general populous of Brickset users. Only one of these sets deserves to be anywhere near the top 4 and I’m glad it’ll likely win."
Which one? As to me, they all deserve to be there as they are what people are voting for. That is the point of having a contest rather than a single person creating a list based on their personal preference only.
@MegaBlocks said:
"Celebrating 25 years and fans have voted for Lego sets based around Lego circa 1970.
Has there been any point of Lego making sets for the past 50 years when people just want the 1970s sets?"
Of course there is. LEGO has changed massively since 1970. A big change was the introduction of the minifigure which wasn't around circa 1970, that was circa 1980. I doubt an exact re-release of a 1980s or 1990s set would do so well in this type of poll as they tend to be small and quite basic. Presumably that is why people didn't suggest things like the Majisto or forest men GWP sets. They sre nostalgic. They are very close to the originals. But not great sets.
So the finale is absolutely going to be Space versus Castle then! Which castle exactly I’m not sure, I honestly don’t think I could call it between Lion Knights and Rivendell, but I’m pretty sure Galaxy Explorer will be the one they go up against
@DrGenie said:
" @Shadowcloner said:
"As expected, Brickset continues to strongly exhibit a nostalgic Lego classic theme bias. "
Yes, nostalgia is strong. Not sure that is called a 'bias'. It is a called a preference"
Nostalgia is definitely a bias, not a preference. You (partially) preference something because of a bias. Considering the folks that are most active on here, I'm not at all surprised sets inspired by nostalgic LEGO sets get so many votes. I am somewhat baffled by how much more votes Rivendell got opposed to the Cantina. Well-deserved, IMO, but with Star Wars fans seemingly being so omnipresent I was sure it was going to a closer call than it turned out to be. Perhaps many silent Star Wars fans also agree it's just a dull tan building with not much visual flair beyond its exiting minifigs. It's doesn't even have masonry bricks. ;-)
@CCC said:
" @Shadowcloner said:
"As expected, Brickset continues to strongly exhibit a nostalgic Lego classic theme bias. "
Is it really a surprise…?
It is not a shock at all..."
Yeah, the user you responded to literally says, “As expected,” so no, it’s neither surprising nor shocking to them.
Hoping for a 10497 vs. 10305 final.....both sets were released for the 90th anniversary, and the way I described it back then was that the Galaxy Explorer felt like a great gift to the community while the castle felt more like the expensive VIP party....
Expensive sets on one side versus very expensive sets on the other side.
While I wrote the pitch for the Space Shuttle, I’m not too sad that it didn’t win. However I was hoping for Mos Eisley to win over Rivendell, I think that it is much superior play set
I’ll be hoping for Lion Castle vs. Galaxy Explorer finale!
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Insane that the Titanic lost. If you asked anywhere else on the internet the Ttianic would have cleared easily."
I can't help thinking asking about anything on the internet is never going to get you an answer you can trust.
That aside, if 10497 Galaxy Explorer and 10316 Rivendell make it to the final then that will cover half the sets of the original 16 I own.
Must say I’m fascinated by the enthusiasm in the comments, and yet the total votes are around 4000 in each bout. Sort of implies a lack of spreading the good word ahead of time, since “most read” stories tend to go in 30.000 or more
Looking forward to semi and final, as the different takes on the models are a great read and a reminder of the variety of reasons for this wonderful hobby and lifestyle. Great job Huw and rest of team!
@FARLANDER said:
"Expensive sets on one side versus very expensive sets on the other side. "
Galaxy Explorer isn't really 'expensive' - especially not when this is a vote for the 'best' set of the last 5 years, and it was the least expensive of the 16 finalists.
On that basis Medieval Blacksmith isn't really that expensive either (4th lowest of the 16 finalists)
These are also 2 of the 'smallest' in terms of number of pieces
The 2 most expensive were the AT-AT and Titanic - also the most pieces - and they're not in the last 4.
I think Rivendell will probably win overall, but I think the Galaxy Explorer will give it a good run - which says a lot for a much smaller and less expensive set! - You could have nearly 5 Galaxy Explorers for the same prices as 1 Rivendell - sounds like much better value for money to me!
Bout 2 results are just ridiculous... Oh well...
@Norikins said:
"It's a gross injustice that 10320 Eldorado was knocked out first round, yet 10305 defeated Tudor Corner easily.
Just look at the architecture. 10350 definitely gave Eldorado a run for its money, but compared to either of them, Lion Knight's Castle is a huge flat gray monolith with no texture. Star Wars sets, criticized for being gray monoliths, have lots of intricate brick-built texture, unlike 10305. Almost all it has is the specialized masonry bricks. And Eldorado brings amazing color blocking into the mix. Apart from the awkward suicide balcony, the architectural design of 10320 is easily better than that big gray flat-walled castle.
The original classic castle sets used slopes to break up their walls, such as widening towards the top to create protruding battlements, or towards the bottom to create a wide foundation, both features found in real castles that were also practical to keep intruders from easily climbing the walls. Overcoming the Lion Knight's wall is hilariously easy, requiring no rope or ladder or any equipment. There are some nice grassy ledges making stairs up, with a tiny tree on the summit to help anyone get up over the wall.
So if it doesn't work as a pretty Neuschwanstein, nor a secure austere stronghold, how has it made it this far? It already beat a better, and more affordable, throwback set, 10320, which was also a straight up remake rather than a loosely inspired model, so even the nostalgia argument is weaker than usual."
Well, disregarding your personal aesthetic preferences, which I disagree with, perhaps LKC has done well because some people actually like to play with their Lego sets? Perish the thought!
@CCC said:
"All four bouts went the way I voted. I think the biggest shock was the magnitude of Rivendell vs Cantina. Star Wars has lost its star power over the past five years. Other themes have caught up in the type of sets they now get. UCS may be a Star Wars badge but ICONS are outdoing them now.
All bouts were pretty emphatic though, at about 2:1 or higher ratios."
I don't think Star Wars has lost it's power. I'm think more Cantina's were sold over Rivendells. I think Star Wars lacks a more visually appealing leading set, it's often all grey for ships, or tan for desert in the case of anything Tatooine.
It's just how bouts work, but in all honesty I wouldn't see a valid case for the Galaxy Explorer vs. AT-AT, or the blacksmith versus the cantina.
On top I think there's two big misses here on sets that could genuinely compete being 60409 & 21343.
@GrizBe said:
"Think this vote is showing, that what it all boils down to is that the fans want a proper castle/medieval theme again. "
Not sure. I can only speak for myself, but I'm not a castle fan per se, but I look at the sets and imagine what I'd rather hvae OUT OF ONLY TWO OPTIONS.
I'm very sure my personally preferred set here, the Galaxy Explorer, won't win. On the other hand, I voted for the Blacksmith and the LKC in other bouts, because I these were the sets I liked in the respective round. See what I mean?
Looking back, I believe there's quite a few sets, outside and inside the selection, where the blacksmith would've failed against. It's had a lucky draw.
While I was pulling for the Galaxy Explorer, as a Titanic buff, I feel I must give her a sendoff, with what is likely the last song played aboard her. (No, *not* "Nearer My God to Thee.") https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz8J9Fc81y8
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Insane that the Titanic lost. If you asked anywhere else on the internet the Ttianic would have cleared easily."
You realize that's because a lot of the Internet has no nostalgia for Classic Space, right? Unless by "anywhere on the Internet" you actually meant "on any other Lego site."
@Norikins said:"It's a gross injustice that 10320 Eldorado was knocked out first round, yet 10305 defeated Tudor Corner easily.
Just look at the architecture. 10350 definitely gave Eldorado a run for its money, but compared to either of them, Lion Knight's Castle is a huge flat gray monolith with no texture. Star Wars sets, criticized for being gray monoliths, have lots of intricate brick-built texture, unlike 10305. Almost all it has is the specialized masonry bricks. And Eldorado brings amazing color blocking into the mix. Apart from the awkward suicide balcony, the architectural design of 10320 is easily better than that big gray flat-walled castle.
The original classic castle sets used slopes to break up their walls, such as widening towards the top to create protruding battlements, or towards the bottom to create a wide foundation, both features found in real castles that were also practical to keep intruders from easily climbing the walls. Overcoming the Lion Knight's wall is hilariously easy, requiring no rope or ladder or any equipment. There are some nice grassy ledges making stairs up, with a tiny tree on the summit to help anyone get up over the wall.
So if it doesn't work as a pretty Neuschwanstein, nor a secure austere stronghold, how has it made it this far? It already beat a better, and more affordable, throwback set, 10320, which was also a straight up remake rather than a loosely inspired model, so even the nostalgia argument is weaker than usual."
"Suicide balcony," I love it. But yeah, I'm disappointed too. Especially since Eldorado is modular in a way that allows it to be rearranged into a broad redoubt.
@CCC said:" @MegaBlocks said:"Celebrating 25 years and fans have voted for Lego sets based around Lego circa 1970.
Has there been any point of Lego making sets for the past 50 years when people just want the 1970s sets?"
Of course there is. LEGO has changed massively since 1970. A big change was the introduction of the minifigure which wasn't around circa 1970, that was circa 1980. I doubt an exact re-release of a 1980s or 1990s set would do so well in this type of poll as they tend to be small and quite basic. Presumably that is why people didn't suggest things like the Majisto or forest men GWP sets. They sre nostalgic. They are very close to the originals. But not great sets."
While I can't speak for 40601, as I don't own it, 40567 is too a great set, just much smaller than anything else here, which does make it and 40601not showing up understandable. But you're right, @MegaBlocks was going too far back. The oldest set called back to was 497/928, released in 1979.
predictable, predictable, predictable, predictable
Everybody was crying Space Mafia and Castle Mafia left and right - but what happens next? Castle Mafia vs. Space Mafia AND Castle Mafia vs... Castle Mafia? MAFIA WARS!
The disappointing results of 3 bouts can't dull the euphoria of finally eradicating the scourge of Star Wars in the 4th!
And don’t forget to vote in the semifinals of the Most Despised Set of the Last 5 Years competition!
21337 Table Football
21339 BTS Dynamite
10362 French Cafe
75406 Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle
@CoffeeBrickMan said:
"It was the last of the 4 bouts, so only 2 days to vote - the other bouts had a few extra days - I guess some people don't read Brickset 17 times a day :)"
Erm, no, you are mistaken, my good man. Rivendell vs. Cantina was the fourth and last bout of the quarter finals. It also had the most votes cast at 4115. Bouts one and two were around 4000, only bout three had around 3500 votes cast. I find that remarkable.
@dudeski said:
" @CoffeeBrickMan said:
"It was the last of the 4 bouts, so only 2 days to vote - the other bouts had a few extra days - I guess some people don't read Brickset 17 times a day :)"
Erm, no, you are mistaken, my good man. Rivendell vs. Cantina was the fourth and last bout of the quarter finals. It also had the most votes cast at 4115. Bouts one and two were around 4000, only bout three had around 3500 votes cast. I find that remarkable.
"
You can easily see below when each bout was posted for voting:
https://brickset.com/news/category-Poll
@CCC said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
"Celebrating 25 years and fans have voted for Lego sets based around Lego circa 1970.
Has there been any point of Lego making sets for the past 50 years when people just want the 1970s sets?"
Of course there is. LEGO has changed massively since 1970. A big change was the introduction of the minifigure which wasn't around circa 1970, that was circa 1980. I doubt an exact re-release of a 1980s or 1990s set would do so well in this type of poll as they tend to be small and quite basic. Presumably that is why people didn't suggest things like the Majisto or forest men GWP sets. They sre nostalgic. They are very close to the originals. But not great sets."
A remake of a set from 1979 is by definition a set of the 1970s.
The point still stands that for all the excellent designs Lego do today (like Tudor Corner etc), it doesn't matter because AFOLs just want remakes of their childhood sets.
@MusiMus said:
" @lordofthedreams9 said:
"Fingers crossed 10305 wins over 10316."
I don't think so ;)"
Castle should win. It was much better building experience, it was so fun to play afterwards! Rivendell looks nice but I hated the building experience of a first part and it's so big just because of it.
Disclaimer: 'Lord of the Rings' is my favourite book and the Trilogy are my favourite movies.
@MegaBlocks said:
" @CCC said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
"Celebrating 25 years and fans have voted for Lego sets based around Lego circa 1970.
Has there been any point of Lego making sets for the past 50 years when people just want the 1970s sets?"
Of course there is. LEGO has changed massively since 1970. A big change was the introduction of the minifigure which wasn't around circa 1970, that was circa 1980. I doubt an exact re-release of a 1980s or 1990s set would do so well in this type of poll as they tend to be small and quite basic. Presumably that is why people didn't suggest things like the Majisto or forest men GWP sets. They sre nostalgic. They are very close to the originals. But not great sets."
A remake of a set from 1979 is by definition a set of the 1970s.
The point still stands that for all the excellent designs Lego do today (like Tudor Corner etc), it doesn't matter because AFOLs just want remakes of their childhood sets."
Disagree. When I see LKC and Tudor Corner I think: TC looks really, really stunning in comparison to the castle. But it more fun? Nope!
Basically what I expected to happen
I feel like a lot of the negativity boils down to bashing nostalgia strawman, as if the "nostalgic sets" are hideous abominations that only a kid from the 70's who owned the original could enjoy. I feel like that's unfair.
Im a child of the 90's. I never owned any of the originals, and they had little impact on my childhood or past with lego. That said, I voted for the galaxy explorer over the titanic. The titanic is a very nice recreation of the real thing, but at the end of the day, I dont come to lego for realistic creations of the real thing. I come for imaginative, whimsical, and creative toys. The galaxy explorer is simple, bright, colorful, charming, and also (notably) a really well engineered design that looks great on display and was fun to build. It has great play features that the titanic never would.
At the end of the day, it's about philosophy. Some people come to lego for realistic models. If thats you, awesome! But Some come for imaginative play and fun. To discount that as "nostalgia" misses the core reason so many people (clearly a majority) fall in love with lego.
To be clear, nostalgia clearly plays a role in people's choice (as it should) but theres a lot more at play here than nostalgia.
I'll honestly be disappointed if 10305-1 or 10497 win.
I don't really like the castle, I said it before so I won't repeat myself.
I have lots of nostalgia for classic space. I owned several when I was young and loved them to death and it's the memory of them that brought me back to LEGO. I love 10497. I really do. But, please, it's not the best set of the past 5 years, by miles. I can think of about 2 dozen better sets.
Anyway. I wish 10335 was in the run, but I'll vote for Rivendell, the best of the four sets here.
Updated bracket with the quarter finals!
https://commoninja.site/b85377c2-f570-4a7e-a7e5-6a05cfc5748e
Maybe next time, @Huw could split this into categories: Originals, Licensed/real world model, 18+, 4+, Ideas/BDP, Microscale...
This way, we'd avoid a lot of negativity next time.
@legoapprentice said:
"And don’t forget to vote in the semifinals of the Most Despised Set of the Last 5 Years competition!
21337 Table Football
21339 BTS Dynamite
10362 French Cafe
75406 Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle"
You're missing quite a few ;-)
Could be a an interesting battle once this one is over.
The final four I expected.
@legoapprentice said:
"And don’t forget to vote in the semifinals of the Most Despised Set of the Last 5 Years competition!
21337 Table Football
21339 BTS Dynamite
10362 French Cafe
75406 Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle"
as well as 40634 Icons of Play and 41838 Travel Moments
Yes!! All of the ones I voted for won!
I look forward to seeing the next round; this is gonna be interesting.
@Fauch said:
" @legoapprentice said:
"And don’t forget to vote in the semifinals of the Most Despised Set of the Last 5 Years competition!
21337 Table Football
21339 BTS Dynamite
10362 French Cafe
75406 Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle"
as well as 40634 Icons of Play and 41838 Travel Moments"
75413.
@dudeski said:
" @CoffeeBrickMan said:
"It was the last of the 4 bouts, so only 2 days to vote - the other bouts had a few extra days - I guess some people don't read Brickset 17 times a day :)"
Erm, no, you are mistaken, my good man. Rivendell vs. Cantina was the fourth and last bout of the quarter finals. It also had the most votes cast at 4115. Bouts one and two were around 4000, only bout three had around 3500 votes cast. I find that remarkable.
"
Erm, Double No - The order of the Bouts in this Article does not match the order in which they were posted
Rivendell vs Cantina is listed as Bout 4, BUT it was Posted 2nd, on the 17-August (Saturday) https://brickset.com/article/124102/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-two
Where as the Castle vs Tudor Corner is listed as Bout 3, but was posted 4th, on the 19-August (Tuesday) https://brickset.com/article/124099/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-four
Well I guess it must be time to build 21325 and 10497, buy 10316, and write 10305 off as a bad dream!
@MegaBlocks said:" @CCC said:" @MegaBlocks said:"Celebrating 25 years and fans have voted for Lego sets based around Lego circa 1970.
Has there been any point of Lego making sets for the past 50 years when people just want the 1970s sets?"
Of course there is. LEGO has changed massively since 1970. A big change was the introduction of the minifigure which wasn't around circa 1970, that was circa 1980. I doubt an exact re-release of a 1980s or 1990s set would do so well in this type of poll as they tend to be small and quite basic. Presumably that is why people didn't suggest things like the Majisto or forest men GWP sets. They sre nostalgic. They are very close to the originals. But not great sets."
A remake of a set from 1979 is by definition a set of the 1970s.
The point still stands that for all the excellent designs Lego do today (like Tudor Corner etc), it doesn't matter because AFOLs just want remakes of their childhood sets."
The vast majority of the sets I've bought in the last eight years were not bought for nostalgia reasons, whether Lego nostalgia or some other kind, and I guarantee you that I'm not unique. Certainly, sets that appeal to nostalgia are popular, but so are many other types of sets. If Lego nostalgia were the only thing motivating AFOLs, Eldorado fortress would have won the first bout.
@BabuBrick said:
" @Fauch said:
" @legoapprentice said:
"And don’t forget to vote in the semifinals of the Most Despised Set of the Last 5 Years competition!
21337 Table Football
21339 BTS Dynamite
10362 French Cafe
75406 Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle"
as well as 40634 Icons of Play and 41838 Travel Moments"
75413."
Ahem. 76210.
@CoffeeBrickMan said:
" @dudeski said:
" @CoffeeBrickMan said:
"It was the last of the 4 bouts, so only 2 days to vote - the other bouts had a few extra days - I guess some people don't read Brickset 17 times a day :)"
Erm, no, you are mistaken, my good man. Rivendell vs. Cantina was the fourth and last bout of the quarter finals. It also had the most votes cast at 4115. Bouts one and two were around 4000, only bout three had around 3500 votes cast. I find that remarkable.
"
Erm, Double No - The order of the Bouts in this Article does not match the order in which they were posted
Rivendell vs Cantina is listed as Bout 4, BUT it was Posted 2nd, on the 17-August (Saturday) https://brickset.com/article/124102/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-two
Where as the Castle vs Tudor Corner is listed as Bout 3, but was posted 4th, on the 19-August (Tuesday) https://brickset.com/article/124099/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-four
"
We didn't publish them in order because doing so was dependent on getting copy from advocates, so they were done as and when it was received.
The proper order as far as the draw goes was published here: https://brickset.com/article/123888/brickset-bouts-eighth-bout-result-plus-quarter-finalists
So winner of 1 will meet winner of 2 in the semis, etc.
Take that, space nerds! Jk there were a lot of strong contenders here, though I was glad to see my own preferences win
I don't know if Huw has any contacts in LEGO HQ, but we know some designers read stuff on here, so I'm sure someone will relay it to the bigwigs and what they do with this data is who knows. But it is interesting (and expected to an extent) that castle reigns supreme, and a smaller footnote of classic space included as well.
I own 3 of the 4 finals and only because I couldn't justify the expense of Rivendell. BUT I would say I'd be happy with any of these 4 winning the title. I will always favor castle over space, but I could see any of them winning.
RIP Tudor Corner, the first set I voted for that didn't make it through.
I'm voting for Rivendell over the castle, but I'll need to think long and hard over which one to vote for in the other round.
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Insane that the Titanic lost. If you asked anywhere else on the internet the Ttianic would have cleared easily."
I visited the LEGO Store in Dresden today and saw the Titanic on display for the first time.
To be honest I am even happier that it lost its bout as it looks so disproportionate and far worse than the large Cobi one imho.
As for the semi-finals I predict a clear victory for the Galaxy Explorer and a fierce battle between the Castle Mafia and the LOTR Ultras. Result will be something like 50.5% versus 49.5%, but I can't predict which one will win.
@AustinPowers said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Insane that the Titanic lost. If you asked anywhere else on the internet the Ttianic would have cleared easily."
I visited the LEGO Store in Dresden today and saw the Titanic on display for the first time.
To be honest I am even happier that it lost its bout as it looks so disproportionate and far worse than the large Cobi one imho.
As for the semi-finals I predict a clear victory for the Galaxy Explorer and a fierce battle between the Castle Mafia and the LOTR Ultras. Result will be something like 50.5% versus 49.5%, but I can't predict which one will win. "
Hey look, AustinPowers never losing his mojo or passing on a good ol' opportunity to bash LEGO. Yawn...
Nearly 50 years on and it still seems to come down to good ol' Space and Castle. At least among our demographic here.
@edmi said:
"Bout 2 results are just ridiculous... Oh well..."
Indeed. Galaxy Explorer should have won by at least 75% to 25%.
Oh well...
;-)
@CoffeeBrickMan said:
" @dudeski said:
" @CoffeeBrickMan said:
"It was the last of the 4 bouts, so only 2 days to vote - the other bouts had a few extra days - I guess some people don't read Brickset 17 times a day :)"
Erm, no, you are mistaken, my good man. Rivendell vs. Cantina was the fourth and last bout of the quarter finals. It also had the most votes cast at 4115. Bouts one and two were around 4000, only bout three had around 3500 votes cast. I find that remarkable.
"
Erm, Double No - The order of the Bouts in this Article does not match the order in which they were posted
Rivendell vs Cantina is listed as Bout 4, BUT it was Posted 2nd, on the 17-August (Saturday) https://brickset.com/article/124102/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-two
Where as the Castle vs Tudor Corner is listed as Bout 3, but was posted 4th, on the 19-August (Tuesday) https://brickset.com/article/124099/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-four
"
I apologise, dear sir, you are right and I was wrong! Thank you for correcting me.
@CCC said:
"All four bouts went the way I voted. I think the biggest shock was the magnitude of Rivendell vs Cantina. Star Wars has lost its star power over the past five years..."
Star wars fans are extremely vocally toxic about everything, they've always been this way. Star wars sets are inherently less creative as they're generally based on very specific structures that already have a bunch of info on them, so in my opinion anything that's totally original will always be better.
@Huw said:
" @CoffeeBrickMan said:
" @dudeski said:
" @CoffeeBrickMan said:
"It was the last of the 4 bouts, so only 2 days to vote - the other bouts had a few extra days - I guess some people don't read Brickset 17 times a day :)"
Erm, no, you are mistaken, my good man. Rivendell vs. Cantina was the fourth and last bout of the quarter finals. It also had the most votes cast at 4115. Bouts one and two were around 4000, only bout three had around 3500 votes cast. I find that remarkable.
"
Erm, Double No - The order of the Bouts in this Article does not match the order in which they were posted
Rivendell vs Cantina is listed as Bout 4, BUT it was Posted 2nd, on the 17-August (Saturday) https://brickset.com/article/124102/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-two
Where as the Castle vs Tudor Corner is listed as Bout 3, but was posted 4th, on the 19-August (Tuesday) https://brickset.com/article/124099/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-four
"
We didn't publish them in order because doing so was dependent on getting copy from advocates, so they were done as and when it was received.
The proper order as far as the draw goes was published here: https://brickset.com/article/123888/brickset-bouts-eighth-bout-result-plus-quarter-finalists
So winner of 1 will meet winner of 2 in the semis, etc."
Was @CoffeeBrickMan also correct in the fact that the vote was open longer for the first three bouts? I thought they all had about 2 days, like in the previous rounds. But since I always voted within the first few hours of publishing, I have no idea how much time one actually had to cast their vote.
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Insane that the Titanic lost. If you asked anywhere else on the internet the Ttianic would have cleared easily."
66-34. The Galaxy Explorer damn well sank the Titanic, son.
@Prof_Physika said:
" @CCC said:
" @Shadowcloner said:
"As expected, Brickset continues to strongly exhibit a nostalgic Lego classic theme bias. "
Is it really a surprise…?
It is not a shock at all..."
Yeah, the user you responded to literally says, “As expected,” so no, it’s neither surprising nor shocking to them."
But you have cut my sentences which were different to their 'as expected' sentence. If you are going to criticise, don't cut sentences to manipulate and hide their meaning.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @MegaBlocks said:" @CCC said:" @MegaBlocks said:"Celebrating 25 years and fans have voted for Lego sets based around Lego circa 1970.
Has there been any point of Lego making sets for the past 50 years when people just want the 1970s sets?"
Of course there is. LEGO has changed massively since 1970. A big change was the introduction of the minifigure which wasn't around circa 1970, that was circa 1980. I doubt an exact re-release of a 1980s or 1990s set would do so well in this type of poll as they tend to be small and quite basic. Presumably that is why people didn't suggest things like the Majisto or forest men GWP sets. They sre nostalgic. They are very close to the originals. But not great sets."
A remake of a set from 1979 is by definition a set of the 1970s.
The point still stands that for all the excellent designs Lego do today (like Tudor Corner etc), it doesn't matter because AFOLs just want remakes of their childhood sets."
The vast majority of the sets I've bought in the last eight years were not bought for nostalgia reasons, whether Lego nostalgia or some other kind, and I guarantee you that I'm not unique. Certainly, sets that appeal to nostalgia are popular, but so are many other types of sets. If Lego nostalgia were the only thing motivating AFOLs, Eldorado fortress would have won the first bout.
@BabuBrick said:
" @Fauch said:
" @legoapprentice said:
"And don’t forget to vote in the semifinals of the Most Despised Set of the Last 5 Years competition!
21337 Table Football
21339 BTS Dynamite
10362 French Cafe
75406 Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle"
as well as 40634 Icons of Play and 41838 Travel Moments"
75413."
Ahem. 76210."
42215
@dudeski said:
" @Huw said:
" @CoffeeBrickMan said:
" @dudeski said:
" @CoffeeBrickMan said:
"It was the last of the 4 bouts, so only 2 days to vote - the other bouts had a few extra days - I guess some people don't read Brickset 17 times a day :)"
Erm, no, you are mistaken, my good man. Rivendell vs. Cantina was the fourth and last bout of the quarter finals. It also had the most votes cast at 4115. Bouts one and two were around 4000, only bout three had around 3500 votes cast. I find that remarkable.
"
Erm, Double No - The order of the Bouts in this Article does not match the order in which they were posted
Rivendell vs Cantina is listed as Bout 4, BUT it was Posted 2nd, on the 17-August (Saturday) https://brickset.com/article/124102/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-two
Where as the Castle vs Tudor Corner is listed as Bout 3, but was posted 4th, on the 19-August (Tuesday) https://brickset.com/article/124099/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-four
"
We didn't publish them in order because doing so was dependent on getting copy from advocates, so they were done as and when it was received.
The proper order as far as the draw goes was published here: https://brickset.com/article/123888/brickset-bouts-eighth-bout-result-plus-quarter-finalists
So winner of 1 will meet winner of 2 in the semis, etc."
Was @CoffeeBrickMan also correct in the fact that the vote was open longer for the first three bouts? I thought they all had about 2 days, like in the previous rounds. But since I always voted within the first few hours of publishing, I have no idea how much time one actually had to cast their vote. "
Correct, but it's been my experience that after just an hour or so the vote split between the contenders does not change much, unless they are 50-50 which was not the case here.
@MegaBlocks said:
" @CCC said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
"Celebrating 25 years and fans have voted for Lego sets based around Lego circa 1970.
Has there been any point of Lego making sets for the past 50 years when people just want the 1970s sets?"
Of course there is. LEGO has changed massively since 1970. A big change was the introduction of the minifigure which wasn't around circa 1970, that was circa 1980. I doubt an exact re-release of a 1980s or 1990s set would do so well in this type of poll as they tend to be small and quite basic. Presumably that is why people didn't suggest things like the Majisto or forest men GWP sets. They sre nostalgic. They are very close to the originals. But not great sets."
A remake of a set from 1979 is by definition a set of the 1970s.
The point still stands that for all the excellent designs Lego do today (like Tudor Corner etc), it doesn't matter because AFOLs just want remakes of their childhood sets."
Not when remakes use updated parts. And none of the finalists are remakes, nowhere close.
@MrBedhead said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Insane that the Titanic lost. If you asked anywhere else on the internet the Ttianic would have cleared easily."
I visited the LEGO Store in Dresden today and saw the Titanic on display for the first time.
To be honest I am even happier that it lost its bout as it looks so disproportionate and far worse than the large Cobi one imho.
As for the semi-finals I predict a clear victory for the Galaxy Explorer and a fierce battle between the Castle Mafia and the LOTR Ultras. Result will be something like 50.5% versus 49.5%, but I can't predict which one will win. "
Hey look, AustinPowers never losing his mojo or passing on a good ol' opportunity to bash LEGO. Yawn..."
Well, why not. The LEGO Titanic on publicity photos looks much better than IRL. Unless the LEGO Store employee who built it made some mistakes. Possible, though unlikely. The funnels in particular were way too short in comparison to the rest of the ship. Or they cut out a bit to make the set fit in the display cabinet. It was a tight fit anyway.
@Huw said:
" @dudeski said:
" @Huw said:
" @CoffeeBrickMan said:
" @dudeski said:
" @CoffeeBrickMan said:
"It was the last of the 4 bouts, so only 2 days to vote - the other bouts had a few extra days - I guess some people don't read Brickset 17 times a day :)"
Erm, no, you are mistaken, my good man. Rivendell vs. Cantina was the fourth and last bout of the quarter finals. It also had the most votes cast at 4115. Bouts one and two were around 4000, only bout three had around 3500 votes cast. I find that remarkable.
"
Erm, Double No - The order of the Bouts in this Article does not match the order in which they were posted
Rivendell vs Cantina is listed as Bout 4, BUT it was Posted 2nd, on the 17-August (Saturday) https://brickset.com/article/124102/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-two
Where as the Castle vs Tudor Corner is listed as Bout 3, but was posted 4th, on the 19-August (Tuesday) https://brickset.com/article/124099/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-four
"
We didn't publish them in order because doing so was dependent on getting copy from advocates, so they were done as and when it was received.
The proper order as far as the draw goes was published here: https://brickset.com/article/123888/brickset-bouts-eighth-bout-result-plus-quarter-finalists
So winner of 1 will meet winner of 2 in the semis, etc."
Was @CoffeeBrickMan also correct in the fact that the vote was open longer for the first three bouts? I thought they all had about 2 days, like in the previous rounds. But since I always voted within the first few hours of publishing, I have no idea how much time one actually had to cast their vote. "
Correct, but it's been my experience that after just an hour or so the vote split between the contenders does not change much, unless they are 50-50 which was not the case here."
I formally protest these results. Mos Eisley Cantina clearly had ineffective assistance of counsel. :o)
90 years against 90 years of play finals
@lordofthedreams9 said:
"Fingers crossed 10305 wins over 10316."
Yes! 10305 is such a unique set that it deserves a place in the final round.
@lordofthedreams9 said:
" @MusiMus said:
" @lordofthedreams9 said:
"Fingers crossed 10305 wins over 10316."
I don't think so ;)"
Castle should win. It was much better building experience, it was so fun to play afterwards! Rivendell looks nice but I hated the building experience of a first part and it's so big just because of it.
Disclaimer: 'Lord of the Rings' is my favourite book and the Trilogy are my favourite movies."
Both sets are of a very high standard. The castle is fun due to its references to traditional Castle sets, but I rank Rivendell higher. It's not just that I really like LoTR, but the set as a whole is incredibly impressive. Consider the number of non-standard building methods used, for example, with the dome and the trees. In addition, it simply brilliantly recreates the magical atmosphere of this elven land.
I own three of these, and I’m hoping to get the fourth. I have zero clue what I’d do if 10305 matched up with 10497, but it’s not be good seeing as those might be my two favorite sets of all time. Anyways, predictability again. I voted for the four of them by the way.
Discovery Discerved Better
@CCC said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
"Celebrating 25 years and fans have voted for Lego sets based around Lego circa 1970.
Has there been any point of Lego making sets for the past 50 years when people just want the 1970s sets?"
Of course there is. LEGO has changed massively since 1970. A big change was the introduction of the minifigure which wasn't around circa 1970, that was circa 1980. I doubt an exact re-release of a 1980s or 1990s set would do so well in this type of poll as they tend to be small and quite basic. Presumably that is why people didn't suggest things like the Majisto or forest men GWP sets. They sre nostalgic. They are very close to the originals. But not great sets."
Owning both, I will agree with you about Majisto’s Workshop, but not about the Forestmen Hideout. Even as a standalone set, it is a very great set, and this is coming from someone with zero nostalgia for the Forestmen. Also, Majisto’s Workshop is glaringly dissimilar to the older version.
If people are being honest with themselves, Rivendell has this. It’s the most beautiful(yes, still weird thing to say about a toy) set LEGO has ever produced. The build is fantastic, even that roof. The only ding is the high price, but at least it’s worth it on this case.
When I first discovered that 10305 Lion Knight's Castle included so many of the sigil shields from my childhood 375-2 Yellow Castle, I was so excited. Throw in the great build, great minifigs, great look, and the open/close option and it's going to be a tough semifinal.
@AustinPowers said:
" @MrBedhead said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Insane that the Titanic lost. If you asked anywhere else on the internet the Ttianic would have cleared easily."
I visited the LEGO Store in Dresden today and saw the Titanic on display for the first time.
To be honest I am even happier that it lost its bout as it looks so disproportionate and far worse than the large Cobi one imho.
As for the semi-finals I predict a clear victory for the Galaxy Explorer and a fierce battle between the Castle Mafia and the LOTR Ultras. Result will be something like 50.5% versus 49.5%, but I can't predict which one will win. "
Hey look, AustinPowers never losing his mojo or passing on a good ol' opportunity to bash LEGO. Yawn..."
Well, why not. The LEGO Titanic on publicity photos looks much better than IRL. Unless the LEGO Store employee who built it made some mistakes. Possible, though unlikely. The funnels in particular were way too short in comparison to the rest of the ship. Or they cut out a bit to make the set fit in the display cabinet. It was a tight fit anyway. "
Hey, don't bother. No use in arguing with religious fanatics.
@yellowcastle said:
" @Huw said:
" @dudeski said:
" @Huw said:
" @CoffeeBrickMan said:
" @dudeski said:
" @CoffeeBrickMan said:
"It was the last of the 4 bouts, so only 2 days to vote - the other bouts had a few extra days - I guess some people don't read Brickset 17 times a day :)"
Erm, no, you are mistaken, my good man. Rivendell vs. Cantina was the fourth and last bout of the quarter finals. It also had the most votes cast at 4115. Bouts one and two were around 4000, only bout three had around 3500 votes cast. I find that remarkable.
"
Erm, Double No - The order of the Bouts in this Article does not match the order in which they were posted
Rivendell vs Cantina is listed as Bout 4, BUT it was Posted 2nd, on the 17-August (Saturday) https://brickset.com/article/124102/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-two
Where as the Castle vs Tudor Corner is listed as Bout 3, but was posted 4th, on the 19-August (Tuesday) https://brickset.com/article/124099/brickset-bouts-quarter-final-match-four
"
We didn't publish them in order because doing so was dependent on getting copy from advocates, so they were done as and when it was received.
The proper order as far as the draw goes was published here: https://brickset.com/article/123888/brickset-bouts-eighth-bout-result-plus-quarter-finalists
So winner of 1 will meet winner of 2 in the semis, etc."
Was @CoffeeBrickMan also correct in the fact that the vote was open longer for the first three bouts? I thought they all had about 2 days, like in the previous rounds. But since I always voted within the first few hours of publishing, I have no idea how much time one actually had to cast their vote. "
Correct, but it's been my experience that after just an hour or so the vote split between the contenders does not change much, unless they are 50-50 which was not the case here."
I formally protest these results. Mos Eisley Cantina clearly had ineffective assistance of counsel. :o)"
Erm, triple yes!!
Sustained. Motion granted. ;)
My predictions:
10497 > 21325
10316 > 10305
Then,
10316 > 10497
I think the Medieval Blacksmith is just small an not-quite-spectacular enough to lose to the Galaxy Explorer, even though I continue to believe that the castle/medieval fan base is larger than the classic space fanbase.
As for Lion Knights' Castle, I know how popular it is, but I continue to believe that Rivendell is so beautiful, so full of different vignettes and areas for play - and most importantly so full of castle/medieval-adjacent vibes - that it will overcome the strength of the castle/medieval fan base, in part because many castle/medieval fans will vote for it since it's so much grander of a set than the blacksmith.
If I'm correct, then I think Rivendell will win the final as well, because however passionate classic space fans might be, I simply don't believe a single vehicle/ship is going to beat a set with the scope, scale, and minifigure selection of Rivendell.
If this is how it ends up, then one bonus of the result will be that the folks who are getting waaaay too serious and angry in their nostalgia-bashing will finally have to take a seat. The quiet on that front will be nice - this is supposed to be about fun, after all, not about calling other people's preferences "religious fanaticism."
@Vindicare said:
"If people are being honest with themselves, Rivendell has this. It’s the most beautiful(yes, still weird thing to say about a toy) set LEGO has ever produced. The build is fantastic, even that roof. The only ding is the high price, but at least it’s worth it on this case. "
Beautiful does not necessarily equal Best.
Best is subjective and prone to bias.
Rivendell is undoubtedly beautiful, but for me the price and less personal interest means I prefer all 3 of the other options.
ReallyvI prefer the 2 smaller and lower priced sets I the other half on the draw. My subjective Best!
The next rounds seem very fitting for each other.
@daniellesa said:
"I am disappointed that 10497 won, I don't have the set, but it pales in comparison to 10294. While there are improvements that could be made to the latter, it is a challenging and interesting build, like all the others that won.
Out of these four sets, I would pick either 10316 or 21325. As good as 10305 is, I prefer the other two over it, as I have found the bricklink castles more interesting builds by comparison."
Indeed. I do not buy Bricklink Designer sets but I have looked into the instructions for Mountain Fortress 910029 and even as a person somewhat removed from the castle theme, it is very difficult to do any better than that. It is so good (IMO), it is almost tempting to buy the parts from Lego/Bricklink (no hard to get parts by design) and have my own copy.
@Wallace_Brick_Designs said:
"I own three of these, and I’m hoping to get the fourth. I have zero clue what I’d do if 10305 matched up with 10497, but it’s not be good seeing as those might be my two favorite sets of all time. Anyways, predictability again. I voted for the four of them by the way."
I'd go for the Galaxy Explorer if that happened, but if it lost, I wouldn't be all that upset. I'm sort of in both the Castle Mafia and the Space Mafia. If I could have any one set I wanted as a child, it'd be 6990. But if I could have two, the other one would be 6085.
@TheOtherMike said:
"...Castle Mafia and the Space Mafia..."
The Nexo Yakuza?
@GrizBe said:
"Think this vote is showing, that what it all boils down to is that the fans want a proper castle/medieval theme again. "
Or rather than a small but vocal subset of AFOLs believe that netting votes in the low four figure range will convince TLG to start cranking out set runs in the 7-9 figure range.
@WizardOfOss said:
"Hoping for a 10497 vs. 10305 final.....both sets were released for the 90th anniversary, and the way I described it back then was that the Galaxy Explorer felt like a great gift to the community while the castle felt more like the expensive VIP party...."
And 40581 got ignored at its own birthday party…
@TheOtherMike said:
"I'm sort of in both the Castle Mafia and the Space Mafia."
Spastle Mafia?
@Crux said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"...Castle Mafia and the Space Mafia..."
The Nexo Yakuza?"
Interesting! Because Nexo Knights were basically a fusion between space and castle and while it may have attracted some people, it does not look like it was as successful as expected. A bit like pickles and ice cream - each very good on their own but not quite appealing together!
@HOBBES said:
" @daniellesa said:
"I am disappointed that 10497 won, I don't have the set, but it pales in comparison to 10294. While there are improvements that could be made to the latter, it is a challenging and interesting build, like all the others that won.
Out of these four sets, I would pick either 10316 or 21325. As good as 10305 is, I prefer the other two over it, as I have found the bricklink castles more interesting builds by comparison."
Indeed. I do not buy Bricklink Designer sets but I have looked into the instructions for Mountain Fortress 910029 and even as a person somewhat removed from the castle theme, it is very difficult to do any better than that. It is so good (IMO), it is almost tempting to buy the parts from Lego/Bricklink (no hard to get parts by design) and have my own copy."
I almost bought a 2nd 910029 during the LEGO overstock event just to be able to build it after letting my son do the first one. It is simply stunning. 910001 Castle in the Forest was nice too but not even in the same universe as SleeplessNight's sets.
Every one I voted for lost. Perfect prediction record. Sweet.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Wallace_Brick_Designs said:
"I own three of these, and I’m hoping to get the fourth. I have zero clue what I’d do if 10305 matched up with 10497, but it’s not be good seeing as those might be my two favorite sets of all time. Anyways, predictability again. I voted for the four of them by the way."
I'd go for the Galaxy Explorer if that happened, but if it lost, I wouldn't be all that upset. I'm sort of in both the Castle Mafia and the Space Mafia. If I could have any one set I wanted as a child, it'd be 6990. But if I could have two, the other one would be 6085."
The more I think about it, the more I think you’re right, I would pick the Galaxy Explorer. I own two for a reason, and while my favorite theme is Castle, 10497 might just be my favorite set! I would consider myself a member of both Mafia’s, but I typically lean Castle. That should show you how much I love the Galaxy Explorer! Long live Castle, but long live Classic Space all the same! Those are definitely both incredible sets, and especially back in the day. Ultimately, I don’t care which one wins, it’s all fun, and all four of the ones remaining deserve to win.
10305 vs 10316 is the real final. Whichever set wins will beat the other semifinal winner.
Can we just acknowledge that Mike Psiaki is listed as the designer/co-designer for 3 of the 4 finalists…
The fact that the throwback sets are at the top of this contest, just shows the demographic that is voting here. I'm not one of them. I have no interest in the retro sets.
I did eventually purchase the Galaxy Explorer, when it was marked so cheap I thought why not. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with it, the plates on the wings kept separating and breaking apart each time I picked it up to move it. Maybe that's the charm to it, rebuilding it over & over. I think it was a little too retro for my taste.
Not much of a castle fan except for HP.
I'd like to see Rivendell win & I'm not even a LOTR fan.
@yellowcastle said:" @TheOtherMike said:"I'm sort of in both the Castle Mafia and the Space Mafia."
Spastle Mafia?"
No, Nexo Yakuza, like @Crux said.
@PurpleDave said:" @GrizBe said:"Think this vote is showing, that what it all boils down to is that the fans want a proper castle/medieval theme again. "
Or rather than a small but vocal subset of AFOLs believe that netting votes in the low four figure range will convince TLG to start cranking out set runs in the 7-9 figure range."
It's that whole "Everyone who matters has the exact same tastes as me!" thing again.
@HOBBES said:
" @Crux said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"...Castle Mafia and the Space Mafia..."
The Nexo Yakuza?"
Interesting! Because Nexo Knights were basically a fusion between space and castle and while it may have attracted some people, it does not look like it was as successful as expected. A bit like pickles and ice cream - each very good on their own but not quite appealing together!"
When I was a toddler, I was eating pickles and ice cream at the same time. Given that that combination is a stereotypical pregnancy craving, my mother asked her doctor, "Is it possible for a two year old boy to be pregnant?"
@CCC said:
" @Prof_Physika said:
" @CCC said:
" @Shadowcloner said:
"As expected, Brickset continues to strongly exhibit a nostalgic Lego classic theme bias. "
Is it really a surprise…?
It is not a shock at all..."
Yeah, the user you responded to literally says, “As expected,” so no, it’s neither surprising nor shocking to them."
But you have cut my sentences which were different to their 'as expected' sentence. If you are going to criticise, don't cut sentences to manipulate and hide their meaning."
Kindly lay out the meaning I elided and we’ll discuss it then :)
@Prof_Physika said:
" @CCC said:
" @Prof_Physika said:
" @CCC said:
" @Shadowcloner said:
"As expected, Brickset continues to strongly exhibit a nostalgic Lego classic theme bias. "
Is it really a surprise…?
It is not a shock at all..."
Yeah, the user you responded to literally says, “As expected,” so no, it’s neither surprising nor shocking to them."
But you have cut my sentences which were different to their 'as expected' sentence. If you are going to criticise, don't cut sentences to manipulate and hide their meaning."
Kindly lay out the meaning I elided and we’ll discuss it then :)"
I expect that this may be a shocking surprise.
This has been a fun and interesting exercise in critical thinking or lack of.
Can we judge what makes 'the best Lego set' from this era or do our personal feelings sway us towards believing something 'should win'?
I would always give in-house designs votes over licensed sets because those are conversions from film industry department conceptions.
@CamberbrickGreen said:
"This has been a fun and interesting exercise in critical thinking or lack of.
Can we judge what makes 'the best Lego set' from this era or do our personal feelings sway us towards believing something 'should win'?
I would always give in-house designs votes over licensed sets because those are conversions from film industry department conceptions."
Sounds like your personal feelings are swaying you to believe something 'should win'.
@iwybs said:
" @CamberbrickGreen said:
"This has been a fun and interesting exercise in critical thinking or lack of.
Can we judge what makes 'the best Lego set' from this era or do our personal feelings sway us towards believing something 'should win'?
I would always give in-house designs votes over licensed sets because those are conversions from film industry department conceptions."
Sounds like your personal feelings are swaying you to believe something 'should win'."
lol I figured I'd invite some snark here- BS never fails!
I'm critically thinking that 'best Lego set' would be designed purely by Lego themselves.
Literally made an account so I can vote for Rivendell. The Rivendell set is the most jaw-dropping gorgeous set I have ever seen, & is so ingeniously designed that it would be an elite tier contender even if it DIDN'T have anything to do with a franchise. Then you add in that it's actually incredible fidelity to a license, that it gives deep vibes from the books more than just a movie scene, that it captures the essence & various rooms of an entire kingdom in LotR in a single set... it's incredible.
Lion Knight's Keep, by comparison, is 1 of the most plain, ugliest castle sets in the modern era. Solid grey walls with the kiddish rounded tops & the overly bright, fake looking green base. That 1 is priced for adults only, but the aesthetic looks purely for 6 year olds. I get that it's a large castle, that it's size & scope make it somewhat impressive... but it could have been done so so so much better than that. There are dozens of better castle designs in Ideas or in the Bricklink Designer Program, including many that weren't even picked.
Rivendell, however... there is no way you can make a better version of that set. It's literally the pinnacle of what that set could possibly be. Hard to not vote for a perfect set.
For the other semi-final, I honestly don't know how I'll vote yet. Probably will go with Blacksmith cuz I own that 1 and its quite impressive, but the space 1 looks great too.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @yellowcastle said:" @TheOtherMike said:"I'm sort of in both the Castle Mafia and the Space Mafia."
Spastle Mafia?"
No, Nexo Yakuza, like @Crux said."
One (or two) might think that I'd reserve 'Yakuza' for Ninjago, but no. I'm still holding out hope that Ninjago's Master Wu and Monkie Kid's Mister Tang will stage an epic crossover, resulting in the official Lego formation of the Wu-Tang clan.
@Crux said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @yellowcastle said:" @TheOtherMike said:"I'm sort of in both the Castle Mafia and the Space Mafia."
Spastle Mafia?"
No, Nexo Yakuza, like @Crux said."
One (or two) might think that I'd reserve 'Yakuza' for Ninjago, but no. I'm still holding out hope that Ninjago's Master Wu and Monkie Kid's Mister Tang will stage an epic crossover, resulting in the official Lego formation of the Wu-Tang clan."
Ninjaguza and Cosa Nextra?
The four sets I wanted to win...won!!! Great!!
The best thing is that I have the four semi-finalists!! Hence, I will have the winner!
@CoffeeBrickMan said:
" @Vindicare said:
"If people are being honest with themselves, Rivendell has this. It’s the most beautiful(yes, still weird thing to say about a toy) set LEGO has ever produced. The build is fantastic, even that roof. The only ding is the high price, but at least it’s worth it on this case. "
Beautiful does not necessarily equal Best.
Best is subjective and prone to bias.
Rivendell is undoubtedly beautiful, but for me the price and less personal interest means I prefer all 3 of the other options.
ReallyvI prefer the 2 smaller and lower priced sets I the other half on the draw. My subjective Best!"
Same here.
For me personally, Rivendell wouldn't even make the top 10 of best sets, let alone anywhere near the top. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, and I don't even find it particularly beautiful. It's nice looking, no doubt, but to me for example Tudor Corner or something like the Botanical Gardens, which weren't even in the running, look much more beautiful than Rivendell.
And like you say, beautiful doesn't equal best automatically.
For my personal preference, "best" means a combination of building experience, NPU, playability, reconfigurability, price, execution, value for money, attention to detail, no expense spared, etc.
Rivendell imho loses in most of these aspects so for me could never be considered a "best" set.
That being said, even if 10497 lost out to Rivendell in the finale, I wouldn't be distraught, since it would still mean that it's apparently considered the second best set of the past five years - a title that in the end doesn't mean anything anyway other than being the winner in a fun contest.
:-)
Rivendell vs Blacksmiths in the final. Rivendell wins is my prediction. I prefer the Blacksmiths personally.
I have 3 out of the 4!
Will the classic space fans be enough to push the Galaxy Explorer, cheapest set of the 4, to the top spot?
@recce said:
"I have 3 out of the 4!
Will the classic space fans be enough to push the Galaxy Explorer, cheapest set of the 4, to the top spot?"
Not only the cheapest of these four, but actually the cheapest out of all 16 contestants!
If you still need somebody to defend the Galaxy Explorer I can do that @Huw
@Cergorach said:
"Every one get their plastic chains and baseballbats, it's Castle Mafia vs. Space Mafia... ;)"
We're gonna have a ball tonight!
@lordofthedreams9 said:
"Fingers crossed 10305 wins over 10316."
Don't dream, it won't happen. Everybody knows from the beginning that Rivendell will win the contest. It is the best Lego set of all times, not just in the last 5 years :-).
We still need advocates for
21325 Medieval Blacksmith
10305 Lion Knights' Castle
10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell
Please get in touch via the contact form or tag me in a comment here if you'd like to be one. Thanks!
@Huw said:
"We still need advocates for
21325 Medieval Blacksmith
10305 Lion Knights' Castle
10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell
Please get in touch via the contact form or tag me in a comment here if you'd like to be one. Thanks!
"
I can advocate for Lion knights
I can advocate against all the remaining candidates. :o)
So I guess we can from the results have a trend about the average profile of BS community members can't we? Because seeing 2 castle theme sets out of 4 in semi finals, one classic Lego space icon and the last being LOTR tells a lot about who we are here IMHO. I love those 4 a lot, but would have liked to see NASA Shuttle there maybe. Surprised no modular has made it through. And wonder which will eventually be the one.
@Brick_t_ said:"Surprised no modular has made it through."
Even if you count Ninjago City Gardens as a modular (and it is modular, it's just not (AFAIK) compatible with the standard Modular Building design), there were only three in the competition, and Tudor Corner was the only one to make it more than one round.
The semifinals are going to be interesting, the final is going to be boring... the two small ones have no hope against either of the titans.
@biffuz said:
"The semifinals are going to be interesting, the final is going to be boring... the two small ones have no hope against either of the titans."
Considering that the smallest set in the competition beat the largest set in the competition to get to this round, you might be in for a surprise...
Ah, so the love for Titanic was complete and utter nonsense. All the talk of how wonderful and detailed a set is Titanic was a contrivance to hide the disdain for a much more interesting and lively set based on a licensed property. As soon as Galaxy Explorer came along, the love went out the window in favor of Classic Space.