Brickset Bouts, the final: Castle vs. Space

Rooting for Lion Knights' Castle!!!

Space team represent!
TO THE STARS!

I suppose it was always going to come down to this, but it would have been nice to see a wild card. Like Pigsy’s Noodle Tank or something. Are we appreciating these sets because they’re genuinely the best, or because they’re just scratching the nostalgia itch? Probably a mix of both, but it doesn’t always make for an interesting discussion.

Atari 2600 for the win.... Oh.

We all knew it would come down to this..... Team Castle!

@Mister_Jonny said:
"I suppose it was always going to come down to this, but it would have been nice to see a wild card. Like Pigsy’s Noodle Tank or something. Are we appreciating these sets because they’re genuinely the best, or because they’re just scratching the nostalgia itch? Probably a mix of both, but it doesn’t always make for an interesting discussion."

Well I did put Galaxy explorer on my list, and the original was way way WAY past my time. I do genuinely think 10497 is a great set

Man we gotta get a version of this without nostalgia bias, like no way these are the highest quality sets, they’re literally the two anniversary sets from 2022. Like some of the best LEGO sets just aren’t big, some of the best sets have around 500 pieces not 3000, the bias towards large nostalgia remakes is just so frustrating because all this presents as data is which LEGO sets are the most exciting for a 45 year old man who misses his childhood and the LEGO that was around at that time, not a genuine measure of quality

Two Lego marvels but for me at the end the winner is Mike Psiaki who participated a lot in both models. We know his talent and we see it in those models again. Well done. Having grew up with classic space, my vote went for the Galaxy explorer. Good luck.

Celebrating 25 years by voting for sets based around (or remakes) of previous 1970's/1980's sets.

These are both amazing sets that I love. Rather than comparing what they have, let’s look at what they lack. LKC is missing Majisto printing. Galaxy Explorer is missing the moon base! Another reason to vote for the Castle!

Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!!!

This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build.

The Galaxy Explorer was an absolute garbage dump of a build. Easily the worst of hundreds of sets I own. It was so bad I never finished the build and it's the only time that's happened.

0/10 for the Galaxy Explorer.

10/10 for the Lion's Castle.

@ALFIE22 said:
"Man we gotta get a version of this without nostalgia bias, like no way these are the highest quality sets, they’re literally the two anniversary sets from 2022. Like some of the best LEGO sets just aren’t big, some of the best sets have around 500 pieces not 3000, the bias towards large nostalgia remakes is just so frustrating because all this presents as data is which LEGO sets are the most exciting for a 45 year old man who misses his childhood and the LEGO that was around at that time, not a genuine measure of quality"

This is why, the last time we did this, I nominated one of the Mixels sets. I still think they’re some of the best things Lego have ever made: a great sense of character, inventive parts usage, and a price point that actually served the primary audience.

I think that when we’re considering what makes the “best” Lego set, we’re almost dealing with two competing impulses - something that is technically ambitious, or something that children can easily acquire and appreciate. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, necessarily, but with Lego getting more and more expensive it’s arguably heading that way more and more.

The castle just isn't swooshable enough. Stuff keeps falling off. 0/10, would not swoosh again.

> the set can be rebuilt into new versions of 918 Space Transport and 924 Space Cruiser!

Surprised TLG didn’t make some official instructions for castle as well. Considering that both Play and Rebuild are big promo pushes for them

The castle is lovely... but: Spaceship. Spaceship! SPACESHIP!

@guachi said:
"This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build."
Little tip, don't buy knockoff LEGO on Temu!
;-)

Seriously though, I will be the first to admit that LEGO quality isn't what it used to be.
But falling apart? Come on, that's just plain BS. Even the worst LEGO sets I built over the last few years didn't fall apart by any means. They might have colour issues, ugly huge mould marks, or terrible sticker quality, but other than that they are perfectly serviceable.

As for the final, of course I voted Galaxy Explorer.

There's nothing wrong with LKC but I simply have always been more into Space than into Castle, even back as a kid.

@Hylian_Warrior said:
" @Mister_Jonny said:
"I suppose it was always going to come down to this, but it would have been nice to see a wild card. Like Pigsy’s Noodle Tank or something. Are we appreciating these sets because they’re genuinely the best, or because they’re just scratching the nostalgia itch? Probably a mix of both, but it doesn’t always make for an interesting discussion."

Well I did put Galaxy explorer on my list, and the original was way way WAY past my time. I do genuinely think 10497 is a great set"

Oh, I do too; it’s a fantastic model, with plenty of great features in it. I just think that we can maybe think a bit more creatively about what “best” means in this context.

With regards to Classic Space, I think it’s interesting in that its audience probably transcends the people who directly grew up with it. Like, since the late 70s we’ve had Classic Space references seeded throughout Lego sets (and more overtly in media like The Lego Movie) so it’s not surprising that something like the revised Galaxy Explorer has risen to the top in an endeavour like this.

@Mister_Jonny said:
" @ALFIE22 said:
"Man we gotta get a version of this without nostalgia bias, like no way these are the highest quality sets, they’re literally the two anniversary sets from 2022. Like some of the best LEGO sets just aren’t big, some of the best sets have around 500 pieces not 3000, the bias towards large nostalgia remakes is just so frustrating because all this presents as data is which LEGO sets are the most exciting for a 45 year old man who misses his childhood and the LEGO that was around at that time, not a genuine measure of quality"

This is why, the last time we did this, I nominated one of the Mixels sets. I still think they’re some of the best things Lego have ever made: a great sense of character, inventive parts usage, and a price point that actually served the primary audience.

I think that when we’re considering what makes the “best” Lego set, we’re almost dealing with two competing impulses - something that is technically ambitious, or something that children can easily acquire and appreciate. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, necessarily, but with Lego getting more and more expensive it’s arguably heading that way more and more."

Last time Brickset did something like this wasn’t there a category for Best Set for under $20 (or that kinda range) specifically to give the spotlight to exactly those sorts of sets for exactly those sorts of reasons? I do think there should absolutely be more consideration for things like that, but on the other hand if we’re defining “best set” the larger ones have more scope for creative building and inventive techniques that you maybe don’t get in smaller ones that kind of propel them to the top in people’s mind.

But since my options here are limited to these two options, I’m going for the Castle. It’s one of the only times I’ve broken my normal budget limitations for Lego and sits proudly on a spot where I can still tinker and play with all its functions. The Galaxy Explorer is cool and all but it just lacks cool features like that, and is a direct remake of an older set rather than simply being inspired by them as the Castle is. Gotta give props for originality!

@guachi said:
"This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build.

The Galaxy Explorer was an absolute garbage dump of a build. Easily the worst of hundreds of sets I own. It was so bad I never finished the build and it's the only time that's happened.

0/10 for the Galaxy Explorer.

10/10 for the Lion's Castle."

How the heck did you build the Galaxy Explorer!?!? With Chop sticks?

I voted the Galaxy Explorer, I actually own that one, still have to buy the Castle later this year before it goes EOL! Besides a bit of nostalgia (for both), I really liked how the Technic parts were used to build the frame of the GE! A TON of MOCs and I also liked a LOT of the parts ,so ended up buying multiples of the set. The same happened with the the 31120 Castle, 10305 looks a lot better, but due the price and the distribution (pretty much Lego exclusive), no way was I ever going to buy multiples of it...

I don't own the castle and it seems like a very nice set, but... I think it costs too much money to be awarded the title of Best Set of the Last Five Years. I like Lego to be play sets and this certainly is one, but it is way out of reach for way too many children (including my own).

10497 is also a great play set, I really like the build (I just rebuilt it) and it is, indeed, space. And I like space better than medieval times (what could be versus what has been). So...

Classic Space all the way for me
>the set can be rebuilt into new versions of 918 Space Transport and 924 Space Cruiser
For less than the cost of LKC you can have all 3 Spaceships

This was a very difficult choice because I like both sets very much. I ultimately chose to vote for the Galaxy Explorer.

I vote for Rivendell :)

spaceship... Spaceship... SPACESHIP!!!!

Can't believe Rivendell lost to a slice of space pizza

I AM JOKING

Congrats

@ALFIE22 said:
"Man we gotta get a version of this without nostalgia bias, like no way these are the highest quality sets, they’re literally the two anniversary sets from 2022. Like some of the best LEGO sets just aren’t big, some of the best sets have around 500 pieces not 3000, the bias towards large nostalgia remakes is just so frustrating because all this presents as data is which LEGO sets are the most exciting for a 45 year old man who misses his childhood and the LEGO that was around at that time, not a genuine measure of quality"

It’s easy to point fingers and blame nostalgia but I don’t think that’s entirely the case here. I’m a millennial who grew up on bionicle without any experience with classic space or castle and I absolutely loved these two sets, easily top 5 over these past five years in terms of design quality. For me, it was quite evident that more resources and design iterations were allocated towards these projects than the run of the mill 500 piece sets you argue are superior, but in the end we all have our biases and I respect your opinion.

In some ways, it's easier to have an impressive set when the final product can be big and expensive. But well designed within tighter constraints, and within the budget for more people to experience it (rather than appealling mostly to superfans) - that's a harder bar to clear.

Galaxy Explorer for me. And y'know, it's space.

I recently got hold of my first 1978 Galaxy Explorer. It's good. But having built and fallen in love with the remake, it was actually rather disappointing as a build and as a finished article. 10487 is so completely packed with detail, features and clever techniques that it transcends it's source material in every way – a celebration of how far Lego has come (without losing its soul).

So for me it's not about nostalgia, it's about revelling in the progression within the 'System'.

Also 'Swooooooshhhhh!'. The fact you can pick it up by the wing-tip and whirl it around feels miraculous.

To me Galaxy Explorer has already won no matter the outcome of the poll. First, its a $100 set up against a $400 set, which says a lot in and of itself. For 4 times the price we should get something amazing compared to a lower set price, yet here we are. Second GE was available to a lot more people, both in terms of price and where it was sold (Walmart in the US). Both are high quality sets, but to put a high quality set in the hands of the general public is quite an achievement for Lego.

While my favourite factions are Lion Knights and Futuron, and I’m not a big fan of the Classic Space (Come on, they still don’t have visors! How do they survive the vacuum of space?), I voted for the 10497 Galaxy Explorer.

The price point speaks for its affordability, it’s relatively quick to build and therefore ready to play with, and most importantly, it’s swooshable!

@ALFIE22 said:
"Man we gotta get a version of this without nostalgia bias, like no way these are the highest quality sets, they’re literally the two anniversary sets from 2022. Like some of the best LEGO sets just aren’t big, some of the best sets have around 500 pieces not 3000, the bias towards large nostalgia remakes is just so frustrating because all this presents as data is which LEGO sets are the most exciting for a 45 year old man who misses his childhood and the LEGO that was around at that time, not a genuine measure of quality"

While I do partially agree with the nostalgia complain (although I'm totally guilty of it as well), I can tell you from watching my nephews (6 and 8 yo) that the Galaxy Explorer definitely IS a high quality set even without the nostalgia glasses. whenever they come visit, no matter which sets are on display in my home they always go straight for the Galaxy Explorer and its siblings (I bought a second one and extra pieces for the alternates). I do rotate which sets I build and display to get some variety and the one time they weren't there, I can't tell you enough the crisis that caused xD
Trust me, that won't happen again...

The fact that it’s down to these two sets is quite disappointing but something I should have seen coming. As an owner of both, and nearly all of the top 16 voted sets, I genuinely don’t get the hype for these 2 sets . Neither deserve to win and yet, here we are.

@guachi said:
"This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build.

The Galaxy Explorer was an absolute garbage dump of a build. Easily the worst of hundreds of sets I own. It was so bad I never finished the build and it's the only time that's happened.

0/10 for the Galaxy Explorer.

10/10 for the Lion's Castle."

Remember - the anti-studs go ON TOP of the studs...

Into the infinite skies!

Let’s go SPACE!

My two favourite sets made it to the finals, such a treat! It’s a tough choice, but I’ve got this soft spot for Classic Space, so yeah…

@Jman007 said:
"The fact that it’s down to these two sets is quite disappointing but something I should have seen coming. As an owner of both, and nearly all of the top 16 voted sets, I genuinely don’t get the hype for these 2 sets . Neither deserve to win and yet, here we are."

I think what it means is that you’re a smaller minority than you realize. Might want to de-emphasize your own self-importance in the world, and maybe lighten up a little.

@guachi said:
"This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build.

The Galaxy Explorer was an absolute garbage dump of a build. Easily the worst of hundreds of sets I own. It was so bad I never finished the build and it's the only time that's happened.

0/10 for the Galaxy Explorer.

10/10 for the Lion's Castle."

@guachi
I’m calling B-S on this comment!!

You are either the worst LEGO builder of all time,
Or else you have been engaged by the Castle Mafia to denigrate the Space Mafia set so that the Castle wins!

Which is it?!…..

As for me, these are two brilliant sets that are really hard to split - despite the vastly different subject matters, price points and number of parts!

I guess if I had to find one thing, as someone raised earlier …. The Galaxy Explorer is missing a Moon Base, or at least a gray baseplate with brick-built craters and hills! That would have made it pretty much the perfect set!

So I guess Lion Knight’s Castle for the win!….
even though we all know Rivendell is an objectively better and much better-looking set!
;)

@ALFIE22 said:
"Man we gotta get a version of this without nostalgia bias, like no way these are the highest quality sets, they’re literally the two anniversary sets from 2022. Like some of the best LEGO sets just aren’t big, some of the best sets have around 500 pieces not 3000, the bias towards large nostalgia remakes is just so frustrating because all this presents as data is which LEGO sets are the most exciting for a 45 year old man who misses his childhood and the LEGO that was around at that time, not a genuine measure of quality"

Whenever I walk into a LEGO Store, I mostly see 45-year old men reliving their childhoods... and clearing out the Pick-a-Brick wall.

Knowing the audience of Brickset, it was very easy to predict that this competition would mostly include sets that would tie into nostalgia, either for LEGO's own legacy or for other franchises. With these type of polls there will always be a bias that correlates to the pool of respondents, and here it was pretty obvious.

I do wonder what the outcome would've been if LEGO's main target audience, the kids, would've cast their votes. I'm sure it would've been something else than big castles and retro spaceships.

@TheBrickPal said:
" @maffyd said:
"Ok, how did I manage to go up against @Huw in the final?"
I'm Huw? News to me! :-)"

We are all Huw. There is only Huw.

Go Team Space!!

I know there are several comments about nostalgia being a a massive reason for these 2 finalists, and a few talking back to them about how they need to "reevaluate" and such. But theyre not wrong. This competition is just not interesting, because the general population of Brickset isnt interesting. just a bunch of nostalgia driven AFOLS. I would love to see a version without the bias of nostalgia, I mean look at all the crazy new sets we get nowadays. Ninjago city Gardens would have been my top pick any day.

Some of these comments are just really tacky.

I'm sorry but this competition has really fell flat for me. I expected better from the members here. The subject is 'What is the Best LEGO set' not 'What is your favourite'. I don't think enough people have put aside personal bias and opinions to give a true reflection. Apologies, I expect pushback on this and maybe rightly so but during this competition I voted for sets that I don't own over sets that I do because I genuinely thought they were a BETTER set than the one that I wanted to own. The Daily Bugle is my FAVOURITE set from the shortlist here but there's no way I could claim that it is the BEST set. There are Dreamzzz sets better than the Bugle!

Sad to say, but I do not see the point of voting here, as none of these two sets deserves to win. It seems that people voted for nostalgia, rather than for the actual best set of the last 5 years...

@peterlmorris said:
" @Jman007 said:
"The fact that it’s down to these two sets is quite disappointing but something I should have seen coming. As an owner of both, and nearly all of the top 16 voted sets, I genuinely don’t get the hype for these 2 sets . Neither deserve to win and yet, here we are."

I think what it means is that you’re a smaller minority than you realize. Might want to de-emphasize your own self-importance in the world, and maybe lighten up a little. "

Yeah, ok buddy, didn’t ask for your opinion (self-importance? what a nonsensical thing to say). Considering the way the votes have gone so far, It’s very fair to say that this isn’t the outcome 40-50% of us here wanted statistically speaking. I suppose you are right on me needing to lighten up a little considering the unimportance and lack of impact this vote brings, I’m just really invested :)

@BOBJACK_JACKBOB said:
"I'm sorry but this competition has really fell flat for me. I expected better from the members here. The subject is 'What is the Best LEGO set' not 'What is your favourite'. I don't think enough people have put aside personal bias and opinions to give a true reflection. Apologies, I expect pushback on this and maybe rightly so but during this competition I voted for sets that I don't own over sets that I do because I genuinely thought they were a BETTER set than the one that I wanted to own. The Daily Bugle is my FAVOURITE set from the shortlist here but there's no way I could claim that it is the BEST set. There are Dreamzzz sets better than the Bugle! "

I objectively looked at myself from a perspective hovering a few feet from myself and neutrally observed the silliness of all humans from my vantage point aboard the Muthership parked in God's lap.

I had to vote Galaxy Explorer on this one, but it was tough! I think the GE did something incredible by emulating the feeling of building a set as a kid, whereas LKC is more like a fun experience for adults that remember building castles as kids. Big, detailed builds are a hallmark of AFOL sets, and I feel like that's an "easier" design missive than making the builder feel like they're winding back the clock.

I voted for the Galaxy Explorer. The main point in it's favour IMO is that it costs a quarter of the price of the LKC.

That aside, I personally think it's one of the best sets of the last 5 years despite my being over a decade younger than the set it's based on.

My nostalgia is for the late eighties onward and I outright hate the constant aggrandizing of Seventies Space, wherein we get a new blue/gray/trans-yellow spaceship homage every 6-8 days and the one time Lego decided to nod to *my* childhood instead people got really mad and unironically insisted that the Space CMF series should have been 12 different-colored versions of the "Classic Spaceman." So I can assure you all that when I say 10497 is a fantastic set that deserves the win, it is absolutely not because I'm wallowing in nostalgia.

If you were to change out the factions in the castle set to completely new ones, that set would not really connect at all to Classic Castle. It's a bit of a charlatan in that way, positioned as nostalgia yet the set itself doesn't really give off that Classic Castle vibe outside of the minifigures. Amusingly, two recent Creator castles are mentioned in the write-up, both of which give me far more Classic Castle vibes than the big one. It's a great set for what it is, but it doesn't really feel representative of what it's trying to honour either.

The Galaxy Explorer on the other hand is unmistakably Classic Space. I did criticise it previously for not having the simplistic charm of those old sets, but in this duel of nostalgia it undoubtedly does a better job at honouring what came before it, and so it gets my vote.

I said it before in some of the discussions. You cannot argue with 'best,' unless there is a clear definition of what 'best' is supposed to mean, i.e., there are measurable characteristics of (or criteria for) 'best.'
Since we don't have them here, 'best' is whatever you, me, and the other guy consider to be 'best.' That may, and most likely will be, very different between us. But your criteria for 'best' are as good as my 'best.' It's a question of preference or taste. Nothing you can argue with in any meaningful way.

In other words, what we discover with this little exercise is the 'Lego set of the past 5 years most preferred by a specific sample of all Brickset users (given a certain bias stemming from how the pairings have been).' You can call this 'best' if you want to...

Having said this, given the choice of those two, it is obviously the Galaxy Explorer! Who needs a lump of all that grey? :)

Galaxy Explorer all the way! But if LKC ends up as the winner I'll say it's well deserved.

So glad these two went to the final bout, well deserved !
In fact this tournament made me buy the LKC this summer (I already purchased two GE day one)...
What a great 90th anniversary this was :-)
And thank you to the lovers of Lego for their passion, there's no bias (or whatever negative) to be found where the love is so present !

Now... Go little affordable GE, to infinity and beyond !!!

sitting this one out...still bitter about rivendell lol

As a kid, castle and space were my preferred themes. Better PPP than pirates, and more creative adventures than town. This is a rough one for me. At this point, I own a lot of the early castles and a (fragile) Galaxy Explorer, and I love them all! AHHHHHHHH!

@lego4elio said:
"sitting this one out...still bitter about rivendell lol"

Same. Now all we'll here about is "Space Mafia this" or "Castle Mafia that". I pegged Rivendell as the winner from day 1. I still can't believe it got taken out.

Go Lion Knights!

This is as it should be. 2022 was a great year to be a LEGO fan. In this battle, it comes down to which theme is your preference. Both sets are worthy. My first LEGO love was Classic Space, and I missed out on 497 as a kid, so 10497 wins easily in my book.

@TheBrickPal said:
" @maffyd said:
"Ok, how did I manage to go up against @Huw in the final?"
I'm Huw? News to me! :-)"

Ha ha! Oops! In my defence, Huw told me he'd publish this morning - so I didn't even look to see who the poster was, I assumed it was him.

Many apologies for the error - and congrats on the win (presumably - I nearly voted for 10497 myself until I remembered which one I was advocating for)!

"the best" set has to be one that delivers a stunning amount for a fair price. a $350 castle that takes up half a room isn't doing it for me.

I've ignored this whole thing until now but gotta go with Lego showing off how far they've come in 40 years.

@TheBrickPal said:
" @maffyd said:
"Ok, how did I manage to go up against @Huw in the final?"
I'm Huw? News to me! :-)"

Huw are you?

When I was growing up, 928 GE was by far my favourite set. I played with it every day and invented countless scenarios and stories, sometimes even recreating whole feature films.
Because I had "loads" (my parents) or at least "a few" (me) sets from space, town and technic, my parents never allowed me to get into another Lego theme. That's why I never owned a Lego castle. Until 10305 LKC came out and I finally was able to buy 'my' Lego castle. I had always wanted one and a big reason for me to come back to Lego as an adult was that I finally wanted to build one.
Having said all of that, for me this bout is the ultimate final between two sets that are steeped in nostalgia: the set I always wanted against the set I cherished as a kid. So regardless of which one will win, both are worthy finalists and both would be worthy winners.

Go Galaxy Explorer!

I expected the final to be Galaxy Explorer v Rivendel, in which I'd have voted Rivendel as, in my view, it really is the best looking thing LEGO have produced, and a brilliant building experience too. Here though, I have to vote for Galaxy Explorer, not just for the nostalgia (I had, and still have, the original 928), but because it's a really great build experience with some excellent techniques in it. The Castle is lovely, but Explorer, for me, is the clear winner here.

I am so happy the top 2 are Original Lego sets and not IP sets. Creativity wins over names! That's right kids, make up your own stories!

AFOL owning both original and updated iterations - Galaxy Explorer is surely the greatest?

10305 because is the Castle set I always wanted as a kid and never had. I spread the build over several days and enjoyed every minute. It's not just big in parts count, it's full of ideas like a whole theme rather than just one set. I didn't enjoy building GE nearly as much and the result felt to me like just an inflated replica of the original GE -- a nice tribute, but nothing original. Having said that they're both core LEGO heritage and and it's fitting that they're the two finalists. I'm glad it wasn't some other IP.

This one is too easy. I prefer to go on pedigree. The OG Galaxy Explorer used revolutionary building techniques that are still used (mainly by Star Wars) to this day. The new one also employs revolutionary techniques that will be used for decades. Additionally, most the OG castle minifigs were actually classic space minifigs. They all looked so good with their grey space helmets on. Too bad space stole all their grey air tanks for the front of their rovers...

As much as I have enjoyed reading people's pitch's for their favorite sets, I have ask an important question. Have any of these substantially changed someone's mind or changed how their were going to vote?

@zootlewurdle said:
"I expected the final to be Galaxy Explorer v Rivendel, in which I'd have voted Rivendel as, in my view, it really is the best looking thing LEGO have produced, and a brilliant building experience too. Here though, I have to vote for Galaxy Explorer, not just for the nostalgia (I had, and still have, the original 928), but because it's a really great build experience with some excellent techniques in it. The Castle is lovely, but Explorer, for me, is the clear winner here."

I agree - my personal favorite is 10497 Galaxy Explorer, but I fully expected Rivendell to reach the Final and to win out over the Galaxy Explorer. Rivendell is such a beautiful set and I've always felt that LOTR not only has a lot of passion and nostalgia appeal of its own for many AFOLs, but also has a lot of crossover appeal with castle fans. So I sort of assumed Rivendell would beat out LKC about 60-40 instead of losing in such a close vote.

At any rate, I think the members here saying how absurd this final is, or criticizing how much nostalgia is dominating the voting, are ignoring the fact that nostalgia isn't a bug, it's a feature. We're talking about a toy, and we're talking about a Brickset community whose most active membership is 99%+ AFOLs. Toy+adults=nostalgia, QED.

Not to mention, if you look at the population of folks who are into Lego, into LOTR, think Rivendell is the best set, and are passionate enough to be members here and vote in these polls, I'd guess the vast majority of them first encountered LOTR as kids too - so it's nostalgia there as well.

Even Lego's recent Adults Welcome/18+ push trades on nostalgia, and not just for adults who return to Lego because they remember it from their childhoods. Even adults who are new to Lego are often getting into it for the same reason adult coloring books, puzzle-trading groups, modeling and kitbashing and video games are so big now. Adults are rediscovering play (which can seem cringey sometimes but I think is actually quite healthy), and that's all about a more general nostalgia for the best parts of childhood.

So with respect, I'd say folks need to just get over it when it comes to the role of nostalgia in these polls.

And now we see which mafia is more powerful. Laser beats archery, but https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RockBeatsLaser, so I could see it going either way...

@guachi said:
"This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build.

The Galaxy Explorer was an absolute garbage dump of a build. Easily the worst of hundreds of sets I own. It was so bad I never finished the build and it's the only time that's happened.

0/10 for the Galaxy Explorer.

10/10 for the Lion's Castle."

I'm with @AustinPowers, @Cergorach, @StudMuffin24, and @lemish34 in wondering what you're on about. I don't have full use of my left arm and hand and I didn't have any trouble building it.

@Goujon said:
"I know there are several comments about nostalgia being a a massive reason for these 2 finalists, and a few talking back to them about how they need to "reevaluate" and such. But theyre not wrong. This competition is just not interesting, because the general population of Brickset isnt interesting. just a bunch of nostalgia driven AFOLS. I would love to see a version without the bias of nostalgia, I mean look at all the crazy new sets we get nowadays. Ninjago city Gardens would have been my top pick any day.

Some of these comments are just really tacky."

Well go and create a new bias-free Lego community then. Let us know when you’re done.

Classic battle between Castle and Space

I own and love both, but despite having been more of a castle fan as a 80's kid, I voted for the Galaxy Explorer for one reason: It is an awesome design in a much more affordable price range.

From the numerous comments on this topic - including many above who came to a similar conclusion as me - I understand that stating Lego sets are expensive is not exactly a revelation, but I feel that Lego direly needs to have a larger affordable offer in this era of "couple hundred bucks" sets.

And I believe this is relevant even if the Lego Group revenues currently paint another picture.

@ALFIE22 said:
"Man we gotta get a version of this without nostalgia bias, like no way these are the highest quality sets, they’re literally the two anniversary sets from 2022. Like some of the best LEGO sets just aren’t big, some of the best sets have around 500 pieces not 3000, the bias towards large nostalgia remakes is just so frustrating because all this presents as data is which LEGO sets are the most exciting for a 45 year old man who misses his childhood and the LEGO that was around at that time, not a genuine measure of quality"

A great set (or pair of sets) that happen to be nostalgic can still be great in their own right, as both of these sets are. I don't have to have had any direct experience with Classic Space or Classic Castle to recognize these sets as well designed with great features. It doesn't hurt, but there is more to this result than just nostalgia. Also, making the case that adults of a certain age only like a thing because it hearkens back to their childhood seems strange given what we're talking about. I think there is a valid argument to be made that LEGO's catering to adult fans in recent years has become something of a "be careful what you wish for" scenario for AFOLs, but...I mean...many of us are adults with fanatic feelings about a toy. So...seems kinda meta to get upset about a niche within a niche.

I really like both of these. But the spaceship wins on price and swooshability.

@LusiferSam said:
"As much as I have enjoyed reading people's pitch's for their favorite sets, I have ask an important question. Have any of these substantially changed someone's mind or changed how their were going to vote? "
Speaking only for myself, I have enjoyed reading each and every one of the pitches but I always knew beforehand what I wanted to vote for, and not once did a pitch manage to change my mind.

@LusiferSam said:
"As much as I have enjoyed reading people's pitch's for their favorite sets, I have ask an important question. Have any of these substantially changed someone's mind or changed how their were going to vote? "

Haha, hahahaha, no.

Galaxy Explorer is so much more than a superb recreation of an iconic set! It's also a tribute to one of TLG's oldest traditions, the 3-in-1 set, with all three variations so appealing that many people bought multiple copies to allow themselves to display them all simultaneously.

(Which was massively encouraged by GE's much more reasonable price, by the way.)

We argue regularly (though not unamicably) over the ongoing relevance of PPP as a measure of value. Surely JPD (Joy per Dollar--or JPP for the Brits and JPE for the euro-spending crowd) has to be the ultimate expression of value, however. I feel strongly that, using that criterion, Galaxy Explorer comes out at the top of the heap. Therefore, despite my own preference for Rivendell, I have cast my vote for the mighty spaceship that could!

(By the way, I have enjoyed reading the various "pitches" very much, but they haven't altered my own opinions, most of which I formed at the time the sets debuted, based on the reviews and commentary presented on this site, and on my enjoyment of those sets I bought. Which is probably as it should be. As others have pointed out, "best" is a vague term, meaning different things to different people. It's not unreasonable to me at all that two of the anniversary sets, presumably designed to embody why Lego has been and continues to be one of the all-time great toys, should now be contesting the final of our competition!)

I bought two and almost bought three galaxy explorers I know where my vote is going lol

@LusiferSam said:
"As much as I have enjoyed reading people's pitch's for their favorite sets, I have ask an important question. Have any of these substantially changed someone's mind or changed how their were going to vote? "

Well, after reading the replies to your post I feel like my time has been somewhat wasted (along with the multitudes of posters expressing support for the Galaxy Explorer, but that's neither here nor there).

I had fun writing it though.

@M_Jibril said:
" @M_Jibril said:
"I voted for the Galaxy Explorer. The main point in it's favour IMO is that it costs a quarter of the price of the LKC.

That aside, I personally think it's one of the best sets of the last 5 years despite my being over a decade younger than the set it's based on."

I just realised the original Galaxy Explorer came out a decade earlier than I thought... it's almost twice as old as I am!"

It came out the year before I was born.

@tmtomh said:"Even adults who are new to Lego are often getting into it for the same reason adult coloring books, puzzle-trading groups, modeling and kitbashing and video games are so big now. Adults are rediscovering play (which can seem cringey sometimes but I think is actually quite healthy), and that's all about a more general nostalgia for the best parts of childhood."

I've quoted George Bernard Shaw before and I'll quote him again. "We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing."

@OscarWRG said:"Classic battle between Castle and Space"

With the twist that Mike Psiaki and Carl Merriam were designers on both.

@AustinPowers said:" @LusiferSam said:"As much as I have enjoyed reading people's pitch's for their favorite sets, I have ask an important question. Have any of these substantially changed someone's mind or changed how their were going to vote? "

Speaking only for myself, I have enjoyed reading each and every one of the pitches but I always knew beforehand what I wanted to vote for, and not once did a pitch manage to change my mind. "

I went into the AT-AT vs. Blacksmith bout without any real intention of voting for either one, so I wondered if either writeup would sway me. But I never ended up casting a vote. Other than that one, yeah, I always knew before I opened the article what I'd be doing.

@sklamb said:"Galaxy Explorer is so much more than a superb recreation of an iconic set! It's also a tribute to one of TLG's oldest traditions, the 3-in-1 set, with all three variations so appealing that many people bought multiple copies to allow themselves to display them all simultaneously."

I wouldn't describe 3-in-1 sets as "One of Lego's oldest traditions." I've been building since the Eighties, and the first sets that I can remember with that feature are the ones in the current Creator line. Even the creator line didn't start out with those.

@maffyd said:
" @LusiferSam said:
"As much as I have enjoyed reading people's pitch's for their favorite sets, I have ask an important question. Have any of these substantially changed someone's mind or changed how their were going to vote? "

Well, after reading the replies to your post I feel like my time has been somewhat wasted (along with the multitudes of posters expressing support for the Galaxy Explorer, but that's neither here nor there).

I had fun writing it though."

I enjoyed reading them both, despite not changing my mind. Shared knowledge and respect is at least as important as winners and losers.

Or is that too nostalgic a view :-)

I find it endlessly hilarious that so many commenters act as if these are the only "nostalgia" sets that Lego makes, as if Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Marvel, DC, Disney, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, and Super Mario aren't all decades-old IPs that most of us first embraced when we were kids.

@TheOtherMike said:

"I wouldn't describe 3-in-1 sets as "One of Lego's oldest traditions." I've been building since the Eighties, and the first sets that I can remember with that feature are the ones in the current Creator line. Even the creator line didn't start out with those."

You're confusing "tradition" with an official Lego theme. The theme might be relatively new, but rebuilding a set into something different is literally one of the oldest Lego traditions.

Also, if you want to get technical, Lego sets in the 1970s and 1980s featured alternate designs on the box art. They didn't include instructions for those alt builds, and they never called them 3-in-1 sets, but a lot of us took apart our main models and did our best to try to build those other cool things shown on the Lego box.

This was the most difficult one for me. I think the Castle was one of the best builds I've ever done and I bought it on the Inside tour, but I was always a space kid. The first Lego set i ever got was 918, so I have to vote with my heart. Feet on the earth, looking up at the stars

Millennial AFOL here.
Both of these sets represent themes that were before my time. As a child, I at most got to look at pictures of them in old catalogs or adverts. My childhood was Adventurers, Bionicle, Alpha Team, Knights Kingdom, and the dawn of licensed themes.

And yet I looked at retro space sets with an awe and wonder that I still have to this day.

I do not have nostalgia for these themes, I literally cannot. But they possess an innate quality to them that is impossible to ignore.

Blaming nostalgia misses the fact that a very large chunk of the AFOL community did not grow up with the sets these are based on, yet they are still undeniably iconic in a way that transcends generations.

And I am certain the next generation of lego fans will grow up and appreciate them in the same way.

That being said, these are both big, fancy display pieces. Most of the sets that made it to the top 10 were, imho. I definitely would have rather seen more sets designed to be played with up here.

As a building experience, I enjoyed both of these quite a lot, I'm not sure it's possible to pick one over the other, so I'll go with my space fan gut and vote that way.

But ease up on the nostalgia-hate...
Especially if you're a Star Wars or LOTR fan ;3
Just saying~

Come on people! Why would you be upset about the results of something like this? It was never about finding out what YOU think as an individual, you already know that. You probably have your own top list, and you are fully entitled to whatever opinion you have. But this is about finding out what the collective group of us think. That's interesting!

By pure coincidence, for a very small number of people the final results will align perfectly with their own personal preference. Congratulations to these people, I guess, as they must be quintessentially average. Go ahead and cry if you are upset about not being one of them. But I would rather say congratulations if you are not, as that makes you somewhat unique. You may even be an interesting, likeable, and memorable character.

Pretty easy for me: Galaxy Explorer. A pretty much set at a great price. And among all nominated sets clearly my favorite right from the start. Sure nostalgia plays a role (but that's no different for the castle), but even when judged at its own merits, it just has so many cool details, play features end building techniques. And one little detail I particularly enjoyed was that for the color puke inside it basically only used period appropiate colors. Which also proofs a set doesn't need a gazillion weird colors just to keep it buildable even for people without an engineering PhD. Perfection!

I do like the castle too, but to me it just doesn't quite have the same impact, and considering the price , it certainly should have. In that regard I would have picked Rivendell over this.

Back when both sets were unveiled for the 90th anniversary of Lego, I remember describing the Gelaxay as a great gift to the community, while the castle was more like the exclusive VIP-party, And I just feel out of place at fancy parties....

@guachi said:
"This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build.

The Galaxy Explorer was an absolute garbage dump of a build. Easily the worst of hundreds of sets I own. It was so bad I never finished the build and it's the only time that's happened.

0/10 for the Galaxy Explorer.

10/10 for the Lion's Castle."

Maybe try some 4+ sets if adult sets are falling apart when you build them.

Both of these are amazing sets. The Galaxy Explorer has amazing play features and impressive building techniques, while the Lion Knight Castle has a great cast of minifigs and a ton of explorable rooms. I ultimately chose the castle, but the vote is going to be close, and whichever one wins will absolutely deserve it.

@CCC said:
" @guachi said:
"This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build.

The Galaxy Explorer was an absolute garbage dump of a build. Easily the worst of hundreds of sets I own. It was so bad I never finished the build and it's the only time that's happened.

0/10 for the Galaxy Explorer.

10/10 for the Lion's Castle."

Maybe try some 4+ sets if adult sets are falling apart when you build them."

I'm not here to jump onto the dogpile, but I would be remiss if I didn't bring up the fact that a 4+ version of the Galaxy Explorer does exist in 70821, and it is a _delight_.

It's Mike Psiaki versus Mike Psiaki!

No matter how many times I've tried it..... just CANNOT swoosh a castle satifactorily.

@Mister_Jonny said:
"I suppose it was always going to come down to this, but it would have been nice to see a wild card. Like Pigsy’s Noodle Tank or something. Are we appreciating these sets because they’re genuinely the best, or because they’re just scratching the nostalgia itch? Probably a mix of both, but it doesn’t always make for an interesting discussion."

Brickset reports exponential increase in searches for Pigsy's Noodle Tank.

Primary school teachers:
Now everyone, you’ve dove sooo well for taking part and just remember its the taking part that counts!
Now now, we are all best, we don’t do favourites do we Brad?
Look there’s a ‘Participation Medal’ for all of you!! Everyone’s a winner!!!!’.

To me, (i.e. IMHO) it seems like there is confusion between "most beautiful set" and "best set". I don't think anyone has any problems declaring Rivendell 10316 as one of the best looking sets of the recent past. To me (and many more it seems), the "Best set" is a totally different animal, it has to have more than just pleasing aesthetics. This is a set that must also shine by its playability and affordability - most everyone (but not all) like Ferraris but what good is it if very few can afford one? The best set is also one that should engage your imagination - a set that recreates a specific event is usually relegated to re-enact that event and then this is it. The Lion Knight Castle 10305 and The Galaxy Explorer 10497 are both excellent candidates to spur your imagination and create whatever unscripted stories you might fancy.

Of course we all have our favourites for whatever reasons; but taking into consideration that the "best" set should be a well rounded set with more than just panache, I truly believe the Brisckset collective arrived at a decent final battle. As for me, 10497 it is - I built a rather elaborate base for it since it was unfortunately missing in the remade version.

This is a bout where either one winning will be a good outcome. By extension, all 16 sets in this competition were praise-worthy and I surely wish I could own them all - alas, this is not to be...

@Crux said:
" @LusiferSam said:
"As much as I have enjoyed reading people's pitch's for their favorite sets, I have ask an important question. Have any of these substantially changed someone's mind or changed how their were going to vote? "

Haha, hahahaha, no."

-Did they change any preconceptions? Probably not.
-Did they help illuminate the awesomeness of each set (and sometimes the drawbacks of the opponent)? Yup.
-Did they help some of us make our choices? Sure.
-Did they help us rethink about what qualities in a set define best? Definitely.
-Did they give us a chance to look back and re-appreciate some of our favorite sets from the past 5 years? Absolutely.
-Did they make us laugh and spit blue milk out our noses? Sometimes!

I wish the final debate had been 2 folks taking fun potshots at the other set but alas, not this year.

I would have been happy if any of the 16 finalists had won but don't begrudge either of these 2 sets. With both sets being equally great in my eyes, my instinct is to vote for the more affordable of the two. However, I'm going to go with LKC...not jut for the great build, foldability, and wonderful assortment of minifigures but also for including some of the additional sigils that brought me so much joy forever ago.

@HOBBES said:
"To me, (i.e. IMHO) it seems like there is confusion between "most beautiful set" and "best set". I don't think anyone has any problems declaring Rivendell 10316 as one of the best looking sets of the recent past. To me (and many more it seems), the "Best set" is a totally different animal, it has to have more than just pleasing aesthetics. This is a set that must also shine by its playability and affordability - most everyone (but not all) like Ferraris but what good is it if very few can afford one? The best set is also one that should engage your imagination - a set that recreates a specific event is usually relegated to re-enact that event and then this is it. The Lion Knight Castle 10305 and The Galaxy Explorer 10497 are both excellent candidates to spur your imagination and create whatever unscripted stories you might fancy.

Of course we all have our favourites for whatever reasons; but taking into consideration that the "best" set should be a well rounded set with more than just panache, I truly believe the Brisckset collective arrived at a decent final battle. As for me, 10497 it is - I built a rather elaborate base for it since it was unfortunately missing in the remade version.

This is a bout where either one winning will be a good outcome. By extension, all 16 sets in this competition were praise-worthy and I surely wish I could own them all - alas, this is not to be..."

Great post and very good points!

I'm a castle fan so that's what gets my vote, but both sets are fantastic!

Like many others on here, I have no nostalgia for either theme as both were before my time. I have to vote for the one that I think provides more joy to more people, which is unquestionably the galaxy explorer. The Castle looks wonderful, but simply as a result of its size and price it isn't accessible to many. I've not built it so can't comment on the build. The GE on the other hand, I bought damn near day 1, which is almost unique for me, and the build did not disappoint. My 6 year old wants to play with it more often, by some distance, than any other set I have as well - and that speaks volumes about the appeal to the core demographic.

I didn't vote in the Castle/Rivendell round as I don't own either, but if someone were to offer me either set free I'd pick Rivendell in a heartbeat - they're both arguably medieval/fantasy display pieces, and Rivendell is far more beautiful to look at. Still - if you're lucky enough to own either enjoy them, and whatever the result here try not to get angry about a totally subjective vote amongst what is ultimately a small group of fans! Life's too short for that...

Classic Space Mafia bag man here, compelled by a V-12 Nostalgia Engine. Blue, grey and transparent yellow were the colors of my sigil for many years growing up, so how could I not?

...points to the castle, though...cuz grey =oD

For 2030, should we save it and just agree it's 10358 ?

@Vesperas said:
"A huge space dorito remake versus the winner of the 90 years of play fan contest that thousands upon thousands of LEGO fans from all over the world voted on, is thereby already technically considered the best and is ultimately, the most impressive, detailed and feature rich set that LEGO has ever made.

Yeah... I'm going with the castle."

....and then you put it next to Burg Blaustein. Most impressive, most detailed is suddenly very relative....

But even when directly comparing the two contenders here....as nice as the castle is, it utterly fails the swooshability test. And lets be honest: What feature could ever be more important than that?

@Vesperas said:
"A huge space dorito remake versus the winner of the 90 years of play fan contest that thousands upon thousands of LEGO fans from all over the world voted on, is thereby already technically considered the best and is ultimately, the most impressive, detailed and feature rich set that LEGO has ever made.

Yeah... I'm going with the castle."

The 90 Years of play vote was not for that Castle though. It was for the theme and they revealed the set later.

2 months on and the conclusion is that different people have different definitions of 'best'.
The more interesting conclusion is that a few people mistakenly think that their definition of 'best' is the only valid one!

I would not be upset with a tie.

I hmmed and hahed over my choice, but in the end, I went with the GS, mostly due to the affordability it offered. I greatly enjoyed both builds, but the cheaper cost of GS was the deciding factor.

Not the sly Blacktron reference, nope, nothing to do with that.

Another way to try get a "no nostalgia" result could be to look at the most owned sets by Brickset users since 2020. however that presents a whole different problem in itself:

Top 10 owned 2020 to 2025:
75267: Mandalorian Battle Pack
75280: 501st Legion Clone Troopers
10281: Bonsai Tree
75292: The Razor Crest
10270: Bookshop
75299: Trouble on Tatooine
75317: The Mandalorian & The Child
75333: Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi Starfighter
75345: 501st Clone Troopers Battle Pack
75277: Boba Fett Helmet

So if space was something equally complex as the castle, I'd be all in for space ...

But the ship here is just a level below the building in this comparison regarding complexity, size, hidden details, ..., and the building IS cool on it's own. So Castle it is here.

What's cool is that the finale is free of franchise.

@HOBBES said:
"To me, (i.e. IMHO) it seems like there is confusion between "most beautiful set" and "best set". I don't think anyone has any problems declaring Rivendell 10316 as one of the best looking sets of the recent past. To me (and many more it seems), the "Best set" is a totally different animal, it has to have more than just pleasing aesthetics. This is a set that must also shine by its playability and affordability - most everyone (but not all) like Ferraris but what good is it if very few can afford one? The best set is also one that should engage your imagination - a set that recreates a specific event is usually relegated to re-enact that event and then this is it. The Lion Knight Castle 10305 and The Galaxy Explorer 10497 are both excellent candidates to spur your imagination and create whatever unscripted stories you might fancy.

Of course we all have our favourites for whatever reasons; but taking into consideration that the "best" set should be a well rounded set with more than just panache, I truly believe the Brisckset collective arrived at a decent final battle. As for me, 10497 it is - I built a rather elaborate base for it since it was unfortunately missing in the remade version.

This is a bout where either one winning will be a good outcome. By extension, all 16 sets in this competition were praise-worthy and I surely wish I could own them all - alas, this is not to be..."

You bring balance to the farce.
I actually do think Rivendell is one of the most beautiful sets I’ve ever seen… but not on a display shelf with few children able to play with it.

I should be voting for the incredible Castle from my favourite theme but found the accessible adventures of Space are full of charm and solid direction. The less busy toy with more blank, graphic design opens huge scope for imagination, play and potential alternative builds: Blacktron, Futuron etc. Equally the Castle can change faction fairly easily?

I think either win is well deserved and what a marketing drive, I now want both but will settle for an MOC GE in my white and grey bricks.

@guachi said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @guachi said:
"This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build."
Little tip, don't buy knockoff LEGO on Temu!
;-)

Seriously though, I will be the first to admit that LEGO quality isn't what it used to be.
But falling apart? Come on, that's just plain BS. Even the worst LEGO sets I built over the last few years didn't fall apart by any means. They might have colour issues, ugly huge mould marks, or terrible sticker quality, but other than that they are perfectly serviceable.

As for the final, of course I voted Galaxy Explorer.

There's nothing wrong with LKC but I simply have always been more into Space than into Castle, even back as a kid. "

Yes, it fell apart. You can't build a set without moving it or holding it or pushing on it and the set would flex and pieces would fall off.

I'm not actually sure if the people questioning me understand how you assemble a Lego set. You have to apply pressure to connect a Lego piece to another piece. If the clutch power is low enough on the other pieces then that pressure will cause the pieces to come apart. If there's not much holding pieces together (and there often isn't during a build) such as only a stud or two and the clutch power is low then it's very easy for pieces to come part.

But what do I know? I've only been building Lego sets for 47 years."

I'm still wondering how you had an experience that no one else had. As I said, I have limited use of my left arm and hand, and I my copy held together fine.

@TheOtherMike said:
" @guachi said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @guachi said:
"This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build."
Little tip, don't buy knockoff LEGO on Temu!
;-)

Seriously though, I will be the first to admit that LEGO quality isn't what it used to be.
But falling apart? Come on, that's just plain BS. Even the worst LEGO sets I built over the last few years didn't fall apart by any means. They might have colour issues, ugly huge mould marks, or terrible sticker quality, but other than that they are perfectly serviceable.

As for the final, of course I voted Galaxy Explorer.

There's nothing wrong with LKC but I simply have always been more into Space than into Castle, even back as a kid. "

Yes, it fell apart. You can't build a set without moving it or holding it or pushing on it and the set would flex and pieces would fall off.

I'm not actually sure if the people questioning me understand how you assemble a Lego set. You have to apply pressure to connect a Lego piece to another piece. If the clutch power is low enough on the other pieces then that pressure will cause the pieces to come apart. If there's not much holding pieces together (and there often isn't during a build) such as only a stud or two and the clutch power is low then it's very easy for pieces to come part.

But what do I know? I've only been building Lego sets for 47 years."

I'm still wondering how you had an experience that no one else had. As I said, I have limited use of my left arm and hand, and I my copy held together fine."
Indeed.

And while I only have been building sets for about 40 years, I still have to understand what you are on about. Of course you have to handle half-built sets during the build process, but I have yet to encounter a set from the modern era where there are issues.
If you want to truly experience nerve-wracking building techniques, try a BlueBrixx set from their early days.

@guachi said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @guachi said:
"This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build."
Little tip, don't buy knockoff LEGO on Temu!
;-)

Seriously though, I will be the first to admit that LEGO quality isn't what it used to be.
But falling apart? Come on, that's just plain BS. Even the worst LEGO sets I built over the last few years didn't fall apart by any means. They might have colour issues, ugly huge mould marks, or terrible sticker quality, but other than that they are perfectly serviceable.

As for the final, of course I voted Galaxy Explorer.

There's nothing wrong with LKC but I simply have always been more into Space than into Castle, even back as a kid. "

Yes, it fell apart. You can't build a set without moving it or holding it or pushing on it and the set would flex and pieces would fall off.

I'm not actually sure if the people questioning me understand how you assemble a Lego set. You have to apply pressure to connect a Lego piece to another piece. If the clutch power is low enough on the other pieces then that pressure will cause the pieces to come apart. If there's not much holding pieces together (and there often isn't during a build) such as only a stud or two and the clutch power is low then it's very easy for pieces to come part.

But what do I know? I've only been building Lego sets for 47 years."

I don't believe you.

LKC and GE where released in the same time period and have quite a few basic parts in common. It makes no sense that the pieces a robot selected for GE had manufacturing issues and so no clutch and constantly fell apart when building, whereas the same pieces selected by the robot for LKC did not fall apart when built into that set. The design itself is not at fault as there are 10000s of people around the world that managed to put together the GE without it falling apart at every stage. Some of them with very little experience of building LEGO since childhood, but they still managed it.

@yellowcastle said:
" @CCC said:
" @guachi said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @guachi said:
"This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build."
Little tip, don't buy knockoff LEGO on Temu!
;-)

Seriously though, I will be the first to admit that LEGO quality isn't what it used to be.
But falling apart? Come on, that's just plain BS. Even the worst LEGO sets I built over the last few years didn't fall apart by any means. They might have colour issues, ugly huge mould marks, or terrible sticker quality, but other than that they are perfectly serviceable.

As for the final, of course I voted Galaxy Explorer.

There's nothing wrong with LKC but I simply have always been more into Space than into Castle, even back as a kid. "

Yes, it fell apart. You can't build a set without moving it or holding it or pushing on it and the set would flex and pieces would fall off.

I'm not actually sure if the people questioning me understand how you assemble a Lego set. You have to apply pressure to connect a Lego piece to another piece. If the clutch power is low enough on the other pieces then that pressure will cause the pieces to come apart. If there's not much holding pieces together (and there often isn't during a build) such as only a stud or two and the clutch power is low then it's very easy for pieces to come part.

But what do I know? I've only been building Lego sets for 47 years."

I don't believe you.

LKC and GE where released in the same time period and have quite a few basic parts in common. It makes no sense that the pieces a robot selected for GE had manufacturing issues and so no clutch and constantly fell apart when building, whereas the same pieces selected by the robot for LKC did not fall apart when built into that set. The design itself is not at fault as there are 10000s of people around the world that managed to put together the GE without it falling apart at every stage. Some of them with very little experience of building LEGO since childhood, but they still managed it."

Wait, a Robot is behind all of this?"
Maybe he's called Huwbot ;-)

Build, play, display, rebuild.

I think the best sets need to score unusually high on these aspects.

I don't think how accessible/affordability should be a factor when looking for the best because that's more of an outside factor that is out of the designers hands, but the value/what you get for the price should still be high too.

I do think both of our finalists achieve exceptionally high averages here.

The Galaxy Explorer shines by its clever building techniques, swoosh-despite-size-factor, iconic looks, official alternate builds. (And box art!)

The Lion Knights' Castle shines by its very polished build, clever mechanisms, rich inner life and minifigure collection.

They were for the 90th anniversary and it is clear to me that they got an extra level of love and care. They're very much toys but amplified to still please AFOL sensibilities. They're also based on classic themes instead of some IP-of-the-moment, launching points for your own imagination instead characters you love because of some preestablished story. I think that's important for a creative medium that wants to encourage creativity.

They are very much worthy winners, not just nostalgia bait.

Personally, I am far more of a SPACE! head, that's my bias, but I still voted for Lion Knights' Castle .

The issue that I have with the Galaxy Explorer is that it is a loving tribute to Classic Space spaceships and as a result it caries over some their limitations. I feel like that for its size it could have had more play features, and while I like the iconic look of the Classic Space minifigures they're not great figures by todays standards. In other words, while I absolutely love my Galaxy Explorer but I don't feel like it's the best spaceship they could have done at that price.

Lion Knights' Castle on the other hand, maybe the slope that leads to the bridge could have been better but I'm having an hard time finding faults otherwise. It's the ultimate LEGO castle. It comes at a big price but that's to be expected if you're looking for the best.

Regardless, I hope the 100th anniversary provides us with more sets as good as these.

@Gataka said:
"Build, play, display, rebuild.

I think the best sets need to score unusually high on these aspects.

I don't think how accessible/affordability should be a factor when looking for the best because that's more of an outside factor that is out of the designers hands, but the value/what you get for the price should still be high too.

I do think both of our finalists achieve exceptionally high averages here.

The Galaxy Explorer shines by its clever building techniques, swoosh-despite-size-factor, iconic looks, official alternate builds. (And box art!)

The Lion Knights' Castle shines by its very polished build, clever mechanisms, rich inner life and minifigure collection.

They were for the 90th anniversary and it is clear to me that they got an extra level of love and care. They're very much toys but amplified to still please AFOL sensibilities. They're also based on classic themes instead of some IP-of-the-moment, launching points for your own imagination instead characters you love because of some preestablished story. I think that's important for a creative medium that wants to encourage creativity.

They are very much worthy winners, not just nostalgia bait.

Personally, I am far more of a SPACE! head, that's my bias, but I still voted for Lion Knights' Castle .

The issue that I have with the Galaxy Explorer is that it is a loving tribute to Classic Space spaceships and as a result it caries over some their limitations. I feel like that for its size it could have had more play features, and while I like the iconic look of the Classic Space minifigures they're not great figures by todays standards. In other words, while I absolutely love my Galaxy Explorer but I don't feel like it's the best spaceship they could have done at that price.

Lion Knights' Castle on the other hand, maybe the slope that leads to the bridge could have been better but I'm having an hard time finding faults otherwise. It's the ultimate LEGO castle. It comes at a big price but that's to be expected if you're looking for the best.

Regardless, I hope the 100th anniversary provides us with more sets as good as these."

What hurts LKC here (at least for me) beyond price could be some castle fatigue as BLDP, imho, set the target for excellence with 910029 Mountain Fortress. BLDP then buoyed it with the great 910001 Castle in the Forest, 910043 Forest Stronghold and 910047 Medieval Seaside Market with even more cool castles on the way (including another spectacular offering from sleeplessnight)...

Still can't fathom why BLDP hasn't brought us any good space awesomeness yet...

I voted Galaxy Explorer because I grew up in the 70s and thought LEGO Space was the coolest. Space was optimistic, and looked like the next logical step after the moon landings. For the most part, it was also rooted in period-current technology and so had an aura of realism. Plus, those little astronauts always looked so happy to be out there, exploring space! For me, Galaxy Explorer perfectly captures that Classic Space feel, so that’s why it got my vote.

The final matchup doesn’t surprise me - we could’ve gone straight to this matchup and skipped the rest, if we’re being honest.

I will say the selection of sets for this competition didn’t fully represent - in my opinion at least - what LEGO is about. The Space Shuttle and Titanic are straight-up static models with zero play value; that is, they don’t really spark the imagination. Yes, they are excellent examples of what can be done with LEGO, but they aren’t any fun. There could’ve been Dreamzzz and Hidden Side sets in their place. Those original properties have wildly imaginative sets, and would’ve been much more appropriate contenders. Sure, the end result would’ve been the same, but the bouts would’ve been less apples-and-oranges.

@StyleCounselor said:
" @kfr said:
"I said it before in some of the discussions. You cannot argue with 'best,' unless there is a clear definition of what 'best' is supposed to mean... :)"

Me.

Of course. ;)"

Something something crush your enemies, something driven before you, something something lamentation of their women.

@dudeski said:
"GE is still just a single spaceship, without a base and with limited storytelling options within the set. On the other hand LKC is an almost unlimited amount of stories in one (huge) box. "
What galaxies have been explored by that castle? Has it ever even just left planet Earth?

The poll should to be on the top of the page for the entire weekend so more people can vote.

@yellowcastle said:
" @CCC said:
" @guachi said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @guachi said:
"This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build."
Little tip, don't buy knockoff LEGO on Temu!
;-)

Seriously though, I will be the first to admit that LEGO quality isn't what it used to be.
But falling apart? Come on, that's just plain BS. Even the worst LEGO sets I built over the last few years didn't fall apart by any means. They might have colour issues, ugly huge mould marks, or terrible sticker quality, but other than that they are perfectly serviceable.

As for the final, of course I voted Galaxy Explorer.

There's nothing wrong with LKC but I simply have always been more into Space than into Castle, even back as a kid. "

Yes, it fell apart. You can't build a set without moving it or holding it or pushing on it and the set would flex and pieces would fall off.

I'm not actually sure if the people questioning me understand how you assemble a Lego set. You have to apply pressure to connect a Lego piece to another piece. If the clutch power is low enough on the other pieces then that pressure will cause the pieces to come apart. If there's not much holding pieces together (and there often isn't during a build) such as only a stud or two and the clutch power is low then it's very easy for pieces to come part.

But what do I know? I've only been building Lego sets for 47 years."

I don't believe you.

LKC and GE where released in the same time period and have quite a few basic parts in common. It makes no sense that the pieces a robot selected for GE had manufacturing issues and so no clutch and constantly fell apart when building, whereas the same pieces selected by the robot for LKC did not fall apart when built into that set. The design itself is not at fault as there are 10000s of people around the world that managed to put together the GE without it falling apart at every stage. Some of them with very little experience of building LEGO since childhood, but they still managed it."

Wait, a Robot is behind all of this?"

So this is how the robot uprising starts...

The Galaxy Explorer wins by default for me, I am not a super-wealthy AFOL.

@TannerTheHunter said:
"The Galaxy Explorer wins by default for me, I am not a super-wealthy AFOL. "

SWAFOLs are a delicacy in some parts of the world.

Hoping for the Galaxy Explorer. It was the first big kit I had as a kid, but also represents hope and optimism in the future; where science drives us to explore and better humanity.

@TheOtherMike said:
" @yellowcastle said:
" @CCC said:
" @guachi said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @guachi said:
"This is an easy one for me. The Castle is far superior. My Galaxy Explorer set was so terrible with such weak clutch power during the build that it repeatedly fell apart during the build."
Little tip, don't buy knockoff LEGO on Temu!
;-)

Seriously though, I will be the first to admit that LEGO quality isn't what it used to be.
But falling apart? Come on, that's just plain BS. Even the worst LEGO sets I built over the last few years didn't fall apart by any means. They might have colour issues, ugly huge mould marks, or terrible sticker quality, but other than that they are perfectly serviceable.

As for the final, of course I voted Galaxy Explorer.

There's nothing wrong with LKC but I simply have always been more into Space than into Castle, even back as a kid. "

Yes, it fell apart. You can't build a set without moving it or holding it or pushing on it and the set would flex and pieces would fall off.

I'm not actually sure if the people questioning me understand how you assemble a Lego set. You have to apply pressure to connect a Lego piece to another piece. If the clutch power is low enough on the other pieces then that pressure will cause the pieces to come apart. If there's not much holding pieces together (and there often isn't during a build) such as only a stud or two and the clutch power is low then it's very easy for pieces to come part.

But what do I know? I've only been building Lego sets for 47 years."

I don't believe you.

LKC and GE where released in the same time period and have quite a few basic parts in common. It makes no sense that the pieces a robot selected for GE had manufacturing issues and so no clutch and constantly fell apart when building, whereas the same pieces selected by the robot for LKC did not fall apart when built into that set. The design itself is not at fault as there are 10000s of people around the world that managed to put together the GE without it falling apart at every stage. Some of them with very little experience of building LEGO since childhood, but they still managed it."

Wait, a Robot is behind all of this?"

So this is how the robot uprising starts..."

I'm with the person who said the OP bought a knock off. It a simple explanation. Such an extreme experience compared to anyone else.

@WizardOfOss said:
" @dudeski said:
"GE is still just a single spaceship, without a base and with limited storytelling options within the set. On the other hand LKC is an almost unlimited amount of stories in one (huge) box. "
What galaxies have been explored by that castle? Has it ever even just left planet Earth?"
It has plenty of parts, so I’m sure you can build a creative spaceship with the LKC. ;-)

Yyaaah, for anyone who is complaining these are not ‘best sets’ or ‘worst outcome’ for the final, did ya get the memo?

You know, I love that the title of this article isn't "Brickset Bouts, the final: 10497 Galaxy Explorer vs. 10305 Lion Knights' Castle," but simply "Brickset Bouts, the final: Castle vs. Space."

@dudeski said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
" @dudeski said:
"GE is still just a single spaceship, without a base and with limited storytelling options within the set. On the other hand LKC is an almost unlimited amount of stories in one (huge) box. "
What galaxies have been explored by that castle? Has it ever even just left planet Earth?"
It has plenty of parts, so I’m sure you can build a creative spaceship with the LKC. ;-) "

It would probably be easier than building a decent castle out of the GE, if only because you had more pieces to work with.

@colay said:
"Neither of them is the 'best set' of the last 5 years. They are good sets, but with the emergence of better designs, techniques and aesthetics, this really is a poor, poor final"

Not poor final at all to me, actually quite the opposite, two great contenders both with great designs, techniques, and aesthetics, worthy to be in the final.

@colay said:
"Neither of them is the 'best set' of the last 5 years. They are good sets, but with the emergence of better designs, techniques and aesthetics, this really is a poor, poor final"
I challenge you to name one set that has a better overall package for the price than the Galaxy Explorer.

Looks and theme are personal preference of course, no arguing about that, but consider this:

It has lots of clever building techniques and NPU.

It is equally well suited for play and display.

No expense has been spared. Zero stickers and lots of prints, several of them exclusive to this set too. Add to that the lovely attention to detail on the specially designed retro box art.

It has three official build options, making it a 3 in 1 set.

The price even at RRP is terrific value for money, no matter how you measure it. Price per part, price per 100gr, price per "volume of stuff".

Seriously, name a single set that comes even close at ticking so many boxes!

@Crux said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @colay said:
"Neither of them is the 'best set' of the last 5 years. They are good sets, but with the emergence of better designs, techniques and aesthetics, this really is a poor, poor final"
I challenge you to name one set that has a better overall package for the price than the Galaxy Explorer.

Looks and theme are personal preference of course, no arguing about that, but consider this:

It has lots of clever building techniques and NPU.

It is equally well suited for play and display.

No expense has been spared. Zero stickers and lots of prints, several of them exclusive to this set too. Add to that the lovely attention to detail on the specially designed retro box art.

It has three official build options, making it a 3 in 1 set.

The price even at RRP is terrific value for money, no matter how you measure it. Price per part, price per 100gr, price per "volume of stuff".

Seriously, name a single set that comes even close at ticking so many boxes!"

630-3

Some might argue that the PPP for this set is a bit steep. I would argue that this set is invaluable."

And one of those is included in 10497, which just adds value to it!

@dudeski said:"I appreciate Classic Space, but it was before my time. Still GE is an awesome hom(m)age to the theme and a set that old geezers like us are right ti have voted into the final. "

If Classic Space was before your time, you have no right to call yourself a "geezer." I feel myself aging into dust enough in comment sections!

@TheOtherMike said:
" @Crux said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @colay said:
"Neither of them is the 'best set' of the last 5 years. They are good sets, but with the emergence of better designs, techniques and aesthetics, this really is a poor, poor final"
I challenge you to name one set that has a better overall package for the price than the Galaxy Explorer.

Looks and theme are personal preference of course, no arguing about that, but consider this:

It has lots of clever building techniques and NPU.

It is equally well suited for play and display.

No expense has been spared. Zero stickers and lots of prints, several of them exclusive to this set too. Add to that the lovely attention to detail on the specially designed retro box art.

It has three official build options, making it a 3 in 1 set.

The price even at RRP is terrific value for money, no matter how you measure it. Price per part, price per 100gr, price per "volume of stuff".

Seriously, name a single set that comes even close at ticking so many boxes!"

630-3

Some might argue that the PPP for this set is a bit steep. I would argue that this set is invaluable."

And one of those is included in 10497, which just adds value to it!

@dudeski said:"I appreciate Classic Space, but it was before my time. Still GE is an awesome hom(m)age to the theme and a set that old geezers like us are right ti have voted into the final. "

If Classic Space was before your time, you have no right to call yourself a "geezer." I feel myself aging into dust enough in comment sections!"

Why, back in my day, we didn't even call them 'brick separators'. We just called them 'teeth'.