Review: Minecraft 21115 The First Night

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The second Minecraft set that LEGO kindly sent us to review is 21115 The First Night which features a building complete with pigsty, Steve, a Creeper and a pig.

Stylistically, it's similar to The Farm that we reviewed yesterday and in fact there's a nice surprise related to it that's revealed at the back of the instructions, as you'll see later.

Here's the front of the box showing everything inside.

21115 The First Night

The back shows how the set fits together and hinges along with details from inside.

21115 The First Night

The box is actually quite heavy, heavier than you expect it to be when you first lift it. One reason becomes apparent from the photo below: it's chock-full of 2xn basic bricks and large plates. The other reason is that the instructions are printed on a much higher quality and weight of paper than usual. It's very glossy and almost card-like. If I had to guess I'd say it's something like 100gsm.

The bags are numbered 1 to 3 which makes construction easier.

21115 The First Night

Bag 1 builds the base, the bottom of the walls and the interior of the house. There's a chest filled with what seems to be an obligatory baguette, a crafting table, a bed and what I think must be a fireplace.

21115 The First Night

This printed brick, mounted on 'hot' 1x1 trans orange and yellow plates so I must assume it's a fireplace, or cooker or something. (Edit: it's a furnace).

21115 The First Night

Steve is the same as that in The Farm. The Creeper is made from four parts: a new body/leg part, two 1x2 tiles and a new square head.

21115 The First Night

The body part is very strange and useful for nothing else, I suggest.

21115 The First Night

The set comes with three tools/weapons: pick axe, sword and axe.

21115 The First Night

Bag two completes the sides of the house. Note how the walls are built predominately from 2x2 bricks to give it a blocky appearance. The windows could have been made from 1x4x3 and 1x2x3 panels but instead they are made from 1x2 bricks which is in keeping with the blocky aesthetic.

21115 The First Night

The building is hinged to provide access to the interior. The pickaxe can be stowed away on the wall using the gold clip. (I removed it for the photo of the tools above).

21115 The First Night

21115 The First Night

Finally, bag three builds the roof, the sty and adds a small grassy baseplate area on the right.

21115 The First Night

21115 The First Night

The two roof sections can be removed and placed alongside the other grassy parts to extend the area.

21115 The First Night

And here's the nice surprise... It's been designed to tessellate with The Farm and when they've been slotted together it looks fantastic: a good sized, sprawling, area. I like the way the front and sides are not finished off neatly, which will encourage extension and experimentation.

21115 The First Night

21115 The First Night

New parts wise, other than the heads and those I mentioned in The Farm review, I think the only ones are the pig's legs, Brick 1x2 with groove, in pink.

However there really are a lot of basic bricks in it, and in useful colours too. The inventory hasn't been published by LEGO yet but by my reckoning there are some 130-odd 2xn bricks in it. So if you're not much interested in the set itself but need them in bulk, it makes a good parts pack.

I've been pleasantly surprised by this and The Farm. I was expecting not to like Minecraft sets at all but they have a certain 'back-to-basics' charm and I think they successfully translate the Minecraft environment into LEGO. In fact I think I'll be buying more of them once they're available at shop.LEGO.com.

Overall it's another delightful set that could be just the catalyst needed to drag kids away from building in the virtual world to building in the real one which I am sure is the intention of LEGO.

Again, I have no idea of prices but given the part count and overall weight I would not be surprised if it's £35 / $45. If you've bought the sets and know the prices, do let us know in the comments.

44 comments on this article

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By in United States,

I'm looking forward to seeing future reviews. I definitely want to get this set! It's interesting that the Creeper body has a neckpost instead of a stud to attach the head.

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By in United States,

i am too im also wait for some instructions for the mine!!!!!!!!!!!!

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By in United Kingdom,

According to the latest Lego catalog this is £39.99 (the farm is £24.99)

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By in Netherlands,

This really is a must-buy: there are just so many cool items in this set :D

btw, I hope there's another wave coming with villagers and the Nether, that'd be awesome!

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By in United Kingdom,

What you called a fireplace is actually a furnace.
I like the item frame on the wall; its not the nicest-looking but it is an interesting incluson.

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By in United States,

I don't get the appeal. I don't play Minecraft, so I lack that connection. However, while I don't play or even care about Ninja Turtles, I still admire the design and functionality of some of those sets. These Minecraft sets look awful IMO. And as far as them being great for pieces, most of what I see can be gotten on any PAB wall at any time.

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By in United States,

The thing you called a fireplace is actually a furnace. Used to smelt ore and what not. Very glad it is a printed piece. Nice review!

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By in United Kingdom,

^ OK, thank you all for clarifying that.

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By in United Kingdom,

The more I see these, the more I want them. :)

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By in Switzerland,

I have no idea what this Minecraft is about.............methinks it is best kept that way.

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By in Russian Federation,

Dude, I thought someone had to know anything about the sets, in this case, about Minecraft, though elementary things such as furnace or crafting table, when he's making reviews >_<

Anyway, thanks for images

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By in United Kingdom,

I am planning on reviewing the ender dragon set tomorrow.

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By in United Kingdom,

^^ Not at all. I'm looking at them as a LEGO fan, not a Minecraft fan. I suspect Minecraft players are a minority here.

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By in Ireland,

Minecraft fan!! Totally hooked. Didn't like the mini worlds though as I like minifigs. Any news regarding pricing yet huw?

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By in United States,

Creeper is not at all what I was expecting. Otherwise, the combo is neato, and are those trans-dark-green 2x2 bricks I see?!

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By in Germany,

Like mentioned in the link provided by larsyuipo in the other review, the sets (in the Netherlands) will cost:21113 - The Cave - 19,99€ 21114 - The Farm - 29,99€ 21115 - The First Night - 39,99€ 21116 - Creative Box - 55,99€ 21117 - The Ender Dragon - 69,99€ 21118 - The Mine - 99,99€

Looking at the basic bricks and the prices I generously skip all of the sets. :-/ And I DO play Minecraft...

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By in United States,

Pretty neat how it can combine with the farm. Not a fan of how the Creeper's torso is just a special piece, though.

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By in United Kingdom,

Not a fan of Minecraft, but great reviews all the same :-)

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By in United States,

Love that printed furnace and the piggie

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By in United States,

I don't play Minecraft but these look kinda nice.

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By in Netherlands,

I might get these one sale. Minecraft player myself which skews my favoritism towards these sets, on the other hand I cant account for the price per piece given what you get.

On a side note: does the pink brick with groove open up the possibillity of a pink grocer?

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By in United Kingdom,

"The body part is very strange and useful for nothing else, I suggest."

Challenge accepted! ;)

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By in United Kingdom,

^ It would make a good seed part for one of those competitions :-)

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By in Canada,

I am not a fan of Minecraft, never played it, know about it of course but I don't play the game or care much to start. That being said, I am a fan of LEGO and what LEGO has done here is really impressive, it's made me want these sets even more and not just because of the unique minifigs and accessories. This is what got me invested in this building toyline back in the day, fun simple builds that didn't rely too much on capturing the likeness of a familiar iconic pop culture item, or offer up less useful pieces for capturing the imagination.

What LEGO has done with this license is harken back to basics and it engenders me with a lot of impressive choices. Creativity and Imagination are key, and these sets have it in spades. While I enjoy a good Licensed Theme set for my favorite characters or starships, what I'm getting here is more in keeping with traditional LEGO builds. Oh sure it's another licensed theme and they're capturing the essence of the game, more than likely, however seeing as how I don't play it I find these to be a refreshing change of pace compared to some of the more recent designs in other Themes.

These sets are basically what you could build with your own pieces back in the day from the bucket of bricks your grandma got for your birthday... That makes it really fun, and I'm sure these sets will be fun to try and re-arrange and re-imagine into something even more outstanding as time permits. I can understand how they might not appeal to everyone, but I love them and am looking forward to seeing them on shelves just in time for Christmas.

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By in United States,

"The body part is very strange and useful for nothing else, I suggest."

Just at a glance, it would make a good trunk for a tree or bush, turned upside down. I can also see it making a good core torso piece for Mobile Frame Zero-scale mecha.

(I'm in the camp of "there are no one-use pieces".)

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By in United States,

The Creeper body, brick separator, and Lord Business's helmet seem to be the most challenging pieces to use in different context as of late. I expect the Enderman body piece is much more versatile in comparison.
Why is there a fainter Creeper face in the image of the figures? It's on the Creeper's head. Was that a photographic error?

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By in United States,

Which shelves are these appearing on? Toysrus? USA? If anyone has them from a toysrus in the US, or anywhere for that matter, please post their R Web Numbers. Thanks!

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By in United Kingdom,

^^ Not sure entirely what you mean but the Creeper face is two-tone.

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By in United States,

There's a second image of the face in the photo, just between its eyes.

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By in United Kingdom,

Right, I see -- that's Steve's face reflecting on the glossy surface.

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By in United Kingdom,

As both my boys are huge Minecraft fans I could not wait to see how these sets turned out. After all Minecraft is just a huge digital Lego creator set, so this is almost a case of life imitating art :)

I think Lego have done a fantastic job representing the Minecraft World, cannot wait to see the other sets, I know they are already on my boys Christmas lists, but I might get them sooner than that !!

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By in United States,

I know that Huw is trying to look at these from a LEGO fan's point of view, but I do sort of wish that he would do at least a little research to find out what he's building. If you'd never heard of Star Wars and did a review of a set still not knowing anything (like referring to an x-wing as being "some sort of spaceship") people wouldn't stand for it.

I guess that they're good reviews anyway because they show the sets in detail, but it means that he ignores a lot of the important references that make this sort of thing cool.

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By in United States,

i showed my friend about this stuff ,he really loves minecraft

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By in United States,

As a huge Minecraft fan, I could probably write two pages explaining everything that it's wrong and how to solve it. But I'm not going to do that, instead I'm going to give my opinion. I honestly could live without buying any of them, because it doesn't really capture it as it should. They look more like a creation that a young boy built. Even the Micro worlds, where they couldn't make perfect blocks, captured the Minecraft World better. And here, where making perfect blocks was possible, they didn't. I would have preferred something that resembled the actual thing more even if it was really expensive, like the Microworlds.

@Aidypie I agree, no offense Huw :)

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By in United States,

^ I disagree, and for lack of energy will not explain why extensively. I am also a huge Minecraft fan with at least 1000 hours in the game and I think these sets are fine.

That nice surprise is really indeed a NICE surprise and makes these sets so much better.

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By in United Kingdom,

Just to let you know I saw these sets for sale in the UK lego shop in Bluewater, yesterday. Strangely they aren't on the website yet though!

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By in United States,

I personally think these are about as good a model of Minecraft in LEGO form as anyone could wish, the problem is the price. The prices aren't at all exorbitant, especially for the contents, and I can't fault them directly, but the fact is, they're too high as a whole. It would cost over $300 for the whole range of the sets, and that's single sets, not duplicates.

I would normally wait for an Amazon discount, but the problem with that is that they're Minecraft - they'll sell out almost instantly, to re-sellers if to no one else. Which will drive the price up even more.

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By in United States,

HAS ANYONE FOUND them in the US?

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By in United States,

^I haven't, but it's not like we get early releases around here...

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By in United States,

Very thorough reviews, huw. Thanks!

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By in Canada,

My tru will have them tommorow, but I say they have the Cave right now! IM GETTING THEM ALL BEFORE YOU USA. LoL.

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By in Hungary,

Cool

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By in United Kingdom,

Great review.Very unusual creeper body.

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