Review: 43029 Olivia Rodrigo's Concert Moon
Posted by benbacardi,
Continuing our look at the five new Olivia Rodrigo Editions sets, the next set is 43029 Olivia Rodrigo's Concert Moon.
Unlike the previous sets in the range, which hide references to Olivia Rodrigo's songs and albums throughout their builds, Concert Moon instead takes inspiration from a single unforgettable moment on stage. The result is a display piece that's instantly recognisable to anyone who has seen the GUTS World Tour.
Summary
43029 Olivia Rodrigo's Concert Moon, 670 pieces.
£44.99 / $49.99 / €49.99 | 6.7p, 7.5c, 7.5c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A fun display model of one of the GUTS World Tour's most memorable moments.
- Excellent record player build
- Clever spinning play feature
- Highly detailed Olivia minifigure
- Lighter on Easter eggs than the other Olivia Rodrigo Editions sets
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigure
The minifigure in the set is based on one of Olivia Rodrigo's outfits from her GUTS tour—a sparkly chainmail dress over a black bikini-style top and skirt. The print is very detailed; there are white sparkles on top of the dress and the lace-up boots even have side printing of stitching and buckles. Her over-the-shoulder hair is the same as in 43028 Olivia Rodrigo's Vinyl, but the head print is different, with her iconic bright red lipstick and glittery eyeshadow on both sides, while the reverse shows her with closed eyes and a wide smile.
The Concert Moon
A defining visual moment of the GUTS World Tour is when the singer flies over the crowd, seated on a large illuminated purple moon. This is the main reference of the set—the titular Concert Moon—with a brick-built version of the moon adorned with black and silver stars providing a seat for the Olivia minifigure. The moon itself was satisfying to construct, and looks excellent—I like the use throughout all these sets of the curved trans-clear bars to attach stars at a distance from the main builds.
The Record Player
Putting the moon to one side, the largest part of the build is the record deck. Built in two shades of Olivia's standard purple, it's constructed primarily sideways, with a number of SNOT connections for details on the top such as the needle arm, three buttons, and a lever. There is no turntable on which to place the vinyl, but instead an uninterrupted smooth border of curved bricks surrounds the base, the centre of which houses a splat gear and axle.
There's a "hidden" compartment in the side of the record player, which slides out when the red lever is pushed to the left. It's made of a pair of door frames, a window pane forming the base, and slides loose into a slot beneath the needle arm.
On the underside, you can get a better view of the construction of the deck, which sits on a tyre at each corner to raise it off the ground slightly and provide stability. The splat gear and axle on top are connected via a couple of gears to a knob on the left side of the player.
The red lever is connected directly to an axle that sits behind the secret drawer, causing it to pop out slightly when pushed forwards, and reset when the drawer is pushed back in again. Simple, but very effective.
A small hidden detail is the brick-built version of Olivia Rodrigo's "OR" logomark, cleverly made from a handful of tiles and placed over the centre gears. A sticker on the front right of the record deck shows the logo in white.
No record deck is complete with a record to play, and this set provides one such vinyl! It's constructed in a very similar way to 43028 Olivia Rodrigo's Vinyl, with a series of sideways building techniques used to attach the four curved sections that complete the circle. The centre is completed with a large red circular tile, upon which the largest sticker is placed, showing a couple of Olivia Rodrigo motifs—red lips, purple plasters (bandaids, if you're American), and a butterfly.
Offset from the centre is a conical stand, adorned with stars, through which an axle runs that is connected to another splat gear on the underside of the record.
When placed on the deck, the two splat gears interlock, and the record sits resting on the purple surround. The record deck's arm can be rotated to sit over the record. Purple colour aside, it's a pretty good build of a vinyl player—with a few adaptations, I could see it being a great option in a Creator 3-in-1 set.
Finally, the "concert moon" is attached to the top of the stand on the record, and the build is complete. Olivia, holding her microphone, perches above the record deck on the purple moon—not suspended, as it was during the tour, but a very recognisable reference nevertheless. Turning the dial on the side causes the record to rotate, and the moon to also rotate as it moves with the vinyl. The arm does need to be moved out of the way first, however.
One small touch is the inclusion of a photo holder brick at the rear behind the arm—a perfect place for an Olivia Rodrigo fan to show off a photo, concert ticket, or other memorabilia.
Verdict
While some of the other Olivia Rodrigo Editions sets are packed with hidden references, this one instead focusses almost entirely on recreating a single iconic moment from the GUTS World Tour. For fans who went to the tour and want a souvenir, or missed out but just want a themed Olivia Rodrigo item to display, this is a great choice.
The design of the record deck is excellent—as I said above, I'd love to see it without the tie-in to the singer, perhaps with a way for builders to customise the centre of the record to their own musical tastes. The simple mechanism to spin the vinyl works very well.
However, this is a very "Olivia" set—the minifigure is excellently detailed, the colour scheme suits the artist very well, and the moon looks great on display. Those who aren't already Olivia Rodrigo fans may find it less appealing, but for those who are, there's a lot to like.
43029 Olivia Rodrigo's Concert Moon will be available at LEGO.com from August 1st for £44.99 / $49.99 / €49.99.
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15 comments on this article
Overall, this is a really nice looking set! Price feels fair, too. And I'm sure it sounds about as good as a Crosley record player. :-)
In itself looks like a pretty decent record player. But not all that much Olivia Rodrigo stuff for the fans (and I bet the majority of them have never seen an actual record player....), and a rather weird color for non fans just looking for a record player without flowers sprouting from it.
Overall I just can't help but feel that 43028 was a better set at an even better price point. But then again, I'm by no means an Olivia Rodrigo fan, so maybe I'm completely off....
Once again a great minifig even for non-fans, and a pretty good build at a fair price.
Also Huwbot will like the stars in this set. After all they almost look like Clikits ;-)
i feel like this is one of the better offerings in this little subtheme, not too flashy and dense in references you need to understand to comprehend what’s going on, not too disconnected like the botanicals set is, just a nice understated little showcase in pleasant colours, i feel like this one makes the case for being an olivia rodrigo set the best.
@WizardOfOss said:
"the fans (and I bet the majority of them have never seen an actual record player....)"
You'd be surprised. I'm not an Olivia fan, but in K-Pop, a lot of fans have gotten into collecting the (infrequent) vinyl releases in the last few years. I think lots of people in pop music fandoms are getting into vinyl as an aesthetic of a pre-big-tech world, and a way to actually own some of their favorite music in case streaming ever "crashes" like some are expecting.
@KingShark9500 said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"the fans (and I bet the majority of them have never seen an actual record player....)"
You'd be surprised. I'm not an Olivia fan, but in K-Pop, a lot of fans have gotten into collecting the (infrequent) vinyl releases in the last few years. I think lots of people in pop music fandoms are getting into vinyl as an aesthetic of a pre-big-tech world, and a way to actually own some of their favorite music in case streaming ever "crashes" like some are expecting."
Could be. But even then: Do they actually play the records? Or are those just collectibles that never get unwrapped, while they just listen to Spotify? I do know several record collectors like that....
I simply cannot wait for the release a week from now. It still feels like a dream come true. The only thing missing would be an Art set of her, that would be freaking amazing!
@WizardOfOss said:
" @KingShark9500 said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"the fans (and I bet the majority of them have never seen an actual record player....)"
You'd be surprised. I'm not an Olivia fan, but in K-Pop, a lot of fans have gotten into collecting the (infrequent) vinyl releases in the last few years. I think lots of people in pop music fandoms are getting into vinyl as an aesthetic of a pre-big-tech world, and a way to actually own some of their favorite music in case streaming ever "crashes" like some are expecting."
Could be. But even then: Do they actually play the records? Or are those just collectibles that never get unwrapped, while they just listen to Spotify? I do know several record collectors like that...."
Young people actually buy a surprising amount of records, which is why so many vinyl is released of young(er) artists. Record sales also hold more weight than streaming or downloads in sales charts, so there's that too. However, according to recent research, it's also true that about half of the people buying these records aren't playing them, but they get them as a collectible to get something tangible of their favourite artists. Good thing perhaps, because you wouldn't want to play those expensive records on a crappy record player.
@WizardOfOss said:
"Could be. But even then: Do they actually play the records?"
I spin mine occasionally, but also have some more expensive ones that I have never opened and maybe never will. For me it's more about just owning albums that are important to me in the "definitive" format. I also don't own a great record player, although I will probably look into acquiring a better one in the future.
I preferred the freebie 40699 from a couple of years ago!
And I prefer the prequel-set, 41713.
I'm starting to suspect this collaboration was the reason we got a new shade of purple!
French-Canadians still commonly refer to adhesive bandages as "plasters", but pretty much every English-Speaking Canadians I've ever known use the brand name "band-aid", even if the ones that heard the term "plaster" when it slipped seemed to understand its meaning. Made me wonder if it were indeed a British term, so thanks for answering that!
Incidentally, thank you for the review! Even as an old fart, I do know Olivia and revelled in listening to her music while driving long hours on dirt roads doing bush work (which I feel is not exactly the norm, music-wise, in the forestry industry).
I'm now discovering her latest Smashing Pumpkins/Foo Fighters/The Cure-influenced album, but I'll probably still pass on these sets (and maybe get some parts/figs separately) as I'm not the target market for such display sets.
I'm not particularly interested in these sets even though I do like Olivia Rodrigo, but I can't help but be surprised how reasonably priced they are. $50 for a ~650pc set with a mechanism and a good minifig is a rarity these days.
This is one of the better Olivia sets, I think. Strong concept, good execution, looks pretty. I’m glad to see it reviewed.
Are there more reviews of this subtheme to come or is this the last one?