Review: DOTS Creativity Box
Posted by MeganL,
Shortly before the official release of DOTS, fan media outlets were sent a DOTS Creativity Box. The box was intended to show the range and versatility of the DOTS theme. Rumour has it that these boxes were hand packed and a limited number were put together and sent out. Brickset did not receive a copy, but I was able to get my hands on one thanks to the Women's Brick Initiative.
These boxes are not a retail product, but they received an overwhelming positive response when I shared them at Bricks Cascade. I think LEGO is missing an opportunity here, so I'm sharing what's included in the box in the hopes that LEGO may reconsider.
First off, the outside packaging is fantastic - a large black box decorated with the DOTS motif. it's very eye catching and would undoubtedly attract a lot of attention on display.
The box indicates that there are 5,000+ parts - if these were indeed handpacked, then it's understandable that a precise parts count wouldn't be included.
Lifting the lid on the box, there are six boxes nestled inside. Each one shows what it contains: connectors, canvases, or tiles. There are three canvases boxes, two tiles boxes, and one connectors box.
Each box slides out to show an array of parts. This packaging is fantastic. I can only imagine the work it took to put all of these together, but part of me does wish we had parts provided like this for other larger sets.
The first canvas box contains larger black and white plates in various sizes.
The second canvas box has a rainbow of 4x4 plates, and a teal brick separator.
The third canvas box holds an assortment of more interesting pieces - some of the bracelet straps, the new 9x9 heart plates, the new photo holder pieces, and some 4x4 round plates in a variety of colours.
There's a couple of compartments in this canvas box that contain some interesting smaller parts. A plethora of printed pieces are included here; some of which I expect are in the DOTS parts packs.
The coral quarter circles were provided in quite a large quantity, but the piece that attracted the most attention was the 1x1 pearlescent round piece, found last row on the right. That was easily the most commented and talked about piece - so much so that by the end of the session at Bricks Cascade, there were only three left in the box, so I think the others found good homes.
The connectors box held a variety of well, connectors, mostly in white.
To me, the most interesting piece in the box was this one:
The stars of the show for any DOTS set are the multiple colourful tiles. The Creativity Box has two boxes dedicated to them.
In most cases, there were two shapes of tiles included for each colour, but they were not the same shapes for every colour.
The choices for parts/colours were interesting and at times frustrating. During our session at Bricks Cascade, someone was looking to put a heart motif in red on one of the plates - except the 1x1 red tile was not included.
Here are a few of the creations that were made during our session at Bricks Cascade.
Overall
The Creativity Box very much reminded me of 21050 Architecture Studio - this would be the DOTS equivalent of that. As mentioned earlier, when showing the DOTS sets at Bricks Cascade, this Creativity Box got far and away the most attention from the AFOLs in attendance. Everyone wanted to know when it would be available. They were all disappointed to learn that it was distributed solely for promotional purposes.
One of the reasons for writing this review is to make a plea to have something like this made available as a retail set. There are some improvements that could be made - perhaps a more consistent distribution of the tiles parts so that all shapes come in the different colours. The packaging is fantastic but I can see how that would be difficult to transport in large quantities. However, I think the concept of having trays of sorted parts would be quite desirable and make things very easy for storage. I have to believe this would be extremely popular with AFOLs.
What do you think? Would you buy a DOTS Creativity Box? How much would you pay for it? Let us know in the comments.
Thanks to LEGO for providing this Creativity Box to the Women's Brick Initiative. All opinions expressed are my own.
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29 comments on this article
As a set, that box looks great and would no doubt do well if sold commercially.
I'm still amazed how lego turned 1x1 tiles into an entire brand. just shows the power of marketing
I hope all of those printed tiles eventually get released in sets soon, I know some of them were in the Dots Extra Dots series 1 packs but not all of them. Definitely loving this theme and would have loved one of these boxes, shame I'm no media :D.
This is just Glorious!!! XD
I would certainly buy a few if these were sold commercially! Looks like a very therapeutic activity
This is awesome but based on what you get and the packaging it seems like a $400 set. New dots stuff has leaked and i'm not sure about them but i love the build able functional things!
I would buy that no question!
At first glance the parts look impressive, at closer inspection it looks glorious.
I would definitely buy multiples of this!
I'd buy one if it wasn't hugely expensive.
This should become a retail set.
Well, gee, I want to acquire this. We all should be able to purchase it.
That should totally be a set.
Now how in the world are you to use a brick separator on a dot?
I'm not experienced enough with this theme to be able to suggest an appropriate price, but this has been so well designed and could be popular as a retail set. Imagine if you could buy one of these for a kids' Lego-themed birthday party, or to do as an activity at a local LUG meetup!
Do you think the set was sent to the Women's Brick Initiative because it is geared to girls? It's the bracelet and the amazing number of 1x1 tiles that give it away. Most AFOL's could put together a pretty good looking set like this from their extras. On the other hand, might be more fun than bulding the Architecture Empire State Building with a lot of tan grilles. I need to check out the Women's Brick Initiative. Just my opinion.
I expect buying a selection of the current and upcoming Dots sets, plus a Pick a Brick order, you could probably put one of these together yourself. I would still love to be able to buy the set as it is. It looks great.
This solves a parts lack and storage space probpems for me, $200.
^ if I had £170, I would buy the exclusive sets (the Lego House, The Tree of Creativity and the Dinosaurs) rather than this. That was, if I had £170 in the first place, which I don’t have.
Yes, I would buy one so I can use the build moc dots project for the display. Other things can send set to the conference/convention show for challenge contest for prizes. No matter what cost for the set but it worth it buy one.
I would absolutely love this. I’d pay upwards of $500 for one.
The regular dots sets are about $.04 - .06 per piece. The bracelets are $.15 per piece. Even taking the lowest ppp that means this set would be north of $200.
I would love to have a set like this, and I think my kids would like it even more than I would.
Considering most of the 1x1 pieces especially in common colors are available for >$.02. If this set were under $100 I would consider it. If not, no way.
@Biff_Superman:
There have been three brick separators designed that we know of. The first one from decades ago only works on the tops and bottoms of bricks and plates. The third version was never released (a red one was shown in early images of the LEGO Wiimote), but it would have been a 1-wide version of the second design. And that one has the ability to work with four different connections. The thick end of course still works on the tops and bottoms of bricks and plates. The stubby axle on top can be used to push axles out of axle-holes without getting stuck. And the flat end is thin enough to stick under the bottom edge of tiles and other similarly lipped elements. Press down on the thick end and it pops the part loose. The only downside is that doing this tends to get the edge dinged up over time. You can use it on the other three connections without doing much damage, but if you use one to strip tiles regularly, you'll have to replace it periodically.
That's avery nice collection of parts!
I am so excited about the dots theme, and if something like this (maybe a little smaller so it would be reasonably affordable for me) were made available I would snap it up in a heartbeat!
@jackflash49 - I believe Brickset not receiving a copy was an oversight. When I mentioned that Brickset had not received a copy to the onsite LEGO representative at Bricks Cascade, they were quite surprised. Also, other fan media that don’t cater to girls (The Brothers Brick, for one) received copies.
But by all means, please do check out WBI!
I'm one of the fortunate ones to actually receive a personal copy from TLG and have created various MOCs highlighting their use. Plmk if you're interested in them and I can provide pics.
This is an amazing box and an absolute must have. All the colours an pieces - fantastic.
DOTS looks like a theme for children, but i believe, that adults love them more!
hmmm ...price? I guess this will be a 100+ Euro set. And - i would buy it!
This is lovely and I'd like a box like this please :)
I've bought tiny kits and bracelets but THIS looks perfect :)
This is a stunning set! The color selection alone makes this set so very tempting. The shapes would be useful in a myriad of different ways. I would pay $US 250.