Brickset bouts: the results so far

only got the Saturn V through, and that was a coin toss as to which as both are so good, only went with the Saturn over Bounty as the build lead to other great sets like Hogwarts Castle. All the others went the other way :P

Voted for all 4 winners, happy with that, all through to the next round.

@Synthia1980 said:
"I voted for the four sets that didnt win. At this level, I suppose all sets are winners but I'm clearly on the side of the underdog."

I'd say the opposite is more likely. I voted for all the ones that won this round, mainly because of the others expected popularity. Expected Disney and Star Wars to get lots of votes so i voted for the ones I actually own and love (Unexpected Gathering and MMV). Also voted Saturn as despite my disinterest in NASA it felt more unique than the barrage of ninjago repeats. And I'm saving my minjago vote for Ninjago City.

AUG a winner? Even your average 80's Town house had more on offer.

Wow! all the sets I voted for are through .
Never thought that a Castle set wil win over a Starwars set.

Picking the final round with these four coming in will be very difficult indeed. These are some truly great sets, and all were experiences of joy for many of us. On to the next round!

I think we should do a double elimination tournament.

Because voting is fun and easy and Destiny's Bounty is such a good set I hate to see it knocked out in round one.

Also, I voted for the winner 4/4 times so it makes me feel smart.

These polls are really short! I missed out on the chance to vote for any of them. Happy that Bag End prevailed anyway :)

Oh. I really thought Slave 1 would make it. I might also add I’m not particularly drawn to the Saturn V. Don’t know why.

Funny I voted for the set that lost on every round so far.

I also voted for all 4 winners which is alarming in itself that my taste is so mainstream lol

Hmm.. kinda as i expected and it coming down partly to ownership numbers at the moment.

I'd like to see the numbers for the initial vote.

That would tell us so much more about the love for certain sets.

Well. None of the sets I voted for are gonna be progressing, I guess! I mean, I kinda expected it - especially in the case of Saturn V vs. Destiny's Bounty, that one was almost a foregone conclusion - but I'm disappointed that the tree house won't be moving forward, in particular.

Ah well, I guess xD

Calling it now: I kinda expect Saturn V to be the overall winner. It's not a set that appeals to me, personally; but I've also seen how popular it is in the comments here - both in the contest here and when it was first released - and I'd honestly be surprised by any other result (except for MAYBE Barracuda Bay).

We'll see if I get proved right or wrong, I guess!

What is it with these NASA things and space stations and the like? I find them boring to look at. What is the ratio of men to women on here, that’s what I want to know.

I'm sad Slave I didn't make it, honestly thought it would be closer than that. MMV is a great set though and I'll freely admit to wishing I had it :-(.

Not much of a surprise except for the unexpected gathering beating Disney. Glad it did but treehouse is my sadest loss. To add to the pain the treehouse is currently listed for retirement even though it has been nearly impossible to buy this year, the second hand market has already reached 50% growth. Did any market out there have it available for long since January?

Was kind of expecting Slave 1 to prevail given the vast amount of Star Wars fans but Medieval Village is definitely a worthy contender. That said, the Slave 1’s base does kind of look like a mess of curved slopes.

At least in terms of US Dollars, it appears the cheapest set won each time.

I'm so surprised, that "An unexpected Gathering" won by such a small margin. I wasn't even particularly aware of the Disney Castle when it came out and now that I look at it I'm even surprised it got into the list of "best sets of the last 20 years", that's just me though probably.

@Brainslugged said:
"The only one I voted for that made it through to round two was the Fishing Store. Some really tough decisions though."

They will get harder, basically all the ones I voted for excdpt for the Destiny Bounty won.

@Roebuck said:
"You are just a bad looser since your favourites lost the vote :P"

Actually, no :-P

Of my personal top 5, the one that I advocated for won, you will find.
And against really tough competition too. I was honestly sad about having to face Destiny's Bounty, because I love that set as well. But as I love the Saturn V just a tiny bit more, I was ok with the result of course.

@chefkaspa said:
"It would be nice if poll is open for 24 hours - I am currently working on late shift (14-22h MESZ) and basically only got 7-8h this morning to participate when I saw the first four pair of sets."

Yes, I missed the last one and I'm really sad I didn't get to vote for Destiny's bounty. The whole poll was around nighttime for me I think, as I didn't see it when I checked the homepage last evening.

Great battles yesterday, but I'm thinking that 10193 will be the only one to make it into the Final Four. Bringing out the big guns today!

I’m impressed that MMV held its ground so well against a UCS- I always assumed there was a silent majority of SW fans ready to vote regardless. Otherwise, how to explain SW coming out on top in each end of year poll regardless of the general disinterest in sets and prices in the news comments?

@Terreneflame said:
"Not unexpected, but gutted about Destiny’s Bounty
I absolutely adore that set"

This years reboit of destiny's bounty is so poor by comparison.

@legobear said:
"So happy to see an unexpected gathering and medieval market win. This shows the hunger for medieval/castle like themes that are gravely missing with the absence of Castle and LOTR."

Didnt Lego do some market research, and conclude that pirates and castle were poor selling themes that modern kids werent interested in?

I can't believe Disney castle lost to unexpected gathering. It's a great set sure but I didn't think AUG was quite that special

Thank goodness that Saturn V got through, so just 1 out of 4 for me.

@PjtrXmos said:
"I'm so surprised, that "An unexpected Gathering" won by such a small margin. I wasn't even particularly aware of the Disney Castle when it came out and now that I look at it I'm even surprised it got into the list of "best sets of the last 20 years", that's just me though probably."

My view is the complete opposite of yours, I was very surprised to see An Unexpected Gathering even get into the top 16.

Nice to see some more ideas sets. In my eyes Ideas makes Lego fresh and new each time one is released. Unless of course its one based on a movie. Those are getting rather popular and very repetitive.

The only surprise was that the Disney Castle lost.

@AussieSamurai said:
" @PjtrXmos said:
"I'm so surprised, that "An unexpected Gathering" won by such a small margin. I wasn't even particularly aware of the Disney Castle when it came out and now that I look at it I'm even surprised it got into the list of "best sets of the last 20 years", that's just me though probably."

My view is the complete opposite of yours, I was very surprised to see An Unexpected Gathering even get into the top 16."

I too am surprised by the Hobbit set. While it’s an iconic setting from an iconic movie series, the set itself isn’t all that exciting in my opinion. But that’s obviously just my opinion :)

I'm surprised there was only one close race.

It seems odd that the voting for different match ups started at different times but ended at the same time. Shouldn't they all get the same window for voting?

Wow. Every vote I cast was for the loser!

I can understand the Saturn V beating Destiny’s Bounty. They were close for me, especially because they’re very different kinds of sets. One is a stunning recreation of a real-life thing, and the other is a brilliant, creative endeavour.

I voted for the Tree House over the Old Fishing Store because the former has a much more striking presence. For the best set of the millennium, I was looking for something that made a bold visual statement, too. Still, I can see why people chose the latter.

The other two are still surprising to me. Slave I vs MMV seems like a similar conundrum to the Saturn V vs Destiny’s Bounty, only the Slave I is an even harder subject to get right, and the MMV was less creative than DB.

As for Disney Castle vs Unexpected Journey...yeah. That one strikes me as odd, too.

All of the sets that I voted for won! Really happy about the hobbit hole, that one was really tight

Hey, everything I voted for won!

I think the reason why these sets won is simple - they pushed the envelope. Disney Castle or Slave 1 may be more detailed or had better build experiences, but the competing sets showed what was POSSIBLE with Lego at a time when Lego was not nearly as AFOL focused.

Without these sets and their success, the big, giant, complex adult builds we have today wouldn’t exist. Period.

Oh, and they’re also more appealing sets ;) they have that Lego charm!

Quite big advantage of votes in the first bout for 10193. The biggest diffrence from all four, nearly thousand votes. I'm a bit surprised, because I consideret it as a hardest choice from all eight.

Yeah, I'm sad that the MMV is the only one that I voted for that made it through. Going to find it difficult to care about these other sets in the next knockout round. It was very close with the Disney Castle vs Unexpected gathering- i demand a recount of the votes!!! HEEHEE

Slave 1 = Slave Done

@AustinPowers said:
" @BrizzaIsBack said:
"Didnt Lego do some market research, and conclude that pirates and castle were poor selling themes that modern kids werent interested in? "
If it's the same market research that told them themes like Angry Birds, Adventure Time, Trolls etc would be big hits, then what would you expect? ;-) "

I would guess that this is probably because that market research was done on what kids are interested in, and the majority of votes on here came from AFOLs.

Saturn V was my only nomination in this bracket, so I'm pleased today.

I think it's great to see so many different views of why Lego is special to each person. Voting for a favorite is always tinged with emotions, I have gathered that the strongest emotions here have been nostalgia. Things that light the flame in each of us for something we fondly remember from our often distant past. The treehouse appealed to me because I am from a country area and have to live in a big city to work so I really miss being around trees and a country setting. Lego has so few trees in there sets and they're usually so small you can barely see it's a tree, more a twig or a baren stump. The treehouse invokes childhood memories of a past I can only now remember in my dreams.

@AustinPowers said:
" @legobear said:
"So happy to see an unexpected gathering and medieval market win. This shows the hunger for medieval/castle like themes that are gravely missing with the absence of Castle and LOTR."

Yes, but that to me is the problem with this vote.

I mean, the whole purpose is to find the best set since 2000, and for that it should be obvious that a set that earns this title should be special in many ways.
Many people seem to vote just based on warm and fuzzy feelings for a particular set, not because of how awesome a set truly is.

True, emotional attachment will play a part in what set appeals to you the most, but for an actual "best set" things like ingenious building techniques, great design, value for money etc., i.e. some objective stand-out features compared to other sets, should be a given.
And if one is truly honest, MMV and AUG simply won because of nostalgia, not because of any of the above objective criteria.

That being said, I would love a UCS Bag End, even if it came at a price of several hundred Euros, if it was a truly awesome rendition, and not just a small cut-out like AUG."

AUG meets all your criteria in droves. It premiered a few new revolutionary (at the time) building techniques. There also was a "USC" Bag End: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfCWlH8E9rc

@Terreneflame said:
"Not unexpected, but gutted about Destiny’s Bounty
I absolutely adore that set"

Me too! It’s such a great improvement on the original!

This really should be called the views choice award not the best set.... When a white cylinder beats destiny's bounty... the tree house should win but it wasn't as available as the old fishing store and was more expensive. I feel the cheaper ones win because more people have bought them over the other one....

2 of my favourites gone. disney castle and destiny's bounty. I predict finals between MMV and Emerald Night, for the only reason they are the 2 oldest sets (I think)

I get the appeal of a vote pitching set vs set in several rounds, but the results it gets, IMHO, aren't fair. I mean, Disney Castle got more votes than Old Fishing Store and Saturn V, but its out of the race.

Maybe several rounds of voting, eliminating a few of the least voted sets at a time and having people vote again based on the smaller selection each time would do more Justice to every set.

Anyway, glad I voted for most of the ones that went to the next round! :-)

Darn, the only winner I voted for was the Medieval Market Village. Hopefully I’ll have better luck in the second round.

Guessed 3 of out the 4 correctly, except the Disney castle vs An Unexpected Gathering. Well both are not my favorites so don't really care. None of my top 10 favorite sets make it into this top 16 list and I only owned 3 out of these 16 lol Guess my taste is different from others. And out of these top 16 my favorite is MMV, then PR. That's it. The others are good but not my top favorites.

Yup. Sorry, but that UCS Slave-1 was just too big.

The original lumpy one was OK - more useful as an early brown/green slopes and parts pack.
The Jango Fett and then the same size Boba Fett ones that came later were just about right. A little big for minifigure play maybe but then it's a surprisingly big ship when you see it on the ground.

The UCS one may have been to 'scale' but it still looks way over-the-top compared to other minifig vehicles.

Wow, castle and Bag End neck and neck!

@LofElle said:
"This really should be called the views choice award not the best set.... When a white cylinder beats destiny's bounty... the tree house should win but it wasn't as available as the old fishing store and was more expensive. I feel the cheaper ones win because more people have bought them over the other one.... "

Except the Slave I/MMV pair, the other 3 winners have higher number of members declared (or "claimed") to own vs the other set.

Yay for An Unexpected Gathering! I ended up being on the losing side of the UCS Slave I vs. MMV debate, but was on the money for the rest. Let's see how today goes--Emerald Night vs. UCS Millennium Falcon V2.0 is going to be a real crisis!

I really think mill village raid should have made it

Every set I voted for lost...for shame!

Saturn V was the only one of my votes that won. :(

@Darth_TNT said:
"I can't believe the meeting beat the castle. That castle is a fantastic build filled with smart little shoutouts to Disney properties.

The other is a fun play set."

Disney Castle is just a lego dollhouse. Bag End is a perfectly packed masterpiece.

All the sets I voted for won. Am I Nostradamus?
Also, I own those four and none of their opponents; and of the next bouts, I own three of four I inted to vote for and the fourth is at the top of my wish list, while I own only one of the opponents. That must mean something...

At the Lego Warehouse before they send it to recycling. If you're looking for modern weapons in Lego sets, check the sets already on the shelves. Oh no they're "futuristic"...

Only one I'd disagree about is the Destiny's Bounty loosing, Other than that some excellent choices. Shame I missed the voting!

Frankly I was surprised more of the contests weren't very close. I can't complain about Tree House losing to the Old Fishing Store--they are both pretty remarkable builds. I voted for AUG precisely *because* it was so small yet so unconventional in building style. It's easy to make something eye-popping out of an enormous selection of bricks; not so easy working under the restrictions of a mid-range set. Similarly, even though I own and love MMV (it was the first really large set I ever bought) I voted for Slave 1, because until I saw that model I didn't believe Lego could really build something so streamlined and curvy. Those who claim that Saturn V is just a big white cylinder can't have looked at the set's description closely, let alone built it; most of the details are on the *inside.* And there are an awful lot of details packed into it...so much as I love ships, I had to go with the rocket.

Oddly enough, even though a bunch of the heaviest hitters are in today's bouts, I found it much easier to pick my winners this time.

Oh, and I wouldn't have minded a double-elimination tournament either. All of these sets deserve a second chance, even the ones I didn't vote for!

A little disappointed that the Tree House and especially the Disney Castle lost, although their opponents were fantastic sets in their own right. I also voted for Slave I but that was a very tough call for me and there's a good chance I'll vote for Medieval Market Village in the next round. So far the only one I voted for that's moving on is the Saturn V. It'll be interesting to see which one takes it all.

Wow, I was 1 for 4, and the one I got right I expected to be a loser. That was Unexpected Gathering which is indeed one of my favorite sets and the only set I own that made the list (although I own alternate versions of the Star Wars sets). LOTR is my favorite Lego line, and a lot of that has to do with the amazing amount of detail and play features that they were able to cram into small sets. I’m hoping that the line gets revived with the new Amazon series in production.