2019 Bricktober sets
Posted by Huw,
Last month I reviewed one of the Bricktober sets that were available in Toys R Us in Asia last year.
In the comments to that article several of you asked for photos of all four together so, now I've finally found time to build them, here they are...
The four sets depict typical Asian scenes through the seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
Each one sits on a 10x10 base with 1x1 Technic bricks on the sides to enable them to be pinned together.
You can view pictures of the packaging and of spring in the other article, so I'll skip that one and go straight to summer, which features a idyllic beach scene, complete with palm trees, beach houses and yachts, plus the white nano-fig who crops up in them all, despite being way over-scale.
The autumn one consists of skyscrapers overlooking a park by the water. The buildings themselves use printed tiles -- keyboards, calculators and control panels -- to good effect.
The trees are not too convincing, though: 1x1 cones might have worked better. Presumably they were not available in the autumnal colours.
Finally, winter consists of micro-scale version of 21016 Sungnyemun in a snowy scene.
They make an attractive display together and if you've yet to get hold of them you'll find plenty of vendors on BrickLink selling them for around £25/$30 each. Yes, they are expensive for what they are, but for the discerning collector they are a must-have.
This year's sets -- fairground rides -- are also available on BrickLink for about the same price. I've ordered a set of four so will review them once they've arrived.
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I think these are a lot nicer than the 2020 ones to be honest.
Um. That winter set is not a typical Japanese style. It's a miniature of 21016 Sungnyemun from the earlier Architecture series, so, Korean.
^ Ah yes, well spotted :)
I'm a big fan of season transitions. $30 each isn't quite in the cards but I can't say that they don't look great when they're all lined up!
The Autumn Scence shows the famous "Aqua Luna" Boat with the red Sails in front of the Hong Kong Skyscrapers of Kowloon. A typical Scene when walking along Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade and the "Avenue of Stars" in Kowloon. I have seen it myself many Times over the Years while travelling and working there. I also think that the white Microfigure represents the Bruce Lee Statue at the Promenade. If so that would be awesome that they had thinking of this.
Great use of some of the new elements from the last few years, city roofline wouldn't look the same without such detail
Spring = Japan
Summer = generic beach but most likely Malaysia beach resort
Autumn = Hong Kong
Winter = Korea
This Bricktober set combo was available at all four locations mentioned above.
Love those skyscapers using printed keyboards and such.
@Veit_Stähli said:
"The Autumn Scence shows the famous "Aqua Luna" Boat with the red Sails in front of the Hong Kong Skyscrapers of Kowloon. A typical Scene when walking along Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade and the "Avenue of Stars" in Kowloon. I have seen it myself many Times over the Years while travelling and working there. I also think that the white Microfigure represents the Bruce Lee Statue at the Promenade. If so that would be awesome that they had thinking of this."
I agree with @Veit_Stähli 's view, that boat should be Auqa Luna, a traditional Chinese wooden junk boat, also as an icon of HK tourism. But the 1x1 round bricks really confuse me as there are no such buildings or plants along the shore. Looking forward to other inspiring explanations.
Just received my order of the four sets from this year. Even the boxes are works of art. It is tragic these aren’t more widely available, such great little sets.
I like these better than this year's amusement park builds.
If I recall correctly, Bricktober sets were always overpriced for what they were--and these are charming sets with a fresh cultural approach. I might try to get "Winter" as the Architecture set that inspired it is one of my most regretted "ones that got away." Glad to see the tradition of Bricktober is still bringing joy to some people, even if the USA is now without TRU!
Expensive!!!!!!