Review: 80109 Lunar New Year Ice Festival
Posted by Huw,
LEGO has been producing large sets that celebrate Chinese traditional festivals since 2019 and without exception they have been excellent: extravagant designs, full of recoloured and printed parts rather than stickers, generous numbers of minifigures, and when building and admiring them you get a sense that no expense has been spared.
80109 Lunar New Year Ice Festival, which looks to continue this trend, is one of two that's now available in the UK and Europe.
New parts and recolours
The set contains a large number of recoloured parts, and also some that have been introduced only recently. The sets's inventory was published today, so it's now possible to determine the unique parts easily.
The most noteworthy new element is the 1x6x5 panel in 'milky white shimmer' colour number 360, officially named Transparent Opal. There are 18 of them in the set.
The 3x3 quarter curve tile, 79393 TILE 3X3, W/ BOW, has been produced in two colours in sets released recently and now comes in light grey for the first time in this set.
The Friends penguin, used for an ice sculpture, looks like it's been cast in Transparent Blue Opal, colour 366, then newest colour in our database. However, the inventory suggests it's actually regular transparent light blue which has been painted with a glittery shimmer on the front.
Numerous transparent parts have been manufactured for the first time for the set, including a 1x2 plate with clip and headlight bricks in transparent light blue.
The blue piece below is new for 2022, having been spotted in a few Monkie Kid sets, and the 1x2 plate with vertical bar appears here for the first time in transparent clear.
There are plenty of other transparent clear parts that tend to be fairly rare in it too. Unfortunately, they are the new 'milky' type so don't look as clear and clean as the older polycarbonate ones. However, I suspect it's the new plastic formulation that has enabled parts with clips and bars to be made in clear colours.
This clip, 78257 PLATE 1X1 W/ 2 SHAFTS DIA. 3.2, has previously only been found in 10279 Volkswagen T2 Camper Van.
This piece of plastic card is the only brand-new part, if you can call it that, and one that's not likely to be used in any other set. It's printed on both sides.
Construction
There's not much to say about construction other than a lot of parts go into making the base, which ends up at about 2 bricks high.
Parts are packed in bags numbered from one to 13 and most of them contain a hundred or so pieces. Elements for the base occupy five of them.
Once the base is completed the remaining eight bags contain parts for the subassemblies and details, which makes it easy to dip in and out of building as and when you have a spare 15 minutes.
The completed model
The base is about 40cm wide by about 25cm deep, and it's covered with details. The ice rink takes up about half the area, so there's plenty of space for the minifigs to indulge in skating and other winter pursuits.
The main structure in the left-hand corner at the back hires ice skates and other accessories. The signs, like all decorated parts in the set are printed. The one above the door is held on by just one stud in the middle which is why it's wonky!
Inside the shop there's a rack of ice skates on one wall, a desk with a till and a shelf with trophies on the other. I'm not sure what the black thing with the silver dish in the corner is.
There's a small drawer under the floor in which loads more skates, ski poles and so on are stored, probably enough for all the minifigures.
There's a small fridge/vending machine on the outside wall stocked with a variety of drinks.
The ice arch takes centre stage in the set, and it looks spectacular, not least because it's rare to see so many transparent parts in sets nowadays, which of course includes all the aforementioned new ones.
An ice slide is positioned under the arch: perfect for the daredevil granny sitting in a chair fitted with skates to launch herself down. Such a chair is not something I've come across, but perhaps they are a thing in China.
The conifer in the corner looks great and uses techniques I don't think I've seen in an official set to create the typical shape of such trees.
A printed sign at the front advertises the venue.
This is where that piece of printed plastic cars is used. The circular cutouts are just the right height for an adult and child minifig.
You can elect to display either image at the front when building it, but unfortunately the top of the assembly has to be partially dismantled in order to change it round subsequently.
The snow-covered bushes either side of the steps in the right-hand corner look splendid, and this is the first appearance of the 3-leaved foliage piece in white.
An ice-sculptor wielding a chain saw, who has just finished making a penguin, completes the details on the right-hand side of the model.
The penguin from series 16 collectable minifigs makes a welcome return, but I've no idea why there's an orange ingot on its back!
Minifigs
13 minifigures are provided to bring the set to life, including a man in tiger suit and two with an updated Ice Planet torso.
Tiger suit guy looks splendid in his outfit which features a new tiger headpiece. I'm not quite sure what the print on his chest is supposed to represent, but it certainly doesn't look like a tiger's coat.
All the components of this figure are new. For some reason a spare tail is included in the set.
This mother with small child attired in one of two torsos featuring an Ice Planet logo has a push-along sleigh that resembles some sort of penguin.
The other Ice Planet torso is worn by the elderly fisherman who's paired it up with a fur-lined hat.
The fur lining on the front of the torso continues onto the back.
The ice sculptor is wearing a hi-vis vest over a blue jacket and features a new hairpiece.
This female vendor, who also has a new hairpiece, is selling... actually I'm not sure quite what! Chocolate candy-floss?
It looks as if the ice hockey player should have worn a helmet...
This may be the husband of the lady pushing her child about in the sleigh. He's equipped with a camera that has a long lens and flash, which is a detail I don't think I've seen in an official set before.
Three other children are included which, like most of the other figures in set, utilise generic modern-day torsos that can be put to good use in your own LEGO city.
This chap runs the ice skate hire shack. The torso seems to get used a lot for shopkeepers and street vendors at the moment.
Finally, we have the 'daredevil' granny! This is one of four new torsos in this set.
Verdict
Once again no expense has been spared or corner cut to produce another excellent Chinese Traditional Festival set. It's packed with enticing parts, prints, details and life, that makes an equally good display model as it does play set, so it should appeal to AFOLs and kids alike.
If it were produced primarily for the western market we'd probably just be provided with the building, the arch, the tree and the other subassemblies, then be expected to lay them out on the table separately and imagine the space between them is an ice rink.
But here, in common with the likes of 80106 Story of Nian and 80107 Spring Lantern Festival, we have been provided with the entire scene, one that everything except the vendor selling the strange brown stuff fits on. Doing so has no doubt had a considerable impact on the price, but I think it's a price worth paying.
Nevertheless, £90 / $120 / €100 for a 1500-piece set with 13 minifigs still seems like a very good value and unusually, the European price is closer to being on a par with that in the USA, which is always welcome.
Here's a line-up of all four lunar new year mascot minifigs that have been produced so far. We can look forward to a rabbit in 2023.
The set, along with 80108 Lunar New Year Traditions, is available at LEGO.com in Europe from today and in the USA and Canada from 10th January.
Thanks to LEGO for providing the set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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70 comments on this article
My guess is the mystery silver dish is for sharpening the skates?
The brown thing are sweet potatoes. Very common to get here in China from street vendors.
I think the thing on the floor of the skate shack is definitely a radiant space heater.
Great review, parts look wonderful as does the final assembly. Ice skating doesn't scream to me as "traditional Chinese festival" but what do I know, I'm just an ABC. So mainly I would want this set because my oldest child is a Tiger; I wonder how much that minifig will fetch on Bricklink.
I think I'd rather try to retrofit last year's set just by changing the bull to a tiger.
Happy solar and lunar new year folks!
@Huw said:
"There are plenty of other transparent clear parts that tend to be fairly rare in it too. Unfortunately, they are the new 'milky' type so don't look as clear and clean as the older polycarbonate ones. However, I suspect it's the new plastic formulation that has enabled parts with clips and bars to be made in clear colours."
What if they could go back to polycarbonate for large transparent parts such as windscreens, windows and panels and use the new formulation for the rest...
Looking really good. I was in 2 minds when it was first announced but it’s really grown on me. My mind is already imagining how to fit into a modular city layout, reckon should be pretty simple.
@Huw - Just an additional information - on top of the ice arch is the Chinese character for Spring
Good review!
Rather than a glittery surface coating, I think the reason the penguin is listed with other Trans. Light Blue parts may be that it is actually coinjected with a Trans. Light Blue back and an opalescent face/tummy! That may explain why the Friends penguin mold was chosen—its dual-molded pattern allowed for that kind of highly subtle color variation.
What a colorful and fun set. Thank you for the review!
Something else I thought of—in terms of new parts in this set, the tiger-patterned lanterns in this set would allow you to "retrofit" this past year's Spring Lantern Festival for the upcoming Year of the Tiger. I wonder if anybody could come up with a large tiger lantern build to replace the light-up bull from that set?
Think those fish frozen in the water are gonna be OK?
@MrClassic said:
" @Huw said:
"There are plenty of other transparent clear parts that tend to be fairly rare in it too. Unfortunately, they are the new 'milky' type so don't look as clear and clean as the older polycarbonate ones. However, I suspect it's the new plastic formulation that has enabled parts with clips and bars to be made in clear colours."
What if they could go back to polycarbonate for large transparent parts such as windscreens, windows and panels and use the new formulation for the rest..."
That would mean actively maintaining two mixes. Probably not very sustainable, logistically and environmentally...
This set just feels worse than the spring lantern festival
The overall composition of the set doesn't look nearly as nice as previous years' sets, but I can't argue with the cost relative to the quality and number of pieces.
Clearly LEGO is going all out for the China market. They are probably very very worried about Chinese LEGO-clone manufacturers, who have really stepped up the quality of their bricks and continue to rip off LEGO designs, as well as making some of their own not-too-bad originals.
@Plisskin82 said:
"My guess is the mystery silver dish is for sharpening the skates?"
Good call. Yes, that's certainly plausible!
@heikoloogi said:
"The brown thing are sweet potatoes. Very common to get here in China from street vendors. "
Thank you. They look a bit 'rocky', though!
@Lyichir said:
"Good review!
Rather than a glittery surface coating, I think the reason the penguin is listed with other Trans. Light Blue parts may be that it is actually coinjected with a Trans. Light Blue back and an opalescent face/tummy! That may explain why the Friends penguin mold was chosen—its dual-molded pattern allowed for that kind of highly subtle color variation."
Yes, I think you're right. Thanks.
I would assume the penguin with the orange ingot is one of those big plastic penguins that you see at ice rinks for people who aren't confident skating yet. They use them to balance against so they don't fall over.
If only they kept the high standards for all themes now...
Also, would love to buy it, but much like the Monkie Kid sets, they will never arrive here.
The photographer in 60202 has a nearly identical camera with long lens and flash.
Also aren't the female hair pieces essentially the same as 6173952 and 6290530?
@heikoloogi said:
"The brown thing are sweet potatoes. Very common to get here in China from street vendors. "
One commenter on an older article said they were chaolìzi and I thought that was the case for a while. They’d probably use studs or tiles if that was what they were trying to represent, though.
I have ordered today morning.
And this review is promising.
Looks like an irregular base. How well would it attach to Modular’s? Need adaptations?
Crazy that all the decorations are printed! I was expecting sticker given how many there are. Love the opal ice, the effect reminds me of the pond in spring lantern festival
@DavidBrick said:
" @LegoSonicBoy said:
"Think those fish frozen in the water are gonna be OK?
@MrClassic said:
" @Huw said:
"There are plenty of other transparent clear parts that tend to be fairly rare in it too. Unfortunately, they are the new 'milky' type so don't look as clear and clean as the older polycarbonate ones. However, I suspect it's the new plastic formulation that has enabled parts with clips and bars to be made in clear colours."
What if they could go back to polycarbonate for large transparent parts such as windscreens, windows and panels and use the new formulation for the rest..."
That would mean actively maintaining two mixes. Probably not very sustainable, logistically and environmentally..."
Don't they already do that?
The plant pieces are made from plant based plastics, the other pieces aren't. So LEGO clearly has two different plastics being used for parts already.
My guess would be that LEGO wants all the pieces in colors to match. They don't anyways but LEGO might want that."
The parts made of plant-based plastic are only made of plant based plastics, and that plastic replaced another plastic that was used previously. The use of two transparent plastics would introduce a new plastic without substituting it for another or getting rid of another type of plastic, which would be not only less sustainable environmentally but far more expensive.
I didn’t want to like this set, but there are too many cool new parts!
I 100% want this for Commander Bear/Cold.
It's still quite a nice addition to the range, but it somehow feels a little underwhelming compared to the others.
I especially dislike all those pieces in that new milky transparent plastic. It looks so awful, cheap and "knock-off" compared to the crystal clear polycarbonate of old. I totally hate it.
Older true knock-off sets like those by Lepin had this milky transparent plastic as well, because it is so much cheaper to produce. But even alternate brands nowadays use proper transparent pieces. Sad to see LEGO going the opposite direction.
But hey, money saved I guess.
One thing I particularly like about this set is there appear to be no specific year prints, especially no "2022" torsos. The 2021 prints in the lantern festival rather reduced its value for me.
I think this would look good in my winter scene.
@Mr__Thrawn said:
" @DavidBrick said:
" @LegoSonicBoy said:
"Think those fish frozen in the water are gonna be OK?
@MrClassic said:
" @Huw said:
"There are plenty of other transparent clear parts that tend to be fairly rare in it too. Unfortunately, they are the new 'milky' type so don't look as clear and clean as the older polycarbonate ones. However, I suspect it's the new plastic formulation that has enabled parts with clips and bars to be made in clear colours."
What if they could go back to polycarbonate for large transparent parts such as windscreens, windows and panels and use the new formulation for the rest..."
That would mean actively maintaining two mixes. Probably not very sustainable, logistically and environmentally..."
Don't they already do that?
The plant pieces are made from plant based plastics, the other pieces aren't. So LEGO clearly has two different plastics being used for parts already.
My guess would be that LEGO wants all the pieces in colors to match. They don't anyways but LEGO might want that."
The parts made of plant-based plastic are only made of plant based plastics, and that plastic replaced another plastic that was used previously. The use of two transparent plastics would introduce a new plastic without substituting it for another or getting rid of another type of plastic, which would be not only less sustainable environmentally but far more expensive."
Also, IIRC one of the reasons Lego switched to mABS instead of Polycarbonate (in addition to the advantages like not binding to itself the way PC parts could) was that Lego's sustainable materials team believed that mABS showed far more promise in terms of the prospect of finding an eventual plant-based replacement. It'd make little sense to continue manufacturing with Polycarbonate in addition to that when removing Polycarbonate from their supply chain was part of the point of the switch in the first place.
Whilst it doesn’t quite reach the same level as the Lantern Festival IMO, it certainly looks a lovely and charming new set.
The Lunar New Year sets are certainly amongst the best released every year.
I think the word "adorned" is misused in the description of the fisherman. It implies the outfit is *decorated by the presence of* the fisherman, not that it is being *worn* by him.
Purports to be a Huw review but surely ghost-written? Splendid, splendid...
Excellent set though. NZ reasonably well priced against UK/US/EU and currently on sale too (slightly) so it's likely it'll join the growing number of sets from this theme very soon!
@AustinPowers said:
"It's still quite a nice addition to the range, but it somehow feels a little underwhelming compared to the others.
I especially dislike all those pieces in that new milky transparent plastic. It looks so awful, cheap and "knock-off" compared to the crystal clear polycarbonate of old. I totally hate it.
Older true knock-off sets like those by Lepin had this milky transparent plastic as well, because it is so much cheaper to produce. But even alternate brands nowadays use proper transparent pieces. Sad to see LEGO going the opposite direction.
But hey, money saved I guess."
They likely are like that more due to where they are being used, than being 'cheaper', as they are used for the ice rink 'ice' in the set
The penguin has an orange inglot because it’s another sculpture but not a live penguin I believe. The ice rink is great but tbh while it’s a great Lego set , I think 80108 is a better Chinese New Year set. This one is a great winter village set. I also have my detailed review here https://youtu.be/NY3edZ008rg
I wish more sets were like these Chinese ones. Not only they are really well designed, they are quite cheap and full of prints.
@Huw said:
" @heikoloogi said:
"The brown thing are sweet potatoes. Very common to get here in China from street vendors. "
Thank you. They look a bit 'rocky', though!"
@heikoloogi is correct: they’re sweet potatoes. It says so in LEGO’s marketing blurb.
The black thing with the silver dish is a sharpener for the skates.
I'll be getting this set to add to my Winter Village. Maybe I'll also find a Story of Nian to add in as well.
I am tempted to get this set not just because it's a cool set, but because I WANT those Ice Planet torsos. Hopefully those get reused somewhere.
Low quality transparent pieces actually work well for ice. I'm generally not a fan of spending large numbers of pieces on ground (looking at you, new road tiles) but here the ground is an integral part of the experience. This set is also versatile in how you can use it - Chinese traditional theme, City theme, or Winter Village.
Good stuff!
P.S. There's an incorrect apostrophe on the description of the penguin. It should be "its back" and not "it's back".
Love there is a phone printed 1x2 tile under the ice, a small humorous detail that I appreciate.
Looks like with the thankful lack of stickers for this set, Lego have decided to whack them all in 80108 instead! Not looking forward to that building experience.
@guachi said:
"Low quality transparent pieces actually work well for ice. I'm generally not a fan of spending large numbers of pieces on ground (looking at you, new road tiles) but here the ground is an integral part of the experience. This set is also versatile in how you can use it - Chinese traditional theme, City theme, or Winter Village.
Good stuff!
P.S. There's an incorrect apostrophe on the description of the penguin. It should be "its back" and not "it's back"."
Y'know, there's really no reason to accept the made-up talking point that the opalescent parts are "low quality" when their translucent color is due to a deliberate glitter additive and not impurities or any other quality defect. Just because certain persistent complainers assume that any change Lego makes must have been a matter of cost-cutting doesn't make it true.
@Lyichir said:
" @guachi said:
"Low quality transparent pieces actually work well for ice. I'm generally not a fan of spending large numbers of pieces on ground (looking at you, new road tiles) but here the ground is an integral part of the experience. This set is also versatile in how you can use it - Chinese traditional theme, City theme, or Winter Village.
Good stuff!
P.S. There's an incorrect apostrophe on the description of the penguin. It should be "its back" and not "it's back"."
Y'know, there's really no reason to accept the made-up talking point that the opalescent parts are "low quality" when their translucent color is due to a deliberate glitter additive and not impurities or any other quality defect. Just because certain persistent complainers assume that any change Lego makes must have been a matter of cost-cutting doesn't make it true."
You do realize that I wasn't talking about the new transparent colour that is deliberately milky because of the glitter effect, but about the new "normal" transparent pieces that are now as milky as those by illegal knock-offs used to be years ago? If not, sorry for the confusion, but actually it should have been blatantly obvious.
Just look at this image if you need further clarification:
https://images.brickset.com/news/67636_P1064441.JPG
That is 2017 Lepin type of "quality".
I don't quite understand why these sets get prints, and UCS sets still get stickers. These are nice enough sets, although not my cup of tea, but it's the inconsistency that gets me.
@Block_n_Roll said:
"Purports to be a Huw review but surely ghost-written? Splendid, splendid...
…."
Why the fork would somebody say a thing like that?
I can only assume that this is based on the Harbin Ice Festival, in which case those minifigures are going to become ice sculptures themselves the way they are dressed.
It also is probably worth noting that Harbin is home to a zoo dedicated to Siberian Tigers, I wonder if that played a role in deciding the locale for this set.
@Montyh7 said:
"I don't quite understand why these sets get prints, and UCS sets still get stickers. These are nice enough sets, although not my cup of tea, but it's the inconsistency that gets me. "
Easy. These sets are mainly aimed at the Chinese market, which TLG wants to get into. Therefore no expense is spared.
UCS sets otoh sell with or without effort thanks to enough fanboys with deep pockets, willing to accept anything thrown at them.
Alternative manufacturers have proven that it is perfectly possible to print even those huge tile pieces with perfect quality, colour consistency and what have you. But of course if you are market leader and enough people are willing to buy what you offer even at that quality level, why invest extra effort? Just raise the price even more so people think it must be the best simply because it's the most expensive.
@Montyh7 said:
"I don't quite understand why these sets get prints, and UCS sets still get stickers. These are nice enough sets, although not my cup of tea, but it's the inconsistency that gets me. "
80103 and 80108 use stickers, inconsistent.
@AustinPowers said:
"
Easy. These sets are mainly aimed at the Chinese market, which TLG wants to get into. Therefore no expense is spared.
"
Monkie Kid theme uses a lot of stickers even in 80024.
@TeriXeri said:
" @AustinPowers said:
"
Easy. These sets are mainly aimed at the Chinese market, which TLG wants to get into. Therefore no expense is spared.
"
Monkie Kid theme uses a lot of stickers even in 80024 . "
Yes, but Monkie Kid is a play theme, the Chinese New Year sets are display pieces for collectors, so more comparable to UCS sets than say a City set, which has the same target audience as Monkie Kid sets.
Maybe I should have said the Chinese collectors' market in my original post.
@Astrobricks said:
" @Block_n_Roll said:
"Purports to be a Huw review but surely ghost-written? Splendid, splendid...
…."
Why the fork would somebody say a thing like that?
"
Wow. I guess Santa brought you the "Sense Of Humour Removal Kit" you always dreamed of.
Another beautiful CNY set. I have no place for these but will surely buy some of the prints and the Ice Planet torso if they hopefully become available on B&P.
My only minor criticism would be the hut being open on the left side, rather than the back. I suppose that is a considered decision to allow the interior to be viewed while on static display, but I'd much rather it appeared like a closed building when viewed from either side. It's not as problematic as the baffling Sesame Street shop presentation though.
@TheOtherMike said:
"I am tempted to get this set not just because it's a cool set, but because I WANT those Ice Planet torsos. Hopefully those get reused somewhere."
You might wanna check out bricks n pieces
@Plisskin82 said:
"My guess is the mystery silver dish is for sharpening the skates?"
I haven't been able to find an image of such a circular skate sharpener. Does anyone have an example? My guess is that it is a hyperbolic dish space heater to keep the shop warm.
" @AustinPowers said:
Yes, but Monkie Kid is a play theme, the Chinese New Year sets are display pieces for collectors, so more comparable to UCS sets than say a City set, which has the same target audience as Monkie Kid sets.
Maybe I should have said the Chinese collectors' market in my original post. "
But what about 80108 , is even more display set compared to 80109 and has stickers.
@Legonk: oh, I have. Multiple times.
@TeriXeri said:
"
" @AustinPowers said:
Yes, but Monkie Kid is a play theme, the Chinese New Year sets are display pieces for collectors, so more comparable to UCS sets than say a City set, which has the same target audience as Monkie Kid sets.
Maybe I should have said the Chinese collectors' market in my original post. "
But what about 80108 , is even more display set compared to 80109 and has stickers. "
Don't know. Exception to the rule?
In the end, who cares? If you like prints, be happy about such effort on the part of LEGO, if you prefer stickers, buy sets that contain those.
Thankfully no one is forcing you either way.
@Lyichir said:
" I wonder if anybody could come up with a large tiger lantern build to replace the light-up bull from that set?"
Working on this myself, hoping to enlist the actual Tiger in the house to help, I'm just a Rabbit. Hoping someone else has already done the hard work with a brick built model of approximate scale
“This mother with small child attired in one of two torsos featuring an Ice Planet logo has a push-along sleigh that resembles some sort of penguin.“
Looks more like a certain platypus from a TV show… ;-)
Great review as always, Huw.
I wish they added more details on the surrounding builds. The skate rent shop looks only half-finished and somewhat uninspired. But I get that the skating rink is the main selling point of the set so kudos still to the designers for another splendid job. :)
I would probably modify this to accommodate the Hogsmeade and Winter Village sets. They’ll look fantastic when displayed all together.
@AustinPowers said:
" @Lyichir said:
" @guachi said:
"Low quality transparent pieces actually work well for ice. I'm generally not a fan of spending large numbers of pieces on ground (looking at you, new road tiles) but here the ground is an integral part of the experience. This set is also versatile in how you can use it - Chinese traditional theme, City theme, or Winter Village.
Good stuff!
P.S. There's an incorrect apostrophe on the description of the penguin. It should be "its back" and not "it's back"."
Y'know, there's really no reason to accept the made-up talking point that the opalescent parts are "low quality" when their translucent color is due to a deliberate glitter additive and not impurities or any other quality defect. Just because certain persistent complainers assume that any change Lego makes must have been a matter of cost-cutting doesn't make it true."
You do realize that I wasn't talking about the new transparent colour that is deliberately milky because of the glitter effect, but about the new "normal" transparent pieces that are now as milky as those by illegal knock-offs used to be years ago? If not, sorry for the confusion, but actually it should have been blatantly obvious.
Just look at this image if you need further clarification:
https://images.brickset.com/news/67636_P1064441.JPG
That is 2017 Lepin type of "quality". "
Okay, I'm looking at those parts and... I don't see the problem? They look clear to me. Maybe not exactly identical to how parts looked when they were polycarbonate (they seem to refract light a bit more, making the edges of parts in particular stand out a little more than on older parts), but not objectively worse in any sense.
I remember back in the day when people would complain about quality, they'd tend to assume that any plastic type other than ABS was a sign of cheapness. Now, for the first time, transparent parts actually ARE ABS, and yet somehow that is assumed to be cheapness/cost-cutting as well.
All that despite eliminating one of the actual objective quality issues with using polycarbonate, such as transparent parts being inserted into other transparent parts binding so much that the parts become almost inseparable (a major issue for a building toy where being rebuildable is one of the core features). To me, that advantage (plus the potential future advantage of being more easily sourced from plants) more than makes up for a barely perceptible difference in appearance.
@Lyichir said:
"Okay, I'm looking at those parts and... I don't see the problem? They look clear to me.
[...]
To me, that advantage (plus the potential future advantage of being more easily sourced from plants) more than makes up for a barely perceptible difference in appearance."
Barely perceptible? Clear?
Sorry, not trying to be mean or rude, but you should seriously have your eyes checked if you can't see the massive difference between the new material and the old polycarbonate.
The old transparent pieces were crystal clear (and in any trans colour too by the way). Sparkling bright and glossy. I have sets from my childhood like all those Classic Space ships and their transparent, trans-yellow, trans-blue, trans-green etc. pieces shine like on the day I first got them.
The new material is milky, dull and feels totally different too. Very cheap and knockoff like.
I admit I have bought the Green Grocer copy from Lepin back in the day, and the quality was identical to LEGO - except for the transparent pieces (of any colour I might add). Those were as milky and awful looking as the new material used by LEGO.
Back then I ordered replacement parts on Bricklink for all transparent pieces on that Lepin Green Grocer, and now it looks exactly like the LEGO original in my display case next to all my proper LEGO Modulars.
I find it totally horrific that LEGO now uses exactly that cheap looking material that to me used to be the way to detect knockoff sets.
@AustinPowers said:
" @Lyichir said:
"Okay, I'm looking at those parts and... I don't see the problem? They look clear to me.
[...]
To me, that advantage (plus the potential future advantage of being more easily sourced from plants) more than makes up for a barely perceptible difference in appearance."
Barely perceptible? Clear?
Sorry, not trying to be mean or rude, but you should seriously have your eyes checked if you can't see the massive difference between the new material and the old polycarbonate."
I'm with Lyi on this one. The photo you linked to as an example looks plenty "clear" to me — to the point that the molded part numbers on the bottom of the parts are perfectly crisp and legible even when viewing the parts from above ! Is there a difference? Sure, but a negligible one, which does not limit the utility of the parts or the crispness of the colors. A LEGO window pane or windscreen is still "see-through" whether it's made with MABS or PC.
Saying that it looks "milky" or "low-quality" feels like complaining that UV-filtering or blue light filtering eyeglass lenses are "milky" or "low-quality". And I'm pretty certain my eyes would be in much worse shape if I refused to get any sort of protective lens filter due to differences like that which are scarcely noticeable in most circumstances.
On another note, "milky" seems like a wildly inaccurate term to use for parts that are this transparent. Usually I'd associate that term with translucent parts that allow light through, but that aren't "see-through" at all (like these ones: https://flic.kr/p/oxHpUX ). I mean, if you were to order a cup of tea with a spot of milk, would you still expect to clearly see the bottom of the teacup?
@Aanchir : do you really mean that? I mean, do you honestly think the new material is actually transparent? I mean, sure, it let's light through, you can even see through it in a way, but not like through proper transparent pieces.
For an experiment, put three windscreens of the new type lined up behind one another on a baseplate and try to see through them then.
Try the same thing with polycarbonate windscreens. You can take ten or more behind one another and still see through them perfectly. Impossible with the new material
But hey, if you're happy to pay ever higher prices for ever worse quality, by any means do so. I'm not trying to stop you. TLG is happy to take your money.
Just for the record, the cut lines of the stickers in my latest set were totally misaligned, some of the prints had colour bleed around the edges, on another set the instruction manual had several pages that were stuck together at the sides due to not having been properly cut. The list of quality defects goes on and on.
If I experienced such issues with sets from alternative manufacturers at least I could say ok, that's what you get for paying much less, but from a company whose claim used to be "only the best is good enough" and where you pay premium prices, such issues are unacceptable.
And yes, I count this new sub par material as an issue too.
I wonder if it depends on the lighting. In some cases, the difference is indeed negligible, such that if you don't pay too close attention, it's there but honestly quite acceptable. In other cases, you can immediately tell without a visual reference or a touch test if a clear piece is mABS, the difference is night and day, it's impossible to unsee the white "filter", and it actively detracts from whatever use case clear pieces were used for in the first place (windows, simulating being airborne, etc). What I'm more concerned about is the fact that mABS clear pieces seem much more prone to discoloration than PC, and I don't know if I just keep getting bad pieces or if it's a systemic issue with the material itself.
Love this set, definitely picking this up.
@Binary_Code said:
"Also aren't the female hair pieces essentially the same as 6173952 and 6290530? "
I'm surprised Huw hasn't updated the review by now to reflect that those hair pieces are very much not new, but merely new element numbers. Well, I'm also surprised he didn't pick up on that in the first place.
Overall it's a fun set but there's something about it that looks more sloppy than previous Lunar New Year sets. It might be the non-rectangular base and irregular rock work, but it looks more like a nice MOC that a perfectly designed set.
And re the new transparent colours, has anyone arguing stopped to notice that the big parts like windows and cockpits, arguably the most important, still look perfectly good? Only the small ones look a tad frosty, but is that really a big deal if a 2x2 bricks (that has a big tube inside anyway) is a little frosty?
I personally really like this one. I especially like the fact that it is different from the Spring Lantern Festival set from last year.
I wonder if we’ll see someone post a summertime version on Rebrickable or someplace similar ...
32828 in red is another new recolour in this set, no?
In case no one has posted it, this is what the Penguin is in reference to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfgoi_XaNFE&ab_channel=InsideEdition
@LegoSonicBoy said:
"That would mean actively maintaining two mixes. Probably not very sustainable, logistically and environmentally..."
As already mentioned, Lego uses several different types of plastic already, it's far from just ABS.
@Lyichir said:
"IIRC one of the reasons Lego switched to mABS instead of Polycarbonate (in addition to the advantages like not binding to itself the way PC parts could) was that Lego's sustainable materials team believed that mABS showed far more promise in terms of the prospect of finding an eventual plant-based replacement. It'd make little sense to continue manufacturing with Polycarbonate in addition to that when removing Polycarbonate from their supply chain was part of the point of the switch in the first place. "
I'm all for using more sustainable materials, but the problem remains - the new material is less transparent and much more prone to scratches, so much that large parts like windscreens often come scratched out of the box. I find it very hard to understand how anyone can find that acceptable for a premium brand like Lego.