Holiday gift guide: $50-$100
Posted by Huw,
Today's holiday gift guide examines sets in the $50-100 range, in which an outstanding range of 87 sets have been released this year.
There are plenty of 'adults welcome' sets at this price that would make great gifts for those who might not (yet) be AFOLs, as well as many that will be appreciated by kids.
Find out what Brickset staff have picked after the break then let us know what you would have chosen in the comments.
Huw
10497 Galaxy Explorer ($99.99, £89.99, 99.99€)
This is pretty much the perfect LEGO set. It provides an absorbing and engaging building experience that leverages interesting geometry and techniques to produce a wonderful homage to the classic spaceship.
There are no stickers, and it's clear that no expense has been spared. Despite that, the price seems very reasonable indeed.
It would therefore make the perfect gift for anyone of a certain age that swooshed the original around their bedroom as a kid, and you needn't worry whether your recipient already has it: if they do, they can build an updated version of 918 Space Transport and 924 Space Transporter with it instead.
MeganL
41703 Friendship Tree House (£69.99 / $79.99 / 79.99€)
The Friends sets in this range have been outstanding this year. A lot of deserved credit has been given to the school sets, notably 41711 Emma's Art School and 41714 Andrea's Theatre School. 41722 Horse Show Trailer shouldn't be overlooked, as it's another great Friends vehicle.
But if I'm giving a gift this year, it's 41703 Friendship Tree House. It's the set commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Friends line, and it deserves the hype. There are small Easter eggs to each of the original Friends in the build. There's plenty of play value, diverse mini-dolls, and some sophisticated building with the elevator and wind turbine. But most importantly, building the Friendship Tree House is hands-down the most fun I've ever had in building a Friends set. I typically tear down all of my Friends sets at the end of the year - but this one is staying in the display case.
CapnRex101
75338 Ambush on Ferrix (£69.99 / $69.99 / 79.99€)
This bracket presents an exceptional selection and choosing one set is very difficult. I think 10497 Galaxy Explorer is probably the 'correct' answer and 76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck is another of my favourite sets released this year.
However, I cannot ignore 75338 Ambush on Ferrix! This model is relatively small, but captures amazing detail and includes a surprisingly extensive interior, with opening panels giving ample access. Moreover, the exceptionally high quality of the Andor series has only increased my appreciation for this set, particularly in relation to the minifigures. Luthen Rael has joined my personal pantheon of all-time-great Star Wars characters!
The price is rather expensive, but discounts are frequently available and the excellent design overcomes any concerns about the price, in my opinion.
TheBrickPal
76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck (£79.99 / $89.99 / 89.99€)
The year has seen some phenomenal sets in this category, with standouts such as 71772 The Crystal King, 75572 Jake & Neytiri's First Banshee Flight, and 80033 Evil Macaque's Mech. The 'Adults Welcome' range continues to impress as usual, with 10497 Galaxy Explorer and 76956 T. rex Breakout among my favorites. But if I had to recommend just one of them, it would be 76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck.
The popular Horizon games finally come to brick life, and it couldn't have been done any better. Out of any PlayStation franchise, the animalistic machines of Horizon definitely feel best suited to LEGO form, and designer Isaac Snyder proves it here. He has perfectly captured all of the details and subtle shaping of the Tallneck. The little Watcher model is adorable, and impressive at such a small scale. I think any sci-fi fan would appreciate this set, whether they are familiar with the game's world or not.
Nora huntress Aloy is instantly recognisable. Even her Focus is captured on the hair piece! She is easily a contender for minifigure of the year. The base completes the model, and it doesn't feel like an afterthought at all - it really sets the scene of an epic adventure through the remains of the Old Ones.
A younger video game enthusiast, or anyone who is young at heart, may appreciate 21331 Sonic the Hedgehog - Green Hill Zone instead. The set remarkably recreates the first levels of the 1991 SEGA classic. For a Nintendo pick, Super Mario's 71403 Adventures with Peach offers the best Starter Course yet, with plenty of fun that can be had right out of the box.
As for other themes, Star Wars fans are bound to be impressed by 75335 BD-1 and 75336 Inquisitor Transport Scythe, and Marvel fans may enjoy 76208 The Goat Boat and 76217 I am Groot. Truly something for everyone!
Alice
31207 Floral Art (£59.99 / $79.99 / 69.99€)
31207 Floral Art was an interesting addition to the Art theme. It’s non-licensed and half the price of other Art sets. There are 15 different possible combinations to choose from so it will make a great piece of wall art for anyone's room.
I think it would be a great gift for an AFOL to display on their wall but, as Huw said in his review, it's also likely to make a great gift for someone who likes doing cross-stitch or similar but who has not dabbled with LEGO. So it could be a good set to introduce LEGO to non-AFOLs!
FlagsNZ
60335 Train Station ($99.99 / £69.99 / 79.99€)
David didn't have time to write about his choice today but we'll leave it in anyway!
benbacardi
21334 Jazz Quartet (£89.99 / $99.99 / 99.99€)
There are few sets on permanent display in my lounge, but 21334 Jazz Quartet is one of them, and will remain so for a long time. A fantastic display piece, it would make the perfect gift for a jazz aficionado, existing LEGO fan or otherwise. It's the sort of set that makes people look twice, before realising the intricate construction.
It was great fun to build too, and is also perfect to build with others, with a dedicated instruction booklet for each of the four musicians. LEGO IDEAS continues to bring out some of the best!
Which of the 87 sets would you choose to gift?
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30 comments on this article
spaceship Spaceship SPACESHIP! for any occasion this year!!
Train station is the best one because it comes with a toilet
For $100 you only have one option, and that's 10497. That's it.
And below this, only the Tallneck. These are two best sets of the year by far. (okay, 10305 too)
@leetshoe said:
"Train station is the best one because it comes with a toilet "
By that reckoning, take a closer look at 41703; the LEGO Friends are never caught short! :-D
As great and potentially nostalgia-inducing as the Galaxy Explorer is (alas I was born too late), it ironically cannot compare to the implied scale and grandiosity of the Tallneck despite its larger footprint. I am utterly oblivious to the source material but, and I know this sounds weird, there is something about the Tallneck that, futuristic theming notwithstanding, approximates a feeling, romantically Romantic, of the sublime. Yes, it’s cheesy and it’s this exact cheese (perhaps stemming from the official renders; I hope it translates into the real built model) that will coerce the lightening of my wallet this Christmas.
P.S.: I guess that Star Wars has numbed me somewhat to grey triangles. And I do worry that both the Galaxy Explorer and Tallneck will age poorly on display, what with their predominantly light bluish grey and white colour schemes respectively, two colours world-renowned for enduring the sun for years on end with nay a hint of yellowing.
My vote definitely goes to 76989 Tallneck too. It was such a wonderful surprise when it was released and I didn't even know the video game before that! Building this set actually made me wanna play the game, which has never happened to me before, go figure. The attractive base really adds a lot to the display value of this set, and the absolutely beautiful minifigure is probably my favourite out of all 897(!) so far this year!
Wal-Mart had a sale on Galaxy Explorers a few weeks back for 25% off. They may put them on sale again so be on the lookout!
Good list! Already got the Galaxy Explorer for myself, and am still very tempted to buy the Tallneck, despite not even having heard of the game before the release of this set. Also got the Train Station as a gift for my nephew, and the Tree House sure is a major candidate for my niece's birthday.
That said, the Jazz Quartet is still one of the most disappointing releases of the year. I loved the original fan submission and as it was it would have been a certain buy, but so much got lost in translation. As for the other ones, I'm just not that much into SW, and I still don't see the appeal of those art sets over Ministeck.
I would go so far as to call 10497 the best LEGO set of the year - by a wide margin. It has got everything I could want. Great design, cool details, interesting building techniques, prints-only, and above all a value for money proposition the kind of we haven't seen in a long time.
The Tallneck looks cool and I've still got it on my "to buy someday" list, but somehow it doesn't excite me as much. I mean, I haven't got a clue about the source material, and in the end it looks like a mixture between a giraffe and the saucer section of the Enterprise. Cool, weird, but not really screaming must-have to me.
The Friends Friendship Tree House I got on discount, and at that price it is really good value for money too.
The Jazz Quartet proposal got me excited, but the final set was a massive disappointment for me, so I wouldn't dream of buying that. Too many changes for the worse for my liking.
YMMV of course.
Good choice of sets above. Looking through the list of all sets in the price range I'm getting surprised by a few I forgot that did indeed come out this year and wanted to shout out 71765 - the ultra combo mech from Ninjago, great fun set to play/fiddle about with - 4 vehicles that combine into one big mech - very power rangers megazord vibes that really tapped into my nostalgia!! Looks great on my desk standing next to Voltron and Optimus Prime!
10497 is the best set of the year within this price range and *possibly* the best set of the year full stop. I say 'possibly' because the robot mode of 10302 is a thing of beauty (insofar as a Transformer may be described as such).
This morning was my first time seeing that train station set, thoughfeels weird that it doesn't have a train...
Feels like a lot of these city sets have had very little exposure, and some seem to be retiring already! (such as 60347 Grocery Store which would have been a good contender for the lower end of this bracket, or even for the cheaper category seeing as it's often discounted).
If I was buying for a kid, I'd expect to see some ninjago or monkey kid options, the dragons and mech are consistently good. In terms of originality I think 21334 Jazz Quartet wins it, and the 10497 galaxy explorer for nostalgia (at the upper end of the bracket).
Stars Wars has not been good value this year. Been loving Andor but yikes that's a small set for £70.
I have to choose 21334 Jazz Quartet as it jumped out as a display set. And although I no longer buy Friends sets, 41713 Space Academy is probably a buy-and-save set for me. A lot of great Star Wars sets in this range too, even if most were overpriced, including the helmet displays and the dioramas, but I did have to get 75325 from the Mandalorian. And the 76208 Goat Boat was one that my son and I had a blast building together!
Galaxy Explorer. period
I’m surprised to not see 75336 (Inquisitor’s Transport Scythe) offered up for recommendation by our resident Star Wars reviewer. I also have enjoyed Andor the show quite a bit more than Obi Wan. But I found the value and build of the Scythe was more attractive than that of the Ferrix dropship. Value especially, might be the best priced Star Wars set of the year (a low bar to be sure).
Yep, spaceship.
Galaxy Explorer is such a great set--but not hard to find for 25% off elsewhere. Recommend getting that one not from Lego. Such a great set though, and a steal even without a discount. Also glad to see the Jazz Combo here--looking forward to getting that whenever GWP's/etc align.
@leetshoe said:
"Train station is the best one because it comes with a toilet "
This isn't the only set with a portable toilet, either!
60335 Train Station is fun but 10497 Galaxy Explorer is easily my favorite set in the past few years. That's probably because 497 is my favorite set of all time and I own 4 of them.
@ra226 said:
"Galaxy Explorer is such a great set--but not hard to find for 25% off elsewhere. Recommend getting that one not from Lego."
That's interesting. Over here the set is exclusive to LEGO and Smyths. Can't get it anywhere else, and the best discount up to now was 10 percent once. I bought it from LEGO directly, for RRP no less. One of those very rare times I actually do that.
For those in Australia, almost all of them were over $100. Reading this makes LEGO seem so cheap for us in Australia.
https://www.thebrickfan.com/lego-seasonal-santas-workshop-40565-gwp-first-look/
Let me guess, what @CapnRex101 secretly means is that he only picked Ambush on Ferrix because Tallneck and Galaxy Explorer were already taken. :P
Andor is great but the build doesn’t draw me in at that price point. I immediately wanted the Tallneck set when I first found one in the game (I’d started the very beginning of Zero Dawn soon before the set was unveiled but it brought me back into the game). Unfortunately, my interest in the set has waned since than (don’t get me wrong, it’s absolutely beautiful but I won’t buy anything above $50 at this point) and I’ve consistently held off on asking for gifts since Christmas 2019, so while I’d argue that the Tallneck is the best of these, that doesn’t mean I’m buying it.
But that’s just me.
So many good ones here. From young to old collector.
Lots of great prices/value in this range.
My top 10 favs...
- 10497 Galaxy Explorer. Top of its class with fun building techniques, great price ($100 is a great deal but even better at $75usd at Walmart right now?), nostalgic goodness and looks great on display. Build out a moon-scape and landing pad for it which is alotta' fun to do.
- 10973 Wild Animals of South America. Great selection of Duplo animals and fun terrain for play.
- 41713: Olivia's Space Academy. Fabulous Friends set. Love the orrery min-build, nice shuttle, great facade for the main building and the best sticker sheet you'll ever see.
- 43203: Aurora, Merida and Tiana's Enchanted Creations. This is an amazing set for young girls (I like it too) that flew under the radar. 3 separate builds: One beautiful dollhouse chest that opens up, one castle build with hidden drawer and pencil holder and one 'music-box' style build with hidden drawer that holds a Dots bracelet. And the minidolls have a great feature. You take apart the minidoll and it stores itself within its dress. Very cool idea.
- 60349: Lunar Space Station. Little pricey on this one but all the City NASA kits are excellent with great interiors and these type of kits connect to one another to build your space habitat.
- 71765: Ninja Ultra Combo Mech. If you loved Voltron and similar mechs then this is a MUST get. Looks great and 4 mini-build vehicles combine to create a huge mech. Incredibly fun for your kids and us big kids too!
- 75329: Death Star Trench Run Diorama. Even though it got that price increase this is a unique very cool looking display set. Fun to build with all the greebling and nice mini-fighters. Excellent exclusive R2-D2 round tile for the mini X-Wing (unique version of this vehicle).
- 80108: Lunar New Year Traditions. You don't have to celebrate to enjoy this kit. Fun to build dioramas (fun to custom too), great looking with the gold and reds and talk about a parts pack...wow!
- 76956: T. rex Breakout. Great looking display for the Jurassic Park aficionado.
- 41714: Andrea's Theatre School. Another unique Friends set with truly great features, mini-builds and screams to have you customize to your imagination. Top notch and one of those under the radar sets. If you do it right, you can customize this to a modular live theater building.
https://brickset.com/sets/76956-1/T-rex-Breakout
The T-Rex breakout is probably my favorite in this range.
I'm target audience for the Galaxy Explorer - I had Classic Space as a kid. And yet... There's something about it. I just can't warm to the thing. I really don't like the main design feature of the sloping front.
In this price bracket there are two great sets for me: 75329 Death Star Trench Run is a great depiction in micro scale of an iconic scene from when Star Wars was still good. Because of its scale it nicely fits on a book shelf. The other is 10298 Vespa. Not my favourite colour (I'd have preferred red) but a very nice model that captures the shape very well. The accessories are the icing on the cake.
As a fan of all things Space I think the Galaxy Explorer is my vote for best set of 2022, one of the few sets of 2022 that I actually paid full Australian RRP for (although I did buy it and some other stuff to snag the Forrestmen GWP)
76956 is the only Lego set I have on my Christmas list.
10497 is now 50% off at Walmart... if it drops any lower, it's going to have to move to the "gifts $25-$50" article...
My top 5:
1- Galaxy explorer
2-inquisitor scythe
3-Horizon forbidden west
4-BD-1
5-Crystal king