Year of the Rabbit event in Taipei
Posted by Huw,
This article has been contributed by riversarl:
With pandemic restrictions finally easing it is great to see large-scale events slowly return to Asia! I was fortunate enough to be visiting family in Taiwan over the holiday period.
Chinese New Year is a Very Big Deal in most Asian territories (and beyond!) and Lego has really pulled out all the stops for 2023, the Year of the Rabbit. In collaboration with the Uni-president Department Store in Taipei we get a pop-up plaza of brick and rabbit-themed fun!
The pop-up is located at the second floor outdoor plaza of the department store in the popular Xin Yi shopping district. The entrance to the display is unmissable from the busy intersection with human-sized minifigs flanked by a huge rendition of 40575 Year of the Rabbit and a large screen detailing the various activities.
Life-sized vignettes adorn the main square allowing for plenty of photo opportunities, based on 80101 Chinese New Year's Eve Dinner, 80110 Lunar New Year Display and nn80111 Lunar New Year Parade. 3D printing and CAD technology have certainly come a long way since Legoland in the early 2000s - these genuinely look like they’re made from upsized Lego bricks, down to the accurate moulding of antistuds!
The sign-up counter for activities had a queue and participants were given a wristband for recording digital creations and a matching bunny headband.
New Year’s resolutions can be written on carrot cards and hung among blossoms, behind which is a cool MOC of the lunar rabbit.
There are several activities inside for kids to get creative:
- Manoeuvring Stuntz bikes through a carrot-filled obstacle course
- Creating individualised red envelopes using DOTS
- A Taiko no Tatsujin styled drumming rhythm game
- Writing messages on digital paper lanterns
- A free build of a cute bunny rabbit
Of course, all of this leads up to the main event - the pop-up Lego store! The 2023 range was fully stocked, and most items had a 15 - 30% discount. There are also several tiers of freebies to collect.
VIP membership sign-up + any purchase: Rebuild the World parts pack
NT1200: Year of the Rabbit themed red envelopes and wall banners
NT2800: 40575 Year of the Rabbit
NT3800: Event-themed tote bag
NT4200: Minibuild of the God of Fortune
(1 USD = 30 NTD)
It was lots of fun to see the displays and the excitement of kids in the crowd. The event runs until 19/02/23 and is well worth checking out if you are in the area!
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16 comments on this article
Very good coverage, I appreciate the opportunity to see a Lego event in a place so far away from me. Those upscaled builds look really good. It would be so cool if Lego ever produced "life sized" bricks to build outdoor, backyard models! BTW, that jumping rabbit moc can be seen here, it's a fantastic build: https://www.brothers-brick.com/2023/01/08/hoppy-new-year/
That looks like quite a spectacle - Thanks for taking the time and effort to photograph the experience!
The God of fortune minibuild looks like great fun.
Now this makes me miss China. My family and I used to track these events down every year wherever they were held, and we always got freebies.
Wow that's a major push by Lego. It really looks AWESOME! Thanks for reporting and for the photos
Nicely framed shots with 101 in the background :D Planning to visit again soon now that entry restrictions are easing.
@LegoBoi69 said:
"Lego is less fun masked up... ;)"
Why does masking make a difference? Are you putting the bricks in your mouth? You really shouldn't do that at a public event. ;)
Anyway, this is very cute! Reminds me slightly of old Lego events in the U.S. like the truck tours, though the execution has come a long way since then!
The rabbit jumping over the moon in one of the pictures is a fan MOC I think, I feel like I saw a picture of it posted by the creator recently on Facebook or Instagram.
@Stoker_stu said:
"Wow that's a major push by Lego. It really looks AWESOME! Thanks for reporting and for the photos"
This is just the beginning. LEGO acknowledges in its 2019 annual report that it has to make much more aggressive inroads into the Asian market:
"By 2032, 90% of the world’s two billion children will live outside Europe and North America, with more than three quarters of these living in Eastern Asia. As a result, we are stepping up investment in the growth markets of tomorrow."
FYI the instructions for NT4200: Minibuild of the God of Fortune are out in the wild.
Those life-sized ‘minifigures’ make me want a CS spaceman one! Not sure where I’d put it, but I still want one :~P
NT3800: Event-themed tote bag aww
lol looks like aice in wonderland
Thanks for the comments everyone! Looking more closely at the photos it looks like the entirety of each large display, including the facades for the shop entrances, are all “built” from recognisable pieces - I wonder if they were manufactured as one unit or actually assembled like real Lego?
Thanks also for linking to the MOC. It is really dynamic and cool to see in person!
Almost thought I was mistaken when seeing this on the frontpage.
Glad to find a fellow Taiwanese AFOL in the wild, and what a nice coverage!
I want that white rabbit window display as a set or plans. It looks nice and more realistic to actual rabbits than the cartoony ones.
I love seeing Taipei and Lego Chinese New Year celebrations. Great article. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing such a beautiful event in the beautiful country of Taiwan!