As expected, today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO Ideas set 21335 Motorized Lighthouse, a box of 2065 pieces which will be available from September 1, 2022 at the retail price of €299.99. You probably already know that this official product is freely inspired by the project Motorized Lighthouse originally submitted by Must Build Roses (Sandro Quattrini) and definitively validated by LEGO in June 2021. The adaptation of the initial idea into an official product is in my opinion rather successful, we go from a microscale format with a slightly outdated look to a scale that allows add two minifigs, just to populate the rocky peak in question and add a "human" dimension to the construction which becomes a little more modern.

The name of the product clearly indicates it, this lighthouse is motorized without having to go back to the checkout as is often the case with sets which can possibly benefit from a motorization but for which LEGO imposes to acquire separately the different elements which prevent milling. You will still have to buy the six AA batteries needed to power the supplied motor.

In the box, there is therefore a battery box 88015 Battery Box (34.99 €), a motor 45303 Single Medium Linear Motor initially marketed in 2016 at the retail price of €12.99 in the Education WeDo 2.0 range and since removed from the catalog and a kit of LEDs 88005 LED Lights (9.99 €). These three elements are not high-flying technological exploits and the accumulation of their respective public prices, i.e. 57.97 €, is therefore probably not enough to justify the relatively high price of this product. However, we escape a simple luminous brick whose button you would have to hold down with one hand and a crank that you would have to manipulate with the other to really take advantage of this lighthouse. We can not have everything.

The assembly is quite entertaining, we start with the base plate dark Blue 32x32 on which the integrated mechanism is installed which will be hidden in the rocky peak on which the lighthouse is installed. This is well done with the battery-operated insert of the Battery Box which will remain accessible from one of the sides of the rock, hidden behind a removable rock wall.

The motor is connected to the axis which rotates the lighthouse lamp and a lever accessible from the "treasure" cave placed under the rock allows the whole thing to be started. The LED circuit is also installed very quickly with a diode which will illuminate the chimney inside the caretaker's house and another which will run along the inside of the lighthouse to illuminate the lamp.

If you intend to acquire this box, don't spoil yourself too much about the different construction stages visible in the photos below, nothing can replace the pleasure of discovery. Don't forget to test the proper functioning of the mechanism before covering the various elements that make it up, you can never be too careful and you will avoid a tedious disassembly and correction step.

The designer has taken a few aesthetic shortcuts at the level of the rock with the use of very large elements which are however a little forgotten when the various finishing touches and the staircase which allows to go up from the quay are in place. The rest of the assembly is rewarding, it's only the various panels that cover the sides of the headlight itself that are a little repetitive, but that's the subject matter.

The construction being collected on a limited surface, some may have a little trouble seeing the 2000 pieces provided even if the set makes a strong impression by culminating at nearly 50 cm high. The inventory is there, however, with a slew of small 1x1 elements.

LEGO has taken the time to do its homework and the manufacturer has endeavored to develop a unique element that reproduces the effect of a Fresnel lens by multiplying the light intensity and the range of the lighthouse lamp. It's very well executed and thanks to the mirror sticker integrated into the rotating support, the effect is really convincing on arrival, especially in the dark. For those who are interested, LEGO went through many prototypes before obtaining the perfectly adapted element and a visual illustrating the different options considered by the manufacturer is in the instruction booklet:

The purpose of the product is to be able to take advantage of the promised functionality built into this headlight. LEGO does not disappoint and the rotation of the lamp is fluid provided you have perfectly positioned the last gear at the end of the axis which goes up along the walls of the lighthouse and which drives the plate with the mirror and the lens. Regulars of LEGO motorization systems suspect it, the mechanism that puts the lighthouse lamp in rotation is really very noisy, and I don't see many people letting it run even for a few minutes on the corner of a shelf.

We can ask ourselves the question of such a debauchery of motorization elements for a simple lamp that turns on itself, but I would have been the first to regret not having the right to a functional headlight if LEGO had done the 'dead end. We will therefore take advantage of the integrated functionality sparingly, just for the pleasure of seeing this headlight come into action in the dark and trying to convince ourselves that the investment was justified. It's up to LEGO to work now on the sound level of its motors so that the pleasure is not spoiled by this background noise which quickly becomes unbearable.

The caretaker's house is well laid out and the removable roof allows you to take advantage of the premises a little so as not to be satisfied only with the visibility offered during the assembly phase. This pretty house is also the guarantee "details and finish" of this model whose rock with its lawn in visible tenons and the lighthouse remain relatively simplistic for a top-of-the-range model. The interior space of the guardian's accommodation is, as is often the case with LEGO, too small to really enjoy it, but we know that the furniture and details are there. On the headlight wall, three side panels can be removed very easily to provide access to the internal space. The possibility has the merit of existing but it is anecdotal, there is nothing inside except for a few ladders instead of the expected winding staircase.

The front of the house is pad-printed and everything that is not on the sheet of stickers that I scanned for you is therefore printed as usual. The number of stickers to be installed in different places remains limited, but the one that takes place on the boat is a little missed with smudges that are not at the level of what one would expect from a top-of-the-range product sold at strong price.

The manufacturer provides two minifigs in this box: the lighthouse keeper and a young woman rowing in her boat. The two new minifigs are nicely executed, they bring a little life to the construction. Too bad the boat can't really be better stored on the base plate, just to contain the diorama in the space delimited by the latter.

At €300, this set is obviously a niche product reserved for lovers of coastal dioramas who will undoubtedly find what they are looking for. This pretty lighthouse, too expensive to be really accessible, will effectively decorate a thematic diorama alongside the sets 21310 Old Fishing Store et 910010 The Great Fishing Boat, you will undoubtedly see it staged in all the exhibitions that will take place at the end of the year or next year.

More generally, only those who do not pay for these "adult" products or who have ample means to afford them find that their retail price is "reasonable", in an attempt to justify the skyrocketing prices or even try to show us with biased graphs and dubious statistics that LEGO products do not increase over the years, but we must know how to be honest: end of the world or not, inflation or not , new parts or not, the range of LEGO products aimed at adult customers accumulates products presented as high-end with the arbitrary pricing that goes with it. And it's more and more expensive for a few kilos of plastic even if some of these models are impressive and detailed. And for those who desperately cling to the martingale of the price per piece, I remind you for all intents and purposes that a kilo of tomatoes can contain more or less tomatoes depending on the size and therefore the weight of each of them. , there will always be a kilo...

Many adult fans have traditionally been content to collect the best-designed and most detailed children's toys sold at relatively affordable prices. LEGO has chosen to directly and very regularly target these "historical" fans as well as the brand's new customers with logically higher purchasing power than children who count their pocket money, and it is becoming increasingly difficult not to not have to be very selective to stay within the budget allocated to this hobby. It will therefore be without me, I could have added a lighthouse to my collection on a whim, but not at 300 €.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at August 29, 2022 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.

LEGO today officially unveils the LEGO Ideas set 21335 Motorized Lighthouse, a box of 2065 pieces seen in recent days on the usual channels and which will be available from September 1, 2022 at the retail price of €299.99.

This official product is freely inspired by the project Motorized Lighthouse submitted by Must Build Roses (Sandro Quattrini) and definitively validated in June 2021, the lighthouse is about fifty centimeters high, it is installed on a 32x32 base plate and it is, as the title of the product indicates, motorized via a Battery Box and an ecosystem engine Powered Up. Two LEDs provide lighting for the lighthouse and the keeper's house.

We will talk about this product in more detail tomorrow on the occasion of a "Review ".

21335 MOTORIZED LIGHTHOUSE ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

Remember, in May LEGO partnered with the US Target brand for an operation which was to allow one of the three LEGO Ideas projects having reached 10.000 supporters but which had been rejected in the review phase to nevertheless become an official product of the LEGO Ideas range.

It was then necessary to choose between the Working Mini Golf Course from LEGOParadise, the Viking Village of BrickHammer and the Marine Life by Brick Dangerous.

The fans voted and it was no surprise that the Viking Village won with 16317 votes, ahead of the Working Mini Golf Course, which accumulated 11575 votes. The Marine Life project ends third and last in the ranking with 6732 votes recorded.

The creator of the Viking Village is a regular review phases and rejections of his various creations, so he finally manages to place one of them in the LEGO Ideas range. He even has a second version of his Viking Village being evaluated, LEGO will no doubt take this into account when converting the winning project into an official set.

No deadline or public price for the moment, LEGO promises as usual to say more as soon as the set is ready. This box will be available through the usual channels, like the other sets in the range.

LEGO today unveils the set 21336 The Office, a new addition to the LEGO Ideas range which will be available from October 1, 2022 at the retail price of €119.99.

This product derived from the American version of the series The Office is inspired by the idea posted on the platform by Jaijai Lewis and the manufacturer does not disappoint with 1164 pieces on arrival, the floor occupied by the Dunder Mifflin company which is 30 cm wide and 25 cm deep and fifteen minifigs: Michael Scott, Dwight Schrute, Jim Halpert, Pam Beesly, Ryan Howard, Angela Martin, Oscar Martinez, Kevin Malone, Stanley Hudson, Kelly Kapoor, Phyllis Lapin Vance, Meredith Palmer, Creed Bratton, Toby Flenderson and Darryl Philbin.

I'm a big fan of the show, so this product will end up on my shelves even though Andy Bernard and Erin Hannon are missing.

LEGO IDEAS 21336 THE OFFICE ON THE LEGO SHOP >>

(The link to the shop redirects to the version of the official shop for your country of connection)

Onward for a small teasing sequence on social networks which precedes the imminent official announcement of the LEGO Ideas set based on the US version of The Office series.

If the set allows us to get something similar to the version offered on the platform, I'm already looking forward to getting a spin-off from a series I'm a big fan of. Fingers crossed that the cast is complete and that no office is forgotten during the passage from the idea to the LEGO grinder. I have little hope, but I want to believe...