Review : LEGO 40699 Retro Record Player Limited Edition

Today we go very quickly around the contents of the LEGO set 40699 Retro Record Player, a small pink box of 310 pieces which will be offered during the LEGO Insiders weekend on November 23 and 24, 2024 from €250 of purchase without restriction of range.

I won't draw you a picture, this is about assembling a vintage record player, an object that many have probably never known. This product is obviously not a "lifestyle" object that would fall into trompe-l'oeil, the construction obtained using the inventory provided measuring only 16 cm long by 12 cm deep and 4 cm high. We are therefore far from a reproduction of a real record player capable of accommodating 45 rpm records, or even 33 rpm records.

The object is quickly assembled but it benefits from many technical and aesthetic refinements that will send back a few years all those who have known this "technology": mobile needle to place on the record, volume button, support for the cover, everything is there. You can even start the record rotating via the wheel placed on the back of the device. The icing on the cake is that everything here is pad printed, not a shadow of a sticker in sight.

As you can imagine, not everything is perfect here, and the presence of many transparent parts to embody the lid of this record player has probably alerted you: several of them are scratched upon unpacking, they are not individually protected to avoid the usual damage. Too bad for a "limited edition" product that requires spending a rather substantial amount to get it.

The aesthetic defects that are very present somewhat spoil the pleasure of having in your hands an object that will awaken some memories in those who knew these vintage record players or these entry-level vinyl turntables from another era with their slightly kitsch design. For my part, I mainly used a record player, a variant that "swallowed" the record via a slot in the front, to listen to Dorothée.

I'm not sure that the whole thing is worth spending €250 to get it, a more detailed and scaled ICONS version would probably be more appropriate to satisfy the most nostalgic among us or the trompe-l'oeil fans. But this children's toy will probably end up in many orders, we quickly reach €250 at LEGO as soon as we are interested in the most luxurious products currently offered by the manufacturer. Fortunately, the promotional offer in question will be cumulative with the one that will allow from €170 of purchase to obtain a copy of the LEGO set 40700 Winter Holiday Train (294 pieces), the train being in my opinion much more convincing than this somewhat simplistic reproduction.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 29th November 2024 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

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