Review : LEGO Ideas 21332 The Globe

Today we are quickly interested in the content of the LEGO Ideas set 21332 The Globe, a product inspired by the project Earth globe submitted by Disneybrick55 (Guillaume Roussel) on the LEGO Ideas platform in early 2020 and approved in September 2020. A year and a half later, LEGO finally gives us the official and definitive version of the idea in question, with an inventory of 2585 pieces and a public price fixed at 199.99 €.

Unlike other "ideas" largely reworked, or even completely reinterpreted by LEGO, the official version of this globe remains very faithful to the original project, both in appearance and in the proportions of the object. After all, those who voted for this idea shouldn't be disappointed to get exactly what they showed their support for.

Personally, I was hoping on the contrary that the handling of the project by a designer from Billund would allow us to obtain a more successful product, but this is not really the case, apart from a few details. The initial idea is however very interesting and I was one of those who imagined that LEGO was going to put all its know-how to work to convince us that it is possible to make a beautiful round ball out of bricks. Even a year and a half later, it is not so. On the bright side: Guillaume Roussel will be able to autograph a box containing a product that visually conforms to the idea he proposed.

LEGO does not forget to throw a few flowers from the first pages of the instruction booklet by associating this product with its various initiatives in terms of environmental protection and, by extension, the planet. Why not, even if it is ultimately a plastic product delivered in a box too big for what it contains with a large handful of plastic bags and a large paper booklet. To go through with this discreet recovery of the product to promote its efforts, LEGO could have thrown in the box some of the new paper bags to replace the plastic ones, it was the perfect opportunity to introduce this evolution. logistics, hitherto reserved for the set 4002021 The (Ninjago) Temple of Celebrations offered this year to employees and partners of the group, to the general public.

As you can imagine, there is nothing really exciting about assembling this globe, which is neither perfectly round nor very smooth: it's a ball fixed on a support and we therefore spend our time reproducing the "slices" that successively constitute the surface of the object. Of the 16 sachets of the set, 4 are dedicated to the support, 3 to the central circle which is itself made up of identical sub-assemblies and 8 to the cover of the globe in small slices all identical in their design, with a variation on their decoration. depending on their position on the surface of the object. It's the product that wants it and it was logically difficult to escape the repetitive aspect of assembly but you will not have the best assembly experience of your life as a LEGO fan. For those wondering where the 2585 pieces of the set are, know that the cover of the globe only uses nearly 500 elements, the rest is in the support and the internal structure of which you will find an overview below.

The support is very convincing, it is aesthetically successful with a few touches of golden strapping sprinkled on a structure that imitates wood quite well. The vintage effect is there, we are in the theme. Things go a little wrong when it comes to moving on to the internal structure and the surface of the globe and this is where you really become aware of the very approximate adjustments between the different slices. This defect is obvious because we are in the process of assembling the product, it will fade a little when the globe is exposed and seen from a certain distance if the positioning of the clips which are used to connect the slices at the ends of the surface was perfectly executed.

The assembled product is solid and stable. It must be gripped by the base to avoid dropping a few plates, but the internal structure is well designed. Contrary to what some might imagine, the four wheels with their yellow rims and their tires are not involved in the rotation mechanism of the product, it is just a ballast that returns the globe to its predefined presentation position.

There are no stickers in this box and all patterned elements are therefore stamped. The oceans and continents are identified but you will not progress much in geography with this globe. The scale of the construction requires that the smallest continents be reduced to a few pieces that struggle a little to reproduce the usual curves of these terrestrial spaces. Once again, it will be necessary to take a step back and observe the object from a good distance so that the geographical simplification is less penalizing and that the identification of certain countries is possible, often by deduction. It should be noted in passing that Oceania is absent, LEGO only locating Australia in this area. The Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean are not identified.

The different small Tiles identification of continents and oceans are phosphorescent. It's not very interesting but it compensates for the impossibility of integrating internal lighting into the product as on the globes of our childhood, the external surfaces being matt. The typeface used by LEGO for these different elements seems to me a little off topic: The graphic designer has probably tried to obtain a vintage effect but we come close to Comic Sans and I find the result a bit disappointing. The fan designer of the product will at least have the satisfaction of having his initials present on the edge of the Dish white representing Antarctica (GR for Guillaume Roussel), you won't really see them when the product is assembled, but you will know it's there.

Beware of the finish defect sometimes encountered on the golden pieces, my copy of the set did not escape this problem (see photo below) but only a small 1x1 piece was concerned. Fortunately, LEGO provides many additional elements and I was able to replace the affected element. I was also missing a black piece which in principle fits on the upper part of the central axis.

The most demanding will take care to orient the cover plates and their green or beige overlay with the LEGO logo in the direction of the hemisphere concerned. I didn't have that patience but you only see tenons on arrival and it might be wise to think about this detail before starting assembly. There will remain the possibility of using these visible tenons to mark, for example, with the help of a small red piece, the different destinations visited by the owner of the object.

On arrival and as I said at the beginning of this review, we can't decently blame LEGO for having sabotaged the original idea. The official product is visually identical to the reference project and that, as far as I'm concerned, is the problem with this set. I find that LEGO confuses here "vintage", "kitsch" and "old-fashioned", notions that often overlap or are in any case very porous between them, with a rendering that generally sends me back to the 90s/2000s with their lots official sets that have often aged very badly. Too banal for vintage, too dated for LEGO.

The assortment of blue/green colors reinforces in my eyes this somewhat cheesy aspect of the object and the curves which are not really do not help, just like the empty spaces between the different sections. At 200 € the pure exhibition product intended for an adult clientele, in my opinion the whole thing frankly lacks finish and contrast between visible tenons and smooth surfaces to, for example, create a difference in texture between the continents and the oceans. The assembly does not even save the furniture, we get a bit bored with a systematic repetition of the same sub-assemblies.

I don't find either the aesthetics of a really old globe or that of the colored object that I knew during my childhood with its integrated bulb and in front of which I was bored in my spare time discovering countries or capitals. This globe is a mix between two eras and two objects which ultimately had only their round shape in common with a decorative side for one and a more educational ambition for the other.

As you will have understood, I am personally not convinced by this globe which I find a little coarse and falsely vintage. We know that LEGO sometimes has trouble producing curves with square pieces, this product which frankly lacks finish in my eyes is a new brilliant demonstration of this and it's a bit of a shame. The initial version of the project had already roughed the file, yet all that was missing was an effort on the finish to convince me.

Other "imitation" products from the LEGO lifestyle universe, such as the typewriter in the set 21327 Typewriter, the piano of the set 21323 Grand Piano or the guitar of the set 21329 Fender Stratocaster all benefit from a finish that allows them to deserve to be proudly displayed. In my opinion, this is not the case with this globe. As it is, it seems that the designer in charge of the project did not want to spend too much time on it and that LEGO thought that the technique used for the surface of the globe was sufficiently accomplished to deserve ending up on the shelves. some stores.

Either Guillaume Roussel aka Disneybrick55 had indeed found the best possible solution to produce a globe based on LEGO bricks and the official designer could not do better, either LEGO wanted to get rid of the file quickly and settled for the bare minimum. We know since his participation in the first season of the LEGO Masters show that Guillaume Roussel is a talented creator, my first guess may be the right one. Whatever the explanation, it will be without me, especially at 200 €, a price range in which we find products with a more accomplished aesthetic and a much more entertaining assembly experience.

Tastes and colors are indisputable and this product which gathered the 10.000 supporters necessary for its passage in the review phase and then was definitively validated by LEGO will obviously find its audience. Complete collectors of the very heterogeneous LEGO Ideas range will find it difficult to ignore this new reference and there will inevitably be a few lovers of decorative products to find a place of choice for this globe in their interior. You have my opinion, it's up to you to make yours.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 27th January 2022 next at 23pm.

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