Tag: Lego

A Second Lighting Kit: Same Idea, Different Store

Hardware Review · Purchased December 15, 2022 · $50.00 CAD via Michaels

The Setup

A second LED lighting accessory kit, this time picked up at Michaels rather than ordered online — the same general category as the Light My Bricks-style kit from a few days earlier, meant to add illumination to another LEGO City build.

The Review

Grabbing this one in-store rather than online meant no waiting on shipping, which was genuinely convenient this close to Christmas, though the trade-off is a less set-specific kit than the online options — it’s a more generic LED string-light setup rather than something engineered to snap precisely into a particular model’s window layout the way the online kit was.

It still does the basic job of adding some warm glow to a display, just with more manual positioning and improvising required to get the lights where I actually wanted them, compared to the more purpose-built kit. For a quick, in-person pickup with no shipping wait, it’s a reasonable stopgap; for a cleaner, more precise result, ordering a set-specific kit online is still the better call.

What I Liked

  • Available in-store with no shipping wait
  • Still adds a nice warm glow to a display
  • Flexible enough to use on more than one type of set

What I Didn’t

  • Less set-specific than a purpose-built kit — more manual positioning required
  • Less clean, precise result than the online kit purchased earlier

The Verdict

Rating: 3/5

A convenient last-minute stopgap, but the purpose-built online kit from a few days earlier is the better way to do this.

Where to Buy

  • Check your local Michaels craft store’s LED lighting section

Light My Bricks: The Kit That Finally Made My LEGO City Glow

Hardware Review · Purchased December 9, 2022 · $88.44 CAD via Amazon.ca

The Setup

A third-party LED lighting kit — LEGO doesn’t make these itself, so this almost certainly came from Light My Bricks, the dominant brand in this space on Amazon.ca — designed to snap into a LEGO City set and add illuminated windows and streetlight effects that the set doesn’t come with out of the box.

The Review

This is the kind of accessory that punches way above its price once it’s actually installed — a static LEGO City building suddenly looks like a scene rather than a model the moment the windows light up, and the effect is genuinely more impressive in person than it sounds on paper. The kit itself is well-organized and the LED runs are the right length for the set it was designed for.

Installation is fiddly — threading tiny LED wires through a completed build takes patience, and in a couple of spots I had to partially disassemble sections I thought were finished to route wires properly. It’s not a difficult job, just a slow, careful one. Once it’s in, though, it’s a genuinely transformative upgrade for the price, and it’s made me want to go back and retrofit some of my older City sets too.

What I Liked

  • Genuinely transforms a static set into a lit-up scene
  • Well-organized kit with correctly sized LED runs
  • Great value for the visual impact it adds

What I Didn’t

  • Fiddly installation that sometimes requires partial disassembly
  • Routing tiny LED wires through a finished build takes real patience

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

A fiddly install, but a genuinely transformative upgrade for any LEGO City set — worth the patience it takes to fit.

Where to Buy

LEGO City Car Wash: The Small, Forgettable Palate Cleanser of the Bunch

Toy Review · Purchased November 11, 2022 · $100.00 CAD via Jooooooy.com

LEGO City Car Wash 60362
Car Wash, LEGO City 60362 design. Photo: LEGO

The Setup

The design here matches LEGO City’s official 243-piece Car Wash set (60362) — a car wash building with spinning brush rollers, a car, and two minifigures. Bought the same day as the Bowser and Shell Walker builds from Jooooooy, so it’s worth flagging the same sourcing uncertainty: this may well be a clone rather than the genuine article, though I couldn’t find as clear-cut evidence of a specific bootleg listing for this one as I could for the others.

The Review

There’s not a lot to say about this one, and that’s sort of the point — it’s a simple, kid-friendly LEGO City playset with a straightforward build and a fun little spinning-brush mechanism that actually works when you push the car through. After the much bigger, more involved builds earlier this same order, it was a nice quick change of pace, done in well under an hour.

It’s not a set that’s trying to be memorable, and it succeeds at exactly what it sets out to do without leaving much of an impression beyond that. A perfectly fine, forgettable little build.

What I Liked

  • Fun, functional spinning-brush mechanism
  • Quick, easy build — a nice change of pace after bigger sets
  • Straightforward, kid-friendly LEGO City design

What I Didn’t

  • Unremarkable and forgettable once built
  • Sourced through Jooooooy, so genuine-vs-clone status is uncertain

The Verdict

Rating: 3/5

A perfectly serviceable, entirely unmemorable little build — fine as a quick palate cleanser, not a set worth seeking out.

Where to Buy

The Guardians of the Galaxy Advent Calendar: LEGO’s First Marvel Countdown Done Right

Toy Review · Purchased October 11, 2022 · $60.00 CAD via Amazon.ca

LEGO Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy Advent Calendar 76231
Guardians of the Galaxy Advent Calendar, 76231. Photo: LEGO

The Setup

Set 76231 marks LEGO’s first-ever Marvel-licensed advent calendar, at 268 pieces across 24 doors, with small vehicle and gear builds alongside minifigures including Star-Lord, Groot, and Rocket.

The Review

LEGO’s Star Wars and City advent calendars have been a holiday staple for years, so it’s a little surprising it took this long for Marvel to get one, but the wait was worth it. The mix behind the 24 doors is genuinely well balanced — a good spread of small vehicles, gadgets, and character minifigures rather than padding out the count with filler pieces, and getting a new Guardians character or item revealed each day for a month has a real novelty to it that a single big set doesn’t offer.

As with any advent calendar, the individual builds are necessarily tiny and simple, so this isn’t the set to reach for if you want a substantial building session on any single day. But as a first outing for LEGO Marvel in this format, it’s a confident one, and it’s an easy recommendation for any Guardians fan looking for a low-stakes, spread-out way to get some genuinely fun little builds and minifigures.

What I Liked

  • Well-balanced mix of vehicles, gear, and character minifigures across the 24 doors
  • Genuinely fun day-by-day reveal format
  • Good value for a first-of-its-kind licensed calendar
  • Solid entry point into LEGO Marvel minifigures

What I Didn’t

  • Individual daily builds are necessarily tiny and simple
  • Seasonal-only availability makes it hard to find outside the holidays

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

A confident first outing for LEGO Marvel’s advent calendar format — well worth it for any Guardians fan.

Where to Buy

The UCS Snowspeeder: A Retired Set That Still Holds Up

Toy Review · Purchased May 4, 2022 · $300.00 CAD via Lego Store

LEGO UCS Snowspeeder 75144
Snowspeeder, Ultimate Collector Series 75144. Photo: LEGO

The Setup

Set 75144 is LEGO’s Ultimate Collector Series recreation of the Rebel Snowspeeder from the Battle of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back, at 1,703 pieces. It first released back in 2017 and had been periodically restocked through LEGO Stores before finally retiring, which is presumably how I managed to grab one in 2022.

The Review

This is UCS design at its best: an opening cockpit, a posable harpoon gun and towing cable, and a display stand with an informational plaque, all built with genuine LEGO precision rather than the clone-brick compromises I’ve gotten used to from my Vonado purchases. The build itself is absorbing without being punishing — detailed enough to stay interesting for the full 1,703 pieces, but never confusing.

Having spent a lot of this year building unofficial oversized clone kits, going back to a genuine, officially-licensed UCS set was a genuinely nice change of pace — the fit and finish, the printed manual, the color consistency are all just better, in ways you don’t fully notice until you go without them for a while. At $300 it’s not cheap, but for a retired UCS vehicle it’s an easy recommendation if you can still find one.

What I Liked

  • Genuine UCS build quality, fit, and finish throughout
  • Opening cockpit and posable harpoon gun add real interactive detail
  • Display stand and plaque give it a proper collector’s-piece presentation
  • Absorbing, well-paced build across the full piece count

What I Didn’t

  • Retired, so availability is already inconsistent
  • Premium UCS pricing for the piece count

The Verdict

Rating: 4.5/5

A genuine UCS classic, and a great reminder of what official LEGO fit and finish actually feels like after a year of clone-brick builds.

Where to Buy

Yoda’s Hut: A Small, Cheap Set That Punches Above Its Price

Toy Review · Purchased May 4, 2022 · $100.00 CAD via Lego.com

LEGO Star Wars Yoda's Hut 75208
Yoda’s Hut, 75208. Photo: LEGO

The Setup

Set 75208 is a compact, 229-piece recreation of Yoda’s swamp hut on Dagobah from The Empire Strikes Back, including a fold-open interior, small jungle terrain details, and Yoda and Luke Skywalker minifigures.

The Review

Picked up on the same order as the much bigger UCS Snowspeeder, this was the perfect quick palate-cleanser build — done in under an hour, but genuinely charming for it. The fold-open hut design lets you display it either as a closed exterior or an opened-up interior scene, and the swampy terrain base with its little jungle details sells the setting better than I expected from such a small piece count.

Nothing about it is ambitious, and it’s clearly built to be an easy, affordable entry point rather than a display centerpiece. But for $100, getting both Yoda and Luke minifigures plus a nicely detailed little diorama is a genuinely good value, and it displays well as a small companion piece next to bigger Empire Strikes Back builds.

What I Liked

  • Fold-open design lets you display it as a closed hut or an open interior scene
  • Includes both Yoda and Luke minifigures
  • Swampy terrain details sell the Dagobah setting well for the piece count
  • Quick, satisfying build for a change of pace

What I Didn’t

  • Small and simple — not a set that holds attention on its own
  • Works best as a companion piece rather than a standalone centerpiece

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

A small, affordable set that punches above its price — a great quick build and a nice companion to bigger Star Wars displays.

Where to Buy

The Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama: A Wall-Mounted Slice of A New Hope

Toy Review · Purchased February 10, 2022 · $120.00 CAD via Lego Store

LEGO Star Wars Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama 75339
Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama, 75339. Photo: LEGO

The Setup

Set 75339 is part of LEGO’s Star Wars Diorama Collection — wall-mountable, adult-collector display pieces built to capture a single iconic scene rather than a full ship or vehicle. This one recreates the trash compactor from A New Hope, at 802 pieces, complete with Luke, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, and the dianoga lurking in the murky water.

The Review

What makes this diorama line work is restraint — rather than trying to build an entire ship, it isolates one claustrophobic, grimy moment and nails the details that sell it: the textured “walls” closing in, the murky trash-and-water surface, the dianoga’s single eye peeking out. Building it is a satisfying, moderate-length session, and the six included minifigures (with genuinely good facial expressions) make it feel like a proper scene rather than just a backdrop.

It’s a wall-hanger, not a shelf piece, which is either a selling point or a limitation depending on how much wall space you’re willing to dedicate to a single Star Wars moment. For anyone who’s been collecting the wider Diorama Collection, it’s an easy addition; on its own, it’s a fun, focused build that’s more about capturing a mood than showing off scale.

What I Liked

  • Captures the claustrophobic mood of the scene very effectively at a small scale
  • Six included minifigures with strong facial printing
  • Satisfying, focused build without an overwhelming piece count
  • Fits neatly alongside the rest of LEGO’s Diorama Collection

What I Didn’t

  • Wall-mount format takes up permanent wall real estate rather than a shelf
  • A niche pick if you’re not already into the Diorama Collection line

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

A small, well-executed slice of one of the most memorable scenes in A New Hope — easy to recommend to anyone already collecting the Diorama line.

Where to Buy