My personal top 10 sets for 2016. I obviously didn’t buy every set that came out in 2016, so this list reflects my personal favorites that I purchased. The top 3 were easy to determine. After that, it became a bit difficult, especially the ranking.
10. 76051 Super Hero Airport Battle
The air traffic control tower is pretty basic and kind of lame. The Quinjet is a nice, solid, and chunky lil baby Quinjet compared to the previous sets. The mini figures are great in the set, and help round out the hero ranks.
Let’s be honest, this set is all about Giant Man. You are essentially building a big version of a mini figure. Even the legs have the same limited range of motion of a mini figure. The only part that breaks from a mini fig is the motion on the arms. Such a fun build when you get to it, and so much fun to put Giant Man into scenes he shouldn’t be in.
9. 75827 Ghostbusters Firehouse Headquarters
The exterior is a pretty bland build, but who cares? It’s the Ghostbuster’s HQ!
What the exterior lacks in cool build techniques is overshadowed by the fantastic detailing inside. This set is all about the interior details, and begs to be displayed with the sides open to show it off.
While I have issues with the roof bowing on it when together, the interior details are so tip top that it doesn’t affect it too negatively. The small mini builds and mini fig scale furniture are what Marcos Bessa excels at, and this set is just him showing off.
8. 60134 Fun in the Park: City People Pack
Yes, this is just a glorified mini fig pack, and I don’t care. The small builds throughout are fun, but the stars are the figures. We get our first LEGO wheelchair and first LEGO baby in this set. Then we get a great elderly couple, a professional businesswoman (a first too I believe), some great kid figures, and a kick ass hot dog salesman, complete with the new hot dog bun parts. This is just a fun pack of stuff to play around with and populate any display you have.
7. 10253 Big Ben
Yes, the build is very monotonous and a nightmare if you have OCD (thanks tons of 1x1 column builds!), but they are necessary to achieve the looks of this set. And oh, how magnificent does this thing look when done. I know many criticize builds for being repetitive (and many times rightly so), but repetition is necessary to pull off the looks of many sets.
The stands big and proud among the other landmark sets, and makes a wonderful display piece.
6. 10251 Brick Bank
Probably the weakest of the modulars since Jamie Berard took back over with Parisian Restaurant, but it is still a great damn set. Lots of great interior details as usual, but lots of neat use of parts on the outside in ways not usually thought of in sets. The set also brought us some new SNOT pieces, which is always welcome.
5. 75140 Resistance Troop Transporter
Yes, it looks like a flying brick. Yes, it is pretty ugly once done. But damn, if the build and all the small touches to get to the end aren’t some of the best stuff out there. So much greebling and SNOT work in the entire thing, including many sections where you build stuff then insert them upside down. The entire build is just one wonderful build discovery after another. One of those sets where the journey to completion is the real joy instead of the final destination.
4. 70327 The King’s Mech
I think most people on here have a soft spot for mechs, and this is one of the best LEGO has done in the years since I came out of the dark ages. The fact that they pulled this off in a $30 set just sweetens the deal. It has a lot of cool build moments, but the dynamic poses you can put this thing into are what send it so high for me.
3. 31052 Vacation Getaways
It looks like a run of the mill Creator set when done, but this set is all about the details. So many great little touches throughout, including some interesting build techniques such as parts going in upside down, and even more play features for setting up some fun displays after that.
Cap it off with two alternate builds that are almost as good as the main build, and all in a package for $70 or less and you have one killer set.
2. 10252 Volkswagen Beetle
The Creator Expert vehicles have a proud lineage, and always deliver the goods. This one just seemed to deliver a bit more than usual. Curved surfaces are some of the more difficult things to pull off in LEGO form, and the lead designer on this (
Mike Psiaki, who coincidentally also did Vacation Getaways.) pulls off the curves and angles expertly. Sometimes it is using new elements,such as the curves over the wheels, but many times it is clever use and insertion of existing parts with bricks inlaid to prevent movement.
Just wonderful from beginning to end.
1. 71040 Disney Castle
The big daddy. It looms large and in charge while on display, and it had a build to back that up as well. If Marcos Bessa was showing off with cool techniques in Ewok Village the other year, or mini builds with Simpson’s House and Ghostbusters HQ recently, then he just kicked all those elements up to 11 with this set.
It captures the magic and awesomeness of the Disney Castle when on display, but then the warm nostalgia trips as you look on the back and see the small touches and callbacks to the classic and beloved films on the back.
Everyone has some memory of Disney in their life, and there will be some part of this set that connects with everyone. And of course, they had to do the evil thing and make Tinkerbell and exclusive to this set.
