Here’s a video review of the newly released 21102 Minecraft set, the first CUUSOO product to be released outside of Japan. You can get it starting today for $34.99 on Lego Shop at Home.
Summary: the Minecraft set is a decent buy for a collection of small plates and tiles. It is more geared for display with its detailed texture and modular sections. Even though I am not a Minecraft player, I’m believe that Lego has succeeded in turning the game concept into a product (although my initial sentiments still stand).
Thanks for the review! I like how the set is designed to be easily customised; from the initial pictures I hadn’t realised that all the caverns could be separated from the landscaping above.
Very nice review, Nannan. That large white space must be nice for MOC photography and such.
Really great review. Seeing all of those small tiles makes this set equally exciting for me and for my Minecraft and Lego obsessed 11 year old son. I can’t wait to surprise him with this set—the look and feel really do capture the Minecraft aesthetic. Thanks to the fans for their enthusiastic support and for Lego and Mojang for getting this out so quickly!
As Jargon says, nice review Nannan, would be nice to see more of these videos on TBB in the future.
Nice to see a review on this. Not a MineCrafter, but the parts look nice. I hope it inspires people to build larger scenes in the MineCraft style. Any word on if they will be available at LEGO Stores?
nice review. would have liked to see the build in “time accelerated” mode.
I loved the review. And as people mentioned it looks great and is well lit. Keep it up!
Looks great! I’m not a fan of Minecraft either, but it looks as if they captured the essence of Minecraft well, with the Mix and Match idea.
Nice review Nannan, i hope to see more of these video reviews in the future!
-Gabe
I think the set looks really nice. I actually never tried Minecraft until after I saw this set was coming out… it’s rather fun.
I definitely want to buy some of these for parts. I’m amazed at how many extra you get!
I think we’re like a lot of people. We don’t the game, but the pieces look very nice. We’ll probably end up getting one (especially for microscale). Also, I dont see any useless pieces especially for castle or terrain builders. That really nice.
:)
Great review Nannan!
The set looks like a fantastic parts set, with all the 1×1 tiles and plates and the somewhat new brick separator. As you said in the video, what bothers me about all these great part sets like the architecture series and this model is that they are more expensive than they should be.
Ouch. Our above comment fell victim to the ‘accidental enter’. Meant to say: ‘We dont play the game’ and ‘That’s really nice.’
Very nice review, I would love to buy this set
Well, I must say that was an informative review of a very special set. But will there be no others? I mean, it is mostly a free build and so on, but there are more creatures and situations and features in the game,which would make for a fine series (different sets could contain 1 vig, 4vig – which is here, 9 vig or similar, to give some price range), for brick fans and cube fans as well.
The set itself is very interesting, though. I always found it intriguing and was absolutely impressed by the idea (although I expected cube-shaped 1×1 bricks out of a micro-scale series). As for display, I am not sure, but if I buy it, it will be for the 1×1 plates. Do you possibly know what is the price-per-piece value?
Thanks for the review, Nannan! We included the extra parts so you can use them to customize your own Minecraft world. For Minecraft fans, here’s what it looks like when you combine 6 boxes using the modular vignette style: http://on.fb.me/LEGOMinecraftGeneratingWorld.
really cool set cant wait to get my hands on it although in Georgia we get stuff the latest usually but definitely looks like its worth the wait.
Excellent review, Nannan. I especially appreciate your very thoughtful and unbiased summaries on the product. I am personally very biased against CUUSOO (or more correctly, how CUUSOO is being used) so hearing some positive feedback is encouraging. Thanks again for your very thoughtful and practical review!
On another note, I could see modular Minecraft becoming an interesting collaborative at conventions.
@Deus, the price per piece is $.07 (given that the piece count is 480 and the price in USD is $34.99). :) Comparatively, quite a good buy.
After seeing this review I really want to get this now, I am very excited by all those extra pieces as well, and I think it was quite nice of Lego to do that.
I think Lego also did an excellent job in portraying the game, as well as making it so non-Minecraft builders would have a fair amount of interest in it as well.
The review was very well done, it left me with no questions about the set, and I was able to see everything I was inquisitive about.
I’m also not a Minecraft fan, but I might buy the set cause of the pieces. The problem is, a set which costs $34.99 in the USA would cost around 50 CHF ($55) in Switzerland, which is way to much :( But I still can order it on BL :D
Great review Nannan. I like how in the instructions they tell you what Minecraft and LEGO Cuusoo is all about. I agree with you that this set is a parts pack. Lots of yummy 1×1 Green Tiles. :)
Make sure that tree is straight!
I too learned about how the tops are modular as well.
I am fairly new to minecraft, but the set looks exactly like the game! My only complaint would be that the figures aren’t to scale with the model. Great review Nannan, Keep up the extraordinary work!
Interesting review. I didn’t know it could come apart like that. I am surprised that they added so many extra parts, they may do that in creations that they really want people to modify, but this may be harder/more tedious to do that too than other. They did the packaging and graphics exellently, though.
I loved how you just disregarded the letter. I hope you read it!
Thanks for the great review, this seems like a great display set for those of us that are Minecraft fans!
Fun review, I’m very much looking forward to picking one of these up. You were very thorough, and the lighting was phenomenal. It will be nice to see what fans of the game are able to do with these when they come out, as we saw with the pictures Tim posted above.
Now the wait to see the Zelda one get rejected :( Come on LEGO, you know it would be fantastic. Though personally I’d rather see them get the entire Nintendo license from K’nex, it seems like a perfect match really.
This was a great view, simple yet interesting model. I agree with some of the other commenters, a time lapse build would be interesting to see in future builds
Nice review.
I’ve never played Minecraft before, and was a little bewildered when this set was announced (a building ‘toy’ based on a building video game– maybe it does make sense, I’m not sure.) However, I’m pleasantly surprised by the set. The modular aspect of the build is nice, and I’m a big fan of the printed pieces.
While the set looks interesting, I’m not sure about the commercial viability of Cuusoo sets based on niche or special interest models. Yeah, as a parts set, this is nice, but are there that many Minecraft fans who are going to buy a Lego set?
Looks neat, but I doubt I’ll buy the set; my Lego buying is limited these days and that just doesn’t scream “gotta have”.
Looks cool just sitting there, and the tiled surface really does give it that Minecraft look.
Woah, I completely forgot that this set was supposed to happen! Looks really good and mimics the game nicely. Nice review.
Great review. Thanks for not only pointing out the positives but the negatives too. It makes for an honest review!
Good review. Not a Minecraft fan but the pieces are nice.
Nice review Nannan! I agree, this looks like a very nice parts pack, but it also looks great as a display set, especially for Minecraft fans. Although I prefer Lego over Minecraft, I actually really like how it turned it. It’s cool how many different possibilities there are to arrange it. I will probably get it at one point, but most likely if it is on sale!
Thanks for the great review of a fabulous Minecraft set. Looks like a winner! TLG must have thought so as well being a Cuusoo build after all.
Nice job on the review! I wish I would get free LEGO in the mail with a personal message attached…
Personally, I prefer picture reviews to video reviews. I was curious why thee were so many comments, and then I saw the end of the video
I was wondering when reviews for this set would start appearing. Isn’t it meant to be shipped to people who bought it next month or something? Not long now for those who ordered it. It doesn’t look that badly presented.
When you called the Creeper a Zombie. I’m sorry but I cringed. Also at the end when you pointed out there are extra pieces, its a shame there isn’t enough to fully make an extra Steve.
Very nice review. Curious about your review setup, is that a white table or a special surface you use for camera work, either way it really works nice.
I am not a minecraft fan myself, but I like the possibility of the cuusoo sets actually becoming reality in the states. The painted face pieces are interesting. the review actaulyl makes me interested in checking out the game.
thanks
Nice review. Seems like a good value, especially when you add all of the extra pieces you get.
I’m interested to see if this sells well to non-Lego enthusiast customers, ie those who are just buying it because they love Minecraft. Time will tell :)
Thanks for the review.
“Yeah, as a parts set, this is nice, but are there that many Minecraft fans who are going to buy a Lego set?”
well, here’s one :) Ok, it happens that I’m a big Lego fan as well (even though I’m practically not so much of a builder myself), but the combined awesomeness makes it a must-have.
nice review although if you played minecraft it would be a much different review. I plan on getting it, it looks good
Great review Nannan! I wold also love to see more of these reviews on Brothers Brick.
I hope these types of sets sell well so that Lego will continue to indulge fans outside of their prime age group.
Nice review! I didn’t realize the set was built in “modular” sections. This is a really nice feature as well as the underground sections. I’m not a minecraft player, but I’d be interested in this set for the pieces alone.
Nice, I would like to see more of these on the blog.
Awesome Review Man! I would get this set, but sadly, I live in New Zealand, so I don’t think it will come out for a while or ever, and I’m not a big fan of shopping online. You earned yourself a subscriber!
I like the box art and all that Cuusoo stuff in the instruction booklets. Lego did a good job making this interesting enough for a non-Minecraft people…I’ll go pick one up now, for sure.
Great Review man! I love minecraft, and I absolutely love this set! I think they created the pieces the perfect size. And just the fact that you can mix and match everything with this set is just phenomenal! I love it when there are little things like that in lego sets, so if you get bored of one way, you can switch it around. I subscribed to the youtube channel, and shared this on facebook, twitter, and showed some of my friends who also like minecraft, they loved it as well! I would love to have the set, but I think it’s a bit too pricey. Maybe when the price drops? Well once again, great review, I couldn’t have asked for a better one! You explained everything in detail, and showed us exactly what the set has, so that way we could know if it’s worth buying. And I respect that. Thank you for this magnificent review.
Like the set my daughter and I have just gotten into playing Minecraft and are looking forward to buying this set. Like the review a lot.
Excellent review. I don’t play Minecraft myself but have certainly been (over)exposed to it thru my two sons. Looking forward to picking up a couple of these sets for my boys to build and then… take them apart for the parts (who doesn’t need more green 1×1 tiles). I also am not a fan of how CUUSOO is being used right now. I understand what was trying to be accomplished, but it has become twisted. I think CUUSOO would be far more useful if being a true LEGO fan was a requirement for voting.
Personally speaking, and i don’t want this to sound negative….. But this is just one of those ideas that gets 10,000 hits because the person behind the idea goes to any means necessary to acquire the votes, and i guess good for them….Lets face it Lego CUUSOO is about who you know, I have two of my models on CUUSOO and i have never tried to influence the course of the peoples votes, resulting in a realistic assessment in what the people want..If you like the idea then add your vote under your own conclusion rather than being told.
Awesome review! Huge minecraft fan, and we’ve been looking forward to this set.
Great review! I agree, looks like a display model, but I do like how you can randomize the arrangement of the different modules.
I’ve seen your review on youtube and it brought me here! Very nice review. Minecraft was all about building from cubes. I think 4 parts are a bit of corelation to it, but I would prefer only cube bricks for this lego.
You are a pro. You did that review basically live, when you first opened the box, and still made very meaningful evaluations and comments after looking at contents for half a second. Very impressive. Thanks for the review. My son loves Lego and Minecraft, so we will be getting one of these.
I have been looking for a review on this! Great job, Nannan! I wasn’t aware of these removable top sections! A nice feature! I don’t think I will buy the set at full price, but if and when it goes on sale I might consider it for parts.
As a feedback to LEGO and CUUSOO, I think with these fan-created projects it would be nice if the booklet was thicker paper and better quality (maybe like the architecture sets?). After all these are very unique novelty sets. The box design however is very nice!
Thanks for the great unboxing and review! I agree that this seems more like the architectural series, more for show than use, but that doesn’t make me want one any less. :-)
Hey! Great review Nannan. I love how you, unlike others, actually give reasonable comments that actually relate to the product. You also give the listener your thoughts and comments. For example, the extra bricks. Did you practice that review BTW? Because you did a great review, straight out of the box!
This looks like a great set, do you know when it is coming out? I just LOVE how many 1×1 tiles you get! I could do with a few more…
I think that LEGO should bring the price down just a bit because it is a bit steep at $35, don’t you think… If I had about 5 or 6 of these sets, I would make an entire world!
I am definitely going to try and get this set so I can, make building blocks out of building blocks so I can build while I build!
Well I noticed a lot of thumbs up for the comment about you not playing Minecraft. So consider this a comment of support, Nannan. ;) I liked the review.
I’m not really a Minecraft fan, but I am eager to get my hands on all of those tiles! The modularity of the set is very cool too. Great review Nannan.
I was looking for a blog that showcased new products and other fans creations. Well I have found the perfect one this video was great and informative. Loved the lighting and audio would have loved to see the build in fast-motion though. Thanks for taking the time!
Great Review Nannan and the set is really cool but I definitely think that all the extra parts were added so that you could customize the set even futher. Beyond you know just switching stuff up. Also I’m loving all of those tiles!
A good review in overall. A timelapse over the building process would have been nice. Nothing bad about time skips, but something as diminutive as a differint tone of voice after the skip can be quite jarring.
Furthermore, it would have been nice to see you explore the possibilities with the set a bit further than just following the manual and mixing around the modules. All those additional pieces could possibly be put to use, and I’d venture a guess that the point behind this set, just as with the game, is to make the world fit your tastes, and not the other way around. Level a mountain, reroute a river, built a watchtower… You name it!
I really enjoyed the review. I had no idea of this site until I passed by the review, but I will be subscribing to it as well. I’ll also be logging back into my Minecraft server here shortly. It’s been too long. Again, great job though!
I did not know about this site until Notch (minecraft dev) tweetet about this review… I had so much fun with LEGOs as a child, so many nice memories :)
I never considered buying any LEGOs again, but this model is great for minecraft fans, I would love to put this on my desk as a little diorama.
Great work with the website, I’ll probably spend hours and hours scrambling through videos and reviews!
Nice Review, I like the way its build modular so you can customize it all you want with all the extra pieces.
Lego = awesome
Minecraft = awesome
Lego Minecraft = super awesome
definitely worth the money.
The modularity of the build is awesome. My wife and I both love Minecraft and Legos, so this is definitely a must buy for us! Thanks for the great review.
Nice review!
Great review,
I laughed when you just disregarded the letter. This set looks great, I hpoe they release it in Australia (finger crossed). I love how you give your views on the set and its look. This review helped me because I did not know that the top part came off.
I love how in this set you can change everything around to suit yourself. I also love how it encourages you to build more with the extra pieces. I cannot wait to see what people make with 4 or 5 of these. I could really do with some of those 1×1 plates! :)
From Svenstead,
Congrats to yodamann for winning the set, the random number generator picked you!