(Written by Geneva – gid617)
After having been available to LEGO VIP members for several weeks, the #21128 LEGO Minecraft The Village set is now released to the general public. Though I spent several hours building it according to the instructions (with a few friendly delays from “helpful” younger siblings), I decided to go ahead and tear it apart and see what else I could build from the included parts. I was especially curious about using all those medium-dark-flesh color elements that are so abundant in the set. 🙂
In general I’m not so interested in how a LEGO set turns out after wading through the instructions. I’m more curious about using the official set as a springboard for my own creations, using the same pieces and/or techniques. So I wanted to combine the parts that came with the LEGO Minecraft The Village set from my perspective as a LEGO artist – if I can lay claim to the title. For a more traditional review check out: LEGO Minecraft The Village Review
That said, let’s take a bit of general look at the set itself, before we see what its components are useful for. Building it was slightly tedious and repetitive, but there are sections – notably the opening roof of the butcher’s building – that are pretty clever and interesting. And I would be the first to admit that the farm in the center is really cute! But the real punch of the set would have to lie in the choice of colors; particularly medium-dark-flesh. The Village includes several Minecraft minifigures, which are kind of cute with their blocky heads, and really are an interesting cross-over between the completely block-oriented Minecraft world, and the somewhat more versatile LEGO world.
As a LEGO fan who knows virtually nothing about Minecraft, my first impression upon seeing this set was less than amazing. It appeared blocky, full of studs, and no section jumped out to wow me. Sure, it’s huge – which is great – but it just seemed like there must be a cooler way to use 1,600 pieces.
However that’s the beauty of LEGO; you don’t have to stick with what’s pictured on the front of the box. This set is a goldmine of basic LEGO elements. The sheer quantity of dark-grey, light-grey, brown, and medium-dark-flesh is really impressive. And there are lots of other intriguing pieces; plant parts, printed tiles, and clear bricks – to name a few. So I tried to put together a couple of my own custom LEGO creations, to whet your appetite for what else these parts can be useful for.
The insane amount of medium-dark-flesh bricks was probably what struck me first about this set. With my background in medieval LEGO creations – and with the help of those masonry-bricks – a castle-style building was definitely in order! Please note that I have also added a number of pieces that are not part of the LEGO Minecraft The Village set.
Another somewhat rare color that is present in the LEGO Minecraft The Village in large quantities is bright-green. There are ten 12×6 bright-green plates, which is enough to build quite a sizable footprint.
There are also a good number of plant parts – particularly in brown. These are always useful to add a bit of flare to a LEGO model.
I used both bright-green plates and brown “flowers” in this beachside vignette. Again, please note that the rest of the parts aren’t from the LEGO Minecraft The Village set.
Also remarkable are the transparent pieces; quite a few clear windows and several bricks in green and blue. I was not able to find a use for these right off the bat, but I’m sure they will come in handy someday!
The amount of 2×2 jumper-plates in this set is another very striking collection of pieces. Jumper-plates are very useful for offsetting and being able to turn other pieces attached to them.
In the picture below you can see me using those jumper-plates at the top of the wall section to create some decorative details. And I also took advantage of all the medium-dark-flesh elements for the floor and wall.
Last but not least, there are quite a few pieces included that are unique to the Minecraft theme, or this set in particular. Fortunately, they are still generic looking enough to use them in other applications. For example the blocky printed patterns on the tiles could work as screens or cushions, and the bases for the Creeper and Enderman just take a bit of creativity.
Here I have used the green piece from the Creeper in a micro space-racer, although with applying so many stickers it has become all but invisible.
There were quite a few other pieces in the LEGO Minecraft The Village that caught my attention, but this is just a smattering in the hopes that you will be inspired to build your own creations with whatever LEGO pieces you have on hand. If you are considering getting this set, its usefulness as a parts-pack is certainly a point in its favor. Most of the pieces would be appropriate for almost any genre of building, and the large quantities of unique colors sets LEGO Minecraft The Village apart. It is available under the LEGO Minecraft section of the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? What is your impression of this set? Have you considered what uses you might put its pieces to? Does this brief overview inspire you to do some building on your own? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below! 😉
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
- LEGO Minecraft The Village Review
- LEGO Minecraft The Village Details & Pictures (plus designer-video)
- 2016 LEGO Minecraft Sets Review
- 2015 LEGO Minecraft Summer Sets Reviews
- Fun LEGO Minecraft Stop-Motion Videos
- LEGO Minecraft Combined Models & More!
- Custom LEGO Minecraft Baseplates & More!
- Minifig-Scale LEGO Minecraft Sets Review
What an interesting way to look at that set that, for me at least, would otherwise not get a second look!
Did you do the models illustrating the possibilities for non-Minecraft applications? They’re clever and attractive and display wonderful out-of-the-box thinking! Congrats!
Yes, those are Geneva’s own models. She is a wonderfully talented young builder. 🙂
Yes, I built the extra models myself… and thank you! I wanted to be sure not to rush them, and I’m glad it paid off. 🙂
This is a great article, I love the breakdown of the parts as well as how a great builder utilizes those parts for other creations. Using the creeper body like that is something I would have never thought! Very inspiring:-)
Yeah, Geneva is a great builder. I actually started tinkering with my Creeper after seeing her picture. It’s a very interesting piece. 🙂
Every time I see a really weird and useless looking piece at that general size I automatically think, “Micro space racer!” Well, actually, I think GARC, but it’s the same thing. 😉
What’s a GARC?
Hmmm, Google tells me “Galactic Asteroid Rally Circuit”…
Yep!
Here’s a link to the Flickr group for LEGO GARCs:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/2142724@N23
Wow! I love this! I can’t wait to tell the KFOL in my house too because realizing that this was done by Geneva just makes it rock even more!
I JUST picked up the Simpson’s House set. I’d been balking at the price tag for a LONG time. I have the same reaction to this set. It’s too much money for a set BUT I keep hearing from AFOLs and TFOLs and KFOLs that the parts make it worth it. This post just proves that point. These designs are incredible! Thank you for sharing! I’m still not ready to buy the set (the wallet will have to heal for a while) but I love what Geneva did with it!! Very inspiring indeed (as Eggbert noted).
Thank you, I’m really glad to see my MOCs were such a hit! Building with LEGO is really what keeps me involved in the hobby – it’s incredibly fun and rewarding (to me 😀 ). It would be awesome if this post inspired you or your KFOL to do a little building on your own! 😉
Where do the stickers come from?
I will ask Geneva to answer that for you. 🙂
They all are “official” LEGO, though I took plenty of liberties chopping them up with my pocket knife. 😉 More specifically… well, they come from all over the place. The NASA comes from the International Space Station (Discovery theme), the green lines come from Garmatron (when my brother gets tired of the stickers I make sure to get a hold of them 😉 ), the red X comes from World Racers and so do the two WRs and the 13, the crown comes from the latest Castle theme, the triangle is I think from Atlantis but I’m not positive. That’s all the stickers that are visible on this side, I believe.
But the parts weren’t stickered before? Just an attempt on pseudo-sponsoring?…
Sorta like flat greebling, or whatchmacallit… Superflat greebling…
“Flat greebling” – I’m going to steal that from you. 😉
Right, I stickered all those parts late Tuesday night I think it was when my brothers were keeping me up by playing Hneftali (or something like that) in my room. 😉 Or most of them. Flat greebling. That’s a good term! Hehe.
Hnefatafl! Good that you’ve started using common words and not just specialized Lego terms…
(Just kidding. But I’ve looked up on Hnefatafl earlier…)
Hahahaha 😛
We have a friend that calls it “Poof.” A much more memorable name.
Those are some great MOCs, Geneva! 🙂 I like the castle a lot. All those pieces make me want to get the Village… but the price. $200 is too high for 1600 pieces. Then again, I can’t tell why I even want LEGO Minecraft… I’d rather just have the game, and build Minecraft MOCs out of my own parts.
Also, LEGO finally updated their set inventories, and there are so many new pieces! Some I didn’t know of, and many are in new colors. It’s on Brickset: http://brickset.com/article/21865/new-parts-in-the-database LEGO has officially broken 100 new pieces for 2016. 😕
I saw those new pieces! I really like the tassel, the watermelon, and that new clip-on piece. 😀
Some of these smaller parts might be useful for the Mixel designers…
Thank you! Yes, it is a high price point. That really would be the biggest drawback to the set in my mind. The piece selection is an incredibly useful one, but it’s hard to justify $200 for it.
Some of those new pieces are super cool, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a few of them!
Great article Geneva! I have several Lego Minecraft sets, although I am not a Minecraft fan, I mainly have the sets for their unique parts for my own creations. Would you suggest I just mix up the sets, along with my other Legos, or keep the sets separate??
Kevin, I will contact Geneva to make sure he sees your question. He may not be checking on this article regularly.
Well, that really depends on your building habits! I like to have my pieces organized, by color for the most part, so I parted out the set after I was done with it and mixed it all up with my other pieces. But I know some people build from one huge pile, or two or three big piles, so that can work too! The important thing is that you can find the pieces. If its easier to do that by having the sets separate, go for it!
Since the Minecraft sets have lots of basic bricks, it’s probably a good idea to divide them up into containers based on colors, rather than by set. What you can do though if there are some unique pieces that you want to be sure to use and not forget about, is keep those in a special pile on your desk or something. I do that sometimes, it can be a great motivation to use a piece I might never have thought about otherwise!