Since 2019, LEGO has been releasing some really nice sets related to the Chinese New Year celebrations. Originally, these sets were only available in China, thus the #80101 LEGO Chinese New Year’s Eve Dinner and the #80102 LEGO Chinese New Year Dragon Dance from 2019 are hard to find. However, due to high demand from other regions, the #80103 LEGO Chinese New Year Dragon Boat Race (also from 2019), and sets from subsequent years were released worldwide. In 2020, we got the #80104 LEGO Chinese New Year Lion Dance, and the gorgeous #80105 LEGO Chinese New Year Temple Fair (still my favorite set in the collection).
The #80106 LEGO Chinese New Year Story of Nian, and the #80107 LEGO Chinese New Year Spring Lantern Festival were released earlier this year, and next year we are getting the #80108 LEGO Lunar New Year Traditions, and the #80109 LEGO Lunar New Year Ice Festival. They will be available starting January 10th at the seasonal items section of the Online LEGO Shop.
I know many LEGO fans are excited about these sets because of the large variety of unique elements, tons of printed decorations, exclusive minifigs, and overall nice designs. So to help you decide if you would like to add the 2022 LEGO Chinese New Year sets to your collection, I have included a couple of helpful reviews below.
The #80108 LEGO Luna New Year Traditions set is quite different from the earlier sets. Instead of a full scene, it is a cluster of six small vignettes that can be connected in different ways. The vignettes portray different festive activities, including food shopping, making good-luck decorations, visiting family, and exchanging ‘Hongbao’ red envelopes. There are separate building instructions for each of the detailed scenes so the whole family can build together. Note that while in all the other Chinese Year sets the decorations are printed, in this set, most of the decorations are stickers. The price is $79.99, which is pretty reasonable for a $1,066-piece set with 12 minifigs.
The #80109 LEGO Lunar New Year Ice Festival is more like the previously released LEGO Chinese New Year sets with a whole winter scene, including a frozen lake, equipment rental shop, sweet potato vendor’s cart, photo booth, chun ice sculpture, vending machine, penguin-shaped sled, ski slope, snow-capped tree, and more. The set comes with 1,519 pieces and 13 minifigs for the price of $119.99. All the decorated pieces are printed. It’s a lovely set with so many wonderful details!
What do you think? Are you planning to get either or both of the new LEGO Chinese New Year sets? Do you have any of the previous sets in the collection? Which one is your favorite so far? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below!
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I guess I’ll try to get hold of some parts separately, such as the Ice Planet Jacket torsos, but overall, I just wouldn’t know where to place them…
I’m disappointed that the vignette set is not all prints. I thought the Chinese sets were all fully printed.
I already resolved I’m getting both. I got all the Chinese New Year sets except for the original two. They are awesome.