(Written by William)
When it comes to book-themed sets, I’ve been a fan. I really like the melding of a colorful LEGO scene and books being brought together. So, when I heard about the #10351 LEGO Icons Sherlock Holmes: Book Nook set I was initially excited. But then the price of $129.99 got me halted. Could a pricey set even fit properly on a bookshelf and not look out of place? Could this set truly do justice to such an iconic character? And is it worth the price? Let’s find out.
LEGO BOOK NOOKS – WHAT ARE THEY?
This is not the first LEGO book nook set, and will probably not be the the last. Book nook miniatures are very popular right now even outside of the LEGO hobby. So what are book nooks? They are basically miniature dioramas. They often depict a 3-D model of a street scene or fantasy setting, designed to fit between books on a shelf. These decorative inserts, which can be purchased fully assembled or as DIY kits, add a unique and creative touch to bookshelves. LEGO book nooks follow the same concept but with some additional playability.
Keep in mind that even though book nooks are three dimensional, they really only look good from specific angles. And this is also true for LEGO book nooks. This might be a strange concept for LEGO fans who expect LEGO sets to be displayable and/or playable from all sides. LEGO book nooks are designed specifically for shelves. Not only is the top unsighty to look at when closed, but the backside of the model is purely functional and looks downright awful. When the model is open, the number of angles to view drop to two with one side being the outer cover of the book and the other being the street scene.
So you basically have three options to display your LEGO Sherlock Holmes Book Nook. First, you can have the book nook closed with the cover of the book facing out. Next, you can turn the model while closed to its narrow front side where it opens to peek into a narrow street view complete with lanterns and a sign introducing you to Baker’s Street. Finally, you can open the model up and display the street. This last option does take up a lot of room widthwise, but can fit pretty easily on shallow shelves.
LEGO BOOK NOOK – VANISHING POINT
Before talking about this technique used in the model, I should explain what a vanishing point is. For those who draw, a vanishing point is a point in which the scene shrinks down into to give a sense of distance. For example, if you see a street and look down the road, it will appear the road gets narrower and the buildings shrink. And where the road and buildings all come together is the vanishing point.
This drawing technique is amazing for representing long distances, which is normally not a thing LEGO concerns itself with. However, LEGO designers recreated this effect quite well with the Sherlock Holmes Book Nook set.
When closed up and looking through the narrow opening, you can tell that the buildings on either side seem like they are coming together. That’s because they are. A good portion of each side of the street is built at an angle. This in turn amplifies the vanishing point effect by making the angles just a tad more dramatic.
I might have expected to see this used on a flatter art piece like a mosaic. The reason being, they are purpose built to trick the eye in seeing objects and perspective. Most three-dimensional sets don’t need to bother with a vanishing point since they already take up space and already can be viewed dimensionality. However, when you can control more factors of how a model is viewed, you can subtly exaggerate aspects of a scene.
Given the narrow edge of the closed model is a perfect window, LEGO designers wanted to give the viewer the maximum impact when looking in on the street. As a builder, it is fascinating to see, even knowing how much is given up in trying to fit so much in such a small space. It is one way to create the illusion of more space when you just don’t have it.
LEGO BOOK NOOK – CHARACTERS & SPECIAL PARTS
This is the first time LEGO released an official Sherlock Holmes set, therefore all five minifigures are new. We did get a Holmes-like minifigure in one of the collectible minifigure series, but these characters are approved by the author’s estate.
Dr. Watson comes with a bowler hat, briefcase, and a wand which he uses as an ornate walking stick. Trying to put the ball of the wand in the minifigure hand is never fun though. They even place a printed tile as a dog treat inside his case. Next up is Irene Adler. She has a gown with a short cape, and holds an umbrella. LEGO designers decided to add diversity to the model as there is enough leeway in the stories to make Irene a woman of color.
Next is Paige. The boy has a newspaper and a cap that is molded into his hair. He is more of a representation of Holmes’s Irregulars. This is a series of street urchins that serve as his information network. Speaking of Holmes, Sherlock comes with a short cape, magnifying glass, and iconic deer stalker hat. Last but not least is Sherlock’s greatest foe, the infamous Professor Moriarty. He is more or less an equal to Sherlock’s genius while wielding his intellect to control the crime in and around London. He comes with a stove pipe hat, short cape, and bar to serve as a walking stick.
As for parts of interest, the only printed elements are the two tiles that make up the street sign on the outside of the model, the dog biscuits, letter tile, and newspaper. Everything else that has a decoration is a sticker. This includes the circular sign for the book store, the square sign for the store, the address numbers, the decor on the outside of one of the doors, and various panels when you view the interior of the buildings. So prepare yourself for a good amount of stickering.
LEGO BOOK NOOK – SECRETS REVEALED
When people hear the name Sherlock Holmes, one of the first words that come to mind is “mystery”. So, it makes sense that this set is filled with little details to discover. Each detail is either a fun little play feature or a nod to something memorable in one of the many stories.
There are three visible doors in the model. Two can be opened normally to reveal stickered panels full of tiny details hidden in their designs. I’ll leave these smaller details for builders to find out. As for the third door, it uses a secret mechanism to open. I’ll go over that in the video below. But it does use gears and vertical motion.
As for other elements you can interact with, the bay window for the book shop can rotate, exposing a secret letter. You can also grab the balcony and swing the wall open to reveal Sherlock’s residence along with his violin and crime board.
Finally, there is a mysterious outline of a minifigure in one of the upstairs windows. The instructions explain why this is built and which story you can find reference to it in. All in all, this model has just enough little surprises to live up to the great detective’s name.
LEGO BOOK NOOK – FINAL THOUGHTS
My biggest concern with the model was where LEGO designers had to cut corners. Given the price, I knew the model would be substantial in size. However, if you make it too big, it wouldn’t look like a book. On the other hand, if they made it too small, you would lose details in the diorama. I’d have to say that the book is on the larger size, but not out of a regular book.
As for the diorama, there are some definite cuts when it comes to space. However, there are some clever building tricks to make up for the loss of interior play space. I was extremely impressed with how seamless LEGO designers made the rotating window. Additionally, they spent a great effort making everything you can easily see highly decorated. I’d say that they struck a rather good balance on this front as well.
In the end, I would say the price is well justified for what you get. However, this is probably a set that only adults will enjoy. It is not that it is boring to build, far from it. It is also not because it doesn’t have fun little play features, because it does have that as well. The problem is that it makes most of its design decisions based on display more than play.
This makes the end model a bit more delicate in nature and not suited for heavy play. Also, the lack of depth in the diorama can severely limit the stories someone might want to reenact. For those reasons I’d say it’s ideal for an adult fan of Sherlock Holmes and collectors. It is a fun build, but is it a fun build for $129.99? That is a mystery only you can solve. If you want to check it out, the set is available at the LEGO Icons section of the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Sherlock Holmes Book Nook? And what do you think of the techniques we discussed here? Are there any other interesting details that you noticed? Feel free to share your thoughts and own reviews in the comment section below!
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I actually prefer it opened up. It makes a nice backdrop for a street scene.
I wish the to was more closed to prevent it from getting dusty. But i like what they did with the angles. I think this is also called forced perspective technique.
This would be a good start for a modular or city scape. Not a fan of sticking it between books. It will just collect dust.
It’s a cool set and all, but I wouldn’t want to pay that much for a mostly display set. I think it should be $99 the most.
I just noticed it’s the same size, style and price as the Balrog book nook. So it seems they are starting a collection of these. They should have added a light brick to these. Missed opportunity!