Today I would like to talk a bit about the new LEGO theme released this year called LEGO Juniors. LEGO Juniors is designed for younger children in mind who may find it difficult to build regular LEGO sets, or are just transitioning over from DUPLO to standard size LEGO. So why are we talking about this on a teen and adult LEGO fan-site? One reason only; LEGO Juniors comes with some really sweet pieces, that are printed! That’s right, no stickers in LEGO Juniors! 🙂
A lot of LEGO fans really despise stickers on LEGO sets. They are difficult to apply nicely and cleanly, they tear, discolor and peel off with age, and they also leave a sticky residue on LEGO elements when you remove them. Stickers that are meant to cover multiple elements are the absolute worse. As soon as you take apart the assembly the sticker becomes useless. So you end up with this awkward collection of stickered parts over several elements that you can’t really use for anything else, but you don’t want to remove the stickers because they will be ruined. Then there are the clear stickers, they actually do look nice because they blend in well with the element – if (and that’s a very big “if”) you can apply them correctly the first time, and not ever touching them with your fingers. As soon as you try to reposition them the sticker is ruined. Or if you touch the sticky side with your finger even just a little bit you will end up with ugly fingerprint marks.
LEGO fans have been asking the company for years to replace stickers with printed parts, use better quality stickers, removable or re-apply-able stickers, or at least include a second sticker-sheet with the sets. However non of this have happened – LEGO citing the increased cost of printed parts as the reason. This sounds more like an excuse though because it seems like they can manage just fine with LEGO Juniors where all elements are printed. And what nice printings they are! And that’s what I wanted to bring to your attention; the LEGO Juniors line is a great resource for some really nicely made printed LEGO elements that you can incorporate in your LEGO creation even as a teen or adult LEGO fan.
For example, take a look at the #10676 LEGO Juniors Knights’ Castle (pictured above). Aren’t those ivy-covered walls really sweet? And there is 4 of them included in the set! And what about the arch? Isn’t it nice? And it is not just printed on the front, but also at the back! These pieces are perfect for LEGO Castle fans!
The printed big arch also comes in the #10672 LEGO Juniors Batman and the #10675 LEGO Juniors Police set, with other really nicely printed designs. Also, look at the printed walls in these sets – very nice and useful designs. And what about the ramps and other printed elements in the #10669 LEGO Juniors Turtle Lair? Yep, all printed too!
How about these lovely window printings from the #10668 LEGO Juniors Princess Castle and the #10674 LEGO Juniors Pony Farm sets? LEGO obviously doesn’t have problems with printing parts when they really want to! And these are not even licensed sets! 🙄
And there is more! You can check out all the LEGO Juniors sets at the Online LEGO Shop to see what printed designs they come with. Again, all elements that you see with graphics are printed in the LEGO Juniors sets. There are zero stickers. If you find some designs that you really like you may consider buying the set, or if you need more than what’s in the box, you can get individual pieces from sellers at BrickLink.
So look out for LEGO Juniors sets; both the current releases and in the future! They are marketed for little kids and you may have otherwise overlooked them, but they have this little-known, but highly valuable feature of printed elements. You may find inspiration from their wonderful details and nicely designs.
So what do you think? Are you planning to incorporate any of the LEGO Juniors printed elements in your own LEGO creations? Which ones do you like the most? Do you think LEGO should include printed elements in other LEGO sets as well? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
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