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LEGO Old Trafford Manchester United Stadium Review

by Thita (admin) on February 25, 2020

in LEGO Exclusives

One of the new sets that was released last month is the massive #10272 LEGO Creator Expert Old Trafford Manchester United football stadium. It is a beautifully constructed set that would appeal not just to soccer fans, but also fans of LEGO Architecture. So, let’s take a closer look at this impressive structure.

First of all, we can celebrate the fact that according to the press-release of this set, it seems like LEGO is intending to release other sports stadiums under the LEGO Creator Expert line. This means that the sets will be focusing more on the building experience, architectural accuracy, and displayability of the models rather than the play experience of the old LEGO Sports line from the late 1990s and early 2000s. In other words, these sets will be for adults and serious sports enthusiasts. So, even if you’re not a fan of this particular stadium or team, you can look forward to other structures in the future. I assume this will depend on feedback on the #10272 LEGO Creator Expert Old Trafford Manchester United, and even more importantly, how well it sells.

From what I’m reading online, the set has been received with great enthusiasm. Although Manchester United is a British team, they have fans in other countries as well, and the stadium is an iconic structure of the sport that crosses the boundaries of countries and teams. In case you are not familiar with the stadium, here is a bit of summary from Wikipedia: Old Trafford is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,879, it is the largest club football stadium (and second largest football stadium overall after Wembley Stadium) in the United Kingdom, and the eleventh-largest in Europe. Nicknamed “The Theatre of Dreams”, Old Trafford has been United’s home ground since 1910. The stadium’s record attendance was recorded in 1939, when 76,962 spectators watched the FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town. Old Trafford has hosted FA Cup semi-finals, England fixtures, matches at the 1966 World Cup and Euro 96 and the 2003 Champions League Final, as well as rugby league’s annual Super League Grand Final, and the final of two Rugby League World Cups. It also hosted football matches at the 2012 Summer Olympics, including women’s international football for the first time in its history.

As far as the #10272 LEGO Creator Expert Old Trafford Manchester United set itself, as I mentioned above, it’s closer to LEGO Architecture sets in scale, style, density, and attention to detail, and it could also be compared to the #10234 LEGO Creator Expert Sydney Opera House released back in 2013. The bottom line is that this set is not just a LEGO soccer stadium, but also an architectural marvel that can appeal to LEGO Architecture fans. No matter what size you look at it from, it’s packed with micro-scale but accurate details. Examining how different elements are used in such a non-traditional LEGO scale is a study in itself that’s worth looking into.

However, it’s going to be those who visited and familiar with Old Trafford that will cherish this set the most. All the little details that are packed into this 1:600 replica can bring back memories of rooting for their favorite team. With 3,898 pieces and an overall size of 6.5” (18.5cm) high, 18” (47cm) long, and 15” (39cm) wide, LEGO designers could jam in quite a bit of authentic details. And, to enthuse fans further, the instruction book includes lots of details about the history of both the stadium and the team. I think Manchester United fans have a right to be proud that LEGO decided to choose their stadium as the first large set like this.

I was a bit concerned that this set won’t sell well due to the fairly narrow niche, large size, and high price, but it seems like fans are very happy with it. This is a good sign that LEGO will likely continue with the series. In the video below by the BrickVault, you can see Old Trafford in all of its glory. Look at those gorgeously spread out beams on top!

If you are interested to check it out, the #10272 LEGO Old Trafford – Manchester United set is available directly from official LEGO stores and the LEGO Creator Expert section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? How do you like the idea of LEGO releasing famous sports stadiums? And what do you think of the #10272 LEGO Creator Expert Old Trafford – Manchester United football stadium? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below!

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LEGO Ideas Tree House Review & Nature Photos

by Thita (admin) on February 24, 2020

in LEGO Exclusives

(Written by Geneva – gid617)

The largest LEGO Ideas set to date, the #21318 LEGO Ideas Tree House had me excited ever since the project reached 10,000 supporters. Tree houses are one of my favorite things (in fact, I built myself a tree house years ago) so seeing an official LEGO tree house at this scale is awesome! To me, this set is what LEGO Ideas is all about; concepts that are too specific to base a whole theme on, but completely worth doing as standalones.

The amazing thing about the LEGO Ideas Tree House is that it comes with an extra set of leaves, so you can change from summer to fall foliage. I have a very slight preference for the green leaves, but in any case, this set is a goldmine of foliage elements – especially useful if you enjoy building your own trees.

Another unique aspect of the LEGO Ideas Tree House is that this is the first big set that utilizes the new Plants from Plants initiative; softer botanical elements made from plant-based plastic. These pieces seem just as durable and high quality as the usual LEGO leaf elements. The greens and yellows match previously released leaf elements in the same color well, but I found the dark-orange leaves a little darker than the earlier ones. (In the image below, you can see the earlier dark-orange leaves on the left, and the LEGO Ideas Tree House dark-orange leaf on the right.)

The LEGO Ideas Tree House is surprisingly sturdy, with only a couple of leaves showing any tendency toward falling off when the set is moved. The tree is very safe to grab by the trunk; I carried it all the way out to our own little tree fort this way in order to take some in-situ pictures.

Another great thing about the LEGO Ideas Tree House is that it’s fun to view from all angles. Many LEGO sets have a minimal level of detail around the back, but not this one!

As you can see from these pictures, there’s a very satisfying amount of leaves on the tree. I don’t understand why the tree wasn’t showcased better on the official pictures; to me, those pictures all give the impression of a very sparse and unrealistic-looking canopy. In person, it looks much better.

There are also lots of fun details in the LEGO Ideas Tree House, like the curved slope with “Build Your Dreams” and the fan designer’s initials printed on it.

The details aren’t confined to ground level; each of the three cabins are equipped with a full interior. One is a children’s room with a bunk bed, another a bathroom, and the third the master bedroom. Each one makes full use of the available space with some creative building techniques for the furniture. The interiors are easily accessible since not only do the roofs come off but so does the canopy.

Changing from summer to fall leaves is not difficult and only a little tedious. You won’t want to be making the switch every day, but it only took me about ten minutes.

I think the fall leaves look a little sparser than the green. But they certainly make the set pop!

That’s it as far as my thoughts on the official set, but I also wanted to see how hard it would be to give the tree house a winter look. My brother has about a dozen white leaves so I ran off with them, used a few of the dark-orange leaves that were included in the set, as well as loads of my own white tiles, slopes, and horn/teeth pieces. I’ve never used candles for icicles before but they worked well here. If you build snowscapes, make a note of it!

It probably took me three or four hours to make the necessary changes to turn the set into a winter scene. Of course, a tree house isn’t the best place to spend your winters, so I imagine the family has a winter home somewhere and just comes here on a sunny afternoon to play!

Unlike the summer and fall versions of the LEGO Ideas Tree House, I think the winter tree looks best from a low angle.

If you’ve been looking at this #21318 LEGO Ideas Tree House set and aren’t sure whether to get it or not, I highly recommend it. It’s a beautiful, eye-catching piece with an impressive parts count, great play-value, a fun building experience, and lots of customizing potential. Speaking of customizing… I was just wetting my feet with the winter tree – there’s more coming! 😀

What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Ideas Tree House? Do you enjoy the fact that it has two colors of foliage? Should LEGO offer these kinds of customizing options more often? If you’ve built the set already, were you impressed by the techniques and sturdiness of the final build? What do you think about the idea of a winter version? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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LEGO Old Trafford Manchester United Stadium Review

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