The LEGO Group announced last year (see: LEGO in China Newsroom Announcement) that they will release a series of sets inspired by the celebration of the Chinese New Year. One of the sets depicts a family reuniting to celebrate the lunar New Year in a traditional home. Another set features a team of dragon dancers carrying a dragon, and led by a minifigure dressed as a cute pig, celebrating the current Chinese New Year of the Pig. This set has some movement as well by turning a crank to make the dragon sway. There is also a third set, recreating a traditional dragon boat race. 🙂
There is a lot of interest in these sets, as they are really nicely designed, with exclusive minifigures, and lots of unique printed elements. Unfortunately, these sets are limited-release, only available in China and Asia Pacific markets. Currently, there are no plans to release them anywhere else. However, if you have connections in Asia, or you don’t mind spending more than retail price on the secondary market like eBay and BrickLink, you can still get the sets. Below, I have included video-reviews of two of the sets, so you can see what they look like.
➡ #80101 LEGO CHINESE NEW YEAR’S EVE: This set features a traditional home with a family celebrating Chinese New Year. It is full of unique elements, exclusive minifigures, and printed pieces! Just take a look at all those printed bowls, utensils and food items. There are also a few stickers in the set, but most of the decorated pieces are printed. It looks so nice! Watch the video-review below to see all the details.
➡ #80102 LEGO CHINESE NEW YEAR DRAGON DANCE: This set features a Chinese Dragon, carried by four traditionally dressed minifigures. They have the same torso and leg prints, and two different types of hair pieces with headbands. The fifth minifigure is dressed in a pig costume to celebrate the Year of the Pig. The dragon has tons of unique pieces as well; printed scales, re-colored decorative elements, and a mechanism built into the base to make the dragon move. Watch the video-review below to see it in action!
➡ #80103 LEGO CHINESE NEW YEAR DRAGON BOAT DANCE: It appears that this set is not yet available, as I can’t find any reviews on it, or any pictures that are not watermarket. It features two longboats shaped like dragons (one green, one red), each with its own team of five minifigures. There are an additional five minifigures serving as spectators and judges of the race. There is also a nicely designed viewing stand and podium with lots of decorative elements. Again, I can’t find a video review of this set, but when it is available, I will include it below.
The piece-count and price of the sets in Asia are not known, however they all seem to be about medium size. While they are not going to be sold outside of Asia, they are available on eBay and BrickLink. The #80101 LEGO Chinese New Year set and the #80102 LEGO Chinese New Year set sell for about $80 (without shipping) on BrickLink, and about $130 on eBay with free shipping from sellers in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The #80103 LEGO Chinese New Year set is only available for pre-order on eBay
for about $170 with free shipping.
Prices of the first two sets are actually not too bad, probably about twice the original price. It also appears from the BrickLink Price Guide that prices are gradually coming down. So, if you wait a bit longer, you may be able to get even better prices. However, I also heard that there is severe shortage of these sets even in Asia, so prices could go up too. If you have a relative or friends in Asia, you might be able to get them if you ask nicely.
If you don’t mind building the sets without the unique prints and minifigs, building instructions are available for the first two sets at the Building Instructions section of the LEGO website. Just type in the set number, and you can download the instructions in a PDF format.
What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Chinese New Year sets? Would you like to get them? Which one is your favorite? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
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