Award #6 – £100 or over set of the year

It’s one of my favourite awards today as it’s all the sets I love, and boy what a year it’s been for big sets! Where to begin? Well, we got the Avengers Helicarrier – I own it but it has to be one of my least favourite large sets ever! We have also had two UCS Star Wars sets as well as the new Millenium Falcon. We got the surprise Ninjago exclusive too that everyone seems to love. Then we got the awesome Simpsons Kwik-E-Mart, the very-hard-but-amazing Mercedes-Benz Arocs 3245, and definitely not forgetting the Ferris Wheel and Detective’s Office. Add to the mix a new City train and large City Square and we have been spoiled for choice. Unfortunately most people can’t afford every set they’d love, which has meant we have had to pick and select which ones we want the most and make others secondary. So, here is how the judges voted – I had to have casting vote but if we had more judges it might have swung several ways.

Adam – Temple of Airjitzu

Ninjago never ceases to amaze me, but this set is something else. Incredible looking architecture captured brilliantly in LEGO Bricks.

Keith –  Detective’s Office

This was a hard category to come up with a winner, with the vote between the Technic Arocs and the Modular Detective’s Office.

Surprisingly, my winner is the Detective’s Office. For all the complexity of the Technic build, there is something far more satisfying with a build at minifigure scale and the Detective’s Office makes all the elements work. There are bags of intricate detail and some really good building techniques which ultimately give a more satisfying build experience.

Luc – Slave I

Beautiful, no? Star Wars has done well this year and it all started with this wonderfully crafted masterpiece. A ship that is pretty much entirely curves shouldn’t look this good in LEGO but the designers pulled it off with techniques and styles that you’d normally only see on AFOL builds. It was so much fun to build and is so much fun to look at, I haven’t felt this reluctant to break a retail set down for parts in a long time.

Séb –  Creator Ferris Wheel

As an AFOL, this is undoubtedly my favourite category as it will generally be the price range for sets that I gaze longingly at, until the day comes where I can afford to make a new purchase. We were certainly spoiled for choice this year when it came to pricey exclusives, but the one that stood out the most to me was the Ferris Wheel. I love the classic fairground models, and hope that this is only the start of this yearly theme. A huge display piece, with a big wow factor – even for any casual observer or non-LEGO fan. Given the option to also include power functions which I’m a sucker for, there’s no competition. It was a close call between this and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, but ultimately this is more compatible with a general city scene display, so that’s why it wins on this occasion.

Richard – Temple of Airjitzu

So once again the judges all went with something different which left me with my hardest choice. I have a fondness for the UCS sets and really do want the two from this year but I always end up picking other sets first. As mentioned earlier I own the Arocs and Helicarrier, but the Helicarrier is a waste of anyone’s money. The other set I own is the Simpsons Kwik-E-Mart. Neither set I own was picked by the other judges though I had expected Keith to pick the Technic set and it would have gotten my vote too. I love modulars but don’t think this year’s was the best set over £100. I think the Arocs, Slave I, Kwik-E-Mart and the Temple of Airjitzu were all better sets overall. Obviously the Arocs & Kwik-E-Mart weren’t voted for so I can’t pick those. Slave I is an iconic set and one loved by Star Wars fans but I’m going to have to go with the Temple of Airjitzu – yes, shock horror!

It’s such a different set, it’s one of those that at first I was like, meh, but it’s awesome and appeals to AFOLS and you don’t need any other Ninjago set to really appreciate this one. In fact, I’ve actually decided to ask for this over the modular building for my Xmas present!!

This year’s £100 or over set of the year – Temple of Airjitzu