Every LEGO set reviewed in 2021 by Brick Fanatics

15/12/202117/12/2021 Chris Wharfe 2508 Views 0 Comments Architecture, art, Batman, Brick Sketches, BrickHeadz, City, Collectible Minifigures, Creator, Creator 3-in-1, Creator Expert, Dc, DC Super Heroes, Disney, Friends, Harry Potter, Ideas, Jurassic World, LEGO, LEGO Architecture, LEGO Art, LEGO Batman, LEGO Brick Sketches, LEGO BrickHeadz, LEGO CIty, LEGO Collectible Minifigures, LEGO Creator, LEGO Creator 3-in-1, LEGO Creator Expert, LEGO DC, LEGO DC Super Heroes, LEGO Disney, LEGO for Adults, LEGO Friends, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Ideas, LEGO Jurassic World, LEGO Marvel, LEGO Minecraft, LEGO Minifigures, LEGO Monkie Kid, LEGO NINJAGO, lego review, LEGO Seasonal, LEGO Speed Champions, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Super Mario, LEGO Technic, LEGO Vidiyo, Marvel, Minecraft, Minifigures, Monkie Kid, Ninjago, Reviews, Seasonal, Speed Champions, Star Wars, Super Mario, Technic, The LEGO Group, Vidiyo, Year in Review 2021

As 2022 rapidly approaches, we’re kicking off our look back over the past year with a round-up of all the LEGO sets we reviewed in 2021.

A total of 159 sets went under the Brick Fanatics microscope this year – including early reviews of 2021 sets published in 2020, but not including early reviews of 2022 sets, which we’ve been publishing since October – across themes from Star Wars, Ideas and NINJAGO to Marvel, LEGO for Adults and Super Mario.

Whether you’ve missed any of those reviews or just want to revisit sets as the year draws to a close – maybe you’re whittling down your own top 10, or maybe you’re just doing some last-minute Christmas shopping – we’ve collected them all into one handy list.

Dive in below, and keep an eye on the site over the next couple of weeks as we look back on an incredible year for the LEGO Group, and look ahead to what 2022 could bring us…

Architecture

It’s been a pretty quiet year for LEGO Architecture: only one set landed on shelves, offering a condensed and more space-friendly version of 10256 Taj Mahal. We rated it highly in our review, mainly for offsetting (to some degree) all the horrendous repetition of that Creator Expert re-release.

21056 Taj Mahal | review

LEGO Art

LEGO Art wasn’t quite as prolific in 2021 as we expected given the fanfare around its launch last August, but it does now boast the largest LEGO set of all time (by piece count) in 31203 World Map. We reviewed both that buildable mosaic and the first one inspired by the House of Mouse.

31202 Disney’s Mickey Mouse | review
31203 World Map | review

LEGO for Adults / Creator Expert

What a year it’s been for the theme formerly known as Creator Expert. It’s no secret that the LEGO Group has gone after the adult market in a big way in 2021, and this list is all the proof you need. We reviewed a total of 14 sets that now fall under the LEGO for Adults umbrella this year, and there’s barely a bum note among them.

Batman / DC Super Heroes

With basically zero DC representation in cinemas in 2021 – at least in a way that was suitable for the LEGO Group’s target audience – the DC Super Heroes theme essentially dialled it in this year, evident nowhere more than in 76240 Batmobile Tumbler. The smaller Batmobiles are both pretty good, though.

76182 Batman Cowl | review
76188 Batman Classic TV Series Batmobile | review
76239 Batmobile Tumbler: Scarecrow Showdown | review
76240 Batmobile Tumbler | review

BrickHeadz

The theme that just won’t quit continued its seasonal focus in 2021, while also expanding to encompass Minions and a new Pets subtheme.

Brick Sketches

Another relatively new concept for the LEGO Group, Brick Sketches added two new products to its line-up in 2021. We got our hands on both.

40456 Mickey Mouse | review
40457 Minnie Mouse | review

Chinese Traditional Festival

The LEGO Group continued to knock it out of the park with its Chinese New Year sets in 2021 – or, more specifically, with 80107 Spring Lantern Festival. Its connectivity with the Modular Buildings Collection helps, but it’s also just a beautiful set in its own right.

80106 Story of Nian | review
80107 Spring Lantern Festival | review

CITY

It’s been a pretty good year for LEGO CITY, headlined by two major developments: buildable roads replacing traditional baseplates, and a menagerie of new moulded animals in its wildlife subtheme. We dove into both across our reviews.

60292 Town Center | review
60304 Road Plates | review
60307 Wildlife Rescue Camp | review

Collectible Minifigures

Both of this year’s licensed Collectible Minifigures series were firsts for the blind-bagged characters, bringing Looney Tunes and Marvel into the fold – with brilliant results all around. We went forensic on all 24 minifigures across two in-depth reviews.

71030 Looney Tunes | review
71031 Marvel Studios | review

Creator 3-in-1

The LEGO Group’s new home of retro themes gave us our first proper LEGO castle in years in 31120 Medieval Castle, before getting experimental with recolours through 77940 and 77941 Mighty Dinosaurs. It’s still doing great things elsewhere, too.

Disney

For older fans, the stand-out LEGO Disney release in 2021 has undoubtedly been 40478 Mini Disney Castle, which shrinks down 71040 The Disney Castle to accommodate for smaller budgets and limited display space.

40478 Mini Disney Castle | review

Friends

Friends has been consistently prolific for the past decade – can you believe it first launched in 2012? – and this year was no different. We got to grips with just one of those new sets, and it wasn’t without its merits.

41446 Heartlake City Vet Clinic | review

Harry Potter

The LEGO Harry Potter theme celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2021 with a brand new modular Hogwarts, a cast of golden characters, collectible wizard cards and a beautiful new direct-to-consumer set. All in all, it’s been another magical year for Wizarding World fans.

Ideas

Was this the year of LEGO Ideas? From record-breaking reviews to its most prolific portfolio to date, nobody could really say otherwise. We tackled five of the six crowdsourced sets that hit shelves this year, and they’re basically all winners in our book.

Jurassic World

With Jurassic World: Dominion delayed to 2022, the LEGO Group’s dino-centric theme had a relatively quiet year. Just four sets hit shelves in September, of which we’ve dissected three – and they’re not really the most inspiring products you’ll find on this list.

76940 T. rex Dinosaur Fossil Exhibition | review
76942 Baryonyx Dinosaur Boat Escape | review
76941 Carnotaurus Dinosaur Chase | review

Marvel

Between brand new character busts, Marvel Cinematic Universe sets, a giant golden glove and arguably its first Ultimate Collector Series set, LEGO Marvel has had quite the year. But even in the context of all that, the stand-out is surely still 76178 Daily Bugle, a towering skyscraper that also happens to be the theme’s biggest set of all time.

Minecraft

Still chugging along as one of the LEGO Group’s most overlooked (and perhaps underrated) themes, Minecraft – which began life with LEGO CUUSOO, the precursor to Ideas – enjoyed another great 12 months in 2021, not least in 21169 The First Adventure.

21169 The First Adventure | review

Monkie Kid

Monkie Kid set the bar high in its first year on shelves, but to its credit, it kept the momentum going perfectly in 2021 with a diverse line-up of mechs, vehicles and location-based sets. We dove into two of the very best in our reviews.

80020 White Dragon Horse Jet | review
80024 The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain | review

NINJAGO

Between its Seabound and Island subthemes, NINJAGO added an eclectic and colourful range of sets to its catalogue in 2021 – but the headline release has to be 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens, a belated (but very welcome) follow-up to the stunning NINJAGO City modular line-up.

Promotional / Exclusive

If you shopped at LEGO.com in 2021, chances are you picked up at least one of the very many freebies in this list. A couple of LEGO Store-exclusive sets – and one LEGO House-exclusive – also came our way this year.

Speed Champions

Probably still the most complex and inspired use of LEGO elements you’ll find at the price points they offer, Speed Champions’ second wave of eight-stud-wide cars are absolutely all worth a look-in.

Star Wars

From Ultimate Collector Series behemoths and adult-focused display sets to Microfighters and downsized ships, LEGO Star Wars had something for everyone in 2021. We tackled it all across 20 separate reviews, capped off with the enormous 75313 AT-AT.

Super Mario

LEGO Luigi joined the Super Mario line-up in 2021, bringing a brand new multiplayer experience with him. While we’re still keen to see a more traditional minifigure-drive range from the LEGO Group and Nintendo in future, we’re also fully on-board with the interactive sets by this point.

71380 Master Your Adventure | review
71383 Wiggler’s Poison Swamp | review
71387 Adventures with Luigi | review
71388 Boss Sumo Bro Topple Tower | review

Technic

The LEGO Group’s most advanced building system got off to a great start in January with a brand new Ferrari, and didn’t really let up for the rest of the year.

VIDIYO

Perhaps the biggest non-starter for the LEGO Group in 2021, VIDIYO seemed doomed to fail right out of the gate, when third-party retailers began discounting sets on day one. It’s since been shelved while the LEGO Group works on new ideas with Universal Music Group, with a planned relaunch – perhaps as something completely different – in 2023.

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Author Profile

Chris Wharfe

I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.