LEGO Ideas 21338 A-Frame Cabin is a storming success – and it’s all down to the details

LEGO Ideas 21338 A-Frame Cabin has received rave reviews virtually across the board, thanks to its plethora of charming details.

Based on a LEGO Ideas submission from fan designer Andrea Lattanzio, 21338 A-Frame Cabin features a uniquely-built wooden cabin, with stone accents and natural surroundings. It’s a gorgeous display piece in its own right, and should also display nicely with other Ideas sets like 21318 Tree House.

At 2,082 pieces, it’s large enough to house the four minifigures that come in the set, as well as provide an environment for various animals and critters to thrive, ranging from otters to newly-printed butterflies. As LEGO reviewers around the world offer their opinions ahead of 21338 A-Frame Cabin’s general release on February 4, here’s what a few of them had to say.

– Set details –

Theme: LEGO Ideas Set name: 21338 A-Frame Cabin Release: February 1, 2023 for VIPS; February 4, 2023 for general release

Price: £159.99 / $169.99 / €169.99 Pieces: 2,082 Minifigures: 4

LEGO: February 1, 2023

21338 A-Frame Cabin starts off strong from the very beginning

From the very beginning of the building process, the set impressed the reviewers, making its mark with the instruction booklets.

“The two instruction manuals are interesting, as these move away from the now-standard renders, instead sketching the cabin in daytime and the evening,” described Brickset. “Presumably there is some flexibility in the design, as long as white remains the predominant colour.”

“What’s also stunning is the artwork for the building instructions,” agrees Tiago Catarino, comparing the unusual booklets to another LEGO Ideas set, 21334 Jazz Quartet. “Hopefully we’ll get to see a lot more of this in upcoming releases.”

The booklets do certainly stand out from the usual you’d expect in a LEGO set, making it even more tempting to keep them as display items in their own right.

The setting is just as impressive as the building itself

21338 A-Frame Cabin is clearly a rural set, setting it apart from classic modular buildings and bringing it closer to 21318 Tree House. A crucial part of conveying this is through the trees and wildlife that surround the cabin.

“The cabin stands amongst three beautifully built trees,” notes Brick Central. “The yellow, red and light green colour of the leaves tells me this is autumn. There are many mushrooms growing underneath them, another great detail hinting at the season. “Overall the nature parts of this set look great. The trees stand on two separate segments that can easily be detached from the cabin. You can put them together into one unit, a grove, or perhaps an island.”

Similarly, Brickset was also captivated by the natural colours and unique building techniques used for the outdoor sections.

“As predicted, this model definitely evokes the qualities of its predecessors [referring to 21310 Old Fishing Store, 21318 Tree House and 21335 Motorised Lighthouse], capturing lovely architectural detail and surrounding the focal structure with stunning natural features,” writes Brickset. “The light bluish grey rock element provides an interesting texture, surrounded by more conventional wedge slopes and scattered foliage. The mushrooms are particularly fun, making ingenious use of sand green BB unit heads, which return from 10309 Succulents.”

From the sloping roof to the cobbled walls, the details make the set

Brick Central also observed that the details are what makes this set, all the way down to their personal favourite: the butterflies with ‘unique’ patterns on their wings.

“The ground floor is completely open-plan and presents exceptional detail, beginning at the front door,” adds Brickset. “The printed doormat looks perfect and makes shrewd use of a 2×4 tile from 10290 Pickup Truck, with slightly old-fashioned LEGO branding. The printed tile displayed above the door was produced for 21325 Medieval Blacksmith and also looks good, with a coat hook and an umbrella stand underneath.”

As with any building of this size, how impressive the set is falls to its details and, from the sounds of it, these details have made an excellent one overall, despite Tiago commenting that there are actually a few too many details for his taste.

Creative building techniques make for a textured set full of depth

Another element that has been done well in 21338 A-Frame Cabin is the appearance of realistic texture, as noted by Tiago.

“[The texturing of the wall] is very interesting with the use of different pieces but there’s also a lot of different layers of depth here with full plates of difference but also half plates of difference,” explained Tiago. “[This technique] breaks an otherwise flat surface really well.”

Brickset picks out some particularly interesting uses of elements in their review, admiring the creative use of such LEGO parts.

“Brackets and bricks with studs on the side are combined to outstanding effect across the front of the building, yielding an uneven texture between wooden planks,” notes the site. “Some are visibly recessed and others project slightly, which looks fantastic, in combination with a few exposed studs.”

Comparison to original

As with any LEGO Ideas set, it’s natural to want to compare the final set to its original design. However, for most of the reviewers, that seemed to be a secondary concern, due to how impressed they were with 21338 A-Frame Cabin.

“The original submission presented several angled elements to create a ramshackle finish, although I think the roofs appear equally impressive without such techniques, which are unsuitable for official sets,” wrote Brickset.

“The original trees are the most obvious changes that are making people less happy,” noted Tiago. “But the original ones also seemed incredibly difficult to build strongly enough for LEGO’s quality standards.”

Ultimately, the reviewers seem to agree with one another that the differences between the original design and the final set are minor and understandably reasoned enough to not make a difference to their overall experience of 21338 A-Frame Cabin.

– Summary –

Overall, there aren’t a lot of negatives to note in LEGO Ideas 21338 A-Frame Cabin, according to the reviewers. It’s a uniquely rural and nature-focused set that stands apart from many other builds on the market, with enough details to make for a fascinating build experience and a charming display piece at the end.

21338 A-Frame Cabin is available now for VIP members, priced at £159.99 / $179.99 / €179.99. It’s due to go on sale for everyone on February 4. If you want to get your hands on a signed copy, check out the latest LEGO Ideas contest.

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