Since the upcoming City Minifigures pack is called Fun at the Beach, I thought this year would be a good time to start developing my LEGO coastline. What would a coast be without a lighthouse? Luckily for me, there was just such a set released last year.
Set Summary
Name: Lighthouse Point
Set Summary: 31051
Theme: Creator
Cost: $74.99 CDN
Brick Count: 528
Minifigures: 2
Release Date: May 22, 2016
Summary Review
VALUE: 80% (A decent value only slightly above the current average.)
BUILD: 70% (Nice exterior, but tower is not hollow and house needs work.)
MINIFIGURES: 58% (Not a great brick-to-Minifig ratio, and lack luster characters.)
ENTERTAINMENT: 85% (good build time value, and generally ok design.)
Review
VALUE: 80%
With 528 bricks and a price tag of $74.99 in Canada, each brick in this set will cost you $0.14. That is not a terrible value, but it is one cent above the current average based on the January 2017 catalogue. It is also three cents above the average for the Creator theme. That earns this set 4/5 for value (80%). Waiting for a 20% off sale at Toys R Us would bring the cost per brick down to $0.11, and the score up to 90%.
BUILD: 70%
The exterior of this set looks really nice, which was one of the things that initially drew me to this kit. It also has a modular build, so it can be easily rearranged into a multitude of different looks to suit your needs. I am also a huge fan of the light brick, and the killer whale build is awesome. I normally do not like the buildable animals, preferring the figurines much more, but this one is definitely a keeper.
What I don’t like about this set is that the house still opens on a hinge. They put so much effort into making it easily combinable in different configurations, why couldn’t the house also be modular? The house is also quite small, and doesn’t have much inside of it. My other issue is that the lighthouse modules are each sealed off. So, a Minifigure can’t actually climb up the interior. It would have been much nicer if ladders had been placed in the segments, and the tower had been made hollow. Overall, I give this set 7/10 as a build score.
MINIFIGURES: 58%
This set comes with two Minifigures, but one of them is one of the ape-children of which I am oh-so-not-fond of. The child Minifigure doesn’t have any parts that have not been seen before. She has the green cover-alls and red plaid shirt torso, and plain green legs. She comes with two silver fish. She earns 5/10.
The lighthouse attendant comes with a front and back printed torso. He does not have a double sided face, and sport a beanie. His legs have no printing on them. His accessory is a camera for catching shots of the killer whale that lives in the cove. He is fairly generic townsperson, and earns 6/10.
With two Minifigures, you get a brick-to-Minifigure ratio of 264:1. That is below the average that I calculated of 157:1 in the January 2017 catalogue. It earns a ratio score of 3/5. Combining that with the design scores for each of the characters earns this set an overall Minifigure score of 58%.
ENTERTAINMENT: 85%
This set took me about two hours to build. So, at $74.99, that translates to about $0.62 per minute of build time. That is pretty good, and earns a build-time score of 4.5/5. As for whether or not I will keep the set built, it will remain unchanged temporarily. I don’t like hinged buildings very much, and I want the lighthouse tower to be hollow with a ladder. I also want the house to be bigger so that the lighthouse keeper can actually live there. I absolutely love the killer whale though. So, it earns 4/5 for enjoyment. These two scores give this set 85% overall for entertainment.
Overall: 73%
While I really like the exterior of the building, I don’t like that the tower is not hollow and the house is hinged, barren, and small. The Minifigures leave something to be desired, and I really wish LEGO would either make an actual child torso, or just stop making these ape-children. The killer whale is awesome though, and I might just try to make a few more someday in order to have a pod. I will keep this set built, but will eventually modify it to make it more my own. It does have a good value though, even at full price.
Until next time,
-T.N.B.
So now I need this… Not for me though But it just went on a list for X-mas, for my wife (laugh) she likes puzzles a lot… metal ones, wooden ones so I think she would like Legos. She has never played though, even when the kids were little, that was my thing. She Loves, LOVES lighthouses though. I try to give fun things as gifts. I think this will work.. Good JOB! 🙂