With every LEGO catalogue that comes in the mail, I like to do a small review. I got the January 2018 catalogue just the other day. I am still in the process of looking over the data (average price of a set, average price of brick, etc). In anticipation of that post, I thought I would share my top picks from this catalogue. Obviously, if I could, I would buy everything. But, I am on a budget, and have to be choosy. I decided to pick five must have sets from the new selection to purchase between now and June (when I anticipate there will be a new catalogue). My first problem arose when I couldn’t narrow my list to less than six sets. So, I ranked each of the six sets based overall cost, number of bricks, cost per brick, number of Minifigures, and brick-to-Minifigure ratio. The best in a category was awarded 5 points, the worst got none. I then added up the scores for each set to determine which sets were the best value. With that in mind, here are my top five picks from the January 2018 LEGO catalogue.
01. Lex Luthor Mech Takedown (76097)
Brick Count = 406 (3rd place)
Minifigures = 5 (3rd place)
Brick-to-Minifigure Ratio = 81:1 (3rd place)
Cost = $49.99 CAD (3rd place)
Cost per Brick = $0.12 (3rd place)
Total Score = 15
This set appealed to me initially because I really want the Firestorm Minifigure. I would not mind having Cheetah or Lex Luthor either. I don’t care much for another Batman or Wonder Woman (I have several of each, and these variants are not that special in my eyes). The set itself is not a big draw for me, this would be a Minifiguure driven buy. In terms of my ranking, this set came in a solid third place across the board. Oddly enough, its consistent performance actually landed it the top score overall.
02. Justice League Anniversary Party (70919)
Brick Count = 267 (6th place)
Minifigures = 4 (tied for 4th place)
Brick-to-Minifigure Ratio = 67:1 (1st place)
Cost = $34.99 CAD (1st place)
Cost per Brick = $0.13 (4th place)
Total Score = 14
The Justice League Anniversary Party is on my must have list for a couple of reasons. First off, I want the Hawkgirl Minifigure. I actually don’t care much about the other Minifigures in the set. I have several Superman Minifigs, I already have a nicer Green Arrow, and I don’t even know who El Dorado is. But, I do like the build for this set. I could see myself incorporating that into a MOC project of some sort. In terms of my ranking, this set actually tied my third choice with 14 points. I put it in second place because it only came in last place once for its low brick count. That is not a major flaw because it is meant to be a smaller set. This set also gets you the most Minifigures relative to the number of bricks, and has the lowest overall cost.
03. Downtown Diner (10260)
Brick Count = 2480 (1st place)
Minifigures = 6 (2nd place)
Brick-to-Minifigure Ratio = 413:1 (6th place)
Cost = $219.99 CAD (6th place)
Cost per Brick = $0.09 (1st place)
Total Score = 14
This set is an absolute must have for my LEGO city. I am super excited about it. I love that there is a gym and a recording studio incorporated into the build. This is also the first time that a Creator modular comes with more than just generic Minifigure face prints. While this set does come out on January 1st, I will be most likely wait until March to buy it. There is almost always a double VIP points event in March, and that is the best time to buy big sets. In terms of my ranking for this set, it did technically tie for second place. But, it came in last place in two categories (overall cost and brick-to-Minifigure ratio), hence why I bumped it down to third place. That is the curse of these large sets. They have a great cost per brick, but you have to buy in bulk to get that, so the overall price tag is high. Given the huge number of bricks, you also will not get a huge number of Minifigures, relatively speaking.
04. Mountain Police Headquarters (60174)
Brick Count = 663 (2nd place)
Minifigures = 7 (1st place)
Brick-to-Minifigure Ratio = 95:1 (4th place)
Cost = $109.99 (5th place)
Cost per Brick = $0.17 (5th place)
Total Score = 13
I want this set for the mountain lion, plain and simple. I loved, and collected, all of the big cats from the Jungle Exploration theme last summer. I am really excited to see another variant of it here. I am also keen on the Minifigure in the log costume. Otherwise, this set will provide me with more police officers for my LEGO city, and there are a lot of neat parts for my custom projects, like the corner door frame seen on the jail cell, the stairs, and the windows. Overall, it looks like a good selection of bricks, and I will get some mileage out of the parts in this set. In terms of my ranking, this set did well in terms of brick and Minifigure counts. But, it suffers from the curse of City sets… it has a really high cost per brick, making it not a very good value.
05. Sunshine Surfer Van (31079)
Brick Count = 379 (4th place)
Minifigures = 2 (5th place)
Brick-to-Minifigure Ratio = 190:1 (5th place)
Cost = $39.99 CAD (2nd place)
Cost per Brick = $0.11 (2nd place)
Total Score = 12
I really like the look of this set. It is just fun. I can totally see this little van parked on my future LEGO beach (I will eventually get around to adding one to my city). In terms of my ranking, it is an inexpensive set with a pretty good overall value in terms of brick cost. You don’t get many Minifigures, or even a good ratio of bricks to Minifigures, but I really like the look of it.
At the start of this post, I noted that had I narrowed the January 2018 LEGO catalogue down to six sets that I really liked. I rated them all to narrow that list down to five. So, what was my sixth pick, you might ask?
Mountain Arrest (60173)
Brick Count = 303 (5th place)
Minifigures = 4 (tied for 4th place)
Brick-to-Minifigure Ratio = 76:1 (2nd place)
Cost = $79.99 (4th place)
Cost per Brick = $0.26 (6th place)
Total Score = 9
This set appealed to me mostly because of the bear. I have a LEGO polar bear, but I missed out on the brown bear a few years ago. I also liked the bathtub guy and the bee’s nest included in this set. I don’t have a large police helicopter yet, and have been thinking about the High Speed Chase for a while… I could see myself skipping the High Speed Chase for this set simply because I would get the bear. But, this set is not only the worst value on my shortlist, it actually the worst value of any set advertised in the January 2018 catalogue. Even if you wait for a 20% off sale, this cost per brick for this set is still way too high at $0.21.
There are my top 5 picks from the new selection of LEGO sets coming out this January. I would love to hear your top 5 picks in the comments below!
Until next time,
-T.N.B.
I heard there’s a new Yoda’s hut coming out next year. I guess it’s not part of the January releases, but I’m really looking forward to that one.
I had not heard of Yoda’s hut yet, but I don’t follow the Star Wars releases as closely as some of the others (it was a theme I decided not to collect for budget reasons). There will be a few more waves of sets this year, I hope it comes for you in the next one!
I have only a modest collection of Star Wars mini-figs. I’m trying to stick to only the original trilogy, and I don’t have an original trilogy Yoda.