The LEGO Italian Riviera recently hit store shelves. For a limited time, it comes with an Italian Market Van gift-with-purchase (GWP). The previous GWPs are still available until August 11. However, buying the Italian Riviera excludes you from them, so don’t expect to get all three unless you’re dropping an additional $170 CAD on something else that also includes at least $35 CAD from the Botanicals Collection.

With that said, the Italian Riviera actually looks like a decent set. I’ve been limiting my own purchases lately because of the ridiculous pile of shame I need to downsize. My purchases these days have to advance my MOC projects somehow and not languish in their boxes. But I am intrigued by this one.

LEGO Italian Riviera Specs:

• NAME: Italian Riviera
• SET #: 21359
• THEME: Ideas
• COST: $349.99 CAD
• BRICK COUNT: 3251
• COST/BRICK: $0.108 CAD (very good value)
• MINIFIGURES: 10
• BRICKS/FIG: 221 (excellent fig count for an Ideas set)
• RELEASE DATE: August 7, 2024

Why the intrigue, you ask? I already own the Bricklink Designer Series Venetian Houses set. It’s one of those aforementioned pile-of-shame items. I feel like the LEGO Italian Riviera would complement and expand that build. That said, the original fan concept for the Italian Riviera would have done a better job. The wall texturing was much nicer… but I suppose I could mod the set easily enough to more closely resemble the fan design.

Of course, my interest in combining the two sets would not be to recreate Italy. Stripped of all the modern references, right down to just the buildings, I think these pass reasonably well for medieval structures. They kind of remind me of King’s Landing from Game of Thrones. It doesn’t quite fit with my current Viking vision… but Vikings need somewhere to raid, right?

That said, I don’t really need the GWP. So if I buy the LEGO Italian Riviera, it’ll be down the line during a sale, a Double Points event, or with a different GWP. Not that there’s anything wrong with the Italian Market Van — it just doesn’t lend itself to my builds.

Italian Market Van specs:

• NAME: Italian Market Van
• SET #: 5009422
• THEME: GWP
• VALUE: $24.99 CAD
• BRICK COUNT: 142
• MINIFIGURES: 1
• BRICKS/FIG: 142
• RELEASE DATE: August 7, 2024

It’s worth mentioning that buying the Italian Riviera now is a good deal. Larger sets like this don’t go on sale that often. Since the Italian Market Van is free, it bumps your brick count to 3,393 and minifigure count to 11, all for the same price. Double Points with a different GWP might be a better deal down the line… but this one is certainly nothing to balk at, particularly if you like the Italian Market Van.

One could argue that the LEGO Italian Riviera does potentially expand my current MOC project… but a village for my Vikings to raid is still a long way off — they haven’t even fully settled in their own village yet. Still, I like this set. What do you think of the Italian Riviera? Let me know in the comments or reach out on social media.

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Click here to go buy the Italian Riviera at LEGO.com

Until next time,

-Tom

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