While there’s no shortage of top consoles out there to demand hours of your time, it’s great to know Lego is still going strong. As everyone from kids to AFOLs knows, Lego is only limited by your imagination. And Lego’s designers have big imaginations if the size of many current sets is anything to go by.
This update to our long-standing guide of the best large Lego sets adds 14 new corkers. Many sets are flagships. Each of them has 1000 pieces or more and is available to buy. All of them are of the kind you’ll immediately want in your mitts. Let’s brick on!
Brick-built cars
On hearing the word ‘Lego’, you might think of dinky oddly proportioned cars you shove a minifig inside of. Guess again. Lego’s Jaguar E-Type ($139.99/£129.99 • 1673 pieces) reimagines an icon in fine form. It has all the classic lines and a brick-built engine. Ideal if you like saying “I’ve got a Jag” repeatedly. Or you love the idea of an E-Type but can’t quite stretch to the real thing,
Taking things in a more fantastical direction, Back to the Future Time Machine ($199.99/£169.99 • 1872 pieces) is a scale model of Doc Brown’s souped-up De Lorean. You can mod it into the second film’s hover form, or add the hood-mounted circuit board from Part III. But don’t zoom it along at 88mph, or it’ll disappear in a blaze of timey-wimey glory.
Want something a bit more old-school and classic? Then how about the old-school classic car? Ford Model T ($129.99/£119.99 • 1060 pieces) has everything from the crank handle to the fold-back fabric roof. Just don’t expect it to outpace your Lego Jag.
Lego ships and planes
Prefer water to roads? Titanic ($679.99/£589.99 • 9090 pieces) faithfully recreates the legendary ship. Gawp at a tiny grand staircase! Mess about with propellers to turn the piston engines! But don’t smash it into a homemade ‘iceberg’ or you’ll get that sinking feeling as dozens of parts disappear from view.
If you fancy a different boaty disaster, there’s The Endurance ($269.99/£229.99 • 3011 pieces). Here, you build the ship from the famous Antarctic expedition in its pre-crushed-by-ice state. You get detailed masts, sails, rigging, decks, cabins and lifeboats. There’s a wheel to operate the rudder. Alas, no penguins.
Alternatively, take to the air with Concorde ($199.99/£169.99 • 2083 pieces). This set lets you remake an engineering masterpiece as a huge (105cm/41in long) brick-built model with realistic tiltable nose and cramped seating. Maybe avoid swooshing it around, though, or you’ll have your very own aviation disaster.
Star Wars Lego
The Star Wars theme brought Lego back from the brink during its darkest days. It remains something of a cash generator. The most spendy and impressive set in the current range we’d recommend – because we’re not keen on ‘slice of Death Star’ – is Millennium Falcon ($849.99/£734.99 • 7541 pieces). This 83cm/32.5in-long monster’s jam-packed with details. You even get two sets of minifigs to pop in the cockpit.
If those pesky rebels need some bad guys to keep them in check, Jango Fett’s Firespray-Class Starship ($299.99/£259.99 • 2970 pieces) is, apparently, the perfect vessel for some father-and-son bounty hunting japes. Or there’s Imperial Remnant AT-AT with INT-4 ($159.99/£139.99 • 1453 pieces). The set includes the stompy quadruped, an INT-4 escape pod, a squad of Snowtroopers and a single speeder bike. On the side of good? The Mandalorian and Grogu. Even factoring in the latter’s Force abilities, that doesn’t seem like a fair fight.
Are your minifig Rebels getting too confident? Put the fear of the Dark Side into them with Boba Fett ($169.99/£149.99 • 1544 pieces). This giant-sized bounty hunter stands an impressive 41cm (16in) tall and comes complete with a swooshy cape, a massive gun, and a mini-me minifig version.
Up-Scaled Darth Vader Minifigure ($99.99/£89.99 • 1028 pieces) is a gigantic take on the famous minifig. He’s posable and comes equipped with oversized accessories. Just don’t let him hear you suggest he looks infinitely goofier than Fett or he’ll bop you with his chunky brick-built lightsaber.
Keener on droids? Then R2-D2 ($99.99/£89.99 • 1050 pieces) is “the kit you’re looking for”. When complete, this 24cm/9in tall robot with rotating head and detachable third leg will tower over your Empire minifigs, making them quake with fear – all while his tiny mini-me sneaks behind their backs to steal their sandwiches.
Lego space sets
Lego’s keen interest in space predates even Star Wars, as evidenced by Space Rocket, from way back in 1964. With its 3486 more pieces than that ancient set, NASA Artemis Space Launch System ($259.99/£219.99 • 3601 pieces) is a rather more modern take. It should have space fans over the moon, constructing a rocket that’s designed to finally take people there again.
Another out-of-this-world set is Shuttle Carrier Aircraft ($229.99/£199.99 • 2417 pieces). It combines a space shuttle and 747 to give you double the fun – or the most bonkers piggyback ride you’ve ever seen. Then there’s a piece of gear that once briefly took a ride in a shuttle. The scale of Hubble Space Telescope ($139.99/£119.99 • 1252 pieces) impresses on the shelf, with the included astronaut minifig giving you some inkling of how enormous the real thing is. Alas, Lego missed the chance to give Hubble comedy glasses as a nod to NASA fixing its blurry vision.
Microscale Lego buildings
The earliest Lego sets focussed on buildings. But today’s incarnations are considerably more elaborate than anything Lego founder Ole Kirk Christiansen and chums dreamed up.
Notre-Dame de Paris ($229.99/£199.99 • 4383 pieces) recreates the Paris landmark in fine style. After a devastating fire, it took five years to reconstruct this beautiful building. With a slew of 1×1 tiles, this set might take as long to put together. But when complete, you’ll have a stunning brick-built tribute to an architectural masterpiece.
Tower Bridge ($349.99/£269.99 • 3745 pieces) takes us across the Channel to London. This latest Lego version of the famous bridge is a major visual upgrade on its predecessor and comes complete with a raising road section – and tiny vehicles that probably won’t want to be on said road section when it’s raised.
Lastly, Neuschwanstein Castle ($279.99/£239.99 • 3455 pieces) gives you an entire Bavarian castle for your desk. There are many tiny interior details to explore. And in a really nice touch, you can swap the leaves if you prefer autumn hues over summer greenery.
Movie Lego sets
OK, maybe this one’s more a literature set, but there have been loads of Sherlock Holmes movies too. Anyway, as if there’s not already enough Lego on your shelves, Sherlock Holmes: Book Nook ($129.99/£109.99 • 1359 pieces) wants to infiltrate your books. Folded, it’s a forced-perspective glimpse of Baker Street, where you can pose Sherlock Holmes in hot pursuit of Irene Adler, while Dr Watson trips over Professor Moriarty’s ego. Or open it up to potter around a detailed diorama, packed with Easter eggs.
1999 saw the first Lego products based on movies and TV shows. The range has grown since – sometimes in a literal sense. The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell ($499.99/£429.99 • 6167 pieces) is the one set to rule them all. Given its size, this one may take as long to construct as the movies do to watch.
Dinosaur Fossils: Triceratops ($109.99/£89.99 • 1154 pieces) is a tad more manageable. It gets you a gorgeous dino skeleton, along with amusingly out-of-scale Dr. Gerry Harding (from the original Jurassic Park), fascinated by a comparatively enormous pile of Lego dino poop. Just keep the main event well clear of any T. rex fossils set builds. A scrap between the two would result in you needing a palaeontologist to dig up hundreds of tiny pieces out of the carpet.
Elsewhere, The Goonies ($329.99/£269.99 • 2912 pieces) wants you to play out the movie rather than just gawp at the equivalent of a plastic still frame. From one side, it’s a brick-built take on the exterior of the Inferno pirate ship ruins. But flip it 180 degrees and the interior is packed with enough interactive vignettes to make any child of the 1980s squee.
Another 1980s classic, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ($139.99/£119.99 • 1226 pieces) probaly requires familiarity with the source material. If you’ve never seen Spielberg’s classic, you might be horrified at this seemingly cursed brown monstrosity holding a flowerpot. But if you bawled your eyes out at the little dude as he tried to find his way home, you’ll be clutching this Lego build, watching its heart glow and whispering “I’ll be right here”, until everyone nearby demands you stop.
Finally, not too many people use the word ‘classic’ when talking about Pirates of the Caribbean flicks. You might even think “yo-ho-oh-no” on having to sit through yet another. But there’s no getting away from the magnificence of Captain Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Ship ($379.99/£299.99 • 2862 pieces) and its cannons that deploy with the turn of a dial. Boom!
TV show Lego sets
Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise ($399.99/£349.99 • 3600 pieces) invites Trekkies to beam up all their cash to Lego. In return, they get a superb brick-built Enterprise that rivals anything Lego’s made for a certain other series with ‘Star’ in the title. You get nine crew members and can separate the shuttlebay to swoosh it around. Just avoid re-enacting a Borg attack, or the only thing you’ll be engaging is your ability to clean up a massive pile of grey pieces.
The X-Files ($199.99/£179.99 • 1478 pieces) reopens the X-Files with a superb set that’s definitely not a government cover-up. Mulder’s office sits below ground. And while one of his posters says ‘the truth is out there’, it turns out the truth is up there. In the sense an alien is lurking in a forest, with an ominous black UFO hanging overhead.
Transformers Soundwave ($189.99/£159.99 • 1505 pieces) brings the Decepticons into the Lego universe, after the triumph of Lego Optimus and, um, whatever Lego Bumblebee was. For my money: Soundwave superior! Two of his minions are present and correct. And if you prod Soundwave’s ‘play’ button, he’ll emit some of his memorably robotic phrases and – in rather more unlikely fashion – a sting from the original 1980s cartoon.
Video game Lego sets
Lego’s attempt to assimilate video games now extends to Donkey Kong Arcade ($199.99/£149.99 • 1371 pieces). It’s arguably Lego’s most ambitious creation in this space. Once the set’s built, you can load it up with barrels and release them one at a time. The joystick and button can then help you ensure not-Mario (he was named ‘Jumpman’ back then) avoids squishy death.
Actual Mario also has a pretty fantastic display set in the form of Mario Kart – Mario & Standard Kart ($169.99/£149.99 • 1972 pieces). It’s a suitably chunky take on the moustachioed hero and his fancy go-kart. “Let’s-a go – to the Lego store to buy more Lego” is probably his new catchphrase.
Gotta catch ’em all? Probably not in Lego form, given how ludicrously expensive the Pokémon sets would collectively be. But Pikachu and Poké Ball ($199.99/£179.99 • 2050 pieces) offers a dynamic take on the famous yellow critter along with the Poké Ball he launched from.
Lego sets for minifigs
Everything changed for Lego in 1978 when the minifig rocked up. Sets were suddenly built to house them, rather than merely echo real-world buildings and transport. And with larger sets come far more ambitious – and deeply weird – builds.
The Dreamzzz cartoon might be a flop, but the sets are fantastic. Who wouldn’t love the deranged mashup of giant shark, submarine, detachable mini aircraft and prison (lurking in its glowing innards) that is Nightmare Shark Submarine ($149.99/£129.99 • 1413 pieces)?
If you prefer your weirdness to be vaguely city-shaped, Megapolis City 5th Anniversary ($189.99/£159.99 • 2330 pieces) is a vibrant hodge-podge of elements that somehow hangs together really well. Ideal for Monkie Kid fans or anyone who fancies something a bit different. Similarly, Ninjago City Workshops ($249.99/£219.99 • 3244 pieces) ramps up the strange, pairing a chunky mech with fantastical stacked buildings.
Back to reality now with a pub. Only not quite, because Lego. Tudor Corner ($229.99/£199.99 • 3266 pieces) lacks tiny Lego pints but does feature a restaurant and haberdashery, with a clockmaker’s above. (Far be it for us to suggest you modify the set with a proper bar…)
Italian Riviera ($299.99/£249.99 • 3251 pieces) brings splashes of colour to your Lego world. Clever techniques pack in plenty of nooks and crannies to explore, such as the buildings being positioned at odd angles. There are loads of minifigs going about their business too, ready to stare angrily at you whenever you reach for a jar of bolognese sauce rather than making your own.
Ancient Moon-Gazing Inn ($129.99/£99.99 • 1530 pieces) also revels in famous architecture, but this set looks like it stepped out of a Chinese period drama. You get an inn with bedrooms and a teahouse, packed with intricate details. There’s even a minifig version of famed poet Su Dongpo to bring some extra culture to your Lego shelves.
Technic sets to challenge you
Standard Lego bricks give you a warm fuzzy nostalgic glow. But grown up model-makers might fancy something a bit more technical. That’s where Lego’s Technic line comes in. The excavator in Volvo FMX Truck & EC230 Electric Excavator ($199.99/£169.99 • 2274 pieces) might look dinky when compared to the gigantic Liebherr R 9800 from several years back, but it still packs in a pneumatic pump to lift and lower the scoop, while the flatbed truck has a 6-cylinder moving piston engine.
Got more of a need for speed than a need for emulating the construction industry? Ducati Panigale V4 S Motorcycle ($199.99/£169.99 • 1604 pieces) is the best Technic motorcycle to date, with whopping tyres, functional steering, and a fancy stand to plonk the thing on so it doesn’t fall over.
McLaren P1 ($449.99/£389.99 • 3893 pieces) and Ferrari SF-24 F1 Car ($229.99/£199.99 • 1361 pieces) are for people who prefer four wheels rather than two. The McLaren in particular gives you the impression it’s only marginally less complicated than building the real-world car it represents. Meanwhile, Lego says its F1 car comes straight “from the podium to your shelf”. Which is only about half right, given most of Ferrari’s recent results. Still, that red car is still the best-looking one on the entire grid.
Lego art sets
Whether you’ve got one of these sets or a dozen, someone at some point will scoff. “Toys?” they’ll say. “Really? At your age?” At which point, you can direct them towards Lego’s range of art pieces.
Gustav Klimt – The Kiss ($299.99/£269.99 • 4000 pieces) is the most successful of Lego’s attempts to translate famous paintings into plastic bricks. Squint and you can almost convince yourself you have the real thing on the wall. At least if it wasn’t for your aching thumbs after dealing with so many tiny pieces. Vincent van Gogh – Sunflowers ($199.99/£169.99 • 2615 pieces) also shines in Lego form, with smartly designed 3D sections. And, despite being Lego, it’s still marginally cheaper than the original.
The best art set of all, though, might well be an original creation: Japanese Cherry Blossom Landscape ($139.99/£99.99 • 1892 pieces). This shadowbox design cleverly mixes up 2D and 3D techniques. From almost 2000 pieces, you construct a Mount Fuji background, blossoms and birds, and water reminiscent of the lake in IK+. (Hey, C64 fans!) The way water spills out of the frame in 3D (and can hang or sit on a flat surface) is chef’s kiss.
Lego display pieces
If you prefer Lego objects rather than Lego paintings, first head for Tuxedo Cat ($99.99/£89.99 • 1710 pieces). It can be rebuilt with different expressions, is cheaper to feed than a real cat, won’t make allergic folks sneeze, and is significantly less likely than the real thing to knock your other Lego sets off a shelf.
Also in the world of animals, Galloping Horses Canvas ($109.99/£89.99 • 1650 pieces) celebrates Chinese New Year with something unlike anything Lego has tried before. Crank the handle and the brick-built horses canter in front of a beautiful backdrop.
Finally, Minifigure Vending Machine ($179.99/£149.99 • 1343 pieces) is another unique Lego marvel. That the coin slot and handle mechanism fully work is a marvel of engineering that has made Lego geeks the world over wide-eyed with astonishment. And we’re pretty wide-eyed too, in that Lego has made a successful set about paying money to buy more Lego. How meta.
