To end the celebration of the 50 years of the LEGO brick, here are the best sets in history. Handpicked from Lugnet—the biggest LEGO database—based on their popularity, these 229 sets belong to the most iconic lines—LEGOLAND Space, Town, Castle and Pirates—plus three of the most popular ones—LEGO TECHNIC, Star Wars and Racers. From the most significant to the most amazing and complex, from the late '70s to today. We can't get ourselves to pick the Best of the Best. Jump, see them all and decide for yourself (plus the official LEGO video of 50 years of the brick). I remember the first time I played with LEGO bricks. Shiny, perfectly smooth and with that unique smell of plastic, which back then I imagined was probably captured by magic elves in Denmark. Today it's almost the same—shiny and perfectly smooth, except the elves are now blue-eyed buxom Danish Valkyries in skimpy LEGO swimsuits.As someone who grew in the Golden Age of LEGO, I just can't decide on any particular model as the Best LEGO Set EVER.
I have to confess a soft spot for LEGO Space, yes, but also for TECHNIC. And of course, although this is way later in my LEGO career, Star Wars. But the soft spot for all those old models from the late '70s and early '80s is the key here: even if I sound like a total nerd, seeing some of these give me a warm, fuzzy feeling in my tummy—some even make me teary. It's not like the Galaxy Explorer, the Space Command or the big TECHNIC Helicopter were all that special. It's what happened around them what makes them special, the countless hours I spent with my brothers and father building a thousand combinations of vehicles and weird buildings. It's all that fun, all those days of complete and most absolute happiness which comes back just by looking at the box photos of those sets. And that's what makes them so special, so emotionally charged. They bring back the best in me.Today I marvelled again at the popularity of that simple LEGO brick timeline, and I guess this, the emotional link, must be the reason why LEGO stories are so popular among all our readers.
Not because LEGO bricks are cool, which they are, but because they are inevitably linked to intimate memories, to happy memories, the best memories, shared with family or friends or completely personal.For all that: happy birthday LEGO, and thanks for all the bricks. So what's your favorite set? If you can't find it, what are we missing? Tell us in the comments (and don't forget to check Lugnet for all the LEGO sets in all lines in history. The ones in the post may be the best, but they are just a fraction. Listen, Lego has always been cool, but the big success of The Lego Movie has only reminded us all that the brick-building line is more than just a toy -- it’s a way of life! The bottom line is we at IGN love Lego -- always have, probably always will. And while there are so many awesome Lego sets out there, past and present, the following 10 are the Lego sets that truly rocked our world. Imperial Flagship While Lego has been doing pirates since the 1980s -- as well as Pirates (the Johnny Depp kind) more recently -- this beauty is surely the, ahem, flagship of the theme.
Like most of the items on this list, the Imperial Flagship makes for a great display piece (assuming you’ve gotten past the whole “I’m too old to play with Lego publicly” thing). It’s also a nice reminder that not all Lego collections need to be based on franchises. 9 Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon Look, there are a lot of excellent Star Wars Lego sets, and there are a lot of excellent Star Wars spaceship Lego sets. Some would say the Star Destroyer should be on this list, or the Super Star Destroyer, or the Imperial Shuttle (sorry Peer!). But in the end, you gotta go with the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy, Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon! There have actually been about seven different Lego takes on the Corellian freighter, but the Ultimate Collector's set from 2007 and its 5100-plus pieces takes the prize. It also cost $500 at that time, which makes it the most expensive Lego set (in retail) ever. 8 The Batcave Lego has given us some really nice superhero sets over the years, with the company creating both Marvel and DC collections.
But this Batcave set from 2006 is one of the finest examples of this partnership. Also called The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freeze's Invasion, the set features over a thousand pieces, a chamber for Bruce Wayne to magically switch into his bat-costume, a bat-computer station, a vehicle repair bay, and of course several minifigures (good guys and bad). A different Batcave set was released in 2012, though this one remains a favorite if only because it was a nice preview of what the Lego Batman video game would be like two years later. 7 Technic Grand Prix Racer As part of the Technic Lego theme, the Grand Prix Racer -- which came out just last year -- isn’t simply a building set, but also features moving parts and “realistic functions” like independent all-wheel suspension, moving pistons, and steering capabilities. You can also power it up by adding a motor set (sold separately!) to this two-foot long baby, or convert it into a race truck. As for where you can play with this thing, you might need the Technic Mobile Crane to build some roads…
6 Galaxy Explorer Spaceship! While Benny “the 1980-something space guy” from The Lego Movie finally did get to build his ultimate spaceship during that film’s climax, for those of us who were around way back when, the original version of that vehicle still holds fond memories. The Galaxy Explorer, first released in 1979, was a jewel in Lego’s Space line of the era, though it must be noted that Benny was apparently not a part of that ship’s original crew, who were red and white spacemen. But for those completists who need the movie version too, Benny’s Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! set is coming this June. Read on for more Lego goodness...It's 2017, and it's hard to imagine a world in which Lego didn't exist. From its ubiquitous bricks, to its theme parks, to the host of media tie-ins, via video games, movies, comics–and more! – Lego is the biggest toy brand on the planet.In this post we've celebrated the Lego legacy (a Legocy, no doubt!) by presenting you with some of the greatest models ever built.
So sit back and enjoy, as we showcase the very best in Lego art, from both certified Lego professionals and some amateurs whose love for Lego knows no bounds. Kicking off our Lego art examples is this brilliant Batman Batarang, which crash landed in London recently to mark the release of the Lego Batman movie. Made from 35,000 lego bricks, it took the team at Bright Bricks 225 man hours to build, with broken pavement, smoke and lights (all non-Lego based) completing the scene of destruction. Lego Albums is a project by Harry Heaton, an artist who recreates iconic album covers using the little bricks. The finished products resemble low-resolution pixelated versions of album art, but are nonetheless brilliant. This replica of JME's Integrity album is definitely one of our favourite. Check out Heaton's collection to find yours. Everyone loves the Simpsons, but veteran Lego artist Matt De Lanoy clearly loves them more than most. Just a few months after the release of the official Simpsons Lego set, he's recreated the entire town of Springfield in coloured bricks, including the Kwik-E-Mart, Moe's, Krusty Burger, the nuclear power plant and more.
This image only shows one corner of his creation – see more on his Flickr page.Professional Lego artist Warren Elsmore broke records in March, with an exhibition of 72 Lego models. Attracting over 50,000 visitors, with 2,000 on the busiest day, the likes of the Olympic Park and St Pancras Station in London and the Forth Bridge were on show. His Las Vegas strip also proved hugely popular.Korean Lego artist Jin Kei has given life to one of the giant four-legged mammals from Salvador Dali’s painting 'The Elephants'. At 32 inches, the artist added his own steampunk twist with mechanical accessories, making for a seriously impressive piece of Lego art.The Creative Bloq team was extremely excited to learn that Back to the Future Lego was a thing. Our excitement then prompting us to then search for BTTF Lego fan art, which is when we came across this 19th century train by G Russo.Currently featured on the Lego Cuusoo website, Russo is keen to get his design developed into an actual Lego set.
And he's gone all out to try and ensure that happens, adding fine details including two side panels that fold open to reveal an overhead door, some foldout steps, and various controls, levers, pipes, and wheels for controlling the train.The talented team at Brickworkz create the most amazing custom Lego art work. posed of over 20,000 Lego bricks, the cool mosaic currently resides at legal office of William Ellyson in Richmond, Virginia.This Lego aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman has got to be one of the most impressive creations on our list, in terms of size and detail. The 200,000 brick, 4.5m long, 350-pound aircraft carrier comes complete with electrical lights as well as moving elevators and radar dishes.The epic sculpture, built by German Lego fan Malle Hawking, also includes a half submarine and a mini gunboat on the side.After discovering the Lego Factory and latest Lego Digital Designer software recently, artist Simon C Page was become hooked on Lego art design. And this Lego framed rainbow is his first creation.
Created out of 3,029 bricks, there are over 200 1x1 pieces of each of the 16 colours used throughout. Page comments on his website: "It has took me over six hours to put together and wasn't easy - stacking nearly 50 1 x 1 piece end to end nearly 50 times across, all the time keeping to a strick colouring pattern."Project 'Build Up Japan' was sponsored and curated by the legendary toy brick makers and encouraged school children to build imaginary structures - with the result of a Japan that they wanted to see.With a little help from their parents and a few Lego officials, children across Japan were able to create their country the way they wanted it. The total number of Lego bricks used was a jaw-dropping 1.8 million!How cool is this? This isn’t a child-sized toy set: it’s actually a life-sized LEGO forest in the Australian Outback! It’s made up of 15 pine trees, and 15 flower sets, all 66 times bigger than their design toys counterpart – making the trees a whopping 4m high.The iconic toy brick company built this amazing creation in Living Desert State Park, a 2400ha reserve more than 700 miles west of Sydney, as part of its 50-year anniversary celebration.
Last year, the UK's only certified LEGO technician Duncan Titchmarsh built this huge advent calendar sculpture. Made up of approximately 600,000 bricks, the installation was unveiled in central London's Covent Garden shopping area.Each door was opened at 4pm every day in the lead up to Xmas day. The presents behind each were also cool Lego creations. An awesome way to celebrate the festive season.Take a trip to Disney World in Florida and you'll find this awesome Lego sea monster, Brickley. The cool character is made out of 170,000 LEGO bricks, stretches a whopping 30 feet and weighs half a ton!The brilliant sculpture is one of many found in Downtown Disney at the LEGO Imagination centre. Other models include a Transformer, giant models of Woody and Buzz Lightyear and the Seven Dwarves.Paul Hetherington - known in the Lego world as BrickBaron - had already given a sneak peek to this incredible creation, by showing off the lower structure full of mermaids, oceans and ships. Little did we know that it would actually play as part of a much larger sculpture featuring the God of the sea.
Poseidon was built for the Vancouver Lego Club's Mythology exhibit at the Surrey Museum; taking place from July until September 15th. The attention to detail is astonishing: we don't know if we'd have the patience to build something as impressive as this! You can see more photos of Poseidon, as well as Paul's other work on his Flickr page.This stunning sculpture was created by Bram Lambrecht using LSculpt - a program which converts a triangle mesh into an LDraw file. Like the sphere generator, the generated model consists of a surface of 1×1 plates oriented in whichever direction provides the best detail.We love that Bram has taken the time to create not only the body and branch but the shadow too. It's these details that make certain Lego sculptures stand out from the rest. You can see more of Bram's work on his official website.Although created in 2009, this huge Mario sculpture still deserves a mention. Crafted by brick layer Dirk Van Haesbroeck, it took him just over two weeks to finalise the plumber.
Mario is comprised of 30,000 LEGO bricks with the pedestal containing another 12,000. This video showcases the 160 hours of work in just over a minute.Once the sculpture was finished, it was auctioned off on eBay in aid of Ronald McDonald, a Dutch organisation that arranges proper housing for relatives of hospitalised children in the vicinity of clinics. It sold for an impressive $5100. You can see more of Dirk's Lego art on his Facebook page.Despite its short run on television almost ten years ago, fans of Firefly and film Serenity still express an intense love and passion for the Joss Whedon series. One such fan decided to build the ultimate homage to the sci-fi show with a replica of the ship Serenity.Adrian Drake used around 70,000 Lego pieces and the project took 475 hours over the course of 21 months. The ship itself weighs an incredible 135 pounds due to the intricate details Adrian has included. You can more of Adrian's stunning Lego art on his website.What can we say about Nathan?
Well, first off he's one of the, if not the biggest Lego artist around. Counting himself as one of the world's certified Lego professionals, when he's not jetting off around the world showcasing his artwork in prestigious galleries, he's at his studio creating the next array of Lego art masterpieces.Here, the pop-up book is a celebration of Waldo H. Hunt - ''the king of pop-up.'' It's created entirely out of Lego (which is handy for this list) and is based around a poem Nathan wrote himself. You can see the said poem across the pages of the book, which we think is a lovely touch.See more of Nathan's incredible work at his personal website. Or just go to number 2!We could compile this entire list with Nathan's creations but we'll treat you to just two. 'Crowd' has been trawling the United States for quite some time thanks to Nathan's popular exhibitions so you may have seen it before.Inspired by the throngs of people walking the streets of New York, 'Crowd' also gives us a sense of George Orwell's 1984 with its watchful eye.