Over the last ten years or so, LEGO has been producing sets that contain hundreds or even thousands of pieces more – and cost a lot more – than what we can find in their normal product ranges. The company refers to these sets as LEGO Exclusives. This year LEGO released an unusually large number of LEGO Exclusive-size sets, so I thought to take some time and research the largest LEGO sets of all time, compare them, and share the results with you. So what exactly qualifies as a LEGO Exclusive set? There are actually a number of potential factors, such as large piece-count, high price, limited production, special licensing, etc. For this article, I chose to focus on the piece-count and the price. U, I was able to narrow down my search to sets that contain more than 3,000 pieces, or have an original retail price of $300 or more. It turns out that as of now, LEGO produced 15 sets with more than 3,000 pieces. The top ten of these are listed below: While this list is very straightforward, it does not take into consideration how the sets compare in prices. L
ooking at the Brickset database again, we find that LEGO released twelve sets with an original retail price of $300 or more. So to get a combined list, I added the positions of each set from both lists together. To complicate things however, some of the $300+ sets did not contain more than 3,000 pieces, and some of the sets I listed above did not retail for over $300 (both of which are due to LEGO’s inconsistent pricing). This of course greatly alters the results. Taking everything into consideration I ended up with the following list of what can be called the eleven largest LEGO sets of all time. The list shows the set’s name and number, the piece count, the original retail price, and the year it was released. As you can see, the order of the sets in the second list changed greatly from the first. This is mostly because of the extra-high prices of the licensed sets. Looking at the year of release, it is interesting to note that five out of the eleven sets are from this year! F
ortunately all five are good sets, and in a wide variety of themes, so there is something for everyone. Our wallets may not be so happy however. There is one slight issue with my final list however. There are three LEGO sets that should be on the list, but are not. These are the #200430 LEGO Serious Play Identity and Landscape Kit, the #2000431 LEGO Serious Play Connections Kit, and the LEGO Serious Play #2000409 Window Exploration Bag. These three sets retail for $790, $755, and $485 respectively, making the first two the most expensive LEGO products in history. Why are they not on the list? I chose not to include them because they are not standard retail sets. According to LEGO’s own description, they are designed to enhance business performance through building with LEGO bricks in timed workshops. That’s not quite the same as what the #10188 Death Star was designed for, but if you are interested to check them out, you can find them at the LEGO Serious Play section of the Online LEGO Shop.
While the #10179 LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon continues to occupy the first place as the largest standard retail set, keep in mind that these lists can and probably will change in a few years, as LEGO releases more massive sets. You can find the current selection under the LEGO Exclusives section of the Online LEGO Shop. So what do you think? Do you agree with my criteria for making the final list? How many of the largest LEGO sets of all time do you have? Fee free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉 And you may also like to check out the following related posts:Ball Thrower EV3 is the first original module from Mogwai, a German GBC modules builder, […] In February, Focus on… sqiddster modules Get 10% discount on PV-Productions website thanks to PlanetGBC You’ll love the awesome moves of Superfin619 Steering Cup module. Two cups rotating at the […] GBC Module 12 from PV-Productions is different than all the other GBCs from PV-Productions.
Soccer balls on the left, basket balls on the right. “Fast ball sorting robot” is […] With Long Conveyor Belt, Maico Arts offers you once again the opportunity to build a […] Extended Belt Lift module from PV-Productions is entirely built using only parts from the official […] Strain Wave Gearing is another masterpiece from Akiyuki. With this GBC module, Akiyuki is at […] Sawyer is a prolific builder from New Zealand. He revisits many known GBC modules by […] Quanix is a promising German GBC module Builder. His first GBC building, a super smart […] Takanori Hashimoto is a creative Japanese GBC builder. At first sight, his GBC modules may […] Follow Planet GBC first tutorial and get to know everything about the balls you’ll need […] on [Akiyuki] Zig Zag Lift on [Torso] Cardan Lift Planet GBC is the website I would have loved to find while starting with Lego GBC. I hope you will enjoy it. If you do, do not hesitate to share its URL with friends and to leave me a message”
Turbopolofr, creator of Planet GBCThis LEGO Tractor is Constructed Entirely of 3D Printed Parts We have seen 3D printed LEGO parts before, but when those parts are printed using a standard FDM 3D printer they are rarely ideal building blocks. Unfortunately the resolution on FDM printers is limited by the basic laws of physics in relation to the surface tension of the material being used. Most plastics, at least those that exist at this point, simply can’t achieve enough liquidity to create the same smooth surface and level of detail that injection molding is capable of. So LEGO parts 3D printed on an FDM printer never fit quite as tightly with each other as traditional LEGO parts.But that doesn’t mean that a 3D printed LEGO can’t be just as precise as its injection molded forebears. While there are various post processing methods capable of smoothing striation marks left by FDM 3D printers, they have a tendency to smooth out fine detail as well. FDM printers are relatively inexpensive, and are simply not made to produce objects with a superfine level of detail.
At this point there are virtually a dozen variations of 3D printing technology, each with differing advantages, drawbacks and ideal uses. So if you want working LEGO parts, the only real option is a selective laser sintering 3D printing process.3D Prototype Design Inc. was one of the first companies in North America tho offer 3D printing services, and was the first in Canada. Since 1996 they have provided their customers with some of the top of the line 3D printing technologies available and the company is generally considered one of the industry leaders in rapid prototyping. While their industry has been changing at a rather rapid pace these past few years, they have made a point to stay nimble and offer as many varieties of 3D printing services as their printers can manage. When they wanted to show off how detailed the parts made with their SLS 3D printers were, they came up with the idea of making a complex LEGO Technic tractor. Not only to show off how good the parts looked, but how strong and usable the parts were.“
Since we wanted potential customers to first and foremost enjoy the fun nature that Lego provides, as well as demonstrate in a cool way that we can easily create real world, useable parts in multiple quantities, this made perfect sense. Honestly, many at the trade show were amazed how close it looked and functioned compared to the traditional manufactured pieces. We had many attendees come to take photos to send to friend, kids and colleagues. Several even heard the ‘buzz’ about our excavator and specifically searched out our booth at this very large trade show just to see it!” explained Annette Kalbhenn, sales manager for 3-D Prototype Design Inc.The LEGO parts, and the eventual tractor constructed from them, were designed using professional CAD design software Pro/ENGINEER by PTC. 3D Prototype Design technicians created more than 100 different individual 3D models of the LEGO Technic parts. Then about 720 pieces were 3D printed in nylon using their SLS 3D printers.3D Prototype treated the parts individually with their own post coloring process that made the color of each piece authentic.