LEGO Ideas 21373 Downton Abbey | 4,711 Pieces | Available October 1 to LEGO Insiders, October 4 for all | US $349.99 | CAN $489.99 | UK £269.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with a copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

The Box and Contents

Our box is truly castle-sized, and the weight was a bit of a surprise – though I suppose it shouldn’t be due to the piece count. At 4,711 pieces, this marks the largest LEGO Ideas set by piece count to date.

Inside we have 35 bags, a couple of loose plates, and our instruction booklets.

This set contains a small sticker sheet with just ten stickers to apply, which feels like a good balance between stickers and printed elements for such a large set. As we’ll see later, a lot of new prints went into the minifigures in this set. There are some wonderful easter eggs hidden within these stickers, but we’ll review those as we apply them!

The first instructions booklet contains a nice review of the show, the original fan submission, Highclere Castle, and notes from the LEGO Ideas design team.

The Build

As you might expect, we immediately begin laying the groundwork that will support the castle. We had an opportunity to meet with the design team, and I asked what the biggest challenge was in converting this model to an official LEGO product. Marina answered that the biggest challenge was the stability of the castle, and all of that is considered here from the very first bag.

The first layer of the outer walls implements various levels of depth and cleverly uses door rails to provide texture to the detailed castle exterior.

The next layer of the walls is pretty consistent throughout the build, and uses a combination of door rails and SNOT bricks/plates with tiles to allow everything to fit seamlessly together, like a puzzle. These are eventually locked into place by plates set on top.

The interior is assembled as the build progresses, and the first room is the servant’s hall. The bell board from the show’s introduction is an iconic feature of the show, and is depicted here with the first gold appearance for the plume feather. My favorite easter egg is hidden in here! Look closely and you’ll notice LEGO Room and Design Room hidden within the various rooms of the Crawley estate.

Remaining faithful to the show and which rooms had windows and which did not, the build makes smart use of plates with pointed wedge plates attached on the underside. This allows for the interior of some room to remain windowless, while still providing the appearance of curtained windows on the exterior. The 4×6 plate shown here also makes its first appearance in olive green.

The servants’ hall contains enough chairs to seat them all, and the two newspapers on the table reference the flower contest and the many weddings throughout the show. The initials ‘SV’ featured on both are a reference to fan designer Sebastian Veselka.

Mr. Carson’s office is next, filled with some silver and one of the enchanting telephones that caused such a stir in the house.

The front door is not functional, but provides some stability for the upper layer.

The kitchen is assembled next. Here’s another look at the curtain technique.

The kitchen table contains another reference to the fan designer, who is also a game designer. The black cube hidden beneath is a reference to a game that Sebastian designed.

The rest of the kitchen fixtures round out the room, and notably feature the first olive green appearance of the 1×2 jumper plate. Several of these are attached to the wall instead of the floor, making this another case where the curtain technique has paid off. The Tajine (or Tin Man’s hat, if you prefer) was introduced in this color in 2026’s Friends 42691 Garden Restaurant and makes its second ever appearance here.

The second floor begins the same as the first, but we’ve now entered into Crawley family territory and the floor is layered with hardwood and carpet.

The upper exterior introduces the spiky tuft minifigure hairpiece in tan. We will see it later in dark tan to provide detail for the castle wall.

The main hall sits in the middle of the upper portion and once again provides curtains for the front center windows, while the room itself remains closed.

Frogust may have just finished, but some frogs nevertheless make for excellent drainpipe detail.

The library contains several bookshelves built on their side. Here’s a closer look at the assembly.

The various paintings throughout the house required approval from the real Lord and Lady of Highclere Castle, as some of them make reference to actual paintings within the castle.

Furniture rounds out the library where so many important scenes take place.

The dining room is full of excellent part usage, as we see the newly introduced horns from the Pokémon sets used here for candlesticks.

LEGO designer Marina’s favorite part usage is in the dining room curtains, which cleverly use broom bristles and Technic connectors attached to the floor.

The dining room table is broken into three portions and once again contains enough chairs for all of the featured Crawley family to be seated.

The three towers of the castle each contain a specific colored piece hidden within. This is another nod to the fan designer, as these are his and each of his brother’s favorite color (after all, his alias is BRO3 on LEGO Ideas).

The center tower is adorned with detail and contains some elegant arches and a stickered element on the interior.

The side towers once again leverage the puzzle piece method utilized on the outer wall, but it’s even more satisfying seeing everything come together in a rectangular shape.

The aforementioned new dark tan minifigure hair piece sees plenty of use on the upper half of the castle.

Two statues sit above the front door. I love the minifigure head usage and proportions, as this feels like one of the more traditionally ‘LEGO’ portions of the build.

The heart-shaped plate base for the bench was a feature of the original fan submission, but it’s received a sizable upgrade here. The bench is a cute little build and features every’s favorite hot dog piece.

The tree comes together nicely, and has a decent stature in comparison to the minfigures while not overtaking the height of the castle in any way.

The Minifigures

The cast of characters in Downton Abbey is large, and with so many seasons it’s surely difficult to include everyone. The original submission contained 15 minifigures, and the official LEGO set reduces that to 13: Violet, Mary, Edith, Tom, Robert, Cora, Mr. Carson, Miss Smith, Mr. Bates, Anna, Thomas, Mrs. Patmore, and Daisy. There’s a good balance between the Crawley family and their staff, and the build itself is able to accommodate this many minifigures throughout the various rooms. The graphic design team did a wonderful job with these minifigs, as so many of them required new prints to match their on-screen depictions.

The ladies of the household all have new dresses with printed gowns. In my opinion, these are the highlights of a wonderful minifigure cast. The dual-molded arms on each of them provides a touch of elegance that makes the minifigures look truly royal.

The alternate faces featured throughout are incredible (often bearing even more likeness to their character’s signature facial expression). Maggie Smith’s Violet minifigure in particular is a highlight, as it contains a brand new wig mold and the first appearance of the gown in aqua.

The men of the household share some torsos, but match their on-screen appearance well.

Mr. Carson is the highlight for me, as his bushy eyebrows and expressions work so well in minifigure form.

The female waitstaff all contain gown elements, and the kitchen staff introduces a new wig element in two different colors. This is one of my favorite parts in the entire set.

Mrs. Patmore’s expressions are perfect, especially considering Daisy’s holding a new mixer.

The design team managed to bring back the Labrador, which is a more than welcome addition to this model!

Finally, each of the gowned minifigures contains a brick-built and printed assembly that allows them to be seated on the bench or in any of the various rooms. We’ve seen this method before (most notably in the Rivendell set), but this is the most extensive usage of it that I’ve seen. Considering that this doubles up on all of the gown prints, it’s a significant undertaking!

The Finished Model

The final model provides a tall but not overly deep display with plenty of room for displaying the wide cast of minifigures on the exterior or within the rooms inside. The set’s designer said that the most difficult choice may be whether to display the exterior or interior, and I’m inclined to agree!

The castle itself is an architectural beauty and looks great at any angle. It works perfectly well as a standalone Highclere Castle build (though four combined would be especially awesome), and I’ve already heard many thoughts about Wayne Manor modifications….

The floors are very easily separable, allowing you to take a closer look at the inside or arrange the minifigures within much more easily. I’ve done this countless times without a single piece of furniture, flower, or fixture being dislodged – it’s quite sturdy!

With this many minifigures in a set, you usually wouldn’t plan on displaying them all inside for fear of it feeling overly cramped. That’s certainly not the case here, where the entire wait staff looks perfectly comfortable in the rooms on the bottom floor.

The upper floor has the same feeling of space, and with the shuffling of a few minifigures and seated gowns you can recreate your favorite scenes pretty easily.

The tree itself is a lovely little side build, and provides some additional color to extend the display even further.

Final Thoughts

While I wasn’t initially the target audience for this set, I started watching Downton Abbey in preparation for this review and I have to admit I’m fairly hooked (I’m only on Season 2, so no spoilers!). It’s evident that a lot of care and intentionality went into this model and ensuring that it faithfully represented the show, which I think is part of what turned me on to it.

As an architectural castle build, I think it absolutely delivers. The model is incredibly sturdy and commands visual attention without requiring much space. The minifigures are beautifully printed and represent their characters well, and the ability to comfortably display them all in various rooms makes the interior display as wonderful as the exterior.

For fans of the show, I think this model will be a big hit. For architecture or castle fans, I think the building easily stands on its own apart from the show. The LEGO Ideas theme has delivered some incredible models in 2026, and this is among the best of them.

LEGO Ideas 21373 Downton Abbey | 4,711 Pieces | Available October 1 to LEGO Insiders, October 4 for all | US $349.99 | CAN $489.99 | UK £269.99

Check out our full gallery of pictures:

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LEGO Ideas 21373 Downton Abbey | 4,711 Pieces | Available October 1 | US $349.99 | CAN $489.99 | UK £269.99

LEGO’s product description reads as follows:

Create your own Downton Abbey TV series and movie merch with this LEGO® Ideas building set (21373) for adults aged 18+. Enjoy the rewarding creative challenge and capture the grand architecture of Highclere Castle, where many scenes were shot. Lovingly construct Downton Abbey’s dining room, main hall and library on the upper level, and the kitchen, servants’ hall and Mr Carson’s office below, all full of authentic details. Lift off the top level to view each room closely. And bring scenes to life upstairs and downstairs with 13 minifigures of familiar characters from Season 6 of the TV series. Add the cedar tree and bench to complete an inspiring piece of home or office décor. This LEGO model kit makes a crafty gift idea for fans of Downton Abbey and architecture. The LEGO Builder app enhances your creative experience with 3D digital instructions, progress tracking and zoom features that make every step engaging. Set contains 4,711 pieces.

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Joss Ivanwood (jayfa_mocs) leads with Elytra, the Rhino Beetle. Joss is a creature designer by day, creating models for LEGO Fortnite, and his mocs are always breaking new ground in color use and building techniques, this latest massive mech being no exception. It’s a huge build, where the chunky Ninjago wheels are a small accent note. You can practically feel the earth shake just looking at this behemoth. See it in person at next year’s Brickvention.

Mitch Phillips s next with the bumblebee mech Bombus. Translucent discs bring swarm vibes to the design and exposed cables in the thorax have a gooey quality. Bombus is equal parts sleek and sinister. As always, Mitch incorporates a broad range of elements, like Vidyo straps around the helmet. If we’re lucky, Mitch will follow with a video on his always inspiring YouTube channel.

Sadie‘s weevil mech – Rostrum – is the bug bot I’d feel most comfortable hanging with. Probably because the sad eyes and drooping probiscis remind me of Cornifer from Hollow Knight, who s about the least threatening bug ever. The light blue and black combo is gorgeous, with the trans orange elements adding a nice pop.

Weevil – Plague Mech: Rostrum

On the other end of the terror spectrum we have Lord Oblivion‘s louse mech Holoparasite. What’s worse than a blood sucking pest? One with a mechanical syringe and extra blood tanks!

Louse – Plague Mech: Holoparasite

Ezreel goes arachnid with the orbweaver mech Spinneret. The builder often pair graceful beauty with alien menace, and that comes through with this design that makes great use of constraction armor in black and white for a clean carapace. It’s those four beady eyes that will keep me up at night.

Orbweaver – Plague Mech: Spinneret

[VB] fully embraces the inhuman body horror of bugs with the grub mech Oligopod. Four cyst-like pods on the body house cleverly designed larvae. Is the mech a transport/incubator for these larvae, or is it the adult form that each of those larvae will grow into? The arcing limbs of coiled macaroni tubes make my skin crawl. Antenna arrays make a nice tech contrast to the organic curves. It’s a brilliant (and gross!) build.

The last time Alex_mocs took inspiration from the insect world, it landed him on our shortlist for Creation of the Year. For the Ensifera mech, alex draw on the humble katydid, pairing leaf green with deadly blades.

Katydid – Plague Mech: Ensifera RESURGENCE

Finally, we have Djok‘s Treehopper, the friendliest bug around with a big smile and John Deere colors. Djok’s builds have a knack for making you appreciate the playful geometry of each LEGO element. Here Djok finds synergy between nose cones and technic slopes, contrasting those angles with ball joints. There’s so much personality coming from parts you might not associate with characters.

Thanks to all of the builders for inspiring us with these eight incredible mocs. And thanks to Ari (loafbuilds) for the photo editing that make the collab cohesive and lets every moc shine.

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Following is King Virūpākṣa, Guardian of the West, weilding what is likely a cobra-shaped lasso. Like the first figure, there’s loads of great parts usages to appreciate here, especially within the pearl gold category, where the one that had me scratching my head most was the Dragon’s Strike tail piece from the 2022 Ninjago playsets, which here makes up the underlayer of the king’s breastplate.

The kings are part of a quartet of kings associated with the four cardinal directions, and although it remains to be seen if Dicken will be creating the other two, we certainly hope so because these are incredible.

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LEGO Icons 11379 Bookshop: Book Nook | 1,690 Pieces | Available October 1 | US $149.99 | CAN $209.99 | UK £119.99

And finally, here’s this set’s blurb from LEGO:

Take time out for a rewarding project with the LEGO® Icons Bookshop: Book Nook (11379) building set for adults. This bookshelf décor model makes a perfect gift idea for writers and book lovers and a captivating display for the home or office. Place the book nook between your favourite novels to create a window into a cosy bookshop or open it to explore a richly detailed 2-storey interior with elegant balconies and a spiral staircase. Discover thoughtful details throughout, from the snug author’s workspace to quiet reading areas and subtle references to renowned works of literature, including a golden cup, magnifying glass and a black cat statue. The miniature scene also includes author and reader minifigures for visual storytelling. Discover the LEGO Builder app, where you can rotate models in 3D, zoom in and track your progress as you build. Explore the inspiring range of LEGO Icons building sets (sold separately) designed for adults. This set contains 1,690 pieces.

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The street level shines with brick-built signage and the requisite noodle shop and vending machines. It’s a perfect vision of the future from the 80s, when Japan was ascendant, computers didn’t fit in your pocket, and olive green was a hip color for your bathroom or kitchen.

Ben generously takes curious LEGO fans behind the scenes of the tower’s creation over on his YouTube account, an invaluable resource for builder’s looking to up their moc game.

Meanwhile, in Germany, another great, Thorsten Bonsch (Xenomurphy), took the Cyberbpunk plunge. We recently revisited Thorsten’s epic run of Elder Scrolls builds and while his ABS brick creations are legendary, these days the builder has been creating digitally. (Thorsten goes into detail about emerging from a mini dark age as a digital builder in this wonderful article.) Thorsten’s latest creation fuses two passions – science fiction  and Journey to the West, the stories of Monkey (Sun Wukong). He also takes inspiration from concept artist Michael Yoshimura. The result is Thorsten’s hyper-real spin on Megapolis, the setting of LEGO’s Monkie Kid series. And it’s also olive green!

The models might be renders, but every one of the 8,260 digital bricks uses parts in available colors (only adding luminescence to some bricks for effect). Thorsten builds in Studio, the digital option supported by LEGO. However he’s also a fan of Blender – a rendering software that offers many more lighting options than Studio’s built-in rendering – and Mecabricks, an online building option not supported by LEGO but with higher resolution options than Studio. With a little trickery, Thorsten plays with all three software platforms to create a high-resolution model with precise lighting.

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But for those in the know who see this and hear “Bitty-bitty-bitty”, this creation is dedicated to you. You’d likely appreciate its sleek profile, it’s retrofuturistic design and low-slung greenhouse. Real Buck Rogers fans and LEGO builders alike would recognize that the most difficult part of this build, and the part I had to get right, was those freakin’ sunset stripes. I’m pretty sure I killed quite a few brain cells trying to figure that one out. Read on and you can see how those were built as well as other notes of interest; and even a few boneheaded mistakes.

Before we get into the aforementioned sunset stripes and the ensuing madness, let’s admire those detailed engines and tricky rear detailing.

The canopy hatches open to reveal the cockpit with two tandem seats.

The retractable telescoping foot is also strong enough to hold the ship up without a stand- if you cram a LEGO slope into the cavity that houses the stand when folded up. The rear wings are also carrying most of the weight. More on that later.

And now for some of that aforementioned madness. Here is a rare glimpse into my LEGO room. It’s the only unfinished room in my entire house. Basement vibe: check. Creepy cobwebs and spiders: check. Utilitarian ladders and paint cans: check. The whole place turning into a goddamned mess during a build: you betcha! I really wish I was a neat builder but I just don’t have it in me. It’s like you put a subassembly down on the cluttered table and then can’t find if for ten minutes. The entire place becomes loaded with trip hazards. I really don’t recommend working in these conditions. This shot was taken toward the end when I realized my initial flimsy stand wasn’t going to support this heavy beast and it needed to be beefed up substantially. Part of the Thunderfighter is seen in the lower right edge.

The kind of unfortunate part of my build process starts with building details such as engines, seats, nacelles and wings then trying to figure out how to make it all work together later. This creates some strife as some sections needed reworking late into the build. The logical way to build would have been to start with a Technic structure body, then flesh it out with detail as you go. I started with the seats; each four studs wide situated within the cockpit. This dictated all other details and proportions. In this shot, you can see the difficult sunset striping was also being sketched out with that subassembly on the table.

By this point a stand is built and a decent Technic body but as the craft got heavier later, both needed refining. Among the mess and subassemblies, you can also see my N-1 Starfighter set; not destroyed but deconstructed just a bit to provide inspiration for some of my trickier details.

Now for those aforementioned sunset stripes; it was the most difficult part of the build and the section that I knew I’d be marked as a doofus from the Buck Rogers fans if I didn’t get right. If this didn’t look correct, the entire project would have been a no-go. Ultimately, the solution ended up being a solid 2×2 round column in the middle strengthened by a Technic axle. With the octagonal bar pieces, I was able to build and clip in up to eight panels. But what about the areas in between? The five band color stripe needed a smooth transition and I couldn’t find a way to clip those in. With two 1×2 cheese wedges and and the tiniest bit of museum tack, I was able to achieve the look. I’m aware this would ruffle the tail feathers of LEGO purists but I simply couldn’t think of another way to make it happen. If you have a better solution for this problem, I’d genuinely like to know about it in the comments.

Right around this time, the entoweling needed to happen. It was becoming a heavy craft that sometimes needed to lay on its back to build underside details such as the lower wings. The mess needed to be cleaned up under the towel area but it acted to protect the fragile cockpit canopy that was beginning to develop topside.

This closeup highlights two problems that were beginning to become quite apparent. Some of my white pieces are showcasing significant discoloration. Ultimately, I decided this wasn’t a huge problem. When building model kits, I take extra measures to really muck it up a bit and paint on weathering details. When Ralph McQuarrie designed spaceships for Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers, we was purposefully creating a slightly grungy lived-in aesthetic for all three. So I figured; why not treat a LEGO spacecraft the same way? In real life, maintenance happens on our military aircraft. Panels get swapped out and, while they try their best, paint applications don’t always match perfectly. With this in mind, the discoloration was becoming more of an asset than a flaw. But the other problem, like the sunset stripes, would have been a deal breaker had I have left it as-is. You can see that the front hatch opens just fine but the rear hatch couldn’t open because of that straight gray b-pillar was interfering with the arc of travel of the rear hatch. Mechanical interference due to insufficient clearance is what the engineers call it but in Lino parlance I had screwed up the angle of the dangle. This is just the kind of boneheaded thing I would do and it needed fixin’ ASAP.

I figured if I cambered the angle of the dangle forward then the clearance would work. The B-pillar became a corner slope and the rear hatch was reconstructed with a side window that was no longer rectangular but angled on one side. Now the arc of travel is smooth like butter and the entire model is better off with that swept forward hatch design. What a vast improvement!

The rear fins needed three functions: to look correct, to be strong enough to hold the craft’s weight while in the landed position and to be easily removable, along with other modular parts, so as to transport the entire craft easily to BrickCon or wherever else it needs to be. To achieve this, they couldn’t just clip to the nacelles as they do in the studio model. This is where I made the executive decision to build a rigid technic bridge that would easily interface into the body of the ship with the help of four removable pins. Four of the Technic bent liftarms (part 32271) were used to establish the angled fins that, according to LEGO specs, camber those fins at roughly 53 degrees. These shots are in the photo booth to eliminate the mess so as to better understand the architectural structure that helps support the weight of the ship. Some of the curved bits are in the wrong color but they will get swapped out later.

Here is a shot of the double-wide stand, which interfaces into the model just aft of the rear seat. A normal stand similar to the new UCS Star Wars Mandalorian N-1 Starfigher set had a bit too much flex for my liking when tested on my heavy Thunderfighter. The nearly finished model sits at the edge of the frame.

With everything buttoned up and all problem areas fixed, we have the makings of a pretty good Thunderfighter. One awesome bit of serendipity; this is something I only realized after all was complete but with the wingspan being 13 inches and the overall length being 23 1/2 inches I had inadvertently built this to be exactly 1:1 scale with the original studio model! I totally would have been happy with close enough. If you are going to be in Washington State in early September, this creation will make its public debut at BrickCon at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue on September 12th and 13th.

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LEGO Editions 43024 Ayrton Senna Helmet | 931 Pieces | Available Now | US $89.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £79.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with a copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

The box and build

Unlike the black boxes we’re so used to seeing in 18+ LEGO sets, the Editions line generally uses white backgrounds. With signatures and Senna logos dotted around, it’s a bit more stylised than your typical LEGO set.

There are plenty of logos across the helmet itself too, but judging by the modest sticker sheets most of them apear to be prints. Interestingly, we have more stickers than we actually need. Even the smallest LEGO set comes with spare parts, but I can’t think of many that have spare stickers! A cookie for anyone that can name any other such sets.

If you’ve ever buily any of the miniature LEGO helmets, F1 or otherwise, the first few steps will feel very familiar. A Technic beam locked at both ends gives us a super sturdy base. It’s not long before we’re attaching brackets for some sideways action though.

The next steps give us a taste of what’s to come. There are clips everywhere, as well as a couple of tow-ball sockets.

A welcome change that LEGO made a few years ago was to use more colours on the inside of builds like this, to make them easier to follow. This next subassembly is a great example – but even then you do need to pay close attention to make sure everything goes in the right spot! I ended up with some plates sticking the wrong way here, so had to start over.

But what on Earth is the purpose of this sub-build, so full as it is of brackets and bars? It seems like it will give our helmet its shape. Once clipped in at the front, we bend it at the hinge plates and connect the tow-ball joints. If you squint you can see the shape start to emerge already.

Helmet designs were very different in the 1980s and 90s when compared to modern ones. We’ll get onto that more later, but for now, one big difference to mention is the size of the visor. Older ones tended to have wider visors, and to match that, we have a new visor element here. Conceptually, it’s similar to the piece introduced for Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s helmets in May. But we have two Technic holes rather than one and no notch at the ends, as well as the aforementioned height difference. It actually looks rather like the minifigure helmet visor element!

As you can see we also have a new recolour for the hinged ‘windscreen’ (LEGO’s word, not mine) element, and a couple of printed slopes. These are all used for the chinguard.

With that attached to the stand, it’s time to put the main model aside again for another large sub-assembly. There’s so much SNOT going on I’m not even sure which way up this will end up.

Our first clue are some more decoraed curved slopes, these ones with an elegant pinstripe on them. They won’t be the last ones.

The visor is the last step before we return to the main build. This is where the stickers go on, and they’re not much fun to apply; with no real straight edges, it’s difficult to line them up properly. Thankfully, they are the only ones we need to worry about.

Ordinarily having SNOT inside your helmet wouldn’t be much fun, but it’s doing the trick here!

From here on out we’ll mainly be building up the outer surface of this helmet. The printing is pretty good on most of these parts; the yellow-on-green results in a bit of an odd shade compared to actual yellow bricks, but it’s not too far off.

LEGO often likes to hide little references or Easter eggs in display sets like this, but I was a little perplexed by the inclusion of a printed LEGO tile. Reviews elsewhere would seem to indicate this is a feature in the other F1 helmets too. Still, it’s a fun piece to have – and not that common either, apparently.

Not counting the minifigure, there are 53 individual printed parts here. Two yellow slopes at the top make up the red of a red-and-white logo, and they both have ever so slightly different, symmetrical prints on them. That’s an impressive level of detail.

Each sub-assembly brings us a big step closer to the end now. The sides use hinges and a variety of curved slopes to fill in as many gaps as possible.

The back quarter goes on as one big block. Like the lower quarter panels, curved wedge slopes are used to continue the stripe around the back without leaving gaping holes.

The lower cheek panels are the last to go in, and that means we can apply our finishing touches: a commemorative plaque, a helmet plinth…

… And a minifigure!

The minifigure

Here is our minifig of the great man himself. Unusually, this isn’t Ayrton ready to race: his race suit is open, tied around his waist to reveal a ‘Senninha’ t-shirt. Senninha was a kids’ comic book character created with Ayrton’s blessing, mere months before his untimely death.

Although many may have preferred an updated racesuit to this t-shirt version, the design of this figure is really nice. There’s a double-sided head under that awesome dual-moulded cap-and-perm combo, and the torso has back printing too.

This isn’t our first figure of the three-time world champion, of course. The head and hair make for a closer likeness than the one included in McLaren MP4/4, and the printing on the legs is so much better. See, LEGO can print white on red parts without them going pink!

It’s also a case of same-same but different for the helmets. The new helmet on the left has more accurate stripes, and the definitely-not-a-Marlboro logo is true to the design worn during Senna’s tenure at Marlboro-sponsored McLaren.

The finished model

Speaking of accuracy, let’s take a look at Senna’s real-life helmet:

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

And now, the LEGO version!

There are a few gaps, most noticeably where printing stops and the yellow parts underneath show up. This is partly why I’ll prefer brick-built solutions where possible, but prints are the next best option – and definitely better than stickers!

Perhaps the biggest criticism I can offer is the visor. As the printing on the back indicates, this is a Bell helmet, and with the red and white ‘Marlboro’ logo on the front, we can narrow the year of this helmet down to either 1988 or 1989. Therefore, it should really have a clear visor, as the photo presented earlier demonstrates. This trans-black visor looks closer to the Rheos or Shoei helmet designs Senna wore in the 1990s.

Given the plaque references Senna’s first world championship, I assume this is the Bell XFM-1 helmet he used in 1988. That means we can place it alongside LEGO’s other Ayrton adjacent set, the all-conquering McLaren MP4/4.

Conclusion and recommendation

While taking photos of the finished model, something occurred to me. LEGO has, clearly, not been shy about dipping its toe into the ‘collectables’ market of late. So why not do a comparison with another highly collectable genre of motorsport memorabilia, miniature 1:2-scale helmets? I’ve only got one, and it’s not F1 driver’s helmet. The model is of 9-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier’s headgear. Still, it’ll get the idea across – and the two are surprisingly close.

On its own merits, I think this latest LEGO helmet represents fair value for money. It’s a very dense build, with some relentless SNOT work to move things off-grid. In my opinion, it’s a more interesting design than the modern McLaren or Ferrari ones, too. And even when compared with the 1:2 scale equivalents, the LEGO model is a great choice. Getting a brand new model from the likes of Bell or Stilo can cost you north of $150. Sure, they’re more detailed, but you don’t get to spend time building them. So for the discerning F1 fan considering a helmet collection, this makes a great place to start!

LEGO Editions 43024 Ayrton Senna Helmet | 931 Pieces | Available Now | US $89.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £79.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with a copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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