Most disappointing LEGO sets of 2024

[@SO-ym3zs]

2024 was a bad year in general for Lego: continuing quality issues, crazy prices getting steadily crazier, FOMO GWP's... It's not suprising that you see more and more people jumping ship :(

[@DarkAnimalStudios]

Yeah I gotta say the GWP’s felt a lot this year, but it was pretty conveniently timed for my purchases. Personally I have not really seen quality issues - though maybe sticker colour matching and injection marks could count towards that. I wonder if people are just going to become more selective with the sets they buy…we will see how well the rumoured 1000 dollar deathstar will go

[@Regeor]

⁠@@DarkAnimalStudiosI’ve always been selective with the sets I buy. I even skip “good deals” because I just don’t have space for any non must-buy sets.

[@DarkAnimalStudios]

I hear you! I so badly want to get into modulars too, but that’s a space killer

[@SO-ym3zs]

@@DarkAnimalStudios They definitely eat up space, but I love them anyway. It's worse for me because I discovered the Pantasy and Funwhole modulars, which are easily as good as Lego but way cheaper, so now I have even more modulars to find space for :D

[@SO-ym3zs]

@@DarkAnimalStudios I've gotten way more selective over time. I hardly bought any Lego this year, actually. It was almost all Cobi, Cada, Pantasy, Funwhole, etc. You get so much more bang for you buck and/or get themes Lego doesn't make or doesn't really care about, like military, cyberpunk, steampunk, medieval/castle, etc.... Re: quality, I keep encountering the issues I see lots of folks complaining about: missing pieces and color inconsistency among bricks that are supposed to be the same color, as well as some lower-quality printed pieces. When Lego is charging double or triple what other manufacturers with great quality control do, every Lego set better be perfect.

[@Blue_Steel86]

Honestly i like the animated batmobile in blue. I think it just would look bland in black. Plus it looks like its right off the show

[@Garinovitch]

I agree completely I like it for two reasons. One, it reminds me of the old toys as they were almost always in blue. And two, between Black Batmobile, Black Batmobile, Black Batmobile, and Black Batmobile. It's nice that in my mass of Black Batmobiles, it's not longer a sea of black bricks, but something finally stands out. I think it's okay to have a batmobile that isn't black, Batman has had many batmobiles in his history that weren't black.

[@Blue_Steel86]

@Garinovitch ya i like how it pops out from the others. My only real issue with the set is i just wish it had more minifigures. Like robin or i'd even take the joker from that 300 dollar set

[@DarkAnimalStudios]

@Garinovitch This is a very good point 👍

[@Garinovitch]

@@Blue_Steel86 I'd personally take Robin. I'd love more Robins personally, it makes me sad just that Lego seems to be allergic to Robin. So I can live without Joker being in yet another Batmobile set.

[@Blue_Steel86]

@@Garinovitch fair enough. Though i do hope they release joker and catwoman in cheaper sets. Don't like having to pay up for them but will just to get the full animated series roster

[@thepeculiarswede8617]

I always thought of that batmobile as blue then I heard Bruce Wayne saying that it was black in one episode then realised that episode was a dream. Bottom line, it could be blue.

[@dariocarzola8978]

@Joe, I watched a Lego documentary recently and they claimed that the price per brick for Lego sets has not actually increased so much since the 90s. They also mentioned that if you adjust for inflation, Lego is actually cheaper now. I don’t believe that, but I think digging into this would be interesting. What do you reckon?

[@gbrow1604]

The simple explanation is that price per piece is a terrible and unreliable metric.

[@DarkAnimalStudios]

I agree with gbrow, I don’t think that PpP is a great way to measure a sets value. I don’t know if it’s really more or less expensive (it always has been 😂), but it is clear that many sets nowadays are overpriced for what you get. The Star Wars theme is possibly the biggest culprit (smaller sets, more stickers, etc), but we are also seeing way more sets that are 300bucks and up - especially with the very lucrative ‘adults welcome’ drive. What documentary is this?

[@dariocarzola8978]

Will try and find it and link

[@zmansadventures]

I think the main thing is that the pieces are getting smaller, with many sets trying to include many more intricate details, creates less molds, and inflate the piece count. So while the price per brick may be cheaper now, the amount of plastic in a box is less.

[@HALLish-jl5mo]

People really should use price per unit mass. Piece size varies enormously, but doing it by weight gives you a good reference for how much plastic you get. Obviously for sets with tires it’s going to be a little off, and for sets with motors completely broken, but for most sets it’s pretty good. And price per part doesn’t compensate for those either.

[@mikecase2372]

I think 41839, The Message Board was a pretty big miss. It's frustrating because this is the type of set that Dots did well.

[@DarkAnimalStudios]

Ah yeah, love the idea. The lettering actually looked pretty cool to me, but it’s not a nice thing to look at. Love the big printed round tiles though

[@TheGreatSteve]

The Sorting Shat!

[@DarkAnimalStudios]

😂 man I feel so bad for being so hard on that set

[@magnuskallas]

I noticed the blue Batmobile first in the Gotham City skyline and was thinking, no no no.

[@DarkAnimalStudios]

Yes! I thought the exact same thing

[@brickeezy]

I really think your list is fair! I sooo agree with the Talking Sorting Hat, Travel Moments, and Jabba’s Sail Barge. You brought up very solid points. Some sets are too expensive and some are just underwhelming. Great list! Keep up the great work. You got my sub! 😊👍🏼

[@DarkAnimalStudios]

Thank you! And you have mine, I wish I had your background display 😂. Yeah I was sitting on this one for a while, because I don’t like being too negative or trashing other peoples hard work when I don’t design sets myself, but I felt that as long as I gave valid reasons and pointed out the positives it should be all good. Also some people might love all of these sets.

[@brickeezy]

@ having a display like this is fun and all, but it sucks when you run out of room 😂 I completely understand what you mean. I don’t feel like you were being negative though. You made a very entertaining video, with valid points, and definitely had me agreeing with you! Haha keep it up. I’ll check out more of your videos. Looking forward to the future ones too. Also, thank you for subscribing to mine! Means sooo much!! 🙏 😊

[@deang5386]

Waited till the early Christmas sales to grab the X-Jet at a decent price.

[@DarkAnimalStudios]

This is the way to go!

[@UnlimitedEmeralds]

It went on sale for $65 and that’s still absurd for the piece count.

[@deang5386]

@UnlimitedEmeralds Yoda's Starfighter is just as bad at $53. Glad I got it at $35.

[@andrewcooper3503]

Great content and couldn't argue with any.

[@DarkAnimalStudios]

Thank you! Though I welcome any debates 😂

[@jaybenson4727]

Sorting Hat is a terrific little set. I don’t share your belief that the sound brick quality isn’t good.

[@DarkAnimalStudios]

Does in not sound very ‘fuzz’ to you?

[@jaybenson4727]

@ It doesn’t. Sounds clear to me and quite loud

[@dariocarzola8978]

Totally agree with you about Jabba’s barge. But maybe I’m bitter because I couldn’t get the lightsaber gift with purchase 💀

[@JamariusJackson-yg5ui]

The sail barge minifigs were super disappointing to me, not worse than the UCS MF that came w the worst mini selection ever for 800$ you get 6 of the most boring minifigs they could think of it’s hilarious to me that they would do that.

[@DarkAnimalStudios]

You know with the UCS sets I’m not so invested in the figs. I love my MF so much. But finally getting a Max Grebo fig was just great

[@sabahaddinzaim]

So most of them overpriced? Who could’ve thought.