Get A Brand New Classic Vespa For Under A $100!

It might just be the best purchase you’ve ever made…

While it won’t take you to literal places, it might still get you a romantic Vespa enthusiast partner, and it will definitely take your imagination places you haven’t explored before. For less than $100, I think that is more than enough of a reason to consider getting the Lego Vespa 10298 set. I certainly did, and I won’t shut up about it. Why? Because I like sharing my excitement. Most of my blog is about sharing my excitement, even when it comes in the form of a rant.

So whether you asked for it or not, I’m sharing my excitement about the Lego Vespa because Lego is meant to be about play, and my sharing might get you inspired to remove yourself from the many screens surrounding you, from the daily mundane and take a trip down imagination-lane, on the back of a lovely blue Vespa. And on that note, let’s get playing.

This is another Creator Expert set, but don’t let that deter you from getting it, even if you’re new to Lego. Sure, it will take you longer to build, but you might actually get more out of it than many of us with years and decades of Lego building experience.

What I often tell people, is that building a Lego set, is about disconnecting from everything else, and from where I’m standing, the longer that lasts, the better.

The Vespa 125 is an iconic scooter. It just so happens to also be (according to the interweb) the same model Audrey Hepburn made famous in her 1953 movie, Roman Holiday. A fantastic film, though to be quite honest, I only had eyes for Audrey, the bike only came as a nice bonus. The Lego representation of it manages to keep most if not all the iconic design language and feel of the real thing.

While given its box size this would appear to be a large set, at 1107 pieces I would consider it still somewhere on the upper end of a medium set. Having said that, once built, it definitely punches above its weight. As a display piece, you will need considerable space to give it the appropriate spotlight in your home or office. One thing to note though, if you’re going for raw masculinity, this is not the set to display. Stereotypes aside, the baby-blue colour-scheme, the bouquet and basket in the back give it a slightly more unisex to feminine vibe. If you’re looking for something more rugged, Harley-Davidson Fat Boy might be more up your alley, though it’s a retired product, so good luck finding it. Alternatively, you can always get any of the Lego Technic bikes. The Ducati or the BMW are both great choices, and they also work well as display pieces.

But back to the Vespa. Building the set is actually fairly straight-forward. Not a lot of odd building-techniques, especially if you’re not a Lego virgin. Took me just over 2 hours to build with no interruptions. Overall, it’s an enjoyable build, nice to see many of the well-known pieces in this shade of blue, and the occasional technic parts thrown in there confirms this is indeed more than a regular ol’ System set. It also features a few stickers, which you’ll carefully have to apply. But only if you like. I, for one, did, but I will admit that I much prefer sets that have no stickers, and when they do, I often choose not to apply them, so that later the parts are more reusable. It depends on what the sticker represents, but a Lego piece with a Vespa logo in it will clearly not be reusable for anything else than another Vespa or some filler part that isn’t visible in another build.

While a set that will clearly be a conversation starter in any room, I have to remark the fact that when it comes to playability, it falls short of expectations. Even if it has working steering, pushing the bike around on the table or the floor, it quickly becomes obvious, it’s not meant for that. As Lego aptly puts it, this is a set for Vespa fans, and Vespa fans will likely build it and display it, never to touch it again, especially given its somewhat delicate front-wheel mudguard and loose helmet.

That being said, I think this set’s value does go beyond just being a cool brick replica of an iconic scooter. Looking at the parts list on Bricklink, to anyone owning a couple of sets already, should be obvious that taking this set apart can contribute to various new own creations like this Cezeta. Over 1100 pieces is after all quite a decent amount. My first-ever set, the Dark Shark 6679 released in 1991, had just 71 pieces, and I still managed to build tons of stuff out of it! In fact, I think it took me about 5 years to reach 1000 bricks. I remember it being a massive milestone, especially in Romania, where Lego was eye-wateringly expensive, so most of my sets were small to downright tiny.

Don’t ever forget that no matter the Lego set, ultimately it’s your imagination that dictates what you’ll be building.

Attila Vago — Software Engineer improving the world one line of code at a time. Cool nerd since forever, writer of codes and blogs. Web accessibility advocate, Lego fan, vinyl record collector. Loves craft beer!