The Most Intriguing LEGO Idea Of 2023
Tales of the Space Age, set #21340 review.
When it comes to creativity, LEGO bricks enable it all. Sure, the system itself creates some boundaries, but over and over again both LEGO designers, AFOLs and amateurs have proven there’s very little one cannot achieve with LEGO bricks, when the idea strikes. Tales of the Space Age, set #21340 is no different and will go down in LEGO history as one of the most intriguing, imaginative sets to have become an official LEGO Ideas set.
The reason I keep using the word intriguing, is because this is one of those few sets that isn’t what you’d traditionally call beautiful, jaw-dropping or littered with clever functions. In fact, this is in many ways more static than the Hokusai, the Van Gogh or the Rolling Stones art sets. When it was first revealed, I did not know how to react. I liked it, and I knew I’d probably buy it, but I couldn’t instantly explain to myself why. I’ll try doing that in this review.
From a build perspective, while it employs clever micro-build techniques, it is an incredibly simple build. 95% of the four “art” pieces consist of stacked bricks using carefully chosen colours, going from light to dark in a way that enables the impression of a horizon. The Danish toymaker calls these postcards, and in some ways they are. Out-of-this-world postcards, in some ways similar to the regular Postcard sets I have reviewed a while back.
In the original idea, there were only three postcards, but The LEGO designer added a fourth, so you get:
- Cosmic travellers, seemingly outside of Earth’s atmosphere.
- Intergalactic road trip, on what looks like Mars.
- Blast-off to new worlds from what might potentially be the Moon.
- Journey to the unknown, aka a black hole that looks a lot like an Opel logo.
Each of the cards can be hung on the wall, as they each have a special piece allowing for that. To enable a robust build that won’t just fall apart as it hangs on the wall, each of them is also held together by Technic beams and pins.
If you prefer to hang them in two groups, or even all four, together, you also get extra pins to do that. For the third postcard, you have the option to choose between three different constellations. The star tiles are all printed. This set comes with no stickers and four separate building instructions, so you can turn the build into a space party! Of course, you cal also just place the cards on a flat surface, they’re more than fine to stand, so hanging isn’t required, if that’s not your thing.
LEGO also offers an interesting page for further customisations and ideas for anyone inspired by the set. They’re all fun-looking, definitely worth checking out.
This is not a large set, barely medium at 688 pieces. For 50 bucks that’s pretty good going, though nothing to write home about, as most of the pieces are quite generic. I think, apart from the printed stars, all pieces can be found in the pick-a-brick store. While it’s marketed toward adults, this is a straightforward set to build, so I would say kids over the age of 7 are going to have zero problems building this. Maybe they’ll need a bit of help with the Technic beams, but apart from that, a simple build overall. Takes around 90 minutes to build all four postcards.
In trying to summarise the reasons, I eventually bought this set for, apart from wanting to support the original designer, Jan Woźnica, I think what I found the most intriguing was just how well it represents everything The LEGO hobby is about: exploration, creativity and inspiration.
The “Tales of the Space Age” LEGO set goes to places that many sets haven’t before. Takes simplicity and dares to turn it into something out of this world, inspiring us all in the process.
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! Read my Hello story here! Subscribe and/or become a member for more stories about LEGO, tech, coding and accessibility! For my less regular readers, I also write about random bits and writing.
