The LEGO Ideas line is one of my favorites from the LEGO company. The basic concept is that fans design sets, those sets undergo a voting and vetting process, and then the selected sets are redesigned into official LEGO sets. My most recent purchase is from the LEGO Ideas line: the Minifigure Vending Machine set (#21358).
I must say that this set was an awesome build experience from start to finish, including the process of filling 16 capsules with 16 different minifigures. For most collectors, the main draw of the set is probably the aforementioned figures. You get two new spaceman recolors (turquoise and gold), two new castle factions, some throwback figures (Paradisa and Fabuland), plus pirates and a few other figures. If that wasn't enough, the model itself is fully functional. Insert the coin, turn the handle, and out pops a capsule with a minifigure inside. The best part of the machine is that if you don't insert a coin first, you cannot turn the handle. It's a genius bit of LEGO engineering and design!
If you ask me, this set is 100% worth a purchase. My son loved playing with it once it was completed; heck, I love playing with it! Even better, I think I will be emptying out all of the capsules and replacing the minifigures with tiny candies. I plan to put this machine on my desk at work, and when students stop by to talk, they can grab a mystery candy from the machine if they'd like!
I'm a big fan of the Lego Ideas line too. Saw a few YouTubers review this set and it looks awesome. I've got way too many sets waiting to be built, so I won't be buying this one for myself. I might end up buying it for my brother and sister-in-law for Christmas though.
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