For the past three years, LEGO has celebrated the Lunar New Year with richly detailed, intermediate-level sets. One set depicted dragon boat races. Another set depicted the traditional lion dance, complete with a percussionists' stage. Another set depicted a multi-generational family dinner. Initially, these sets were exclusive to the Asian/Pacific markets. But beginning in 2020, the company began releasing them on a global, if limited, basis.
This year, The Year of the Ox, marks LEGO's most ambitious Lunar New Year set to date – a Spring Lantern Festival, held in a traditional garden with Chinese architecture. The real-life Spring Lantern Festival, which marks the end of Lunar New Year on the 15th day, celebrates letting go of the past and embracing the future. This is symbolized by the eponymous paper lanterns, which are released into the sky by the thousands in a beautiful, evocative display. The new LEGO set captures the Lunar New Year's contradictory sentiments: traditional yet youth-centered, with public displays of joy alongside quiet reflection.
The LEGO Spring Lantern Festival is composed of 1793 pieces. Its instructions are split into 11 steps; those 11 steps are split between two instruction booklets. The build's first half is a scenic landscape, punctuated by an arched bridge over a stream and a massive lantern in the shape of an Ox. Press a button, and the Ox glows red from a "light brick" inside of it. The build's second half features a traditional pavilion with a stylized roof. Grey bricks depict a crumbling, brick road, which runs through the set and combines both tableaus into a unified build.
The set comes with eight LEGO minifigures. To the extent that representation is possible in LEGO form, the designer did an excellent job of putting small cultural touches into these characters. One is eating a bowl of glutinous rice balls. Another is drinking bubble tea. The little girl has a rabbit pull toy, which hit me with a nostalgic feeling--a memory from the past--that I couldn't quite place. The little boy has the Monkey King, of ancient Chinese legend, printed on his shirt. The last minifigure is a human-shaped lantern, which you can pose on a pedestal outside the garden entrance.
It gave me great joy to discover that the LEGO Spring Lantern Festival is composed almost entirely of ornamentation. There are no LEGO Technic rods--no hidden, structural assemblage underlying it all. This is an old-school, single-storied, build-it-on-a baseplate set; what you see is what you get. But that should not imply simplicity. This set has 1793 pieces. And anyone who sees the set in person would believe that; it's the rare set that actually looks its piece count. Nearly every brick has an aesthetic decorative function. Nearly every brick tells.
It gave me great joy to discover that the LEGO Spring Lantern Festival is composed almost entirely of ornamentation
Take the depiction of water, for example. On the surface are koi fish, printed onto translucent blue bricks. But these 'water' bricks lay on top of green studs, which give the impression of seaweed at a lower depth. It's a layered composition; there are details beneath the details.
There are three types of red lantern that cover the build--some simple and squarish, some rounder and ornate. They're hung and placed in numerous ways, from clotheslines suspended in the air, on walls near entryways, and from lamp posts, using some clever hinge trickery that I've never seen before.
LEGO evokes the traditional Chinese upturned roofs by clamping curved pieces to the roof's peak, and draping them down over the sides. The bamboo stalks are multi-pieced compositions with a great cumulative effect. The same can be said for much of the build, from the ornamentation in the walls to the traditional banners on the lanterns to the overgrown tree that's overrun over its assigned area of the park. None of it is as impressive as all of it, working in unison. And the good-luck-red ox is very cute, with golden horns and an oversized nose ring.
There is no discounting the personal, sentimental factor that weighed into my enjoyment of this build. I am a second-generation Chinese American, but the Lunar New Year is the time I feel most connected to my heritage, and the traditions surrounding these 15 days have endured in my family. I have so many fond memories--of family, of food, of lion dances and running away from firecrackers--that have reinforced my sense of self.
Those memories burn even brighter this year, as my family is taking precautions during the ongoing pandemic. But my parents are still making fa gao--pink prosperity cupcakes--and will be dropping off a box of them in the morning. And for dinner, my wife and I will order Peking duck, which my six-year-old son has been looking forward to for weeks.
Six years old is such a formative, curious age. Had the practical circumstances been different, we would be taking my son to Chinatown to see the lion dance--to feel that sense of cultural solidarity and pride that I felt when I was his age. Instead, we're indoors. But the LEGO Spring Lantern Festival was the best possible substitute, allowing the two of us to celebrate in a small, more personal way--by collaborating on something that both of us love and share in common. One day, he'll experience it in person. But for now, this will do.
The LEGO Spring Lantern Festival, Set #80107, was created by LEGO designer Justin Ramsden. It is composed of 1793 pieces and retails for $119.99.
Kevin Wong is a LEGO aficionado. Talk about your favorite sets with him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.
