[REVIEW] 21327 - LEGO Ideas Typewriter

[Blondie-Wan]

What a stunningly beautiful set. I’m kind of gobsmacked you’re leaning towards a negative review on the basis of it “not doing more” (!); considering how utterly gorgeous it is, I’d consider it fairly priced even if it had zero functionality and were a completely static model. The fact it works as it does? Just amazing, and complaining that it doesn’t do more feels a bit like complaining that Minifigures cannot actually move around on their own, speak, and assemble and disassemble themselves.

For US fans the set seems reasonably priced, though of course the vagaries of exchange rates and TLG’s pricing typically seem to work against builders in other lands, and that appears to be the case here. Here, though, I find it difficult to complain; it feels worth getting even purely as a parts pack, never even minding the build. Perhaps that’s just me, though…

[Jim]

I gave it 9 out of 10 for looks   

And I have already slighty altered my conclusion. But that was how I felt after building the set.

[_MrB_]

Thank you for this review!

I am currently building this set and I have to say its fabulous! 

[VBBN]

Thanks for the incredible review as always Jim! 

This set continues to push Lego's functional set design, carrying on from the previous Piano set. While not my top priority in collectibles, it's fantastic to see sets like this & I am sure the techniques learned in the development of this set will help step Lego forward even further in innovation in the future. 

[DrJB]

Stunning set and review ... but then again, I wouldn't expect anything less from Jim.

For those of us who've used such machines, this takes me back 30+ years... when some on here were not even 'conceived' yet

In any event, my favorite detail is the switch on the top right, that moves the 'ink' ribbon/bobbins up/down to change the color between red/black. Absolutely a very nice/realistic detail.

I wonder though how many of these TLG will actually sell ... as I'm not sure a large segment of the population would identify with such 'dinosaurs'. Or maybe some people would buy the set just for the metal/chrome parts, and there are many of them.

 

Edited June 24, 2021 by DrJB

[Jim]

46 minutes ago, DrJB said:

In any event, my favorite detail is the switch on the top right, that moves the 'ink' ribbon/bobbins up/down to change the color between red/black. Absolutely a very nice/realistic detail.

A switch that doesn't do anything. I was a bit disappointed by that. I figured it wouldn't be too hard to have the ribbon move up and down a bit.

[JunkstyleGio]

@DrJB I'm one of the "dinosars" who actually used the typewriter. I typed all of the all of the 50 pages of my thesis on a model like this. (And 100s of pages more..)

I'm up to "baggies 6" and really really loving it so far. A brilliant combo of technic and system!

 

 

[JunkstyleGio]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvj8K2dTPIA

 

A 1 minute building video.

Edited June 26, 2021 by JunkstyleGio

[mostlytechnic]

On 6/19/2021 at 8:34 PM, mostlytechnic said:

Sorry Jim, I'm not reading your review.

 

Yet. I have my typewriter already ordered and I don't wanna spoil it. I'll be back later to read and see if I missed anything or have comments, but first, I need to get and build mine. 

Got my Typewriter and built it over the last few days. My thoughts, for what they're worth...

It's a beautifully designed set. The sand green looks great - although the typewriter I used as a kid in the early 80s was black, not vintage green. Ours also didn't have the dual-color ribbon, so the red/black was a new "feature" to me. But this is one of the best "desk decoration" sets Lego has made yet - right up there with the bonsai tree. 

It's definitely needing the 18+ rating - moreso than most of the sets that get it. There's definitely some tricky parts to put together and get all aligned to make it work right. 

Yes, the key mech parts are pretty repetitive, but they're in the beginning and that's about the end of repetitive building. Plus I just built the Daily Bugle, so my tolerance for repetition is pretty high right now :) 

I LOVE that the typing sound is there. The strike of the key is a little dull, but when it snaps back it gives you that "typing clack" sound. Nice job in the design to make it hit right to do that! 

I wish the space bar worked. But that'd complicate things, needing it to move the paper without making a letter stroke. 

Oddly, I'm taking the opposite conclusion from Jim. I'm normally a Technic fan who wants MORE POWAA FUNCTIONS and is annoyed by how many parts are wasted on the cosmetics. However, in this case, the typing function works SO WELL and the looks are so great that I'm very forgiving that the color lever doesn't do anything, there's no bell, the space bar doesn't work, the shift keys do nothing, etc. And I really appreciate the inclusion of the letters to put in the machine. Since it's scaled slightly smaller than reality and can't take a normal sheet of paper (either US letter or Euro A4), having those in the correct size really helps complete the design. 

[LegoLars]

Absolutely amazing build!

[julien4599]

Thanks Jim for your complete, objective and detailed review.

I appreciate your general feeling at the end of the building. When the only "good" moment is just at the end when the set is finished means the process has not been very enjoyable : repetitve, fragile, not fun, etc...

And if we just keep in mind the look with the original model, we are more in the mock-up spirit than in the LEGO concept... That's my opinion.

[Terrasher]

Finished building the set yesterday and I have to say that the build was quite enjoyable, IMO. The first steps of building the key levers are quite repetitive, but the rest of the typewriter makes for a wonderful departure from the common house- or car- type builds. The functions in this set are unlike anything I've built, so building all of the mechanisms was quite fun. It's the perfect mix of Technic and System, I think.

[mic8per_]

This is the most technical IDEAS set of all time. I especially like the mechanism inside. Maybe it's also good "parts donor". Nice review!

Edited July 7, 2021 by mic8per_

[jonwil]

I wonder why they picked : and ? as punctuation to include in the set...