REVIEW: Lightailing and BriksMax LED Lighting Kits (Assembly Square and Bookshop)

[VBBN]

 

 

Hello everyone and welcome to a special review of a Lego-compatible product! Today, we will be looking at two of the hundreds of products available on www.lightailing.com, Lightailing sells a wide selection of LED lighting kits that are specifically created to work with Lego sets from a variety of different themes, sizes, etc. They were kind enough to send me some kits to review (though as always, any product I review is of my own opinion.) In particular, I wanted to take a look at two kits for some of the modular buildings series, as I believed these have quite a bit of lighting elements to take a look at given the size & complexity of these sets.

The two kits in particular can be found at the below links:

Light Kit For Assembly Square 10255

Light Kit For Bookshop 10270

Also, Lightailing has been generous enough to provide us with a discount code! If you use the promo code "eurobricks" at checkout, you will get an additional 20% off! 

 

Boxes

As you can see, we will actually be looking at two different brands of kits in this review; BriksMax LED kit for the Bookshop, and Lightailing's own kit for Assembly square. Both sets come in a similar style box that is easy to open and can be used to store items later on. 

BricksMax

Contents

Upon opening the BricksMax kit, you can see the instructions, a user guide/warranty card, as well as a bubble wrapped package containing the various LED elements.

Instructions

The instructions for this kit are very clear and easy to follow. The instructions show you when pieces need to be removed, they call out specifically what elements you need for that particular step, and they use icons to help you understand the action that is taking place during that particular step (such as if you are being directed to insert the write though a Lego piece, as exemplified in this photo.

Contents

This kit contains 10 smaller packets, each containing a variety of elements from wires to connectors and adhesive strips. Some Lego elements are also included such as 1x6 plates and 1x1 studs that assist with the build process, these pieces are legitimate Lego brand elements. 

Also included are two large packages containing a replacement street lamp (more on this later) and the battery pack.

Tree Lighting

I won't go over every single element included in these kits as that would take far more than a simple review can show: but to show you some examples, here you can see the lighting elements needed for the tree. The LEDs are connected to wires with a connector at the end. Again, the studs were included with the kit.

Lighting the tree is a simple process: you fish the wire though and open stud, and then cap it off with one of the 1x1 trans studs to hold it in place. It's very easy to do, and the results you will soon see are very bright and effective. 

Each wire eventually plugs into a power strip, as you can see here. The strip uses two small adhesive tiles to stick on to the back of the tree. it's worth noting that the entire system of lights for this kit are all linked together. So you can see here that the end result of this system is one single wire coming from the tree...

...which travels under the street and into another panel within the building itself. The circuit then continues from here. I am sure that my photos will only demonstrate a portion of this process, but again it's really quite clear to follow and will make sense in-hand. 

Room Lighting

Here is an example of how the interior rooms of the building are lit up. As mentioned, the kit includes some 1x6 tiles, these are what the adhesive LED strips will be mounted to the underside of. 

Here you can see the completed unit mounted. Again, the circuit that started with the tree is connected though to here in one end, and the other end will go upstairs to to the next floor. 

Once you have wired up one side of the building, the wires are then carried over to the next side of the building. An important comment here is that once you fully wire this kit together, these two halves of the buildings will need to stay connected together, as the wiring interlocks them together at this point. 

Lamp Post

The kit includes an entirely new lamp post that is already pre-wired. (Both kits features here do this.) 

Battery Pack

The kit provides you with two differing options for how you can power the lights. You can light them using a USB, or you can mount a battery pack which takes three AA batteries. 

For my setup here, I chose to plug in the battery pack, which fits pretty snugly underneath the windowsill.

Completed Bookshop Lighting 

The kit gives the set a wonderful glow when complete. I will show more detail in the following pictures, but something I would like to highlight is that they use different shades of light in different rooms; for example on the left you have a brighter white light in the book shop, but a warmer light in the rooms above. This adds some great realism to the set, as in real life you will often see different colors of light shown through rooms of a building. 

The lighting continues back here with all of the rooms being lit up. I should mention that the small crawlspace does end up being restricted, due to the tight wiring it may be tough to access this area once fully wired up. The battery box that I used for my setup is noticeable, but you could easily dress this up given the amount of studs around it with some plant life, or treat it as a generator/power box that one may find near a building.

The buildings immediately feel warmer and more lifelike. You can truly see more details inside of these rooms that otherwise are hidden in darkness. You can see a few examples of the wires that run up the wall, they are quite small and not too noticeable, and again I think realistically it's not uncommon to have some wiring visible in places. Ultimately I think the kit does a good job of hiding these as best as possible (and the great thing of Lego is that you can always rebuild or find new ways to hide the wiring, if you choose.) 

The orange porch lights add quite some life to this little entranceway, and I love how the light shines through the clear plates above the door. 

Some of these details really are normally quite hard to see in the set once it's built, but with the light kit you can see them clearly, such as the nicely detailed grandfather clock here. 

Lightailing kit

Next we will move on to the Lightailing kit. The same general idea behind what this kit does is present, but the execution of the kid does differ in some ways as you will see. 

Instructions

The instructions are pretty similar to the Bricksmax kit, the main difference being that they don't call out which specific elements you need. This is because, as you will see below, the kit is organized in steps rather than in separated elements. 

Contents

8 bags of elements are included. You can see here that each step is numbered, so unlike the Bricksmax kit you will not be selecting elements from multiple bags at once. 

Step 1 Elements

 

Two more differences can be observed here. First, the ceiling lights are already mounted to plates, rather than you adhering them separately. Second, this set is not built on one continuous circuit, but rather each step is it's own circuit that ends with a USB plug at the end. 

Step 2 Elements

The Step 2 pieces show you another difference, the lights are all built directly into Lego pieces. So, rather than having a small light that fits into a stud as we saw previously, these ones are wired up from the start. 

Wiring up the coffee shop

The wires themselves are also a bit different. Rather than being the twisted wires as seen in the Bricksmax kit, these ones are single wires, meaning they are thinner and thus easier to fish between plates. The counter to this is that there are mores overall to need to manage. 

Wiring the other side

Okay so this set is one solid piece that does not split apart at the baseplates, so this comment in particular won't apply to this set, but in general is good to know: Unlike the Bricksmax kit, since each "building" has lights that are on their own circuits, it's feasible that you could split the buildings apart at their baseplates while retaining the lighting. 

Battery Box

The power hookups are a little different here also. First, all of the USB ports we saw previously will connect to this unit. You can then either directly plus that in to a USB power source, or you can hook it up to the battery box, again which takes three AA batteries. The battery box features studs on one side and anti-studs on the other, so it's easy to build in to your layout or hide away with details. 

Wiring Complete

I know this looks a little messy at first; Bear in mind that I needed to keep this all contained and easy to showcase in this review. However, if you have this building in a tabletown layout, you have plenty of wiring here that you can use to route this to an easy-to-reach and well-hidden area. After this review, I'll be spending more time to tidy up and hide away the wires, but you get the general idea of what you have to work with here. 

Completed Kit

Similar tot he Bookshop, the finished kit for Assembly square is simply striking. In addition to what we've seen before, we have some other neat elements here such as illuminated shop signs (the coffee cup and roses), and a color-changing fountain. The fountain was a really neat surprise as I had no idea that the fountain would cycle through colors until having it in hand. You can see a video demonstrating this feature below. Additionally, the set features a few other items of note including light-up signs (the coffee cup and roses).

From a rear view, we can see again that a majority of the set is lit up, the main exception being the bathroom on the upper left (which you likely wouldn't always have a light on in anyway). If I could make any improvement here, I would have enjoyed some form of string lights up on the outer patio of the apartment to add some nightlife to that area. 

As we head down to the cafe and this well-mannered dog, we notice some excellent exterior lighting. In comparison to the Bookshop, this set has a larger street scene, and many more exterior lights, and this lighting kit does a great job in capturing all of those pieces. The awnings on my set aren't set quite as straight as you could likely manage, though keep in mind that anytime you have wiring going between Lego bricks there will always be an unavoidable gap.

 

The lighting not only lets you see the details of the interior and minifigures better, but also how dusty my set is!

Even the skylight on top serves new purpose during darker settings.

I mentioned this with the bookshop, but I do love the contrasts between light colors, for example the warm orange glow under the awnings contrasting with the bright white interior of the florist shop.

Side note, but you may have noticed I've added a few smaller details into these setups, but no major changes were made to the sets overall. 

This dentistry sign is a detail I really forgot about, given it's placement and dark backing under normal circumstances, but it comes to life with this kit as you'd expect. 

Now the real question remains, who will make mini LED kits for these micro Lego builds?? 

Here we have both kits together. This was an important observation for me - if you are completing a modular city layout and you want to light up all of your builds, chances are you may end up with both Lightailing and BricksMax kits. How do they look together? Overall, I'd say they go very well. Both kits have equal emphasis on the kinds of details they light up, and both kits vary the lighting used to make the sets more realistic. I did notice the lamp posts on the BricksMax kit are slightly more yellow compared to Lightailing, but I consider this accidental realism (as in the real world, as lightbulbs are replaced/age, their colors may vary.) Both also have very bright lights 9and keep in mind that batteries as I used here tend to be dimmer, but I have no complaint about the brightness).

Both kits absolutely enhance the experience of owning a modular building by allowing you to truly see the details inside, and turning simple things such as lamposts and 1x1 stud lights into glowing, atmosphere inducing elements. Both kits were pretty easy overall to install, with no special knowledge needed. I'd say that both kits pretty much equally place limitations on your builds (taking floors apart becomes more difficult, some tiles don't sit flush, etc.) I find these limitations to be feasible to work with, as in my opinion modular sets like these are true display pieces, and these kits serve to enhance that aspect of the sets.  

The one key difference between this kits is in how they are wired. The BricksMax kit is very self contained and runs on one single circuit, which as mentioned does limit the ability to split the building in half. The Lightailing kit uses numerous circuits and longer wires, which allows for more modularity and gives you more to work with when it comes to hiding the battery box (plus the battery box actually has studs/anti studs on it), though of course at first it may be a bit messier to deal with in comparison. So, each has it's ups and downs. Ultimately, I can't say that either one setup is superior to the other, this will completely depend on your preference, but I believe both are executed quite well. 

Last we come to the price, which is 56.99 USD for the Assembly Square kit, and 51.99 USD for the Bookshop kit. I do think these prices are fair, they give you a decent amount of stuff, it's packaged well, the final effect is truly set enchancing, and for expensive sets like these, I think it's a worthy addition to make. Plus, as mentioned above, you can use the promo code "eurobricks" at checkout and get 20% off, which makes these and even better value at those prices. 

Thank you for reading! Please let me know if you have any further questions on these kits.

[VBBN]

I am happy to present that this review is now live for viewing!

[Yoggington]

On 11/16/2021 at 12:48 AM, VBBN said:

Last we come to the price, which is 56.99 USD for the Assembly Square kit, and 51.99 USD for the Bookshop kit. I do think these prices are fair, they give you a decent amount of stuff, it's packaged well, the final effect is truly set enchancing, and for expensive sets like these, I think it's a worthy addition to make. Plus, as mentioned above, you can use the promo code "eurobricks" at checkout and get 20% off, which makes these and even better value at those prices. 

Thank you for reading! Please let me know if you have any further questions on these kits.

This is the bit that gets me.

I don't dispute that you get a lot of stuff in these sets for that price, and it looks great - but you could cut that price in half and keep 90% of the impact with some more canny light selection. E.G. Four lights in the tree is overkill, lights in the actual Floral 3D sign are not needed at all. How possible is it to pick up the components individually? I did that with a different brand - skipped their set, bought individual components and halved the price.

I can't help but think these packs are put together in a manner to slyly push you into buying more than you need.

 

[1963maniac]

Thanks for all this good information! I hope more reviews are coming. There are many companies doing these lighting kits.

[VBBN]

5 hours ago, Yoggington said:

This is the bit that gets me.

I don't dispute that you get a lot of stuff in these sets for that price, and it looks great - but you could cut that price in half and keep 90% of the impact with some more canny light selection. E.G. Four lights in the tree is overkill, lights in the actual Floral 3D sign are not needed at all. How possible is it to pick up the components individually? I did that with a different brand - skipped their set, bought individual components and halved the price.

I can't help but think these packs are put together in a manner to slyly push you into buying more than you need.

 

Have you tried visiting the accessory section of their website? They have a bunch of elements available to purchase individually and tailor to your set or MOC however you'd like. 

In my opinion part of the price is definitely in the convenience/ease of putting the elements together. I've dabbled with LEDs for other non-LEGO projects and those typically involve wire twisting, shrink wrap etc, which are cheaper on an individual level but aren't quite as user friendly as I found these kits to be. Value is always up to your own preference but that's personally where I found some of the justification myself.  

[koalayummies]

Very pretty and great photography and review. But why did they make the tree light up.

gaaaaah we sssshould make the treeee lit up toooo

[caiman0637]

Great review, thanks! 

Wasn't there a confirmed rumor that TLG would produce their own lighting kits for a couple of sets? (I know Downtown Diner was one of them, but I can't remember the others.) Now that the diner retired, that probably won't happen at all, right? It's sad, I was really looking forward to that... 

 

[Redhead1982]

To add my share of minimalistic experience with light kits. I recently got Briksmax's kit for Police Station. I have been contemplating about getting a sort of light kit to include in MOCs, especially for buildings to reveal some of the interior details. First off, I am very inexperienced, so this most likely had a big impact on my experiment with the given light kit. I did a quick search prior to putting the kit together only to find a little available info on what should be kept in mind when assembling a kit. Those small and delicate wires are prone to damage while connecting to an expansion board. Paying attention to all this, and given the (in my opinion) very small pictures of wire placement, it took me around 4 hours to wire up a modular, only to find out it wasn't working. 

Since Briksmax is a one-circuit kit, it's challenging to find a problematic connection, as it could be one of the first wires. So, it takes some time to carefully check every connection while dismantling it. In the end, I found 3 loose connections where the tiny wires were not properly inserted in the connector. I have no idea how it happened, but it did. Luckily, I was able to order an extra set of connectors. Despite this not-so-great first experience, I am thinking of getting more lights, most likely individual and not modular light kits. 

Based on your review, Lightailing kit forms multiple circuits which might be better (and easier to identify the problematic circuit if not working). However, it is also more chaotic with so many wires loosely hanging around. It might be just me, but to me, it feels that the black twisted wires are thinner than the white ones from Lightailing. 

Overall, thanks for this review and for providing more info on the various light kits. 

 

[Yoggington]

On 11/30/2021 at 10:24 PM, VBBN said:

Have you tried visiting the accessory section of their website? They have a bunch of elements available to purchase individually and tailor to your set or MOC however you'd like.

Ah excellent. Reading back, my post reads like complaints, but yes, that's what I was asking. And no, I've not tried these particular brands.

I think for anyone lighting a set, this is a much shrewder way to go about things, because the costs soon add up.

[Faefrost]

On 11/30/2021 at 11:59 AM, Yoggington said:

This is the bit that gets me.

I don't dispute that you get a lot of stuff in these sets for that price, and it looks great - but you could cut that price in half and keep 90% of the impact with some more canny light selection. E.G. Four lights in the tree is overkill, lights in the actual Floral 3D sign are not needed at all. How possible is it to pick up the components individually? I did that with a different brand - skipped their set, bought individual components and halved the price.

I can't help but think these packs are put together in a manner to slyly push you into buying more than you need.

 

Bricksmax you can buy individual components ala carte and design your own setup. Single leds come in bright white, warm white, red, blue, green, pink and orange I believe. They also have various flicker or effect boards. Bricksmax is also 100% compatable and interchangeable with LightMyBricks stuff. That's important to know. Bricksmax components are generally cheaper. But LightMyBricks has some cooler and more advanced items. From micro lights, to the glorious "Wireless connectors" that let you put contact plates between the floors of your modulars. So you can lift them apart normally. Bricksmax has the much nicer strip lights. LightmyBricks has nicer quality everything else. Vonado uses the same compatible system, but the component quality is complete garbage. LED's fall apart out of the bag. 

For the Bricksmax and Lightmybricks system here are your basic elements. 

- single LED's in 15cm and 30cm lengths

- self adhesive LED light strips normally the length of a 1x6. Bricksmax are on hard pcb. Lightmybricks are soft silicone flex strips.

- connector boards in 6,8 and 12 port

- connector wires or jumpers in 5cm 15cm and 30 cm lengths

- USB power wire. 

- Various effect boards and LED's which will add flashing, flickering, animation, traffic light, etc. 

Also note while the Bookstore kit does not come with the hardware to split the two halves. With the Bricksmax or Lightmybricks system it's 2 minutes work and 1 extra usb plug to remedy. You aren't bound by the instructions. You can place and run the lights to your tastes and needs. 

 

Lightailing kits are strung together like christmas lights. There is really only one way to install them as the wire distance between the prelit bricks is specific to where it goes in the lego set. Many but not all Lightailing kits use a seperate string and usb plug for each floor of a modular. Lightailing kits are completely self contained and the components are not cross compatible. They are literally just like LED christmas lights. Lightailing Kits are the easiest for a beginer to install. The downside is if you break a wire you ruin a whole string. And Lightailing does not offer individual replacement strings. If you break a wire in a Bricksmax or LightmyBricks kit you can easily replace that component for $1-2. You just replace the wire or led. 

Of the three main Light kit manufacturers, I've used all three plus a few others here's my quick rundown; 

LightMyBricks - Most Expensive. But worth it for certain larger sets such as the Ninjago City sets ot especially the Dailky Bugle. The Daily Bugle set comes with the wireless connectors so you can take the building apart. LMB sets typically have more lights and more effect parts than its Bricksmax counterpart. You can only buy direct from their web site.

Bricksmax. My current go to for most general kits. Good prices. High quality. I normally mix and match BM and LMB stuff.BM for the basic lighting LMB to add some animation and movement. 

Lightailing. Good quality easy to use kits. Decent Price. Produce great looking results for the kits they are designed for. Absolutely no flexibility. 

Bricksmax and Lightailing can be bought from Lightaings Amazon store or website. They routinely run some really good sales throughot the year. So you can sometimes catch the DIY components on a 1 day 50% off sale. Also for lighting minifig scale vehicles Bricksmax's kit for set 60231 Fire Chief Response Truck is a near perfect universal kit. 

Edit, here are some other examples of some various light kits

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWzsPV4

Lightailing Corner Garage

Lightailing Diner

Bricksmax Parisian Restaurant

Bricksmax Detectives Office

ala carte DIY Bricksmax and LightMyBricks Sanctum Sanctorum

Light My Bricks Daily Bugle (Note one of the big differences between LMB and BM is LMB includes a lot of extra Lego Parts to create the various spotlights for signage. Plus Firestars animated flame effects have to be seen to be appreciated.But this does effectively double the price of the kit from the BM version)

Light My Bricks Ninjago City Gardens install in progress

 

As for the lights in the Bookstores Birch tree? Yes you could cut them back. But I wouldn't. They are really the only thing that adds the needed visual pop to the Bookstore's lighting. Without them it's a very boring lighted scene. They give it the needed burst of color. 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2021 by Faefrost

[BrickFit26]

All the wires got me feeling . 

[CP5670]

These look really nice, I'll have to try out some of them.  How do they compare to Lifelites? I have used those in several mocs in the past, and they generally work well but the wires/connections can degrade over time. These wires look even thinner and more fragile, so I would be worried about them holding up.