VIKING VILLAGE Ideas set via Target vote

[Merlo]

This kinda feels like most Lego ideas to me: it's ok, but I'd probably only buy it if it was more similar to the original.

But the atrocious Eldorado Fortress got my standards so low that I can't even complain about this lol

The price looks fine.

[JohnTPT17]

It's officially up on Lego.com now, if anyone wants the whole slew of high-quality pictures. Price is officially $129.99 USD!

Also, based on these higher-quality photos, I think I can safely celebrate there being no stickers! Woohoo! Also, I find it interesting that the connection points are done with bars and clips (like the Blacktron GWP) and not Technic parts. And I think that is easily puts Eldorado Fortress to shame - I know the Viking Village has smaller parts which may be inflating the PPP ratio and no cannons/sails, but I personally feel it's a far better bang for your buck overall. Can't wait for reviews to start trickling out!

I'm thinking I will probably get this, but I'll wait for a good GWP to snag with it. I also might expand it a little, even if just with a few raised baseplates, just to make it feel larger (the fact that it disconnects into three parts is basically begging for this to happen). It's probably tied for my favorite Lego thing this year with the Disney 100 minifig series.

 

[GeoBrick]

Nice-looking set. Will definitely go on my Wanted list. The Chief's House is a little gem, the ore-cave under the tower a welcome view of the more mundane side of Viking life.
I can already tell the tomboy miner/smith will be my favorite character in this set.
Since it appears it will be quite easy to expand the set, a dock module (boathouse with a pier or something) will be inevitable. One could dock JonassKramm's excellent Karve on it.
 

[Aanchir]

Ah, the pics from the LEGO site are just what I needed to take in the details of the set!

The minifig designs look really lovely. The metallic blue war paint on the archer is an especially cool and unique detail. The printed legs also add a lot of flair even to the figures that reuse face and torso prints from other sets. I also appreciate the printed details on other elements of the build, particularly the recurring Midgard serpent motif on the barrel lids and the stone carving next to the smithy. Even the blacksmith's hammer is printed with metallic copper ink, which really feels like going "above and beyond" even the most demanding of AFOL expectations! I'm sure there are some folks who would have preferred more minifigures or printed shields in place of some of these other printed elements, but I quite like that the balance the designers struck.

I had noticed one unprinted shield even in the smaller picture, but it's exciting to see here that it is in the process of being painted with an included paintbrush! This is a nice detail, although it would have been preferable if the shield were a shade of brown to represent unpainted wood, rather than the silver color used to represent the metal rim and boss on the printed shields.

Seems I was wrong about the poultry cooking on a spit — it's in a suspended pan instead, which I don't terribly mind. The hearth is very nicely constructed, with a great stone texture on the sides and enough flame pieces to really fill out the space. The chieftain's throne also makes outstanding use of those new mech finger pieces from this year's Ninjago and Marvel sets for its armrests and backrest! And the throne's 3x3 size is very fitting — more impressive than a 2x2 or 2x3 throne, but not nearly as oversized as the 4x4 thrones that were typical in the 90s when I was growing up.

The aforementioned mech finger piece is also used to great effect as a detail element on some of the roofs, as is the minifig torso armor from last year's Ninjago "Golden Dragon" minifigs (which i didn't even recognize at first glance)! I'm also impressed with the use of 2x2 curved wedges for the little peaked roofs above the tower windows, which meet up nicely with the cheese slopes and inverted 1x2 slopes on either side. The SNOTted Medium Nougat wood slats of the blacksmith's back wall and the stacked Reddish Brown and Dark Brown plates forming the longhouse's front wall are also very impressive building techniques for this rustic sort of pre-modern architecture. This is also the first set to use part 2630 (previously used for string lights/fairy lights or climbing ropes in various themes) for a rope bridge!

I am also pleased with the little monitor roof on top of the longhouse with windows for ventilation. While fairly simple in construction, this is a very authentic representation of one way medieval buildings would vent smoke from a hearth back before chimneys and smoke hoods were popularized for domestic use (rather than just for industrial forges and kilns like the one in this set's smithy). The lifestyle video on LEGO.com confirms my suspicions about how the forge function works. It's simple but very effective, and is even set up so it resembles the bellows being squeezed rather than just pushed in and out like the bellows function in the Medieval Blacksmith (though there are some trade-offs, since these bellows are less compact and can't be removed and held by a minifig).

I definitely remain very impressed with the designers' work here! Very true to the original project, but taking advantage of opportunities to add new functions/details, improved building techniques and color blocking, and creative use of newer parts where possible. The price also seems very reasonable IMO — considerably lower even than the prices of the Medieval Blacksmith or A-Frame Cabin! Hopefully it will be a very big hit both with fans of historic themes and with new LEGO fans drawn to its unique subject matter.

Edited August 31, 2023 by Aanchir

[KristofBD]

Well, this looks great indeed! Day one buy for me. All in all these are excellent times for the historic era fans. 

[KristinnK]

I really like the minifig prints, and I love the shields. I'm not a huge fan of the build, so I almost certainly won't buy the sets, but I will definitely get the minifigs and the shields on Bricklink at some point.

[unclejeffie]

There is 1 torso from the viking ship not in the village? Think im gonna bulk buy them from PaB then for my army

[Yoggington]

On 8/31/2023 at 3:53 PM, GeoBrick said:

Nice-looking set. Will definitely go on my Wanted list. The Chief's House is a little gem, the ore-cave under the tower a welcome view of the more mundane side of Viking life.
I can already tell the tomboy miner/smith will be my favorite character in this set.
Since it appears it will be quite easy to expand the set, a dock module (boathouse with a pier or something) will be inevitable. One could dock JonassKramm's excellent Karve on it.
 

Thanks for highlighting this MOC. I built it over the weekend (in rainbow brick), and what a fabulous little ship it is.

[JohnTPT17]

Reviews are already starting to come out! It looks like it should be a fantastic set.

Brickset Review (has a comparison shot next to Eldorado Fortress)

Brick Fanatics Review (has a photo next to the Creator viking ship, at the bottom)

Jay's Brick Blog Review (has in-progress photos)

[Triceron]

The price point seems pretty good for this.  Not much of a vikings fan, but I might even consider this set down the line.

[Aanchir]

2 hours ago, JohnTPT17 said:

Reviews are already starting to come out! It looks like it should be a fantastic set.

Brickset Review (has a comparison shot next to Eldorado Fortress)

Brick Fanatics Review (has a photo next to the Creator viking ship, at the bottom)

Jay's Brick Blog Review (has in-progress photos)

Oh, lovely! Thank you for gathering these links! I'd just finished commenting on Brickset's review but it's good to jump right from that to reading these other reviews and seeing the set from some different perspectives.

A lot has been said about the horned helmets, but truth be told, it doesn't bother me too much. In general, LEGO "historic themes" tend to be based more on how their settings and subjects are perceived in the popular imagination (as informed by traditions from folklore, literature, film, etc, not just by relatively recent archaeological evidence). Same with the "shield-maidens" in this set and the Creator Viking Ship, which is even more explicitly inspired by mythology and folklore with its multiple mythological monster builds.

To me, that sort of thing is not much different from how Captain Redbeard/Roger has the Jolly Roger emblazoned on his cap and bears the pop-culture pirate's familiar trifecta of battle scars — an eyepatch, peg leg, and hook hand — despite how unlikely it'd be for a real pirate captain to sport such a multifarious array of narrative signifiers! So while I'm sure pop-culture-influenced creative liberties like this are a point of frustration for historical scholars, especially when they overshadow the realities evidenced by archaeological finds and historical primary sources, I feel like they are acceptable compromises in the context of a toy like LEGO, which is as much about imagination and storytelling as it is about accurately recreating details of the world we live in.
 

On another note, while commenting on Brickset's review I pulled up the original Viking Village project that the set was primarily based on, and was surprising to realize that the proposal in question had only called for THREE minifigures. Compared to that, the four minifigs in the final set feel like a pretty decisive improvement. Including a fourth minifigure also means the final minifig count is comparable to other rustic-looking Ideas sets like the Medieval Blacksmith and A-Frame Cabin, despite having a lower price point.

I appreciate how some of these other reviews point out ways the set pulls a few ideas from BrickHammer's later, updated proposal (which had six minifigures, but also much brighter colors and a very different layout): some particular examples that stand out to me include the coniferous trees, the hidden cave in the back, the golden ornamentation on the longhouse/great hall, the choice to include a stone staircase instead of a wooden one, and the curling plume of smoke from the smithy's chimney.

Even so, it's clear that the overall layout/composition, color scheme, and figure selection were primarily influenced by the original Viking Village proposal, which was also the one pictured in the LEGO Ideas x Target poll that led to this set getting approved for production. Hopefully if this set sells well, we might see similar contests that give second chances to other Ideas projects that were passed over in their initial review!

[grandell]

This kind of thing wouldn't usually appeal to me, but I can't help think how cute this would look with a little Toothless MOC hovering above it (from How to Train Your Dragon)

[Classic_Spaceman]

On 9/2/2023 at 3:42 AM, unclejeffie said:

There is 1 torso from the viking ship not in the village? Think im gonna bulk buy them from PaB then for my army

The dark tan torso is exclusive to the ship, along with the flat silver helmets and the ponytail-with-crown hairpiece. 
 

[hikouki]

Pre- ordered mine!

Can't wait for MOCs on RB to make a village and possible dock for the viking ship!

I'd probably have the Goatboat 'float' on top of the whole village. LOL

[Akbalder]

I've preorder it for 115€ in France.

[GeoBrick]

3 hours ago, Akbalder said:

I've preorder it for 115€ in France.

And how many VIP points did you need for the discount?

[Akbalder]

 

14 minutes ago, GeoBrick said:

And how many VIP points did you need for the discount?

I've preodered it from a french retailer. So no vip points.

[GeoBrick]

17 hours ago, Akbalder said:

 

I've preodered it from a french retailer. So no vip points.

Ah, retailers will have this set from the start too? Good to know.
Thought I might wait a bit to see if an interesting GWP comes up.

[Akbalder]

In France, there is one retailer (Fnac) which has the exclusivity (same as Target in the US). I guess that it will be like this in other countries too.

[Arjo]

Gave some thoughts to what size of boat would work best for the scale of the village (creator 3-1, marvel goatboat) and I think I have identified a better and cheaper way: going to use the hobbit laketown set technique i.e. combining two row boats. Hope this will be useful to some of you:)

[Sir Dano]

Sounds like a good excuse to put 7016 back together.

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=7016-1#T=S&O={"iconly":0}

[Arjo]

Yes you are right! I didn’t know this set but it seems to be the same building technique. In my eye probably the best scale to go with VV.

[Seaber]

18 hours ago, Arjo said:

Gave some thoughts to what size of boat would work best for the scale of the village (creator 3-1, marvel goatboat) and I think I have identified a better and cheaper way: going to use the hobbit laketown set technique i.e. combining two row boats. Hope this will be useful to some of you:)

9 hours ago, Sir Dano said:

Sounds like a good excuse to put 7016 back together.

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=7016-1#T=S&O={"iconly":0}

Shows how good that original Viking set was that there was barely any need to upgrade to the design 8 years later with the Hobbit set, and 18 years after it was initially released it's still a great looking model. 

[cosmic]

Love this set not a huge fan of the figures.  I wish they were historically accurate or at the lest did not have such obnoxious coloring. I’d like for them to all wear brown and tan shades but if you’re gonna have splashes of green or red in their clothing I wish it was better incorporated. While the set itself is lovely I gotta be honest I think most of these figures are eyesores and I plan on replacing them in the display itself.

[Follows Closely]

I love the colorful figs, but I don't strive for historical accuracy.