Grand Carousel

This set defines how detailed and gorgeous a Lego set can be. The rich colors and attention to minute detail just make this set stand out. It's loaded with playability, staying with a nice minifig scale so you can include it in a town layout. Really, the only things I'd improve if I could would be: 1. a more rigid baseplate, 2. easier access to the cam to mute the music (perhaps sliding the flagpole on the top up and down to turn sound on and off?), 3. printed pieces. more less

There's no doubting that this is an impressive and amazing set! Who could have predicted even 5 years ago that in 2009 Lego would be producing this kind of functional, parts-intensive, aesthetically detailed model? I sincerely admire the technical ingenuity of the designers and the miracles in factory parts sorting which can bring us these kind of 3,000+ piece behemoths. It feels churlish to nitpick such a triumph of design and really, a sign of faith by Lego in the consumer power of its AFOL base. That said, this set isn't perfect and the grinding of the motor over the music of the sound chip would be a major disincentive to non-Lego carousel collectors who might otherwise be interested. more less