52 must-own large Lego sets to buy
Let’s have a block party, with dozens of superb Lego sets that’ll keep any fan of plastic bricks occupied for weeks
While there’s no shortage of top consoles out there to demand hours of your time, it’s great to know Lego is still going strong. As everyone from kids to AFOLs knows, Lego is only limited by your imagination. And Lego’s designers have big imaginations if the size of many current sets is anything to go by.
This update to our long-standing guide of the best large Lego sets adds 25 new corkers. Many sets are flagships. Each of them has 1000 pieces or more and is available to buy. All of them are of the kind you’ll immediately want in your mitts. Let’s brick on!
Brick-built cars
On hearing the word ‘Lego’, you might think of dinky oddly proportioned cars you shove a minifig inside of. Guess again. Lego’s Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole (1506 pieces, $179.99/£159.99) reimagines an icon in fine form. It has all the classic lines, a brick-built V12, and those famous scissor doors.
Taking things in a more fantastical direction, Back to the Future Time Machine (1872 pieces, $199.99/£169.99) is a scale model of Doc Brown’s souped-up De Lorean. You can mod it into the second film’s hover form, or add the hood-mounted circuit board from Part III. But don’t zoom it along at 88mph, or it’ll disappear in a blaze of timey-wimey glory.
Want something more 1960s than 1980s? Yell “Holy oversized Lego cars, Batman”. Then put together Batman: The Classic TV Series Batmobile (1822 pieces, $149.99/£129.99), while the included Batman minifig goes BOFF! and ZWAPP! at the absence of Robin. Tsk.
Lego ships and planes
Prefer water to roads? Titanic (9090 pieces, $679.99/£589.99) faithfully recreates the legendary ship. Gawp at a tiny grand staircase! Mess about with propellers to turn the piston engines! But don’t smash it into a homemade ‘iceberg’ or you’ll get that sinking feeling as dozens of parts disappear from view.
If you fancy a different boaty disaster, there’s The Endurance (3011 pieces, $269.99/£229.99). Here, you build the ship from the famous Antarctic expedition in its pre-crushed-by-ice state. You get detailed masts, sails, rigging, decks, cabins and lifeboats. There’s a wheel to operate the rudder. Alas, no penguins.
Alternatively, take to the air with Concorde (2083 pieces, $199.99/£169.99). This set lets you remake an engineering masterpiece as a huge (105cm/41in long) brick-built model with realistic tiltable nose and cramped seating. Maybe avoid swooshing it around, though, or you’ll have your very own aviation disaster.
Star Wars Lego
The Star Wars theme brought Lego back from the brink during its darkest days. It remains something of a cash generator. The most spendy and impressive set in the current range we’d recommend – because we’re not keen on ‘slice of Death Star’ – is Millennium Falcon (7541 pieces, $849.99/£734.99). This 83cm/32.5in-long monster’s jam-packed with details. You even get two sets of minifigs to pop in the cockpit.
If those pesky rebels need some bad guys to keep them in check, Jango Fett’s Firespray-Class Starship (2970 pieces, $299.99/£259.99) is, apparently, the perfect vessel for some father-and-son bounty hunting japes. Or to unleash your inner Sith, there’s TIE Interceptor (1931 pieces, $229.99/£199.99). This one has history too – the original Lego TIE Interceptor was part of the very first Ultimate Collector Series line, back in 2000.
More into stompy Siths? There’s no UCS AT-AT right now, but AT-ST Walker ($199.99/£179.99 • 1513 pieces) is a lavishly detailed take on the famous ‘chicken walker’. Don’t display it too close to any Lego Ewoks, mind. Because we all know how that ends.
If you fancy totally messing up the relative sizes of your sets, Imperial Star Destroyer (1555 pieces, $159.99/£149.99) is a detailed minifig-scale build of the imposing Empire ship. And it’s more merciful on your wallet than the retired metre-long UCS version. (Just don’t tell Vader.)
Keener on droids? Then R2-D2 (1050 pieces, $99.99/£89.99) is “the kit you’re looking for”. When complete, this 24cm/9in tall robot with rotating head and detachable third leg will tower over your Empire minifigs, making them quake with fear – all while his tiny mini-me sneaks behind their backs to steal their sandwiches.
Lego space sets
Lego’s keen interest in space predates even Star Wars, as evidenced by Space Rocket, from way back in 1964. With its 3486 more pieces than that ancient set, NASA Artemis Space Launch System (3601 pieces, $259.99/£219.99) is a rather more modern take. It should have space fans over the moon, constructing a rocket that’s part of a program to finally once take people there once again.
Another out-of-this-world set is Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (2417 pieces, $229.99/£199.99). It combines a space shuttle and 747 to give you double the fun – or the most bonkers piggyback ride you’ve ever seen. And for fans of NASA tech that’s rather further afield, try NASA Mars Rover Perseverance (1132 pieces, $99.99/£84.99), which packs in realistic functions and articulated suspension while your Lego pride and joy daydreams about its sibling on the red planet.
Microscale Lego buildings
The earliest Lego sets focussed on buildings. But today’s incarnations are considerably more elaborate than anything Lego founder Ole Kirk Christiansen and chums dreamed up.
Notre-Dame de Paris (4383 pieces, $229.99/£199.99) recreates the Paris landmark in fine style. After a devastating fire, it took five years to reconstruct this beautiful building. With a slew of 1×1 tiles, this set might take as long to put together. But when complete, you’ll have a stunning brick-built tribute to an architectural masterpiece.
Eiffel Tower (10,001 pieces, $629.99/£554.99) is quite the ‘eiffel’. When built, it’s almost 1.5m (nearly 5ft) in height. Fortunately, the model separates into four sections, to give you a fighting chance of lugging it around. No Lego set has been taller. And nor has one before – even Star Wars sets – presented this level of challenge if you decide to mix up all the grey bricks before you start. (Stuff top tip: don’t do this.)
Great Pyramid of Giza (1476 pieces, $129.99/£119.99) imagines how the structure originally appeared, with a smooth limestone finish. Lift that off and you get a scene of the pyramid under construction. Spin the model round to gawp at a cross section – and immediately realise you only get half a pyramid. (Shove it against a wall. No-one will notice.)
Lastly, Neuschwanstein Castle (3455 pieces, $279.99/£239.99) gives you an entire Bavarian castle for your desk. There are tiny interior details to explore and you can swap out the leaves if you’d prefer autumn hues over summer greenery.
Movie Lego sets
OK, maybe this one’s more a literature set, but there have been loads of Sherlock Holmes movies too. Anyway, as if there’s not already enough Lego on your shelves, Sherlock Holmes: Book Nook ($129.99/£109.99 • 1359 pieces) wants to infiltrate your books. Folded, it’s a forced-perspective glimpse of Baker Street, where you can pose Sherlock Holmes in hot pursuit of Irene Adler, while Dr Watson trips over Professor Moriarty’s ego. Or open it up to potter around a detailed diorama, packed with Easter eggs.
1999 saw the first Lego products based on movies and TV shows. The range has grown since – sometimes in a literal sense. The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell (6167 pieces, $499.99/£429.99) is the one set to rule them all. Given its size, this one may take as long to construct as the movies do to watch.
Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus rex (3145 pieces, $249.99/£219.99) is also gigantic. It apparently reasons that you’d like to piece together a dino skeleton that almost rivals the real thing. (OK, slight exaggeration, but at 105cm/41.5in long, the set almost demands you have a museum-sized space to display the thing.)
Elsewhere, Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (2193 pieces, $199.99/£169.99) is all angular buildings, weird minifigs, and a gigantic moon piece behind Spiral Hill. You could use it to make your own stop-motion sequel. Although maybe don’t, because you’d be sued by Disney lawyers. Who are probably skeletal ghouls.
This trio of Lego sets has you take to the high seas. You might have thought “yo-ho-oh-no” on having to sit through yet another Pirates of the Caribbean flick, but there’s no getting away from the magnificence of Captain Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Ship (2862 pieces, $379.99/£299.99) and its cannons that deploy with the turn of a dial.
The Goonies ($329.99/£269.99, 2912 pieces) is just as impressive. From one side, the set is a brick-built take on the exterior of the Inferno pirate ship ruins. Flip it 180 degrees and the interior is packed with enough interactive vignettes to make any child of the 1980s squee.
But just when you thought it was safe to go back in the toy shop, Jaws (1497 pieces, $149.99/£129.99) grins that “you’re gonna need a bigger shelf”. This set includes the boat and the shark. It also offers a new and unique line in horror. When the top half of the shark is placed in the diorama, its bottom half is left behind on a stand. Scream! Etc!
TV show Lego sets
Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise (3600 pieces, $399.99/£349.99) invites Trekkies to beam up all their cash to Lego. In return, they get a superb brick-built Enterprise that rivals anything Lego’s made for a certain other series with ‘Star’ in the title. You get nine crew members and can separate the shuttlebay to swoosh it around. Just avoid re-enacting a Borg attack, or the only thing you’ll be engaging is your ability to clean up a massive pile of grey pieces.
The Simpsons: Krusty Burger (1635 pieces, $209.99/£179.99) fortunately doesn’t come with 700 Krusty burgers, because that would be a desperately dull build. Instead, you get a lovingly grubby fast-food joint you’d be ‘brave’ to frequent, complete with kitchen, dining area, and a lack of toilet paper in the restroom.
Transformers Soundwave (1505 pieces, $189.99/£159.99) brings the Decepticons into the Lego universe, after the triumph of Lego Optimus (and whatever Lego Bumblebee was). For our money: Soundwave superior! Two of his minions are present and correct, and if you prod Soundwave’s ‘play’ button, he’ll emit some of his memorably robotic phrases and – in rather more unlikely fashion – a sting from the original 1980s cartoon.
Video game Lego sets
Lego’s attempt to assimilate video games recreates one of the most famous of them all. Pac-Man Arcade (2651 pieces, $269.99/£229.99) channels the spirit of the arcade machine rather than being a slavish recreation. But it retains plenty of character. Turn the crank to drive a simulation of sprites roaming the maze – and spin brick-built takes on Pac-Man, Blinky and Clyde when they’re attached.
Turns out that Nintendo and Lego are a mightier pair than any plumbers.
Great Deku Tree 2-in-1 (2500 pieces, $299.99/£259.99) finally confirms Nintendo isn’t entirely against minifigs. (*cough*Super Mario CMF series*cough*). The titular tree’s the main feature, though. It can be built in its Breath of the Wild or Ocarina of Time incarnations. And there are plenty of smaller details for Zelda fans too – just as well, given that this set costs as much as a Switch.
Super Mario World: Mario & Yoshi (1215 pieces, $129.99/£114.99) harks back to the character’s origins on the SNES, giving you a huge pixel-art Mario riding a similarly huge pixel-art Yoshi. And Mario Kart – Mario & Standard Kart (1972 pieces, $169.99/£149.99) is a giant-sized and decidedly more modern take on the moustachioed hero and his fancy go-kart. “Let’s-a go – to the Lego store to buy more Lego” is probably his new catchphrase.
Lego sets for minifigs
Everything changed for Lego in 1978 when the minifig rocked up. Sets were suddenly built to house them, rather than merely echo real-world buildings and transport. And with larger sets come far more ambitious – and deeply weird – builds.
The Dreamzzz cartoon might be a flop, but the sets are fantastic. Who wouldn’t love the deranged mashup of giant shark, submarine, detachable mini aircraft and prison (lurking in its glowing innards) that is Nightmare Shark Submarine (1413 pieces, $149.99/£129.99)?
If you prefer your weirdness to be vaguely city-shaped, Megapolis City 5th Anniversary (2330 pieces, $189.99/£159.99) is a vibrant hodge-podge of elements that somehow hangs together really well. Ideal for Monkie Kid fans or anyone who fancies something a bit different. Similarly, Ninjago City Workshops (3244 pieces, $249.99/£219.99) ramps up the strange, pairing a chunky mech with fantastical stacked buildings. It’s modular-compatible too, although it looks a mite weird plonked next to Tudor Corner.
Dragons! Lego has dragons. And a dungeon too in Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale (3745 pieces, $359.99/£314.99). It’s the perfect spot to plonk D&D minifigs, while they figure out how to avoid being eaten by the giant red beast towering over them. And if you reckon Cinderhowl’s lonely, Ninjago’s cooked up The Guardian Dragon (1650 pieces, $149.99/£139.99), whose posable dragon has a golden halo. You’re not kidding us that you’re remotely angelic, scaly dude!
Should you not bet those D&D heroes will win the day, give them assistance by way of Medieval Horse Knight Castle (1371 pieces, $129.99/£109.99). This one channels the spirit of classic set 375 with its glorious brick-built horses. It’s a 3-in-1 too, so everyone can buy multiple copies to construct various bits of castle, while Lego uses the proceeds to build a solid gold castle of its own.
Back to reality now with a pub. Only not quite, because Lego. Tudor Corner (3266 pieces, $229.99/£199.99) lacks tiny Lego pints but does feature a restaurant and haberdashery, with a clockmaker’s above. (Far be it for us to suggest you modify the set with a proper bar…)
If you fancy something greener, try The Botanical Garden (3792 pieces, $329.99/£289.99). Heavily influenced by Kew Gardens, it brings colour to your shelves, and lets your minifigs chill among plant life. All while your Star Wars minifigs wonder why their world is so very, very grey.
Italian Riviera (3251 pieces, $299.99/£249.99) also brings splashes of colour to your Lego world. Clever building techniques pack in plenty of detail and buildings positioned at odd angles. There are plenty of minifigs going about their business too, ready to stare angrily at you whenever you reach for a jar of bolognese sauce rather than making your own.
Technic sets to challenge you
Standard Lego bricks give you a warm fuzzy nostalgic glow. But grown up model-makers might fancy something a bit more technical. That’s where Lego’s Technic line comes in. The excavator in Volvo FMX Truck & EC230 Electric Excavator (2274 pieces, $199.99/£169.99) might look dinky when compared to the gigantic Liebherr R 9800 from several years back, but it still packs in a pneumatic pump to lift and lower the scoop, while the flatbed truck has a 6-cylinder moving piston engine.
Got more of a need for speed than a need for emulating the construction industry? Ducati Panigale V4 S Motorcycle (1604 pieces, $199.99/£169.99) is the best Technic motorcycle to date, with whopping tyres, functional steering, and a fancy stand to plonk the thing on so it doesn’t fall over.
McLaren P1 (3893 pieces, $449.99/£389.99) and Ferrari SF-24 F1 Car (1361 pieces, $229.99/£199.99) are for people who prefer four wheels rather than two. The McLaren in particular gives you the impression it’s only marginally less complicated than building the real-world car it represents. Meanwhile, Lego says its F1 car comes straight “from the podium to your shelf”. Which is only about half right, given Ferrari’s recent results. Still, that red car is still the best-looking one on the entire grid.
Lego art sets
Whether you’ve got one of these sets or a dozen, someone at some point will scoff. “Toys?” they’ll say. “Really? At your age?” At which point, you can direct them towards Lego’s range of art pieces.
Vincent van Gogh – Sunflowers (2615 pieces, $199.99/£169.99) shines in Lego form, with smartly designed 3D sections. And, despite being Lego, it’s still marginally cheaper than the original. Hokusai – The Great Wave (1810 pieces, $99.99/£89.99) ambitiously attempts to recreate another famous painting in bricks, resulting in a lovely pixelated take, as seemingly depicted by an 8-bit micro.
The best art set of all, though, might be Japanese Cherry Blossom Landscape (1892 pieces, $139.99/£99.99). This shadowbox design cleverly mixes up 2D and 3D techniques. From almost 2000 pieces, you construct a Mount Fuji background, blossoms and birds, and water that reminds Stuff of the lake in IK+. The way the water spills out of the frame in 3D (and can hang or sit on a flat surface) is chef’s kiss too.
Lego display pieces
If you prefer Lego objects rather than Lego paintings, first head for Tuxedo Cat (1710 pieces, $99.99/£89.99). It can be rebuilt with different expressions, is cheaper to feed than a real cat, won’t make allergic folks sneeze, and is significantly less likely than the real thing to knock your other Lego sets off a shelf.
Also in the world of animals, Galloping Horses Canvas (1650 pieces, $109.99/£89.99) celebrates Chinese New Year with something unlike anything Lego has tried before. Crank the handle and the brick-built horses canter in front of a beautiful backdrop.
Finally, Minifigure Vending Machine (1343 pieces, $179.99/£149.99) is another unique Lego marvel. That the coin slot and handle mechanism fully work is a marvel of engineering that has made Lego geeks the world over wide-eyed with astonishment. And we’re pretty wide-eyed too, in that Lego has made a successful set about paying money to buy more Lego. How meta.
Craig Grannell
Contributor 
