LEGO Orient Express Review
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- čas přidán 27. 11. 2023
- This is my review of the LEGO Ideas 21344 Orient Express.
Another project that changed quite dramatically when compared to the original LEGO Ideas submission, but that's not my biggest concern though, LEGO Quality control on this was underwhelming. Do LEGO Train fans have reasons to be happy?
LEGO sets in this video:
Orient Express ❯ bit.ly/3MPthfc
Natural History Museum ❯ bit.ly/475moi1
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Thank you LEGO for sending this set for review. Views and opinions are my own.
#lego - Zábava
*LEGO sets in this video:*
Orient Express ❯ bit.ly/3MPthfc
Natural History Museum ❯ bit.ly/475moi1
Both available December 1st!
The one thing that I find really upsetting is how LEGO did support motorizing the Crocodile, yet, did not look for a way to design a tender with 4 wheels that would maybe be big enough for an M - motor and the battery box for the Orient Express. I have two crocodile sets so far that I purchased before it was retired, but, I haven't built them yet, so I don't know about the complexity of doing any of these things. Even though I'm an American, I do respect and love European trains, and wanting to build them with LEGO is very alluring...
Ello
I'd hate to think that in their zest to push out product, Lego is not doing their due diligence in researching some sets' history - hence the spelling and punctuation errors in the names of the cities. Also, the printing 'errors' are inexcusable at this point in Lego's history. Another splendid review Tiago - thanks for your honesty and integrity.
As far as I'm concerned, thank you! More to come :)
I think Lego should recall this set and release it when it’s ready. It clearly missed the quality control team! Perhaps they were on holiday!!
Or prehaps the team doesnt exist. :o)
Or directly propose that people should buy the Mould King 12025 instead.
@@gaspode8 lego quality control is mostly looking at the price and making sure they are squeezing everything out of oyou
tiago you are one the only lego LAN members who I feel is appropriately critical of lego for things they should be getting right for their premium, expensive products. Appreciate you
He was transparent and honest in this video. Not as much in the Gringotts review. I think peer pressure plays a part as he hung out with the designer of Gringotts before his review.
@@seancarr1595 He's also a clear fan of the HP series. At least he has said as much. People tend to let some stuff slide when they also like the IP of the set.
@@seancarr1595 What is wrong with Gringotts review?
@@Dakeyras83
U got all of diagon alley for.the same price and nearly everything was done with stickers
This goes to show how good the emerald night set really was 14 years ago!!
As I said somewhere else:
Lego Emerald Night: Great loco, meh car
Lego Orient Express: Meh loco, great cars
I'd like to see how the trains would look if we swap the locos together
They honestly should just re-release The Emerald Night again.
@@HNBGamer it would be great if it was a moc with green instead. Plus at least that train is actually powered
It just shows how bad the current sets are tbh
its still my fav set! i've rebuilt all the lego train sets using the emerald night template lol like the hogwarts express etc. i just used 2 sets for the pieces
It's worth noting that Mould King has released a vastly more impressive looking Orient Express set with steam and RC. The locomotive is much closer to the Lego fan design and far, far bigger than what you get in the Lego set.
Not to mention close to 100$ cheaper
True. Lego's high pricing looks worse and worse with all the increased high-quality competition out there now. @@ace_trace_2237
Your unbiased, honest and detailed reviews, nitpicks and all are what I appreicate most of all about your channel. As for the lego set it self the lack of quality control is very concerning, I hope this doesn't become a pattern, tbh the price alone is almost stomach-able if those issues where not present.
As far as I'm concerned, thank you :) Means a lot!
Quality is my biggest concern too. 30 years ago there were never any visible injection mold gate marks, now they are everywhere, especially on smaller pieces. And those track pieces bending up like that is inexcusable. Wonky prints are also really weird with all the decades of experience they have of doing this stuff. Spelling mistakes should also be easy to avoid.
I wish Lego would switch focus from growing to improving instead, they are already big enough. If they keep growing and growing eventually they are going to run out of market to grow into and the entire thing will crash. I'd hate to see that.
I genuinely appreciate the honesty shown in this review.
It really feels like Lego didn't really try when making this engine, from a distance sure it looks nice but the imperfections that are on the model up close are just incredibly hard to overlook.
Certainly made to a price point, sad to hear of the multiple faults going on here. Someone did not do their homework when checking the final draft. Yes the 'standard' Locomotive is very boring and it's a huge missed opportunity by LEGO to serve up something that's not very special.
Man the original design of the locomotive was absolutely beautiful. 😭
@VeraBrightfeatherexactly what i was thinking, it looks too toyish
@VeraBrightfeather i get you man, a moc would look way better, especially if you grew up around them
You can get that from mould king for under 200 bucks...
What original design?
Sad thing is on the main webpage of the Orient Express, it clearly shows the correct spellings of those places. I mean, it took me literally 1 minute to check that. Shocking mistake by LEGO tbh.
LEGO needs to release a dedicated trains theme
Yeah like trains are one of the most popular type of knock off Lego. It seems odd to me that they haven't attempted a My Own Train type deal again, but I'm hoping that this set is the turning point for Lego. The used prices of non-city trains just goes to show how strong the market is for trains. It'd be so sick if they at least started with freight trains, being able to pick between a couple locomotives and like 4 types of cars. That would do so freaking well especially cuz it means that there's always sets for train fans to buy over time. It'd be way easier for me to start with a locotmoive and then every month buy a new car vs dropping $300+ on just starting
Excellent review! Keep them coming.
Considering Lego's motto is "Only the best is good enough", I'm saddened to see so many print errors. The bent track pieces are also bad. You would think Belmond Trains (the IP holders of Orient Express) would have discovered these issues prior to production; especially with the sheer number of changes from the original Lego Ideas submission.
Although I would have loved to have this set, this reeks of a lack of polish. It actually makes me wonder if Lego even has proper systems in place to catch such errors.
@@leonro well, after LEGO Technic 42125 I think the answer is "no"
Considering that the Mould King 12025 is the way better set concerning design, brick quality and features, this Lego “motto” is a joke which makes me laugh really hard.
Lego really needs to step up on their quality control, there are way too many issues for such an expensive brand right now.
Eaven cheap China variants had less
I have stopped supporting the Lego company, i only stick with used vintage sets, it's just not clicking anymore for me, Lego really started to lose their appeal to me with these over abundance on huge super expensive adult sets, This obsession with large scale and detail has ruined much of their product lines and i'm certainly not the only one in this position.
The original model looked so much better. Changing the model to fit on Lego tracks was not worth the change of design. Especially since it can't even be motorized.
Officially yes, but fans have already come up with solutions and succeeded in motorising it.
For a set of this price, you expect solid level of quality control. The track problems and the printing curves are pretty shocking to be honest. It's a real shame, as it could have been an amazing set. No motorising option is a huge miss as well for a train.
Lego is More focused on sueing Little alternative Lego shops.
Three Shops alone in austria/ germany are now in process of closing because of Lego.
Why would the Orient Express IP holders prefer this city train like locomotive over the super nicely designed Idea's one? Crazy decision.
Because the Orient Express isn't about any single locomotive, it's about the luxury experience of the cabins.
@@KosmicK , they got their luxury cabins ... why change the locomotive though? This looks absolutely nothing linke the original that the people voted for.
Super sharp eyes. Outstanding review. The bended rail track is pretty much visible, but misspelled cities names and the misaligned printing were very difficult to notice! However, I loved the interior details, I liked the design decisions to keep the train 8 studs wide. Thank you, Tiago!
Hah! The recoloured minion heads are brilliant ☺️
The one thing I loved about this set!
The ONLY thing I love about this set.
As an Australian I just wanted to say thank you for putting the Australia price in your Lego reviews as you are on of the only people I know of that does this and keep up the great work
Of all sets to have multiple small details wrong, Lego chose the one set sold to train guys, famous for their attention to detail!
Indeed, I wonder if they will quietly issue a -2 version with these details fixed (or just provide a sticker sheet).
Tiago, I want to say that the writing of Bucharest is so wrong on the train carriages, it is actually called “București” not “Bucarești” as it is written down and I think is a big mistake for LEGO… it is also actually my hometown as well
Oh, a typo. Such a huge mistake, it's the end of the world.
@@SourChicken1856300€ btw
Thanks for pointing this out, getting the spelling of places correct is important.
I know! Made sure to mention it in the video :)
@@SourChicken1856 imagine paying 300 bucks for a product with multiple errors and quality control mistakes
This review is OUTSTANDING. You picked up on lots of interesting and upsetting things that many other casual reviewers missed. You're my favourite LEGO reviewer by far.
As someone vaguely into trains, not into Lego trains, and a fan of the Agatha Christie book, I really like this set for the interior details and figs, and external consistency. The price is a bit steep though, and it would be hard to display, leaving me on the fence.
Ex train driver here, just want to point out though that real rail joints are often not very smooth (you can often feel and hear them when running over them) so the ends of the rail pieces not matching perfectly is actually kinda authentic, even though that might not have been the intention and rather the result of bad QC in this case…
Also happy to see the tail light on there, definitely a plus for me that the designers paid attention to railway safety.
Anyway, I’m not a train buff and definitely not an expert on the orient express or old steam locomotives so can’t really say anything about the authenticity of the train and locomotive but it looks nice to me though I can definitely understand a lot of people are disappointed they didn’t get something closer to the original ideas submission. And the misspellings on the printed bricks with the destinations is just awful :s
I see this inevitably having some kind of discount. I just don't see people wanting to dish out $300 for all of the changes/quality control issues...
Tiago you're the most trusted voice in Lego, thanks for another brilliant review! I hadn't seen the fan submission and I'm gutted it didn't make the final design.
Your videos are only increasing in quality! Well researched, sharp eyed and unbiased!
Errors aside, I love the look of this model. But the price would really feel a lot better around $230.
Agreed!
Looks like Duplo to me
230 is still way too much. Get the Mould King 12025 Orient Express and see what quality you get for less than 200.
I know why the wheels get stuck! It's because the connecting rod can rotate a little too much when the wheels are in the fully forward or fully backward position, causing over-rotation in the front wheel and under-rotation in the rear wheel or vice versa, causing the rod to kinda misalign and jam the wheels. This only jams them for a second, but it's really annoying. I can't remember how I fixed the issue, but I know there's a way to fix it.
Yeah you’re totally right; I have the Emerald Night set and it has the same issue, I honestly don’t know what they could do to fix it lol. Not too big of a deal tho imo, both still look really nice
Rubber bands are used on the Emerald Night. Should work great with them!
The connecting rod journals should be offset by 90 Deg left/right - I do not know what's in instructions, but people often assume it's 180, since it looks balanced, but leads to exactly this issue
@@Papinak2 I genuinely believe this is the most underrated/overlooked bit of steam locomotive trivia. And the only reason this is not news for me is James May's video on repairing a vintage model train locomotive, where he mentions this exact issue.
@@Papinak2 That's exactly how I solved it! Thanks for reminding me.
Thank you for pointing out the grammar errors!
As a Romanian, I was so disappointed to see how they messed up the translation for Bucharest...
Definitely a distinct disappointment. I am not a LEGO trains fan anyway, but it is a lot of money for a whole bunch of significant, arguably disrespectful to certain places, errors. I understand that the Orient Express is being relaunched soon as a real train and am not shocked that the stakeholders didn’t want any hint of this being a reference to the book and wanted to focus on how luxurious an experience the train would be to ride. It feels like we are being sold a very expensive advert for a real train and I am very sad for LEGO Train fans getting a lack lustre, non-motorised set.
Thanks for this review. I've seen a few people review this already but you pointed out HEAPS of stuff I'd never heard before. The quality control issues are a concern considering how much testing these go through.
Great review. Appreciate the candour and calling out QA when it’s needed, especially on a premium set. 🙏
Thank you Tiago for your reviews!!! I still miss the time where tracks were electrified and trains did't need battery packs hidden somewhere, keeping all the freedom for the build and the play features, or the possibility to place more than one motor for longer/heavier trains. Overall I like how this set looks, I love 8 bricks wide trains in general, interiors are great and there are lots of cool pieces that ca be used for new trains creations.
I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that QA actually did their job, and it was some decision maker who ignored the issues. That's what happens in games QA at least.
With games and other commercial software, the problem is that often times it is either not worth it to fix an issue if it a small amount of users will notice it, or if fixing it will break more serious features of the software (as is often the case). And given how many people are coding one single software nowadays, a lot of mistakes will slip in due to miscommunication and uneven levels of skill. Not to mention that once the software is sold, there is not a lot of incentive to fix it for customers who will not pay anymore.
It is only a few instances where software reliability is paramount, such space equipment (which is very inaccessible after deployment) and bank systems (errors could lead to major losses). If we're talking about a game, a lot of phone apps, or any common OS, any issue that does not often pop up and can be fixed with a reboot does not need fixing. However, commodity software like games will be particularly egregious when it comes to coding errors.
This is like watching Murder on the Orient Express and making 90 minutes just watching a train ride and then Poirot witnesses the murder before the credits roll.
Thank you for your honesty! I really was wondering whether or not to purchase this or the history museum, and you've given me some good points to think about
This feels like a very underwhelming set, overall. The quality control issues that you found are also very concerning. How do those things get missed??? I could understand the printing and the track issues as maybe mechanical with the machines, but the spelling of the cities? like.. c'mon. That's just really bad QC. Great video. Keep it up!
Not gonna lie, the bending train tracks is a big skip for me, you even see it at a distant, ruins the display value for me.
I can confirm the writing of the cities is not in the native language. Sofia is located in Bulgaria and this is the anglicized name, the native spelling would be - София.
Hey Tiago mate. Great review on this set and I’m glad you didn’t hold any punches regarding the printed parts and the names and the wheels and track. A good honest review mate thanks
I heard online too that some of the sticker sheets were completely misprinted and they need to be requested by the owner of the set to get a new one from LEGO so that’s disappointing for some who buy first day
I love how you can easily spot which reviewer got the from LEGO train for free, as those free kits actually contain the correct golden shiny sticker sheet instead of the "plain" misprinted one included in sales models.😆
idk why they didn't just use the emerald night train engine. that's my fav engine so far, not these tiny shrunken engines. and it's not super elaborate to build either...i do like the 2 train cars though instead of one
LEGO have seriously dropped the ball with this set in so many areas! The Quality control and price are particuarly insulting!
Honestly, you are the master of LEGO reviews, lol. And you being a LAN member, I appreciate your honest reviews! I trust you, given your experience.
You didn't mention that the "writer" minifigure is Pippin Reed from the Adventures lego theme! The luggage with the amber mosquito was probably hers and she took it from her adventures on the Dino Island.
The locomotive's wheels get stuck because of the lack of traction. Shame LEGO left out the traction tyres on the driver wheels.
Looks like LEGO really rushed this one out, so many flaws. Unacceptable for a 300$ set! Hopefully the printed city names will be fixed.
Emerald night looked so much better. Honestly, even The Lone Ranger train from that era looked better.
While I definitely like the Emerald night as a locomotive this locomotive looks fine even has some nice details, and yet clearly the rolling stock is the clear focus really, way more detailed and impressive than the single carriage that comes with an Emerald Night and you get two of them!
Does seem like the locomotive is a bit on the small side for an 'orient express' train, though so many locomotives have been used and some of them are clearly smaller still. Also only so Large a Lego set can practically be and this I'd suggest is already pushing it - for any of the AFOL that just wanted a good display model its so darn long it would be hard to find a space for it, and for those that want to get it running on their railway, well they will want at least two sets worth to have enough carriage to look plausible... So this smaller loco is probably a good idea with how large the carriages seem to be. (Plus most Lego Train nutters will already have at least one Emerald Night - just switch the locomotives around if you have the space)
The connecting rods need to be offset by 90 degrees compared to the other side to run smoothly I don’t know if you have done this but it may help. Lego should have included some rubber bands to put on the driver wheels for better traction.
You mean 90 degrees. 45 is not possible with cross axles.
I've done that! Followed the instructions very meticulously
@@R0Sch88 my bad
@@TiagoCatarino I guess the only other option is rubber bands, or make sure that the wheels aren’t pressed together too tightly for them to roll smoothly make sure that you can move them side to side a little bit.
@@TiagoCatarino - There is a forum post on eurobricks with an instruction on how to fix this issue for the Emerald Night. I wonder if a similar fix would help here (first result on google for me if you search "lego emerald night issue fix").
Lego Marketing: Chinese are eating out our market share!
Lego Management: Quickly, lower our production standards to match theirs!
If im the fan designer and Lego change my design so much, i would of decline the offer to make the set with their changes ngl lol Original is so much better. I rather have a BEAUTIFUL engine and 1 passenger car. But nonetheless, the passenger cars in this set is pretty beautiful tbh.
Beautiful set and will be happy to get this!
The bucket element used for the smokestack has been around since at least the 2011 pet shop modular.
Thanks for the advice about waiting for a possible later discount. Perhaps in the meantime, TLG might also fix some of those quality control issues.
I do want this set (eventually) but it sounds like one to hold off from purchasing for the time being.
I think this looks really great!! My favorite is the interiors.
makes me appreciate my 90s passenger train set even more. It uses magnets for attachment ferchrissakes! Will just buy the cargo set from the 90s I've been dreaming about with the cranes
I’m English and Lego doing such a shoddy job used to be unheard-of. This is a travesty of a disappointment and I hope they rectify this because Lego should be a gold standard worldwide, always
Edit: No more stickers, Lego. Only correct and exact printed bricks from now on. Please!
So far the most positive review of the set on YT 😀Huge downside to me is that the rails are very weak and it is risky to lift the rails with train on them.
I don’t understand the need to point out that the engine ‘throughout the years changed many times’. It’s such a stupid excuse. People voted for a French Pacific 231 and instead got a typical 2-6-0. It’s like if we voted for the Old 17th century London Bridge and instead got today’s brutalist London Bridge.
Yeah. This is a completely valid complaint.
To fix the wheel locking problem, check their position. They should be offset rather than matching each other on both sides. For example, if the technic holes on the right side wheels are facing down, then the ones on the left should be facing towards the front or back of the locomotive. Hope this helps!
Thaks for being so honest.
I think I'm gonna wait for some discount on this one, because I really like the dessing on this one.
But the price and the number of quality fails... (even the stickers in some cases...)
I wish maybe I can buy a corrected version if I wait enought 🤞
Lego’s quality control has dropped off in recent years. i just build the lego concord. a number of white pieces aren’t the same tone. some are a warm off white while others have a more cool tone
2540 pieces... 300€...
An overpriced display set and lego still gives us stickers.
I'm only half way through this video and I can already say this is a real embrassement for Lego...
So glad that this set fits with the other Lego Trains set... maybe you could make a video about comparing Orient with the Emerald Night
"Only the best will do " hasn't really been applicable for LEGO for quite a while now.
I noticed the bent rails in a bunch of other reviews. You didn't bring it up in your review, but I know a few others had misprinted sticker sheets (the sheet with the stickers for the train name, train number, and door stickers were flame yellowish orange instead of a metallic gold). A huge number of mistakes for such an expensive set! I've been waiting for this set for a year now, and it's so sad to see the changes (mostly the style of engine, the train cars are nice), not being easily motorized, and so many quality issues. I'm also a bit concerned that if this set doesn't do well, they won't approve the Ideas Union Pacific Big Boy that's currently in review. Hopefully they won't need or have to change that one too much.
Great review. Thank you!
I am shocked at the quality control issues! The curved track pieces are very noticeable, and the curved gold prints, and I also noticed that several of the gold bricks in the pinstripe trim on the cars are inconsistently colored...at least on video, and then the incorrectly spelled city names. It's just so much wrong in a single set, which is very concerning to me as a LEGO fan. I DO like that they went with an all-blue look though, despite the engine being shrunk down and simplified from the original IDEAS model. I didn't like the color contrast in the original fan design, and I think you're probably right that the licensee had some input on the overall finished product.
As a display piece it really does look great on first look. But after seeing it compared to the original green, fan-based MOC, it doesn't come close. Lego could do much better. I'd love to know the logic behind making the locomotive smaller and adding a second car. The original version has so much more potential in that Lego could have created add-on sets to purchase that are different kind of cars. Like a dining car, sleeper car, luggage car, etc... Surely, Lego must know that add-on sets for a theme makes them more money. As much as we love Lego trains in our house, this one might have to be a pass. Great, honest review Tiago - thanks!
The engine change was by the train company that owns the orient express name Lego had to comply otherwise the set would have been completely cancelled all together
thanks for helpful video was debating whether to get museum or train for christmas but after seeing this i agree i think musuem is better value
I think the official looks good. I imagine the engine change is the result of cost savings, keeping it in color with the cars. No idea why the design change though.
I think the change to a much smaller engine, rather than a color change, was to allow for an additional car instead. Since the orient express is the passenger service, not the engine, the brand deal had it make sense to focus more on the cars. I can fully understand those changes, but I can also understand that a hardcore train-fan would think the final engine model looks absolutely silly and toy-ish.
It's because the company that owns orient express got involved. People tend to forget this information that since this ideas set became a licensed set the company that owns the orient express branding wanted to change the design to fit the 2024 revival of the 140+ year old train and they had 1 particular engine in mind to be used instead of what the designer for the submission had submitted. The engine itself you see here has a real life counterpart in the orient express's line of engines for the coaches and when Lego group went to the headquarters of the orient express the train was actually in use at the time so they could not get a up close on hands look at the engine at that time but were able to visit their archives that lists and showed every single engine that has pulled or currently pulls the orient express's coaches and had to use the current engine's design and the color was picked because orient express wanted the entire thing in the colors of the coaches as seen in the 1920s and 1930s which is exactly as seen here where it was blue with gold trimmings and the names of the places it goes to. If anyone should blame anyone they should blame the company that owns orient express as they are the ones who went heavy on what they wanted the set to be like. They took a ideas submission and turned it into a licensed set.
A fantastic review, as always Tiago. Your honesty is a major credit and draw if the channel. Its disappointing to see the moulding issue on the rail and the spelling errors
Thanks for pointing out the minion-shaped dome. I can't unsee it now.
$300 for a push train…that the LEGO design masters couldn’t figure out how to motorize. That’s a lot of money for Duplo.
Appreciate the honesty! 🤘
Thanks for making this review, Tiago. Not a train guy at all myself either, but even I can tell how inaccurate and toylike this model looks compared to something like the Emerald Knight, a set from 14 years ago.
The bending rails are really bad QC from Lego. As a permium product, this is not acceptable.
I just can’t get over how the locomotive looks like a kids toy and not a serious train
The locomotive of the Emerald Night together with these two wagons is much and much better, especially since the Orient Express should have a dark green locomotive
The engine is more less a remodeled Harry Potter train...
Just looks like a blue hogwarts express to me…
the "voiture Lee" got me x)
The set is amazing, just not something I would buy though, the only things that caught my eye was the carriages and rods.
As a train fan and likes to make train models , this is a good set to harvest parts from.
You can probably order the parts individually online for a fraction of the price
Nice review 😊 Thanks! 😊 I don't think I will buy this set because there is no Hercules Poirot figure in it. Do you know which pieces I need to buy to make a Poirot figure? thank you in advance! greetings from Belgium
It's cool but I don't have any connection to it even though I love trains. Of all the flaws, the split in the tracks is pretty bad. I saw that issue in another review as well. Also the tracks are really flimsy. I've bought other brands of building sets and they never have stickers and their prices are very good. I'm still puzzled how Lego still can't get away from stickers. It cheapens the image of Lego by still using them. Their quality control is slipping and it's concerning.
I admire your honesty, Lego should step up their game with the quality control
I wonder if they rushed it out so the IP owners could have it as a Holiday release in their gift shop. That's the best explanation I can think of for the lack of quality control.
If anything, this video got me interested in the Backgammon set, as I've been playing a lot of it on Switch. No way I'm paying that price for it though. I don't know or care who Hector Saxe is, I'm not paying $550 for a roll up travel version of the game. That's absolutely insane!
This Ideas batch has been interesting. I remember 4 sets were approved, and 3 have been released, with the Polaroid Camera being the only one left. It was a good mix of themes and price points after previous releases becoming way to expensive for the average customer.
The mispelled names is strange... How did NO ONE notice it?
The Tracks! The Tracks look horribly bent.
I appreciate your reviews greatly. Honest and thorough. Sad about the engine, but with a few silly stickers it could be re-imagined as Thomas the Tank Engine.
Some CZcamsrs showed already: you can motorise it!
Nice cars for the emerald express, the loco can go to my kids 😂
This, somewhat distantly reminds me of the liebherr lr13000 set. A great, interesting model on its own, but almost entirely a miss from what it was supposed to be.
You've done an amazing job. We hope to see more from you.
More to come!
I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they changed it specifically for being too similar to the emerald knight set. That said, having seen it in person, I really like the size of it, even if I wish the engine was a bit longer and a little less generic. But I do think the matching blue color makes it a really nice display piece. This is honestly what the Hogwarts express set should have been in my opinion.
What would you suggest getting this or the modular museum
As someone that loves trains, and was one of the ones that voted on this LEGO idea set. I am very disappointed with the outcome of it. Blue is one of my favorite colors so I am not to upset with that, but they could have at least kept the same design of the original design for the steam locomotive, and not have made so many other mistakes in this design.
The original design was a better display set (i.e. more elegant and aesthetically pleasing, particularly with the locomotive), but I may be a rare individual who ultimately prefers the final set, quality control issues notwithstanding. Although it would have been ideal if it were motorised, this strikes me as a happy medium between a display model *and* a playset with a lot of storytelling potential for arranging minifigs in the passenger carriages, and for placing on standard Lego railtracks. And perhaps it's a good thing it doesn't come with a motor, from an affordability perspective (especially in view of how many Lego fans are already exploring how to make it work with a motor, via their own existing train motor pieces).