LEGO Lunar New Year Traditions and Ice Festival Review

Lunar New Year Traditions is an awesome set for so many reasons. The build is split into 6 books, so it’s perfect for a fun family or group activity. First, you’ll build the hub, which is ornately decorated with panels and a gorgeous top with Hanzi that translates to “Family Reunion” and “Welcoming Chinese New Year.” Next, you’ll build 6 modular segments, with rounded edges and mini-scenes all portraying a traditional Lunar New Year activity, such as deep cleaning, or exchanging red money envelopes (more commonly known as hongbao.) Each segment is packed with tons of detail; one segment could be a respectable set all its own, and you get 6 of them! The coolest minifig has to be Caishen, the god of wealth. Prepare yourself for lots of stickers! Although they look great once applied, it’ll take a lot of concentration to apply them perfectly. You can either arrange the segments in a circle, stacked on top of each other, or in a tiered triangle. Although the triangle and stacks look really great, the circle orientation has the most secure connections.

Next up we have Lunar New Year Ice Festival. This is one big scenic set with a whopping 13 minifigures! With the abundance of characters, you can set up all kinds of scenes in this frozen wonderland. The pond panels have a lovely iridescence. In this set you’ll find a beautiful ice sculpture, skate rental facility, a smaller ice carving area, a kid’s penguin sled and a reversible photo booth. The contours of the snow and terrain are very organic and irregularly shaped, you can almost forget this is made from LEGOs! There are no studs on the ice, which is better for aesthetics, but it makes it more tricky to pose minifigs. Just as well, some minifigs have skating blades on their feet anyway! You’ll have some stickers here too, but not as many as with Lunar New Year Traditions.