LEGO's 2025 Lunar New Year (Year of the Snake) Collection: A Detailed Look at the Trotting Lantern
LEGO continues its tradition of celebrating Lunar New Year with themed sets. Following the 2021 Year of the Ox garden scene and the 2024 Year of the Dragon statue, 2025's Year of the Snake brings three new offerings. This review focuses on the most elaborate: a meticulously crafted replica of a traditional trotting lantern.
The other two sets include a Lucky Cat and a "Good Fortune" set featuring Chinese iconography.
Constructing the LEGO Trotting Lantern
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The lantern's exterior is breathtakingly detailed. Every element, from the hanging red lanterns to the intricate gold detailing and cloud-and-rock-themed walls, showcases exceptional design. The build itself is a layered process, adding details upon details, creating a sense of anticipation and rewarding the builder with a stunning final product. This layered construction evokes the joy experienced while building the now-retired LEGO Carousel.
Inspired by Han Dynasty lanterns, the model incorporates a rotating mechanism. A light brick illuminates a clear piece with a black-lined image, projecting it onto the lantern's side. Rotating a rod spins the projected image. While the set advertises wall projection, the image quality is unfortunately blurry.
The lantern's upper section opens to reveal three charming miniature scenes: a dumpling stall, a decorations stall, and a shadow puppet theater. This hidden element adds a delightful surprise. The set includes five minifigures, one in a snake costume, along with accessories like dumplings, a red envelope, a shadow puppet, and chopsticks.
The set's value depends on the buyer's priorities. While the light-up rotating mechanism is not exceptionally impressive, the aesthetic beauty and intricately detailed miniature scenes within make it a captivating Lunar New Year celebration. Despite its 9+ age rating, the complexity suggests it's more suited for older builders.
The LEGO Trotting Lantern (#80116), containing 1295 pieces, retails for $129.99 and is available at Amazon and the LEGO Store. For more LEGO reviews, explore our selections of the best LEGO sets, best Marvel LEGO sets, and most expensive LEGO sets.
