LEGO Gift Guide: The best LEGO sets I built in 2023
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With Christmas and the holiday season fast approaching, I’ve put together several gift guides filled with plenty of ideas and inspiration if you’re struggling to find a gift for yourself or any lucky LEGO-loving (or soon-to-be) friends or family members in your life.
To kick things off, I’ve put together a list of some of the best LEGO sets that we’ve personally built and reviewed on the blog in 2023. This isn’t an entirely exhaustive list as I haven’t built everything from this year, but this gets you really close to what I consider are some of the best sets of 2023!
Today is the final day of LEGO Insiders Weekend 2023, which has been extended by an extra 24 hours, which means you could score double Insider Points on all purchases, and also score a slew of GWPs.
Check out all the LEGO Insiders Weekend rewards, and some further ideas on how you can make the most of LEGO Insiders Weekend
If you’re planning on purchasing any of these sets mentioned, please consider using the affiliate links in this post. I may receive a small commission with each purchase that helps support the work I do on the blog.
LEGO Sets That Received a 5-Star Rating in a review this year
I rarely dole out 5-Star Reviews, but this year has been a particularly good one for LEGO, and these are sets that I’ve reviewed this year that I consider flawless and deliver an exceptional LEGO experience that are among the best of the best.
- 31208 Hokusai: The Great Wave – US$99.99 / AU$169.99 / £89.99 / €99.99 / CAD$139.99
- 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell – US$499.99 / AU$799.99 / £429.99 / €499.99 / CAD$669.99
- 41757 Botanical Garden – US$79.99 / AU$139.99 / £74.99 / €84,99 / CAD$99.99
- 21342 The Insect Collection – US$79.99 / AU$124.99 / £69.99 / €79.99 / CAD$99.99
- 21343 Viking Village – US$129.99 / AU$209.99 / £124.99 / €139.99 / CAD$169.99
- 75367 Venator-class Republic Attack Cruiser – US$649.99 / AU$999.99 / £559.99 / €649.99 / CAD$849.99
31208 Hokusai: The Great Wave
I never would’ve imagined awarding a LEGO Art set a perfect score, but 31208 Hokusai: The Great Wave is just that.
The LEGO set is a 3-dimensional textural wonder that translates one of the most famous Japanese woodblock prints by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai into a thing of LEGO beauty.
Read my full review of 31208 Hokusai: The Great Wave
31208 Hokusai: The Great Wave – US$99.99 / AU$169.99 / £89.99 / €99.99 / CAD$139.99
10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell
I already know what my favourite LEGO set of 2023 is and it’s undeniably 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell. This is also my favourite LEGO set of all time, so really, nothing is going to come close here.
LEGO revived the Lord of the Rings theme in 2023, given a fresh new lease of life in the LEGO Icons theme in such stunning fashion, delivering a massive slice of Rivendell that’s packed with colour, an incredible building experience and a breathtaking display model that’s the jewel of my LEGO display.
Oh, and you get the entire Fellowship of the Ring, plus a bunch of other Rivendell inhabitants like Elrond and Arwen to make this the ultimate LEGO Lord of the Rings set.
10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell – US$499.99 / AU$799.99 / £429.99 / €499.99 / CAD$669.99
Read my full review of 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell
41757 Botanical Garden
LEGO Friends underwent a stunning transformation in 2023, with a rebooted cast and somehow, an even more elevated and mature Heartlake City. The LEGO Friends team delighted fans with 41757 Botanical Garden, a gorgeous structure of white and glass panels that just oozes beauty, and one of the finest LEGO sets of 2023, thanks to its mastery of curves, symmetry and colour.
This set is also chiefly responsible for convincing many non-Friends builders to dip their toes into Heartlake City, and help people realise that LEGO Friends is one of LEGO’s most consistently delightful themes.
41757 Botanical Garden – US$79.99 / AU$139.99 / £74.99 / €84,99 / CAD$99.99
Read my full review of 41757 Botanical Garden
21342 The Insect Collection
2023 (and 2022) has been a strange year for LEGO as inflation and price increases ravaged what is already considered an expensive and premium toy. Amidst the many overpriced sets of the year emerges 21342 The Insect Collection from LEGO Ideas, delivering an immensely compelling build experience all for the low low price of US$80 / AU$125.
With three larger-than-life LEGO bugs to build, this set sets the bar really high for sets that double as fantastic display models, but also invite you to play and pose these LEGO Insects in your collection.
21342 The Insect Collection – US$79.99 / AU$124.99 / £69.99 / €79.99 / CAD$99.99
Read my full, review of 21342 The Insect Collection
21343 Viking Village
Lightning doesn’t always strike twice, but that rule seems to be bent by LEGO Ideas, which delivered the 21343 Viking Village, shortly after LEGO Insects. Boasting a price to value ratio that’s not been seen for years, this set winds back the clock and delivers a varied and cunningly detailed LEGO Viking Village that’s stunning to behold from every angle.
For those nostalgic for Fantasy sets and LEGO Vikings, this scratches a very specific itch, all for a very reasonable pricetag.
21343 Viking Village – US$129.99 / AU$209.99 / £124.99 / €139.99 / CAD$169.99
Read my full review of 21343 Viking Village
75367 Venator-class Republic Attack Cruiser
For the longest time, fans of the Prequel Era had been left in the shadows as LEGO Star Wars churned out Original Trilogy after Original Trilogy set. This time, LEGO bet big on the prequel era with 75367 Venator-class Republic Attack Cruiser, one of the biggest LEGO Star Wars sets ever which also boasted a big pricetag.
LEGO’s bet appears to have paid off. Despite the incredibly high pricetag, LEGO have not been able to keep this gargantuan UCS Venator in stock, and it’s not hard to see why. This super-sized take on the Venator-class Republic Attack Cruiser delivers pure LEGO Star Wars thrills at an awe-inspiring scale that fans can’t seem to get enough of.
75367 Venator-class Republic Attack Cruiser – US$649.99 / AU$999.99 / £559.99 / €649.99 / CAD$849.99
Read vaderfan’s full review of 75367 Venator-class Republic Attack Cruiser
LEGO Sets That Received a 4-Star Rating in a review this year
Not every set can be exceptional and tick all the right boxes at once, but here’s a list of all the sets that got a 4-star rating, which by all means, translates to a very, very good set.
- 10329 Tiny Plants
- 40649 Up-Scaled LEGO Minifigure
- 40640 LEGO Nutcracker
- 71453 Izzie and Bunchu the Bunny
- 31210 Modern Art
- 10315 Tranquil Garden
- 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle
- 43222 Disney Castle
- 10320 Eldorado Fortress
- 21341 Hocus Pocus The Sanderson Sisters’ Cottage
- 60376 Arctic Explorer Snowmobile
- 71792 Sora’s Transforming Mech Bike Racer
- 21340 Tales of the Space Age
- 43225 The Little Mermaid Royal Clamshell
- 76918 McLaren Solus GT & McLaren F1 LM
- 77013 Escape from the Lost Tomb
- 77015 Temple of the Golden Idol
- 41735 Mobile Tiny House
- 42156 Peugeot 9X8 24H LeMans Hybrid Hypercar
- 76915 Pagani Utopia
- 31140 Magical Unicorn
- 21338 A-Frame Cabin
- 76917 2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34)
- 41732 Downtown Flower and Design Stores
Hope you enjoyed this gift guide on what I consider some of the best sets of 2023 that we personally built and reviewed on the blog! I have a few more reviews that are in the queue this from this year, including some important sets that I missed that I hope I’ll get to before the year ends, so keep an eye out!
I’ll also have several more gift guides out before Christmas for more LEGO Christmas gift ideas!
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