Hundreds of LEGO sets have debuted over the past 12 months, and there are some real stunners among them. Here are Brick Fanatics’ top 10 LEGO sets of 2023…
From the return of forgotten franchises to sets that tear up the rulebook and burn the remains, this year has been full of incredible LEGO surprises – enough to make your wallet weep, and enough that whittling them down for a top 10 has been a genuine struggle. (Hashtag first world problems.) But we’ve put heads together here at Brick Fanatics HQ long enough to come up with our definitive list, which is based on collective nominations from across the team.
Sets nominated by multiple staffers have taken higher priority – only one of these was recommended by an overwhelming majority of the team, and it’s in first place – which inevitably means that some of your personal faves might not have made the cut. But these are the sets that impressed us the most in 2023, ranked in reverse order. Let us know your best sets of the year in the comments.
This list was compiled with input from across the Brick Fanatics team.
10 – 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle
Price: £94.99 / $109.99 / €104.99 Pieces: 900 Release date: August 1, 2023 Available:
The new style of LEGO Marvel sets found in 76261 Spider-Man Final Battle and 76266 Endgame Final Battle takes the idea of a diorama and makes it far more dynamic. This works best in the former, capturing the pinnacle moment of decades of Spider-Man movies perfectly.
All three Spider-Men can sling their way around the central structure, while iconic villains are represented in some unique ways (looking at you, Sandman hand). The minifigures manage to make a clear distinction between three versions of the same hero and the innovative structure of the set makes for an eye-catching display.
9 – 71799 NINJAGO City Markets
Price: £319.99 / $369.99 / €369.99 Pieces: 6,163 Release date: June 1, 2023 Available:
The latest addition to the resurgent line of LEGO NINJAGO modular buildings doesn’t so much reinvent the wheel as slap the wheel on to a zip line, in so doing creating the most functional NINJAGO City set yet. But while 71799 NINJAGO City Markets is framed around its cable car, it doesn’t forget what makes each of these models such stand-out sets: their inspired part usage; their careful balance of what could easily be overwhelming aesthetics; and their practically unparalleled build experience.
Each of these boxes is ticked in 71799 NINJAGO City Markets, a set that can only be faulted by its mysteriously small number of market stalls. Call it 71799 NINJAGO City Cable Car and pretend it’s perfect.
8 – 75357 Ghost & Phantom II
Price: £149.99 / $159.99 / €169.99 Pieces: 1,394 Release date: September 1, 2023 Available:
For LEGO Star Wars enthusiasts, securing a copy of the 75053 The Ghost from Star Wars Rebels following its retirement was an especially expensive quest. Thankfully, the return of the team in Star Wars: Ahsoka has made those efforts a lot more affordable with the launch of 75357 Ghost & Phantom II. Bringing back the bulky vessel for the first time in nine years, this model finetunes its design with more interior space, a smaller Phantom II and refined exterior detail.
Add to that the surprising minifigure debut of Jacen Syndulla, and it’s the ultimate set for Star Wars Rebels fans in 2023 – and for us, the stand-out LEGO Star Wars set of the year.
7 – 10326 Natural History Museum
Price: £259.99 / $299.99 / €299.99 Pieces: 4,014 Release date: December 1, 2023 Available:
The second LEGO modular building to arrive on shelves in 2023 has upended the subtheme’s regular release schedule, and in doing so stolen the spotlight for this calendar year from 10312 Jazz Club. But while that entry in the series was perfectly fine, the title of this year’s best modular could only ever have belonged to 10326 Natural History Museum, which skewers every single stereotype of museums around the world across a 48-stud-wide baseplate.
From its grand external architecture to its assortment of detailed exhibits inside – hello, brick-built brachiosaurus bones – this is everything we could have hoped for from a LEGO museum.
6 – 10323 PAC-MAN Arcade
Price: £229.99 / $269.99 / €269.99 Pieces: 2,651 Release date: June 1, 2023 Available:
Tapping into a real sense of nostalgia for retro video games of a bygone era, 10323 PAC-MAN Arcade is a love letter to fans of Bandai Namco’s dot-gobbling, ghost-chomping character. Released to celebrate PAC-MAN’s 43rd anniversary, the set offers up a brick-built arcade cabinet complete with ‘working’ video game, four-way joystick, illuminating coin slot, rotatable PAC-MAN, BLINKY and CLYDE figures and a 1980s arcade scene with gaming minifigure.
The result is a model that’s a true joy to construct, serving as both the perfect homage to the classic video game and a set packed with attention to detail.
5 – 41757 Botanical Garden
Price: £74.99 / $79.99 / €84.99 Pieces: 1,072 Release date: June 1, 2023 Available:
LEGO Friends often gets a bad rap, likely down to the inclusion of mini-dolls skewing it towards a younger audience. However, 2023 has truly been the theme’s year, with several sets released catching the attention of older builders too. In particular, 41757 Botanical Garden is an impressive addition to the theme, from the top of its clear half-dome element to the colourful butterflies and plants adorning the base.
Mini-dolls aside, the delicate building is impressive enough for any brick-built city and, being a kid-friendly theme, is relatively budget-friendly enough to warrant buying two and turning it into one mega conservatory.
4 – 31208 Hokusai – The Great Wave
Price: £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 Pieces: 1,810 Release date: January 1, 2023 Available:
The LEGO Art theme may not have received the rapturous response the LEGO Group hoped for when it bowed in 2020, all mosaics and pop culture. But it’s proved something of a slow burner since, and has found greatest success when embracing its banner and focusing on actual art. 31208 Hokusai – The Great Wave is the latest example of that, recreating the legendary Japanese woodblock painting with a clever mix of 1x1 tiles and unorthodox elements (leaves, birds, and so on).
The result is something genuinely special for the entire LEGO portfolio, and easily one of the stand-out display sets of the year. Bonus points for the relatively little display space it actually commands, too: pop it on your wall and don’t even worry about your shelves.
3 – 76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank Collectors’ Edition
Price: £369.99 / $429.99 / €429.99 Pieces: 4,803 Release date: September 1, 2023 Available:
In this day and age, the LEGO Group’s ability to surprise us – on that rare occasion it does happen – shouldn’t go unnoticed. And that’s exactly why 76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank Collectors’ Edition sits so highly on our top 10 of 2023 list. This is a LEGO Harry Potter set that could easily have taken shortcuts to success, simply delivering a building that slots in alongside 75978 Diagon Alley without being particularly groundbreaking.
Instead, it’s literally broken through the ground to discover the depths of the vaults beneath the bank, resulting in a towering display piece that you wouldn’t be surprised to see on LEGO MASTERS. It’s above and beyond (or perhaps below and beyond) anything we could have expected from a LEGO Gringotts set, and makes for one of the year’s most magical display models full stop.
2 – 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell
Price: £429.99 / $499.99 / €499.99 Pieces: 6,167 Release date: March 5, 2023 Available:
For a grand return to LEGO Middle-earth, 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell is nothing short of a triumph to be celebrated. From its stunning architecture recreating the beauty of Rivendell to including the entirety of the fellowship in a single set, everything about this model sings. Even its price is justifiable given the sheer size of the set (and you can’t say that about a lot of large LEGO sets).
The design team behind 10316 The Lord of the Rings should be proud of what they have achieved in this tribute to Tolkien’s world, which realises the home of the elves with spectacular results from top to bottom and end to end. Here is one LEGO The Lord of the Rings set to rule them all…
1 – 77015 Temple of the Golden Idol
Price: £129.99 / $149.99 / €149.99 Pieces: 1,545 Release date: April 1, 2023 Available:
The LEGO Group’s recent foray into adult-targeted LEGO sets has delivered remarkable LEGO set after remarkable LEGO set, and any number of those have released over 2023. Yet the best LEGO set of the year – in spite of also having that 18+ age recommendation on the box – tops our list for the most un-adult of things.
77015 Temple of the Golden Idol ticks all the LEGO-for-grown-ups boxes just the same, it looks great on display, it’s very interesting to build, it taps into that nostalgia for the source material just perfectly. But it’s also got some of the best play features we’ve ever seen. And we’re adults. And we can’t stop playing with it.
Through some incredibly smart building techniques and ideas, 77015 Temple of the Golden Idol offers some wholly relevant and very fun hands-on mechanics that reference famous moments from the opening sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark in such a brilliant way that after building it you are left with the conclusion that there was no other possible way this could or should ever have been devised.
These play features tie into the source material effortlessly, they are expertly integrated so as not to detract from the all-round display and, even for us grown-ups, are incredibly fun to constantly turn and twizzle. The best LEGO set in 2023 shows us that the best LEGO sets can still have us playing with bricks, even at this old age.
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