Continuing on from last weeks review of the LNY Traditions set, our next set to review is the 80109 Lunar New Year Ice Festival. This a a much bigger set than 80108, and consists of 13 bags altogether. But it only has one instruction booklet which has 323 pages.
It took me under 3 hours to build this set. Like a few LNY previously released, this set is based on a particular type of scenery. I believe this set is referencing the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, which is held in Harbin, the northern city of China, every January. But as it is in mini scale we get a nice ice-skating park here, which must be how the northern part of China celebrates their LNY.
I absolutely love this build! It represents winter scene beautifully, with the use of SNOT (Studs Not On Top) techniques and the introduction of new elements such of the 5×6 panel in frosted trans-white (or whatever name you will call it!). I can tell already it will make those winter village MOCers scream with joy to have these on their frozen lakes! I will be quite ready to apply this technique in my next garden with a fish pond, a major upgrade from my old one.
Now we take a look at the set. It is made up of an ice-skating park with a skate rental shop and two ice sculptures, the ice penguin (which is new element!) and an ice gate in the centre.
The top part of the gate actually shows the Chinese character for “Spring”, which I found it very clever and pretty. And there is so much going on on the ice rinks to keep everyone entertained. This set even comes with a roasted sweet potatoes cart to keep everyone warm. And look at the new Tiger costume guy, I’m always excited to see what the Chinese Zodiac character looks like when a new set comes out. So far we have already got 4 animals.
I like the playability of this set, as well as the fact that you can swap out the LNY decorations and turn it into Xmas Winter Wonderland if you are keen. With a whopping 13 Minifigures it surely keeps the festival busy. I have also placed the set side by side with set 80107 Spring Lantern Festival to show you how big the set actually is.
Oh, and the absolute best part about set 80109, there are NO STICKERS !
Words by Amy Lau
Photos by Amy Lau
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