One of the yearly LEGO® highlights continues to be low-cost polybag sets. These little tasters of various themes appear in all sorts of places, from promotions run in LEGO stores or online, at LEGOLAND stores, supermarkets and even magazines. Admittedly they aren’t always the easier things to track down but availability is getting better and some of the sets released this year, have already been revealed. I’ve found a few of the new sets from online retailer Brick-a-brac and thought I’d take a closer look at them. They include the cool Doctor Strange set. Plus Creator, LEGO City, LEGO Friends and Star Wars sets. So here’s a brief review of them.
30652: Doctor Strange’s Interdimensional Portal
The Marvel theme has gone from strength to strength thanks to the going popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Many of the recently MCU films have focused on the growing expansion of the Multiverse. Most of the films to really delve into what the Multiverse has to offer have featured Doctor Strange and his portal-creating abilities. Which is the inspiration for this cool polybag set. It features a Doctor Strange minifigure which is almost identical to the versions featured in sets 76205 and 76218, although the red detailing on his robes isn’t as visible. But the best part of the set is a portal through which a cityscape can be seen. The style of the portal matches that of the ones featured on the Sanctum Santorum set. It’s a great polybag.
30633: Skate Ramp
The polybag sets are often used to promote wider LEGO themes and this one is directly linked to one of the new LEGO Friends sets. This Skate Ramp set is directly linked to the much larger Skate Park set. It features a mini skate ramp, complete with a grind rail. There’s also a small repair bench with replacement wheels for the included skateboard. The set also includes a Liann mini-doll, she’s not the most varied dresser, with the same version of the character appearing in three other sets. She’s also joined by Popcorn the lizard, who has only appeared in two other sets. The set can also be built in a different configuration, although there don’t appear to be any instructions for this.
30638: Police Bike Training
Similar to the Friends Skate Ramp set, this LEGO City polybag is directly linked to one of the sets from the new 2023 LEGO City sets. The wacky Police Training Academy set is expanded with the Police Bike Training polybag. It features a biker Police Recruit minifigure wearing the Academy Training top, making this only the second set to feature that torso. It also features a fairly rare earth blue motorbike frame. But the main part of the polybag is a pair of bike-related obstacles. One is a series of wooden logs and the other is a tilting platform ramp. I like that it’s connected to the larger set but it also expands upon it.
30644: Vintage Car
Creator sets often have the ability to be built into additional models using the same bricks, but there are a few sets which fall under the brand which simply provide a singular model and that’s the case with this set. It’s also not really connected to any of the recent Creator 3-in-1 sets. It does provide a surprisingly great little set inspired by a regal-looking vintage car. Considering the size of the set and the limited amount of bricks its uses, it’s quite detailed. The simplicity of the set is what makes it so impressive. I especially like the small gap lift behind the driver’s cab for a suitcase to be slotted into place.
30654: X-wing Starfighter
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Star Wars Return of the Jedi and what better way to celebrate this milestone than with yet another mini X-wing? The iconic rebel starfighter has been recreated in numerous scales, but the most prolific is the scale used for this set. Amazingly, despite the X-wing being the subject of so many sets at this scale, they are each different and this new set provides yet another style of build. Of course, it uses some similar elements as previous sets but offers a different build experience. However, it would be nice if the Star Wars polybags offered something different beyond the same handful of ships and vehicles.
