Review: 21107 The End
Posted by Huw,
The fourth Minecraft Micro World set, 21107 The End, was released at the start of the month without much fanfare from LEGO which was perhaps surprising given the marketing push it gave the last two, The Village and The Nether which we reviewed (here and here), back in September last year.
Consequently, the online community hasn't paid it much attention either. The Brick Blogger posted a review a couple of days ago but I've hardly found mention of it anywhere else.
So I thought I'd crack mine open, purchased in Smyths a few weeks ago for £29.99, and see for myself what it was like...
It's packed in the same sized square box as the other Minecraft sets. Once opened and the 440-parts have been tipped into trays for building, the first thing you think is 'I paid £30 for this??'
As you can see there are a lot of 1x1 parts, although to be fair that's true of all Minecraft sets, and if you have any of the others, it wouldn't come as a surprise. It certainly doesn't seem good value for money though.
The Endermen Micromob figures are constructed first. I deliberately left one of the 1x1 plates off the top off the left-hand one. (Actually I've only just noticed -- funny how that seems to happen a lot in my photos :-) )
The sinister pink eyes are printed on the side of 1x1 black plates.
The Ender dragon is neatly designed. Its body is a 'motor 1x2x2/3'. It also uses the printed 1x1 black plate for eyes.
Like other Micro World sets, the 'world' is divided into four modules which are built on 6x6 plates. The two sides facing away from the camera have 1x2 bricks with Technic axle holes at the bottom to facilitate joining them together.
The first one has a transparent aerial to suspend the dragon on.
Three of the modules have two 'Obsidian pillars bearing the regenerative Ender Crystals that are vital to the dragon's survival'. The trans-purple 1x1 round tiles are unique to this set, I believe.
Unlike the previous Micro World sets, the underworld area is pretty boring and not a lot of thought or effort has been put into it. However the top 6x6 plates do detach easily to enable them to be swapped around.
The fourth module has what is presumably a building of some sort on top.
The completed model:
Shown here with The Nether and The Forest. (I do have The Village but I haven't built it yet).
The set is not much fun to build, if I'm honest. The 1x1 plates and tiles are a nuisance to line up squarely and there are not enough parts of other sizes, particularly on the tops of the modules, to make it easier.
It has just 30-odd pieces less than The Nether shown next to it above, but it feels much less substantial, probably because the underground areas are sparse.
Overall then, I can't really recommend this set: it's poor value for money, it's not much fun to build and it is not as well designed as the other Micro World sets, mainly because the underground is barren.
But if you have the others, or you're a die-hard Minecraft fan, you'll probably buy it anyway.
I suspect this will be the last Micro World Minecraft set we'll see given that we know minifig-scale ones are on the way. So, it really is The End...
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11 comments on this article
The sparseness of the underground is due to the source material, unfortunately. In the game, you go to the End to defeat the Ender Dragon... and that's it. Unless you're mining obsidian and Endstone, there's nothing else there for you, especially not underground.
I'll get it, because I do play the game and I have the other sets... like you've said! :D
Oh, and I also want those purple tiles :P
Oh, and that grey/black structure is the portal back to the overworld (the End being a different dimension much like the Nether), and the black stud on top is the dragon's egg you get for defeating the dragon.
^ Thank you for enlightening me!
I realise the End is pretty boring anyway, but I'm sure the set could've been given a bit more variation. Endermen can scream in-game, so instead of four identical Endermen there could've been a couple of them with screaming faces, as well as a new player character.
You know, just anything to make the set more exciting. I guess the dragon's nice...
But thanks for the review, Huw!
^Well, Huw, I think they nailed The End, because both are nothing more than random blocks floating in a void. Still, disappointed with no Wither.
Those pillars are WAY out of scale. I haven't been in the End recently, but I think they should be at least 3x that size. In the game they're like skyscrapers to the player.
EPIC FAIL. I have no interest in Minecraft, displaying sets, or huge hunks of tan. The trans-purple 1x1 round tiles will doubtlessly start showing up elsewhere because LEGO doesn't like to produce one-shot colors for parts. When that inevitably happens, this set will fade out of memory...
I don't care if they got it right, it means they took the most boring source material they could.
Thanks for the review Huw!
I don't really like this set. I think the underground area could be much better and the pillars are way too small. Still I understand there must have been some design criteria and I respect the designer as some liberties had to be taken.
The most disapointing Minecraft mini-set.
The mini mobs looks bad (but that's easy thing to fix)- Dragon should use 1x2 hinges and endermen head would be better as 1*3 plates instead 2.
Pillars should be 2x2 bricks.
They could add Steve here.
^I agree about adding Steve. I would have gladly substituted one of the Endermen for him in his diamond armor.
Minecraft is a good game in my opinion, but the sets are overpriced for what you get.
I think the Minecraft sets are great. While I have played the game, I have the Xbox 360 version, so as of yet, I've never been to the END. I have been to the Nether tho.
I have the Nether set, and realized something. The END Pillars that everyone is saying are too small, are sized that way because all of the Minecraft sets can fit back into the box even when put together. So, really, all Minecraft sets are basically colorful 12x12x12 cubes.
FWIW, I really like the trans-purple pieces. I have the Dolphin Cruiser which has 1x2 bricks in the color, some sets with 1x1 cones, the Nether set which has 2 1x1 bricks, and now this END set with 1x1 round tiles (amongst other pieces that come in trans-purple). One thing I'd like to see would be an totally transparent piece set...