I have always enjoyed The Big Bang Theory show and was glad to see that this set was accepted as a LEGO Ideas set.

If you were to ask the people close to me, you will find out that I clearly identify with the character of Dr Sheldon Cooper.

So with New Zealand currently voting in the first referendum to change our flag here is my review of the LEGO The Big Bang Theory set and Fun with Flags (NZ).

Throughout the show there have been references to building with LEGO. Sheldon grew up with LEGO and often allocated specific time to building with LEGO.

In Season 5 he says, "On a night that I had originally designated for solving the space time geometry in higher spin gravity and building my LEGO death star. And why? Because your gal pals, Penny and Bernadette, went out shopping for some wedding nonsense without Amy. An action they took with no thought or regard as to how it would affect me, the future of string theory, or my LEGO fun time!"

I am sure that many Brickset members can identify with the characters of this show as they attend various Comic Con conventions or rush off to their local LEGO store.

Box/Instructions

The box is the superior LEGO Ideas type with the black cardboard. It has images of The Big Bang Theory set and explains the LEGO Ideas process.

The Ideas designers Glen Wadleigh (Glenbricker) and Dr Ellen Kooijman (Alatariel) are mentioned in the instruction book. These two have collaborated on this Ideas project together.

The set has two stickers; the fuse block in the hallway and a boxing ring poster for the closet door. The actual poster The Final Blow by Eric Joyner includes red and blue robots in the boxing ring which are missing from the LEGO sticker artwork.

Parts

There are several parts that are unique to this set and they can be seen displayed on the bookshelf.

From left to right there is a grey sphere, red superhero, a medium azur sphere, a green lantern, a silver rocket and a transparent sphere.

The azur sphere represents a Cosmic Microwave Background globe and demonstrates the remnant cosmic radiation from the Big Bang itself. This microwave light was captured by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe.

The large clear sphere is a plasma globe invented by Nikola Tesla however in the show the large clear sphere is an inflatable celestial sphere.

The rocket appeared only in season 1 and has since been replaced by a space shuttle model.

In front of the bookshelf is an alt-azimuth telescope which very similar to the telescope in Research Institute 21110.

The print on the wall represents The Incident also by Eric Joyner.

In the corner bookshelf is a red lava lamp, blue superhero and old valve radio.

Standing in front is the iconic double helix DNA model.

On the wall is a plasma sphere tile which represents Nikola Tesla in a multiple exposure picture of his "Magnifying transmitter".

There is a second whiteboard showing some formulae for multiphoton optogalvanic spectroscopy.

In the corner alcove is a desk with a laptop and desk lamp.

Minifigures

The best part of this set are the seven minifigures that represent the cast members of the show.

Dr Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) is wearing his red Flash T-shirt over a blue long sleeve shirt. He has a unique hairpiece.

Sheldon's friend who is a girl, but not his girlfriend, Dr Amy Farrah Fowler (Dr Mayim Bialik) is accurately represented wearing her green cable knitted jersey.

Mayim Bialik earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience at UCLA and so she has a real connection to the character Amy Farrah Fowler. Some of Mayim's text books are used as props in the bookshelves behind the sofa. The presence of Mayim Bialik in this show is possibly one of the reasons why this theme appeals to Ellen Kooijman.

I first saw Mayim Bialik when she played the young Bette Midler in the emotionally moving 1988 movie Beaches.

She has had an extensive TV career and was mentioned in person by Raj in season 1 when he suggests they recruit "the actress who played TV's Blossom" after he suggests that Sheldon is removed from their Physics Bowl team.

This is an eight minute interview with Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik talking about working on the show.

Both minifigures have a second expression: Sheldon's fake smile with Amy's look of frustration.

Sheldon Cooper's attempt at Pictionary is printed on the whiteboard. Here Sheldon is attempting to explain the Higgs Boson Particle. "Hydrogen atom, 'H' plus pigs minus pea, Higgs!"

The whiteboard markers are made up of Friends pink and red lipsticks however there is no blue marker despite that being the colour of the ink on the board.

Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) has his thick glasses, a hooded jacket and green recycle T-shirt. He has a smiling face on one side and a scowl on the other.

Penny (Kaley Cuoco) is wearing her regular pink shirt and long blonde hair. She has the annoyed look on the reverse side.

Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) is wearing his distinctive red shirt and black turtle neck. He has sideburns printed on his head.

His wife, Bernadette Wolowitz (nee Rostenkowski) (Melissa Rauch) is wearing her tight pink cardigan.

Howard is the real LEGO fan on the show with there being several references to his LEGO hobby. In Season 8 Bernadette discovers the extent of Howard's LEGO hobby, "Okay, but you've got a lot of receipts for the LEGO store in here."
"Those are business expenses. You can write those off."
"A $200 R2-D2 is a business expense?"

I can clearly empathise with Howard in this conversation.

On the reverse, Howard has a grimace while Bernadette is obviously angry. Maybe Bernadette has, yet again, discovered the extent Howard's LEGO purchases.

Finally there is Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) and his pet Yorkshire Terrier Cinnamon.

The building

This set is just the sitting room of Apartment 4A. This is situated on the fourth floor along with Penny's apartment, 4B. It does not include the front door.

The show is set in Pasadena, California. Pasadena City Hall can be seen from the window at the alcove, which has been seen on several episodes.

The completed model

With all the characters sitting around having Chinese takeout you can clearly see the similarities to the real show.

While Sheldon is sitting in his spot, there is no striped cushion or striped sticker representing his cushion.

The floor rug is represented quite well with the clever use of 1x1 and 1x2 tiles.

The Chinese script on the takeout boxes translates as rice but is pronounced "fun".

Overall opinion

This set will appeal to fans of The Big Bang Theory; a show that I watch whenever possible.

It is a shame that the floor plan is so limited. It would have been good to extend the room to include the front door and damaged lift. It would have been possible to include the Longhorn Game of Thrones sword by the front door and the darts board.

This set is similar to a portion of one floor of a modular building. The 10243 Parisian Restaurant had a comparable studio apartment on the first floor.

At 484 parts with a RRP of £49.99 / $59.99 / 59.99€ when compared with the Parisian Restaurant with 2469 parts and a RRP of £132.99 / $159.99 / 149.99€.

If the Parisian Restaurant was similarly priced it would sell for £255 / $306 / 306€ so this set is quite expensive for what is in the box.

As for Fun with Flags; Flags is a nickname I picked up when serving in a China Navigation Ship mv Coral Chief in 1992 and it has stuck with me ever since. Like Sheldon Cooper, I think of myself as a vexillologist.

New Zealand's first flag referendum closed on 11 December. Here is the result.

Who knows what New Zealand's national flag will be next year? The second flag referendum closes on 24 March 2016.

Set #21302 The Big Bang Theory: Here we have sitcom surrounding astrophysicists and extremely intelligent tenured professors being introduced into the world of LEGO. Fans of The Big Bang Theory will want this mostly for the Minifigures and the extremely impressive level of detail of Sheldon’s apartment. There is so much going on with this one it feels like it has the beginnings of a great Modular Apartment design just waiting to be built up around it.

It also makes for a nice film set for fans of LEGO Studios since it is so open and impressively detailed. It is quite amazing the feat of design engineering which went behind this thing. But enough repetitiveness, let’s get on with the review.

Box/Instructions

Box: Another high-end and collectible style LEGO box. Unlike most Themes the IDEAS sets always include more bang for your buck, the parts, the models, and especially the boxes and other miscellaneous elements. The front gives a great shot of the set while the back showcases some key features and all seven Minifigures. Definitely impressive.

Instructions: Like with all IDEAS sets these are top-of-the line instruction manuals. Made out of thicker stock and bound together quite impressively, loaded with information on the characters, set and builders, as well as the step-by-step build instructions that make building a set like this a breeze. You can’t go wrong with LEGO IDEAS sets, the ordinary white paper used for the booklet will reflect all smudges and fingerprints though, which is pretty much a given.

Parts

Like with most IDEAS based sets this one has a lot of great parts, there are some impressive unique torsos, a few dozen elements that stand out as good for MOC fans and even a few rare elements such as the Microfigure in solid Blue and Red colours. The plates are also well received and many folks will want to use this for a decent parts pack I suspect.

Minifigures

Amy: It is appropriate that the Librarian hair piece was chosen for Amy’s hair, the two are quite similar in design. Her legs are dual-molded featuring a medium bley with dark reddish toned feet. Her top design is a green sweater and she features a smiling expression on one side and a tighter lipped neutral expression on the other.

Bernadette: Dressed in a tight dark-pink sweater, Bernadette is also quite easy to recognize. She features dual-molded legs with printing on the top half for what I presume to be some iconic outfit she’s used on the show, it’s loaded with tiny polka-dots. She has an angry and smiling expression on her dual-sided head and the blonde hair piece I believe was also seen on Luna Lovegood in LEGO Harry Potter.

Howard: Dressed in a red button-up top Howard is easily recognisable as well. His side-burns and hair piece are suitably him and both expressions are smiles, one close-mouthed and one open-mouthed. His legs have printing on the belt and he is one of the only ones in the set to feature any printing on the legs.

Leonard: Wearing a light tan/brown jacket over a visible light green tee-shirt with the Recycle logo on it, Leonard is easily recognisable with his glasses and tooth filled smile. His secondary expression is a questioning look, perhaps wondering why Sheldon said something again.

Penny: She’s wearing a pink top on her double-sided torso, her face is also double-sided with a smile and a disgusted or disinterested/huh looking expression. Her long blonde hair has been seen before, I believe with the CMF Mermaid minifig.

Raj: Dressed in a sweater with a purple jack covering it, Raj has double-sided printing on his torso and face, with a happy and sad/nervous expression. His hair piece is familiar, I believe it’s one of the newer Anakin hair pieces done in black, though I could be wrong. He’s a very good likeness for the character from the show. He also includes the little Chihuahua animal piece, though I don’t recall him having such a pet on the show.

Sheldon: Wearing his trademark red shirt with the flash logo on it, Sheldon feature’s the least amount of printing on his torso, and dual-molded arms for the shorter sleeved look. His facial expressions include snide looking smirk and extremely pleased/giddy grin as if he’s just gotten the noble piece prize.

There are no official accessories meant to go with most of these figures, you can give them take-out containers, forks, coffee mugs, printed newspaper tiles and lipstick used for white board markers when on display. And none of these folks aside from Howard and Bernadette feature leg printing, making the characters quite useful for MOC figs to populate your LEGO City display.

The build

Bag 1: Surprisingly this is a modular build set, there are two numbered bags in the build. Our first section of the build features Amy, Bernadette and Howard and the exterior wall with the small office being worked on to start. This section of the build can get pretty repetitive, most of the time building up a wall has a tendency to do that.

Once you get started on working on the internal details for the office area with the computer desk and bookshelves you get to see just how impressive the details are in this set. I love the micro-models in this set, building bookcases and desks and the desk lamp is just oh so satisfying.

Stickers are used for some of the details where printing might have been better received, though it does mean you have the parts that use stickers plain in case you prefer to use the set as a parts pack.

Bag 2: The other four main cast members join the Minifigures with bag number two. Then you get started on fleshing out the apartment with further detailing and of course the iconic couch. More of those impressive bookshelves are built up, this time used as more display shelves for Sheldon’s collection of action figures and other assorted collectibles.

There’s also a fun telescope design similar to the Research Institute model, a white board and a loose black chair which is a real treat to build. I especially enjoyed when we made the carpet on the floor, it’s tiled and patterned quite nicely and works so well. A few jumper plates are used for the table in the middle so you can re-arrange to your hearts content.

This was just a wholly satisfying build all around, I can’t praise it enough.

The completed model

Apartment: This is the type of Ideas set that makes for good Brickfilm set pieces, the detailing alone is enough to truly impress. It captures the look and feel of Sheldon Cooper’s apartment, loaded with shelves full of display items, the well-known couch and a computer desk in the small alcove area.

A white board and black chair are included as extra items that aren’t attached to the baseplate. I could go into excruciating detail about what episode is being referenced by what, but honestly I haven’t seen every single episode and don’t automatically recognize everything from the show. That being said I just love how detailed and impressive this model was. It’s the perfect set piece for a LEGO Ideas display and fans of the show will be super impressed with this purchase.

Overall opinion

This set is not for everybody. There will be some folks who just plain don’t have any interest in it. Judging by how long it hung around after retiring I’d have to say it’s understandable, but a bit of a shame. There’s a lot of clever little builds in here for detailing out an apartment building, and the Minifigures include some unique prints that attract a lot of attention for fans and non-fans alike.

Would I recommend this set? Mostly for the fans honestly, I’m a casual fan and mostly wanted this set for the figures, but I found the apartment to be pretty fun too. Extremely more than the Research Institute, but not quite as high up there as the DeLorean, Ecto-1 or Doctor Who sets. So I’d recommend this for the fans.

As a fan of the show and LEGO, I just had to get this. It fulfilled both sets of expectations.

Box/Instructions

The LEGO Ideas boxes are great; opening on the top makes them much more reusable. The instruction book having regular binding was a nice touch, and useful for managing a larger build. It was sometimes hard to distinguish colors, particularly black/dark blue, reddish brown with dark red or medium flesh. The instructions took a lot of space to explain some things that I felt could have been expressed more compactly. However, LEGO often has those problems.

English, French and Spanish versions of the intro and outro blurbs seemed excessive and inflated the size of the booklet, but it was fine for the short quotes interspersed through the actual instructions.

Parts

A bunch of small pieces inflate the piececount, although that's useful for detail. There are a lot of rare shapes, colors and/or prints.

Minifigures

Two tone arms (Sheldon) or legs (Bernadette, Amy), and double-faced heads, are a nice touch on higher-end minis. The minis aren't perfect, particularly Howard, but they all evoke the characters. The Penny-Bernadette-Amy, and Sheldon-Leonard, groups of heads were hard to distinguish.

The build

Lipstick as markers makes sense to reuse a mold, but they wouldn't stay put in the tray.

The completed model

The model is nice and compact, but felt a little busy towards the end of the build, and it felt odd for just the whiteboard and black chair to be loose.

Overall opinion

The MSRP of $60 is high, but the set is generally on sale for a bit under $50, which seems reasonable by LEGO standards for the contents.

I am a big fan of the Big Bang Theory. I bought this set in the Natick Mall.

Box/Instructions

Good sized box, i like how it opens up. Big instruction manual, which i've always loved.

Parts

You get many good parts, such as minifigs, (see below :) the globe, only two stickers, and a lot of printed bricks.

Minifigures

We get seven minifigures all of which are awesome! They each have a new torso and face which is awesome! My favorite fig has to be Sheldon because he's my favorite from the TV show, and i love his Flash T-Shirt torso.

The build

Many things in this set were fun to build. Sheldon's green lantern, Howard's rocket, the bookcase, the telescope, the office and many more!

The completed model

The finished model is great! I set up everyone in their spot (espicially you Sheldon!) . It just doesn't have play features.

Overall opinion

This is a great set BBT fans will love this set! Now about the price. This set cost $60. WOW! That much? It's sad to say that it's true. This set should cost around 45 to 50 dollars. But it does have seven minifigures, all of which are exclusive. But mostly, this is a great set.

Reaction online to the reveal of this set varied greatly, from the joy of hard-core Big Bang Theory fans (and with viewing figures regularly breaking 20 million, there are plenty) to bemusement from those for whom the show was either not their cup of tea, or completely unknown. I place myself mostly in the former camp and, even after the high-end pricing was revealed, I still knew this was going to be a day one purchase. Having built it I can now say that my expectations ended up confounded, but not in a bad way…

Box/Instructions

The box is the usual high-quality Ideas affair, sturdier than the usual boxes and opening with a flip top secured by tape. The instructions are a single thick booklet, though could have been briefer if there were more parts placed per step. They are clear and easy to follow, as well as including a bit of background on the designers, some info on the show and characters, and various quotes scattered throughout the pages.

Parts

The parts selection in the set is average, with much of bag 1 taken up with tan bricks and plates for the walls and floor, as well as a good number of 1x4 masonry bricks. Fans of jumper plates (if such a specific group exists?) will be happy as a multitude of jumpers in both 1x2 and 2x2 are included in a variety of colours.

Apparently unique to this set are tiny minifig trophies in both red and blue (along with a spares of both) as well as a number of globe-shaped oddities. The oddest inclusion is the ‘kitchen accessories’ set, whereby you get a whole batch of cutlery, crockery and a food mixer, though only a couple of forks are actually required for the set. Still, could be useful for anyone who wants to expand the set to include the kitchen!

There is also a good scattering of printed elements, including a hifi, the much fought-over thermostat, pictures and a couple of whiteboards, one covered in scientific equations and the other in Sheldon’s protracted ‘Higgs Boson Particle’ charades clue. The great little 1x1 bricks printed to resemble a Chinese takeaway are very good and sure to become sought after on the secondary market for use elsewhere.

Minifigures

And so on to what, for some, may be the main reason for getting the set. Included are seven minifig representations of the lead characters from the show, some of which are more ‘representative’ than others. It almost goes without saying that the level of detail printed on all seven is stunning, both on torsos and legs and for me, the most accurate are Leonard and Amy who are both are instantly recognisable.

Sheldon sports a suitably smug expression and his familiar Flash t-shirt – the dual-colour arm printing works well here and is show-accurate. Bernadette and Raj are . . . OK I suppose – recognisable once you know who they are, but you wouldn’t necessarily pick them out in a line-up. Raj is accompanied by his tiny dog, Cinnamon, a dog piece which I assume has spun out the menagerie available from the Friends range.

Finally there are Howard and Penny – both are a little too generic for me, though strangely the alternative ‘angry’ face works better for the latter in my opinion. Howard does at least have his famous belt with buckle printed at the top of his legs.

The build

The build proceeds pretty much as you would expect – the large loose plates are used for the floor, strengthened by smaller plates which make up the raised alcove on the window side. With only gaps for a door in the rear and a window in the side, the two walls go up quickly and the shape of the set becomes visible. A poster sticker on the door and an air vent sticker on a 1x5 brick are both simple to apply and provide additional set detail.

The smaller detailed builds provide more interest – I like the use of jumper plates and tiles for books and how they are connected to a 1x1 with hole using a Technic half-pin. The use of a gun as the arm of a desk lamp is clever and the telescope is effective (I’ve not build #21110 Research Institute yet so have no idea how it compares). The sofa is basic but does the job with the minimum number of pieces, while the single arm chair looks basic but does the job with seemingly the maximum number of pieces! A third random chair, presumably Penny's occasionally glimpsed wooden seat, is interesting, if frustratingly unplaceable in the vignette.

The completed model

The result is, as advertised, a snapshot of the set of the Big Bang Theory, and it’s pretty good. There have had to be some understandable compromises and alterations in scale but it’s clearly recognisable. There’s also a few fan-pleasing nods to certain episodes in the series, such as Sheldon’s charades board and the Green Lantern lantern. The detail in the set is captured well, especially as reflected in the haphazard stacking and piling of books on the bookshelf and the row of display models across the top. My only complaint on the look of the finished set is that it’s a shame the DNA double helix didn’t retain the twisted tube construction of the original submission as the revised approach doesn’t work nearly as well. However, such is the impressive set detail included in the diorama that it still blends in well.

Overall opinion

This has been one of the harder sets to review and mark as, despite feeling ambivalent about a number of the individual elements (see the ratings), my overall feeling for the set is much more positive! To get my biggest negative feeling out the way first, as a build experience it wasn’t particularly satisfying for me. This isn’t much of a surprise as it’s very much a ‘set of the set’ – imagined fourth wall and all – which, when the location is something as prosaic as an apartment and is limited to just the two visible walls means that there isn’t much scope for interesting techniques. However, I knew that going in and, as someone who usually judges sets on the build techniques and playability, neither of these were a factor here. And, arguably, despite all of this its limitations actually fire the imagination, and there is plenty of scope to expand it and model the rest of the apartment.

I’ve narrowed my appreciation for the set down to two elements. Firstly, as a fan of the show I do feel a mild emotional connection with that location – the memory of funny lines or scenes that played out in that space – and it has captured that so well. The second was more unexpected, and that was the sudden interest of my distinctly non-AFOL wife in the build and her delight at the result – in fact I’d almost go as far to say that she enjoyed the building process more than me! Seeing the apartment spring up before her eyes and being able to populate it with the familiar characters seemed to engage her in a way that, as a supposedly more ‘experienced’ builder, I have either forgotten or suppressed.

So in conclusion, this set definitely isn’t for the non-fan – without the attachment to the show and it’s characters, there isn’t really anything of interest in the build or the finished result. However, for the many who do love the show it’s a definite success and, though parts of it may not have appealed to my more ‘traditional’ AFOL criteria for a Lego set, in the end that actually turned out not to matter in the slightest. For fans of the Big Bang Theory, this set delivers in spades.