Just a heads up, you can get triple (3x) Insider Points on two sets from my Top 10 list! LR Defender: bit.ly/47sS3de & Tranquil Garden: bit.ly/47MbZHW

Rivendell is the best set of 2023. And for us LOTR fans, it was the biggest treat and a great forerunner for more LOTR (hopefully).

I’m surprised the Viking Village didn’t get a mention! I don’t own it, but it’s received heaps of praise and it’s nicely on the more affordable end of the scale. Same goes for the Piranha Plant.

It’s so funny you brought up the red ring for the Canon lens, I just got back into LEGO this February and the A-frame cabin was the first set I picked up because I was instantly in love with it when I first saw it, as I was building it and put the camera together and realized what they were doing, I just started laughing out loud and totally fell in love with LEGO all over again, it’s those little details that make these builds so much fun. So 10 months and $4000 later I have over 60 sets now…..

I bought the Rivendell set recently and it is still a holy grail Lego set. The detail is unmatched and the overall beauty is stunning.

I really hope that the Rivendell set is the first of many LOTR sets to come. Lego has to know that they would sell like hot cakes.

The release of Rivendell was what got me back into Lego, it was the first one i build in years, so im so happy to see it take that number 1 spot. So deserved :D

Tales of the space age deserved at least an honorable mention. Affordable, gorgeous display set that also doubles as a great source of colored bricks.

On top of being expensive and pieces falling off during play, the Defender was the most annoying LEGO set I got to build this year. Even Captain America's shield was more enjoyable!! Every couple steps pressing down pieces the thing would just fall to the sides! You crazy man! Tales of the Space Age should have made the list, a couple of your honorable mentions should have made the top10 list instead, but I got no complaints about your #1 pick, there's hope for you after all :P

For me Concorde was in my top 5, its internal mechanics are unreal, it is relatively affordable, looks amazing, is huge, and is probably the best building experience. Rivendale was my number 1

I agree...Rivendell is set of the year. Definitely want to pick that up sometime. Also A-Frame Cabin is up there too.

Pretty solid list IMO. I personally have 4 of the 10. Don’t have the Venator yet as I’m not as big a fan of that era of the Star Wars saga. Although I’ll probably get it eventually. I was super impressed with the golden temple set for its ingenuity and play features. Love that pick. And I also 100% agree with Rivendell being top choice and I haven’t even built mine yet. I need more shelves!!

I only have the Indy and Hokusai sets, but many of the others are on my wish list. I limit my Star Wars purchases to the original trilogy, so the Ahsoka and Rebels sets are out for me. The Land Rover, Concorde, and Rivendell sets are on my most wanted list, but I need to prioritize my purchases to sets that are going to be discontinued first. There are just too many awesome LEGO sets.

I agree about Rivendell. It is a gorgeous set, fun to build, multiple techniques. Just started on Avengers Tower which is probably my personal favorite as a comic book fan. I think the Viking Village is also really good.

I agree with Rivendell at number 1 so much I love the LOTR trilogy and seeing this in lego form and purchasing it was absolutely awesome

I think the lego star wars starfighter 2 pack versus sets should be atleast honerable mentions just because they had really good selection this year for that & the playability out of one set is great when you get 2 opposing ships

The Rivendell set is by far the best thing I’ve purchased all year. As close to a perfect set as I’ve ever seen.

I think gringotts is criminally underrated, thank you for a acknowledging it. so unique in terms of design and execution of concept, while maintaining phenomenal accuracy, aesthetics, details and inclusions. Also has some of the best play features we’ve seen on a ucs set and manages to make those features without sacrificing appearance or accuracy. I love that it can be connected to the diagon alley set In so many variations,but it’s so dope how if you don’t have the set you still have a huge, eye grabbing showpiece that is instantly recognizable.

What an incredible selection of sets I cannot afford

I bought the Rivendell set two days ago as it's been on my mind since release. For my first top tier set, I gotta say I'm so glad I went for it!! An absolute work of art and a joy to build. It's definitely a must-get for any builder!

The midi scale is too good imo and so happy to see the line continue in 2024

Hey David!! RVA local here, I loved the pricing averages you presented and how you connected them to the wider context of pricing of popular sets. If you ever want to lean more into that kind of stuff, I am a professional data scientist local to RVA and id love to run some analytics for you, for free, for anything in the world!

Totally agree with your number 1! Rivendell was my best building experience of 2023! I would have in my top 10 three other sets: the Natural History Museum, the Viking Village, and for nostalgia reasons that you are too young to have, the El Dorado Fortress. But it has to do mainly with personal taste. I'm more into buildings than into cars or spaceships, and that clearly creates a bias in my top 10.

I love the mini scale models, so fun to play with and just nice to look at, wasn’t able to pick up the super star destroyer, but I will pick up the new ones (if they come out).

1. Rivendell 2. Pac man 3. Concorde My top 3

Hi man! Nice selection and nice display. How do you deal with dust??

The way they did Gringott's, shows you they should redo Bespin Cloud City and do it finally, properly.

The Viking Village comes across as another fantastic set that could have sneaked into the top 10. Price to parts count it's fantastic, and the detail and landscaping is incredible.

Please do top 3 sets for each price category. 0-50, 50-200, 200+

Man... I really think I have to pick up that A-Frame Cabin! I see that seriously going up in value someday. Love the look of it!

Concorde being an honorable mention is tough to accept. That’s one of the coolest sets they’ve released in a while

awesome list and I agree with it. Rivendell was my top pick too. i hate whatnot

Solid list my friend . Congratulations on your continued success. Very impressive collection and many of us admire to reach

Ninjago city markets:

The only one I'm convinced to buy after watching this is the cabin. That's the magic of Lego, there's something for any taste 🤩

Middle area in market is perfect, it's on purpose to give you the chance to create whatever you want and/or use your minifigs. It was requested by the community.

LEGO really knocked it out of the park this year! I'm surprised Gringott's is at the bottom of the list; I would have put it at #3! Hogwarts Castle and Grounds is a beautiful set, but the fact that it comes just one building short of the entire castle is a pretty big downside for me, personally. If they had just made it eight to ten studs deeper and included the clock tower, I would be inclined to get it instead of the larger castle, which is more detailed and visually impressive, in my opinion.

Rivendell and the Avengers Tower better stay out for a decade.

Rivendell is honestly the best set ever made no disputes from me. I think the Eldorado fort is up there for me. Viking village because of how good of a deal it is.

I was thinking of asking for the avengers tower for my birthday and i was wondering how to display 30 minifigures and this video showed the perfect example. All the other videos make it super hard to see and they show it super fast.

amazing list! the only thing i would have changed is swapped the gringotts bank and the defender, and then put ninjago city at 10.

Were you in Sinsheim at the tech-museum and see the concord there?

Yay for the Land Rover. Just finished that tonight and it’s awesome

While I don’t have them I think the top 3 sets are probably: Rivendale, Avengers Tower, and the Venator. I haven’t really been able to get a lot of sets this year but there has been tons of great sets

A Frame cabin is $75 cheaper for Black Friday in Australia. Picked it up this morning.

Unfortunately didn’t get to collect many sets this year but fantastic list!

Hey guys I have question should I buy the UCS gunship before it retires or save for the Venator or AT-AT?

Ima bring a pile of lego into my local bricks n mini figs and get the new republic attack cruiser for sure what a beauty!

Tranquil garden is so underrated. Great price point, displays well, appeals to large audience, great christmas gift. So many pros so few cons

Nice content dude 👍

My Top 10 of 2023 - 1. Technic - The Ford GT 2022 (I adore the car love everything about it it's design is perfection and the Lego model captures it very well it was my most anticipated set and it has tremendous deals throughout the year I would have loved for it to be in scale with the Sian) 2. Star Wars - The Ghost and Phantom 2 ( as soon as it was released I loved it the angles and colours used make for a interesting building and a striking ship) 3. Star Wars - The Mandolorian Fang Fighter Vs Tie Interceptor (as soon as I saw the Tie Interceptor it was a shut up and take my money moment I freaking love this ship easily one of my favourites and I like many others were dying to see this remade) 4. Icons - El Dorado ( I'm collecting the 90th anniversary sets but as the castle was too expensive El Dorado meets that nice middle ground) 5. Lego Art - The Amazing Spider-Man (The fact it has 2099pcs means the design team or person knew what they were doing, plus the build is very unique the best out of the art line IMHO) 6. Ninjago - Jay's Titan Mech (Since Legacy has ended I've kinda been done with Ninjago I've skipped the past waves but always looked forward the Titan Mech sub line they're building out and Of Course Jays would be one of the strongest they've done) 7. Technic - Yamaha MT-10 SP (I was looking at the IRL MT07 a d hoped we get that when the rumours appeares however the MT10 is more than acceptable. The new piece's introduce are a godsend and have really improved the shift system) 8. Speed champions - Pagani (I needed a grey car in my collection and the tan interior looks great, the amount of building techniques packed into the theme makes it one of my favourites, speed champions are the gift that keeps on giving) 9. Indiana Jones - The temple of the golden Idol. (I was estatic when they announced Indy was back in LEGO I never got the original wave as i was just starting to get into Lego through City and Toy Story, the build is great and love the traps and play features included but cmon to need more Natives a battle pack was expected or a set with Jocks plane) 10. Lego Friends - Unity Street (Never been interested in the theme primary because I was stupid in thinking it was solely for girls but like the various colours they had, I did look at this set but didn't end up buying it there's just others I had to get)

I have question, how much was the Avengers tower worth and if it's available in the lego shop?

I would have put Viking village in the list for sure. It’s beautiful.

I think that brachiosaurus discovery deserves a placement

Honourable mentions: 1. The UCS Venator (FOR THE REPUBLIC, it's just Gorgeous but way out of my price range I'd definitely plan around to see if I can get it, I do prefer the Star Destroyer more but the Venator is in a class of its own) 2. Clone Commander Cody (My favourite clone and paired with the Venator it'll look complete love the phase 1 helmet so it's the best out of the line and with a few modifications you can make any Division) 3. The Land Rover Defender (I still prefer the Technic Version but being System based it's not far off) 4. Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores (The new Dragons Rising Line has reignited my hype for Ninjago the designs of the Ninja and Villains look really cool, and they don't disappoint when it comes to temple builds, I love the tree and how it's meshed with the Temple it's oen of the best they've made and the line up is tough competition) 5. Hogwarts Express and Hogsmeade station (I didn't get the latest remake as I didn't like that it has one cart low and behold they make another one bits it's UCS style and now we're getting a play scale model with Two carriages. YES!!! 6. Tales of the Space Age (an interesting concept and they work as bookends still need to track these down but they're not too important)

Are you crazy, putting the Venator above the UCS AT-AT as the best Star Wars Lego set in the last 5 years?

My favourite is the Hogwarts Castle and grounds set. I fully understand it won’t be for most people but it works out really well for me because I don’t have a tonne of space to display sets and i didn’t have a huge Lego budget last year because I had a lot of PlayStation games etc to buy so it was kind to my wallet too 😁

My best 10 of Lego '23... - 10318 Concorde (this one's a marvel of Lego engineering. GREAT build, fantastic stunning display model. Probably THE best Lego set of '23. Only caveat is having the space for the wing span). - 76269 Avengers Tower (THE ultimate Marvel LEGO set! The build, the design, the figures, ALL top tier LEGO experience). - 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell (a truly beautiful LEGO model. Probably the most aesthetically pleasing kit they’ve ever designed. You don’t have to be a LOTR aficionado to appreciate and enjoy this stunning set). - 77015 Temple of the Golden Idol (you don't have to be a Raiders or Indy fan for this STUNNING model. Kids will have a great time building-unique Lego engineering, and playing with a ton of play features throughout this kit. A must get for any and all Lego fans!). - 76252 Batcave - Shadow Box (a truly unique LEGO set for the Batman fan. For adult or kid builder). - 75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer (just an excellent desktop model). - 21343 Viking Village (great looking, well detailed viking dwellings and terrain). - 10325 Eldorado Fortress (for the nostalgic Pirate fan but also a great play-set for the kids too!). - 10315 Tranquil Garden (beautiful desktop/display model). - 76417 Gringotts Wizarding Bank - Collectors' Edition (another truly unique LEGO design and build. For the Harry Potter super fan!)

I have to say the best overall set is the executor in my eyes. Great execution and design, great price and daily displayable. More high quality midi scale sets would be an absolute no brainier for me as a buyer.

So many great sets this year. Lego separated me from a substantial amount of my paycheck in 2023. I believe that the Disney Camera and the Ideas Insects deserve at least an honorable mention.

Would you be able to do one of these for say an $150 budget, cause for the majority of use can't afford to spend $300 on a lego set

My list of my favorite sets for 2023 10.Batcave Shadow Box 9.Harry Potter Hogwarts Express (500$) 8.Lord of the Rings Rivendell 7.Pac Man Arcade Machine 6.Darth Vader vs Luke Skywalker Death Star || Diorama 5.Midi scale Executor Star Destroyer 4.Hocus Pocus 3.Donkey Kong 2.Captain Rex helmet 1.75367 UCS Venator

I feel like the Pac-Man arcade cabinet doesn’t get enough love. That is amazing.

Good assessment of the year

I need that Jedi star fighter

Wow man! You are living my dream ! :D

Rivendell and the Viking Village are GOATed

Rivendell is my number one as well and I’m a huge SW fan

Definitely going for the big boys! Where’s the Tales of the Space Age and Insects love?

Obviously Rivendell is the best this year. Got it in august, took me like 15-20 hours to build. I would have put in the top 10 or at least in the honorable mentions section the Viking village set from October. From this list, i got rivendell, hogwarts castle, the tranquil garden and himeji castle. All of them are beautiful sets, very cool looking and displayable.

I agree on 1 place lord of the rings rivendell, I'm an LOTR fan and love lego

What sets touched stark tower? Thankyou

Where is the Viking village?!? That set is a legend 2100 parts for 130$ Lego Star Wars is never gonna get that good of a deal.

I had a choice between the venator and Rivendell, I had to pick Rivendell. Long time lotr fan and that set is just 100%. For 150 less it was a no brainer

obsessed with the shirt hes wearing does anyone know where its from i love it

not in any order - Disney castle - Spider man final dual - Ghost - Avengers tower (god I want this set) - Venator (god i want this set) - Donkey kongs hut (nostalgia) - Gringots - A frame cabin ( It looks so good but I dont have any of these types op builds :() - Batman polybag (Love the figure and the fact you can place it on any corner is just amazing, it just stands out - Piranha plant (honerable mentions: Hogwarts castle midi scale)

Lego pacman machine not even in your honorable mentions is a crime in itself 😂

Another great video! I agree with most of your top 10, except I would’ve placed the Viking Village in the top three. The new UCS set is not top five for me. But Lego sets in 2023 were a lot better than 2022!

im such a lego fan but dude the prices are gut wrenching

You should have added the Natural History Museum

Definity agree with Rivendell at number 1. I think Eldorado Fortress deserves to be in here somewhere though

Hope for another lotr set next year!!!

My Top 10: 10 Temple of the Golden Idol 9 Avengers Tower 8 Ninjago City Markets 7 Downtown Flower and Design Stores 6 ‘UP’ House 5 Disney Hocus Pocus 4 Gringotts Wizarding Bank 3 Hokusai - The Great Wave 2 Botanical Gardens 1 Rivendell (Honorable mentions that barely made the cut: spider-man final battle, heartlake city community centre, tranquil garden, jazz club, downtown from City, alpine lodge, triwizard tournament second task, A-frame cabin, beach amusement park)

What about the ucs venator?

i think el darado fortress deserved an honorable mention

I have ninjago city markets and avengers tower, both deserve to be in top 10

Man if they dropped a Bronco I’d be so hype haha

Gringotts bank is so gooddd

If a person were looking for the real exceptionality of all times - I would put it together as follows from the above list: 1. Rivendell, 2. Gringott Bank, that's it. Exceptional sets come out once in a while. These are, for example, the Castle of the Lion Knight, Blacksmith Medieval, Barracuda Bay.

Vendor should have gotten more figures, just look at the UXS Razorcrest line up and see

My #1 set of 2023 is the A-Frame Cabin. And even though I didn't buy it until this year, my #1 set of 2022 is Optimus Prime.

I bet the botanical gardens lovers go both ways 😊

I love Rivendell but its first and senator is second but I feel that the avengers tower should have been third

You can argue that average price of “best sets” decreasing means that on average more expensive sets bring less value or being even more overpriced, hence the cheaper sets bring more value and are seen as “better” than more expensive ones.

This is a solid list, lol pun not intended, I’d switch a few but overall this is pretty good

Venator and Rivendell were my favorites. Rivendell was a much more satisfying build though.

I have an idea for a different type of list that I think would be better content. Do I share it with the world or start a channel and do it myself? 😅

Great Vid and list bud. I agree on most of it, might have switched around the Landy and the Ghost for sure. But Eldorado's Fortress not even being in the honorable mention is just not right.

Surprised, Pac-Man didn’t get a mention.

I would of had the pac man arcade on the list, but, overall, that is a great 2023 best of list.