LEGO Carousel 10257

carousel 10257

this is a great Lego set and the details are amazing. Pros : it has 7 minifigures , detailed animals, and a beautiful staircase. Cons : it keeps stopping while I crank it and several pieces fell out of it . otherwise a nice and challenging build

Favorite build to date

After two years in the cupboard I finally took out the carousel and built it this week. I am a slow builder so it took a while but every step was interesting and fun. I am in AWE of the Lego engineers and their genius. I could watch that little frog hop for hours! What a beautifully clever machine. I gave it a forever home on the shelf in my game room.

from a LEGO fan

LEGO is always good quality and durable.

Very impressed

Hubby bought me this for my birthday as I have become somewhat of an addict of lego....I built it alone and although at times some parts were stressful (getting the connections right to allow it to move smoothly) it was quickly sorted and I was so impressed with the finish, the little animals move up and down as it goes around just like the real deal....absolutely love it, definitely recommend it

A Lot of Money...But Worth It!

First of all I must say I didn't buy this set from Lego, I got it elsewhere and it was £20 cheaper, which was excellent! I've been looking for something to go into my Winter Village...turns out, the carousel was 'it'! I've had Lego since I was a kid, you never get bored of it, and I really enjoyed making this model. I took my time with it and kept checking all the gears and wheels were running smoothly as I went along, I wanted to savour the building process, and also not make any mistakes through rushing! Once it's been completed, it really is stunning (actually, the top of it reminded me of the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen...is that just a coincidence?? :-D). My sister was particularly impressed with the movement, especially the frog, and it's the little details like this that really make it stand out. I would highly recommend fitting the motor to it (and I put an IR receiver on it too, as I'm too lazy to get up and faff with it, so I can control that and my train from the comfort of my chair!). One of my friends said that it looked 'a bit jerky' when it was going round, but to be fair it's a serious amount of Lego for one motor to be shifting, and I'm happy with it. It was a 'considered impulse purchase', if that makes sense, because it is a heck of a lot of money to spend. But I have to say I am so glad I did buy it!

Beautiful expect base needs internal reinforcement

I built this for my two sons who, like me, are huge Lego fans. They have all the Amusement Park theme items, including the new rollercoaster. We have two large tables step up as a Lego Amusement Park -- this is great addition to other sets. Like others, my annoyance is the base comes apart too easily. And when it does, you have to take half of it apart to fix internally. After fixing it 3 times (about 20 to 30 minutes each time), I figured out the cause and a found a solution. I've included pictures, basically on page 163 you want to use larger plates, in more locations to keep the base together. Where it says 4x 2X2 plate, you want to replace the lower red 2x2 place with a single plate that is 4 knobs high. With extra pieces I had, I used both a 4x4 for one section, and an 8x2 + 1x4 (for side support). If you have them I would recommend using 6 or 8 4x4 plates spaced out. You might be able to use it on all 12 points, but I was concerned it could cause a jam. After my fix, it has been used dozens of times over the last 4 months (with power functions) and it is still together!

Great but fiddly

I would recommend building this on a stud baseplate 10700 as it is quite flimsy and pieces tend to unclick quite a bit. I ended up building mine on a cheeseboard. The overall build was fun, although not that long. Quite repetitive but otherwise I love it! I cant wait to make the whole carnival.

A challenging build

I would have done this much faster, but I used the wrong pieces in one area, and had to rip it apart again to rebuild it right. This is a challenging build which is now part of my county fair. I really enjoyed this set. It is again a hybrid Lego/Technic set. The Lego minigifs can ride the animals, and they really are very cool the animals go up and down exceptfor the swan. The frog is the hardest to make stable. The decorations on the canopy are very easy to bump and have them fall off. The merry go round would go really well with a music box which can be driven by the same crank/motor. It is really a pretty piece and can be moved by picking it up from the base which is stable. Don't try to grab it like my friend did on the canopy, It was a lot of time repairing it once it came apart. To summarize, a fun and challenginig build. Well designed. When you move it, do so by the base.

Amazingly Detailed

This product is definitely not for those who are just starting out in legos, but if you enjoy a challenge and are confident in your abilities, this lego set has an amazing payoff. This lego is extremely challenging for a few reasons. One, the sheer level of detail means that you will be working with tiny pieces to create a large work of art. Two, making a single mistake early will be almost impossible to fix later without undoing major sections. And then finally, this lego requires you to repeat a lot of steps. I consider myself to be pretty proficient at building, it the total building time was still an impressive 14 hours. Overall, the experience is enjoyable, and the result is something I found very gratifying. Would definitely recommend.

My Take on the Lego Carousel

This is one of my favorite Lego Sets to build and here is my take on the Carousel build and overall look of it. First the overall look of the carousel from my perspective. This compliments the Lego Ferris Wheel very nicely and using animals instead of traditional horse is a very brilliant move. The carousel is beautifully detailed with trim that it makes you wish you could shrink yourself to that size and ride it yourself. The instructions are nicely done and if you follow it step-by-step then you should end up with a solid Lego Carousel. I have read other reviews saying that they are afraid of picking up and carrying it because it breaks on them. I for one don't find that the case and I would guess if it's falling apart easily either you don't have something right or something is not clicked down. Here are my few negatives on the carousel. The first one is the stickers, for I personally can't stand putting stickers on parts. However, I have become better at applying them and I understand it would drive up the cost of the Lego products if everything was printed. The second one is the small holes that randomly shows up on the decorative trim . It would had been nice if all of them were solid, but it's not a deal breaker for it really isn't that noticeable unless you are really looking for imperfections. I would also guess on a real life carousel that was transported from location to location you would see small imperfections - well that is how I look at it. Thirdly, I hate when I finish a Lego Build for they go to quick. LOL I'm 53 years, so playability isn't a factor; however, I would think the Carousel would have more playability than some of the other sets that I have built.

My First Creator Set

Had fun doing this set. And I have newfound respect for Lego designers. Fairly challenging to make, one just needs to pay attention to details. My only complaint is about the blue arch pieces, I ended up with some holes showing. :( Minor thing though. I added fairylights to this fairy tale carousel. I think it makes it look more like the real rides. :)

My 6 year old really wanted this. It took me about 9 hours to assemble with my 6 and 9 year old "helping" me. We bought the motor for it as well, however, I think it goes a little fast. Also there must have been a piece that came loose or didn't "click" inside because after a few minutes of the motor running something caught inside and a bunch of the inside fell apart (the part with the mirrors and the little fences), this is also a down fall to using the motor of you are cranking it by hand then you can feel it catching and stop. It took a long time to fix, as there was no easy way reassemble it.

Great Build, Beautiful Design

My wife and I had a great time building the Carousel. It was challenging at times, which is always welcome, and the design of the animals was fantastic. No matter which model you're putting together, it's always fascinating watching it all come together but especially so this one with the multiple moving parts. I recommend getting the battery pack and motor as well. While it's fun and satisfying to turn it manually, the speed of the motor lets you really sit back and appreciate the movement.

A missed opportunity

I was a bit over excited back in April when I first watched the Carousel - LEGO Creator Expert - 10257 Designer Video it seemed like the perfect match for my 10244 Fairground Mixer and 10247 Ferris wheel, but after finishing I feel like this set just missed the mark. First in the instructions step 200 causes the sides to fall off, so if you are building alone you need to build the pieces in place. Second is about cosmetics a lot of people see my sets and part 6195546 comes in 2 molds problem is it is the luck of the draw to which you get as they are the same part number while you should have 24/24 you might end up with any combination of 48. LEGO says that was what was intended and there is nothing they can do. Now mine will never look like box art which is disappointing. I have gone back I watched the video and they seem not to have payed any attention to the orientation of the part so there are quite a few holes so I guess it was not as important to them as it was to me and whoever took the box art photos. Third is an easy fix but I feel it needs to be mentioned as it contradicts a couple of other reviews the base is not quite sturdy it gets pretty weak each time I have moved it, I don't feel comfortable moving it significantly so adding one more layer might be recommended if you need to move this set off the shelf often so the kids can play. 4th is really minor I almost forgot the people do not sit on animals they just hold on the rails I know it might have been hard to have studs on top for some but just seems odd. Over all don’t get attached to the box art and maybe seeing my kids enjoy the set will get me over the minor disappointment and frustration this set brought me. After all I don’t have to tell the kids elephants cannot jump right?

Lego 10257 Carousel

Really enjoyed putting this together. Found some parts challenging\frustrating due to the detail and number of pieces such as the carousel floor. When adding items together struggled with the model collapsing in, however it added to the sense of achievement once it was complete. Found the thought of this design amazing, particularly th detail such as the movement of the frog legs. 10\10 for the design crew on this set! Great piece to put together.

Really beautiful and unique set

When I saw the announcement of this set, I told myself I need to buy it. I bought it online on the day when it was released to VIP members. It was mailed to me really fast, and I got the set within 2 days. The set is a bit tricky putting together, but nothing too complicated. I like the color scheme and most of the animals except the flamingo. It is beautiful to look at and fun to play with.

Great Set, Love the color & the mechanics, BUT

Not enough attention was paid when packaging the set. I can tell this set was meticulously designed, which is why the issue I had building it is so disappointing. This set was designed so that the holes in the blue elephant trunk pieces in the top detailing always face the inside, so the outside has a smooth look. The manual itself doesn't even differentiate between these parts, but I ended up with 25 of ones facing one way, and 23 pieces that faced the other way. Aka I have a hole on the outside of one of my blue elephant pieces. Completely ruins the smooth look the set is going for. =/ A good idea would be to split these into two part numbers so this doesn't happen to anyone else, or provide an extra of each just in case.

MERRY GO ROUND

Great product counted all the parts. BAG (1) 532 parts BAG (2) 517 parts BAG (3) 510 parts BAG (4) 424 parts BAG (5) 687 parts TOTAL 2,670.

Fun to Build.

This is a great set to build. The animals are so much fun to build. It is well structured. The biggest flaw is the repetition when you reach Bag Set 5. Overall, I loved it.