The Old Fishing Store project by Robert “RobenAnne” Bontenbal was listed on LEGO Ideas on December 8, 2015 and it only took 44 days for it to achieve 10,000 supporters. Ten months after that, it was announced that it will become an official set which was revealed only a few months ago. It has then evolved to the largest LEGO Ideas set (21310) coming in at 2,049 pieces and will retail for $149.99. The scheduled release date for it will be September 1 at LEGO Brand Stores and on [email protected].

Minifigures

The Captain wears a tan sweater with a nice stitched pattern on both sides of the torso. The legs are just plain dark blue. The face printing shows him with a grumpy expression with a gray mutton chop beard. To complete his look, he has a white captain’s hat.

The Fisherman has on a gray outfit with some olive green fishing waders complete with some black boots. Like the Captain, he also has some mutton chops but not as prominent. His whole look is finished off with a gray cap.

The Fisherwoman has on a tan fishing vest with some printing of a badge on one side and some hooks on the other. The pants are blue with some green boots. She has a standard smiling expression.

Finally the child has on a green shirt with a blue jacket. The legs are just short gray ones. He also has a smile and wears a white cap. There’s nothing new about him as far as parts go.

Build

Exterior

The first thing I will say about the set is that it’s a very satisfying build. The whole thing sits on the included tan 32×32 baseplate. The exterior of the fishing store is filled with a builder’s dream with all the sand green tiles and this gives the building a very realistic look to it. There’s also a number of profile bricks in light gray, dark gray, and olive green for the lower section to give it a brick foundation. I assume the olive green used is for the algae that has grown on the sides of the building.

At the front door, there’s a open sign sticker on the bottom part of the door. Next to the window is a red and white live preserver. On the adjacent wall, there’s a stickered 2×2 tile for the store hours. A newer thing to note is the black window shutters that are used. This piece has only appeared in the LEGO Super Heroes Batman Classic TV Series – Batcave (76052) and you get 16 of them in this set. Finally on this side of the building, there are four fishing hanging in the front.

The stairs at the front of the store is detailed with a combination of printed wooden plank tiles in 1x3s and 1x4s, standard brown tiles in 1x2s and 1x3s, as well as 1×4 tiles with two studs. The deck goes all the way around back to the lookout tower. I do like the look of the wheels hanging off the side. There’s also some containers that are filled with ice and some live catch.

On the side of the building, the door has a sticker gone fishin’ sign with another fish hanging above it. To the left, is a lamp and a sticker boat rental 2×3 tile.

On the back, there are two metered pipes and a pearl-gold water spigot. One feature here is that the back wall is able to open up in two halves to get to the inside of the fishing store. I’ll get to that part when I take a look at the interior.

The wooden awning for the store is beat up and is uneven. It uses some printed tiles as well as stickered one showing a board patched up. Also attached to the awning is a printed 2×4 tile for Anton’s Bait Shop.

The roof looks very tattered with loose wooden plants hanging off of it. The roof is removable which gives off a good look at the inside of the Old Fishing Store which I’ll get to later as well.

Below the tower is a large deck that is made with some pillars along with 1x4x2 cross fence pieces. These fences were only in the Maersk Line Triple E (10241) but they now have an updated Element ID. I presume the fences allows water to easily pass though it during high tide. Building-wise, the part underneath is bare with only a column keeping everything up. You can’t really see anything below so it’s okay.

For the lookout tower itself, it stands two level tall and has the same sand green color scheme as the fishing store. The front of it has a steering wheel with a white flag. Some detailing at the balcony include a pearl gold telescope facing the front. There are also a couple of crabs attached to the sides. At the top of the tower, there is a rooster weather vane. On one of the windows on the side, there’s a sticker of some newpaper stuck on it with the prominent one being The Conspirator talking about a terror from below. This is referring to the legendary kraken, a sea monster that has been told in many fisherman stories.

Interior

Heading to the inside of the Old Fishing House, there a lot more detail than on the outside. To easily get to the inside, you can take off the roof as well as opening up the back wall which is on hinges so it easily swings open. Inside, it has a very distinct old school shop feeling filled with fishing equipment and accessories.

First on the wall next to the door, there’s a map along with a sextant and a white life preserver. Next to those are another red and white preserver. Finally on the same side of the wall are some black and orange flippers and red barrel on a chain.

On the adjacent wall above the door are a couple more printed 2×2 tiles. Hanging on the walls is a pearl-gold bell with some ores and a fishing net. There’s also a printed 2×2 tile of a newspaper saying a local fisherman catches every fish ever. Finally on the floor, there’s a fishing rod rack with a toolbox on top.

Since there are two doors to the inside, the main entrance is higher and closer access to the register while the side door is closer to all the fishing equipment at the lower level. At the counter, there is a printed register with printed post-it note tile. Some other stuff on the counter include a glass, cup, some money, a calculator, and a lamp with another post-it. All of the items here are all printed which is nice.

Next to the counter is a rack with a fishing rod, a long spear harpoon, and a couple of smaller harpoons. On the floor, there’s a chest filled with some small tools. There’s also some printed 1×2 tiles for fishing hook boxes. On the railing, there are more of the fishing hook boxes next to some diving helmets with air tanks.

On the floor, there’s a barrel with some fishing tools, a TNT box for when they’re blowing up Jaws, a crate filled with hooks, crowbars, scissors, and flippers, and another crate with dynamite, life vests, and some slide handles.

Over at the lookout tower, the top portion can be removed as it is attached only by two studs. On the inside, there’s a small office that can be accessed through the store. It contains only a small desk with a lamp and a 2×2 printed newpaper tile of The LEGO News which talks about the greatest LEGO hero ever. There’s also a green swivel chair.

Results

The LEGO Ideas Old Fishing Store (21310) is absolutely a beautiful set. LEGO Designer Adam Grabowski faithfully recreates the original design and there are minor changes to it on the exterior and interior which I think improves the overall look. The use of the stickers isn’t required as I think the set and its accessories would look fine without them and even Adam said the model wouldn’t lose much appeal if they weren’t applied.

The play features are minimal but I think kids will enjoy them. As an AFOL collector and builder, I feel that the Old Fishing Store is one of the most realistic sets that LEGO has produced so far. I especially love the sand green color scheme along with the earthly colored profile bricks and the style of the wood on the steps and roof.

The Old Fishing Store (21310) is slated to be the largest LEGO Ideas set as far as piece count and price-wise and it is absolutely worth it. I have a feeling that this set will be as popular or more popular as the NASA Apollo Saturn V (1969) and you should get it on the first day it comes out as it will most likely temporarily sell out.

Design: 5/5

Playability: 3.5/5

Value: 4.5/5

Thank you to LEGO AFOL Relations & Programs (ARP) team for sending in this set for me to review. The content above represents my own opinion and not the company. Review sets sent in does not guarantee a positive review.