The Lego Sport Boy is the good, most detailed set I’ve ever constructed

I’m a sucker for millennial nostalgia bait, and so far as I’m involved, it doesn’t get a lot better than a throwback Lego set. Often these units have an equally “grownup,” usually unfair, price ticket. Keep in mind the $250 Legend of Zelda Great Deku Tree or the $290 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)? Each units are cool, however they don’t really feel like $250- $300 cool.

For some motive, that’s not the case with Lego’s intricate new Sport Boy set and its surprisingly reasonable $60 USD/$80 CAD price tag. Impulse buy pricing apart, this factor is extremely cool. Coming in at practically the identical measurement as Nintendo’s traditional 1989-release authentic Sport Boy, the variety of refined particulars this Lego masterpiece options is staggering. Whereas I like Lego’s NES set, it all the time felt a bit odd that it isn’t the identical measurement as the unique traditional console.

There’s a working D-Pad, A/B buttons, Choose/Begin, and even knobs that truly spin for the quantity and distinction. Diving in deeper with among the much less apparent particulars (and with out giving an excessive amount of away), there’s even particular consideration paid to the enduring handheld’s internals, together with its inside speaker and varied different chips.

The set contains two cartridges (that additionally function enjoyable particulars like Lego transistors and batteries in the event you pop the duvet off), and holographic inserts for The Legend of Zelda: Hyperlink’s Awakening, Tremendous Mario Land, and the Sport Boy’s very recognizable panning startup display screen that merely says “Nintendo.”

Each time I decide up the Lego Sport Boy, I discover a brand new element

This is likely one of the most intricate units I’ve constructed

The Sport Boy constructing course of can get a little bit irritating at occasions given all of the exact element, particularly when slotting in inside items that don’t all the time instantly make sense. I forgot so as to add the elastic band behind the A and B button (it makes the buttons pop a bit), and needed to take a bit of the Lego Sport Boy aside to entry it. Lining up the label stickers for the cartridges was additionally a bit finicky, however when you have expertise with making use of Lego stickers, you received’t have any points.

The important thing draw with the Lego Sport Boy is the extent of accuracy. Check out the way it compares to my childhood Sport Boy within the pictures. There’s speaker grills, the recognizable dot matrix with stereo sound label, and a headphone jack slot, all custom-printed for this specific set. There’s even a product quantity on the again. It’s really wild how shut Lego was capable of get its Sport Boy creation to trying like an precise traditional Sport Boy.

I can’t assist however want it got here in numerous colours, primarily as a result of my childhood Sport Boy is yellow. That’s a minor gripe, although — that is by far among the finest Lego units I’ve ever constructed, particularly when you think about its worth.