Of late, we’ve had quite a few LEGO Gifts with Purchase that have come from the LEGO Ideas platform. We’ve also had some based on historical figures. Now, the two streams have been crossed in the form of 40595 Tribute to Galileo Galilei, the winning submission in the Ready, Set, Go STEM! contest. It will be available from the 1st to 16th of November, with purchases totalling US $130 | CAN $TBD | UK £130 on the LEGO website or in LEGO brick-and-mortar retail stores. But is it worth stumping up the cash for the two weeks that it’s available? Read on to find out!
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
The box and contents
The box is consistent with so many others in the LEGO Ideas line, with a black background and tan border. The set name appears with a motif that looks like some sort of astronomical device, which is a nice touch.
The rear shows off a slightly different angle, with the set’s main play feature in an inset, the spinning solar system model known as an orrery.
Within are three pairs of bags numbered one, two and three, alongside two large 45-degree wedge plates flying loose.
The instructions feature the same minimalist artwork as the box, albeit on white rather than black. There is also a small sticker sheet, with a nameplate, some framed artwork, and what looks like some sort of map or drawing – I’m not entirely sure.
As with every Ideas set, the instructions include a short blurb about the designer. Jessica Kiaei (AKA Firecracker_) took the Grand Prize in the Ideas Ready, Set, STEM! contest, and we get some insight into her thinking behind this creation. Unlike previous GWPs to feature historical figures, however, there is precious little on Galileo himself. I guess we’ll have to let the bricks do the talking!
The build
The build begins, as you’d expect, with the base. We waste no time putting in the cogs that will become the spinning orrery. (A side effect of this review is that I’ve thought of the word ‘orrery’ more than I ever have before, and possibly ever will. So expect to read it a lot.)
But no sooner are the gears put in, than are they swiftly covered up. If you like dark bluish grey tiles, you’ll love this handful of steps. A sticker bearing Galileo’s name goes on the front, in case it’s not evident to passers-by whose apartment this is.
The base is then set aside while we build up the back wall using the parts in bags two. It’s pretty straighforward bricks-on-plates-on-bricks building. There is a good amount of medium nougat parts in this stage of the build, although the only one that’s anything close to rare in this colour palette is the pair of 1×2 bricks with studs on the side, this being its sixth set appearance.
Speaking of colour, our first real splash of colour comes in the form of some greenery around Galileo’s balcony window. The pair of vines aren’t new in this lighter shade of green, but they haven’t appeared often before.
This shot also shows off how the hinged walls are held in place. The back wall is the only one connected to the base, while the two on the side are wedged between the black 1×1 brick and the angled tile. It’s not radical, but it looks smart all the same.
The second and biggest sticker is our first bit of decoration for the scene, depicting the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It’s a nice bit of art on its own, but there is a connection to Galileo himself, since he lived in Pisa and dropped two cannonballs from the top of the tower to demonstrate the law of free fall. I hope he looked before he dropped them.
So far, though, it’s looking quite drab for an Italian Renaissance residence. Thankfully, the third set of bags has us building some set dressing to liven the place up a bit. In order, we build a bookcase, desk, the orrery, a telescope, and two plinths with a globe and what I first assumed were spare orrery planets. In hindsight they’re more likely to be the aforementioned cannonballs.
I found adding in these little decorations the most enjoyable part of the build. My favourite detail is a really simple one: the tilted jumper plate making it look like one of the drawers has come off its runner in the bookcase. It’s a small touch, but it gives a touch of character to the scene.
The furniture is slotted one by one into our little diorama, and we’re done. The orrery is attached to the spinning mechanism using a 6L bar through the half-pin on the desk. This is a rare occasion where a Mixel ball joint appears in a colour other dark bluish-grey: its first appearance in blue makes up our own pale blue dot.
The minifigure
No Tribute to Galileo Galilei would be complete without the man himself, and here he is. The beard and hair work well for the polymath’s preferred hairstyle.
Removing the beard reveals a head print we’ve seen a few times before, wearing an expression that’s somewhere between grumpy and indignant. He looks far more like a scientist deep in thought with it on.
The torso also uses an existing print. This made its first (and so far only) appearance in 10292 The Friends Apartments. Judging by his portraits, Galileo did favour a more understated look, so in that sense I guess this works. That said, almost every picture I’ve found shows him in a black top with a big white collar, so it’s a little disappointing we didn’t get a new print. Ross Geller’s unbuttoned shirt doesn’t really have the same level of class I imagine such a celebrated scientist would have had.
More like Geller-leo, am I right?! (I’m here all week, try the fish…)
The finished model
The final model is similar in spirit to Jessica Kiaei’s original Ideas submission, if not so much in substance. The base is a little bigger and more substantial, while the desk and telescope have been simplified. Equally, though, some more references to Galileo’s work have been squeezed in. The whole thing looks just as you’d expect an eminent thinker’s place to look – books and paper aplenty, loads of scientific equipment, and a little messy!
The heliocentric model is undoubtedly what Mr G is most famous for, so it’s appropriate for it to take centre stage. The actuator has been moved to the back relative to the original submission, which cleans up the look of the base and is a good change, in my view. The action is smooth but you won’t get more than about a quarter turn at a time out of it, unless you give it a good whack and give everyone on Earth whiplash in the process.
There is enough room for Galileo to move around (although he does need to sit down to look up through the telescope), which combined with the various accessories gives the set surprisingly good play value.
Part of the fun also comes from looking up what the many references included in the set are. My Galilean knowledge is ropey at best, and I had to look almost all of them up. The mystery drawing, for instance, is of the surface of the Moon – Galileo was the first to prove it wasn’t smooth. I do wonder if calling them out in the instructions would have been a better way of teaching about his discoveries, but I appreciate their inclusion all the same.
Conclusion and recommendation
So is 40595 Tribute to Galileo Galilei worth stumping up the cash for? If you have enough on your LEGO wishlist to reach the threshold (and there is no shortage of interesting LEGO sets for sale at the moment), you could do worse than spending it now to get this Gift with Purchase. It’s a smart display piece, even if Galileo himself leaves a little to be desired. Parts-wise it’s not especially notable, but still decent, particularly if you want more medium nougat and reddish brown pieces. Or a blue mixel ball joint.
The educational play value is 40595’s greatest asset, though. Designer Jessica Kiaei’s stated aim with this set was to celebrate Galileo’s contributions to science. Despite the lack of information within, playing around and looking up all the references will make you realise just how revolutionary his discoveries were, as well as the vast number that weren’t included. I for one certainly learned something while having fun, and that, arguably, is the whole point of this set. So to paraphrase Queen, it’s certainly a case of “Galileo, Galileo, Magnifico”, in that respect!
40595 Tribute to Galileo Galilei includes 307 pieces and a minifigure, and is available as a Gift with Purchase with LEGO.com or LEGO brand store purchases of US $130 | CAN $TBD | UK £130 between the 1st and 16th of November, as long as stocks last.
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Where’s the animated GIF (looping!) of the Earth spinning around the sun? Thanks for the extended review though, appreciated!