Book Nooks are a cozy trend in decor and DIY crafting in which you assemble a diorama that fits between books on a shelf offering a window into a miniature world. They’re also the latest format that LEGO is experimenting with in finding new ways for adult fans to assemble and display brick-built models, starting with LEGO Icons 10351 Sherlock Holmes: Book Nook.   The set is exclusive to Barnes & Noble booksellers and LEGO online and retail stores beginning on June 1st, where it will retail for US $129.99 | CAN $149.99 | UK £109.99. A folding façade of 221B Baker Street full of literary easter eggs, architectural flourishes, and minifigs of iconic characters that can be tucked away on any bookshelf? In theory, it’s a match made in millennial aesthetic heaven. But is this the book nook we deserve or just a red herring? Come, Watson! The game is afoot!

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.

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Unboxing the parts, instructions, and sticker sheet

LEGO sticks to an elementary design for the box, following the standard packaging of sets designed for adult builders. The front of the box shows the façade opened up, while the back shows it closed in nook form, with insets showing some of easter eggs and play features.

Perhaps the greatest mystery is why we’re still seeing sets with plastic bags at this point. In any case, there are 10 of them. Curiously, there is a single plate that doesn’t come in a bag. The first six pages of the instruction book share facts about Holmes world and author, and insights from the design team. The spread about Arthur Conan Doyle and his impact is interesting, but the LEGO-specific insights are fairly shallow. No designers are credited by name in the book, but Antica Bracanov, who also designed Barad-Dûr and DaVinci’s Flying Machine, worked on this set.

The set comes with one sticker sheet. Four printed tiles will appear later in the build.

 

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The build

Our investigation begins with the left wing of the model, which features the Elementary Book Shop. (Evidently a reference to something Holmes says, and not a nod to our fellow LEGO enthusiasts at New Elementary). Earthy tones abound, which applies to the rest of the build. No bright colors on Baker Street. The base is 2 plates thick and topped with cobblestones. The door to the bookshop swings open to reveal bookshelves made from a pair of stickers.

The book shop façade features a pleasing bay window  that can spin around to reveal a hidden “clue.”

The stairway on the right houses a hidden gear mechanism whose purpose will reveal itself in the next bag. This black door can slide up and down when you turn the crank.

The second story includes a small easter egg of a sinister silhouette in the window, a reference to The Adventure of the Empty House.

We finish up the left wing with a sand green wall covering the sliding door, and a decorative arch for the front of the nook, when closed.

Moving on to the other wing, we start with similar steps of building the base and laying down cobblestones. A pile of printed newspapers puts to use our first printed tile. This doorway is covered by a large sticker with a cutout around the handle, making for a tricky placement. Opening the door reveals a stickered coat rack. The sand green section here is just empty – no hidden functions or easter eggs there.

Next, we build Sherlock Holmes’ study, with some lovely brick-built furniture built into the wall to keep the slimmest of profiles. A stickered painting alludes to Holmes’ “demise” in The Final Problem, and a violin which Holmes uses to concentrate 93% of the time (Holmes’ 7% solution is not referenced).

The study is covered by a windowed wall on hinges that can swing back to reveal the case in progress. The red string board is a fun touch, if very out of character.

At this point the façade is effectively complete! Baker Street has never looked better!

Swinging it around, the back is looking a bit… untidy. Fortunately this is handled better than the French Cafe façade and will be covered up soon enough.

The final steps have you build simple covers of brick yellow plates with brown tile edging. The front features an instantly recognizable silhouette of the detective.  These snap onto the exposed studs on the rear of the model. While the back plate was easy to connect, the front plate was a bit frustrating as the top center studs kept rotating out of alignment. After a few tries, it clicked in securely.

Then we add the “Baker” and “Street” tiles and a pair of gas lamps to the front of the closed nook, and it’s time to close this case!

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The completed model

The model is designed to be displayed open as a façade or closed as a nook. The open configuration looks great – a bit more detail than LEGO’s Diagon Alley sets, but not so detailed as a proper modular. There are plenty of exposed studs on the cobblestones on which to connect the 5 minifigures.

Snapped closed, the street looks magical with a forced perspective created by the angle of the buildings. While there is space for all of the minifigures, it feels a bit cramped and takes away from the illusion. The model is sized about as tall as a trade paperback, so taller than a pocket book and shorter than a hardcover. As long as your bookshelves aren’t  stocked with only overized art books, it should blend in nicely.

The only rough angle for viewing is the back of the nook when it’s closed.

 

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The minifigs

While there are no new molds included, the minifig ensemble is excellent, with Holmes and Watson featuring their most iconic looks, and the supporting characters featuring period-appropriate outfits with lots of panache.

Holmes’ minfiig brings back the deerstalker hat of the Detective from CMF series 5, with a new vest printing, a standard magnifying glass, and a brown cape. Watson sports a bowler, briefcase and wand/walking stick. Both torsos feature back-printing. Neither man gets an alternate face on account of their hats.

Next up are figs for Irene Adler, a former opera singer who impresses Holmes with her wits and is sometimes positioned as a love interest in fan works. Holding an issue of the daily news is one of the savvy street urchins known as the Baker Street Irregulars, who are Holmes’ eyes and ears on the street. Irene’s printed dress is accented by a purple capelet and black umbrells. The kid has a bag, printed newspaper, and a dual-molded cap with hair. Both charaters feature an alternate face.

Finally, we have the Napoleon of Crime himself, Moriarty! The villain sports a double cape, a pinstripe suit torso, and a top hat. His monacled face doesn’t have an alternate expression.

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Conclusions and recommendations

As LEGO focuses increasingly on sets for adult buyers where models are as much about lifestyle as construction, the company has been testing a lot of new formats. The book nook format, which debuts with this set and a Harry Potter themed Hogwarts Express Book Nook, has a lot going for it. In nook mode, on a shelf, the set integrates nicely into home decor without dominating it the way that a larger freeform model might. It will look great with a custom lighting kit. Opened up, the slim profile can fit on a narrow shelf, or could even be modified with a frame for wall hanging. I also appreciate that it embraces LEGO’s traditional play features and easter eggs at minifig scale.  It’s a set you can toy with, even if you want to project that you’re too old for toys.

The building techniques employed are fairly basic, with enough detail to satisfy LEGO novices, but lacking the delightful techniques found in many 18+ sets. LEGO’s main innovation here is the book nook concept itself, with the steps being fairly… elementary. I feel the set would have benefited from being an extra two studs wide in order to utilize the balcony space with minfigs and add more visual interest to the vertical space when closed. The price, while a fair ratio of price-per-piece, feels a bit inflated based on the impact of the finished model, which is fairly small and lacking in distinctive elements. Given that the IP is in the public domain, this feels like a set that should have cost a good 25% less. About that…

LEGO opted to partner with the Conan Doyle Estate for the making of this set. The vast majority of Sherlock Holmes stories have been in the public domain since 2000, but 10 stories remained under copyright until 2023. The estate was quite litigious in the intervening years about anything that might be associated with those 10 stories, including Holmes showing emotion. Whatever your thoughts about the validity of those claims, or the multiple extensions to copyright that benefited the estate for decades, the fact remains that all aspects of Sherlock Holmes from the original stories are in the public domain now. LEGO opting to partner with the estate was a deliberate choice that raises the cost and gives royalties to Doyle’s step great grandson and co. Enjoy this logo on the box and instructions, because that is what you are paying extra for.

The LEGO book nook is a concept that makes sense and will no doubt be appealing to both casual fans and devoted builders, especially as other themes open up. Fairy tales and Japanese streets are popular themes in the non-LEGO book nook world and those would look great in brick, and wouldn’t require padding the accounts of legacy IP holders.

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LEGO Icons 10351 Sherlock Holmes: Book Nook will be available at Barnes & Noble booksellers and LEGO online and retail stores beginning on June 1st, where it will retail for US $129.99 | CAN $149.99 | UK £109.99.  You may be able to find it from third party retailers on Amazon and eBay.

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.

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