If you are as excited about the recently announced Nintendo Entertainment System LEGO set as I am, but your wallet has felt the impact of the global pandemic, fear not! You can experience all the nostalgic feels (in a slightly smaller dose), when you build your own miniature model using these instructions by Thomas Gion. You’ll have to build a TV on your own, although LEGO Designer Chris McVeigh has free instructions for a variety of old televisions which could provide the perfect inspiration.
It’s important to understand as you read this review of the new LEGO 71374 Nintendo Entertainment System that I never owned an NES myself as a kid back in the 80’s. But I wanted one. After all, it felt like nearly every one of my friends in the neighborhood in Japan where I lived had a Famicom, or later the true NES launched in 1985. As I went over to my friends’ houses and played Super Mario and the very first Legend of Zelda, I so very desperately wanted one! But I never did, partly because I was told that I had enough toys in the form of all the LEGO underfoot in my bedroom. Now, I can buy my own (US $229.99 | CAN $299.99 | UK £209.99) and build it for myself from LEGO, which seems even better. Does this marriage of my favorite little plastic bricks with the big plastic brick of my dreams live up to 35 years of pent-up expectations? Let’s find out…
Read our hands-on review of LEGO 71374 Nintendo Entertainment System