LEGO Sets and MOCs

In April 2020, I started to get involved more with LEGO. I think a huge part of this was because we were all stuck inside from the COVID pandemic. But, I discovered a tool called BrickLink Studio, and you can use it to build your own LEGO sets. This tool looks like it’s from BrickLink, but it’s fully supported by LEGO as well… in fact, LEGO’s own employees use Studio to build the official sets! So, I thought I’d share some of the LEGO sets I’ve built and designed (also called MOCs—or My Own Creations), as well as some LEGO sets I’ve purchased and played around with. See the below pictures and notes on a bunch of the LEGO sets I’ve completed!

And, if you want to download BrickLink Studio, then you can play around, too!

Featured: Harry Potter

One of the very first sets that I started putting together recently (the one that I attribute this entire LEGO phase to) are the newest editions of the Harry Potter sets. It started when my partner purchased the Quidditch Match (75956) LEGO set for me for my birthday, and from there, it turned into a whole thing. Now, I have every Harry Potter set that has come out since 2018, and I have a massive collection.

I take a little bit of leeway in putting them together; I add some extra minifigures, I move decorations to different areas, and I rearrange the location of the different Hogwarts rooms, and change up the colors of some roof decorations and pieces. But the gist of all of the sets are here. I think the primary reason that I love the Harry Potter LEGO sets is that I get to make my own little scenes. I get to create my own little world of a world that I grew up with. And every now and then, I’ll slow down my day to just admire them and remember the good memories associated with Harry Potter… essentially I consider them like a collector’s item.

Here’s a list of all of the Harry Potter LEGO sets shown:

I am also in the process of getting the Diagon Alley (75978) set up as well and adding that to my collection, but that set is just so big that it’s still a work-in-progress.

Inside the Knight Bus Knight Bus outside Platform 9 3/4 and the Hogwarts Express Saving Buckbeak Inside Hagrid's house Resurrecting Voldemort and the Womping Willow Saving Sirius and Aragog's lair The first Quidditch match The Yule Ball In the Great Hall Hogwarts interior Full Astronomy Tower The Astronomy Tower and Ravenclaw common room Slughorn's dinner party Inside the Room of Requirement Outside the Room of Requirement Grawp Umbridge's encounter with Grawp The Burrow's living room The Burrow's kitchen The Burrow's bedrooms The Burrow from the outside Inside 4 Privet Drive 4 Privet Drive: Harry's escape The first Triwizard Tournament task The arrival of the Beauxbatons carriage The Great Hall from the outside Hogwarts from the outside Hogwarts panorama The Great Hall Going through the trapdoor The 3rd floor corridor from the outside Hermione trying to find the potion that isn't poison Ron caught in the Devil's Snare's grips Fluffy being lulled to sleep by a harp In the bathroom after drinking the polyjuice potion From the top of the bathroom The outside of the bathroom
Lunar New Year Traditions (80108)

I received this Lunar New Year LEGO set as a birthday gift, and I loved putting it together. Because it was modular, it allowed me and a friend to both put pieces together without interfering with the other person. I especially loved putting this set together because it allowed me to learn more about Lunar New Year traditions for myself, and gave me an opportunity to celebrate a traditional holiday to my native ethnicity.

I was fascinated to learn that all of the stickers that have Chinese characters on them are actual words in Chinese! They mostly have the sentiment of “Good luck”, “Happy new year”, “Year of the Tiger” (2022 was a year of the tiger), etc – all translated via Google Translate.

Because of all of these details, I’d have to say this will be a set I will always enjoy looking at and showing off in my house.

Here’s a link to the set: Lunar New Year Traditions (80108)

Watching TV with the family Making holiday decorations Spring cleaning and the shop Exchanging hóngbāo and the Emperor The top of the set
Bonsai Tree (10281)

I received this Bonsai Tree as a gift, and I absolutely loved putting it together. It was a great activity to do while stuck inside recovering from Covid. Putting the branches and pink leaves on the trees was a little tiresome and repetitive after a while, but it was relaxing and didn’t take much brain power.

I put the green leaves together as well, but ended up putting the pink on the tree itself. I’d love to design another base and tree trunk so I could put my green leaves on that and have both of them side by side, but I haven’t gotten a chance to do that yet.

Here’s a link to the set: Bonsai Tree (10281)

Tree from left side Tree from the right side Tree from the top Tree from the back The tree trunk up close
School Double Dorm Suite

This dorm suite was designed after the suites that I lived at my senior year of the college. The idea is that multiple students each have their own bedroom, and they share a bathroom and common room together. In this version, each student has a TV, bed, desk, wardrobe, and chest. And in the common room, they have another TV, big wrap-around sofa, and a coffee table. The bathroom has a bathtub and shower, toilet, sink, and a washer/dryer. In college, we didn’t have our own laundry, but in this version, a laundry machine fit nicely.

The walls are made up of about 300 pieces, mainly because there’s interior walls as well as exterior walls. If this were an official LEGO design, I’d imagine there’d be more decorations on the walls, and more smaller items like notebooks, clocks, pens, computers, and books. In total, I’d estimate there’s about 650 pieces in the entire set.

Here’s a link to the instructions and piece list of the dorm room: Double Dorm Suite.

There’s also another PDF version that has windows (out of laziness, my original one didn’t have any windows): Double Dorm Suite with Windows.

NOTE: the piece list numbers can sometimes be out of sync with what’s in the LEGO Bricks and Pieces database. Sometimes I need to do a more thorough Google search in order to find the correct piece number. Secondly, the windows that I decided to make the dorm room with aren’t widely available on LEGO’s website, so you may have to do some hunting to find those pieces.

The entire suite from the front The dorm with a view of the living room The dorm with a clear view of the separation of the two bedrooms The dorm room with a view of the bathroom The front of the dorm room with windows The dorm room from the back with windows so we can see in the bedrooms The dorm with a clear view of the bathroom countertop and sink, as well as the common hallway The dorm showing off the laundry machine and the windows, as well as parts of the common living room
School Single Dorm Room

Based on both of the previous dorm room types, this one is for a student who wishes to live alone. They have a little couch and coffee table, along with a full bathroom, and washer/dryer. They also have a full bedroom as well, but it’s all within the same main room, so it’s basically a little studio apartment without a kitchen. It’s vents are realistic, and contains two doors. However, there are no windows, which isn’t particularly realistic.

In terms of the LEGO aspect, the room’s walls are made of about 135 pieces. Viewers need to use their imagination for the armoire; I didn’t create it with doors, but the idea is that there’s a rod, and minifigures can hang up their clothes. There’s two chests, one that doesn’t have a lid that students could put blankets or games in.

If this were a LEGO designed set, it would include more accessories like notebooks, pens, and wall decorations, but I wanted to keep it relatively inexpensive to get all of the pieces.

Including all of the minifigures, the entire set has about 405 LEGO pieces.

Here’s a link to the instructions and piece list of the dorm room: Single Dorm with Bathroom.

There’s also another PDF version that has windows (out of laziness, my original one didn’t have any windows): Single Dorm with Bathroom with Windows.

NOTE: the piece list numbers can sometimes be out of sync with what’s in the LEGO Bricks and Pieces database. Sometimes I need to do a more thorough Google search in order to find the correct piece number.

Dorm Room vision of main room and shower Dorm room birds-eye view Dorm room facing the TV and door Dorm room with view of bathroom
Townhouse Toy Store 3-in-1 (31105)

This 3-in-1 Toy Store was such a joy to put together. I put together all 3 sets, starting with the Flower and Cake Shops, and ending with the Toy Store. Each of the sets was fun to put together, and it was fascinating to see how the designers used the same pieces in different ways. In fact, the most enjoyable thing about all of these sets is the variety of the buildings and pieces. It was enjoyable to put all of the sets together, a great way to spend an afternoon, and this set was absolutely worth the time and cost.

Note that for the pictures of the Toy Store, I’ve substituted the female minifigure’s yellow top for the red top, and then put the child minifigure in a green top that didn’t come in the original set.

Here’s a link to the set: Townhouse Toy Store (31105)

Inside the Flower Shop Birds-eye view of the Flower Shop Outside the Flower Shop Inside the Cake Shop Inside the Cake Shop with a view of the office Outside the Cake Shop looking at the patio Outside the Cake Shop Outside the Cake Shop from the side Outside the front of the Toy Store Outside the side of the Toy Store Inside the Toy Store The Toy Store with floors separated
Charles Dickens Tribute (40410)

I got this Charles Dickens Tribute set as a free extra set from spending a certain amount of money at the LEGO store. I’m not normally a Charles Dickens or a Christmas Carol fan, so normally, I wouldn’t spend any money on this type of set. But putting it together was actually an absolute joy!

It was fun watching the book go from a wobbly frame to something sturdy, and the little room had lots of details with stickers and everything. I love how each of the minifigures have at least one stud to stand on, and the inside of the room is completely lined with tiles, meaning the floor is completely flat. As a bonus, the entire finished set still fits inside the original box, making it a perfect little gift for the holidays!

I think perhaps the greatest part of this set, though, is the fact that it has a built-in little drawer. Since I’m gifting it to somebody for the holiday, the drawer is perfect for putting all of the extra LEGO pieces in. they fit perfectly, and don’t even wobble around too much.

Overall, the design of this little set was really great, and it was enjoyable to put together.

Here’s a link to the set: Charles Dickens Tribute (40410)

Front of set Inside the house Birds-eye view featuring the drawer Outside The back of the house
Cat 3-in-1 (30574)

I was so excited when I saw that one of the freebies at the LEGO store was a little cat! It was also a 3-in-1, so it also came with an ostrich option and a cute little crab option. I put all three designs together to see which ones I liked the most.

The crab was by far the cutest. Its claws were a stretch, but I do have to give the designer credit for being able to come up with so many designs with so few pieces. The ostrich was impressive, essentially considering how it used all of the LEGO pieces. The cat…. well, I think it may be the ugliest LEGO cat I’ve ever seen. It was very disappointing. The way my partner described it was that this set was designed by somebody who hates cats and was just forced to make one.

However, putting all three mini-sets together made for a fun little afternoon of LEGO. But if you’re deciding to purchase this set (if it’s even available for purchase), don’t spend money hoping for an adorable little kitty, because what you’ll actually get is the cat of your nightmares.

Here’s a link to the set (Amazon): Cat (30574)

Crab front Crab side Ostrich Ostrich closeup Cat
Monkie Kid (30341)

In normal circumstances, I wouldn’t purchase any LEGO sets from Monkie Kid. I’m not even entirely sure what it is… maybe a TV show or movie brand or something? We received the set as a LEGO freebie when making another LEGO purchase. However, I found it was actually pretty enjoyable to put together.

Putting together the little motorcycle was fun, and the minifigure’s facial expressions are definitely worth it. All-in-all, it was a fun little 10 minutes to spend doing LEGO. I wouldn’t spend any actual money on this set though.

Here’s a link to the set: Monkie Kid’s Delivery Bike (30341)

Monkie Kid Monkie Kid
School Double Dorm Room

This dorm room is designed to be a home for two students, and also contains a combination washer/dryer and a full bathroom with a large sink/vanity, toilet, bathtub, and shower. It’s vents are realistic, and contains two doors. However, there are no windows, which isn’t particularly realistic.

In terms of the LEGO aspect, the room’s walls are made of about 135 pieces. The two beds, desks, chairs, and armoires are completely identical, so no one student gets more furniture than any other. Viewers need to use their imagination for the armoires; I didn’t create them with doors, but the idea is that there’s a rod, and minifigures can hang up their clothes. There’s one chest per student to keep their belongings in as well. Lastly, my original design wouldn’t have put in a door with windows, but I wasn’t able to find the ideal door on LEGO to purchase, so I used what I had in stock and colored the door black.

If this were a LEGO designed set, it would include more accessories like notebooks, pens, and wall decorations, but I wanted to keep it relatively inexpensive to get all of the pieces.

Including all of the minifigures, the entire set has about 450 LEGO pieces.

Here’s a link to the instructions and piece list of the dorm room: Double Dorm with Bathroom.

There’s also another PDF version that has windows (out of laziness, my original one didn’t have any windows): Double Dorm with Bathroom with Windows.

NOTE: the piece list numbers can sometimes be out of sync with what’s in the LEGO Bricks and Pieces database. Sometimes I need to do a more thorough Google search in order to find the correct piece number. Also, the mirror pieces in my below pictures are the wrong shade of blue… use your imagination.

Dorm Room top facing minifigures Dorm Room top facing bathroom mirror Dorm Room top facing door Dorm Room top facing door
Disney Princess Storybook Adventures (43174, 43175, 43176, 43177)

At first glance, I wasn’t interested in these LEGO sets because the minifigures are a different design. But after I realized they had a Mulan set (she’s my favorite because she’s Chinese), I realized that I should give it a chance.

So I started with just that one box. I actually really liked it. I liked how the entire set collapses into this latching book for easy moving around. I think the minifigures are actually really cute, and as much as I hate putting stickers on, I like how customizable the stickers make the set.

So I started moving onto other boxes… first Little Mermaid, then Frozen, and lastly, Beauty and the Beast. After I had them all, they make quite a picture perfect little collection all lined up together.

Out of all of them, I’d actually say my favorite is either Frozen or Mulan, just because I think they’re so adorable. But as a set of four, they’re just about perfect all on a shelf together.

Here are their links:

Storybooks all facing front Storybooks from top Storybooks at diagonal Storybooks from the back Storybooks from the side Beauty and the Beast courtyard Beauty and the Beast ballroom Beauty and the Beast top The Little Mermaid beach The Little Mermaid under the sea The Little Mermaid top Frozen indoors close-up Frozen indoors Frozen outdoors Frozen top Mulan at home Mulan at the army camp Mulan at the army camp straight ahead Mulan top
Raft

This cute little raft was made from pieces that I found in my LEGO piece stash. The raft is LEGO piece #75977, and is found in many LEGO sets, as shown in BrickLink. The oars are piece #2542, and can also be found in many LEGO sets, as shown in BrickLink. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they overlap.

The minifigures were designed by myself, and I specifically ordered top, bottom, face, and hair pieces of each minifigure (named Ben and Olivia). The chain is the finishing touch, and allows the raft to be hooked up to a dock.

Raft Front Raft Back Raft hooked on 'dock' Raft top
Unikitty Roller Coaster Wagon (30406)

I think my partner and I received this set for free when we made some purchase over $45 or something at the LEGO store. I wouldn’t have purchased it otherwise, simply because I had never even heard of Unikitty before.

However, it was a fun little set to put together. The wagon actually rolls, and it really shoots out little pieces as it goes. It’s pretty fun and cute, and Unikitty is adorable.

Here’s a link to the set: Unikitty Roller Coaster Wagon (30406)

Cart Front Cart Back Cart with piece ejected out
Flower Display (40187)

In my recent newfound LEGO phase, this was one of the first little sets that I did. When I put it together, I wasn’t aware of what LEGO would turn into in my life.

My partner had the inkling that I would enjoy LEGO since he saw me enjoy putting together Ikea furniture. So, he wanted to get me a little test set, to see if I liked it. This is what he started with. It’s cute and fun, but the rose is a bit top-heavy, and so it falls over a lot. It’s actually fallen over so many times that eventually I lost the little leaf when it fell on the backside of a heavy piece of furniture. I’m sure I’ll find it again when I move next.

Here’s a link to the set: Flower Display (40187)

Flower Display side by side Flower Display top Flower Display showcasing depth
People Pack – Fun Fair (60234)

I originally got this set because it had a lot of minifigures. As any of my readers of my LEGO creations can tell, I love my minifigures.

But as I was putting together this set, I realized that it came with a lot of intricate parts. All of the fairground games are actually usable (granted on a really small scale). The game where you hit the platform with a mallot to raise the ball to the bell at the top really works if you bop it with a little oomf. The event where you shoot down the targets works with the little toy shooter. And the duck-ring toss really spins! I’m very impressed, not just with the minifigures, but with the details in the set design as well.

The only thing I can’t figure out is what the blue paddle is supposed to be…

In my pictures, I added a green floor to keep all of the pieces together and standing—that base plate does not come with the set.

Here’s a link to the set: People Pack – Fun Fair (60234)

Fairground front Fairground back Fairground side Fairground top
School Quad Dorm Room and Lounge

This dormitory room is designed as a mixture between a college dorm room and a Harry Potter style common room. It is designed to be a home for four students, and contains two couches, chairs, and a coffee table for the students to talk and study. It has huge windows on one side of the room, to let in plenty of natural light.

In terms of the LEGO aspect, the room’s walls are made of about 175 pieces. The four beds, desks, chairs, and armoires are completely identical, so no one student gets more furniture than any other. Viewers need to use their imagination for the armoires; I didn’t create them with doors, but the idea is that there’s a rod, and minifigures can hang up their clothes. There’s lots of chests for the students to keep their belongings in as well. Each student has a backpack, too. Lastly, my original design wouldn’t have put in a door with windows, but I wasn’t able to find the ideal door on LEGO to purchase, so I used what I had in stock and colored the door black.

If this were a LEGO designed set, it would include more accessories like notebooks, pens, and wall decorations, but I wanted to keep it relatively inexpensive to get all of the pieces.

Including all of the minifigures, the entire set has about 500 LEGO pieces.

Here’s a link to the instructions and piece list of the dorm room: Quad Dorm and Lounge.

NOTE: the piece list numbers can sometimes be out of sync with what’s in the LEGO Bricks and Pieces database. Sometimes I need to do a more thorough Google search in order to find the correct piece number. Secondly, the windows that I decided to make the dorm room with aren’t widely available on LEGO’s website, so you may have to do some hunting to find those pieces.

Dorm Room top facing windows Dorm Room top facing napping minifigure Dorm Room through window Dorm Room top facing door Dorm Room top with view of door
Four Seater Car

This 163 brick piece creates a one-of-a-kind minifigure-sized car. This car is unique in LEGO land because it can seat four LEGO minifigures at once; two in the front seat, and two in the backseat. Most LEGO cars for purchase only can seat one or two minifigures, one right behind each other. The roof is removable, so you can have easy access to the inside of the car. However, the car isn’t too realistic—the wheels don’t turn left/right. Lastly, although there is no trunk or frunk, there’s plenty of room in the main part of the car for your minifigure’s accessories.

To make the license plate, I used stickers from the Hogwarts Whomping Willow (75953) set on plain 1x2 black plates.

Here’s a link to the instructions and piece list of the car: Four Seater Car.

NOTE: the piece list numbers can sometimes be out of sync with what’s in the LEGO Bricks and Pieces database. Sometimes I need to do a more thorough Google search in order to find the correct piece number.

Featured in the photographs are two minifigures I’ve designed (who I’ve named Taryn and Emmy for fun).

Car front Car back Car with driver door open Car top view
Diving Yacht (60221)

This diving yacht didn’t have long instructions, and was enjoyable to put together. It didn’t have lots of small pieces to attach, since the main boat was just one big piece. However, there were a lot of stickers. In general, given the price, this set was a worthwhile purchase, and a joy to put together.

Here’s a link to the set: Diving Yacht (60221)

Yacht with cover Scuba diver underwater Yacht with top off Two scuba divers underwater
DOTS Picture Frame (41914)

At first, I was a bit skeptical about these DOTS sets. How am I supposed to make sure that my design looks good? So I started off by copying one of the example pictures, but soon realized that with DOTS, everything you’d make looks just fine! There’s no way to go wrong with DOTS; they provide space for creativity and flexibility, giving plenty of ways to let out our inner kid!

Here’s a link to the set: DOTS Picture Frame (41914)

Also featured in the last photograph is my personal minifigure that my coworker made at the LEGO store for me. Holding a wand, because I’m a Harry Potter lover, and on a platform decorated with leftover DOTS pieces.

DOTS frame design 1 forward DOTS frame design 1 tilted DOTS frame and minifigure
Helicopter Adventure 3-in-1 (31092)

This fun 3-in-1 is a joy to use. All of the sets are simple to follow, and each one maybe only takes about 15 minutes to put together, making it a short and enjoyable way to pass the time. I’d highly recommend any of them.

Here’s a link to the set: Helicopter Adventure (31092)

Helicopter front Helicopter back Steamboat front Steamboat back Plane front Plane back
Magic Box

This little box (10 studs by 9 studs) is the ideal size for keeping personal items on the go. It can be used as a jewelry box, storage for other small LEGO pieces, or a place to keep headphones and short cords while traveling. It’s extremely durable and portable. Although my digital designer didn’t quite have all of the colors I’d like to use, the design is flexible, so you can use whatever color pieces you have in your storage bins.

An important thing to note is that if you’re going to follow along with my PDF instructions and parts list, the hinge plate that the instructions show is difficult to find, so you may not be able to purchase that part. LEGO has other hinge pieces for purchase that will be the same size.

Here’s a link to the instructions and piece list of the box: Magic Box.

NOTE: the piece list numbers can sometimes be out of sync with what’s in the LEGO Bricks and Pieces database. Sometimes I need to do a more thorough Google search in order to find the correct piece number.

Box with squares on lid closed Box with squares on lid open Grey and black box closed Grey and black box closed from back Grey and black box opened
Diagon Alley (75978)

I’m entering this small little Diagon Alley set as a separate entry from the Featured Harry Potter sets because this one is on a much smaller scale. While the majority of LEGO sets are what’s called mini scale, this one below is micro scale, meaning it’s even smaller!

Here’s the link to the set: Diagon Alley (75978)

Micro scale Diagon Alley with Gringotts
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