Coming this March, LEGO will be releasing the LEGO Ideas The Evolution of STEM (21355). The set has 879 pieces and retails for $79.99. The set was conceived by the LEGO Ideas and Target collaboration building contest, Celebrate the Wonder of STEM and a fan vote was held. Ultimately, the Knowledge of Power by danielbradleyy was chosen as the winner and ultimately with some redesigning, we have the finished product.
Minifigures
There are three minifigures in the set, Marie Curie (née Skłodowska), Sir Isaac Newton, and George Washington Carver. Marie Curie has on a black dress with an unprinted dress piece. Her double-sided head shows her with a smirk on one side and a scared expression on the other. Her accessories include a flask as well as a printed tile of the element Radium that is glow in the dark. The element was first discovered by Marie and her husband Pierre in 1898 and was first isolated 12 years later. The glow represents the radioactivity that the element has.
Sir Isaac Newton has on a sand-green coat with a white scarf. The legs are dual-molded with some black shoes. His double-sided head also shows him with a smirk and a scared look. He has some curly gray hair which is reminiscent of what he looked like in historical books. His accessory is an apple.
Lastly, we have George Washington Carver who is seen wearing a brown coat with a pink flower on the lapel. His head shows him with a bushy mustache. His accessories include a printed 1×1 round tile of some peanuts and a brick-built oil can.
Build
Like with the submitted project, the whole build sits on top of an open book. This is a popular concept as LEGO has done a few sets this way in the past.
The book has a knob on the back that you can turn to spin the DNA strand around as well as pumping the carbon atom up and down.
Towards the front, there’s a classroom/laboratory setting. The left table has a microscope with a petri dish of organisms made with a printed 1×1 round tile. There’s also Newton’s prism that has a hidden meaning later on.
The middle section of the desk has a stickered chalkboard with various lessons like the Pythagorean theorem, the Golden Ratio, Newton’s Second Law of Motion, and a sketch of Carver’s plant system.
The right side has old school computer with a pixelated Classic Space logo.
In the cabinets beneath, there’s a sticker showing some books along with a trilobite fossil and a old school LEGO figure.
Behind the microscope, there’s a rotating robot arm used in modern factories.
On the opposite side, there’s a sticker Golden Record representing the ones uses by the Voyager probe to see if there are any intelligent extraterrestrial life in space.
Towards the middle of the book on the left side, there’s an early 20th century version of the car. It looks pretty good considering the limited amount of parts used for it.
The opposite side of the book has a flowerbed for George Washington Carver. There’s a small variety of flowers here including a brick-built sunflower.
At the back side of the book on the left, we have the famous apple tree that Isaac Newton sits under that led him to discover the Law of Universal Gravitation.
On the right side of the book, there’s a microscale cityscape of New York City. It is represented by some recognizable landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, the Chrysler Building, the Flatiron Building, and the Times Square billboards.
In the middle of the book, we have the biggest items. The one in dead center of the book is a representation of the carbon atom. This is shown by the ball and clips that is depicting the protons, neutrons, and electrons.
The back of the book has the most tedious part of the whole build which is the DNA strand. The double helix is made up of sections stacked on top of each other using various Technic parts.
Hanging off the DNA is the Voyager probe, a space shuttle, and a bumblebee.
If you think we’re done, we’re not. There are actually some stuff hidden on the sides of the books. The left side has 16 different colored 1×1 tiles to represent the color spectrum.
The right side of the book also has something hidden underneath the pages. This one has a Morse code that spells out STEM.
Results
As a science fan, I like what LEGO has done with the LEGO Ideas The Evolution of STEM (21355). The build doesn’t stray too far from the original submission and the additional amount of pieces allows LEGO to add even more details. All of the mini builds have something to do with STEM and together makes a nice display piece. An additional minifigure would’ve been even better since we’re missing one to represent the Technology branch of STEM. The price point of $80 isn’t too bad but the set is made up of mostly small builds. You can decide if all of them collectively is worth it.
Thank you to LEGO for sending in this set for me to review. The content above represents my own opinion and not the company. Review sets sent in does not guarantee a positive review.
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