Each hemisphere has 16 of these slices, which you build in sequence, decorating them with landmasses or continents as you go along.

The three major Oceans, the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Ocean are also represented on the Globe, and I really love this gorgeous Compass tile in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Europe is okay – I think the Mediterranean Sea is a bit too large here, and it would look a lot nicer if it were 1 stud narrower. The poor British Isles are also quite small, and their shapes are hard to translate at this scale.

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It spins beautifully, and it’s a very satisfying to watch it spin. The wheels on the bottom give it a lot of stability, so you can go pretty fast with it if you like, although it’ll wobble quite a bit! The globe does spin if you give it a shove, providing as much of a play feature as you could ask for in a set like this. (I’m sure some clever soul will figure out how to motorize it.) Africa is superb, and one of my favourite views on the Globe. The contrast between desert and more tropical sections is done really well here. I think the tan parts are used to represent desert areas, but also elevated mountain ranges. And here’s home – Australia. First of all, kudos to the designers for including Tasmania. There’s a running joke in Australia that maps constantly leave out Tasmania, so it’s great to see this wasn’t the case here.

Next comes the most repetitive section of the build, where you build these slices or wedges for each Hemisphere, beginning with the Northern Hemisphere. Here’s a closeup at all the major continents, which are marked on it via Printed Tiles. There’s plenty of dark blue ocean, lush green landmasses, arid deserts, and bits of ice on both the North and South Pole.I’m pretty sure it was intentional, but I really appreciated the use of red and yellow round plates under each pole, to represent the Earth’s magnetic poles!

Its a fine piece of LEGO engineering and design – spheres are traditionally difficult shapes to get out of LEGO, but through a clever mix of Technic and plates, LEGO have pulled it off. Innovation [5]– A giant sphere-in-a-box is so exciting, and the engineering techniques in it are marvellousThe LEGO Globe works best as a display model, and this is one of those rare LEGO models that feel almost ornamental, much like the LEGO Botanical Collection. It’s a fun little piece to display in your home, office or in your study, and it will absolutely make you look cultured, and old-world rich. Creative types are going to have a lot of fun customising the Globe, as you can immediately change its appearance by swapping out the plates, and turning it into different planets. Maybe a Death Star? To calculate the average price, we add up the cheapest daily prices of the last 90 days and divide by 90. South America is brilliant, and I do like the Andes Mountain range represented with tan, even if its a little too straight for my liking. The LEGO Ideas Globe will be released on 1 February 2022, and will be available on LEGO.com or your local LEGO store.

There is a bit of interesting construction on the underside – a number of 1×1 round plates are surrounded by rubber tires. This is the same “grip technique” that LEGO has used in the past on some of their larger builds like the 71720 Ninjago Fire Stone Mech. This design allows the weight of the model to combine with tread of the rubber to help keep the completed set from sliding around. It’s fairly repetitive, and after awhile, you’ll go on autopilot building these wedges, but I found it quite relaxing, and I quite liked when I realised that I was building a specific continent. And last but not least, here’s a look at the printed plaque which has The Earth on it. I love the mini map! Asia is a mixed bag for me – continental Asia is well done, as is India, and the Japanese isles, but South East Asia, with its archipelago of Islands is quite hit and miss. You then move on to the exterior – the Globe is completely hollow, so the majority of the build involves building the shell, or Earth’s crust – and you start with the equator – this ring of 6 x 6 plates that form the circumference of the LEGO Globe.

The set was designed as part of the LEGO Ideas® platform, a LEGO initiative that takes new ideas that have been imagined and voted for by fans and turns them into reality. France-based LEGO fan, Guillaume Roussel, was responsible for creating the concept for the LEGO Ideas The Globe – having been inspired by the tales of Jules Verne. Talking about how he approached the design, Guillaume said: “When approaching the design, I asked myself ‘what could be creative, educational and touch most of the world?’ And the answer was just ‘the world itself’”. Hot off the official reveal, I’m honoured to be able to share an early review of the 2nd LEGO Ideas set of 2022 – 21332 Globe! Australia is one of the continents that look like a fault or massive earthquake has ripped it apart, and that’s one of the downsides of the Globe, certain parts of it look really gappy, so much so that you can sometimes see the insides, and it ends up quite distracting when you’re trying to admire the landmasses. My main criticism would be that some of the pieces seem a little poorly manufactured. Theres noticable bumps on the plates that make up the oceans where it seems there was possibly a flaw in the LEGO mould. Real Value [3]– The pricetag is quite dear, but thankfully, its size and displayability more than make up for it.