In this episode of the Brick Magnate podcast, I discuss the Lego Pac-Man Arcade set.

I share my excitement when it was announced, talk about the building experience, the interactive elements, and the value for money of this geeky gem.

What's up, everyone? You're listening to episode 8 of the Brick Magnate podcast.

I'm your host, Mike Morrison, aka the Brick Magnate, and

welcome to my little corner of the Internet where I get

to share my Lego obsession with,

hopefully, fellow obsessives. The and

so we are back on track with our,

Lego set reviews. This week, I'm gonna be talking about the

Pac Man arcade set. And I've got to tell you, I almost

exploded when this was announced, when they released the

little trailer on the Instagram account. That was an

instant kind of shut up and take my money moment. It

just looked so damn epic. So this set was a day

1 purchase for me, and it did not disappoint whatsoever.

So it's a bit of a spoiler. This is gonna be a very very

positive review. So this set comes in at

2,651 pieces and it retails

at around £230. That's about

$270 over in the states.

Again, I always feel we get kind of the the raw end of the stick.

Raw end of the stick? That's not the saying.

The there's another saying which involves swearing, which I'll not use

here. But, yeah, us Brits kind of don't get the

the fair end of pricing, I would say.

But, anyway, let's not get into that. Let's start off by talking about the build

experience for the Lego Pac Man arcade set. And, really, this

was such a fun building experience. Perhaps

one of the most unique and most varied builds that I've done for a while

because you've not only got the outer units and obviously all the

things like the joystick and the controls and the little knobs, and even the

little kind of, mock up of the the coin

slot, which they did use stickers for,

which is kind of a shame, but they also used a little light so when

you press the button it lit up. You know? Simple things, please,

simple mind. So you had all of the outer unit, and, obviously, it's a

it's a bright vibrant color as well,

which is always a lot more fun than, you know, building something

massive and gray, which if you're a Star Wars fan, that's what most of your

LEGO builds actually look like. So you had a lot going on

the outside, but there was also what was quite a

complex set of inner workings too. And,

really, the internal stuff is where this set shines

because you actually create what

functions or looks like and and replicates a working Pac Man

maze. So there's a little kind of crank on the side

of the arcade set. And as you turn that around, you've got this tiny

little Pac Man that's actually working his way through,

an authentically replicated maze. Right? And he's

being chased by the ghosts, but it's not it's not just kind

of like, you know, Pac man and 4 ghosts on the line. Like, all the

ghosts are in different spots, and they're all kind of finding their own ways around

the maze. And it looks really really cool. It looks very very

impressive, and it's going to make you geek the hell

out if you were one of those eighties kids who

played Pac Man at the arcade or, you know, if if you're into

gaming and particularly retro gaming of any of any kind,

that interactivity, that effect that you get

is kinda worth the price alone. It was so so cool.

Impressive as hell, and the the various techniques and

mechanisms and and build methods that go into

achieving that end result really, really

impressive. I think it's the most I've probably the most

I've been impressed at that sort of mechanical side.

I don't do the Technic sets, so those of you who have probably done the

Technic stuff, are probably thinking, yeah, this is just this is

just bread and butter. But, you know, for someone who

doesn't do those sets and hasn't tried those sets yet,

like, I was really, really impressed,

and I love when Lego do this. When they come up with something that is

so clever, it makes you, the person who's building it. Feel

like you're the clever one. Right? Like, you're you've just

wired up an actual arcade machine from scratch yourself

using nothing but basic tools. Right? Whenever

Lego do that, whenever they make you feel like you've

accomplished something extremely clever. When all you've done is followed, you know,

the instructions of someone who is actually the clever one.

Like, That's a very special moment. You get that smarty pants moment.

Like, there's a few sets where you get that where

It's just joyous as a as a Lego fan, as a total geek,

and you feel like you've really really done something

clever. That that game board,

so that maze, that makes up a fair amount with the build time, but it's

not boring as at all because as you're building

this game board and you're putting the different elements in place, you're also

building the anticipation to see this in action. Right? Because you know

what you know, sometimes you'll build parts of Lego setting you. You're not

sure from the outset what it's actually leading to.

And then you you realize what it is, and you think, oh, that's cool. But

with this, you know what you're building. So you have that excitement, that anticipation,

and loads of little kind of, oh, that's really clever moments

as things start coming together. And you'd think that with all that clever

stuff in the game board happening that that it'd be

where Lego would stop in terms of the interactivity.

Like, that in and of itself is interactive enough, but they

actually squeeze in, you know, working knobs, little high

score display, at the top of the arcade unit.

And there's a whole detachable model with

larger versions of Pac Man and the ghosts. That actually looks

really really great. You know, they've done them a good substantial,

like, attractive looking size.

Attractive movies. The first time Pac Man's we called attractive, unless we're

talking miss Pac Man. The yeah. That's a whole of the podcast.

But, yeah, there's a whole detachable model with a mechanism in place where

you turn a knob on this model, and the ghosts and

Pac Man all flip around 180 so that,

you know, in one view, it's the colored ghosts chasing Pac

Man. You flip it, the ghosts all turn that blue color with

that worried expression on their face, and Pac Man's chasing them. You know, what

happens in the game when Pac Man eats a power pellet. And

so, again, we're talking about so many different mechanisms and

interactive elements inner set where they probably could've got

away with just doing the game board

because that that's enough. But you can tell whoever

built this, whoever designed it at Lego was a

massive retro gaming fan and just wanted to just pack

in as many fun interactive additions as

possible. Now that detachable model,

It's a very cool addition, but I'm not sure the set actually needed

it. Like, they probably could have sold it separately.

Like, as a little, you know, 30, $40 set

or had it as a gift with purchase.

And there was kinda that feeling during the build when when you're working on

that that it was a bit of a distraction. Right? Because you're

like, the the main event. I wanna work on the main event. I

wanna build I wanna build my Pacman arcade. So kind of having

that that model as a separate piece of the build.

It does kinda feel like it's holding you back from the thing you really wanna

do, and it's not it's not an essential piece of the build.

It's just something cool they thought they'd throw in there

that doesn't need to be in there.

That sounds like I'm really kind of, you know, looking a gift horse in the

mouth, but, yeah, the it's certainly worth worth

noting. So overall, I really, really enjoyed this build. Now it's not a 5

out of 5 because there were some parts that got a little boring

mostly with building the outer walls of the arcade unit because there's only so

much you can do to make building straight walls feel exciting.

Right? But this gets a very strong 4a half

out of 5 for the build experience. And the

quality of the build experience is reflected in the end

result. Now as a display piece, this is fantastic.

It looks unique, vibrant colors. They got the size and the

scale of it perfect too. So because they went for that tabletop

arcade style rather than a full cabinet arcade.

That was a very smart decision because it means that everything's very

satisfying in terms of its its size. Right?

And so it makes for a really great feature set for

any LEGO enthusiasts, but also any gaming enthusiast

who maybe just dabbles in the odd piece of LEGO. This is gonna be a

great great addition to their collection. And, of course, the interactive

elements really take it to another level too. You know when someone

sees a set, so when you have a guest or friend around who

doesn't judge you for your Lego obsession. And they see something

you've built and they're like, oh, wow. Yeah. That that's really cool. Right? And they

wanna look at it and prod and probe. And then you get that kind of,

like, that mega nerd giddiness where you you get to say,

oh, yeah. It's really cool, but wait until you see this. Check

this thing out. Right? And you get to show off, you know, the the little

hidden section or the cool feature that maybe isn't obvious.

The that's not just me. Right? Please say it's not just

me. But those moments, those kind of,

like, nerdy giddiness, the this set is perfect for

that because there's so many little things like, oh, yeah. It's really really cool. Watch

this, and then you turn the crank. Watch this, and then you fiddle with the

knobs. Watch this, and then you flip the interact the the

detachable model thing to turn Pac Man and them around.

And they even, you know, they're they're yeah. They include a little Easter egg of

a minifig playing Pacman at an arcade too, so that's kind of

if we take the back panel off the the arcade.

You've got that cool little scene, with the mini

fake hidden in there as an Easter egg as well.

So, obviously, the game board is crazy impressive when we're talking about showing

off your set. I I'd

I put it up there with the TV in the NES

set. Again, for any of you who have that, who've seen that, the,

the the Nintendo, the NES Lego set comes with

a TV that again has a little turnable crank on the side,

and that crank kind of the

it it it revolves what is a a

good reproduction of one of the Super Mario Brothers

levels. And it's kind of you you have to see it.

If you've not seen it, look up a video or go on the Lego site.

It's kinda built in a way that you've got a little Mario in the middle

of the screen, and he's kind of climbing up the different

blocks and dodging the different articles and jumping when he needs to jump.

Like, it's so smart. It's so so clever. The game

board for the Pac Man arcade. You might

argue it doesn't hit the heights of that TV, but it's in the right

kind of vicinity in terms of something that's just

really cool. They put a lot of thought into it. They probably didn't

need to do it, like, just as a display

piece, just the arcade unit would have satisfied

people, but it really shows their love of of the

concept that they've they've made an interactive. So

yeah. One of those things that feels like it's too cool to be achievable with

just Lego. And again, I'm sure the Technics fans out there

are, like, please. But, hey,

leave me alone. I'm gonna get into Technics at some point.

So yeah. Again, now I think about it. I mentioned that Easter egg of the

minifake playing Pac Man. So the little scene that's in

there. Now I think about it, they've added Easter eggs to

every gaming unit LEGO set that I've seen from them.

So the Nintendo set that I've talked about, that has a little

hidden recreation of the 2nd level of the

1st world in Super Mario Brothers. So there's a kind of a a little

detachable panel on the side of the NES unit. Pull that

away. And it's just a really small scale,

tribute Easter egg to that level, and that's hidden away.

In the Atari, model, which, have I

talked? I've got a feeling I have. Yes. Episode 2, I talked

about the, Atari, games console

LEGO set. Again, they've got a little Easter egg

hidden in there when you open, the unit. You pull the the front of the

unit. It flips up this bedroom scene of a

kid. Again, 80s kids sitting on the floor playing his

Atari. So, it's kind of this running theme. I don't know if

that's deliberate where they've kinda said, you know, anytime we do this kind of gaming

set, we want to have this kind of Easter egg.

Or maybe it's just because they know the people who are drawn to these sets

will just go nuts for these little, hidden scenes.

So, yeah, I hope they keep it up with to do more gaming sets, but

I'm not sure I'm not sure if they can do many more gaming

sets. I'm not sure if there are any that are iconic enough for them to

make more. Maybe n 64 possibly, but that's

more about the controller. I think the controller is a bit more iconic. The mind

to a Game Boy. That would be quite cool actually.

Probably an easy one for them to do. Do a little Game Boy. They could

probably do something interactive with, the Tetris blocks. First

thing that comes to mind, and have a little Easter egg in there. Who knows?

We'll see. But all of this is to say the end result is extremely good,

and it instantly became one of my favorite display pieces. So this gets

a 5 out of 5 end result from me.

So let's talk dollars, cents, pounds, and

pennies value for money. Again, this comes in at $270

for 2,651 pieces. So it's just a

tiny fraction over the 10¢ per piece

measuring stick when it comes to determining the value of your LEGO

set. But I think the fact that there weren't a whole bunch of 1

square pieces or dots in there need to be considered.

Some sets where the piece count the sounds like it's real good value,

but then there's a whole bunch of tiny pieces, 1 square

pieces, the little one square tiles that

sometimes feel they were just added in there just up the brick

count to make it seem like better value. So this isn't one of

those sets. So, it's it's right on

the on the button, I think, for just

been just been on the line as to whether this is is

appropriately priced. I would

argue, however, that the detachable model of

Pac Man and the ghosts really wasn't essential to this build.

It's it still feels like a little bit of an odd edition. I don't know

if it's just because they failed. So the way that

the way that they have it in the product shots is they have this model

sitting on top of the arcade. And it does sit there and it fits and

stuff, and it looks cool, and that's why I have mine. So I don't know

if it's just they felt like just the arcade unit was

lacking something visually, and the top

being flat and and kinda nothing going on. They maybe thought

they needed something to to up the

the wow factor. But, yeah, it's it's it

doesn't I don't know. It it it just seems a

little superfluous for me. It is a cool addition,

but the arcade on its own already delivers enough cool.

Right? I just don't feel like the model adds enough

for it to be as big a part of the build because, you know, you

spend, probably looking at 3 or 4 bags

on that. So it's not it's not just a tiny little addition.

Might even have been more. And if I remember rightly,

from when I build it. I think it's the first thing you build. So it

kind of delays getting stuck into the the arcade.

But obviously what it does add is the piece

count which in turn ups the price. So

maybe I I I just have it stuck in my crawl that

it might have been a better value, better idea to leave

this edition out. Sell it separately, have it as a gift with

purchase, something like that, and maybe get the price

close at that $200 mark to make it more affordable, more accessible

for more people. Still, though, the fun that you have building this, the

quality of the set overall are what is important. And my point about

the detachable model, probably, just my own nitpicking. I'm not

sure if people will agree with me on it. I just think I just

think for something that feels so optional,

that has contributed to the price being at a place where,

a lot of people might have been priced out from getting this or might have

thought twice about it. So I don't know. I'm gonna give it 4 out of

5 for value for money. I don't think I can punish it too much, just

to my own hot take about what is still a quite a

cool part of the set. But, yeah, the end result,

the quality of the build, the fun of the build, the feelings you get as

you're building it. All those little, you know,

intangible moments where you feel really smart and you, like,

you realize what's coming together. That all make it

worth the investment. So I did tell you this is gonna be a very positive

review. My excitement from the initial announcement all the way

through the build, and then it's seen the finished result. It didn't wave at once.

I was not disappointed. In fact, it exceeded my expectations.

It's a true true geeky gem, and that's why it scored so

highly. Four and a half out of 5 for build, 5 out of 5 for

result, four zero five for value for money. And if you wanna

take a closer look at the Lego Pac Man arcade, check out at brick

magnate on TikTok and on Instagram. That's atbrickmagnet,

m a g n a t e. There, you'll find videos of all the sets

discussed on this podcast and more behind the scenes of what I'm

working from. And, of course, if you're listening on your phone, you're listening in a

podcast app, make sure you hit that subscribe button to ensure you do not

miss a single episode of the show, and I'm gonna be back again

next week talking about the Lego Gringotts

set, which is the latest Harry Potter set recently released.

Was an interesting one. Again, I kind of maybe

got a divisive take on this one. So,

yeah, make sure you stay tuned. Make sure you subscribe to the

show to check that episode out. Have a good week of

bricking. I'll be back again next week with more

brick based buffoonery here on the brick magnet podcast. See you then.