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Hi everyone. Before we begin, I have to confess something. I am NOT into sports. Like, at all. I'm a lazy nerd and the only sports I care about are Quidditch, Pro-bending, and Podracing. So when LEGO kindly sent me this set for review, I didn't even know what it was supposed to be at first. What is FC Barcelona? Why is LEGO offering a GWP (gift with purchase) celebrating it? Why are those minifigs dancing around a weird lamp post like in some sort of cult-like ritual? And most importantly, is it a good set? Join me as I find out the answers to these questions and more! Set Number: 40485 Name: FC Barcelona Celebration Theme: Promotional Year of Release: 2021 Ages: 18+ Pieces: 178 Minifigs: 5 Price: Free with purchase The Box So after some research, I now know that FC Barcelona is a Spanish professional football/soccer club, one of the most popular and valuable teams in the world who have won many trophies since their founding in 1899, so I can see why LEGO chose to base a set on it, although the timing of the release of this set is a bit questionable as the club seems to be struggling at the moment, especially after their star player Messi recently left the team. The "weird lamp post" is a drinking fountain located in La Rambla, Barcelona, known as La Font de Canaletes which has become a traditional gathering spot for FCB fans to celebrate victories. Such an occasion is nicely depicted on the box where a group of minifigs is waving their flags around the fountain. A couple of them have even climbed up onto the fountain which seems a bit excessive, but knowing how wild sports fans can get, this is actually pretty normal. The back of the box shows a similar scene, but at a slightly lower camera angle and with an alternate setup for the minifigs. One of them is now jumping off of the lamp post. These figs are getting wilder with every picture! The box is very tall and features the same "Adults Welcome" branding as every adult-oriented set in recent years with a glossy black background and a monochrome strip of various tiles running all around the bottom of the box. The strip is colored dark red in this case to match one of FCB's colors. And boy does it look depressing. Look, I'm not completely against this dark adult branding as it does work for certain sets, but this is one of the cases where I don't think it does. Instead of celebrating in a colorful painted environment (such as a rendition of the plaza in which the fountain is located), the minifigs are waving their flags in a cold, dark void. It's just doesn't look as fun as it could. However, I have to give Lego credit for creating a full professional box design for this set rather than just sticking a picture in a generic yellow box like they did for previous GWPs like the Roman Chariot or the Ulysses Space Probe. The top of the box features the LEGO and FCB logos as well as a picture of Lamp-jumper Guy for scale reference. He seems to be quite happy about having the honor of being the featured fig here. The bottom just has the usual icons and small print and a barcode. The left side of the box just had the logos again while the right side has choking hazard warnings and the set name in different languages. Contents Inside the box you will find two loose black 6x16 plates and four unnumbered bags, one of which includes the instructions and stickers. It's nice that they chose to protect the instructions and stickers this way, although in my copy of the set the booklet was still bent in the middle, meaning that the stickers that lay in the center of it were too. The stickers weren't really damaged though, so it's alright. Notable Parts There aren't a whole lot of notable parts in this set, but here are a few that are worth highlighting. There is only one exclusive part which is a large rectangular flag in dark red that appears for the first time in this color. The only printed part in the set is the 2x2 round tile with hole with rotor blades printed on it of which there are four in the set. There are also four black lanterns, a fairly recent mold which is nice to get a few of. The only rare part in the set is the gray wheelchair which has only appeared in 7 other sets so far. Instructions While LEGO is keeping the dark background on the boxes, they have thankfully done away with the black backgrounds on the instructions for these adult sets after many complaints from consumers. Thus, the instructions in this set are pretty easy to read thanks to featuring the new light gray background which provides good contrast to the rather dark build. One thing I found interesting, though, is that the instructions have you attach the faucets in a way that they don't line up with the sinks. I already noticed this inaccuracy in the pictures on the box, but dismissed it as it could have been a mistake by the photographer, but no, this is how they are supposed to be oriented. It's not a big issue as it is very easy to fix by just turning the lamp post so they line up right. I just thought it was odd they designed it this way. Minifigs Apparently one of the things that makes FC Barcelona special is that unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. Its supporters are so important they even have their own wiki page. Therefore, it only makes sense that a set that celebrates FCB features minifigs of its fans. And they didn't skimp on them either. This small set comes with a whooping 5 minifigs which is unheard of for a GWP set. But you know what they say: 3 is a crowd, 4 is a party, and 5 is a football club. Yup, that's definitely how that saying goes. Not only are there a lot of figs, but there is also good diversity as there are 2 female and 3 male figures, including a handicapped person, all with different heads, hat/hair pieces, and pants colors. Furthermore, unlike the GWP that came with the Old Trafford which came with minifigs with unprinted torsos, all 5 figs here come with a new FCB jersey torso. It's not super detailed (the badge is a bit too simple for my liking) but it's still instantly recognizable. Aside from the torso, they are all made of very generic and common parts, but that makes it easy to mix and match parts to create your own FCB supporter minifigs. They all also come with accessories to show their love of their team, except for the dark haired lady - which I guess is good since someone should have their hands free to wheel the wheelchair around. Below you can see the women and Larry Lampjumper as I have decided to call him. Ponytail Girl has a dark red 1x4 tile with a sticker to make it look like a scarf with the name and founding year of the club on it which is pretty neat. Larry has a simple yellow flag with red stripes which should be a lot more versatile. The other two figs are Glasses Guy and Wheelchair Guy, both of whom are wearing baseball caps. Or should I say soccer caps? Or sportsball caps? Yeah, let's go with sportsball caps. Each is in one of the two main FCB colors. Glasses Guy has the giant flag with the FCB stripes and logo while Wheelchair Guy has a regular yellow flag with the word "Barça" repeated on it which is what the club is colloquially known as. All of them have printing on the back of their torsos which is much appreciated. However, only the black haired figs have alternate faces printed on the back of their heads, mainly because they're the only ones whose hair covers the entire backside of their head. The woman's is a sleeping face and Larry's is sad face. I guess these could be useful for when the game is not going well or when it gets so boring that the spectators fall asleep. Build The is actually pretty simple with hardly any interesting techniques. In fact, the first half of the build is quite repetitive as you are mostly just putting 58 1x3 plates and tiles onto the base. Thankfully, the designer had a bit of mercy and spared you from putting on 6 of the plates/tiles that would have been under the fountain and instead just has you put a yellow 2x2 plate there instead to support the fountain. The real reason they did this is probably for cost-cutting, but it's appreciated all the same. The build of the fountain is slightly more interesting as the faucets section is attached upside down, but that's about the only unconventional technique. My OCD doesn't allow me to attach the faucets so that they don't align with the sinks, so excuse me if I don't follow the instructions in this case. The lamp post is also not very stable as the anti-studs on the 2x2 round bricks at the bottom are kind of weak and the bars that are meant to support the post on the inside don't go all the way through which only adds to the frustration of the build. It's tempting to lift up the build by the lamp post in order to move it, but that only results in taking off a section or even the entirety of the post. I guess this is why this set is aimed at 18+ year-olds; you're only supposed to look, not touch. Spare Parts After the build, there are only 2 parts left over, 1x1 round plates with hole in pearl gold and dark gray. Usually there are more extras, even in a small set like this, but I'll take what I can get. The Complete Set The fountain is finished and the minifigs have gathered to celebrate the latest game! They all look so excited! I'm guessing their team just shot a touchdown with the quaffle and scored a homerun or... something. It's interesting how the fountain is built in the upper right corner of the base instead of the center, giving the model a more compelling, asymmetrical look. This also provides plenty of space to place the minifigs to the left and front of the fountain and the use of alternating plates and tiles on the floor allows you to easily pose them at angle. There is enough space for all the figs to stand on the floor, so there is no need to put them on top of the fountain like on the box art, but Larry couldn't help himself and started climbing it again. Dang it, Larry, get down from there! Here is an image of the real Font de Canaletes from Wikipedia. When compared to this, the fountain in the set is a lot less ornate. I also think the wide section carrying the faucets could have been more acorn-shaped. I'm sure a skilled MOCer could do a much better job at recreating it more accurately, but for a free set, the build captures the look of the fountain and surrounding sidewalk well enough. You can find more inaccuracies when looking from above. For one, the dark tiled area around the fountain is missing. This means that it is also missing the plaque that is on the ground next to the fountain with an inscription which states that legend has it that the one who drinks from the Font de Canaletes will eventually come back to Barcelona. It is an iconic part of the fountain, so it's a shame that it wasn't included in the set, even in sticker form. Also, as you can see, the rotor tiles were used as the grates on top of the sinks. I don't think they are a very good representation of those grates. Creating a new print, even if it's just a sticker, or using the classic grille tile would have been better in my opinion, but I guess it's better than no printing at all. In fact, with all these fan blades, I guess you could say the fountain is really fan-tastic! There is not much else to say about it, so if you stuck around after that terrible pun, let's get into the final verdicts! Ratings Box: 4/5 - A professional looking box that's not as generic as that of other GWPs, but not as fun or unique as it could be. Design: 4/5 - The look of the fountain is represented fairly well and makes a decent display piece, although some of the details leave a bit to be desired. Build: 2/5 - Repetitive and not very challenging. Not what you would hope for in a set aimed at adult builders. Minifigs: 5/5 - A very generous number of minifigs who, while being pretty generic for the most part, all come with a neat new torso design. Playability: 1/5 - You can create different scenes with the minifigs, but that's about it. Parts: 3/5 - One new recolor, one semi-rare part, and some printed round tiles, but otherwise pretty common bricks and plates. Overall: 3.5/5 - As far as GWPs go, this is a pretty decent set. The build and the resulting model may not be very intricate, but it still looks pretty good on display and serves its purpose as a celebration of FCB and its fans with a piece of the popular club's history. What puts it above average are the large number of minifigs with exclusive torsos, the unique box design, and a couple of useful parts. It's certainly leagues better (hehe) than the incredibly underwhelming United Trinity GWP that was offered with the Old Trafford. If you're an FC Barcelona fan, I'm sure you will appreciate it quite a bit. If not, at least you'll get a few useful minifig parts and bricks out of it. This set will look nice next to the Camp Nou stadium, but also looks good on its own. You can get this set for free with purchase of the new Camp Nou Stadium from now through September 12 at Shop @ Home or in Lego stores. Thank you for reading and thanks to LEGO for sending me this set for review. Let me know what you think of this set in the comments and in the poll above.
