The LEGO Group’s presence in the Chinese region is felt even more, now that they have announced the release of its first-ever region-specific sets in China and the rest of the Asia-Pacific. The announcement was made during the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) which opened Monday, November 5, 2018. According to Niels B. Christiansen, TLG’s Chief Executive Officer, “These sets are special. They are the first sets we’ve created to celebrate Lunar New Year and the first time we’ve made sets for a specific country or region. We hope they bring a lot of joy to children and the young at heart during the new year.” These exclusive Lunar New Year sets will be available beginning January 1, 2019.
LEGO intends to release two sets: the first set depicts a Chinese family gathering together for a festive Lunar New Year dinner in a traditional home. The building, dubbed as Chinese New Year’s Eve Dinner, features the uniqueness of Chinese architecture where the minifigures included in this set underscore the rich culture of the people of China.
The second LEGO exclusive Lunar New Year set celebrates the iconic Dragon Dance which signifies the Chinese belief in a bountiful year ahead. It features a Dragon Dance team composed of several minifigures in vibrant red colors and dragon printings, led by a costumed minifigure very much the same as that of the Piggy Guy from the LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 12 (71007). It was the perfect choice of a minifigure to be included in this particular set, considering that 2019 is marked as the Year of the Pig in the Chinese zodiac.
We have no further details about these exclusive Lunar New Year sets, except for these images that were officially released by TLG. The funny thing is, these images bear confidential watermarks and were shared publicly by TLG themselves. In any case, these are pretty nice sets considering that these are the first-ever region-specific sets that LEGO made. So for LEGO fans and collectors that are outside of the Asia-Pacific region, the secondary market will be the only avenue for getting them commercially.
