Reviewing the LeLightGo Light Kit 10211 for My Grand Emporium

Hey fellow brick builders! 

I've had my Grand Emporium sitting in my city display for years now and it was finally time to light it up.  It's part of my ongoing project to get every one of my Lego compatible modular buildings lit up eventually.  The Grand Emporium is one of my favourite modular buildings and I recently installed an elevator inside to replace the escalators.  While the interior is still unfinished I wanted to focus on beautifying the exterior.

Enter the LeLightGo light kit, which I just installed recently. Spoiler: my Town Hall modular building is also lit up using a LeLightGo light kit and I reviewed it here: https://bricksandfigs.blogspot.com/2024/03/first-look-at-lelightgo-led-light-kit.html

Thanks to LeLightGo for providing the Grand Emporium light kit for review!   Here's where you can get yours:  https://lelightgo.com/products/light-kit-for-grand-emporium-10211?ref=lH7ucgo8sdN7Xf

Currently priced at $76.99 USD.  But save another 25% off the price of the kit using my code: itsnotlego Shipping is free to Canada, but check on the website for your country's shipping options.

Unboxing: Simple Packaging, Serious Shine

The kit arrived in a compact, branded LeLightGo box—nothing flashy, but sturdy enough to protect the delicate LEDs inside. 

Here's what's inside the box.

I counted seven pouches in the box.

Pouch 1 contains the light standard.

Pouch 2 contains and assortment of Led light strips.

Pouch 3 looks like it contains the same elements as pouch 2.

Pouch 4 has more LED light strips and connecting wires and connector hubs.

Pouch 5 includes two sets of wireless connector pads.

This unmarked pouch contains a long hub and a USB plug.

And finally, another unmarked pouch that contains a USB battery pack.  I found a sticker in the box that says 10211 Classic Version SKU 10211-cv.  I think that it was supposed to be applied to the boxtop.

On the LeLightGo product description, it says you get a AA battery pack, but mine uses AAA batteries.

FYI. You'll need to provide 3 AAA batteries.  If you don't want to use the battery pack, you can also plug the light kit into a USB hub if that's your preference (that's what I do).

It's a good idea to test both your batteries and the light kit elements before installing them into your set to make sure everything works properly.   Not that I had any issues, but I'm pretty sure you could reach out to LeLightGo via their website or social media channels to get replacements if you encountered any faulty items.

The installation guide is found on-line on the LeLightGo website.  They don't tell you that inside the kit, so you have to figure it out for yourself.  Here's the link to the instructions for all their sets if you need it: https://lelightgo.com/pages/user-guide-and-instructions-guide

Installing the Light Kit

Upon reviewing the on-line instructions, I wanted to make sure that my own Grand Emporium customizations wouldn't be impacted by the Light kit, and thankfully they weren't.  You basically go floor by floor and work your way up from the base to the top.

As mentioned above, my custom Grand Emporium has interior changes, so all of the furnishings have been removed and there's only an elevator shaft left.   This is how it looks after connecting all of the first floor lighting elements together.  I will clean it up later, I proimise!

Here's the LeLightGo kit installed into the first floor.

Here's a closer look at the lighting near the revolving door.

The street lamp is super bright!

For the second floor, it's a bit tricky to get the light strips into the arch bricks.  You can see some of the LED wires because I'm an impatient person.   Also, I found that some of the adhesive tape that secures the LED strips into the arches doesn't stick that well.

The second floor wiring isn't as messy as the first floor.  

That's because of the wireless connector pads we installed between the first floor and the second.  It means I can separate the two floors of the building without having any wires attached.

Here's the first and second floor lit up.

The second and third floor are the same.

Even the rooftop sign has lighting.

The LED wires go from the sign down through the rooftop.

So, between the third floor and rooftop, there is no wireless connector pad.  Instead it uses a standard wire to send power to the ceiling lights and the sign. So I can't just lift off the roof easily like I could between the other floors.  I wish that LeLightGo had included an extra set of wireless pad connectors for the third floor as well.   

The Pros and Cons

**Pros:**

Lighting elements for the most part were easy to install and integrate into the Grand Emporium modular building.   You can power the set using either the battery pack or by connecting to a USB powered hub.

You get close to 40 different lighting elements in the kit.  That's because it not only lights up the exterior but also the interior space as well.  Each of the 18 arches in the Grand Emporium is lit up, not to mention the ground floor lighting and the street lamp!  That's pretty good value for this light kit.

**Cons:**

Hiding cables takes some finesse; not ideal if you're short on patience like me (just don't look at my ground floor interior).

Some of the backing tape of the LED strips in the arches could have been stickier.

I also would have liked an extra set of wireless connector pads between the third floor and the rooftop.

Final Verdict

The Grand Emporium looks amazing with the LeLightGo light kit!  I love that the lights are really bright even when just using the battery pack.  Installation was a breeze!

Overall, I'd rate it 4.5/5 stars, would have been a perfect 5 if there were an extra set of wireless connectors and stickier tape used.

Feel free to check out all of the other great light kits on the LeLightGo website!  

and don't forget to save another 25% off the price of the kit using my code: itsnotlego

Have you used LeLightGo to light up your Lego modular buildings?  Let me know what your experience was like in the comments!

👉. Don't forget to check out my other Lego compatible building set reviews at bricktoyreviews.blogspot.com. Thanks for looking, bye for now!

Things you should know about the Xbert Antique Shop 66055 Building Block Set

 

Hi Brick fans!

I recently picked up another Lego compatible set from Temu! Here's everything you should know about the Xbert Antique Shop 66055 modular building set.

Xbert is a new brand of bricks that hasn't produced that many building block sets.  Looks like it's a sub brand of JieStar.

This building block set has 1954 pieces and when the pieces are put together, it creates a beautiful two storey modular building that houses an Antique shop.

The set is designed by Ohsojang/shinjungseub, who has some other unique modular buildings that you can find on rebrickable.

The set has seven large bags of parts and each bag is further subdivided into another set of smaller bags.  The seven bags correspond to the number of steps during the build process.  To see everything that came in the box, check out my unboxing post here.

It's time to open up the bags and start building!

Step 1 - Building the baseplate

The footprint of the baseplate doesn't follow the normal standard of 32x32 studs or 16x32 studs.  The Antique store is 27 studs wide and 13 studs deep.   The actual building footprint is even smaller at only 18x12 studs.  Most of the baseplate is tiled in ingot bricks with the interior floor tiled in tan with black accents.

First impressions:  Brick quality is good, but the clutch is too tight!  It's really difficult to press the bricks together.

Step 2 - Building the Storefront

Ohsojang has designed a storefront that angles inwards towards two brick built doors.  The doors are fixed and cannot move.

Inside the first floor we've already added a table and display case. The white tiles are supposed to have stickers on them, but I didn't apply them yet.  You can see the entire sticker sheet in my unboxing blog post.

Step 3 - Building the rest of the First Floor

The back wall can fold out for easy access to the interior.  It's a great idea that I will probably incorporate into my future modular building mocs.

The first floor consists of dark gray walls and masonry bricks with a band of dark tan bricks for accent detail.  The use of contrasting white and dark red angled plates for the window awning is a novel approach.  You can see that the building isn't really that deep.

Step 4 - Add the Exterior and Interior details

I haven't decided if I'm going to keep the building as an Antique store yet, so I've left off the wording stickers for the time being.

The yellow pipe is really eye catching.  Some nice accessories are displayed at the side of the building.

There are no stairs in the design of the Antique store, so ladders are the only method of reaching the upper floor.

A tall ladder on the interior will allow access to the upstairs.  

Boxes and bric-a-brac sit amongst the display cases add to the clutter of the Antique store.

Step 5 - Building the second floor

There's supposed to be a giant clock on the wall over the bookcase, but I didn't apply the sticker.  I would have preferred a darker brown brick to be used for the upper floor, instead of the red brown.

Step 6 Building the rest of the Second Floor

The remainder of the second floor walls are added.

Second floor ladder is added with some other details.

Back wall in the closed postiion.

Back wall in the open position.  Despite the small size of the store, it's jam packed with details.  

A bookshelf, loveseat and round table are some of the upstairs furnishings.

Step 7 - Building the Roof

The Completed Antique Shop!

It was an interesting build with lots of details.

The shop looks great in the pics.

The design is great, just wis the brick tolerances weren't so tight.  The 1x1 pyramid pieces that make up the roof detailing all the way around were brutal on my fingers!

In case you're wondering if the set is compatible with Lego style minifigures, here's a visitor to the antique shop.

A look at the included lighting kit

Included in the lighting kit are some light strips, a dot light, a 6 port hub, a USB plug and a AAA battery pack (batteries not included).

The LED lights are nice and bright.

The light kit can be added in after the fact as I did here.  There are some extra 1x2 plates that are provided to secure the wires properly.  As you can see, I got lazy and just let the wires hang down randomly.   Please do a better job than I did!

Tried to clean it up a bit but meh.

Anyways, the lighting looks better when viewed from the outside.

I didn't have any issue with missing pieces, and there were a handful of bricks and plates left over.  The sprues contain the flowers that you add to the little tree at the front of the shop.  Again I got lazy so I didn't put them on.

Final Thoughts

When I saw the listing on Temu, I was really attracted to the building architecture and I wasn't aware that it was an Ohsojang design until I examined the details more closely.  I saw some similarities between the Antique Shop and the Lego Parisian restaurant, especially size wise, as their building depths are very close.  If I had to rebuild the Antique shop, I would place it on a standard 32x32 baseplate.  

The included light kit is a nice touch, and it seems a lot of the third party modular buildings sets are providing lights more and more.  Now if only Xbert would change the brick tolerances, this set would be near perfect.   

Design rating: 8 out of 10 (the shop could be a bit bigger and sit on a 32x32 baseplate)

Brick quality: 8 out of 10 (no missing bricks, window glass was clear, brick finish is good)

Brick Clutch: 5 out of 10 (brick tolerances were way too tight)

I was satisfied for the price I paid which was just a tad over $50 CDN from Temu.  The going price is about double and I think it would be hard to justify the purchase of the antique shop at the higher price.

The prices are changing constantly on Temu, so keep checking for a good deal.  Here's a search link for the Antique shop on Temu.

You can also get it from Afobrick.com: https://afobrick.com/en-ca/products/xbert-66055-vintage-antique-shop?ref=oGOdUj_izrflQ

Don't forget  to use my affiliate code itsnotlego to get another 5% off the price.

Or Aliexpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_okTdEZb

👉. Don't forget to check out my other Lego compatible building set reviews at bricktoyreviews.blogspot.com. Thanks for looking, bye for now!