My Hands-On Review of the new Lumibricks Alpine Observatory Set L9091

Hey brick fans!

As a die-hard fan who's already conquered and reviewed a handful of Lumibricks sets—like the stunning Steampunk Flying Club and the enchanting Bamboo House —I've been eagerly awaiting something that Lumibricks had yet to tackle, Space!. Enter the Lumibricks Alpine Observatory (Set L9091), a 2,437-piece lighted masterpiece that's elevated my collection to new heights (pun intended). While this observatory is terrestrially based, I can alternatively visualize it as serving as an outpost on some unknown planet, serving as some kind of far flung exploration base!

This mountain observatory has 4 different levels, rising from the rocky and snowy base, up to the glass enclosed research labs and amazing rotating observation telescope that functions as a projector of the night sky. Did you know that the Lumibricks set is inspired by the real-life Sphinx Observatory on Jungfraujoch in Switzerland?

If you're not familiar with the Lumibricks brand of Lego compatible sets, you'll find a plethora of printed parts in the Alpine Observatory (51 to be exact), and it's signature feature, the included lighting kit. The set features 13 lighting elements such as LED light dots and strips, including the galaxy light projector. And we can't forget the four Lumibricks style minifigures unique to this set. Thanks to Lumibricks for sending me this set to review, now let's take a closer look!

The set: Lumibricks Alpine Observatory L9091

Piece count: 2437 pcs

Minifigures: 4

Stickers: No

Printed parts: Yes, 51 of them

Lighting elements: Included, 13

Age Rating: 16+

Retail pricing:

Canada: 195.99 CAD Europe: 129.99 GBP USA: 173.99 USD

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sale!

Get ready for the Lumibricks Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 📅 Mark your calendars and prepare to save big. During the Lumibricks Black Friday sale, you can save up to 30% off the sets on their website. This promotional event happens between November 20 thru December 1, 2025. Visit their website to see the newest sets in 2025!

Lumibricks is also available on Amazon!

Unboxing: A Box Full of Mountain Magic

Cracking open the box feels like unwrapping a gift from the cosmos—everything's sorted into numbered bags for a stress-free start, with the lighting components tucked safely in their own separate box.

Like all Lumibricks sets, they come in a sturdy premium box with lots of detailed information, even the manufacture date!

The set is jam packed with parts bags and two very thick instruction manuals.  Parts bags were numbered 1 through 14 and sequenced by the corresponding steps in the manuals.  Each step had their 3 or 4 respectively numbered bags.

The Lighting Kit

This is where Lumibricks really shines (yes, another pun).  Unlike Lego sets that don't come with any lighting, these included lighting kits are what makes Lumibricks sets so special.   Not only that, Lumibricks uses special bricks where you can hide the wires so the set interiors look very clean and tidy.

Here's what you get inside the lighting kit.  It includes two battery boxes but you'll need to provide your own 3 AA batteries (1.5V each) for the main lighting holder and 2 CR2032 coin cell batteries (3V each) for the projector.  The screwdriver is to remove the screws on the battery boxes. The tweezers are thoughtfully provided to manage lighting wires and smaller parts.  Other special components include 2 USB plugs, wireless connectors, expnsion boards and led strips and panels.  Bag 4 is special in that it contains the lens and 4 image disks that can be inserted into the projector, an extra is already included with the lens for a total of 5.

The Build: A Scenic Journey Up the Peak

As mentioned earlier, there are 14 steps to build the Alpine Observatory, and it took me about an hour for each step. Mind you ,I was also taking pictures of all the mesmerizing details along the way, so your build experience will be different than mine. It took me about 4 days building off and on following the manuals easy to follow instructions.

The first manual covered steps 1 through 6, and the second manual covered steps 7 through 14.

• Steps 1-2: The Foundation. 

 The foundation is constructed using several technic bricks assembled in a criss-cross fashion to provide strength and rigidity. It definitely provides solid support for the massive Alpine observatory.

Curved white bricks are mounted on their sides to create a snowy landscape.

• Steps 3–6: The Mountain Base.

Lots of cool little details hidden inside the mountain base.  There are the personnel quarters with two bunk beds, and a couple of workspaces.  Each one has their own lighting effect.  There's a ton of printed parts, especially a replica of the golden records that was sent out on the Voyager missions. And I love the snow covered rock formations !

The mountain base was fun to build and easily attached to the technic foundation.

• Steps 7-9: The Research Lab. 

Located above the personnel quarters, on the second floor, we find the research lab.  It's fully equipped with a science library, a computer workstation, a coffee maker and even a model of the solar system!  The lit up display of the universe big bang is out of this world!

On this step, you need to be careful when placing the wires in the walls, especially when seating the wireless connectors between the floors.  The swing out back panel wall, needs a bit of force to attach to the rest of the structure, but other than that no real issues here.

• Steps 10-11: The Monitoring Station.

The monitoring station is located on the third floor.  There's a few banks of electrical and scientific equipment, probably to operate the giant telescope mounted above.  There are multiple printed panels depicting various space images as part of the monitoring desk.  There's a large viewing platform around the outside of the monitoring level.   Again, I had to jiggle this section into place to make sure the wireless connections between the monitoring level and the research level made proper contact.

• Steps 12-14: The Rotating Telescope Dome and Finishing Touches

The telescopic projector dome rotates freely and you can open the doors to the telescope manually.  The projector led light is not that powerful and although Lumibricks gives you extra display cartridges, I didn't swap them out because  I was a bit lazy and didn't feel like taking apart the front of the telescope to change the images.

Lumibricks gives you a small battery case to attach and power the telescopic projector.  Since I didn't have any spare CR20232 batteries, I decided to connect the dome to the main power source using a 15 cm extension cable and swapping out the wire joiner on the second floor with a 4 port expansion board.  I connected all of the wires to the expansion board and attached the wire joiner at the back of the dome.

I got my 4 port expansion board and 15 cm extension wire from Lightailing.com.

And here's what the projector image looks like.  I had to put a white board about 12 inches away from the set to get a clear image.   I don't know why I have the dark blob above the picture though because I couldn't find any obstruction that would cause it.

The finishing touches to the Observatory include some cool features such as the lit up ceiling panel in the research station, the outdoor antenna array, the astrophotography camera, a flying bird and of course, the books with their pop culture reference to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!

Final Thoughts

I really really enjoyed building the  Lumibricks Alpine Observatory.  Things I liked were the lighting features, such as the large LED panels on the walls and ceiling (of course!), the jagged mountain terrain, all of the interior and exterior details with so many printed pieces.  

I was impressed by the overall aesthetic of the structure and design, but not only does the Observatory make a nice display piece, it's opening doors and panels at the rear of the building lends itself to a lot of play value.  Speaking of play value, we can't forget about the 4 unique minifigures that come with the set.

Although the set is designed as an Alpine Observatory, I can't help but think this would make a great off world research and exploration base on some far away planet.  I would love to set up some Star Wars minifigures and other space faring accessories to add to the set.

I truly appreciate that Lumibricks is willing to try new things, such as the incorporation of the projection feature into the set.  Hopefully they can continue to improve the feature in the future as I feel it is still a work in progress.  The image projection was satisfactory at close range but was very dim when displayed farther away.  Plus it was not very convenient to have to take apart the telescope in order to change the image discs.

Overall, I'd give this epic set a 4.8 out 5 rating.  It's a solid buy for anyone who likes space themed Lego sets or just something unique that Lego has never done before.

Don't forget to save up to 30% off all sets during the Lumibricks Black Friday sale starting November 20th!

Search for your favourite LUMIBRICKS sets on Amazon and Google! @lumibricks_official 👈

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

#lumibricks #lumibricksalpineobservatory #blackfriday2025

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!