Lumibricks Brick Art Gallery is gorgeous but fiddly

At first glance, Lumibricks sets may look similar to other construction toys from more established companies, and there is a temptation to compare this directly to one of the big hitters in particular that Brick Fanatics covers regularly.

This, though, really isn't fair – not to either company. Compatible pieces notwithstanding, Brick Art Gallery isn't doing exactly the same thing that one might get from a set from any other provider, and Lumibricks' product deserves to be judged on its own merits.

This is not the kind of construction toy that can be easily dismantled, reworked, expanded, altered, or changed. It becomes very clear when building Brick Art Gallery that the designers don't expect the builder to deviate from the instructions at all, and the process of dismantling this set would likely be far more hassle than it's worth.

This build, instead, is very clearly designed with display in mind, first and foremost. This is not simply because of the large price tag and complex design; it feels baked into the idea behind the set. Lumibricks products come with lighting solutions literally wired into the builds, and one rather complicated part of the building process involves slowly and meticulously placing elements with LED components (and some incredibly thin cables) into the set, then building up layers of bricks to lock these in place.

This is a time-consuming and often fiddly process, and it does involve the placement of small stickers containing copper connectors to allow all of the wires to receive power when the set is finished. The placement of these stickers means that, were the set to be disassembled, it would be difficult to keep these cables intact, and it means that the elements that they are stuck to can really only be used in their intended place within the build.

This shouldn't be taken as a negative: it's simply clear that the set is intended to be built once and then placed on display. As a display piece, there's no denying that Brick Art Gallery looks stunning.

Even without the included lights, this would be a magnificent build to behold. While rendered using elements that will be very familiar to anyone who's built a similar contruction toy set, the finished piece almost doesn't resemble one of these sets at all. It is detailed and achieves an impressive level of fidelity, so that from a distance it's almost hard to tell that this has been made up of smaller bricks.

All of the graphics that appear on bricks are printed, and while the quality of that printing and the graphic design work feels a little cheap, there's no denying that the included prints are extremely generous. There is plenty to see here, with designs printed on elements large and small.

Where the set shines the most, though, is in its use of familiar elements to recreate iconic artwork. This is the part of the build that feels the most reminiscent of what similar companies are doing with these types of bricks, and it's a lot of fun.

There are plenty of options for opening up Brick Art Gallery to get a look inside. Each floor can be removed from top to bottom, with those copper stickers allowing for a simple dismantling process that doesn't require disconnecting any wires. The back of the building also opens up in several places with hidden doors so that it's possible to peek inside without taking anything apart, and one exhibit can be slid out to display separately.

When the lights are all connected and the building is finished, the art gallery has a delightful ambience that's difficult to achieve without LEDs. The entire set feels cosy and sophisticated, and as an extra touch, the lights can be AA battery-powered or powered by USB, so this can be placed on a shelf without concerns of draining the batteries too quickly.

The figures included in Brick Art Gallery are, alas, one of the set's big weaknesses. These characters look like they should be twice the size and sold to preschoolers. Appearances are deceiving, though: they're actually incredibly fiddly and difficult to assemble, and getting the hands in the right place to grab hold of a cart or ladder can be a pain – but not as much of a pain as then trying to get the hand off a bar element again.

This leads us to the final major flaw with Lumibricks. While the quality of the bricks feels leaps and bounds better than some construction toys from certain companies, these bricks are ever so slightly stiffer than the market leader. This means a little more elbow grease is required to click the bricks together, and it means that a lot more effort is required to prise the pieces apart again.

This is another way in which it feels like Brick Art Gallery is intended to be constructed once and never disassembled, as it's literally physically exhausting to pull these pieces apart.

This unfortunately also means that the set is just a bit more physically taxing to put together than it could be. The first few bags of the set were particularly challenging for this reviewer, who found that it triggered a flare-up of his repetitive strain injury from too many years spent tippity-tapping on non-ergonomic keyboards.

This being the case, anybody with issues surrounding finger dexterity or challenges applying pressure or manipulating slightly stiffer bricks may find Lumibricks sets a bit trickier than expected to assemble. Even able-bodied builders should be aware that this build will take significantly longer than the piece count suggests, and while there's an argument to be made you're getting more mileage out of it in that sense, the process will likely be a bit more tedious and frustrating than you're used to.

Alas, the quality control for this build leaves something to be desired. There were a couple of missing elements and no rhyme or reason to the inclusion of spare pieces. Most egregiously, one element in the box appeared to have been broken in the factory (potentially crushed in some way). It did thankfully still click into place within the build, but this does highlight how the competitive price of the set does reflect a lower quality of experience when compared with other offerings on the market.

The set's competitive price may be enough to draw in some curious buyers, but it's worth bearing in mind that there are sacrifices that come with that lower price tag, and this can be most keenly felt in the quality of the plastic and instructions that maybe don't have the same level of polish as fans of this kind of product may be used to.

Nevertheless, if you can accept those trade-offs in pursuit of something that's a bit more affordable for the size (and particularly for the included lighting), the finished model is an excellent thing to behold and place on your shelf.

Brick Art Gallery is available now at the Lumibricks website for £177 in the UK and $229.99 in the US.

This set was provided for review by Lumibricks. You can support the work that Brick Fanatics does by purchasing your Lumibricks sets using our affiliate links – thank you.