LEGO embraces one of Epic Games' best qualities: affordability

Physical LEGO Fortnite sets mark the next step of the LEGO Group's partnership with Epic Games – and at surprisingly good prices.

With four LEGO Fortnite sets on the way in October, none of them creep over the £100 mark, priced at £12.99 / $14.99 / €14.99, £34.99 / $39.99 / €39.99, and two at £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 respectively. While the two most expensive ones in particular aren't exactly cheap in the grand scheme of things, when you compare the LEGO Fortnite wave to other licensed themes, the prices could have been a lot higher.

Comparing prices between licensed LEGO themes

Looking at themes like LEGO Star Wars, Marvel, Harry Potter, and Animal Crossing, all of which are licensed by the LEGO Group from major international companies like Disney, Warner Bros., and Nintendo, the prices for sets are generally higher than the LEGO Group's own themes like LEGO City and Friends.

For example, 76291 The Avengers Assemble: Age of Ultron is due to come out on August 1, priced at £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99, the same as both 77072 Peely Bone and 77073 Battle Bus. However, the LEGO Marvel set is made up of just 613 pieces in comparison to 1,414 for 77072 Peely Bone and 954 for 77073 Battle Bus. In the case of the first LEGO Fornite set, that's more than double the number of pieces for the same amount, although admittedly without any minifigures.

It's a similar story over with LEGO Harry Potter. 76429 Talking Sorting Hat also costs £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 and was released this year, featuring just 561 pieces and one minifigure. While it does include a sound brick, that doesn't quite make up the value of roughly 400 extra pieces in 77073 Battle Bus.

Even in the mid-range section, comparing 77049 Isabelle's House Visit and 75386 Paz Vizsla and Moff Gideon Battle, both priced the same as 77071 Supply Llama at £34.99 / $39.99 / €39.99, leaves a wide size and depth difference as well. Both the LEGO Star Wars and Animal Crossing sets put the focus on minifigures, with a reasonably bare main build, while 77071 Supply Llama is an impressively detailed display-ready build, standing 24cm high.

All of those examples highlight that you get quite a lot of bricks for your buck in the fledgling LEGO Fortnite theme, as well as offering a wide range of prices between the budget-friendly 77070 Durrr Burger to the more detailed and pricier 77072 Peely Bone.

Affordability is in Fortnite's DNA

This is in line with Fortnite's affordable playability, being free to play and making money through in-game purchases and V-Bucks instead. Fresh content updates are free and you can earn your way to many skins and in-game features without putting any real money into the game. Of course, paying actual money will speed the process up and there have been accusations of cash-grabbing levelled at Epic Games, even culminating in a FSC settlement at the end of 2022.

However, at a time where it's rare to find a game that doesn't cost more than £50 for the base level of a game, often followed by in-game purchases and paid DLCs, the fact that Fortnite is essentially free to play makes it stand out from most games from major studios. It's what leads to outraged responses from fans when 'cash-grabbing' paid features like the LEGO Fortnite building kits are introduced, as players are so used to being able to game for free. Naturally, it's always hard to switch from something that's free to requiring payment.

In the case of physical LEGO Fortnite sets, it would have been easy for the LEGO Group to price the sets much like other licensed themes but the collaboration with Epic Games seems to be embracing Epic's afforability rather than the LEGO Group's typical approach to licensed waves. It's led to largely favourable responses from both Fortnite and LEGO fans alike, with many commenting on the good value prices on the official reveal on the LEGO Group's Instagram page and discussion threads on reddit.

All in all, it's good news for those tired of building digitally in LEGO Fortnite and want to do the same with physical sets. All four LEGO Fortnite sets are available to pre-order now ahead of their release on October 1.

Thank you for supporting the work that Brick Fanatics does by pre-ordering LEGO Fortnite sets using our affiliate links!