90s Nostalgic LEGO sets for Adults

If you grew up in the late 80s or early to mid 1990s, you are either pushing your 30s now or are just over the hump. LEGO – whether on purpose or by accident – is beginning to cater to this generation of fans by releasing a number of nostalgic LEGO sets that are either based on sets from the past, or some of our favourite experiences from that decade. Let’s take a quick look at three LEGO sets that will definitely get your nostalgic juices flowing!

LEGO Super Mario: The Mighty Bowser – 349.99 CAD

I’ve always said the LEGO Grand Piano is my favourite LEGO build ever, but if I ever got my hands on this Bowser set, I might change my tune. Everything about this set is amazing, from the sheer size of Bowser to how he sort of flopps like a puppet when you pick him up. There is so much detail in this set, and it’s hard not to be wow’d by how LEGO used a variety of unusual blocks to create this masterpiece. As outlined in their video about the product earlier this year, the designers behind this set noted that many of the pieces used to build Bowser were not created for that purpose – they were blocks for building cars, airplanes, houses and more.

If you grew up in the late 80s or early 90s, there is a really good chance you played a few of the Super Mario games, either on the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or the Nintendo 64. For those that did, getting The Mighty Bowser this holiday season could be the present of the decade!

LEGO Atari 2600 – 299.99 CAD

When the LEGO Nintendo Entertainment System set came out a few years back, my wife bought it for me as a birthday gift. I had such a blast putting it together, and love having it on my shelf in my office. It’s a great conversation piece. Here is the kicker – I never owned or played on a Nintendo Entertainment System, and yet this set means so much to me as Nintendo fan. I think it might be because I never had the opportunity to own one, that I enjoy the LEGO version so much.

The Atari 2600 set fits that same vein for me. It is a system I’ve never owned and never played. That makes me want this set even more. The thing is, if this set gets me this excited, how exciting will it be for someone who actually owned this system way back in the day! If you have an Atari fan in your house – young or old – you can’t do much better than the LEGO Atari 2600. This is another eye-popping work of art that almost looks real from a distance.

LEGO Galaxy Explorer – 129.99 CAD

While the first two sets are based on things you might have played or enjoyed during the 90s, outside of the realm of LEGO, the LEGO Galaxy Explorer is routed right in the love of LEGO. If you grew up in the 90s and really loved LEGO, I’m going to assume you had a LEGO space set at some point in your life. What made these sets stand out – and still does to this day – is the lack of a visor on the minifgure. I know it might shock modern LEGO fans, but that is really how these figures were released. I had plenty of the Blue and Yellow Spacemen back in the day, but have since lost those pieces, or they are buried in bins at my parent’s house never to be found by me.

Getting to build the LEGO Galaxy Explorer is a real treat. It was so much fun to put together, and brought back a ton of memories. Despite being marketed at an 18+ crowd, I did this set with my eight year old son Lochlan. It was fun to share a LEGO theme from my childhood that I loved so much, and even he grew to have an appreciation for very basic, very standard LEGO minifgures.

We will have a full review of the LEGO Galaxy Explorer soon, so stay tuned to GamesReviews.com!