Raising the curtain on the playable LEGO Ideas 21323 Grand Piano

July 23, 2020 | 15

After much teasing from LEGO, the boffins at LEGO Ideas have finally revealed the next LEGO Ideas set – 21323 Grand Piano!

In addition to it being a stunning model of a Grand Piano, LEGO have upped the ante on realism, as this brick-built piano is completely functional and playable piano, thanks to the magic of the Powered Up system.

The LEGO Ideas playable Grand Piano has a release date of 1 August 2020, and will cost US$349.99 / AU$529.99 and will be available exclusively on LEGO.com or your local LEGO Brand Retail Store.

Regional links and pricing are below:

• LEGO 21323 Grand Piano [US] – US$349.99
• LEGO 21323 Grand Piano [AUS] – AU$529.99
• LEGO 21323 Grand Piano [UK] – £319.99
• LEGO 21323 Grand Piano [EU] – €349.19
• LEGO 21323 Grand Piano [CAN] – CA$449.99

Weighing in at 3,662 pieces, this Grand Piano isn’t a tiny toy. In addition to its music-playing capabilities, the Piano is deftly designed, and looks to incorporate a stunning degree of realism.

The set measures over 8.5” (22.5cm) high, 12” (30.5cm) wide and 13.5” (35.5cm) deep to give you a sense of scale.

Here’s a video of it in action, detailing some of the play features.

The exact mechanics aren’t exactly clear. LEGO’s press release states:

Recreate the hammer action of each piano key, the moving pedal and authentic details such as the propped-open top lid and fallboard. Turn on the motor and then you are all set to play wonderful music – select user play on the free LEGO Powered Up app to play the notes yourself or activate auto play and just listen.

The LEGO® Ideas Grand Piano (21323) has a removable 25-key keyboard, authentic hammer action, moving dampers and pedal, and motor. Combined with the LEGO Powered Up app, you can play a tune yourself or automatically.

To power up the grand piano’s self-playing function, you’ll need 6 AAA batteries (not included) and the free LEGO® Powered Up app – choose user play to play the notes yourself or auto play to listen to 1 of 4 songs.

The details of exactly how the Grand Piano works are a little murky – my guess is that the Powered Up app acts as a speaker/music player which will play the exact notes that the keys play when struck, and the Powered Up device on the inside acts to detect which keys are pressed.

Via the app, there seems to be 4 or 5 songs that are pre-programmed and can be played, so if you just want to let it play a tune automatically, that seems to be an option as well.

I’m not going to lie – the set’s pricetag of half a thousand Aussie dollars (US$349.99) makes this quite a big purchase, and its mostly due to the Powered Up parts.

I do like LEGO’s audaciousness with this set – it’s a very bold move to release an actual playable Piano at this price-point, but with the design and features, I think it’s a really exciting showcase of what LEGO can do.

What do you think of the set? Does it strike your fancy and tickle your curiosity? Let me know in the comments if this set strikes a chord with you!