Pixar

Set Review - #21357-1: Luxo Jr. - LEGO Ideas

I’m usually not a fan of Disney themed sets, but this one is outside of the ordinary cartoon characters or representations. #21357-1: Luxo Jr. is a recreation of the famous ball playing desk lamp from the early Pixar days. This one was released on 1 June 2025 and contains 613 pieces. It retails for $69.99 which works out to $0.114 per piece. I picked it up for $56 so still a bit pricy, but better than the $70 list price.

The set was shipped to me in a padded envelope so the box I have got was beat up a bit. The front shows the lamp with the ball. The back shows the full set, provides dimensions, and shows some of the moveable features the set has.

The box contains four numbered parts bags, an instruction booklet, and the two lamp shade pieces. This is my first set with the recyclable paper bags. It was so great to be able to recycle the bags when I was done instead of throwing the plastic bags into the trash. Thank you LEGO!!!

The first bag assembles Luxo Jr’s ball. The inside is a cube with SNOT bricks. There are a number of colored pieces assembled together to resemble characters in various Pixar movies. Then there are a number of printed round pieces to make the ball round and are printed with the stripe and stars. In-between those round pieces are some triangle pieces to fill in the spaces.

The second bag assembles the lamp base. It is mostly white pieces with some Technic parts to hold up the rest of the lamp.

Bag three assembles the arm that holds up the lamp. The piece usage here is great to make it look like an actual adjustable arm. I like the mix of white pieces and silver round 1x1 plates as fasteners. This section of the build required paying attention to how pieces were aligned in the instructions. It’s fairly complicated despite being a relatively small build.

The fourth bag adds the lamp, a base (to attach the flattened ball to), and finishes the arm of the lamp. The lamp itself includes the lamp cover and the bulb. Inside the bulb piece is a mini build from another Pixar movie (no spoilers here). The base piece is a small square with a place to hold the ball when you remove two of the round pieces to make it look like Luxo Jr. is jumping on top of the ball. Then the arm is finished with two rubber bands that connect some pin pieces and are covered by a rubber piece that looks like it could be metal or maybe a spring.

Here are some final pictures of Luxo Jr. and the ball. The build was great with some interesting piece usage to create a very realistic looking lamp. The cost is a bit steep so look for a sale like I did. I don’t believe it’s retiring soon so you have some time to wait for a good sale. The lamp has numerous poseable functions and can be adjusted without falling over or rotating with gravity. Great job design team!

This set is good for fans of Pixar, but can also work for those interested in a fun display piece and want a lamp for an office or desk. Also, it’s great to see LEGO Ideas still out there with #65 in the line.

Happy building!

Set Review - #40752-1: Carl, Russell & Kevin - Brickheadz

Another Brickheadz set. This one is #40752-1: Carl, Russell & Kevin from the Disney Pixar movie “Up.” This set of three characters was released on 1 June 2024. It contains 308 pieces and retails for $19.99. This works out to $0.065 per piece which isn’t bad, but of note, there are a lot of small pieces.

The box is pretty standard for Brickheadz sets. The front shows a few of each figure with the Brickheadz logo, Up logo, and the names and number of each Brickheadz figure. The back shows the figures again along with a back view of Russell and it shows how he is attached to the base.

The set contains three instruction booklets and seven parts bags.

Bags one and two build Carl. Bag one builds most of his torso and his head without the details. They added in his bow tie and you get his grape soda bottle cap pin as a 1x1 round tile (along with an extra one in the bag). Bag two finishes him up with a lot of great details. I love the square glasses and how they used the lime green 1x1 round plates as the tennis balls at the bottom of his cane. They did a great job re-creating his hair and bushy eyebrows too.

Bags three and four build Russell. Bag three assembles most of his head and his torso which includes a printed brick for his shirt. Bag four finalizes Russell with this backpack, a flag, and a frying pan. This figure is only three studs wide versus the four studs wide of Carl. While he is smaller, I don’t recall him being that much thinner as he was kind of chunky. Either way, I think the figure is a good depiction of Russell.

Bags five, six, and seven build Kevin. Bag five is just the legs and the SNOT pieces that everything will connect to. Bag six builds the torso and the neck. Bag seven finishes it up. I like the big nose and the 2x2 round tiles for the eyes. It’s taller than the others like in the movie, but the figure itself is a little unstable. Otherwise, it’s alright. Personally, I would have rather had Dug than Kevin, but this works.

Here are some front and back shots of the three figures at the end. If you’re a Brickheadz fan, Pixar fan, or Up fan, definitely pick these up. Otherwise, I would avoid this one or hope that it goes on sale towards the end of it’s life.

Happy building!