Set Review - #76387-1: Hogwarts: Fluffy Encounter - Harry Potter

Continuing through the 2021 Harry Potter sets… This one is #76387-1: Hogwarts: Fluffy Encounter. It depicts the scene from the first book/movie where the three main characters encounter the creature protecting the entrance to the location where the sorcerer’s stone is being kept. This set was released in the US on 5 June 2021. It retails for $39.99 and contains 397 pieces. This puts it at $0.101 per piece. At the time of this post, I have seen it on sale at a few retailers for 20% off so be on the lookout if you want to get a better deal.

The box art is similar to other sets. The full set, minifigures, and 20th anniversary logo on the front with some of the play features on the back.

The set contains three numbered parts bags and an instruction booklet. When I opened the box, I didn’t see the sticker sheet. I only realized it was missing when I got to the first point in the instructions that asked for a sticker. After some searching, I found it. It is smaller and thankfully only has six stickers.

The first bag builds Fluffy the three-headed dog creature. It’s not a bad design considering the size of the set. Each of the legs pivot and you can swivel the heads. The heads are a single piece, but I think it’s to be expected considering the size of the set. You also get the Harry minifigure and then the gold Hermione minifigure. Are there any Harry Potter sets without Harry?

The second bag builds the main chamber where Fluffy is and where it guards the door in the floor. It’s a simple room without much detail as it has to be large enough to fit the Fluffy build in it. You’ll notice that I put the roof on backwards in this picture. Whoops!
This bag includes a brick built harp which is used to put Fluffy to sleep as well as the Ron minifigure.

The third bag completes the build. It adds two more modular rooms and then a space below a spire. One of the rooms is where the “Devil’s Snare” is located. This is where they fall in after going through the door below Fluffy. The other room just has some flames for light so you could use it as a path to another room or whatever you want.

I have it set up in the picture so that the other two rooms are stacked separately. This allows you to use the spire piece on top. However, to re-create the book/movie scene, the two smaller chambers need to go underneath the larger one and the spire has no place to go. I have not tried to combine this set with the others so maybe it can be connected elsewhere. Or maybe you can just build your own rooms to have it go on top of. Either way, for kids playing with this set and potentially not having others, they would have to figure out how to arrange it so the spire can be used (or not).

One last issue… there is a sticker that goes inside of the spire. I was challenged as an adult to apply it as you are trying to get a sticker with a weird shape onto a curved surface. Lining it up straight was a big challenge for me. Maybe kids do a better job at it? I did okay, but would have preferred to either not have the sticker or have some other form of decoration there.

This set has four minifigures. You get the golden Hermione and then Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They each have the short legs and come with a wand. All of them have dual printed heads. Not too exciting here on the minifig front as it seems you can get these three in many sets.

Overall, I wasn’t too impressed with the set. While it depicts the scene fairly well at a basic level, it leaves a lot to be desired. Unless you feel like using your own bricks to add onto the scene, You need to look into getting more of the 2021 sets to add onto it. In terms of the price, it’s a bit high. Definitely try and get the 20% off or more if you plan to pick it up.

Happy building!

Set Review - #10290-1: Pickup Truck - 18+

There have been a number of vehicles in the line formerly known as Creator Expert and now called 18+. I’m not a die hard collector of all of them so I pick and choose the ones I want to build. The latest one I picked up was #10290-1: Pickup Truck. It was announced earlier in the year, was available for pre-order in the US, and then was released on 1 October 2021 for sale. The retail price in the US is $129.99. With 1,677 pieces, it works out to $0.078 per piece which isn’t too bad.

This vehicle is designed after a 1950s style American brand pickup truck. It is not branded after a specific company and instead takes some of the features of numerous trucks and then gives the truck a LEGO branding. Hopefully the lack branding kept the price a little lower. 10295-1: Porsche 911 has 200 fewer pieces, yet was priced $20 higher. Perhaps this was due to the fees being paid for the license?

The box front shows the full build. The upper left has a logo for the pickup truck. The bottom has sand green greebling with the 18+ branding. The back shows some of the play features and a CAD model of the truck with some basic dimensions.

The box contains 14 parts bags, the wheels, and an instruction booklet wrapped in plastic along with the stickers.

The instructions have a small bit of information in the front from the design team talking about the set. You also get two sticker sheets. One has two stickers and the other has eight.

The first bag builds a number of accessories to go with the truck. From left to right you get a wheel barrow with three flower pots. Each pot has a different set of flowers in it. The wheel barrow has a working wheel and is made of sand green for the fans of that colored brick. Next is an old fashioned milk jug. It has a sticker label so you know what is in it. Next up is a sign advertising the flowers for sale at a farm stand or market. It has a larger sticker which is not fun, but it’s a simple enough build and looks good. For the Christmas time decorations, you get a Christmas wreath and brick built gift. The wreath is scaled so that it fits on the hood of the truck with a stud that sticks out. The gift matches some of the others seen in other sets and can be set on the passenger seat on a stud there. There are then three containers of produce. You get a crate of pumpkins, a half barrel of carrots, and a half barrel of either apples or tomatoes (not really sure which they are). Lastly, there’s a watering can. It seems a bit large compared to the milk jug or even the wheel barrow, but it achieves the desired effect. Overall, they are a nice addition to the set and help you to display it how you want to based on the season.

The next set of bags builds the frame and chassis of the truck. It has some Technic parts for strength, but isn’t overly Technic build intensive.

The third set of bags builds up some of the front and adds the steering column. Like many of the previous vehicles in this line, the steering wheel is connected to the front wheels so you can turn the vehicle when moving it.

The fourth set of bags builds up some of the front sides of the truck I’m not sure if any of the pieces are new, but I like how it achieves the smooth and connected shape of the truck. This includes around the wheel wells and the front bumper. Additionally, you build the structure behind the cab. This includes a window and still maintains the smooth shape of the body of the vehicle. The mix of SNOT and stacking pieces helps to achieve this effect.

There are a lot of great little details in this set. You’ll notice on the back of the cab on the body of the truck is where the gas cap is installed. This aspect could have been easily skipped in a LEGO model, but they included it for accuracy which is cool.

Build five adds a number of details. The engine is included. I’m not an engine expert so I can’t tell you what all the parts are, but it looks pretty accurate to me. Then the front grill is added and instead of just hooking on a piece or two, you clip on each piece. It’s a pretty cool design technique. Lastly, you install the doors. This is impressive to me because you build these so they can be opened/shut, they maintain the smoothness of the body on the inside and outside, and the gaps aren’t too major with the body. The doors have a logo for “Green Farm.” I’m not sure if this is a generic term or a call out to LEGO’s efforts to “go green” and be more environmentally friendly.

Build six adds the bed of the truck. You build the bed assembly off the truck and then connect it once it is built. I appreciate the detail in this section of the build as you really have to pay attention to the instructions here to capture all of the details to include the wheel wells.

The seventh build adds a few details and the hood. Not pictured, but you get your transmission stick. Then you add the front bench seat. It doesn’t look too comfortable, but as I recall, most bench seats aren’t comfortable. Last up is the hood. It opens and closes, has a pole to keep it propped open, and as mentioned earlier, there is a jumper plate added to the front where you can attach the wreath.

The last set of bags finishes up the set. It includes the rear wheel well, wheels, fences for the back, rear bumper, tail gate, roof of the cab, and… I think that’s it. Here’s the completed product.

Lots of functionality to this set. Hood opens and closes, tail gate opens and closes, doors open and close, wheels spin and front wheels turn, and you can remove the fencing on the back. It’s not exactly a play vehicle, but you could play with it and you can find numerous ways to pose your display model.

Here are some details on the front and the back. I managed to put the license plate stickers on pretty well and the front grill logo looks pretty good. I’m a big fan of the older LEGO logo on the back gate. I’m also glad that it’s a printed element versus a sticker.

Overall, I was a big fan of this set. The brick red color is one of my favorites, the functionality is cool, the build techniques to keep it smooth without major gaps were good, and the attention to small details didn’t go unnoticed. It’s not bad pricewise considering the price per piece and as mentioned, it has more pieces and a lower price compared to the Porsche. Not sure if you’ll ever see this one on sale, but if you’re into the Creator Expert/18+ vehicles, I recommend picking this one up.

What were your thoughts on this one?

Happy building!

Set Review - #30392-1: Hermione's Study Desk - Harry Potter

Yet another Harry Potter set to review and still more to come so get ready!

This one is a polybag. It’s’ #30392-1: Hermione’s Study Desk. It contains 31 pieces and was released 1 August 2021. I believe LEGO Brand Stores gave them away at one point as a gift with purchase. I got mine from Target for $4.99 which works out to a whopping $0.16 per piece.

Not super exciting, but here’s the packaging.

Here are your contents. You get a tiny instruction page folded up and then the parts. I like how the minifigure head is placed in the picture. It doesn’t look so good.

There isn’t much to this build, but it’s a 31 piece polybag so what were you expecting? There is a small desk with a quill and ink as well as a tile for paper. It also has a book with a printed tile inside. You get two 1x2 tiles printed as letters with wax marks on them. One is white and the other is tan. Then there is a small stand for the owl to perch on. Lastly, you get the Hermione minifigure. She has a wand and two facial expressions.

Oh, and don’t forget your collectible 2x2 tile.

Overall, a little pricy for what you are getting, but not a bad set. You get a few printed tiles, an owl figure, and a minifigure. I can’t complain. It’s a must for the Harry Potter LEGO fan completionists. Or just pick it up as a stocking stuffer/small Christmas gift.

Happy building!

Set Review: #40452-1: Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms - Harry Potter

Continuing with the Harry Potter theme, LEGO recently had a gift with purchase promotion for #40452-1: Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms. The promotion started in in the US on 25 October 2021. It was scheduled to end after about two weeks, but it appears to have lasted slightly longer. I’m not sure what day it stopped. This set was thrown in when you bought $100 or more of Harry Potter sets. Of course they are all priced so you can’t buy exactly $100 so you had to shell out $110 or more. Also everyone was buying and inventory dried up fast. The set contains 148 pieces, two minifigures, and four of the collectible tiles.

The box is similar to others in the 2021 Harry Potter theme. Full set build on the front, minifigures, and similar logos. The back shows a few features to includes the 8x8 plate that you can slide in/out to display your collectible tiles.

The set comes with two parts bags, an instruction booklet, an 8x8 plate, an 8x16 plate, and two 1x16 bricks.

For being a smaller set with not a lot of pieces, there are some decent builds in this set. The back wall uses some SNOT to achieve the rail for the 8x8 plate to slide into. I’m not sure why they chose black rails versus the tan color, but it works. Using the small fence pieces also makes for an interesting looking window. The beds are also decently designed and I like how they used jumper plates so you can angle the beds.

There are some decent pieces in the set too. I’m a fan of the chest, but mainly from its use back in the pirate days. The gold colored pieces are always fun and the rug tiles are good colors.

The plate on the back wall is an interesting way to display your purple 2x2 tiles. If you don’t like it there, you can always pull it out.

The build itself goes with the rest of the 2021 Harry Potter sets in that it can be connected with Technic pins to the other sets or stacked on top.

Overall, I can’t complain about this set. For a gift with purchase, it is a decent set.

The set has two minifigures. Ron comes with a wand and chocolate frog. He has two facial expressions. Harry just has a wand and also has a happy and scared/surprised face. While it would be great to have other characters, I can see why they chose these two based on the scenes in the dorm rooms.

What were your thoughts on this one? Worth the spend or not so much?

Happy building!

Set Review - #76395-1: Hogwarts: First Flying Lesson - Harry Potter

I should try and get through the 2021 Harry Potter sets before 2022… Here is #76395-1: Hogwarts” First Flying Lesson. It attempts to re-create the scene from the first book/movie where the students get their first flying lesson on brooms. This set was released in the US on 2 August 2021. It contains 264 pieces and retails for $29.99. This works out to $0.114 per piece which is a bit steep in my opinion.

The front of the box shows the full set. It also shows the minifigures included along with the Harry Potter logo and pictures of the movie characters. It also has the 20th anniversary LEGO Harry Potter logo on it. The back shows some of the play features and lets you know that you get to mystery tiles.

The box contains two numbered parts bags, an instruction booklet, and a sticker sheet with 5 stickers.

The first build creates the left and right sides of the modular building structure included with this set. Unlike the previous sets, this year the sets can be attached together with Technic pins. The two structures you build are fairly similar and don’t have a lot of special building techniques. On the outside are shields with logos from each house (stickers, not printed). Inside one is a trunk with some quidditch supplies. The other has a trophy case with some actual trophies inside. I like how they built this so there is a clear front and it looks like a case. There is a small detail that you may not catch which is that Harry’s Dad is listed on the one sticker that goes on the plaque inside the one case.

The second bag builds a connecting hallway with a door and an upper level/roof for the build. Not a whole lot to this part. The most in depth part here is connecting the clear rods so you can pretend the minifigs are flying. There is also a gray minifig statue with swords so you can have Neville get caught on the statue like in the movie.

With the build not being super exciting, you hope the minifigures included in the set make up for it. This set includes five. Except for the statue, each have two printed faces. The statue is all gray and comes with two swords plus and extra one in the parts bag (win!). Not much to it, but you could add it to #40516-2: Everyone is Awesome just to mix things up.

Draco Malfoy is the only minifigure not unique to the set. The same minifigure appeared in #75978-1: Diagon Alley only this one comes with a broom.

Professor Quirinus is the 20th Anniversary gold minifigure. I’m not sure why they selected him versus one of the more main characters, but okay. He did show up in the first book/movie so that might be why. The figure has the Professor Quirinus face on one side and then Voldemort face on the other side.

Madame Hooch is unique to this set as the instructor. She has two faces to include my favorite, the flying goggles.

Neville Longbottom is last in my picture. He comes with a straight face and then a scared face. He has a broom and his remembrall (had to look that one up).

Lastly, here are the 2 tiles I got. Not really a big fan of these nor do I intend to make sure I get them all.

Overall, this set is nothing really exciting. The minifigures are okay and the set itself isn’t that great. The pieces are alright, but nothing too special. Unless you are a huge Potter fan, I wouldn’t rush out to grab this one. What are your thoughts?

Happy building!

Set Review - #75252-1: Imperial Star Destroyer - UCS - Star Wars

Just in time for the next giant Star Wars UCS set to be announced, I’m releasing my set review of the previous one. #75252-1: Imperial Star Destroyer was released back on 1 October 2019 in the US. It retails for $699.99 and contains 4,784 pieces. This makes it $0.146 per piece this is quite high in my opinion. Usually, with such a large set containing so many pieces, they can get it lower, but part of it has to do with the number of large plates in this set. There’s a lot of plastic in there despite the smaller piece count as compared to #75192-1: Millennium Falcon.

I’m finally getting to the review on this one. I actually purchased it back in April 2021. Then I moved and it moved with me still in the box. I finally opened it in late September 2021 and finally got to finish building it during the beginning of November 2021. Most of the time I spent building it was bringing the instructions and a small table outside to watch my kiddos play with their neighbor friends. Lots of questions about what I was building and if they could help. “No thanks. I got it!”

Onto the review…

So it comes in a sturdy box made great to fit the next box. The box with the set box inside is similar to other large sets I have purchased in the past with the LEGO branding. The set box is well protected inside which is as it should be considering the price of this set. From the label, my set was made in Mexico in April 2021. Not bad considering I also purchased it in April.

Here’s the set box with some of the art work. It has some great artwork of the set with different backgrounds. You can see just about every side of the set and the minifigures. You also get a computer generated outline of the ship (on one of the box flaps) which shows the dimensions of the set (43 inches long, 17 inches tall, 26 inches wide). You also get them in metric for those of you not familiar with inches.

Inside the box are four parts boxes and a box with the instructions. Each box has some artwork of the set. I like how the instructions come in a box versus a bag. I didn’t like that the boxes weren’t numbered. You have to sort through the boxes to put the parts bags in order and then if you don’t have the space like me, you have to sort them back into boxes. There are 19 numbered parts bags and then a few bags with larger plates. There are also a few plates not in any bags. Sorry, I didn’t count the total number of bags. You’ll have to zoom in on my picture to try and count them all.

The instructions come in a large, heavy book bound with wire. Inside are some details on the set, designers, and LEGO Star Wars.

Only one sticker on this set. It’s the large label for the description plate. I don’t like these large stickers, but I can’t complain since it is the only one.

The build for this set starts off with a pretty sturdy Technic structure. If you’re not a Technic fan, then this part will not be enjoyable, but I’m always amazed how people can use Technic pieces to put things together and then how they can connect them to System parts.

You’ll also notice the stand below the structure, the description plate, and the two minifigures. Building the stand first definitely helps make the build go easier as you have something to hold it up as you go versus building it later.

As for the minifigures, there were a lot of complaints when this set came out about just having two and how they were just crew members and nothing special. I don’t buy giant sets like this to get minifigures. I do it because I want to assemble a large set. So no real complaints here.

The second set of bags continues the internal structure and you can see the form of the ship start to take place.

The third set of bags builds the side of the ship in the form of a long running plate with a lot of greebling on it. Each side is mostly the same, but just flipped upside down. It clips on pretty easily to the substructure.

The bags labeled four and five build the underside skin in the back on the left and right. Lots of stacking plates together. This is where the build can get somewhat uninteresting as you are just connecting lots of plates together. Then you duplicate it only in a mirror image on the other side. The good part is on the inside of the ship, there are some different colors to mix things up a big.

The sixth bag adds some of the various bays underneath the ship and then a… um… I’m not an expert so I’m not sure what my last picture is… The middle one contains a small Tie Fighter. It also has a hook up where you can connect the Tantive IV as was done in “A New Hope.”

The seventh set of bags starts to build the back of the ship where the engines are located. This part was a bit more exciting to build as it wasn’t just stacking plates on top of each other.

Side note… this build is so big that I couldn’t use my normal low-grade picture taking method of just using the box as a background on a flat surface. So I found a low-tech program to crop out some of the background. It’s not the greatest, but it gets rid of a lot of the clutter in my building area that distracts from the set itself.

The eighth set of bags finishes up the back with the engines and adds a small amount of color in. If I wanted to dump more money in, I could get LED lights to light them up which I think would look cool. For now, I’ll stick with it as is.

Bags nine and ten finish up the front of the ship on the bottom. You build both sides. It is more stacking plates next to each other.

Then when you are done with that, you can move onto bags 11 and 12 with the top front.

Bags 13 and 14 build the left and right sides of the back of the shop on the top. This part was a little more involved as there is some minor greebling and there are some of the gun ports. Each gun is on a swivel and you can angle the turrets on each one. This is a nice touch to a ship devoid of many play type features.

Bag 15 builds the sub structure of what will become the bridge. You get to build with some color other than gray which is nice and it is more than just stacking plates.

Bag 16 finishes up the bridge portion. I failed to take a picture of it alone, but you can see part of it in these pictures and then more in the final versions. I like the large balls on either side which I assume are some sort of radar or sensor. There is some good detailing in my opinion as compared to the ships you see in the movie.

Bags 17 and 18 build up the layer on the top of the ship and surrounding the bridge area. I’m sure someone can tell me what they are meant for, but this section was a change of pace. There were some plates to connect, but a lot of details, some use of SNOT techniques, and lots of greebling to add in detail. Each one just snaps/slides into place like much of the rest of the build for easy assembly/disassembly.

Bag 19 wraps everything up with two attachments that clip onto the previous build to wrap up the top of the ship. The attachments are with Technic pins so you can easily unclip to get to the substructure inside the ship. The nice part about this build is that you can move the set by holding onto the structure inside. It makes it easier to move as compared to the Falcon. I assembled it in one place and then moved it to take pictures and then moved it to a shelf for display. I was a little nervous it would break, but it held up okay.

So here’s the final build from a few angles. Sorry for my crappy graphics editing program to cut out some of the clutter in the background. Maybe I just need to stick to reviews of smaller sets to avoid this problem in the future.

Bag 19 also builds a small version of the Tantive IV so you can re-create the scene from “A New Hope.” The small model is pretty accurate considering the scale and you can attach it with either the clear pole and clip as shown or it also clips into the bay on the bottom of the Star Destroyer. This is a cool feature in my opinion.

Overall, I thought the build was okay. The use of the Technic core was great, but there’s only so much excitement you can get from connecting plates into bigger plates. I think the end set captures the ship quite accurately and I like the shear size of this monster. There were some complaints about the line up the center between the two sides of the ship. I can see why people would complain, but I understand it is LEGO and there is only so much you can do.

The price is pretty steep considering the number of pieces, but you do get a pretty large beast of a set. If I can remember back that far, I think I purchased it during a double VIP point period. Hopefully you can find a deal or some way to cut back on the price to swallow the cost. Has anyone been able to get it at a discount?

Lastly, here’s where I’m displaying it for now. My NLS got some shelves and let me put sets on the tops. I’ve got #75308-1: R2-D2 and then #75192-1: Millennium Falcon. The two big builds look good together I think. Not sure if I will add an AT-AT in there or not. We’ll have to see.

Happy building!

Set Review - #71031 - Marvel Studios - Collectible Minifigres

There was a lot of excitement in the LEGO fan media for this release, but as a non-Marvel fan, I’m not super excited. I just happen to be sucked into collecting each Collectible Minifigure series. Thanks a lot LEGO! #71031: Marvel Studios was released on 1 September 2021 in the US and should be done in at the end of December. LEGO Shop @ Home shows out of stock, but you can still find them at other retailers like Walmart and Target. The price is $4.99 per bag and there are 12 minifigures total if you get a chance to do the feel test. My local Walmart never seemed to have them so I purchased them online. It stinks not being able to do the feel test and having to buy more, but thankfully, I can put extras in my store. Also, Walmart had them listed for $4.97 so you save two pennies on each.

My review won’t be super detailed as I don’t really know the characters, but I will assess them from a LEGO fan standpoint. Some overall comments, they all come with a jumper plate and the new-ish poseable piece (if that’s what you call it). They all mostly have pretty detailed parts with printed legs, torsos, and most have dual printed faces.

Overall, don’t get these unless you are a Marvel Studios fan or you are addicted to collecting minifigures. Otherwise, I still think $4.99 is too much for what you get and you probably won’t appreciate all of the details from the various movies/comics.

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The Scarlet Witch has a lot of details and comes with a cape. There are also two of the flickable fireball things. I’ve never tried to send them for distance, but the instructions have a warning not to hit people in the face with them.

The Vision comes with a supped up laptop with a clear-blue screen. He also has a white cape which I don’t think we have seen often.

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Monica Rambeau has a cool hairpiece. I’m not sure if we’ve seen it before or not, but I like it. There is also a small unmanned aerial system type build to go along with her.

Winter Soldier comes with a shield and knife/sword. The set actually has two of these blades together so you get an extra. He doesn’t have enough facial hair to warrant a beard piece, but just enough for printing of some scruff on his face.

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Captain America has an interesting glider get up along with a 2x2 tile triangle (probably not the official name). This one was one of the easier ones to feel in the package before taking it out.

Loki has a coffee mug with a logo printed on it and the same logo is on his belt (again, not a Marvel fan, sorry). The little green guy he comes with is fun and he sits on a stud which works out well.

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Sylvie has a mini alligator. which I think is cool. The minifigure comes with two manchettes. I posed her with both, but the instructions only show one..

Zombie Hunter Spidey might be the first I’ve seen that comes with two heads. I like that you can have the Spidey face or the non-masked face. As a bonus, you get a “string of web”

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Zombie Captain America was the one I got the most of when opening up these packs. I’m not sure why as I wouldn’t think it would be the most popular, but apparently LEGO thought so.

Captain Carter was the hardest to find for me. LEGO limited orders to 16 (total) and Walmart let you place multiple orders, but only of 12 at a time. With my multiple orders, this minifigure only showed up once.

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T’Challa Star-Lord comes with a hairpiece, mask, and two weapons. I like the purple shirt/jacket.

Gamora with Blade of Thanos. The green face is cool and the black hair with purple streak is interesting. The blade is pretty giant.

Set Review - #40421-1: Belle Bottom, Kevin and Bob - Brickheadz - Minions

I recently reviewed #40420-1: Stuart, Gru, and Otto. This one is the second of two Minions related Brickheadz for 2021. It’s #40421-1: Belle Bottom, Kevin, and Bob. This set was released on 26 April 2021 in the US for $19.99. It contains 309 pieces which works out to $0.065 per piece. This is slightly better than the other set which only has 244 pieces, but is sold for the same amount. Like #40420-1, this set contains a standard size Brickheadz figure and two Minions. I have not seen the movie this is from so I do not know who Belle Bottom is or why the Minions are in orange, but at some point I’m sure my kids will push to see this movie.

The box shows the three figures on the front and which number they are in the Brickheadz series. The larger person figure is in the center, but out of numerical order in the series. Why they didn’t just change the numbering, I don’t know. The back shows that the Brickheadz go on a stand and then advertises for #40420-1 in case you weren’t aware of it yet.

The set contains three parts bags. Two are numbered one and then a number two bag. It also has two instruction booklets to go along with each numbered set of bags.

The first set of bags builds Belle Bottom. Her hairdo is done quite well and I like how the designers used levels of plates and studs to achieve the effect. They also used the LEGO gold ring as earrings which is the first time I’ve seen this done. I like the parts usage. Other than that, it’s your standard Brickheadz build of a character that is only in one of the Minions movies.

Next up in bag two is Kevin. He’s a very simple build with not much detail. He is slightly taller than most Minions, but not as tall as Belle Bottom. Kevin is holding a nunchuck for a reason that I am sure is apparent in the movie. His front has a printed orange tile and then along his arms are printed stripes. That’s about it for him.

Last up is Bob. He’s Kevin, only shorter, no hair, and no nunchucks.

So there you go… If you are a Brickheadz fan or Minions fan, scoop up this set. If not, it’s not really worth it in my opinion. The price per piece is slightly better than #40421-1, but we haven’t seen it go on sale. Maybe it will for Black Friday?

Happy Building!

Set Review - #10280-1: Flower Bouquet - Botanical Collection - 18+

Set #10280-1: Flower Bouquet is the first in the Botanical Collection from the 18+ line. It’s been a hit since it was released in the US on 2 January 2021 and was out of stock for quite a while. If you aren’t familiar with this set, you should start with the designer video here. The set contains 756 pieces and retails in the US for $49.99. That works out to $0.066 per piece which isn’t too bad. Recently Amazon.com and Walmart had the set on sale for 20% off so I reached in and bought one on sale.

Onto the review… The box is a reasonable size, but isn’t super huge like a Modular Building. It is black and has sand green branding for 18+. The front shows the full set while the back breaks out the set a bit so you can see the details. It also shows the height of the flowers and what it looks like in a vase. Note that the set does not come with a buildable vase so you either need to provide your own or build one.

The set contains six parts bags and an instruction booklet which is sealed in a bag. Five of the bags are numbered with one through three. One is made up of some of the stems and larger leaves.

The instruction booklet does have some information on the set designers as well as details throughout about parts used and other details. Most of these details weren’t useful to me as a regular builder, but I could see them being fun for new builders.

The first two bags labeled number one build two daisies and three roses. The daisies are the smallest of the flowers in the build, but they still get a point across that they are daisies. Besides the stem, they are probably the easiest to duplicate and get pieces for.

The roses are some of my favorites in this set. There are three and I like the color. I’m glad they didn’t just go with a standard red rose. The roses can also be posed so that they are either more or less open as the petals are on hinges. One of the roses is straight up while two are built with an angled stem at the top. Each rose has a leaf which looks like it was a wing from a dinosaur on one of the Jurassic Park sets.

The second set of bags builds three more flowers and some greenery. First up is a California Poppy. The orange color on this one really pops out which is cool. Other than the stem, the flower parts are fairly common so you could probably build this one in other colors as it is a pretty simple build.

Next up are two green plants. I don’t know my way around a florist other than I have frequented numerous florists to purchase the real things for my NLS. And no, those purchases weren’t meant to appease any of my LEGO purchases. This one is pretty simple to put together and it uses two green bush like pieces that I haven’t seen since… maybe a Pirates set back in the day? It’s been a while, but cool to see them back in use. The green plants help to mix up the bouquet so it’s not just flowers.

Lastly, you build two snap dragon flowers. These are cool in real life and I enjoyed the brick built versions. One is pointed straight up and the other has an angle at the top of the stem. Both of these have two leaves which also appear to be from some dinosaur part (maybe). The color choice on the snap dragons is great and I like how the top is pink and then it gets darker at the bottom.

Bag three finishes up the set with lavender, three pieces of greenery, and an aster flower. The lavender is built first. I’ve had a lavender plant in the past at a house I once lived at and I’m not sure this flower matches the plant I had. Maybe it’s a different kind? The one we had didn’t have the brown on the flowers. It was mostly green with the small purple flowers. Not a big deal… I like the use of the crown and a golden leaf by each flower. I’m sure they’ll be used in future MOCs coming soon by various builders.

Next up are three more types of greenery. These are just giant leaves which have a pivot point so you can bend them as desired. The very tip is a sand green surf board which is a pretty cool piece. Not much to these when you build them, but it helps to mix up the bouquet.

Last is the aster flower. The color on this one is great, but the build was a bit of a challenge. It was hard to tell which way you attached the clips and how you lined them all up. In the end, I don’t think it matters too much and our aster flower looks great.

Here’s the final set. No, it does not come with a vase. My NLS went through multiple vases before picking the one we did. Then we had to adjust them so they were just so. Thankfully, you can adjust the height of each plant by adding or removing Technic pieces. This allows you to position the flowers so they meet your own intent which is a cool feature.

My NLS thought this set was great. Not only did she help build it, but it now has a prominent place in our house unlike the rest of the sets I build that are either tucked away (or displayed too high up for her to reach). I’ll take it as a win! She’s excited that she doesn’t have to water them and won’t kill them. Just need to get some canned air to dust them off every now and then.

Overall, I really liked this one. It was good to see LEGO break away from some of the traditional builds and do something like flowers. Haven’t decided whether we’ll get into any of the other plants or not. The price on this one is decent and the 20% off sale definitely helped entice me to purchase. Well done LEGO!

Happy building!

Set Review - #76393-1: Harry Potter™ and Hermione Granger™ - Harry Potter

Continuing on with the 2021 Harry Potter line… Set #76393-1: Harry Potter™ and Hermione Granger™ was released 18 April 2021 in the US. It contains 1,673 pieces and retails at $119.99 in the US. That works out to $0.072 per piece.

This is something new for LEGO and the Harry Potter line and it’s been cool to see LEGO branch out a bit in this line. In 2020, we had #75979-1: Hedwig which was a larger scale model of Hedwig the owl with a crank to move his wings. This was repeated in 2021 with #76394-1: Fawkes, Dumbledore’s Phoenix. Now we also have some larger scale minifigures.

Looking at the box, the front shows our to large scale minifigures with Harry and Hermione. You can see on the front that their parts move similar to a normal scaled minifigure. Looking at the back, it demonstrates that the legs and arms can be moved and they can “sit.” Both figures come with a wand that can be removed. The dimensions are also listed on the back with Harry being 10.4 inches tall and 6.8 inches wide.

The contents are 12 parts bags numbered one through eight. There is a package with the two instruction booklets and then a package with Harry’s cape. For some reason Hermione doesn’t have a cape. I’m not sure why they did for Harry, but not for Hermione.

Of note, this build is a good family build or one to do with a friend. The Harry figure uses instruction booklet one with the bags numbered one through four. The Hermione figure has a separate booklet and uses the bags numbered five through eight. My family split it up. I built Harry while my kiddos found me the pieces. My NLS built Hermione.

The first bags build Harry’s torso. The outer picture doesn’t really capture the build as the inside has a lot of Technic pieces to achieve the angles of the body and to allow for the arms and legs to attach and pivot. It’s not super hard, but I can see why it is labeled as 10+ as you have to pay attention to where everything goes.

The second bags build both of his legs, his arms and hands, and his wand. The legs are mostly stacking bricks until you get to the attachment to the hips. The bottom is hollow, but you can still attach them to normal studs. The legs are built similar only opposite so you can get left and right. The arms are built in a similar fashion as well, but also in an opposite way. The arms pivot around and the hands spin like a minifigure too. The hands are built with a skin toned color that I can’t say I have seen often in sets.

The wand isn’t too sturdy if you handle it a lot, but it holds up as a display model. For fans, there is a small rod piece inside to be the wand’s “core.” This is a nice detail I think to make the Harry Potter fan base happy.

Bags three and four build Harry’s cranium. I opened them both up at the same time which probably wasn’t smart, but I managed. The head was a pretty challenging build with a lot of SNOT connections and slopes and curves to make his hair. As my NLS said, “does it matter if you don’t follow the directions and his hair is slightly off?” Well no, but you definitely have to pay attention to make sure everything connects. Harry’s face is printed along with his scar that is also printed on a curved piece. I went a little fast through the build and missed a key step that held together the main substructure of the cranium. I caught my mistake and it went better after that.

Harry has a round brick on the top of his torso. The head fits on top. You have to make sure it lines up just so, but after that it works okay and you can spin Harry’s head all the way around.

The fifth bag starts the build for Hermione. Her torso is very similar to build as Harry only a few of the colors inside are different.

Like the second set of bags, the sixth set of bags builds Hermione’s legs, arms, and her wand. The legs are also built the same way only she has some grey socks on her legs. The arms are also gray as she is not wearing the cape that Harry has. The arms and hands pivot the same way as Harry’s. The wand is built the same way as well and also has an inner core. It is just made of a different color than Harry’s wand.

Bags seven and eight build Hermione’s head and hair. The face piece is printed, but that’s it on the printed pieces. Still no stickers. YES! Here hair is pretty challenging if you follow the instructions to the letter as you need to make sure each curved tile, slope piece, and curved piece are placed the right way. While her head is also on a pivot, you can’t spin her head because her hair blocks her head from turning. Unlike a normal minifigure where you can pop off the hair piece, it isn’t as easy here. I don’t think this is a downside to the set, just merely pointing that out.

Here are the two characters sitting and then standing. Maybe navy blue wasn’t a good background for this photo. Sorry.

As my kiddo asked, where’s Ron? How come LEGO only built two of the three main characters? Will we see Ron in the future? Is this another ploy for LEGO to say “now you can build Ron on your own?” I don’t know. I’m sure the set would have been much more expensive with a third figure. Although sourcing all of the parts on your own probably isn’t cheap.

Back to the review, overall I thought this was a fun set. It worked out great to build as a family and it has some challenging parts for adults and easy parts for kids. My 7-year old built the wand and was able to help with parts of the torso and legs. Price-wise it’s not bad on a price per piece standpoint, but $120 might be out of reach for some. As a new concept, I like the idea of buildable minifigures. We’ll have to see if LEGO expands this to other themes like Star Wars, Ninjago, Marvel, or DC.

What were your thoughts on this one?

Happy building!