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LEGO BrickHeadz Pets & Pandas Review

by Thita (admin) on January 21, 2021

(Written by William)

Dogs, cats, and pandas, oh my! LEGO released three new BrickHeadz sets this year featuring cute brick-built animals. The #40466 LEGO BrickHeadz Chinese New Year Pandas is a seasonal set, and the #40440 LEGO BrickHeadz German Shepherd, and #40441 LEGO BrickHeadz Shorthair Cats are part of the new LEGO BrickHeadz Pets line.

At their heart, BrickHeadz are much like Funko Pop figures but with a very distinct LEGO feel and branding. There is the oversized super-deformed head and small body to give that cute factor. Meanwhile, the blocky aesthetic is meant to represent the iconic look of the LEGO brick.

I’ve always appreciated how LEGO has managed to give an interesting and different building experience with every BrickHeadz character. I’ve gotten quickly bored with building too many catapults in LEGO Castle and countless helicopters in LEGO City, but I’ve never tired of building BrickHeadz. This is quite an accomplishment, considering just how many BrickHeadz sets there are.

And just like in any series of sets, BrickHeadz all have to work in the same scale and style as all the others. You’d think this might get at least a little predictable with so many sets in the collection, but incredibly, this is not the case. This is because LEGO designers manage to find small but effective ways to create freshness in the line. Case in point, the new LEGO BrickHeadz Pets line features beds for the characters. This even goes beyond the decorative elements we typically see in the seasonal LEGO BrickHeadz sets, like the #40466 LEGO BrickHeadz Chinese New Year Pandas. The beds in LEGO BrickHeadz Pets are the first time we see larger items specifically scaled in the BrickHeadz world.

The sets we’re discussing here were received as review copies sent by LEGO, but I also bought them myself. The review copies just happened to come a day or two before my purchased ones did. I collect the LEGO BrickHeadz line (and have pretty much all of them besides the extra rare ones) because I find them fascinating. And it didn’t hurt that these characters looked extra cute. However, I’m also aware that these sets won’t appeal to everyone. BrickHeadz is a style that people either like or don’t like, and even if they like them, they will usually pick and choose just a few of their favorites.

#40440 LEGO BrickHeadz German Shepherd

This $15 USD set gives us two dogs and a dog bed to display them in. It’s nice to have a new take on the way you display BrickHeadz. Until now, we’ve gotten the very basic 6×6 stud plate for the figures to stand on, or the slightly more built up displays for the seasonal BrickHeadz. In both cases the display has been rather uniform and not all that noteworthy. Getting beds in the new LEGO BrickHeadz Pets line adds additional context, which comes off as rather charming. Though it is interesting to note that the bed is built around the standard 6×6 stud base, so if you wanted to stick with the original bases you still get them.

Both dogs feature tails that you can position, and the larger dog has angled back legs that can pivot outward and get repositioned. The scale of the dogs is as you’d expect from BrickHeadz. The adult dog’s head is built on a 4x4x4 cube, while the puppy’s head is a 3x3x3 cube. An interesting detail is the focus on getting the colors right. This does mean that these two dogs are a bit more fragile than other BrickHeadz characters. In fact, the puppy’s legs are attached only by a single stud. Given the amount of offsetting done to build the model, this makes everything rather delicate.

The set does feature two stickers. They go on curved slopes to help decorate the dog bed and give it slightly more customization. It is nice that you get enough slopes to apply all the stickers instead of forcing you to choose one or the other.

Provided you are someone like me who enjoys the artistic style of BrickHeadz, this set is incredibly adorable. The only downside is that I know many dog lovers are particular about the breed of dog they enjoy. I’m hoping that we’ll either see more breeds released in the future, or a set like the #41597 LEGO BrickHeadz Go Brick Me, so you can customize your own doggies.

#40441 LEGO BrickHeadz Shorthair Cats

The next set in the new LEGO BrickHeadz Pets line is the Shorthaired Cats. I know more cat lovers who are indifferent about the breed of cats, so I imagine this might sell slightly better than the dogs. There are also two more sets coming in the line, the #40442 LEGO BrickHeadz Goldfish, and the #40443 LEGO BrickHeadz Budgie. A fun fact is that the ‘Pets’ logo uses the shapes of the four different pets; the ‘P’ looks to have a wing and clawed feet, the ‘S’ has a fish tail, the ‘E’ looks like a cat, while the ‘T’ looks like a dog. I’m not sure if this means those will be all the pets we’ll see in the collection, but four sets tend to be the average size for a full BrickHeadz series.

Building the cats is very similar to building the dogs. One difference, though, is that the cats are made to have more rounded paws, which fits the general characterization of cats. They also feature the long claw pieces to make up their whiskers, which is another great distinguishing mark for the cats. Just like with the dogs, a great deal of attention was paid to the coloring of the animals. This does look fantastic, but it comes at the cost of making the models rather fragile.

The cats have the same style bed as the dogs based on 6×6 stud plates, but the edges are more rounded at the corners to create an oval shape. You also get two stickers to customize the bed. Choosing between cat paws and fish is a nice bit of extra detail.

#40466 LEGO BrickHeadz Chinese New Year Pandas

This is the third LEGO BrickHeadz set celebrating Chinese New Year. We got the #40354 LEGO BrickHeadz Dragon Dance Guy in 2019, the #40436 LEGO BrickHeadz Lucky Cat in 2020, and now the Pandas. This is a larger set than the previous ones, featuring three Pandas (one adult and two cubs) as well as a bit of scenery with a tree and a lantern.

I like that there are two different types of lanterns; one larger one on the lamppost, and two smaller ones hanging from the tree. (I believe that this was done to avoid making the tree look out of proportion. The minifigure head used for the smaller lanterns are small enough that they don’t dwarf the limbs of the tree.)

It’s also interesting to see that none of the pandas are built to stand up. Two of them are sitting, and one of the cubs is lying down. We have seen sitting BrickHeadz before, but as far as far as I know, this is the first time a BrickHeadz was built to lie down. That was a nice surprise.

2021 LEGO BrickHeadz Sets – Overall Opinion

Now that we have over a hundred LEGO BrickHeadz to choose from, it is less of a question as to whether or not these BrickHeadz are a must buy. Rather, they are a personal choice. These models are more about showing off something you love. I can’t think of anything more personal to many people than their pets, or just animals in general. But you also have to like the BrickHeadz style.

I doubt these will be the best selling BrickHeadz of all time, as these fall into the niche within a niche category. With that said, I’m always impressed with Brickheadz because they manage to reinvent themselves with each and every addition. As a builder, I find this fascinating.

As far as interesting building techniques, one technique that stands out with these three sets is that they contain a larger and smaller scale of the same creature. Most LEGO BrickHeadz characters have been the same size, so it’s worth paying attention how LEGO designers were able to scale them down a notch with just a few minor changes. This technique also demonstrates how you can convey a ton of personality in something nearly identical. This is especially visible with the Panda cubs.

I think the best thing about these new sets is that they appear to be great gateway models to get animal lovers you know into LEGO. The sets aren’t too complex to build and, if your animal lover doesn’t mind the artistic style of BrickHeadz, they make great little showpieces. I didn’t find any particularly rare pieces in the sets, so although their prices are right, I wouldn’t get them just for the parts. I also wouldn’t put them on top of my shopping list, but they are solid buys if you need a small project to work on, a small display piece, or if you are looking for a gift for an animal lover. If you want to check them out, they are available at the LEGO BrickHeadz section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? How do you like the new LEGO BrickHeadz sets? Do you collect BrickHeadz? Are you planning to get any of the new sets? Which one is your favorite? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below!

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LEGO World Builder – First Idea in Development!

by Thita (admin) on January 20, 2021

in Community News

I mentioned last year that I was a beta tester for an exciting new platform that was developed by the LEGO Group in partnership with Tongal, called LEGO World Builder. You can read more about the platform in two previous articles that I linked at the end of this post. To recap, LEGO World Builder is somewhat similar to LEGO Ideas, but instead of submitting ideas for potential future LEGO sets, it’s for submitting ideas for new LEGO entertainment content (i.e. web series, TV series, and maybe even the next LEGO movie).

One unique feature of LEGO World Builder is that the original creator can ask for and accept help from other creative people on the platform to develop various aspects of their original idea. LEGO regularly monitors the platform, and just like on LEGO Ideas, original creators (as well as contributors) with accepted submissions share profits with the LEGO Group. There is lots of great content on the platform already, so if you want to check them out and even participate, visit WorldBuilder.Tongal.com.

The update that I wanted to share with you today is that one of the ideas called ‘Holiday Heroes’ is officially the first fan-made world on LEGO World Builder to be acquired for development by the LEGO Group. Created by Canadian LEGO fan, Eddy Beals, this world is a globetrotting adventure inspired by his passion for exploring different cultures. Just weeks after Holiday Heroes was published, the LEGO Group took note of the idea, and Eddy was invited to pitch his original world directly to LEGO’s development team. They were highly impressed, purchased the idea, and placed it into development.

Eddy’s idea was created in response to the LEGO Group’s Holiday Special creative prompt that asked the community to dream up original holiday-themed worlds that could become the next big LEGO Holiday Special. Eddy’s idea of exploring different cultures also inspired other creators, and he received over seventy contributions from around the world, including new characters, storylines, LEGO builds, artwork, and more.

An article was published on the blog section of the LEGO World Builder platform, interviewing Eddy about his experience. It’s an interesting read as it gives us an idea both about Holiday Heroes as well as how the LEGO World Builder platform works. Below, I have copied the questions from the interview for your convenience, and you can also read the original here.

What was your experience creating this world on LEGO World Builder?

“It’s been a pretty wild ride. I had no idea what to expect when first creating Holiday Heroes on LEGO World Builder. It all started with a few notes in a notebook, then became character sketches, then a proposed theme, and then as people started contributing to Holiday Heroes, it became something much bigger than I could have imagined. For anyone with an idea of a world that they want to submit – go for it! You never know what can happen, and just the process of creating and collaborating is terrific in itself. For anyone already in LEGO World Builder, seek out other ideas to collaborate on – engaging with the ideas of others can spark something big!”

What was your inspiration for Holiday Heroes?

“The Holiday Heroes theme was inspired by my passion for learning about different cultures. The world is such a wide, beautiful canvas and filled with all kinds of people. Learning about different cultures is a great way to realize how different our forms of expression are, but also how we can share similar desires and values amongst ourselves no matter where we’re from. On a side note, I’m learning Japanese in my free time, and hope to be able to use that someday on a trip to Japan – maybe to check out Otsukimi for myself!”

What was it like pitching your world directly to the LEGO Group?

“I was pretty nervous going in, but felt great through the pitch meeting and after it. In my job, I get to deliver presentations and meet new people frequently but had never done anything quite like this. A friend and teammate at work gave me some excellent advice on how to deliver pitch presentations, so I’m quite grateful to him and to everyone who was supportive of me along the way. During the presentation, I was really happy to receive questions from the LEGO team that demonstrated that they were engaging with the theme fully and already playing with the possibilities. That left me on a high note once the meeting concluded.”

Can you tell us more about the opportunity LEGO World Builder created for you?

“LEGO World Builder was an amazing opportunity for just being able to create a world and collaborate with others on it. When you have others interacting with an idea you started, it can feel like something much bigger than what you first thought of. There was a period of time where new collaborations from others were pouring in, and it was touching to see so many people wanting to add to the story in amazing ways – whether it was interesting new characters, exciting settings, beautiful mockups, unique items, and much more! Funny enough, I started learning about new holidays across the world such as Samhain and St Martin’s Day through collaborating with others. A huge ‘thank you’ to everyone who contributed to Holiday Heroes. It wouldn’t be what it is without your contributions and enthusiasm.”

Interesting, isn’t it? I’m looking forward seeing how this first idea develops now that LEGO purchased it. In the meantime, if you have an idea on your own, or if you would like to see if you can contribute to the ideas of others, visit WorldBuilder.Tongal.com.

What do you think? Have you been participating at LEGO World Builder? Did you contribute any of your own ideas yet? And how do you like the platform? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below!