(Written by William)
I never thought I’d get to a point where I’m always ready to build and review any new LEGO Creator 3-in-1 animal sets. However, in recent years, they’ve won me over. So, when the #31166 LEGO Creator 3-in-1 Beautiful Horse came up as a set to review, I was all in.
With the advent of smaller and more varied joints, LEGO Creator 3-in-1 animals have gotten more exquisite. Gone are the days of oddly jointed characters, only to be replaced by artistic sculptures. Can the LEGO Creator 3-in-1 Beautiful Horse continue this gallery of excellence? Let’s find out.
LEGO CREATOR BEAUTIFUL HORSE – THE JOINTS
When it comes to these types of models, I like to showcase all the joints. This gives you an idea of how a model might be positioned for either play or display. So, let’s go from the head to the tail and see how this model moves.
Most LEGO animals have a moving jaw. The horse is the first one in a long time that doesn’t feature one. Instead, the elements are specifically chosen for their overall shape to more accurately portray a horse’s head. Speaking of which, further back on the head are the horse’s ears, which can be twisted and tilted for a more expressive pose. This is not necessarily a true joint, but horses do express themselves using their ears, so this is quite an accurate feature.
Right behind the head, at the top of the neck, there is a small ball-joint, with a few parts limiting its mobility. Due to the thin nature of this part of the horse, it is also one of the most visible joints, which can be a bit of a detractor. As for the base of the neck, it is hidden inside the torso of the horse and is built off two large ball-joints, providing the neck with considerable stability.
The two front legs use a friction-based single pin connection in the body of the horse. These joints have sufficient strength to hold up the horse, but due to the clearance needed for movement, the gaps do reveal some LEGO Technic elements on the interior of the horse’s body. Also, only the front right leg of the horse has a bendable knee. My guess is that the horse would not be stable enough if all four legs had a bendable knee. Since all the hooves are built the same, we’ll get back to them after discussing the back legs.
The horse’s back haunches contain what has to be the most secure and largest LEGO Technic hinges in the model. Each hinge consists of a two-part circular element with clicking friction. LEGO designers added a separate pin to have three pins connecting into the body and the legs for added support. I do believe you could stand the horse up on these back legs with assurance that the hinges will hold. That is, if it weren’t for the hooves.
As mentioned before, the hooves are all built the same. They all use a clip and bar connection and feature a pin hole on the underside to attach to a specially built base. That base is absolutely necessary since these highly flexible joints are not at all suited to hold up the horse’s weight. It is only through force that you can lock the hooves into the right position, which distributes the weight so that the horse looks correct. This means most of the posability in the legs is unnecessary. In order to use any of it, builders will need to create and recreate new foundations for the hooves to lock into, if they are planning to display in any other poses beyond the two the model features.
Finally, the horse’s tail uses two ball-joints. This means the tail can only move up and down, which is decent enough. It’s just odd given how many animals feature a ridiculous number of joints in their tails. But this horse has more of a decorative sculpture rather than a flexible design for its tail. Actually, I should clarify, the tail is a bit more than decorative. The display platform features a clip that treats the tail as a third back leg, allowing the horse to be displayed on just its back legs. Still, the tail comes off as being rather bulky.
LEGO CREATOR BEAUTIFUL HORSE – THE BASE
Unlike other LEGO animal models, the horse really needs the display base. It is a simple sideways design that features three pin connections as well as a bar for the horse to clip into. Due to the anatomical thin ankles of the horse, it is necessary to always have at least three points of contact on the base for the horse to distribute its weight. The only trick in utilizing the base is that you will need to turn it 180 degrees in order to place the horse in one of its two poses.
LEGO CREATOR BEAUTIFUL HORSE – FINAL THOUGHTS
At $54.99 MSRP, the model is a decent price-to-part value and in line with other LEGO Creator 3-in-1 animal models. There are plenty of nice earth-tone colors for those looking to build in a more natural color palette.
And the set comes with three alternate models. Even though I focused on the horse here, as that’s the main model, I do feel that the alternate builds are actually better. Because they don’t need a base, they provide more options on how they are positioned or played with. I know this limitation comes more from how horses are shaped and not from a desire by LEGO designers to shortchange anyone. I just found the horse to be much more limiting when compared to the alternate models, as well as similar models in the LEGO Creator 3-in-1 line. I also think the model doesn’t photograph very well. The finished design in person seems much more impressive than any image of the set I saw.
Ultimately, this is more of a display model and not really a playset. If you’re a big fan of horses and looking for a unique decorative piece, this set is for you. And if you would like to learn intricate sculpting techniques, you will find this set educational. But I do feel that this set is a good horse and not a great horse. And sets like the #31129 LEGO Creator 3-in-1 Majectic Tiger and the #31154 LEGO Creator 3-in-1 Red Fox are better overall. In the video below, I talk a bit more about the set, and if you do want to check it out, it’s available at the LEGO Creator section of the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Creator Majestic Horse? Feel free to share your thoughts and own reviews in the comment section below!
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