Winnie the Pooh: LEGO Ideas #21326 - REVIEW

A couple of weeks ago, I took my son (and mother-in-law) up to Rochester to visit the mall.  My main purpose for going to the mall was to visit the LEGO store with my son.  

We ended up having lots of fun there - buying a cup of pieces off of the Pick-a-Brick wall, plus a few sets - two for him and one for both of us.  

Today, I thought it'd be worth reviewing the set that I bought for both of us:  LEGO Ideas #21326:  Winnie the Pooh.


The Winnie the Pooh set is another set in a rather long line of LEGO Ideas sets.  The concept of the LEGO Ideas line is that fans create sets and then put them up to vote.  If creators can garner enough support for their build, then LEGO will review the feasibility of actually producing the set.  If all the stars align just right, the set actually gets produced and put out into the wild...and that's exactly what happened with the Winnie the Pooh set.

This set comes with five of the main characters from the Winnie the Pooh stories - Winnie the Pooh (of course), Piglet, Rabbit, Eeyore, and Tigger.  Notably missing from this lineup is both Owl and Kanga (plus little Roo).  Still, getting five of the favorites from the Winnie the Pooh universe feels plenty generous for a set of this size (1265 total pieces).


The box is your typical LEGO Ideas box - and that's a good thing!  It folds open from the front and you can use the box as a sorting tray while you build.  The cardboard used is much thicker and sturdier than your typical LEGO boxes.  Also better than usual is the instruction manual.  This one tops out at 158 pages and begins with some wonderful illustrations and an introduction to Winnie the Pooh and his friends (along with a bit of biographical information about the set's creator, Ben Alder).


Digging in, I admit that I was disappointed to find not one, but two different sticker sheets.  The one bit of good news though is that both sticker sheets were small - one holds 10 stickers while the other only has two stickers.  None of the stickers proved difficult to place as the build was completed, for whatever that's worth!

The build was split up into seven numbered bags.  I didn't take a photo after each bag was completed but here are a couple of "in action" shots that I did manage to snap.


As you can see from the above shots, there are plenty of great little details on both the outside and inside of Pooh's house.  On the inside, you get two rooms - a sitting area (complete with stove, honey hunny pot, and a comfy blue chair) and a bedroom (with a large bed, a candle on a table, and a cuckoo clock).  Note:  I didn't realize that I didn't "push down" the top part of the build when I snapped this photo but I did spot my error afterwards and fixed it prior to beginning the next bag of pieces!


You can more clearly see here where I didn't push things down enough.  However, the real reason I snapped this photo was to try and show you the entryway to Pooh's home.  That's a mirror (sticker) and an umbrella stand which I thought was great for such a small piece count.  There's also a (hard-to-see) tea pot and teacup on the other side of the entryway.


Once completed, the entire set exudes charm (and color).  It's definitely a fun build with plenty of interesting techniques throughout.  


Some of my favorite aspects of the build include the large tree - especially the two beehives (with printed bee pieces) flying around the hives.  Pooh's door can be opened up and there are a few other cute little additions to the front of the build including a brick-built snail and some toadstools.


Looking at the set from the back, you can see the two rooms as well as the small bit of storage area underneath the two roof pieces.  


I was particular charmed by the box of "poohsticks" above the living area.  I also commend the LEGO designers for including plenty of pots of "hunny" in the set.  The "hunny" pots are printed pieces and definitely add to the overall vibe of the set.


Finally, the entire back of the house can be closed up.  The house latches shut with a single connection point but it's strong enough to keep things shut but easy enough to open without breaking anything.

Speaking of breaking things, the one downside to the set is that the top tree part is fairly fragile.  It isn't hard to fix (usually) but you do need to exercise some caution when trying to "play" with the set.  


Overall, this is kind of a difficult set to score using my usual scoring criteria.  It's definitely more of a display piece than it is a toy to be played with.  After all, the tree is quite fragile and there really isn't much to do with the set.  The inclusion of the small book (stickered) and the 100 Acre Wood sign (also stickered) is nice, but those extra props don't add to the play value much.  


On the other hand, the character selection (and appearance) is great.  Chances are good that kids will have their favorite character included - and all five of the characters look great (though Pooh's been on a diet in this set)!  

The Bottom Line (out of 10):
Fun:  4
Play Value:  2
Kid Value:  4
Adult Value:  7
Overall:  7

The above scores may look kind of low at first glance but that's more because my grading criteria was designed for play sets much more than display sets.  I do think this is a mostly fun build, though many of the 1265 pieces are tiny little pieces - the overall set itself is decent sized but it's certainly not huge once completed.  This would be an adorable set to build and display in a child's nursery (safely out of reach of the child, of course)!  

In the end, I can safely recommend this to anyone who has a reason to be interested in Winnie the Pooh - whether that be because of a child or grandchild or simply reliving your own childhood.  I also think this would be right at home in a young child's bedroom - but again, more as a display piece than as a toy to be used vigorously.  That all said, with proper usage there is fun to be had with this set for kids - especially given the five included characters!  

Comments

  1. The first word that popped into my head after seeing this set on YouTube was "charming". I've gone back and forth on purchasing a copy. My thing is I have over 20 sets now that are just sitting in boxes, so I doubt I'd ever get around to building it even if I did buy it. I do think it makes an excellent display piece for any Disney fan.

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    1. Charming is a perfect descriptor for this set! I think anyone who even thinks they may want this one in the future should get it now, Disney stuff seems to rarely lose value so once the set retires I imagine it'll be way too pricey for what you get! Thanks for stopping by. :)

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    2. You're right. I tried to get it, but it's sold out on Lego.com. Bummer because they're offering 2x VIP points with some nice giveaways.

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