I thought it'd be fun to do something a little bit different today - I'm going to review a Duplo LEGO set.
I bought the LEGO 10858: My First Puzzle Pets set on clearance a couple of weeks ago and recently gave the set to my young son (who is 14 months old). Like most Duplo sets, the box is much larger than a typical LEGO System box (City, Star Wars, etc.) but you get way fewer pieces. Of course, that's because Duplo bricks are much, much chunkier than the average LEGO system brick (trust me, all any 14-month-old wants to do with anything is first stick it in its mouth)! Obviously, the chunky Duplo blocks are great since they don't become a choking hazard for little ones.
The front of the box is nice and bright and cheery. You can clearly make out the three builds of the set as well the various printed pieces.
I had to show off the back of the box as well because I like the LEGO took the time to show that you could build other things besides the three main animals. I'm not exactly sure what the little hybrid animal is supposed to be but you could probably convince someone that it's a penguin of sorts.
Once the box is ripped open, the contents were packed sort of curiously. There were two plastic bags full of pieces and then there were two pieces left loose in the box (one a printed piece and the other not printed). My best guess is that those are the two largest pieces in the set and so LEGO didn't want them in the small plastic bags. You also get the "instruction" booklet which is really nothing more than a bunch of advertisements for other LEGO sets.
Before I started putting the set together, I had to take notice of the sheer volume of printed pieces in the set. I guess it's kind of obvious when you look at the box front that there were lots of printed pieces but for someone who is so used to getting large sticker sheets in his LEGO sets the amount of printed parts here made me pause long enough to snap a photograph!
Now, on to the build. The build is basically broken down into three sections - one for each of the three colors and animals beginning with the red dog.
Truth be told, I bought this set because of the dog. We have a golden retriever as a pet but my son did not yet have a LEGO version of a dog and this was the closest I had seen from LEGO in Duplo form. My son does have a molded Duplo cat but that definitely doesn't count since I'm a dog person, not a cat person!
The dog is also the most complicated build of the set - he even has a white tail piece (one of the few non-printed pieces in the set). The dog bone brick is nice and you'll notice that each animal and its corresponding food share the same color palette. Kudos to LEGO for that.
Next up, the weakest of the three builds which is the yellow chick.
The chick is made up of only four pieces, one of which is a large circular piece that is both yellow and orange. It's a weird "paint" job and I don't think that I care for it much. I also find that the chick's bird seed brick looks more like lemons (and rotten lemons I guess).
Finally, the last build of the box is the blue cat.
For me, the fish brick is the star of the cat build but the entire thing is quite nice. Not nice enough to make me change from being a dog person to a cat person, but still a nice little build.
Overall, this is a great little set that introduces youngsters to common animals and primary colors. The included food bricks lends the set some play value and of course you can mix and match the pieces to your heart's content (as with any LEGO set).
I'll forgo my usual rating system since this is a Duplo set that's clearly marketed to the youngest possible members of LEGO's audience. I will say, however, that I do recommend the set and that my little guy has enjoyed playing with the various animals. Of course, he's still at the age where "playing" mostly means ripping the pieces apart but hey, at least I'm getting pretty good at putting the animals back together again quickly!
I bought the LEGO 10858: My First Puzzle Pets set on clearance a couple of weeks ago and recently gave the set to my young son (who is 14 months old). Like most Duplo sets, the box is much larger than a typical LEGO System box (City, Star Wars, etc.) but you get way fewer pieces. Of course, that's because Duplo bricks are much, much chunkier than the average LEGO system brick (trust me, all any 14-month-old wants to do with anything is first stick it in its mouth)! Obviously, the chunky Duplo blocks are great since they don't become a choking hazard for little ones.
The front of the box is nice and bright and cheery. You can clearly make out the three builds of the set as well the various printed pieces.
I had to show off the back of the box as well because I like the LEGO took the time to show that you could build other things besides the three main animals. I'm not exactly sure what the little hybrid animal is supposed to be but you could probably convince someone that it's a penguin of sorts.
Once the box is ripped open, the contents were packed sort of curiously. There were two plastic bags full of pieces and then there were two pieces left loose in the box (one a printed piece and the other not printed). My best guess is that those are the two largest pieces in the set and so LEGO didn't want them in the small plastic bags. You also get the "instruction" booklet which is really nothing more than a bunch of advertisements for other LEGO sets.
Before I started putting the set together, I had to take notice of the sheer volume of printed pieces in the set. I guess it's kind of obvious when you look at the box front that there were lots of printed pieces but for someone who is so used to getting large sticker sheets in his LEGO sets the amount of printed parts here made me pause long enough to snap a photograph!
Now, on to the build. The build is basically broken down into three sections - one for each of the three colors and animals beginning with the red dog.
Truth be told, I bought this set because of the dog. We have a golden retriever as a pet but my son did not yet have a LEGO version of a dog and this was the closest I had seen from LEGO in Duplo form. My son does have a molded Duplo cat but that definitely doesn't count since I'm a dog person, not a cat person!
The dog is also the most complicated build of the set - he even has a white tail piece (one of the few non-printed pieces in the set). The dog bone brick is nice and you'll notice that each animal and its corresponding food share the same color palette. Kudos to LEGO for that.
Next up, the weakest of the three builds which is the yellow chick.
The chick is made up of only four pieces, one of which is a large circular piece that is both yellow and orange. It's a weird "paint" job and I don't think that I care for it much. I also find that the chick's bird seed brick looks more like lemons (and rotten lemons I guess).
Finally, the last build of the box is the blue cat.
For me, the fish brick is the star of the cat build but the entire thing is quite nice. Not nice enough to make me change from being a dog person to a cat person, but still a nice little build.
Overall, this is a great little set that introduces youngsters to common animals and primary colors. The included food bricks lends the set some play value and of course you can mix and match the pieces to your heart's content (as with any LEGO set).
I'll forgo my usual rating system since this is a Duplo set that's clearly marketed to the youngest possible members of LEGO's audience. I will say, however, that I do recommend the set and that my little guy has enjoyed playing with the various animals. Of course, he's still at the age where "playing" mostly means ripping the pieces apart but hey, at least I'm getting pretty good at putting the animals back together again quickly!
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