Review: 5008325 Dungeons & Dragons Mimic Dice Box
Posted by CapnRex101,
Of the varied monsters featured in Dungeons & Dragons, shape-shifting mimics are among the most famous examples. 5008325 Dungeons & Dragons Mimic Dice Box reflects their common disguise as a chest and captures a good level of detail, for its size.
In addition, this model serves as a container for the polyhedral dice used in Dungeons & Dragons, so it should be a satisfying companion for 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale.
Summary
This is a lovely gift-with-purchase, but I have some concerns about its availability
- Great shape and details
- Specialised printed eyes
- Functional storage space
- Blue tongue should be purple
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The Completed Model
Mimics are unusual in their combination of man-made and organic forms, given their disguises as everyday objects. This box seems impressive though, particularly given the intricate texture around the mimic's mouth. Moreover, the model is a reasonable size for a little desk accessory, measuring 8cm across.
The mimic's ferocious teeth look fantastic and I like the use of 1x1 quarter circle tiles to create wrinkled flesh. The purple 1x3 curved slopes behind the teeth and the shape of the tongue are effective too. However, I would rather the tongue was purple to match the surrounding elements and the chest cannot close completely with the tongue extended.
Fortunately, the tongue can actually fold back inside the chest, thereby allowing the lid to close fully, as shown below. The printed lock beneath the mimic's mouth is a nice inclusion, while the four eyes look marvellous too. These orange 1x1 round tiles are printed and have been created specifically for the mimic, although a spare is not supplied, which is disappointing.
I do not have any Dungeons & Dragons dice to show here, but there is ample space to store a few inside the box. Even with the tongue folded back, plenty of room remains underneath. You can also remove the tongue altogether if necessary because it is only attached with a couple of clips.
The model is nicely finished from behind as well. I like the dark brown accents and the hinges look neat, using simple clips. Additionally, the dark bluish grey frame from the front is mirrored on the back, so the mimic looks great from all sides, in my opinion, although much of the detail is focused on the front, of course.
Overall
5008325 Dungeons & Dragons Mimic Dice Box is a charming set and a nice gift-with-purchase to accompany 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale. The overall shape of the mimic and its fearsome teeth are excellent, while its function as a dice box has also been implemented well on the whole.
The set is packaged in a yellow box with the instruction manual forming the cover, which often signals limited availability. These things are normally difficult to predict, but hopefully the mimic chest remains in stock for at least a few days because it is a worthy acquisition for Dungeons & Dragons fans, available with purchases of 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale.
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50 comments on this article
The tongue is ok, in some media the mimic has a purple tongue, or the tip of the tongue is blue.
Why no dice...?
I wish this wasn’t just a GWP. I can’t justify the entire set but I’d gladly trade dollarbucks for this.
I fully intend to bricklink the parts for this lil' guy
I'm gonna build this from my inventory (and, of course, some parts I'll have to order).. but it'll need to go with some other print or unprinted tiles for the eyes so I guess mine will be a mimic mimic dice box
I don't know why, but the purple tiles makes it look like the Mimic has facial hair...
@MisterBrickster said:
"I fully intend to bricklink the parts for this lil' guy"
Apart from the exclusive printed eyes?
@Watsonite said:
"Why no dice...?"
There should definitely be a dice in there. Lego should have brought back the part 64776 - maybe in a new exclusive colour and a few tiles to 'dress' the dice.
Nice GWP anyway. I have not yet convinced myself to spend CAD$540 on this - my 'to buy list' is so very long and this is certainly not at the top of it. I know I would have to act swiftly to get the GWP so the odds are not very good...
@AndyB1 said:
" @MisterBrickster said:
"I fully intend to bricklink the parts for this lil' guy"
Apart from the exclusive printed eyes?"
He's getting googly mixel eyes and I am fine with that :p
@whatsie said:
"I wish this wasn’t just a GWP. I can’t justify the entire set but I’d gladly trade dollarbucks for this. "
Same. Can see this flying off shelves as a pocket money / polybag set.
Heck, I'd even pay for a larger scale one. Could just see it as a set that opens up like 75952 Case of Magical Creatures, or something with hidden scenes.
No dice... erm, actually, I do want this. I like interesting, exclusive, tie-in GWPs.
It is really the only incentive Lego can offer to get us to buy these big sets right away. They really need to do a better job (Venator, Avengers' Tower). This one looks just good enough.
Hopefully this is not the last time we hear from the captain! NOM NOM NOM!
@CapnRex101:
https://www.cbr.com/dnd-anatomy-mimics/
Here’s a fairly standard interpretation of a mimic, showing a tongue that’s bright blue at the tip, and purple at the base to match the lips and gums. Either choice is valid, but blue does make the tongue stand out more. Maybe if it was a deeper shade of blue, like they used in Knights Kingdom II, it would look better.
@dimc, if you look closely at the photo with the tongue retracted, you can see thin double lines on the lower left of some eyes, and thick lines on the lower right. The thin lines are where light is reflecting off the top and bottom edges of the chamfer. The thick lines are where it’s reflecting off the face of the chamfer, plus you can see a bit of twin lines extending past the ends, kind of like a “mermaid’s purse” shark egg.
@whatsie:
I will gladly sell you mine for enough to buy two at the going market rate.
@MisterBrickster:
@Studless:
Dreamzzz has a nice yellow cat-eye tile that would work. Plain GitD or some shade of orange would probably also look good.
@ELbricker:
You’ve clearly been listening to @StyleCounselor too much…
@HOBBES:
It’s D&D. You’re going to need a d4, a d6, a d8, a d10, a d12, a d20, and either a d10 in a contrasting color, a 10’s d10, or a d100. Or you might want to have several of each size, in case you need to roll multiple times and add the result.
@GrizBe:
The Ideas project that I voted for was the actual transforming Mimic, that could switch between this and a normal chest. I would absolutely love it if that version eventually got released as a set, too.
@PurpleDave said:
" @ELbricker:
You’ve clearly been listening to @StyleCounselor too much…"
You're clearly confusing me with the comedic @Ridgeheart. Thank you!
This will last maybe a couple hours in the US store. Maybe.
@Watsonite said:
"Why no dice...?"
I would reckon partly because most polyhedral dice would have to be non-Lego elements anyway, and because most D&D players would already have their own.
Is this a general GWP if you spend a certain amount on any sets, or you specifically must buy 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale?
@StyleCounselor said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @ELbricker:
You’ve clearly been listening to @StyleCounselor too much…"
You're clearly confusing me with the comedic @Ridgeheart. Thank you!
"
Wait...are you the American Ridgeheart, or is Ridgeheart the Dutch you?
According to another lego website the box fits only two real life dice inside, which is a real let down for me... As explained in a previous post by purple dave a playset contains 7 different dice and usually players bring multiple playsets. So in short, you couldnt actually use this for dnd...
@Peter_X said:
"According to another lego website the box fits only two real life dice inside, which is a real let down for me... As explained in a previous post by purple dave a playset contains 7 different dice and usually players bring multiple playsets. So in short, you couldnt actually use this for dnd..."
Maybe if they’re talking about the fuzzy dice you hang from the rear view mirror. I find it pretty hard to believe you can only fit 2 regular dice into a 4x8 space
@fakespacesquid said:
" @Peter_X said:
"According to another lego website the box fits only two real life dice inside, which is a real let down for me... As explained in a previous post by purple dave a playset contains 7 different dice and usually players bring multiple playsets. So in short, you couldnt actually use this for dnd..."
Maybe if they’re talking about the fuzzy dice you hang from the rear view mirror. I find it pretty hard to believe you can only fit 2 regular dice into a 4x8 space"
This shot on the Brick Fanatics review shows 4 die easily fitting even though one is Lego. I bet 7 would fit.
https://www.brickfanatics.com/lego-6510864-mimic-dice-box-gift-review
@Peter_X said:
"According to another lego website the box fits only two real life dice inside, which is a real let down for me... As explained in a previous post by purple dave a playset contains 7 different dice and usually players bring multiple playsets. So in short, you couldnt actually use this for dnd..."
That’s…not entirely true. Dice come in all sizes. My smallest pip d6’s will comfortably fit inside the pips of my largest d6's. I just dug through my long-neglected dice boxes, and can’t find either set, but I think they were roughly 3/16” vs 2”. I also can’t find the tiny polyhedral set that I was hoping to test for fit. All I can remember is that the d4 was shorter than the typical d6 in a Chessex set. You can find them if you look. There’s a company called CZYY that sells 6mm metal dice that come in what looks like a pocket watch. On Etsy, I can find complete sets that will fit comfortably on a U.S. quarter. Probably 5mm, but it’s not stated.
@fakespacesquid:
Always depends on the size of the dice. I’ve got four d6’s that are TSR branded on one side, and have weird characters on the other five sides (I think they were handing them out free at GenCon when it was still in Milwaukee, and they were part of some game that must have flopped), but they’re at least 1” wide. Two would fit, if you removed the tongue, and probably whatever the tongue clips onto.
@Lyichir said:
" @Watsonite said:
"Why no dice...?"
I would reckon partly because most polyhedral dice would have to be non-Lego elements anyway, and because most D&D players would already have their own."
No D&D player ever has enough dice.
@StyleCounselor:
I looked up the picture you referenced, and I see one giant buildable d6 from the LEGO Games line (they've also released molded d6's that are closer to being 2 studs per side). To the right, I see a d20, a pair of d4's, and underneath one of them I can see a percentile d10 (it's purple). Based on what I can see, if you ditch the ginormous d6, you _might_ be able to fit a standard Chessex set inside. You probably couldn't just dump them inside, though, but you'd have to carefully arrange them. I'd suggest putting the d20 and d12 at opposite ends, see if you can get the pair of d10's down in the center, find a place you can nest the d4 upside-down, and then hope the d6 and d8 will fit in whatever space is left.
I'm also envisioning what a chore running this adventure is going to be for a DM:
"As soon as he opens the door, I cast fireball into the next room. You know, in case there's a Beholder in there."
"But you don't know that there's...I mean if there's a Beholder in there!"
"Nevertheless, on the off chance that there is...fireball. It just feels like the sort of place a Beholder might hang out."
@PurpleDave said:
" @Studless:
Dreamzzz has a nice yellow cat-eye tile that would work. Plain GitD or some shade of orange would probably also look good."
Yeah but it turns out I don't have 1x1 round flame yellowish orange tiles.. but I do have 4x 98138pb056 which will probably look good
But I'm missing about 60 pieces to build it so it's not happening any time soon
@PurpleDave said:
" @StyleCounselor :
I looked up the picture you referenced, and I see one giant buildable d6 from the LEGO Games line (they've also released molded d6's that are closer to being 2 studs per side). To the right, I see a d20, a pair of d4's, and underneath one of them I can see a percentile d10 (it's purple). Based on what I can see, if you ditch the ginormous d6, you _might_ be able to fit a standard Chessex set inside. You probably couldn't just dump them inside, though, but you'd have to carefully arrange them. I'd suggest putting the d20 and d12 at opposite ends, see if you can get the pair of d10's down in the center, find a place you can nest the d4 upside-down, and then hope the d6 and d8 will fit in whatever space is left.
I'm also envisioning what a chore running this adventure is going to be for a DM:
"As soon as he opens the door, I cast fireball into the next room. You know, in case there's a Beholder in there."
"But you don't know that there's...I mean if there's a Beholder in there!"
"Nevertheless, on the off chance that there is...fireball. It just feels like the sort of place a Beholder might hang out.""
Good job, considering that I only just now provided the link.
I'm sure Brickset appreciates the new blood in their commentary community. But, it's absolutely amazing how emotional the 'new' crowd gets over their perceived Shadow Box Version issues.
@DekoPuma said:
"No D&D player ever has enough dice. "
There are two types of gamer. One will walk in with a basic set of polyhedral dice, say they have one of each, and that's enough (even if it takes forever to add up large rolls). And the other type understands that you have to have a backup set in case your primary set starts rolling bad. Plus, you might need to have themed dice for certain actions (particularly spellcasting) or certain games (particularly games that use only one style of dice, like GURPS or World of Darkness). Plus, sometimes you find a novelty die that you just can't resist (I know someone who owns both a d3 and a d7). Plus...
@Studless:
Ooh, yeah, that would work great for a Mimic. I was thinking of 98138pb385, because I've used those on my swamp Beholder and a little dragonet. Another option would be 98138pb110, which is also printed on reddish-brown.
@StyleCounselor:
You posted a link? Huh. I mean, you named the site, and the embargo system ensures that it wouldn't be very far down the front page. I just went and found it myself, because I was genuinely curious if I could fit a complete set. I wish I could find my mini set, because looking at that photo I can guarantee they'd all fit with plenty of room to spare.
I may not have the set, but I'm capable of grabbing a 6x10 plate and throwing three courses of 1x bricks around the edges [not sure exactly how deep it is] . . . and was able to fit a standard 7 piece die set in easily enough.
I don't suspect you're going to be able to get the Mimic closed completely [unless you can wiggle them just right to fill in the space of the lid], and the tongue will certainly need to be out, but as a novelty, it should be perfectly adequate for holding a set of dice.
You'd have to be very spatially challenged to only fit TWO dice in there [or needing to rethink your choice in dice].
EDIT - Was just going to look into swapping the end pieces for panels, didn't realize there was a parts list up for it yet. Since the ends are already using a panel piece [ 87544 ] then it should be even easier.
@279
Yeah I got the parts list of a video from Austrian Brick Fan, converted it to a BL wanted list (minus the eyes), sent it to a rebrickable inventory admin (thank you Toby!) whom added a placeholder for the eyes and once rebrickable had the parts list so did brickset ^^ so we can all start gathering all the pieces asap and a plan B for those who intend on buying the D&D set but might not be quick enough for the GWP
@PurpleDave said:
"The Ideas project that I voted for was the actual transforming Mimic, that could switch between this and a normal chest. I would absolutely love it if that version eventually got released as a set, too."
THIS!! Would much prefer to have a transformable Mimic that goes from regular chest to 'attack' mode monster and back again. As it is now, any adventurer will know it's a Mimic from a mile away.
@legogeek:
I mean, I'll try to get this version, too, and (if the printed eye plates from the big set are easy to obtain) I'll probably try to build a few of the minifig-scale version. If not, I can probably justify buying on of the Crazybricks Mimics.
@PurpleDave said:
" @DekoPuma said:
"No D&D player ever has enough dice. "
There are two types of gamer. One will walk in with a basic set of polyhedral dice, say they have one of each, and that's enough (even if it takes forever to add up large rolls). And the other type understands that you have to have a backup set in case your primary set starts rolling bad. Plus, you might need to have themed dice for certain actions (particularly spellcasting) or certain games (particularly games that use only one style of dice, like GURPS or World of Darkness). Plus, sometimes you find a novelty die that you just can't resist (I know someone who owns both a d3 and a d7). Plus..."
And, of course, throw in things like FATE dice and novelty dice and... there's a reason I have a TESB lunchbox full of dice.
@TheOtherMike:
I just found my purple leather dice bag, which has some of the weirder specimens in it. There’s a polyhedral set where I’d be lucky to fit just the d20 and d12 in this box (they’re about the size of the LEGO Games d6. I’ve got a d30. I’ve got three d10’s that are shaped kinda like giant Tic-Tacs. And I’ve got two very similar polyhedral sets, plus an extra 3d6 (for GURPS) that are small enough I could fit all 17 dice in this box. Still can’t find those giant d6’s or the really tiny ones, though. I know the giant ones are in a velour bag, which should be easy to spot if I run across it. I might have to buy more of the tiny dice.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @DekoPuma said:
"No D&D player ever has enough dice. "
There are two types of gamer. One will walk in with a basic set of polyhedral dice, say they have one of each, and that's enough (even if it takes forever to add up large rolls). And the other type understands that you have to have a backup set in case your primary set starts rolling bad. Plus, you might need to have themed dice for certain actions (particularly spellcasting) or certain games (particularly games that use only one style of dice, like GURPS or World of Darkness). Plus, sometimes you find a novelty die that you just can't resist (I know someone who owns both a d3 and a d7). Plus..."
And, of course, throw in things like FATE dice and novelty dice and... there's a reason I have a TESB lunchbox full of dice."
Ahh, the good old days when being a 'gamer' meant something other than lonliness.
Cant wait to build it with own bricks. I wonder if the eye prints will end up also being in speculated Aragog set!
@lordofdragonss said:
"Cant wait to build it with own bricks. I wonder if the eye prints will end up also being in speculated Aragog set!"
Probably not on that color of tile, if they do. Aragog didn’t have bright orange eyes.
@CapnRex101 can you digitize the instructions? Or maybe Lego doesn't allow it?
Yet another instance of a GWP I'd quite like, but can't justify the purchase threshold
@GSR_MataNui said:
"Yet another instance of a GWP I'd quite like, but can't justify the purchase threshold"
The parts list is available if you wanna try to build it (you'll have to use different eyes though as they are exclusive to the set), it's only 168 pieces
@Studless said:
" @CapnRex101 can you digitize the instructions? Or maybe Lego doesn't allow it?"
It should end up being posted in the LEGO.com instructions portal once it's officially released. Parts list is known, if you want to get an order going ahead of time.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Studless said:
" @CapnRex101 can you digitize the instructions? Or maybe Lego doesn't allow it?"
It should end up being posted in the LEGO.com instructions portal once it's officially released. Parts list is known, if you want to get an order going ahead of time."
The parts list is known because I made it, shared it with a rebrickable admin and brickset pulls parts list from rebrickable xD lego doesn't share instructions of some GWPs (go check the site for micro ninjago city for instance) and, as far as I know, has never shared instructions for a yellow box GWP
I could probably build it from all the review pictures there are but I'm missing about 60 pieces, won't be able to buy lego for a while and I don't have a computer able to run studio xD otherwise I wouldn't have shared only the parts list
@Studless:
Funny thing is, I've got a code for the Ninjago set, but the last time I hit the Rewards Center, I saw a note saying it would be available "in ten days". Not sure what happened there.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Studless:
Funny thing is, I've got a code for the Ninjago set, but the last time I hit the Rewards Center, I saw a note saying it would be available "in ten days". Not sure what happened there."
I think they meant to publish instructions for that set but at some point they decided not to so I imagine the same will happen with the other 3 expansions and I'll be doing the same with the parts lists again xD
@Studless:
Not the instructions. The set. Seems they have a new system in place where, after you've obtained a redemption code, they put a time delay on letting you get a second code. I was thinking they'd rolled back the release date for everyone, but the message at the bottom when I click on that item indicates that I have to wait because I already got a code.
@Studless said:
" @GSR_MataNui said:
"Yet another instance of a GWP I'd quite like, but can't justify the purchase threshold"
The parts list is available if you wanna try to build it (you'll have to use different eyes though as they are exclusive to the set), it's only 168 pieces"
That's my plan. No idea when I'll go for it, but probably before the end of the year
@PurpleDave said:
" @DekoPuma said:
"No D&D player ever has enough dice. "
There are two types of gamer. One will walk in with a basic set of polyhedral dice, say they have one of each, and that's enough (even if it takes forever to add up large rolls). And the other type understands that you have to have a backup set in case your primary set starts rolling bad. Plus, you might need to have themed dice for certain actions (particularly spellcasting) or certain games (particularly games that use only one style of dice, like GURPS or World of Darkness). Plus, sometimes you find a novelty die that you just can't resist (I know someone who owns both a d3 and a d7). Plus..."
Not to boast but I know someone, Kevin Cook, who has the largest and most varied dice collection in the world - the former having been recognised by Guinness. If you think d3s and d7s are weird, check out this page from Kevin’s site that shows the multitude of dice shapes with pictures from his collection: http://www.dicecollector.com/DICEINFO_WHAT_SHAPES_DO_DICE_HAVE.html .
@Zander:
Okay, so the weirdest dice in my collection, based on shape, would count as a “spindle d10”. But my friend did have a d3 type that I don’t see included here. Most of the really weird stuff looks like it couldn’t be produced before 3D printing let you generate a balanced shape. His d3 was just a cylinder. Each end was one number, and the curvature was the third. In this case it likely came down to a math equation to determine how thick a coin needs to be, relative to its diameter, to have a 1:3 chance of landing “on edge” instead of heads or tails.
When he told me he had a d3, my immediate thought was, “Oh, sure, just take a d6 and repeat 1-3 on two sides each.” But no, it required someone to figure out how to make two different shapes, of two different surface areas, have equal chances of landing on the table. Same with the d7 (which I do see pictured there) having two pentagonal sides vs five square ones. So many of the dice in this collection are just spindles, cylinders (that probably won’t land in the ends), parachutes, or something else where you can change the number of facets by just forcing a gap in a circular ring. They work, but their designs aren’t particularly elegant.
@Zander:
BTW, I'm still missing my 3x giant d6's and 3x tiny d6's, but I'm thrilled that I finally located where I'd put my small polyhedral sets. There's nothing special about the shapes, but I've got two complete D&D sets (similar enough in color and size that I can't identify which dice go in which set), plus an extra 3x d6 of one style for use in GURPS. All 17 of these dice are small enough that I should be able to fit the whole lot inside the Mimic dice box.
It's already not available. It doesn't show up on Lego.com now, even when you try to order the D&D set. The only GWP I'm seeing on the order page is a flower display with trellis.