Review: 21357 Disney Pixar Luxo Jr.
Posted by Huw,
Toby1Kenobi's Pixar Luxo Jr. project passed review in September 2024 so 21357 Disney Pixar Luxo Jr. has had a relatively short gestation period compared to many sets yielded by LEGO Ideas.
The resultant model is faithful to the original submission, full of Easter eggs, and has a new part that looks like it was designed specifically for it.
Summary
21357 Disney Pixar Luxo Jr., 613 pieces.
£59.99 / $69.99 / €69.99 | 9.8p/11.4c/11.4c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Faithful to the original Ideas project and a wonderful display model
- Crammed full of Pixar Easter eggs
- Cleverly constructed ball
- Looks like the real thing
- Lamp does not illuminate
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
New parts
The new part is used for the lamp shade. When the two are connected with Technic pins the bottom is 12 studs in diameter, the top four, and it's eight bricks high. It's printed with 'slots' around the top.
Construction
The ball is built first and as well as being almost perfectly spherical and incorporating some clever building techniques, it's also packed with hidden references to Pixar films.
Can you work out the Pixar characters depicted in plates below? (Answers at the bottom of the review)
There are Easter-eggs at the top and bottom of the ball as well. The variously coloured 1x1 round plates and tiles are not required to actually build the ball but represent the characters from Inside Out on one half, and the Incredibles on the other.
The triangular pieces are held in the corners ingeniously to fill the gaps between the printed 6x6 shallow dome pieces, which have a design ID of 7426 and are new to me.
The hidden surprises do not end with the ball: Finding Nemo is referenced in the base of the lamp, as are other characters which are represented by stacks of round 1x1 pieces. I've not worked out who they all are yet!
Finally, the Pizza Planet van from Toy Story is hidden inside the lightbulb.
The completed model
From a distance it looks just like a real Anglepoise lamp, albeit a miniature one, and very similar to the Pixar mascot. I thought the base looked too large when I first saw it but it's actually about right.
The frame is constructed from a mix of Technic and System pieces, including many of the relatively new 1x plates with rounded ends. The holes in their studs are used to facilitate the moving joints.
It swivels on the base and the shade can be angled courtesy of a ball joint. A rubber band between the uprights allows the top section to be moved just like the real thing, although it doesn't stay in the lowered position due to the bands stretching.
The bottom rectangular frame, however, is fixed.
Drum-lacquered 1x1 plates mimic the silver bolt heads on the joints and look very smart.
The classic pose in Pixar opening credits of the lamp squashing the ball can be reproduced by removing two of the ball's faces and positioning it on this stand.
Verdict
I think it's a wonderful little set that will look right at home on display on your desk or worktop. I can't really find fault. It captures the subject matter perfectly and is very close to the original submission, only improved where needed, particularly the shade.
The Pixar references are great fun, too. It's a shame that they are all hidden from view once construction is complete.
Models of real-life objects are all the rage at the moment it seems, so I think it will appeal to fans of those as well as to Pixar's fanbase.
At £59.99/$69.99/€69.99 it's not a cheap set by any means but at least it is more affordable than many Ideas sets nowadays.
It'll be available from June 1st at LEGO.com.
The plate figures inside the ball are Woody and Buzz (Toy Story), Mike and Sully (Monsters, Inc.), Alfredo Linguini and Remy (Ratatouille) and Carl and Russell (Up).
153 likes
52 comments on this article
all these Easter eggs are really funny, thanx for the review!
I believe all of the characters in the top and bottom are from the Incredibles.
The base has Joy and Sadness, Lightning McQueen and Mater, Flik and Dot (or Princess Atta) and Miguel with marigolds.
I spot Joy and Sadness!
It only needs the cable cord
Brilliantly done. What are the odds on them bringing out the Luxo "parent" at some point?
"Lamp does not illuminate"... now you're just being nitpicky Huw! HAHAHAHA
Wonderful review!
@refriedbeans said:
"I believe all of the characters in the top and bottom are from the Incredibles.
The base has Joy and Sadness, Lightning McQueen and Mater, Flik and Dot (or Princess Atta) and Miguel with marigolds."
Agreed. No Inside Out in the ball. The top of the ball is Frozone, Syndrome, and Jack-Jack. Inside Out is in the base with Joy and Sadness.
@Real_Jonny_G said:
""Lamp does not illuminate"... now you're just being nitpicky Huw! HAHAHAHA
Wonderful review!"
Well it is a lamp and Lego does produce light bricks so why wasn't it included; granted the illumination wouldn't be all that bright.
@refriedbeans said:
"I believe all of the characters in the top and bottom are from the Incredibles."
You might be right. The instructions point many of the references out, and does so for the Incredibles, but not for the other four.
"The base has Joy and Sadness, Lightning McQueen and Mater, Flik and Dot (or Princess Atta) and Miguel with marigolds."
Thank you.
I like the lamp a lot. But I find the easter eggs very abstract, with the exception of the pizza truck. And once built are hidden away anyway.
I really like this set! I could definitely see myself getting it eventually.
@refriedbeans said:
"The base has Joy and Sadness, Lightning McQueen and Mater, Flik and Dot (or Princess Atta) and Miguel with marigolds."
Thank you for this. I was able to guess everybody except for Mater and the Bug's Life characters.
Brilliant set, even though the Pixar Easter eggs have no relevance to me! A light brick might have been a nice bonus, but no more vital than making a typewriter really type, or a camera really take photos!
That they could fit so many references into this set only makes it more disappointing that the Star Wars logo didn’t
Awesome Easter eggs, it's brilliant
@MartyMcFly said:
"I like the lamp a lot. But I find the easter eggs very abstract, with the exception of the pizza truck. And once built are hidden away anyway. "
I can't see the point in them when you can't see them. Just feels like an excuse to raise the parts count and production costs when they could not include them, or just use single bricks and not miss anything.
@GrizBe said:
" @MartyMcFly said:
"I like the lamp a lot. But I find the easter eggs very abstract, with the exception of the pizza truck. And once built are hidden away anyway. "
I can't see the point in them when you can't see them. Just feels like an excuse to raise the parts count and production costs when they could not include them, or just use single bricks and not miss anything. "
The entire point of an Easter Egg is that it’s hidden - you see it when you build, it gets shown and spread around in reviews like this, and you know it’s there whenever you look at and interact with your built model.
As for the idea that Lego included them only to up the part count and production cost so they could charge more, that’s a typically negative and conspiratorial AFOL reaction, but I don’t see that it’s very plausible. The additional production cost of the 1x1s and such compared to larger bricks is likely nil, and the final set’s price is quite reasonable given the size of the set and the unavoidable Disney IP tax.
I don't think the pictures from yesterday did it justice and it was just a lamp. Seeing reviews of it and especially seeing it move has given it the character of Luxo Jr
Looks excellent!
@Huw said:
" @refriedbeans said:
"I believe all of the characters in the top and bottom are from the Incredibles."
You might be right. The instructions point many of the references out, and does so for the Incredibles, but not for the other four."
I agree that they're all from The Incredibles. The black and red ones are the four older members of the family in uniform, and the group on the left is (clockwise from top) Frozone, Jack-Jack, Syndrome, and most likely Edna Mode. It's the orange hair that gives it away, as that doesn't fit with any of the Inside Out emotions.
Need. I don’t retail price need it though.
Instantly recognizable, great construction techniques, NPU, and only printed pieces makes this something I will get eventually. Might use some Insiders Points or wait for some GWP/double points.
Would have bought it if there was an Elemental easter egg
How does the instructions call to thread the rubber band through the "spring" element? As far as I'm aware of this is the first LEGO set I've seen that requires maneuvering a rubber band through a Technic-sized hole, and I wonder if we'll see more of that in future sets.
It appears that, excluding sequels (which don't appear to be specifically represented in any way), it has references to every Pixar feature film except for Wall-E, Brave, The Good Dinosaur, and everything from Onward onward. I got a lot of them on my own, and picked up a few from the comments. And the two items that I'm still having no luck with are the red and green sections in the base. The lamp spins freely, so the notch isn't about weight distribution. It seems like it should have some significance, but either it's a much deeper cut than the rest, or it's something extremely stupid that's easy to overlook.
@Huw:
This is not based on the Anglepoise lamp, but rather a knockoff of that design from the Luxo company in Norway. I couldn't tell you what they are, but they made some tweaks to the design before putting their version on the market. Kind of ironic that a Danish knock-off of a British toy is being used to represent a Norwegian knock-off of a British lamp.
@refriedbeans said:
"The base has Joy and Sadness, Lightning McQueen and Mater, Flik and Dot (or Princess Atta) and Miguel with marigolds."
I'm having trouble seeing Lightning and Mater, because all I can see of Mater is the trans-orange for his dome light. They really could have done a much better job with those two by throwing in some jumper plates.
@OscarWRG:
I'd have to rewatch the original short to say if this was always true, but the character shown in the logo has no cord.
What a fantastic set. I do wish it lit or had a swappable dark grey elements for the bulb, but that's a minor gripe, I think they pretty much nailed it. And I love all the Easter eggs.
Why am I excited over a lamp?
Just be a matter of time when someone builds the brick built P X A and R :)
@PurpleDave said:
"It appears that, excluding sequels (which don't appear to be specifically represented in any way), it has references to every Pixar feature film except for Wall-E, Brave, The Good Dinosaur, and everything from Onward onward. I got a lot of them on my own, and picked up a few from the comments. And the two items that I'm still having no luck with are the red and green sections in the base. The lamp spins freely, so the notch isn't about weight distribution. It seems like it should have some significance, but either it's a much deeper cut than the rest, or it's something extremely stupid that's easy to overlook.
"
I was curious about those two as well; with clear representations of Nemo and Dory you’d think they’d be from that franchise too but I can’t think of who’d fit. My best guess is the green is Arno from The Good Dinosaur (right-ish colour and that shape to represent his long neck) while the red might be Mei in her panda body from Turning Red (which was also big, boxy and red)
I was able to figure out all the plate characters except Linguini and Remy. Actually wondered if Linguini was the captain from WALL-E. Ratatouille was pretty good, but not my favorite Pixar movie by any stretch. Wasn’t a big family one either since my mom has a strong aversion to rodents.
@8BrickMario don’t forget Edna Mode!
Those 1x1 easter eggs stacks are the least exciting things I've ever seen, absolute joke, anyone outside the Lego world would look at you with a very concerned expression on their face if you tried to tell them what they represent.
That bottom pin on the amp looks really stressed!
I can't imagine what they would use the lamp shade halves for ever again.. a botanical base maybe? Transparent for an hourglass?
It may not have actual illumination, but there are metaphorical ones.
I didn't really appreciate the Easter eggs, although you could probably customise them to what you want from spare parts, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Pixar logo is released down the line, as Marvel and Star Wars have been, though I still don't understand why the latter didn't have as many references as the former.
Overall a good set and not too expensive, this coming from someone who rarely buys anything around this price.
@PurpleDave said:
"It appears that, excluding sequels (which don't appear to be specifically represented in any way), it has references to every Pixar feature film except for Wall-E, Brave, The Good Dinosaur, and everything from Onward onward. I got a lot of them on my own, and picked up a few from the comments. And the two items that I'm still having no luck with are the red and green sections in the base. The lamp spins freely, so the notch isn't about weight distribution. It seems like it should have some significance, but either it's a much deeper cut than the rest, or it's something extremely stupid that's easy to overlook."
I believe the red and green sections in the base allude to Turning Red and The Good Dinosaur, respectively. The latter is more obvious with the whole green section in place, which includes a ball cup brick to anchor the middle of the base and vaguely resembles a dinosaur's jaws.
@Lamarider said:
"Those 1x1 easter eggs stacks are the least exciting things I've ever seen, absolute joke, anyone outside the Lego world would look at you with a very concerned expression on their face if you tried to tell them what they represent."
I think you've completely missed the point of easter eggs. They're not meant to be exciting, they're meant to be hidden little puzzles that are amusing to those who find or figure them out. They aren't the main attraction, or even a part of it.
If you tried explaining Lego easter eggs to people not interested in Lego, either you're going to have to explain what an easter egg is in the first place (which isn't at all limited to Lego), or they'll get it or not and you'll all go on with your lives as intended.
I didn't get any of the Easter eggs in the first shot, but that's because I didn't realize that each subassembly was supposed to be representing two characters, although I did think I saw Buzz' colors in there. Anyway, this is pricier than I'd like, but being the huge Pixar fan that I am, there's no way I'm *not* getting it.
@xprojected said:"I can't imagine what they would use the lamp shade halves for ever again.. a botanical base maybe? Transparent for an hourglass?"
I don't really seeing them using it in an hourglass, but I could definitely see it popping up in Botanicals, considering all the creative uses of existing pieces that line already has.
@Brickalili:
@CapnRex101:
Okay, the green block as shown doesn't make sense as The Good Dinosaur, because Arno has a long tail in addition to a long neck, but knowing that there's more to the green block that we're not seeing I guess it's a possibility. Still, seems weird that they'd include a reference to their first bonafide flop, but not reference Wall-E or Brave in any way.
The other brick should have been reddish-orange for Mei, and probably include some white bits at one end to represent her ears. But I still can't think of anything else it might represent. Including this one is a hard call because it'd be the only film from 2020 or later that got referenced, and it's incredibly hard to judge the success of anything from Onward to Lightyear.
@Lamarider:
My Pizza Planet trucks are some of the most popular MOCs on our club layouts, and people always love it when I show them similar stacks of plates that represent Buzz and Woody in the TS1 truck, or all the toys driving the TS2 truck.
@xprojected:
Maybe nothing. Most likely nothing. What else have they used the windshield for the UCS Landspeeder on? Single-use parts like this are now factored into the MSRP of a set, so they pay off the cost of tooling over the lifespan of that one set. If someone figures out a new use for it before the set retires and the mold is destroyed, that's a bonus, and they reduce the part cost of including it in a set accordingly.
@Lamarider said:
"Those 1x1 easter eggs stacks are the least exciting things I've ever seen, absolute joke, anyone outside the Lego world would look at you with a very concerned expression on their face if you tried to tell them what they represent."
Remind me to stop reading the Brickset comments from now on
i would buy it if it had a light brick, otherwise a lamp, even this one makes no sense. The 1 by 1 plates supposed to mean movie characters are pretty lame in my opinion. If reviewers havent figured them out i would probably think to myself while building it why i have to stack 1x1 plates onto each other if they could use 1x2 bricks or 1x2 plates and more importantly why so many different colors!? Honestly these "easter eggs" dont work for me. Lame!
@Trasky said:
" @Lamarider said:
"Those 1x1 easter eggs stacks are the least exciting things I've ever seen, absolute joke, anyone outside the Lego world would look at you with a very concerned expression on their face if you tried to tell them what they represent."
Remind me to stop reading the Brickset comments from now on"
Use the block function! It's life changing.
@MisterBrickster said:
" @Trasky said:
" @Lamarider said:
"Those 1x1 easter eggs stacks are the least exciting things I've ever seen, absolute joke, anyone outside the Lego world would look at you with a very concerned expression on their face if you tried to tell them what they represent."
Remind me to stop reading the Brickset comments from now on"
Use the block function! It's life changing. "
Mejor, dejar que la gente se exprese. Te cambia la vida para siempre a mejor...
I think they're putting way too much emphasis on the "easter eggs" because they are rather underwhelming IMO.
@xccj said:
"I think they're putting way too much emphasis on the "easter eggs" because they are rather underwhelming IMO."
I guess that just depends on how big a Pixar fan you are. I'm amazed that they managed to fit in references to a dozen different IPs, as well as arguably the most famous easter egg from the films. I just find a few of the film choices a little odd, both for what was and what wasn't included.
Wow! Such a great set? And the Easter Eggs are really fun too! Could buy if not the Daily Bugle in my financial horizon!
@Brickalili said:
"That they could fit so many references into this set only makes it more disappointing that the Star Wars logo didn’t "
Since Pixar has nothing to do with Star Wars why would they include the logo? (All the included references are from Pixar movies.)
@garshgrang said:
" @Brickalili said:
"That they could fit so many references into this set only makes it more disappointing that the Star Wars logo didn’t "
Since Pixar has nothing to do with Star Wars why would they include the logo? (All the included references are from Pixar movies.)"
They meant the Star Wars Logo set should have had references built into the logo in a similar fashion.
@garshgrang said:
" @Brickalili said:
"That they could fit so many references into this set only makes it more disappointing that the Star Wars logo didn’t "
Since Pixar has nothing to do with Star Wars why would they include the logo? (All the included references are from Pixar movies.)"
No, OP is disappointed that 75407 didn’t include more than the one that was noted in the review. I’m not sure it would have been feasible, without looking through the instructions to see how it was put together. There’s open space in the base of Luxo Jr, and more space inside of the ball, plus both have structural sections that aren’t strictly required to be solid bricks. SNOT construction on the SW logo may severely hamper any attempts to do anything in a style similar to these Pixar references. 40591 included the main reactor and the Emperor’s throne room, while 75356 had an awkwardly-posed bounty hunter lineup, so maybe the SW team feels one is all that’s needed, where the Luxo Jr. designer managed to reference most of Pixar’s feature film library (excluding sequels) in one set.
@daniellesa said:
"It may not have actual illumination, but there are metaphorical ones.
I didn't really appreciate the Easter eggs, although you could probably customise them to what you want from spare parts, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Pixar logo is released down the line, as Marvel and Star Wars have been, though I still don't understand why the latter didn't have as many references as the former.
Overall a good set and not too expensive, this coming from someone who rarely buys anything around this price."
I guess Easter Eggs made out if what would often be called table scraps is a way to add value without adding much to the cost.
@tmtomh said:
" @GrizBe said:
" @MartyMcFly said:
"I like the lamp a lot. But I find the easter eggs very abstract, with the exception of the pizza truck. And once built are hidden away anyway. "
I can't see the point in them when you can't see them. Just feels like an excuse to raise the parts count and production costs when they could not include them, or just use single bricks and not miss anything. "
The entire point of an Easter Egg is that it’s hidden - you see it when you build, it gets shown and spread around in reviews like this, and you know it’s there whenever you look at and interact with your built model.
As for the idea that Lego included them only to up the part count and production cost so they could charge more, that’s a typically negative and conspiratorial AFOL reaction, but I don’t see that it’s very plausible. The additional production cost of the 1x1s and such compared to larger bricks is likely nil, and the final set’s price is quite reasonable given the size of the set and the unavoidable Disney IP tax."
I'm not so sure about that. LEGO has undeniably been jacking up part counts and it's become prevalent enough that I really think reviews should highlight it more. In some cases, such as with 10333, this practice undeniably inflated the piece count by hundreds. It certainly makes the price per piece look more attractive and it only benefits LEGO.
@Vesperas said:
"I'm not so sure about that. LEGO has undeniably been jacking up part counts and it's become prevalent enough that I really think reviews should highlight it more. In some cases, such as with 10333, this practice undeniably inflated the piece count by hundreds. It certainly makes the price per piece look more attractive and it only benefits LEGO."
Usually the complaint is that they pad the piece count so they can charge more, resulting in no net change in PPP. I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve seen someone complain that they’re padding the piece count to bring the PPP back down.
I'm hoping we'll eventually get an interview with the designer to definitely answer what all the easter eggs are meant to represent. I believe the green bricks are meant to evoke the shape of Arlo's head from the Good Dinosaur, but for the life of me I can't see what the red rounded off tile with the transparent orange round stud on a 1x1 plate is meant to be. People seem to think it is Cars with Lightning and Mater but there would be much better ways of getting that across. It's driving me crazy!
@The_Boba_Brick said:
"I'm hoping we'll eventually get an interview with the designer to definitely answer what all the easter eggs are meant to represent. I believe the green bricks are meant to evoke the shape of Arlo's head from the Good Dinosaur, but for the life of me I can't see what the red rounded off tile with the transparent orange round stud on a 1x1 plate is meant to be. People seem to think it is Cars with Lightning and Mater but there would be much better ways of getting that across. It's driving me crazy! "
After further inspection, I am now convinced it is indeed a Cars reference as Mater does have an orange light atop his tow.