Review: 72039 Bowser's Castle
Posted by SetToBuild,
Throughout the Mario Kart franchise, there are a few courses that many players dread. From Ghost Valleys to Rainbow Roads, perilous drops and devious obstacles await you at every turn. Bowser’s Castle is no different, and often features a nice hot pool of lava to fall into.
Bowser’s Castle has been the setting of several LEGO Super Mario sets, and this is the first time we’re seeing it in the Mario Kart subtheme. Other than 72036 Baby Peach & Grand Prix Set, at the time of writing this is the only other set in this subtheme with a significant amount of scenery in the build.
Summary
72039 Bowser's Castle, 1,068 pieces.
£89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 | 8.4p/9.4c/9.4c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Finally, some larger scenery pieces are warmly welcomed in this molten racetrack
- Impressive course decoration
- Fun play features
- Some awkward sticker placement
- Both characters are repeats
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Box
The box features a fiery backdrop, a contrast to the blue-skied mushroom kingdom depicted on many others! Inside, there are ten paper bags.
Many stickers are provided to decorate the castle’s facade and banners. I am already dreading applying those chevrons.
Characters
Bowser is the same as in 71431 Bowser's Muscle Car, with pointed claws. That previous Bowser set might have been our hint that Mario Kart was on the way—it only came out last year, but despite the repetition, there‘s no way Bowser could have been omitted from this set as his home course. His barcode responds to ten hits, resulting in a cry from the King Koopa himself and a bunch of coins for the hero.
Like Wario and the Kong Family, this is just a brilliantly made brick-built figure. There is a bit of an unsightly gap under his shell in profile view; however, all the other details from the printed elements to his posable eyebrows are superb.
Interestingly, the pink Yoshi in 72042 Prince Florian & Castle Bowser from this same wave got an updated element for his stomach, but this lime green version didn’t. Therefore, this figure is the same one that appears in three other sets already.
Lava Bubbles have appeared in several sets, having two different barcodes. There doesn’t seem to be any difference in the figures themselves. Hitting the barcode nets you one coin.
Completed Model
We’ve seen Bowser’s Castle represented in various Lego forms already, so it’s interesting to compare this iteration. There isn’t much overlap, which is good, as each Bowser-related set has had specific scenes or themes. The set depicts the Mario Kart 8 version of the structure, replicating the horns, banners, lava, and the Bowser logo. It does take a lot of creative freedom with regard to the play features in the set, as we’ll go through now.
While there aren’t any Thwomps in the in-game course, it makes for a fun feature here. Spin the wheel on the top left of the main tower towards you to raise the Thwomp and release it with the orange-tipped lever. The Thwomp dropping and bouncing around in this way is a bit jarring, but ideally, there would be a racer passing by to break its fall. Ouch!
The fire bar is a staple obstacle in the Mario universe. In the games, they are generally indestructible. The player is meant to jump over them or move with them, matching their speed whilst avoiding the rotating arms. Here, the spinning wheel is made to be pushed out of the way if a kart were to travel through it.
Throughout Bowser’s Castle track in Mario Kart 8, you can see enemies like Dry Bones and Hammer Bros spectating the race inside the castle. On top of this tower, there are two spots for characters to stand. I chose the adorable Toads from 72041 Party at Toad's House.
Alternate routes are prevalent in Mario Kart games, so if there’s a suspicious wall, gamers will collectively work to discover the secret. In Mario Kart 8, past the front gate of Bowser’s Castle, in the first room containing laser-shooting statues, there is a portion of track that is fenced off to the left. Frustratingly, there doesn’t seem to be a way to open the gate, so I’d like to think that this gate-destroying feature in the set is the player’s accumulated annoyance at this barrier.
Again, there isn’t a moment in the in-game course where you can burst through a wall, but it’s certainly a fun thing to do in LEGO! The stickers with chevrons facing both left and right are a humorous gesture telling the player, “Go left! No, go right!” Instead, they just barrel through, hoping for a secret shortcut.
Speaking of that wall, putting stickers on the inside of panels is the worst. Fans of Friends sets might be familiar with the experience, but that doesn’t make it less frustrating.
A lever on one of the turrets allows you to pop the Lava Bubble up and drop it on an unsuspecting driver.
Bowser's chosen kart in this set is a Standard ATV, decorated with his colour scheme and emblem. The ATV is a member of the heavyweight kart class, which hasn’t been represented until this wave. It can also be seen in the Tanooki Kart of 72044 Piranha Plant Power-Up Pursuit. Scanning the new barcode generates a stronger engine sound and a deeper horn sound, reminiscent of a truck.
Bowser gets top marks for being the only character in the new wave that can actually reach the handlebars or steering wheel of their kart. This wave also introduced a new large wheel element to pair with the new kart type. Their smoothness is an odd matchup with what is supposed to be a rugged off-roading ATV, but I can see someone adding them to their next moonbase MOC.
Yoshi is driving the Mach 8. The result in LEGO looks surprisingly good considering it’s modelled after a smooth tube. The 1x2 curved slopes are doing a lot of work to shape the ends of the vehicle well, but it could have been at least a stud longer in the front.
Aligning the sticker of the egg emblem on the fin was less annoying than I anticipated. The barcode on the kart appears to be unique, but it’s not clear what is majorly different about the experience. When scanned, you hear Yoshi say his name, your hero character exclaims, “Go, go, go,” and an egg appears on the hero screen, but the kart behaves the same as a standard kart. There aren’t even any additional Yoshi sounds while driving similar to Wario’s additional commentary in 72038 Wario & King Boo.
Although this set does not include a glider, there are spots for one on both vehicles. The glider pictured is from 72038 Wario & King Boo. Annoyingly, due to the poor clutch power of the 2x4 wedge plate on the Mach-8, the brick-built glider from 72045 Shy Guy & P-Wing flies off easily when going around a corner. Wario’s glider was better, but still not secure.
We received two new heavyweight class karts in this wave and added a somewhat new kart type in this set.
A nice haul of extra pieces is provided, but nothing too special. However, I am keen to add more of those 1x2 half-round tiles to my collection.
Conclusion
The largest and most expensive Mario Kart playset to date continues the theme’s fairly high price point, but it’s great to see a location-focused model based on a course from the games. Although the price per piece isn’t bad, the build is compact and parts-intensive in places—like the characters and karts—meaning that the gate structure lags behind in overall value for £90. It could have been 10 coins less than it is—in fact, some sellers have already discounted it by £10.
The various obstacles to crash through were enjoyable, and in keeping with the heavyweight kart. I can see kids having a blast with those features. While there are physical play features, there aren’t any barcodes to interact with other than the ones on characters.
Another Yoshi is kind of a letdown, especially since his unique kart barcode doesn’t seem to add much to the play aspect. An on-theme with Bowser’s Castle racer, like a Dry Bones or one of the Koopalings would have been more fitting.
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20 comments on this article
Sets like this make me think of Leinster Gardens: an elaborate facade, but not all that much to it. I mean, breaking the set down in a review like this does reveal some interesting features, but it doesn’t really feel like there’s £90 (or even £80) worth of set here.
The Mario theme in general strikes me the same way as polybags without named characters - not going to be too much over retail price on the aftermarket if you want to grab 'em after retirement...
Love the Thwomp function and how it drops down on a chain. The fire bar being built from Minifig heads is ingenious!
While the play features are definitely pretty darn cool, I unfortunately don't think the facade looks that good. The facade from the Bowser's Castle in Mario Kart 8 is very memorably over-the-top, covered in searchlights, anti-air cannons, and like a million watchtowers. The one here feels a bit wimpy by comparison!
@StudMuffin24 said:
"The Mario theme in general strikes me the same way as polybags without named characters - not going to be too much over retail price on the aftermarket if you want to grab 'em after retirement..."
I often see them in bulk lots on Facebook Marketplace, sometimes before retirement.
I didn't realize how many play features were packed into this set! It looks pretty cool, and I might get it if it goes on discount. I don't have a green Yoshi yet, and this looks like a cool set to get if I wanted to add him to my collection.
Side note: Yoshi in the Mach 8 is one of my favorite combos in MK8!
I really like the mario kart theme, all karts by each other look pretty cool, but the prices are way too high for what you get sadly
Do people dread the Rainbow Roads? I always look forward to the new ones, they're always great fun. I haven't yet played World, but I assume there's a fantastic one in there, too.
@ra226 said:
"Do people dread the Rainbow Roads? I always look forward to the new ones, they're always great fun. I haven't yet played World, but I assume there's a fantastic one in there, too."
I feel like it's a known joke that people always complain about falling off of Rainbow Road lol.
The one in Mario Kart World is incredible by the way, you're in for a treat if you get around to it!
It’d be an instant buy for me if it came with Dry Bowser and a new Yoshi color. I really only want the karts.
With the announcement of the The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the rerelease of Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, the release of corresponding amiibo, and the addition of Rosalina in the Super Mario Wonder DLC, I feel it’s inevitable we see her and/or some sort of Galaxy representation from Lego next year.
What I don’t get: set 71411 The Mighty Bowser has round tiles with a Bowser print. Here stickers are used.
@Robot99 said:
" @ra226 said:
"Do people dread the Rainbow Roads? I always look forward to the new ones, they're always great fun. I haven't yet played World, but I assume there's a fantastic one in there, too."
I feel like it's a known joke that people always complain about falling off of Rainbow Road lol.
The one in Mario Kart World is incredible by the way, you're in for a treat if you get around to it!"
Ah, got it--you're right, I think GameCube and Wii were rough in that respect. I don't feel later ones were so bad, and they focused more on just being an amazing visual spectacle. It's been a while since I've played those earlier ones but now that you mention it, I do recall a certain dread...
For a set called Bowser's Castle, it isn't much of a castle. It's more like Bowser's Thin Gate.
I didn't realize there was a super Mario Galaxy movie coming out! I guess I'll have to watch the first Mario movie now... I always thought that Super Mario Galaxy would have been better as a TV show.
@PhantomBricks said:
"I didn't realize there was a super Mario Galaxy movie coming out! I guess I'll have to watch the first Mario movie now... I always thought that Super Mario Galaxy would have been better as a TV show."
Yup! It was just announced a couple of days ago, during an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of Super Mario.
@PhantomBricks said:
"I didn't realize there was a super Mario Galaxy movie coming out! I guess I'll have to watch the first Mario movie now... I always thought that Super Mario Galaxy would have been better as a TV show."
If you're talking about the live action movie: not even once. Not even as a joke. Not even for a bet. It's not worth it.
@Crux said:
" @PhantomBricks said:
"I didn't realize there was a super Mario Galaxy movie coming out! I guess I'll have to watch the first Mario movie now... I always thought that Super Mario Galaxy would have been better as a TV show."
If you're talking about the live action movie: not even once. Not even as a joke. Not even for a bet. It's not worth it."
Thankfully, I was talking about the recent animated movie. I have unfortunately seen parts of the live action movie, but I had mostly been able to forget about it, regrettably until now...
@Studnotontop said:
"With the announcement of the The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the rerelease of Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, the release of corresponding amiibo, and the addition of Rosalina in the Super Mario Wonder DLC, I feel it’s inevitable we see her and/or some sort of Galaxy representation from Lego next year. "
I'd be down for some SMG / SMG2 sets!
@Crux said:
" @PhantomBricks said:
"I didn't realize there was a super Mario Galaxy movie coming out! I guess I'll have to watch the first Mario movie now... I always thought that Super Mario Galaxy would have been better as a TV show."
If you're talking about the live action movie: not even once. Not even as a joke. Not even for a bet. It's not worth it."
... on the other hand, you truly have to see it to believe it.
@GBP_Chris said:
" @Crux said:
" @PhantomBricks said:
"I didn't realize there was a super Mario Galaxy movie coming out! I guess I'll have to watch the first Mario movie now... I always thought that Super Mario Galaxy would have been better as a TV show."
If you're talking about the live action movie: not even once. Not even as a joke. Not even for a bet. It's not worth it."
... on the other hand, you truly have to see it to believe it. "
I don't think I hate anybody on this site quite enough to make them sit through that movie.
Too expensive for me, even with discounts. Otherwise they'd have an extra customer as i LOVE MK since MK64