Review: 11384 Golden Retriever Puppy
Posted by CapnRex101,
Animals have become an increasingly essential feature of the LEGO range lately, as the greater selection of curved slopes and other new pieces allows opportunities to construct more organic shapes. 11384 Golden Retriever Puppy is a fine example.
21349 Tuxedo Cat proved extremely popular in 2024 and 43269 101 Dalmatians Puppy arrived last year, which confirmed the potential of a large-scale dog comparable to the cat. I think a Golden Retriever is a great choice for such a model, as a beloved and instantly recognisable dog breed around the world, which seems to translate well to LEGO form.
Summary
11384 Golden Retriever Puppy, 2,102 pieces.
£129.99 / $139.99 / €139.99 | 6.2p / 6.7c / 6.7c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Just like in real life, this Golden Retriever puppy is very charming
- Lots of personality
- Clever use of texture
- Impressive and realistic shaping
- Great head articulation
- Occasional unsightly colours and gaps
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The Completed Model
Despite the excellence of last year's Dalmatian and the Tuxedo Cat released before, I doubted whether a dog intended to look realistic would be an effective LEGO model. Dogs usually have rougher hair than many types of cat and recreating that texture would surely be difficult, after all. However, I find this model very impressive on the whole and undoubtedly cute!
The Golden Retriever is comparable in size to 43269 101 Dalmatians Puppy, measuring 30cm tall. I think the pair look reasonable together on display, although the Dalmatian is clearly more cartoonish to match its animated inspiration. Of course, there are similarities in how these dogs are constructed, but fewer than I anticipated, given their relatively close piece counts.
21349 Tuxedo Cat is marginally taller than the puppy, although this model occupies a bit more shelf space overall. Cats are Huw's department, so I do not have the Ideas set for comparison, unfortunately.
Whereas the Dalmatian is designed with reversible legs for sitting or bowing poses, the Golden Retriever can only sit. Nonetheless, the head, mouth and tail are all articulated and those alone imbue this canine with some personality, particularly with the tongue included to attach inside its mouth if you wish.
Moreover, the ears are adjustable, while the left front leg is cleverly designed to pose resting on the ground or raised to shake paws! This position does not look completely natural because the dog's shoulder remains static, but I appreciate the option. Also, the paw is cleverly able to move without creating a gap around the joint.
Building fur is always a challenge, but I think the texture on the legs looks excellent, with a mix of visible studs and different curved slopes and tiles. The shaping is brilliant, particularly on the paws, where 1x1 half round tiles look superb for the toes. The curvature of the paws is great as well.
Medium nougat highlights give the impression of depth to this texture, which helps to break up the tan colour scheme, although the studs already do a good job. I am impressed with how the hind legs are positioned too, again looking quite realistic. The hair bunched over the back paws is particularly effective.
Even the undersides of the paws are highly detailed. I would expect as much on the articulated leg, where the pads could sometimes be visible, but the rest came as a pleasant surprise. Dark bluish grey is a fitting colour for the pads, again using 1x1 half round tiles to match the toes.
The raised paw is a nice alternative to the standard pose, but not one I would use. When a dog lifts their paw like this, the whole shoulder tends to rise, whereas this looks more like some kind of elbow to me. I think it works when viewed with the shoulder hidden, though not from the other side, pictured below.
The tail could be improved too, in my opinion. Golden Retrievers are known for their brush-like tails and this design is not bad, but it seems somehow two-dimensional to me. You can alter its position using three joints, offering a fair amount of motion. However, the split halfway down the tail is awkward, so I prefer to keep it in a curled pose.
The body is smoother than the legs, incorporating many more curved slopes. The difference in texture is perhaps slightly abrupt, although it makes sense because the hair on the legs is sure to be disrupted as the puppy moves, whereas the hair on the body would probably be smoother by comparison. Until they decide to roll over into a puddle, that is!
A panel on the dog's back is removable, with space to keep its tongue underneath. Odd though that sounds, I am pleased there is storage to keep everything together, much like on 43269 101 Dalmatians Puppy.
On the topic of things hidden inside, there are a few Easter eggs included. Some are relatively easy to access even once the model is completed, but I decided to highlight this page of eaten homework in particular because it really is tucked away inside. I will leave the others for anyone building the set to discover.
The structure of the body is significantly denser than 43269 101 Dalmatians Puppy, which I find interesting. As mentioned earlier, the Golden Retriever's hair is rougher and more textured than the Dalmatian, so perhaps more connection points are required, but I still think it could probably be simplified to some degree.
You will notice quite a few colourful parts throughout the body frame, the vast majority of which are covered by the end. Not all though, as there are some unsightly green pieces visible on the collar, which I find quite annoying. These blend in when viewed from a distance and the collar is otherwise nicely designed, with a printed tag, but the exposed green elements should still have been avoidable.
Additionally, I wish the tag was pearl gold instead of yellow. This shade was appropriate on the animated Dalmatian, but not on a model supposed to look realistic. The metallic printing is nice though, featuring metallic gold and bronze accents.
The head is perhaps the most challenging section of any animal to build, as the shape needs to be a little more refined and room for compromise is more limited. Fortunately, I think this section of the model is my favourite! The sculpted texture looks very realistic, while the shape is close to perfect no matter your perspective. Even the tricky head-on view is lovely.
It was essential to capture the eyes correctly and I think the designer has done a fantastic job here, using motorcycle helmets. These are both decorated with brown and white highlights as reflections and the shape of the hair around the eyes is brilliant too. Some have suggested the dog looks sad, but that is true to the breed's facial structure. My dog is quite the opposite!
The ears are connected using ball joints and include hinges in the middle, so they can move as you pose the head. It rotates and tilts sideways, but cannot move up and down, despite the gap above the collar. I find that confusing because gaps are avoided as much as possible elsewhere on the model, while this one somehow remains.
The mouth opens to show several teeth and a pink tongue inside, as well as the characteristic black lips. The lips should be more prominent, although I can see why that would be difficult to achieve without affecting the rounded shape of the jaw. The teeth are a greater concern for me, as those behind the canine teeth look much too big for a puppy.
I was underwhelmed by the tongue in official images, where it seemed too angular. I think it is better in person though. You can close the mouth with the tongue attached, which looks pretty good to me, although it is not completely closed and leaving it in this position for too long could stress the click hinges used for the jaw articulation. An open mouth looks great as well.
Between the optional tongue hanging out, the jaw articulation, moveable ears and the ability to tilt the head, you really can give the Golden Retriever a huge amount of personality. The model looks quite static with everything in its 'normal' position, but even subtle posing looks superb.
Overall
I was unsure about 11384 Golden Retriever Puppy when the box arrived, as the texture looks somehow messy in certain official images, perhaps due to harsh lighting and shadows. I think this model looks much better in person and hopefully in my own photos, as the combination of studded and smooth surfaces blends better than I anticipated.
The head in particular is outstanding, although the gap at the back of the neck bothers me. The green parts visible on the collar are annoying too, so there are definitely a few details that could be improved. I think the price of £129.99, $139.99 or €139.99 feels reasonable taken in isolation, but I cannot help comparing it to 21349 Tuxedo Cat, which offers better value at £89.99, $99.99 or €99.99. I would expect the dog to be more expensive, but not quite this much.
63 likes
24 comments on this article
Not nearly as good as the Dalmatian model (also I WAS HERE FIRST)
It doesn't eat, pee, or poop, but it collects dust and isn't cuddly. I don't know...
This looks like a pretty good model of a very good boy.
The detachable tongue is just wrong, man. That just screams "Nova was here" and "AGHGGHAAAGHAGHGHWWHYYYWHYYYYYGGHH".
Manky dog :-)
@Huw said:
"Manky dog :-)"
Back off, Huwella.
They did well with this one.
But the panel storing the tongue is plain cursed
Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? YOU ARE!
Looks a lot better in these photos than it does on the box.
That homework page is brilliant!
"A panel on the dog's back is removable, with space to keep its tongue underneath."
That wasn't a sentence I ever expected to read.
@BrickBob09 said:
""A panel on the dog's back is removable, with space to keep its tongue underneath."
That wasn't a sentence I ever expected to read."
It must be a mimic - It's the only logical explanation!
@BrickBob09 said:
""A panel on the dog's back is removable, with space to keep its tongue underneath."
That wasn't a sentence I ever expected to read."
Nor I to write!
I think this model looks fantastic for the most part! The studded texture really captures the look of the shaggy fur and congrats to the designer for making the head (and eyes) look so good. The tail and ears stick out to me because they lack pretty much any texture. If they had a little more depth I think the build would be perfect. The ears in particular are just way too flat and lifeless compared to the rest of the dog.
I hope we get more dog breeds in the future. Crossing my fingers for a blue pit bull puppy because I want a LEGO version of my good boy, Thanos!
The dog ate my homework!...... and I can prove it!
This one’s a bit like Technic. If you squint hard enough, from 200 metres away, it kinda looks ok.
I love it. Looks great.
Not sure about it with the tongue out, will have to see it once I end up building it to decide.
I really want to like this and there are some good things about it. But it just doesn’t work for me. The LEGO fur screams Poodle to me, not Golden Retriever.
Also, I find the static nature of the model disappointing. It doesn’t seem like it would be too hard to add some mobility to the legs. Yet Simba, Golden Retriever, Gizmo, and Tuxedo Cat are mostly unposeable. Dalmatian has a little more movement which is nice and also looks better to me.
Yes, colour coding might make sense, sometimes, to some people, even though I find it completely useless.
But as long as you don't see that ugly stuff on the finished set, I turn a blind eye on it.
Here meanwhile those colours are more than clearly visible, which in my book is a deal breaker.
Now one might say "why do you complain? It's LEGO, you can simply change those parts."
True, but I am not going to buy extra parts to correct something that should have been correct from the factory. If I buy something I expect that I don't have to mess with it in order to get it right!
I just feel -- and I think the recent attempt at Winnie the Pooh underlines this point -- that some things just don't translate well to hard, plastic bricks, even with the plethora of curved shapes and slopes that are available now.
I think the tuxedo cat worked because cats are naturally quite sleek, while dogs tend to be (particularly golden retrievers) shaggier and fluffier. And it's very difficult to capture that with Lego.
I like the toe beans and I do think it's a well-designed model, it's just not my cup of tea.
@SetToBuild said:
"Looks a lot better in these photos than it does on the box.
That homework page is brilliant!"
Oned of the best Lego Easter eggs I've seen in a while!
Every time I look, the face profile looks like Beavis.
Awwwwww, cute!
I would like a Spaniel next, please. Or a St. Bernard.
Or Dachshund! Wait, no, Beagle!
Woof!
Wow! Quite ugly set! I guess the animals with fur won't translate well.
Same with Ewok and Chubacca
Very overpriced, some unappealing things (the visible green, the removable tongue and leg) and it doesn’t look great. I think the review was surprisingly generous overall. It’ll be interesting to see how well this does because I’ve seen the tuxedo cat in the background of loads of things online; I doubt this is going to have the same success.
@Zordboy said:
"I just feel -- and I think the recent attempt at Winnie the Pooh underlines this point -- that some things just don't translate well to hard, plastic bricks, even with the plethora of curved shapes and slopes that are available now.
I think the tuxedo cat worked because cats are naturally quite sleek, while dogs tend to be (particularly golden retrievers) shaggier and fluffier. And it's very difficult to capture that with Lego.
I like the toe beans and I do think it's a well-designed model, it's just not my cup of tea. "
I agree. All the various slopes and wedges going every which way ... it does not convey "fur" to me. Instead it looks lumpy, like it's been molded out of clay.