Review: 41077 Aira's Pegasus Sleigh
Posted by LostInTranslation,
The first wave of the Elves theme was launched in March of this year to overwhelmingly positive reviews and now, just three months later we have the second wave – if two sets can be called a wave. (A wavelet, if you will). I’ve kindly been sent the smaller of the two sets, 41077 Aira’s Pegasus Sleigh, to review by the LEGO CEE Team, and Huw has assisted me here with his mad photography skills.
The box has the same swirly, shiny blue Elves branding that we have grown accustomed to and shows Aira and Azari flying in the sleigh, apparently dropping cookies as they go. Their destination, indicated by a signpost featuring the four elements with which the Elves are associated, is a little windmill which conceals the purple “air” key required to help send Emily Jones back home. The back of the box explains the story and shows some of the play features, as usual.
The box contains three bags of parts, plus two horses individually bagged, one instruction manual and a sheet containing just six stickers. This set does not have such an abundance of new parts as previous Elves offerings have done. However, there are still a number of unique elements: two lime green half-circle plates with a notch cut out, two 3x4x2/3 plates with bow in purple, a dark tan 4x12 plate, several pearl gold parts – Technic tubes, connectors and decorative elements – and the large silver wings which allow the Pegasi to take flight (I wanted to put Pegasuses, but the official set description has Pegasi. (I refuse to omit the capital letter though).
Both of the mini-dolls are found in bag 1, and sadly do not differ from those in previous sets in terms of their hair, faces or printed clothing. However they are both equipped with new cloaks to protect them from the chilly air whilst flying through the clouds. I really like how these cloaks properly wrap around the mini-dolls’ slender shoulders rather than just billowing out behind them as LEGO capes usually do, showing that although the Elves are entrenched in magic and mystery, they also have a practical side!
The other character in this set is the baby dragon Miku, who is azure and magenta, with small wings on her back, and is incredibly cute, just like all the other animals in the kingdom of Elvendale.
Before we start building, the white horses, with their lavender manes and tails and ornamented faces, need to be saddled and given their wings. The set description names them as Starshine and Rufus. The black clips of the saddle are hidden underneath the beautiful shiny silver wings, which have a feather pattern moulded in. I’m glad that a new big wing piece was created for this model, as they are a decent enough size to make it “believable” that just two of these noble steeds would be capable of pulling the sleigh and its passengers through the air.
The main body of the sleigh is made up of a robust Technic mechanism to which the new gold bushings and connectors are attached as the rails. The sleigh is then built up with numerous medium lavender, bley and white tiles and plates and some yellow slopes. Curved lavender and white “wings” are affixed to either side of the chassis such that they can be deployed and retracted with a pull of the L-shaped Technic beam at the rear. The gold rails are finished off with curved “elephant trunks” as were used for Santa’s sleigh in 10245. The seating area for the Elves continues to be constructed from layers of medium lavender plates in various sizes, so if you are in need of plates in that colour, this set is to be recommended as a good parts pack.
Medium lavender bows build up an enclosure at the rear to protect the mini-dolls, and a treasure chest is mounted on the back as a storage compartment. The upholstery on the inside is in yellow, with stickers giving detail to the cushions. A small gold wing is attached on either side of the sleigh. The last thing to be added is the purple front panel which features Aira’s winged crest. Two pieces of black hose connect the Pegasi to the sleigh, and I am impressed by the rigidity they provide – I expected the hose to sag and bend under the weight of either the horses or the sleigh if held at only one end, but actually they don’t give much at all. I suppose this might change under prolonged swooshing though.
Next up we build the small windmill, which stands upon a cave built in predominantly light and dark bley, but the back wall of the cave includes three trans dark pink 1x2 bricks, which provide a mystical glowing backdrop for the magical key concealed inside. Next to the cave there is a small brook or waterfall, with a silver fish leaping out! The entrance to the cave is partially hidden by some pink foliage, and two cookies have been left on the ground to try and distract Miku while Aira and Azari go in to retrieve the key. The mill part atop the cave is very simply constructed and crowned with its four feathered sails. The last item to be built is the signpost with the four insignia that correspond to the four different Elves and their powers.
Overall, I think this is a solid set, with a nice main build in the form of the sleigh. I like the mechanism to open the wings on the sleigh itself and I’m pleased with the robustness of the attachment between the horses and the vehicle, an essential criterion for playability value. The secondary builds add to the overarching story told by the Elves theme, the quest for the four magical keys, and the detail in the cave in terms of the splashes of colour is excellent. I’m also a fan of the baby dragon too, she really has such an endearingly goofy expression (and, in terms of shape, reminds me of Spike, a My Little Pony dragon I had when I was a child).
Yet I do think the set lacks a certain something to elevate it from a good set to a great set. At £34.99, it is only £5 cheaper than the Elves Treetop Hideaway, but feels less substantial, and given the choice, I would plump for the treehouse every time, as it also has a better parts selection in my opinion. Perhaps my own bias in favour of buildings rather than vehicles is coming into play here, as the sleigh is definitely required to tell the story of the quest, allowing the adventure to be spread out across the realm of Elvendale, and I did enjoy building it very much – I was just left wanting a little bit more.
In conclusion, I think if you are only going to buy one Elves set, then this probably isn’t it, unless you want the wing parts for a specific project. However it is by no means a dud and is still a decent set, especially when integrated with the rest of the theme to tell the full Elves story. Perhaps we have just been overwhelmed and spoiled by the sets offered in the initial wave and as a result it is difficult for this set to make its own waves in the wake of that.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Many thanks to the LEGO CEE team for providing the set and to Huw for taking the photos.
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16 comments on this article
Great review, I'm loving the Elves sets especially because they introduce new colours to existing parts.
I think it looks great and is an amazing parts pack (if you want those wings; and in this case silver-grey seems more versatile than gold). However, it's at least £5 over-priced. So I'd like one, but I'll be content to wait for a sale or a 3-for-2 offer.
another smashing review, and another set I really want. Completely agree it doesn't look as substantial as the treetop hideaway but it's a great design, and love those winged horses.
Thanx for the review. I like the cure little dragon mold, and it looks like a good play set and also good addition to fantasy MOCs. Hope that we'll seen reindeer under this theme to compensate for Santa sets.
Great review! I love that Starshine and Rufus have different face decorations, and the Technic function of this set looks fun as well. The color scheme of the sleigh is really exciting, and I can see builders putting those Warm Gold parts used for the runners of the sleigh to great use. I'm probably more amused than I should be that the trunk of the sleigh is built from an actual trunk. :P
The capes of the Elves are very nice, though I'm a bit disappointed that Farran doesn't get one in any set (despite having a cape in these scenes from the TV special). Still, it's a clever way to alter their outfits without needing to design entirely new mini-dolls for the summer sets or write a complete costume change into the story. I will be interested to see what costumes the characters wear in future years of LEGO Elves.
One quirk of this set that I noticed is that although the designers were thoughtful enough to include seating for four characters, there are five main characters total. I wonder where Emily will sit?
The set's piece count may seem a bit low for the $40/€40/£35 price point, but I think that's probably due to it having three animal characters (two of which are the large, pre-assembled horses that I'm sure can't be cheap to manufacture). It also weighs more than the bakery or ship (according to Tesco.com) despite having a lower piece count than the bakery.
^ It's tricky to get them to sit side by side, without arms, and capes in the case of these two, getting all tangled so realistically there's room for just two.
That must have been an interesting conversation some Lego designers had. What to call 2 Pegasi? I know! Starshine and Rufus!
"Pegasi" is the correct plural form. It's a 2nd declension masculine noun in Latin, and those end in -i in the nominative plural. If it had been a 4th declension noun, then the English plural would be pegasuses (as we don't use the Latin plurals for 4th declension nouns) and if it had been a 3rd declension noun… well, things get kind of weird there and English plurals can be slighlty unpredictable.
Great review, thanks. I am eyeing this one for the parts, especially those big silver wings. The price will probably keep me out of it, but still a very cool-looking set, with some elegant touches.
as a former brony, i agree that the dragon looks like Spike. Great review! The second this thing goes on clearance, I will be getting it as a parts pack
I am loving both the dragon baby, and the lavender treasure chest. That's just gorgeous.
Thanks for the review. Very useful.
Thank you for the review. My daughter is eager to have this set. ))
Didn't the king from CMF set 13 have a cape that wrapped around his arms too?
@Huw: Huh, really? I've never had any difficulty getting mini-dolls sitting directly side-by-side. It's one of the many advantages the mini-doll has over the minifigure — you don't need a half-stud offset to fit two figures in a six-wide space. But I hadn't thought about the capes being an issue, and with that in mind, I can believe seating two side-by-side is more challenging in this set than most. I doubt it's an insurmountable issue, though.
Looks like a lovely set. I would get it for the horses and the baby dragon alone.