Review: 40659 Mini Steamboat Willie

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40659 Mini Steamboat Willie is currently a gift with purchase at LEGO.com, free with purchases of Disney, Star Wars and Marvel sets exceeding £95/$100/€100.

For such a low threshold it's a substantial set, and not that much smaller than the LEGO Ideas set 21317 Steamboat Willie that was released four years ago.

Summary

40659 Mini Steamboat Willie, 424 pieces.

A substantial GWP that's perfect for Disney's 100th anniversary

  • Low GWP threshold for such a large model
  • Funnel mechanism does not work particularly well
  • Bridge not enclosed

The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.

The 424 parts are divided across five numbered bags for three stages of building and, as you can see, they are not all monochrome. Like its larger counterpart, it seems that every effort has been made to squeeze in as many different colours as possible inside the model.

There's a Technic mechanism built into it that raises and lowers the funnels up and down as the vessel is pushed along, but the range of movement is negligible, and it seems to get stuck often, so it is not very impressive.

The vibrant colours inside are completely covered by a monochrome outer layer.

Minifigure Mickey is a cheaper version of that in the larger set and in the CMF series. It has grey legs rather than silver and without the black stripe, and a black dome on the hat.

The completed model is fairly substantial, measuring 20cm long and 11cm wide, which compares very favourably with the larger 21317 Steamboat Willie which is just 6cm longer.

Unlike the larger model and the cartoon version, this one does not have an enclosed bridge: the wheel is exposed to the elements. This is probably because the funnels are disproportionately large, so there's no room for one.

Other details like the flag, crane and crates are all present and correct, though.

Overall it's a decent model for a freebie and particularly appealing if you don't already have the larger version, although it's not as detailed and well-proportioned as that one, of course.

Nevertheless, it's likely to be popular and may not last until the end of the promotion (31st October), so place and order at LEGO.com now to avoid disappointment!

26 comments on this article

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By in United States,

Disappointment avoided.

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By in Australia,

Glad I never got the first one now. This one will do me just fine.

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By in Poland,

This is a great value gwp for such threshold. Im not into Disney things, but I would be happy to get this beside the set I would be buying. Very cool that you added side by side comparison with the regular model!

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By in Australia,

A great set to let off some "steam".

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By in Netherlands,

Pretty good considering the threshold! Would it be possible to move the cam one hole to increase the movement of the funnels, or would that hinder the mechanism? The open bridge is a bit weird, but I feel it would look to0 bulky otherwise.

Only those colors on the inside....why not just use grey tones inside? Luckily most of it is not visible on the finished model, except for some bits of red from some angles.

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By in United Kingdom,

Considering the original went for £80, getting this for free with another purchase seems like a reasonable compromise. That said it’s disappointing that the threshold for acquiring it on Lego.com is £95, considering it was £80 on ShopDisney.

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By in United States,

So I just bought the $100 Disney Camera...last Thursday.

D'oh!

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By in United States,

@Mister_Jonny said:
"Considering the original went for £80, getting this for free with another purchase seems like a reasonable compromise. That said it’s disappointing that the threshold for acquiring it on Lego.com is £95, considering it was £80 on ShopDisney."

us in u.s.a was $150 Disney now $100 lego... , you guys lucked out on disney purchase,

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By in Poland,

@Huw
Is there sloppy black printing on Mickey hat?

Could you explain why mechanism is getting stuck? Are you talking about this grey technic piece which supposed push funnels?

Beside those faults set looks as excellent GWP and a but funny considering (unlicensed and without any minifg) House of the world threshold.

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By in United Kingdom,

@Briczk said:
" @Huw
Is there sloppy black printing on Mickey hat?
"


Yes

"Could you explain why mechanism is getting stuck? Are you talking about this grey technic piece which supposed push funnels?"

The cam connected to the wheels pushes up two other cams which in turn push axles at the bottom of the funnels up. Friction often prevents their descent.

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By in Romania,

@AHYL88 said:
"The model is great and the threshold of very reasonable. The only question mark with this for those who want it is are you willing to pay full price for some of the sets that are discounted elsewhere? Particularly stuff like the Star Wars diorama sets which have seen very hefty discounts lately in the UK...

Can't wait to come back from holiday to go for it, if there's any left! "

I paid 100€ for 75351 and 75356 by stacking vouchers and also got the gwp, it’s market price here so reasonably good.

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By in United Kingdom,

all gone in UK !!!!!

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By in United States,

Well, nuts. Now I need to figure out a $100 purchase. And I just bought the $30 Christmas Millennium Falcon last weekend.

Good thing I still have CMF Steamboat Minnie.

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By in United States,

If I didn't already have a credit card bill that's higher than the balance of my checking account, I'd definitely be getting this, especially since Marvel and Star Wars sets count towards it.

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By in Netherlands,

@daas49 said:
"all gone in UK !!!!!"

Not true "You've qualified for a Mini Steamboat Willie (40659)" adds to shopping bag right now on UK site .

However , purchases do need to be the full £95/$100/€100 from Star Wars , Marvel or Disney (which also extends to ART (spider-man), Ideas (Home Alone / Winnie the Pooh / Hocus Pocus , Indiana Jones (Lucasfilm/Disney) etc. )

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By in Australia,

@daas49 said:
"all gone in UK !!!!!"

Sold out here in Australia

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By in United States,

@thom1414 said:
"So I just bought the $100 Disney Camera...last Thursday.

D'oh!"


Follow "legoleaks" on reddit, it's the best source for planning future purchases.

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By in United States,

It's a great alternative for those who didn't get the "Idea" set, but at the same time you have about 5 days window to do so.

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By in United States,

@AHYL88 said:
"The model is great and the threshold of very reasonable. The only question mark with this for those who want it is are you willing to pay full price for some of the sets that are discounted elsewhere? Particularly stuff like the Star Wars diorama sets which have seen very hefty discounts lately in the UK...

Can't wait to come back from holiday to go for it, if there's any left! "


I'd stick to the sets that are Lego store exclusives, like the Battle of Endor Heroes brickheadz, or else sets that rarely go on sale elsewhere.

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By in United Kingdom,

@daas49 said:
"all gone in UK !!!!!"

Are you sure you're meeting the threshold with eligible products? I just decided to stick 43222 in my bag and it came up with 40659 and 40599

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By in Australia,

@Reventon said:
" @daas49 said:
"all gone in UK !!!!!"

Sold out here in Australia
"


Hopefully it'll be back in stock soon...

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By in United States,

@Reventon said:
" @daas49 said:
"all gone in UK !!!!!"

Sold out here in Australia
"


Did ya try Disney website there? Australia ? Not sure how long running that for."

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By in United Kingdom,

Well did the offer with ShopDisney last week, they sent all the other Lego apart from the Steamboat Willy set.

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By in United States,

@MegaBlocks said:
"Well did the offer with ShopDisney last week, they sent all the other Lego apart from the Steamboat Willy set."

double check order? you needed enter code for boat show up. I think also could bought anyhing there,

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By in Belgium,

@Ridgeheart said:
"That is some atrocious printing on Mickey's hat. Susan, Frank and Roger from Quality Assurance, please report to the abattoir. Everyone else, there will be meatloaf for lunch today."

not only the hat, look at the circles on his trousers...

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By in Brazil,

Is it still available? It didnt apply to my shopping cart

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