Review: 77092 Great Deku Tree 2-in-1
Posted by SetToBuild,
It’s dangerous to go alone. Take this!
LEGO Legend of Zelda is finally here, and 77092 Great Deku Tree 2-in-1 is hopefully the first of many from the series. The Zelda games invoke a sense of adventure and child-like wonder much like LEGO does: it’s the perfect combination.
Not only does it boast brilliant minifigures and legendary accessories, this large model includes two different versions of the Tree to represent its appearance in either The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. We can’t build both of these at the same time, so let’s find out how well the 2-in-1 has been accomplished.
Summary
77092 Great Deku Tree 2-in-1, 2,500 pieces.
£259.99 / $299.99 / €299.99 | 10.4p/12.0c/12.0c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Get your Rupees ready for this legendary LEGO set.
- Incredible minifigures and accessories
- Excellent brick-built characters and monsters
- Interesting leftover parts to MOC with
- All decorations are printed
- Poor value for money
- No direction for building one variant after the other
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Box
The box features the Breath of the Wild Deku Tree on the front, with Young Link’s house from Ocarina of Time on the side panel. Unfortunately, the set features the same old black box design and doesn't take advantage of the endless amounts of Zelda art out there. I had to pinch myself after seeing the Legend of Zelda logo on a LEGO box. What a time to be alive!
This set offers two builds in one box, so on the rear, the Ocarina of Time Deku Tree is pictured. You can’t build both models at the same time, but there is enough to display from both games to satisfy either Deku Tree choice. More on that later!
This was my first time experiencing the new tray-style box with a removable lid, which Huw describes in this article. Like 21061 Notre-Dame de Paris, this is great for storing extra parts and models for safekeeping, and it also folds down well if you keep your boxes.
Instructions and Bag Order
Throughout the manual, great captions describe all of the different items like shrooms, Koroks, or enemies, and explain some hidden details.
This set (thankfully) isn’t like Creator 3-in-1 sets where you destroy the entire model to build the variants; it works more like 10317 Land Rover Classic Defender 90 or 10300 Back to the Future Time Machine. where the instructions reveal a fork in the road. With the Deku Tree, the changes are much earlier and more fundamental: rather than just swapping foliage like 21318 Tree House or 10281 Bonsai Tree, we completely rebuild the upper branches, and more.
Pages 1–155 and bags 1–9 are used for all of the figures, the two side builds, the Deku Tree’s base, and the trunk’s basic structure.
After step 89, page 156 gives you a choice to either turn to page 158 to continue the Breath of the Wild Deku Tree, or skip to page 297 to start the Ocarina of Time Deku Tree. For the former, we open the remaining bags from 10–20 in the usual order.
If you choose the latter, then the bag order gets scrambled more than the series’ timeline! After step 89, we open bags 10, 14, 23, 13, 16, 17, 20, 21 then 22!
However, if you’ve already built the Breath of the Wild Deku Tree, you need to tear everything down to look like step 89 on page 155 first. The book doesn’t tell you what to remove, so you’ll need to play a game of spot the difference between pages 89 and 298.
You can use the images below to help in your comparison. Or if you were a REAL Zelda fan, wouldn’t you skip all that hassle and go out and buy another copy of the set?!
LEGO fans have long been asking for this style of set. When opportunities like this arise, we hear the cries of “just let me pay a little bit more and get twice the value!”, or calls to include alternate pieces, faces, headgear etc. to build another version of the thing. However, with how divided fanbases can be, I can already see people asking for these models to be two different sets. Fans of one game will inevitably complain about the leftover parts from the ‘unnecessary’ second option. Later, I’ll show you what’s left from each so you can decide for yourself.
Let’s take a look at the fantastic new minifigures next, before we dive into the complexities of the build experience:
Minifigures
Dark azure is the perfect colour for our hero’s Breath of the Wild tunic. There are great details, like a tiny triforce on the back, and his undershirt gives the perfect opportunity to avoid the strange flesh-coloured neckline which often turns out so poorly in LEGO. The hair is pearl gold, a surprising but effective choice to accurately represent his dirty blonde locks.
Link’s two faces offer stern or shouting expressions. Dual moulded arms and legs complete the outfit, but there’s no side printing to either, nor shoe details. He’s well-equipped with the brand new Master Sword and Hylian Shield moulds. See the accessories section for a full breakdown!
I was delighted to finally see this figure, as he’s the missing piece to my now-ageing Temple of Time MOC.
Zelda’s Breath of the Wild rendition is also in dark azure, and her similarly detailed tunic is delightful. Her waist is represented with linework, and I much prefer this subtle approach than the dark ‘negative space’ shapes that have been printed on other feminine figures.
She has the same arms as Link, but different dual moulded legs with dark azure printing on the front of the black hips only. Her two facial expressions are either sleeping or serious.
Another excellent dual-moulded hair piece suits her perfectly, in hard plastic not soft rubber. Zelda and Link’s ears are very similar in proportion to the beloved LEGO Elves theme, and although possibly slightly pointier, still lack their true extents from the source material.
Ocarina of Time Young Link is a true classic. Immediately we’re drawn to the amazing tri-moulded combined hat and hair piece, complete with pronounced fringe and a little hair poking out at the back. The youthful smiling face captures his childlike demeanour, and has a serious alternative expression.
Short sleeves with dual moulded arms and short dual moulded legs (shared with Russell from Up) are covered by the Trolls skirt piece for the first time in bright green. He wields a Deku Shield and short sword, although he is a little short to comfortably hold the shield without holding it straight out.
Ocarina of Time Adult Link has the same hat/hair piece as his junior counterpart. The torso has the same back printing, but slightly modified front printing to show his white undershirt and collar. His arms are also changed to show the white shirt sleeves extending beneath, and he now wears brown gloves.
The full-size legs are not only dual moulded but also printed, including their sides, and in this instance it’s been done very well. His facial expressions are, like Breath of the Wild Link, either stern or shouting.
Minifigure Accessories
This set supplies us with a plethora of new accessory moulds which are vital to the Legend of Zelda games represented here.
Firstly, we see the Ocarina of Time itself. The instrument has actually appeared in many games both before and after Ocarina of Time, and not always in blue, but I’d agree this is its most recognisable colour. The fantastically detailed mould includes the mouthpiece and pitted marks to represent finger holes. An anti-stud connection at the rear allows it to be held or placed onto a stud.
The iconic Master Sword is a delight to have in LEGO form. It bears some resemblance to other detailed swords in the Ninjago, Bionicle or Nexo Knights themes. The choice of a dual moulded rather than detachable blade makes sense here, to allow the slenderness of the hilt. The pearlescent blade has been taken through the hilt to provide the central gem: from an element design standpoint this is a clever solution, but it would have been nice to include the more accurate gold detail.
Yet another distinctive item, the Hylian Shield features Link’s signature crest. The unique mould is very slightly curved, and the printing allows the design to be captured perfectly. I would love to see a full-scale model of this shield in LEGO, like 76262 Captain America's Shield.
The sturdy Traveler’s Shield uses a more common LEGO element, again featuring detailed and accurate printing. This shield might also have been an option with its raised rim, but it seems they haven’t printed on this piece since 2014, so presumably, the decoration was prioritised.
The Deku Shield is printed on a classic shield. The vibrant Kokiri symbol represents children granted permanent youth by the Great Deku Tree. Interestingly, the Kokiris of Ocarina of Time are ancestors of, or turn into, the Koroks, which also feature in this set as Breath of the Wild characters.
Brick-built Characters
Two printed trans-clear dishes come in the set to give Navi her wings. The version for Ocarina of Time comes with 3 different 1x1 tiles for the different targeting modes Navi uses. (Blue is the default for talking to other characters, green gives you a clue that something is hidden or where to play a song, and yellow is for targeting enemies.) One pink tile is provided to illustrate a generic fairy for Breath of the Wild.
Link finally got his fairy! They look great together.
Koroks are a primitive race of wooden-bodied forest creatures, who live near the Great Deku Tree. These small friends all have leaf-like masks for faces but are diverse in shape and colour, so their variety is worthwhile inclusion in this set. Fortunately, two of these leaves are small enough to be among the spare pieces, so fans will be able to build two more Koroks with their own parts.
Hestu is a recent addition, introduced with Breath of the Wild. His colour has varied though. In some renditions, he’s more of a spring yellowish green colour, while in others he appears more tan. It certainly wasn’t a bad choice to use tan here, and I think the omission of his patterned skin was also the correct decision—inevitably, printing wouldn’t be seamless enough.
The adorable and accurate face print on the Deku Tree Sprout really sells this small build. We can’t complain about a LEGO rendition of a nearly spherical character feeling blocky, but I think the contrast of the round top piece with the corners and feet emphasises this. A 1x1 plate w/ tooth might have been my choice for the feet.
The two Deku Babas are perfectly designed using the Technic macaroni elbows and look like they’re about to strike. These common carnivorous plant enemies appear across many of the games, lunging to attack Link as he passes near them. This action can be mimicked in LEGO form thanks to the ball joints at their base.
Side Builds
Link's house from the Kokiri Forest is a separate build, regardless of the chosen main model. It stands alone well, and I can imagine fans displaying this as a small desk-side model, where the main Deku Tree would not fit.
In front, we see a sign written in Hylian. For help with this translation, we’ll need to bust out ol’ faithful, Hyrule Historia. Using this guide, the sign can be deciphered into Japanese. My Japanese is beyond rusty, but Google Translate says: “Your secret is a secret from everyone”.
Based only on my poor translation skills, this phrase is most likely an extremely deep cut to the Legend of Zelda meme that originated in Secret Moblin Hideout in the first game. Nintendo franchises have since poked fun at this and other phrases from the Legend of Zelda series in other games.
The rear of Link’s house is tightly packed but manages to fit his bed upstairs and several treasures stored down below in a satisfyingly tucked-away spot. Young Link can comfortably lie down here, while Adult Link has to squeeze a bit more.
It was a joy to build tiny LEGO-fied versions of these various familiar pieces of equipment. The hookshot is particularly well done. The other items include a Kokiri Sword, green and red potion bottles, a bomb, a compass, and shields.
The second side build (also able to be built regardless of the main Deku Tree version you choose) holds the Master Sword. A sturdy base and some foliage decorate the surrounding area, with plenty of space to pose your favourite characters. The Koroks and Hestu are not dismantled to build the Ocarina of Time Deku Tree, so they can pose here with Breath of the Wild Link and Zelda.
The sword annoyingly doesn’t sit perfectly centrally, as it’s slightly loose in the gap. Instead of displaying it within the pedestal, I imagine many fans will have the Link minifigure holding the sword. Alternatively, you can pose Link pulling the sword from the stone.
Complete Build #1: Breath of the Wild Great Deku Tree
The completed Great Deku Tree is large and imposing. With the surrounding forest and Master Sword pedestal attached to the front, the finished model is very deep (33.5 cm/42 studs) and voluminous. The face design feels very accurate, and the sprawling roots offer plenty of hiding spaces for storytelling, adventures and play, not just display.
From the rear, the model is flat, and despite a couple of gaps is otherwise relatively uniform with no garish oddities. The model unfortunately can’t be placed flat against a wall, as the small cooking area extends to the rear. This is likely by design to provide a buffer zone for the handle to operate the Deku Tree’s action feature. Some modification would be required to omit this and flatten the back of the model for display.
It was very interesting to see how the Tree’s face fitted together. It’s a very sculptural part of the build, but I don’t think any of the techniques were too daunting for new builders. The eyes use the paper hat in brown for the first time, which could be a new style for Link!
Not only is the face detailed and accurate, but there’s also an unexpected action feature: by lifting and lowering a lever at the rear, we can animate the Great Deku Tree’s face and make him talk.
At the top, a Korok (Walton) gives you the Riddles of Hyrule sidequest. The player must answer the riddles by placing items before him. The first riddle is “Small, red, round, sweet”, and the set gives us the answer: an apple.
At the back of the model is the ‘Great Deku Tree’s Navel’ interior. Here the shops, inn and a central cooking area are all represented in one combined space. The shop includes a nice range of varieties of mushrooms, and the cooking pot is accompanied by an acorn-shaped container - perhaps full of acorns, a common cooking ingredient in the game. The bed design is charming and accurate, with teal foliage pieces representing its leafy texture, but the LEGO version is probably not as comfy to lie on!
Hidden behind the removable side panels of the Deku Tree are a Sheikah Slate pedestal and the Remote Bomb rune in both sphere and cube form. This location isn’t where you acquire the remote bomb rune or place a Sheikah slate, so these are merely easter eggs as nods to main features within the game.
While attaching the two upper side panels on the trunk, the window frames in the core provide structure while letting the builder look through to make sure the side panels are fully attached. This makes for a much more stable structure, for example, compared to the shaky side panels of 75936 Jurassic Park: T. rex Rampage.
Down at the roots, there is a more sturdy SNOT structure, where angled and curved roots are reinforced by side-built corner slope bricks. Even though these roots aren’t actually holding up the model's structure, they make this mighty tree’s strength believable.
A new colour of 1x1 plate with three leaves continues to increase the selection of parts in Light Nougat, a no-longer-rare colour. These add some welcome variegation to the canopy. Without having counted, I feel that this piece is one of the most rapidly recoloured of recent years - something botanical builders will no doubt be pleased about! Neither the bright pink version of this piece nor of the limb element are new.
At the end of Breath of the Wild Deku Tree you have the main tree, plus the connected Master Sword display and standalone Ocarina of Time Young Link home display. There’s nowhere obvious for poor Adult Link to pose, so he stands awkwardly playing the Ocarina for us.
Here we see that the Pedestal of the Master Sword side build (discussed above) can be connected to the front of the main build, since in this game the Tree guards the sword at Zelda’s instruction. Note that two forest trees are added to the side build for this Breath of the Wild version of the model, which are not present when it’s used as a side display to the Ocarina of Time Deku Tree.
Without the extension in front, we get a clearer view through the mangrove-like elevated roots, but the watery area feels a little bare.
Below are pictured the parts remaining after building the Breath of the Wild Deku Tree. These are simply the contents of bags 21, 22, and 23. I don’t feel that too many parts are left when completing this version of the model, but perhaps that’s because I will happily use the spare green leaves elsewhere. Others may complain that these are costly pieces not used in the primary build.
After building the Breath of the Wild Deku Tree, I wanted to next build the Ocarina of Time Deku Tree, but had to dismantle a huge amount of the build to get back to step 89 where the two models diverge. Here’s everything I had to remove to get back to that point.
Completed Build #2: Ocarina of Time Great Deku Tree
In contrast to the Breath of the Wild version, the Ocarina of Time Deku Tree is a much more solid build, without the areas of raised roots that can be explored beneath. Not only is the face more blocky and simplistic, as it is in the game, but the colourful foliage of Breath of the Wild is no longer present, replaced by an abundance of green leaves.
The Tree’s denser canopy is represented by the set’s entire supply of green leaves, previously used for the surrounding forest. This forest is now conspicuously missing from the display. No room is present at the top of the tree this time, instead further sturdy branches are added, using pieces removed from the Breath of the Wild Tree’s moustache.
This version of Great Deku Tree’s face is more geometric, with straight slopes for the nose and angled curved wedges effectively forming his furrowed eyebrows. The moustache also now lacks its sinuous organic form from Breath of the Wild. Overall, I think it’s achieved a reasonable balance of accuracy to much older and less detailed source material, coupled with some embellishment for modern aesthetics.
The face is not animated this time; instead, here the primary action feature is the opening and closing of the tree’s mouth as an entrance, using a sliding mechanism at the rear.
Inside the Deku Tree are several details from the game. There are hanging vines to climb on, a chest containing the fairy slingshot, and webs contaminating the decaying trunk of the tree. A second action feature is also here: releasing the mechanism above the web drops a Skulltula drops down in front of the vines. The printed skull piece could have some fun uses.
The Gossip Stone is represented in LEGO using cheese slopes around the edges, but in my mind, this object has always been slightly more smooth. Let’s assume this is a nod to the polygonal graphics found on the Nintendo 64!
Hidden within the sides of the Deku Tree’s trunk are two stone slabs, as additional nods to items found in the game. One holds the fairy bow and has 1x1 tiles corresponding with the three magical arrow types; fire, ice, and light. The other is a music score, with 3 solid yellow 1x1 tiles representing the first half of the inputs needed to play Saria’s Song on the Ocarina.
At the end of this secondary model build, you now have three parts: the Ocarina of Time Deku Tree, an accompanying Ocarina of Time young Link’s house display, and a separate Breath of the Wild Master Sword display. To be truly accurate, we should have removed the Silent Princess flowers as these don’t appear in Ocarina of Time!
A much greater quantity of unused parts remains after building this version of the Deku Tree, pictured in the two images below. As a MOC builder, if I displayed this version I’d be quite happy to absorb these into my collection, but Ocarina of Time fans or newcomers to LEGO might feel this is wasteful.
However, the great thing about LEGO is that you can always build it into something else! I used some of these extra pieces (including the remaining trees) pictured above to build a small Lost Woods display for Breath of the Wild Link.
The actual spare (not just unused) parts from both models include the normal array of 1x1s as well as a sword, slingshot, and some printed tiles.
Conclusion
As a huge Legend of Zelda fan, of course I enjoyed this set. However, both the build experience and the value for money left even me slightly put out.
Both Deku Trees are impressive displays and will give fans of either game something to be proud of having on their shelf. I’m still unsure of which one I’ll choose to keep together. With Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild being almost two decades apart, many fans may decide just to build one model and disregard the other completely. Those who like both games will enjoy that whichever main model is built, there is still a small side display for the other game.
Building either of the main 2-in-1 options is straightforward, but building one after the other is no mean feat. I could see someone who wasn’t familiar with LEGO struggling to build the second without starting again from scratch. I’d have appreciated supplementary instructions saying “Hey! Listen! This is how to dismantle things back to step 89 if you want to build the other Deku Tree”.
On the other hand—puzzles are a huge part of progression in the Legend of Zelda series. So needing to use your noggin to figure out how to get from one to the other might be a fun challenge for puzzle-savvy Zelda fans.
Value for Money
There’s no denying that this is a very expensive set. It’s the same price as a Nintendo Switch! In parts, characters, size and even heft it struggles to compete with the likes of 21348 Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale. For 20% additional cost, the D&D set has 50% more parts and minifigures, and a more substantial-feeling build.
I would have liked to see an Ocarina of Time Princess Zelda minifig (surely a fifth minifigure could squeeze in?!) or a scene with Epona the horse since Adult Link seems to be loitering in the other scenes.
I wish that these brilliant figures had been introduced in a smaller set, but it’s clear that TLG and Nintendo see an opportunity for big profits by opening the theme with such a high price tag. If, like Mrs. SetToBuild, you’re really only after the minifigures, I would personally wait. I have hopes that this will be another Captain Rex scenario and we’ll see them in smaller sets as well.
Speculation: What’s Next?
With 38 years of content and a vast timeline to pull from, there are many possibilities for other Legend of Zelda sets. Here are some ideas I’d like to see—tell us yours in the comments!
- Micro Hyrule Castle (Like 76419 Hogwarts Castle and Grounds)
- Silent Princess botanical set—here’s a great MOC version by tony_bob5
- Big Breath of the Wild Guardian
- Wall mountable Hylian Shield or Majora’s Mask
- Tears of the Kingdom’s decayed Master Sword
- Windwaker’s King of the Red Lions
- Overworld maps
- And most of all, a set containing a Ganondorf minifig and Tears of the Kingdom Link
Thanks a million. Push start to reread the review!
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99 comments on this article
While it does add to the price and leaves people with extra parts I am greatly appreciating LEGO including these options with sets. If you did only one, yes it would be cheaper, but then everyone would be wanting it to be their prefered option. By doing this it makes both groups interested in the set.
As you said, hopefully this turns out to be a Captain Rex scenario and we end up seeing other Zelda sets in the future. There's such pent up demand for Zelda that people want it, but the only way to show LEGO that is to grab this set and that fans will purchase Zelda sets.
I love fantasy theme Lego kits, yet even though Nintendo is very popular I feel like this is extremely niche. I do like it, but probably not enough to buy it. $299.99 is a lot of USD to commit to it for me. I'd have been happier with only the Ocarina of Time model.
I am happy that this set exists but I don't really need to own it myself at that price. I love all the little details, this set is really made for Zelda fans. And the Koroks are just perfect!
could you provide a measurement for how deep the BOTW version of the set is, with the Master Sword pedestal attached? I need to know if it'll fit on my shelf but annoyingly LEGO hasn't provided this info anywhere
I’ve been playing the games since Ocarina of Time and absolutely love it, but would choose the Breath of the Wild build. It’s just the more complete model.
It would’ve been good if they’d made the Ocarina tree and Breath of the Wild version as separate buyable models rather than lump the two together in one set. They’d be cheaper and not so wasteful on pieces.
I’ll wait to see if there’s a discount. With this, Jaws and the new super Mario World set, there’s plenty to add to my wishlist
Love the review, and the detail into the differences, I wonder if perhaps the Lego Builder App would help with the teardown and reset if you were to choose the different model, If its the 3d Build, you could pinch, zoom and tell whats being removed, or Lego could even offer a teardown instruction to reset it!
Having grown up on Playstation, I think I'll save my money for when a set based on a game I'm more attached to comes around.
Looks better than when I first saw it though.
Thanks for the review. No doubt, it’s a beautiful set. Very vibrant, colorful, and cool. I would love to gift this to my wife, who is a Zelda fan, but at $300, it is too expensive by half.
As an aside, I am someone without an encyclopedic knowledge of LEGO. Are there any other recent sets with similar woodland settings/colors? The only one coming to mind is 21348.
That's the thing at the end, right? This set is a snare for huge fans to throw a ton of money on a seemingly one-shot opportunity to own it in Lego form. But if you know Lego, there's no way that they won't reuse these new molds, and Shop suggests this will be its own theme, so they will be releasing other sets, hopefully small sets, with these (and more/better) characters.
Beautiful set, hate this is not a theme.
I am not going to buy just one overpriced set.
Thanks for the review! I was not aware of some of these accessories, they are delightful - especially the brick built bomb + hookshot, the bow and Saria's Song menu inscription, and the little compass, not to mention all of the other stuff that was already shown in the press materials. There's enough accessories here to easily build your own dungeon!
A bit of a correction, Zelda's alt expression appears to be concentration. A sleeping head would be rather out-of-character for her.
Really torn on this. On the one hand, I don't really care for the BotW variant too much*, so just keeping it built as the OoT model leaves me with a lot of leftover parts and a really high price tag. On the other hand, those minifigs and accessories are incredible, with two excellent side builds as well.
As for what else I'd like to see, that's easy - dungeons!! Some potential locations could be truly incredible. My main "want" is the Palace of Winds from Minish Cap, but this is admittedly way too niche. That BotW Hyrule Castle set that was repeatedly shot down by Ideas would be amazing too!
Another idea would be bosses. I mentioned in the set reveal that the lack of Gohma in the OoT model was disappointing, but someone pointed out to me that it would make a great set by itself. Yeah, I have to agree with that! Maybe they could even give it a name plaque - "Parasitic Armored Arachnid: Gohma", which is its boss introduction in OoT. :-)
(*This is really funny, because I actually prefer BotW over OoT by a rather significant margin. I think OoT's set pieces just make for better potential Lego sets!)
This is one of the best set reviews I’ve ever read at Brickset, and for a set and IP that otherwise don’t speak to me. Excellent work, Jonny! :o)
As I have never played these games (probably to my detriment), this one was likely going to be an easy (hard?) pass for me. But the set is designed so wonderfully, and reviewed so lovingly, that I can’t help but move this to a “Maybe.”
"Poor value for money" is the LEGO understatement of the year. But jokes aside, this is a great review.
No matter how anyone or myself compartmentalize this, there is just no way the value is there, although it's a bit better than I thought from images alone. This is the set that has made me rethink this entire hobby--my desired IP since I was a kid, and the price is exploiting that desire for many. Icky feeling. Not a fun realization.
If these were sold entirely separately and not a 2-in-1, I'd get the Ocarina version. But I refuse to accept Boring of the Wild as a Zelda game, so will not reward its inclusion.
I would be shocked if all these new moulds were made for one set and one set only! Surely there’s more in the works for Zelda. Would be a shame if this was the only set for it, even if the set is very well done! We still need Ganon to fight now that I think about it.
"a scene with Epona the horse"
It is only a 300$ set so of course Lego can not include a single horse ;P
Despite the price, I still cannot wait for this set. I'm definitely going to try to copy that Lost Woods display when I build the OoT tree, it looks perfect!
Looks okay I guess, but wake me up when they release a set based on A Minish Cap.
Really beautiful set - I have come to realize large nature-based D2Cs (Rivendell) are some of my favorite builds.
I was able to get $100 off this set with a voucher so I am mildly content with spending $200 on it. It is not worth $300, don't care about prints and new molds and all that justifying whatever. Not $300.
@Roebuck said:
""a scene with Epona the horse"
It is only a 300$ set so of course Lego can not include a single horse ;P"
Epona wouldn't really fit in this set subject-matter wise, since you can't ride Epona in either Kokiri Forest in OoT or in the Korok Forest in Breath of the Wild.
A set with BotW Link on horseback would be cool, perhaps a set with something like one of the roaming Guardians, which tend to appear frequently in wide-open areas like the ones you tend to traverse on horseback.
My biggest fear is that this set won't sell and Nintendo and Lego will take that as an excuse to not make this a play theme, even with the Lego website having the set in a separate Zelda theme category. There are way too many new molds for these to be one-offs, but the worst case scenario is they do this LOTR2 style and keep locking off minifigs to the one-off high-ticket display models.
Good review, it addressed most of the questions people would ask about when looking at photos with the concept of the set.
Not a Zelda fan but this set is so beautiful, it's tempting me.
A bit too pricey for me, and I have an aversion to mixing my spare parts so I'd likely just have bags of unused bits after. The mini builds and main set look great though.
My only real criticism is it feels like the OoT stuff is a bit of an afterthought. The base is completely wrong for the Great Deku Tree. I'd also argue it's perhaps the wrong colour - I would have gone more for browns to reflect the darker colour of the tree in the game plus to make the set look, well, more dead (if you've played the game this is an early major plot point).
Thank you for the excellent review and pictures! I really appreciated the focus on the new elements.
Regarding the set I think it is a little too overpriced. While it certainly has better value than I originally thought by being able to keep the two side builds, it still seems like too much. There are a lot of extra pieces for either build, which improves the value, but it also dampens it since they aren't integrated. Of course, I also recognize that the Nintendo tax can be fairly hefty as well.
The build is very nicely done, and the minifigures are exceptional! I don't have any connection to OoT or BotW though, so I'll pass. Hopefully they release more sets, and preferably for the games that I have played. I would love a skyloft and/or loftwing build, a king of the red lions, or a windfall island set. I'm afraid that WW and SS are some of the less likely games to get sets though.
I'm totally the target audience for this set but, unfortunately, it's about double my LEGO budget for any given set.
I'm not a big LoZ fan, but I still really wish the Wind Waker boat cleared the Ideas program, and really hope that they release a set based on that if this becomes a theme.
@Xov581 said:
"Thanks for the review. No doubt, it’s a beautiful set. Very vibrant, colorful, and cool. I would love to gift this to my wife, who is a Zelda fan, but at $300, it is too expensive by half.
As an aside, I am someone without an encyclopedic knowledge of LEGO. Are there any other recent sets with similar woodland settings/colors? The only one coming to mind is 21348."
21338 or 10315, for a more realistic setting. 43242 and 10316 have a bit around the fringe. 21326 retired half a year ago. If you want to look for more, there's a "forest" tag:
https://brickset.com/sets/tag-Forest/page-1
@Loerwyn said:
"I would have gone more for browns to reflect the darker colour of the tree in the game plus to make the set look, well, more dead (if you've played the game this is an early major plot point)."
The color they used is actually pretty close to how the OoT Deku Tree looks at the start of the game. After it dies it turns more of a stone-gray color.
@PhantomBricks said:
"I'm afraid that WW and SS are some of the less likely games to get sets though."
If anything WW feels rather likely, as the premiere Toon Link style game. The ocean setting is generally considered quite iconic too. The bigger problem is that it's not a currently available game, and releasing a set like that will only increase the number of people demanding that the game be re-released.
@Gorbor said:
"Looks okay I guess, but wake me up when they release a set based on A Minish Cap."
You’ll be very well rested then :)
I’m getting less and less interested as all the sets seem such poor value for money.
Broadly speaking the Ocarina of Time tree more closely resembles its 3DS design than its N64 design, especially in regards to the mustache. Either way, that version of the tree is supposed to be a bit wider at the base, so I can see if some Ocarina of Time purists feel let down by this set. I don't mind it as it is, as it's still a way more authentic to the games than any of the Sonic sets (yes, even 21331 gets some stuff wrong).
"Navi... get me... the Pepto-Bismol..."
(Lets see if anyone gets this lol)
@PixelTheDragon said:
"I would be shocked if all these new moulds were made for one set and one set only! Surely there’s more in the works for Zelda. Would be a shame if this was the only set for it, even if the set is very well done! We still need Ganon to fight now that I think about it. "
Sesame Street and Winnie the Pooh are holding for you on line 1. Also, we took a message from someone called Mill village goat?
I kinda wonder what would sell better: this single €300 set for two builds you can't do at the same time, or two separate sets for each tree for, say, €200 each. I'd say such cheaper set would make this more attractive for the casual fans, and it would also make it more likely for hardcore fans and completionist to buy them both. I highly doubt many are gonna buy two copies of this €300 set though.
@Robot99 said:
"If anything WW feels rather likely, as the premiere Toon Link style game. The ocean setting is generally considered quite iconic too. The bigger problem is that it's not a currently available game, and releasing a set like that will only increase the number of people demanding that the game be re-released."
That is true that it would easily be the first toon link game to get sets. However, from what I have seen, I think it is more likely that we will see sets from current games like TotK and BotW and the earliest 3D games like OoT and MM. Twilight Princess is also incredibly beloved and I could easily see it getting sets. After those 5 games, I think WW would have a shot. Although I could see Lego going for a unique set that takes advantage of the game's cell shading.
@PurpleDave said:
"I'm not a big LoZ fan, but I still really wish the Wind Waker boat cleared the Ideas program, and really hope that they release a set based on that if this becomes a theme.
"
I'd imagine it will. A small ship like the King of Red Lions would be a very easy choice for the small set of the wave, able to include Link and maybe a small island with an enemy and cannon on it. Though they could include a full lookout platform to up the price if they wanted to.
I'll definitely expect this to become a full theme; there's too many new molds and prints here for otherwise, most especially with the sorting on the Lego website.
Haven’t been interested in the other sets that SetToBuild has reviewed, so this was the first review that I’ve read, and I must say very well done! The depth and balanced approach you brought I thought were really excellent!! I do like the speculation for future sets you threw in at the end too. Leaves you with a fun extra thing to read and think about
I never even knew what the legends of Zelda was until this set was revealed.
@pretzemilia said:
"Despite the price, I still cannot wait for this set. I'm definitely going to try to copy that Lost Woods display when I build the OoT tree, it looks perfect!"
Thanks, Pretz! I look forward to seeing your version! :O
@yellowcastle said:
"This is one of the best set reviews I’ve ever read at Brickset, and for a set and IP that otherwise don’t speak to me. Excellent work, Jonny! :o)
As I have never played these games (probably to my detriment), this one was likely going to be an easy (hard?) pass for me. But the set is designed so wonderfully, and reviewed so lovingly, that I can’t help but move this to a “Maybe.”"
Thank you so much for the kind words! :D You should really try a Zelda game! There are so many classics to recommend, but Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom would be good starters for the modern gamer!
@lego4elio said:
"Haven’t been interested in the other sets that SetToBuild has reviewed, so this was the first review that I’ve read, and I must say very well done! The depth and balanced approach you brought I thought were really excellent!! I do like the speculation for future sets you threw in at the end too. Leaves you with a fun extra thing to read and think about"
Thanks for giving the article a look! Glad my efforts didn't go unnoticed :]
I'm really only interested in the Ocarina of Time build, and the plethora of aditional parts actually makes me happy. It's a wide assortment of useful looking uncommon parts, particularly the leaf and botanical elements.
Honestly, my only real complaint with this set is the lack of an OoT Zelda, young or old. I understand that the newer version is probably more popular though. It's really on me for not having played BotW. At least Zelda is present in some iteration.
beautiful looking model! but I'm glad I'm not a Zelda fan bc the price is questionable once again
@Robot99 said:
""Navi... get me... the Pepto-Bismol..."
(Lets see if anyone gets this lol)"
TerminalMontage! Love his animations! You should check out Cas van de Pol if you haven't already.
Fantastic review! The set is very nice, but about 30-40 dollars overpriced IMO. I really like the BOTW version in particular; it's a beautiful display piece.
Great review.
After the initial sales from die-hard fans, I have a feeling it will stall as the list price is high.
Most likely this will get the Lego store 20%-30% off during this, or next year's, holiday season so those not in rush should wait.
@mattverycool said:
"could you provide a measurement for how deep the BOTW version of the set is, with the Master Sword pedestal attached? I need to know if it'll fit on my shelf but annoyingly LEGO hasn't provided this info anywhere"
For sure! It's 33.5 cm or 42 studs deep. I'll update the article as well. Thanks!
@SetToBuild said:
" @mattverycool said:
"could you provide a measurement for how deep the BOTW version of the set is, with the Master Sword pedestal attached? I need to know if it'll fit on my shelf but annoyingly LEGO hasn't provided this info anywhere"
For sure! It's 33.5 cm or 42 studs deep. I'll update the article as well. Thanks!"
Thank you!!
Wish looked more like a Tree, Leaves and branches more of...
I'm not talking about the face,I know that from Zelda
@Alphonse42 said:
"Love the review, and the detail into the differences, I wonder if perhaps the Lego Builder App would help with the teardown and reset if you were to choose the different model, If its the 3d Build, you could pinch, zoom and tell whats being removed, or Lego could even offer a teardown instruction to reset it!"
Ah! I didn't think of the Builder App! That would be a big help in the deconstruction process. And thanks for reading the review!
Great review. I very much appreciate the photos of the various figures and details, which were hard to see in the official photos.
Keeping my fingers crossed for a -30% sale on Amazon or elsewhere in the future.
I can't afford this monster of a set but if we get cheaper Zelda sets with minifigs, count me in (although I am more of a fan of the OG 2D Zelda games than the 3D stuff which I have never played)
They finally gave you a set worthy of your reviewing skills!
Best reviewer at Brickset.
I'm a minor Zelda fan, not enough of one to pay the cost of this set. Will probably try to acquire some of the minifigures and accessory pieces so I can MOC some scenes, particularly from Link to the Past.
@SetToBuild great review. Well-written, engaging for even a non-Zelda fan, and not weighed down by onerous and flowery vocabulary or redundant descriptions! Loved your pictures, little jokes and custom builds, and I also love when reviews show spare parts! You should review more sets
That’s a generally great set that I’ll never afford but those Duplo foliage pieces? No thanks! This is even marketed (ridiculously) as an 18+ set.
A major part of the hobby is representing something using multiple bricks, not fully moulded ready-mades. I know there are various small leaf pieces but a couple here miss the fun of construction.
I would prefer TLG spent more on brick printing and less on cheesy new moulds.
…Did I mention the minifigures and prints were stunning?
One very rough way of estimating the level of 'waste': It looks like there are 400-something pieces not used in the BoTW build, which is 16% of the set's total. So pro-rata, that's about £40/$50 premium being paid for the secondary build.
I have almost zero knowledge of the Zelda franchise and at that price I will never buy this, but this was a nice, thorough review. It was interesting to experience this set in such a way.
@CamberbrickGreen said:
"That’s a generally great set that I’ll never afford but those Duplo foliage pieces? No thanks! This is even marketed (ridiculously) as an 18+ set.
A major part of the hobby is representing something using multiple bricks, not fully moulded ready-mades. I know there are various small leaf pieces but a couple here miss the fun of construction.
I would prefer TLG spent more on brick printing and less on cheesy new moulds.
…Did I mention the minifigures and prints were stunning?"
God, it's tiring when AFOLs describe normal pieces as being "Duplo". Like the overused phrase "juniorized" taken to an even more ridiculous degree.
The big leaf cluster piece allows for fuller, less see-through clusters of leaves. And as you can see from the classic pink foliage elements used in this very set, it's clearly not replacing more complex foliage outright, just adding a separate option with a different look and feel.
My biggest question that I have not seen an answer to is are you able to build all of the brick-built friends (Like skulltulla, Deku Sprout, and the Deku Babas) if you built the BoTW One? If not how much of each could be assembled and how rare would the remaining parts be?
I do have mixed feelings of that leaf cluster piece, something about their design feels wrong for level of detail (maybe due to a lack of printing or dual-molding to show more contrast between the individual leaves) despite it being a Part Of Other Parts -adjacent part by being comprised of three-leaf patterns akin to the beloved modern three-leaf stud, though sloped differently. Either way, when the light hits it from a certain angle and you get the reflection off of the glossy green plastic, it seems a bit too simple. Still, for the Ocarina of Time Great Deku Tree, I find using that piece preferable for (and more successful at) filling out the top than the classic large branch/leaf piece used in the Breath of the Wild build.
Possibly the best and heartfelt review I have read in a long time. It is clear that the author loves the games and is willing to share his knowledge of the source material with the readers.
The gif animations are fabulous and I certainly hope that this trend will catch on. Many Lego sets have playable features and this is a nice way to keep the material on Brickset instead of relying on YT.
While I’m not familiar with the game, I’m tempted. No time for it, though (small kids). Eons ago, In really enjoyed the Golden Sun on my Gameboy Advance SP.
IMO, the Lego Zelda line would best benefit from making a lot of sets out of bosses. They're unique, memorable, and best of all, great for making smaller sets without needing to replicate an entire environment. My fingers are extra crossed for Koloktos!
Excellent review! You've made this set miiiiighty tempting for me, but I'm holding out for smaller and cheaper sets for now.
@sir_vasco said:
"My fingers are extra crossed for Koloktos!"
Koloktos would never happen due to religious imagery, I'm frankly surprised that Nintendo ever let that through in the first place. (Good taste though, Koloktos is an S-tier boss.) I second the rest of your thought!
well excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me princess!
I've only played the first little bit of the original (on the DS and later the Switch) and the first little bit of BotW on the Switch, so I probably wouldn't get this even if I had the space, but if there is going to be a theme, I very much might get some of the smaller sets, especially if Link, Zelda, and/or the Master Sword show up in them.
@Billbuilds: I wondered if I'd see that reference.
I'm another person who's never played a Zelda game, but I might check them out based on this review! Great to read and very well illustrated with a clear articulation of the pros and cons - and I can tell the reviewer was genuinely passionate about the set rather than just being "here's another free set someone sent me, it's kind of OK I guess" :)
Actually the set looks like a nice display piece even for people who don't know the IP, but it's a shame about the price....
@yellowcastle:
The goat was never planned to be retired after use in a single set. And these days, element cost for set designers has planned retirement built in from the start. If they think it'll only be used in that one set, it's got to pay its own rent. If it's a super-common part, they'll plan for running the mold through the end of its service life. Or for stuff like the 1x5 plate, OPAB prices suggest they don't expect to run the mold into the ground, but they still recognize that it's going to be used by multiple sets.
@Shadowcloner said:
"I'll definitely expect this to become a full theme; there's too many new molds and prints here for otherwise, most especially with the sorting on the Lego website. "
Prints don't really mean anything. They started packing exclusive minifigs into sets back in 2011, and mostly that has been accomplished with prints. New molds get trickier, since they have to fit within the restriction on the number of molds that can be in service, and they also have to have depreciation planned out before the design even goes to tooling. Even if they're looking to turn this into a full theme, the ocarina is probably intended to be retired when this set goes out of production, while the sword and shield are things that will probably see some repeat use.
@CamberbrickGreen:
The leaves you object to are designed to be a dense cluster of the same tri-leaf element used for the pink foliage. Those leaves look great, but are difficult to use in large volume, as well as cranking up the piece count for the set. And we all know how much Bricksetters just love having higher piece counts crammed into models that don't grow larger as a result. That said, I do agree with @Alia_of_AGL that they could have done a better job of it. The clustering has a cartoonish look, but I can't put my finger on exactly why. I keep thinking the edges are too smooth to represent the tri-leaf, but when I actually look at photos of the leaf cluster that's clearly not the case.
@Nexus_Riles:
The important thing to remember is that any printed elements aren't being repurposed in the alternate model, so any parts you may need to replace shouldn't be IP-locked. If they aren't already, everything you might be missing should be possible to acquire on OPAB at some point.
@PurpleDave said:
" @yellowcastle:
The goat was never planned to be retired after use in a single set. And these days, element cost for set designers has planned retirement built in from the start. If they think it'll only be used in that one set, it's got to pay its own rent. If it's a super-common part, they'll plan for running the mold through the end of its service life. Or for stuff like the 1x5 plate, OPAB prices suggest they don't expect to run the mold into the ground, but they still recognize that it's going to be used by multiple sets.
@Shadowcloner said:
"I'll definitely expect this to become a full theme; there's too many new molds and prints here for otherwise, most especially with the sorting on the Lego website. "
Prints don't really mean anything. They started packing exclusive minifigs into sets back in 2011, and mostly that has been accomplished with prints. New molds get trickier, since they have to fit within the restriction on the number of molds that can be in service, and they also have to have depreciation planned out before the design even goes to tooling. Even if they're looking to turn this into a full theme, the ocarina is probably intended to be retired when this set goes out of production, while the sword and shield are things that will probably see some repeat use.
@CamberbrickGreen:
The leaves you object to are designed to be a dense cluster of the same tri-leaf element used for the pink foliage. Those leaves look great, but are difficult to use in large volume, as well as cranking up the piece count for the set. And we all know how much Bricksetters just love having higher piece counts crammed into models that don't grow larger as a result. That said, I do agree with @Alia_of_AGL that they could have done a better job of it. The clustering has a cartoonish look, but I can't put my finger on exactly why. I keep thinking the edges are too smooth to represent the tri-leaf, but when I actually look at photos of the leaf cluster that's clearly not the case.
@Nexus_Riles:
The important thing to remember is that any printed elements aren't being repurposed in the alternate model, so any parts you may need to replace shouldn't be IP-locked. If they aren't already, everything you might be missing should be possible to acquire on OPAB at some point."
That was what i was thinking, I just was hoping there werent any rare or unique colors used that make it hard to get later. :)
@Nexus_Riles:
That's impossible to predict. Even if the part is exclusive to that set today, it could end up in a dozen more by the end of next year. Or it could be in plentiful supply today, and go out of production with this set, never to return. As long as this set is in production, those parts should be listed on OPAB, so figure the lifetime of the set is your window of opportunity. If it's important to you, this article presents images of the unused parts after each build, and the instructions will be posted online as soon as the set releases. Bricklink may even inventory the critters separately, which would make it easier. Go through the photos and compare them to the parts needed to build those models. If you can't find something, note it as a part that you need to buy, so you're not left scrambling at the end.
@Robot99 said:
" @sir_vasco said:
"My fingers are extra crossed for Koloktos!"
Koloktos would never happen due to religious imagery, I'm frankly surprised that Nintendo ever let that through in the first place. (Good taste though, Koloktos is an S-tier boss.) I second the rest of your thought!"
Aw drat, that's a good point! In any case, I hope to make my own someday, and thankfully Lego is widening their variety of gold pieces. I speculated that the 15744 ornate wheel piece could potentially be used for his round arm decals!
@SetToBuild Thanks for giving me a shout-out at the end of the article! Really looking forward to this set, but with that price, I'm gonna have to wait for an extraordinary GWP, or hope to win it from some Ideas contest or whatever.
@Nexus_Riles said:
"My biggest question that I have not seen an answer to is are you able to build all of the brick-built friends (Like skulltulla, Deku Sprout, and the Deku Babas) if you built the BoTW One? If not how much of each could be assembled and how rare would the remaining parts be?"
Yep! The Skulltula, Deku Sprout, Deku Babas can be kept assembled after building the BotW Deku Tree. The Gossip Stone and the two stone slabs with the bow and Saria's Song can stay built too :)
@Tony_Bob said:
" @SetToBuild Thanks for giving me a shout-out at the end of the article! Really looking forward to this set, but with that price, I'm gonna have to wait for an extraordinary GWP, or hope to win it from some Ideas contest or whatever."
Definitely! I loved your Sundelion MOC too! Amazing work!!
@tomthepirate said:
"Possibly the best and heartfelt review I have read in a long time. It is clear that the author loves the games and is willing to share his knowledge of the source material with the readers.
The gif animations are fabulous and I certainly hope that this trend will catch on. Many Lego sets have playable features and this is a nice way to keep the material on Brickset instead of relying on YT.
While I’m not familiar with the game, I’m tempted. No time for it, though (small kids). Eons ago, In really enjoyed the Golden Sun on my Gameboy Advance SP."
I'm glad that you enjoyed the article! Thanks! Golden Sun was so good!!
I want to see a large buildable statue of Beedle from BotW, with his huge backpack.
Too many @ to add, but I'm wondering if the familiarity and "can't quite put my finger on it"-ness of those "duplo" connected leaf elements owes something to Kenner's 1975 'Tree Tots Treehouse', remolded by Fisher Price throughout the '80's as 'Family Treehouse featuring the Tree Tot's' before becoming the 'Little People Treehouse' in the '90's with the range expanding to include animal and swing treehouses and the maker knows what else!
There was probably a good two decades there where it was impossible to walk into a kindergarten, doctors office or public library without seeing one of these things lying around. Not to mention it was the OG Ewok Village before there WAS an Ewok Village. I've been waiting to see it mocced ever since the part was released!
Regarding the "juniorized" leaf discussion - IMO, the leaves on the OoT version have something of a flat-ish look, which to me nicely mimicks how N64 games often used flat textures for little details like this. You decide if that effect is intentional here or not, lol.
Many people will inevitably purchase two copies of this set to display both versions, which will lead to an influx of people selling the duplicate minifigs to recoup part of the cost, which should mean respectfully fair prices of said mini figures, right, right!?
Yeah, that´s an excellent review in every way, one of the least attractive sets for me personally but a really good read, well done.
This feels like a $150 set they had to fit into a $300 budget.
Can we get pictures of the set next to other popular large sets (say a modular building) to get a better sense of scale? This is a very nice review otherwise. I really appreciate that LEGO went above and beyond with this, even if it comes at a price.
I do hope this leads into a whole theme however. I would love a set that highlights the music of the games in some way, say with a sound brick that plays assorted tunes on the ocarina.
A set of small divine beasts display models would be great too. Architecture meets ancient magic mechs.
Considering the CMF level minifigures which Lego can't put into every retail set, and the thick base tax of Star Wars sets this set doesn't seem that outrageous. The regular discount should take care of the difference.
@Roebuck said:
""a scene with Epona the horse"
It is only a 300$ set so of course Lego can not include a single horse ;P"
At least the dark orange horse from current Castle sets is available through Pick a Brick.
I will take a part being omitted that is available in other sets or on its own for reasonable prices over a part being omitted that hasn't been made at all yet like any of the weapons, accessories, hats, hair pieces, dual-molded limbs and printed elements that they did include here.
@magni_nominis_umbra:
That may contribute to it, but there’s an old tree design that reminds me very specifically of a game called Hi Ho Cherry-O, even though I’ve never played it, and probably only encountered a copy of the game twice in my life. And someone here knew exactly what game I was thinking of, even though I couldn’t remember the name, and thought it involved apples.
I’m not getting anything close to as strong a vibe from these leaves. I remember the toy you mentioned, but didn’t think of it myself. There could be video games, comic books, or other toys that have a similar look, all of which contribute to a general sense of familiarity without any one source standing out.
I am glad we get some LEGIT Nintendo Minifigs. I wish we had the Super Mario Bros. in the traditional format although I do get the reason for those unique designs.
@Mortalforms said:
"I am glad we get some LEGIT Nintendo Minifigs."
Ikr??? If it wasn't for the minifigs I wouldn't even be considering this set! (Which says a lot about the quality of 18+ Mario sets, that I want/was willing to buy all of them despite that shortcoming).
I'm always surprised that sets I'm excited about nowadays always seem to be very negatively received in the comments. Likely more of an anecdote than actual fact, but just interesting. Maybe just happens to be an overlap with subject material, and the audience that comments more often.
Lovely, lovely review - however. I agree with others about the fun use of GIFs to show off functionality - it's incredibly welcome here. I also liked all the little peaks at easter eggs and references thrown in. Showing off the part breakdowns is good as well - it's neat to know what does and doesn't get used for each build.
As for the set itself, I really really enjoy it. I'm still at a bit of an odds with the 2-in-1 concept - I like the both of them, though it feels to me like the intended build here is definitely the Breath of the Wild variant. I kind of enjoy the sturdy build of the Ocarina of Time one. Alas - I do show my hand in that I think I will end up rebuying the base parts to have a second finished build. I don't need two sets, but shelling out the money for those parts will hopefully not be nearly as bad (especially once they trickle into Pick a Brick, one should hope). I'm curious if we'll see lists.
Hopefully, this blossoms into a full theme. I know that's the current speculation, and to be honest, I wouldn't be mad to see these all come in cheaper sets even after spending the money on this. I like it enough to spend the money, and if someone else would rather drop $20-30 on a smaller set with some of these figures - that's awesome! I really feel like we're shaping up to do a Nintendo CMF line. I'd prefer it to the constant begging for Mario minifigure sets - which I still maintain would sort of suck compared to the brick built stuff we get now. I know digital Mario isn't everyone's thing, but honestly, the scale of everything else works out much better. Not to say I wouldn't take a couple of Mario minifigures... perhaps someday we'll see a LEGO Rosalina.
I'm always interested in how price discussions work here. I do think the set is priced above what it's truly worth - but I don't think I've witnessed a LEGO set that doesn't fit that bill in years. That's a bit superlative, but like for these 18+ builder sets? They're all miserably overpriced. Much less some of the licensed theme sets. It feels very intriguing watching people fawn over some of the Star Wars models from the last few years, but balk at this. Just difference of opinion, I guess.
Anyway, I think I'm less recalcitrant since the money for this came out of my Venator fund. I can push that off another half a year. I'm planning to swing by the LEGO store when they open on the release date to try and pick one up in person. Hopefully it won't be a big line down the mall event. It was a bit fun with the Gunship a few years back, but honestly a bit annoying conceptually. We shall see...
I'm looking forward to a Bricklink list containing the additional pieces required to complete both builds simultaneously. I do wish this had been two sets, I can't imagine many adult collectors going back and forth between the two.
@TBOC:
A more interesting question is how often you see a comment section full of nothing but praise for a set you don’t care for. Par for the course here is that anytime a set gets reviewed, some portion (and not always the same people) of the readers will unsheathe claws and have at it. For instance, every time a new CMF wave gets posted, reading the comments will invariably reveal that it’s the best wave ever, the worst wave ever, the first that someone is going to collect to completion, and the first that someone is going to skip in entirety.
The “price per stuff” brigade is quick to decry any set for being too small, or for the fact that you’re expected to pay for even the parts they don’t want. Well, unless it’s a set they like, in which case the “stuff” is no longer an issue.
Ultimately, does it really matter? Yeah, seeing the same person make the same complaint on an almost daily basis gets tiresome, but more because they’re not really bringing anything to the conversation, and not at all because it has a negative impact on how you feel about the set in question.
@Robot99 said:
"Thanks for the review! I was not aware of some of these accessories, they are delightful - especially the brick built bomb + hookshot, the bow and Saria's Song menu inscription, and the little compass, not to mention all of the other stuff that was already shown in the press materials. There's enough accessories here to easily build your own dungeon!
A bit of a correction, Zelda's alt expression appears to be concentration. A sleeping head would be rather out-of-character for her.
Really torn on this. On the one hand, I don't really care for the BotW variant too much*, so just keeping it built as the OoT model leaves me with a lot of leftover parts and a really high price tag. On the other hand, those minifigs and accessories are incredible, with two excellent side builds as well.
As for what else I'd like to see, that's easy - dungeons!! Some potential locations could be truly incredible. My main "want" is the Palace of Winds from Minish Cap, but this is admittedly way too niche. That BotW Hyrule Castle set that was repeatedly shot down by Ideas would be amazing too!
Another idea would be bosses. I mentioned in the set reveal that the lack of Gohma in the OoT model was disappointing, but someone pointed out to me that it would make a great set by itself. Yeah, I have to agree with that! Maybe they could even give it a name plaque - "Parasitic Armored Arachnid: Gohma", which is its boss introduction in OoT. :-)
(*This is really funny, because I actually prefer BotW over OoT by a rather significant margin. I think OoT's set pieces just make for better potential Lego sets!)"
imagine if they'd done a Gohma GWP to go with it. that would've helped the insane price be easier to swallow...
@PurpleDave said:
" @TBOC:
A more interesting question is how often you see a comment section full of nothing but praise for a set you don’t care for. Par for the course here is that anytime a set gets reviewed, some portion (and not always the same people) of the readers will unsheathe claws and have at it. For instance, every time a new CMF wave gets posted, reading the comments will invariably reveal that it’s the best wave ever, the worst wave ever, the first that someone is going to collect to completion, and the first that someone is going to skip in entirety.
The “price per stuff” brigade is quick to decry any set for being too small, or for the fact that you’re expected to pay for even the parts they don’t want. Well, unless it’s a set they like, in which case the “stuff” is no longer an issue.
Ultimately, does it really matter? Yeah, seeing the same person make the same complaint on an almost daily basis gets tiresome, but more because they’re not really bringing anything to the conversation, and not at all because it has a negative impact on how you feel about the set in question."
Fair points all around. I guess that is what seems to be the issue - feels a bit like the conversation stagnates, but at the same time it is just people expressing how they feel about it. Par for the course for discussion.
Either way - excited for the set!
A nice set that's at least 100€ too overpriced.
Will be worth getting when it inevitably gets put on discount.
I have yet to really play any Zelda games. I attempted the original NES version a few years ago, and obviously knowing how technology has changed it felt different. I'm sure one of the newer games would be fun as well, I just never got around to trying it. My daughter hoards the switch for her own games, so I'd have to buy another one to even consider playing Zelda. And then have to find time to try to play it vs time to build LEGO, so it really won't happen anytime soon.
With all that said, the set looks neat on its own. Even without knowledge of the game scenes, the set has good qualities. I like the figures of course, I like the tree shaping and coloring. I like the option to build two different styled trees, but I wouldn't know which to pick anyway.
This review was great. Thank you for a thorough, honest look without any distracting animals getting loose or grandilosquently neoluxubrianted lexogonagraphy. :]
@Sethro3 said:
"I have yet to really play any Zelda games. I attempted the original NES version a few years ago, and obviously knowing how technology has changed it felt different. I'm sure one of the newer games would be fun as well, I just never got around to trying it. My daughter hoards the switch for her own games, so I'd have to buy another one to even consider playing Zelda. And then have to find time to try to play it vs time to build LEGO, so it really won't happen anytime soon.
With all that said, the set looks neat on its own. Even without knowledge of the game scenes, the set has good qualities. I like the figures of course, I like the tree shaping and coloring. I like the option to build two different styled trees, but I wouldn't know which to pick anyway."
The original NES game has its charm but has definitely aged, and the series continuity is a farce so they don't need to be played in any particular order to be appreciated since with the exception of a few spin-offs and direct sequels most games stand alone as individual "legends." I would recommend trying A Link to the Past or Link's Awakening for a 2D game more representative of the direction the series took after the NES. All of the 3D games are great as well! Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild are both worthy introductions.
@Sethro3 said:
"My daughter hoards the switch for her own games, so I'd have to buy another one to even consider playing Zelda. And then have to find time to try to play it vs time to build LEGO, so it really won't happen anytime soon."
You just need to be sneaky and make your own profile on the same console then play when she's asleep! If you have a Switch Online account, you'll have access to Zelda 1 & 2 on the NES, A Link to the Past on SNES, and Link's Awakening/Ages/Seasons on Game Boy! If you get the expansion pack for the same service, you will gain access to Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask on the N64, and Minish Cap/Four Swords on GBA! Plenty of classics to get you started on your Zelda journey if you had the time. :]
@Rare_White_Ape said:
"I want to see a large buildable statue of Beedle from BotW, with his huge backpack."
YES!!
Large-scale skull kid build
So awesome!!!!!
This review is very good. It was written by a real fan!!
More from OoT and the first NES game. Such as buildable dungeons that can be turned into other models. The hurdle castle MOC we saw in 2021 would be fantastic to get.