Friendly Snails revealed
Posted by Huw,
Next month's gift with purchase has been revealed as 40788 Friendly Snails, the winner of the LEGO Ideas 'GWP of your dreams' competition.
The 18+ branded 264-piece set will be a GWP at LEGO.com from the 1st of July, free when you spend in excess of US$160 / £145 / €160.
If you know exactly what makes a snail friendly, rather than slimy and repulsive to many, please elignten me in the comments.
40788 Friendly Snails
View 40788 Friendly Snails at LEGO.com »
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66 comments on this article
Shells. Shells make snails friendly, rather than slimy and repulsive. Case in point: slugs.
I like it, but I've just placed an order and surely I will not spend additional 160€ shortly.
The GWP formula is a bit frustrating, these sets should be avaible as rewards too (or, even better, as normal buy).
Another cute little set that is being held hostage behind a GWP. Thanks for proving that you could sell affordable sets but refuse to do so LEGO.
Snails are not friendly. They are a pest. Squish them
malwod
We own a giant land snail as a pet, they’re pretty low-key and chill, think that’s what makes ‘em friendly to some people
@Calabar said:
"I like it, but I've just placed an order and surely I will not spend additional 160€ shortly.
The GWP formula is a bit frustrating, these sets should be avaible as rewards too (or, even better, as normal buy). "
They go put as rewards and people then complain... there's no winning whatever is done
No... it can't be... after so many years of running, the immortal snail has finally caught up to me in a LEGO set...
The word for snails used where I'm from make them friendly: shellakybooky. There's no way to call the animal that word without it being a term of endearment!
@Reventon said:
"Snails are not friendly. They are a pest. Squish them"
I collect them and feed them to my pet ducks.
@huw : If you know exactly what makes a snail friendly, rather than slimy and repulsive to many, please elignten me in the comments.
The colourful, or design-ful shells. The fact they carry their home and pay their way, they dont wanna bother you like slugs do
Nice little set, unfortunately again a GWP :-(
@Reventon said:
"Snails are not friendly. They are a pest. Squish them"
Just eat them!
I tend to crush them (and spear slugs) and leave them for the birds to eat so it is not something I'd want to display in my home.
As for the complaints that sets like this should be VIP rewards or regular retail sets, there are already other sets that are VIP rewards and other sets that are regular retail sets. If this was a VIP reward, it would be limited to 1 and limited to one VIP reward per order. If it was a regular set, it would be £20 and probably not a great seller. If they didn't do GWP any more then there would be complaints that they stopped doing them. If a set was available as a regular retail set, a VIP set and GWP, then there would be complaints that VIP and GWP should be something exclusive.
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
"No... it can't be... after so many years of running, the immortal snail has finally caught up to me in a LEGO set..."
Elite reference
I think there's no solution that pleases everyone, but in my mind this is definitely a case where this should be a set. I would buy this at £17.99 (more realistically £21.99 or something these days), but I'm not spending £145 in the Lego store just for this, even though there are sets I probably could buy to reach that number. This set strongly appeals to me, but it seems not everyone, so perhaps it will be a reasonable price on the secondary market.
Yeah, sell this, scalpers!
"What is this, a set for ants?" "No, snails."
"Just your friendly neighborhood Snail-man!"
"Snail-man, Snail-man,
Does whatever a snail can
Carries his home, while he roams
Sees a bug, can't give hugs
Look out, here comes Snail-man."
Ooh, it's so cute!
This set will definitely go to my girlfriend: she takes care of our garden (as it is 2025: I do groceries and cooking ;)) and snails are her nemesis! Not sure if I have to sleep on the couch after her unpacking the gift, but willing to take the risk :)
Nothing makes a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod more friendly than a silly smile on its slimy little face. ...wait--these don't have smiles or even faces!
Ironically the black base of these kinds of sets inevitably put me off from purchasing them.
Ironically, I believe The Grumpy Snail would be more in demand.
Just got the Austen one with an item from the wantlist, guess I'll be picking up another modular soon! This looks so good!
Seems actually dumb to put this set behind a GWP, as snails are big right now as central part of the whole "Cottagecore" aesthetic. All the mushroom-loving girlies can't get enough of snails and toads.
More broadly I think online appreciation for formerly "creepy" animals and "pests" has taken off in recent years. Think of the "trash panda" term for raccoons. American possums have become something of a symbol for the queer community, bats continue their long rehabilitation in the public consciousness, and I even see greater celebration of bugs and spiders these days. I think often of a tattoo I saw that had a female mantis eating a male's head with the phrase "GIRL DINNER" emblazoned above it.
In general, I think it's a good thing and shows an incipient desire to reconnect with nature and "touch grass" as the kids like to say. And it's going hand-in-hand with questioning societal standards for what constitutes a "cute" animal vs. a "gross" animal.
TL;DR LEGO could make money hand over fist with a "Backyard Friends" subtheme of their Fauna collection.
Also, with those radar dishes...Time Cruisers/Twisters MOCs incoming!
My wife and I saw several snails in the wild in Billund, and she became enamored with them, so this set is right up her alley.
@WokePope said:
"TL;DR LEGO could make money hand over fist with a "Backyard Friends" subtheme of their Fauna collection."
Why make trillions when we can make... Billions!
>"GWP of your dreams"
>It's not more Lord of the Rings stuff
fraudulent
Either these are giant snails or that bee is very far away... certainly most of the snails I've had in the garden haven't been quite so big in comparison to beautiful loping bumblebees ... unless it's the reflection of a bee in dew drop... I may be concentrating on the wrong thing here.
I think it's a nice looking set. I didn't get the Jane Austen book nook, so I might pick up this, as I do rather like it.
I think stalk eyes, colour, whisker tentacles and shells make snails more approachable than a lot of gastropods.
These would be adorable if I hadn't finally read Uzumaki ...
What I find repulsive is the spending threshold to get the GWP.
I appreciate the GWG. I don't find the VIP club to be overly rewarding - Lego pay for affiliate marketing through topcashback (US) and quidco (UK), they could just give me the 5% VIP back and the extra 3-5% they pay for affiliates. Having the extra GWG sets that I could sell for $20+ helps balance the cost of more expensive sets. Given it's resell at $20, and cost of $165, that's 12% back, plus the 5% VIP, so a 17% saving, plus the 3% cashback taking to 20%. Although $150 would be more reasonable, $160 just feels greedy, not being as round a number. I feel it helps the VIP scheme have value. I delay some of the bigger set purchases until the GWG to maximize the benefits - why spend $160 without something for free. I do collect a lot of themes and spend most my free cash on Lego, it's easy enough for me to wait and get the GWG. I do appreciate those not spending as much on Lego then pay over the odds on ebay for GWG. Today as example, I want to buy 2 of the Nike, one as a gift, one for me, but will await the GWG. While I didn't wait for any deal to grab a Keith Haring set as I was too eager and wouldn't hold my patience!
I think the olive green worked better for the foliage but no further complains.
Good thing I didn't burn all my money on Jane Austin.
"If you know exactly what makes a snail friendly, rather than slimy and repulsive to many, please elignten me in the comments."
The real answer is they're dancers.
*Look up the Disco Snails song and thank me later*
“ If you know exactly what makes a snail friendly, rather than slimy and repulsive to many, please elignten me in the comments.”
A snail can be both friendly and fast, when it’s a Racing Snail named Bgolus….
Btw, the also announced Moon Car Ideas set will cost 2500 Insiders points.
@brigadeschick said:
"Either these are giant snails or that bee is very far away... certainly most of the snails I've had in the garden haven't been quite so big in comparison to beautiful loping bumblebees ... unless it's the reflection of a bee in dew drop... I may be concentrating on the wrong thing here."
You clearly haven't read Ito Junji's Uzumaki manga.....
(nor watched the anime.....but no one should. Horrible adaptation....)
Aww, this is cute; wish it wasn’t a GWP.
@tne328:
Thank you for that; you made me chuckle. XD
@Heriol said:
"I think there's no solution that pleases everyone, but in my mind this is definitely a case where this should be a set. I would buy this at £17.99 (more realistically £21.99 or something these days), but I'm not spending £145 in the Lego store just for this, even though there are sets I probably could buy to reach that number. This set strongly appeals to me, but it seems not everyone, so perhaps it will be a reasonable price on the secondary market."
The contest was to produce a GWP, so there’s really no way this could have been released to retail as the winning entry. Doing so would have violated the terms of the contest and invited lawsuits.
@WizardOfOss said:
"Nice little set, unfortunately again a GWP :-(
@Reventon said:
"Snails are not friendly. They are a pest. Squish them"
Just eat them!"
I was expecting this comment to be from a French person.
@dimc said:"Also, with those radar dishes...Time Cruisers/Twisters MOCs incoming!"
I like the way you think.
@brigadeschick: 40766 isn't a book nook. And @watcher21, it's Jane Austen, not Jane Austin.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
" @Reventon said:
"Snails are not friendly. They are a pest. Squish them"
Just eat them!"
I was expecting this comment to be from a French person."
Hey, they stole our flag (and put it sideways), I steal their food!
@PurpleDave said:
" @Heriol said:
"I think there's no solution that pleases everyone, but in my mind this is definitely a case where this should be a set. I would buy this at £17.99 (more realistically £21.99 or something these days), but I'm not spending £145 in the Lego store just for this, even though there are sets I probably could buy to reach that number. This set strongly appeals to me, but it seems not everyone, so perhaps it will be a reasonable price on the secondary market."
The contest was to produce a GWP, so there’s really no way this could have been released to retail as the winning entry. Doing so would have violated the terms of the contest and invited lawsuits."
I did forget, to be honest, so you're quite right. This was always going to happen, and it's a shame these smaller ideas set competitions are seemingly exclusively for GWPs in general.
Very nice but I wish they had kept the more muted autumnal colours of the original submission.
Honestly surprised at all the snail hate here... lots of the AFOLs I hang out with at conventions love snails (some of them even formed their own SnailLUG). Like the beauty of nature is broadly popular as subject matter and that includes creatures both big and small, without regard to the human-centric classification of certain animals as "pests".
Anyway, these are cute but I kind of prefer the larger snail mount in 910037 that even had its own brick-built slime trail.
Yes, Lego finally adapting Uzumaki into a set!
@Reventon said:
"Snails are not friendly. They are a pest. Squish them"
When you squish a snail or slug they release pheromones that encourage local snails and slugs to breed more prolifically. Therefore if you squish them you are in fact increasing the population.
Evolution egh?
With regard to the Lego set, I like it.
Too cute!! Yep, I need this.
Gastropods
Are very odd
Their stomach's
On their foot.
When they want
their best foot
forward
They know which
one to put.
Now this looks great, either the snails are giant or the bees are tiny.
@tne328 said:
""Snail-man, Snail-man,
Does whatever a snail can
Carries his home, while he roams
Sees a bug, can't give hugs
Look out, here comes Snail-man.""
Clearly you haven’t watched an abundance of nature documentaries, or you’d have probably seen one where they show snails or slugs “making the beast with two feet”, or whatever slang they use in the gastopodal community.
@Mister_Jonny:
Even more ironically, you don’t have to buy it, because it’s free.
@WokePope:
Well, they could sell it for $25…or they could lure you into buying $160 worth of other sets just to get this. I’m not seeing how this is a failure if it results in 6x larger sales.
@Heriol:
I 100% agree that it sucks the only way they seem to approve affordable projects for Ideas these days is when it’s a contest for a GWP or a VIP Reward. 21340 was the last $50 set, and 21314 was the last sub-$50 set. That’s seven years ago. $80 seems to be the rock bottom threshold, with a few rare dips to $70.
@Lyichir:
You should have seen the massive snails in a group project at Brickworld Chicago back in 2018 or 2016. They were about the size of a basketball.
@MonsterFighter said:
" @Reventon said:
"Snails are not friendly. They are a pest. Squish them"
When you squish a snail or slug they release pheromones that encourage local snails and slugs to breed more prolifically. Therefore if you squish them you are in fact increasing the population.
Evolution egh? "
This is why I transport my snails to an undisclosed separate location before sending them to sleep with the fishes.
Take me to snurch!
Now that I think of it: I don't need these snails. What we actually need is a whole line of transponder snails from One Piece!
Why do the French eat snails but not eat slugs?
Obviously snails are vile, but these are really cute. Exactly the same as Lego cats!
@ytjedi said:
""If you know exactly what makes a snail friendly, rather than slimy and repulsive to many, please elignten me in the comments."
The real answer is they're dancers.
*Look up the Disco Snails song and thank me later*"
Thank you.
I can't believe all this gastropod hate I'm reading. Snails and slugs are handsome little critters.
Didn't expect snail kinkshaming here :P
Fun little set, kind of wish I'd waited to get this one instead of the Jane Austen GWP.
@WizardOfOss said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
" @Reventon said:
"Snails are not friendly. They are a pest. Squish them"
Just eat them!"
I was expecting this comment to be from a French person."
Hey, they stole our flag (and put it sideways), I steal their food!
"
I love escargot and Italian snail dishes, but my favorite is the small Spanish snails in garlic broth with a frosty beer and good company in Sevilla.
NO8DO!
Gotta get this so my wife can hide them in the Lego jungle she has created downstairs. The scene that's created from Every. Single. Botanicals set released to date is part scary and impressive.
The slime is practically always transparent, so the snail has obviously eaten something green- that’s poo man.
I suspect some of the 'snail hate' comes from anyone who is a gardener - especially a vegetable gardener. Some types of snails can do a lot of damage to seedlings and certain plants. Others may just dislike them as they equate them with their unpopular kin - the slugs. Thank goodness for cloches!
Friendly ... and delicious !! My grandmother cooked them and the sauce was enough to dip the bread and not stop.
@sjr60 said:
"Obviously snails are vile, but these are really cute. Exactly the same as Lego cats!"
Snails, cats, and probably most humans find you repulsive.
i'm probably biased....
@yellowcastle said:
" @MonsterFighter said:
" @Reventon said:
"Snails are not friendly. They are a pest. Squish them"
When you squish a snail or slug they release pheromones that encourage local snails and slugs to breed more prolifically. Therefore if you squish them you are in fact increasing the population.
Evolution egh? "
This is why I transport my snails to an undisclosed separate location before sending them to sleep with the fishes."
STOP BLACK-BAGGING AND ILLEGALLY DEPORTING SNAILS.