Review: 40201 Valentine's Cupid Dog
Posted by MeganL,
LEGO dogs are like buses: you wait ages for one then two arrive at once! Following on from Huw's review of the Creator Park Animals set I'm taking a look at the other doggy set that's just been released, 40201 Valentine's Cupid Dog.
Seasonal items have received mixed reviews in the past couple of years. After the mixed bag of vignettes last year we are returning to the 'cute animals' theme that debuted in 2013. Let's see whether this set gets this year's selection off to a good start...
Inside the box there are two unmarked bags and an instruction booklet. There are no stickers, as is typical for seasonal sets.
Building starts, not unsurprisingly, from the bottom paws and continues up. I think this might be the first use in of the black 1x2 plate with 3 teeth for doggie nails. The dog's body is finished with the use of several white curved pieces that form the dog's chest. The chest is finished off by adding a very snazzy red bow tie.
After the body has been completed, there are the forelegs, which are attached by connecting a 1x2 plate with a ball cup in light grey with a 1x2 plate with a ball in a darker grey, with the latter piece seemingly new to this set. While I like the connection mechanism, when the forelegs are spread wide I find the grey colour a little disconcerting.
Next comes the doggie's head and floppy ears. The ears are attached to the head using the same method as the forelegs. I find the grey for the ears to be much more visually disrupting than the forelegs since it's much more evident when viewing the set from the front. The black button type nose is very cute, as is the pink tongue.
The set is finished with addition of the tail on the back (an elephant tail found in several other sets) and building the heart that the doggie holds in his paw (as don't all our dogs hold our hearts in their paw?).
Overall thoughts
At 150 pieces and $9.99, the piece count for the price is quite good. I rather like the color of the doggie in the brick yellow with the brown accents, though you see most of the brown accents from the back. The build is quick and the end result is nice, but somehow it leaves me thinking that something more could have been done. I like that several parts of the finished set are movable - the back paws move back and forth, the forelegs move, the head completely rotates, the ears are movable, and the tail swivels. I would have liked to see the tail be a little more poseable - as it is, it will stay up, but not stay fixed to the side in either direction.
The grey used in the ears is also off-putting to me. I realise that the designers are limited to the colors that the parts are available in, but with the doggie being beige and brown, having the grey I find a little jarring. It's about time that LEGO produced the ball-joints in a range of colours to better suit the models they are used in. I also wonder what the model would look like in black, grey and white.
It's a fine addition to the seasonal series, but for this genre of seasonal sets, I think I like 40085 Valentine bear from a couple years ago a little bit better.
16 likes
13 comments on this article
Yeah, I find the bow and arrow a bit distracting because it's so obviously minifigure-scaled - a large bunch of flowers would be easy enough to make from existing flower/greenery elements. But it's a nice model and if I can find one locally I think I'll get it for my partner for Valentine's Day.
I don't mind the ears at all, but I find this puppy face looks more like a gopher or rodent of some kind. Regardless, my girlfriend found it adorable. Brick points for me!
It's cute, which is the main thing. That bear was just terrible.
Too much grey, bleargh, and the face just looks wrong. Yeah, I'll pass... :/
Meh... I would have preferred more vignettes.
It's a fine set in it's own right, but comparatively the vignettes were much better. Good for people who wanted more animals.
The gray is a little weird, you'd think something like the Mixels would have been the perfect excuse to expand the color offerings, but if that didn't I wouldn't hold my breath for new colors any time soon.
I hate ball joints just in grey. Blah.
It's cute but I'll pass. I liked the model from the previous review better for looks and pose ability.
Of all the sets we've seen pictures of for this year, I think this one is so far the best value for getting the new 1x2 plate with ball (you can see the piece in a handful of new ninjago sets). 4 of a piece I've been wanting since Lego started using these small ball joints, for only $10, this is absolutely a set I will pick up. It would've been a nice opportunity to start phasing in small ball joint pieces in other colours though, and I'm disappointing Lego didn't take the opportunity to do so.
I loved the vignettes last year, and got all apart from the halloween one, but these leave me cold and I won't be buying any of them
As I loved the vignettes, I was underwhelmed by this years offering. Sorry, but these will stay in the shop.
Well this is a nice and cute model, and I especially love the heart and the bowtie, although it does resemble a bunny with the long ears =P
However I still prefer the vignettes from last year for example, perhaps its due to the atmosphere and the festivity which could be better represented in vignettes.
Probably a good parts pack to get some nice tan and brown parts.