Review: 41173 Elvendale School of Dragons

Excellent set and review. I don't really like the stream, but everything else looks excellent, and I'm very pleased to see pearl gold Chima teeth appear in such a cheap set.

And in answer to the last paragraph, I'd like to see a review of the Starlight Inn next, please, Capn. :)

Please do a review of 41176. I think it's the best set in this wave.

Huw, surprised you didn't mention the hourglass!

Great details here, indeed. I'd like to have a look at the Starlight Inn, if that one hasn't already been reviewed.

Oh, I just love the look of the new Elves sets! I'd be particularly interested in a review of "The Starlight Inn". Especially new parts and recolours of that set might be interesting considering that we didn't have many light green parts yet (not the normal green and not lime green).

^What do you mean? Most of the designs are really good, and it's not the minidolls that are a problem, it's that there are so few male characters.

I, too, would like to see a review of The Starlight Inn! Can't wait to see the interior of that, and I don't want to try and hunt down pictures of the back of the box.

Tidus is not going to stay exclusive to this set — he makes another appearance in 41178 The Dragon Sanctuary this summer. That's one reason I'm considering possibly skipping this set, since I already have Miku from the Aira's Pegasus Sleigh set last year. Of course, the school is a low enough price and a nice enough design that I may end up picking it up anyway. After all, characters aren't the only thing I care about, they're just a convenient way to try (sometimes in vain) to narrow down which sets I should get!

I really love how unified the architecture of LEGO Elves buildings is, and yet how each building brings something new. This building's Dark Azur roof stands out from all the others, and the way it connects to the adjoining tree further reinforces how close the elves are with their environment.

I also have to say, I really like sets like this with a curved base. It feels a lot friendlier and less constrained than the rectangular bases of sets like last year's Treetop Hideaway and Magical Bakery. Though those sets did make good use of the space they were given, and curved elements on top of the base did help make them feel a bit more organic.

I ought to mention that I went to Toys 'R' Us this morning and saw that they already have all the new Elves sets for next month on shelves! I didn't get any this time around but it was great just seeing the beautiful box art!

Thanks for reviewing this set!

@jmjt4: "Oh god, why did LEGO even have the idea for this theme" Maybe because they only had ONE "girl focused" them up until Elves... Maybe because girls might want fantasy sets that aren't too "boy focused"... Maybe because, and this is just a wild stab in the dark, but maybe because girls who like Lego exist too?

If you don't like TLG's "girl focused" themes, then don't buy any of the sets...

Thanks for the review. Would look forward to any of the new Elves sets being reviewed but in particular would love to see one with a larger dragon in it.

@jmjt4: I think that Elves could appeal to boys as well as girls, (I mean, it's not that girly) and as you can see from the review and comments, it certainly appeals to AFOLs. Also, I think City does a good job of appealing to everybody. Anyway, like I said, just ignore the themes that aren't for you, then they won't bother you as much.

@jmjt4: As I see it, LEGO Elves is one of the most appealing themes on the market right now. A brilliant adventure story, a rich and otherworldly setting, and very well-rounded sets. It's one of my all-time favorite themes, better IMO than any Castle theme has been, and I say that as a 24-year-old adult male. CapnRex101, who reviewed this set, is an adult male AFOL himself. And I've read posts from plenty of parents whose sons are enjoying LEGO Elves just fine.

Have you considered that themes like City and Ninjago might seem just as "boyish" to some buyers as Friends and Elves are "girly" to you? A lot of male AFOLs have grown accustomed to assuming that the types of designs and colors they like must seem equally great to everyone regardless of age or gender, but there's a reason that girls made up such a tiny percentage of LEGO fans prior to the introduction of LEGO Friends.

As for Friends and Elves getting "all the new elements", I count seven new part designs in the six Elves sets for this March. An upper and lower eggshell, an upper and lower jaw, an hourglass, a new dragon wing, and a 1x2 inverse curved slope. Frankly, that's not a lot. The thirteen new Friends sets from January introduced just six new part designs by my count — the party hat, pug, hamster, life jacket, 1x2 double corner panel, and 4x8 semicircle plate.

By comparison, the six Jurassic World sets introduced seven new part designs for ONE DINOSAUR that only appears in ONE SET, and three new molds besides those! And Nexo Knights introduced at least 30 new part designs in the 14 sets from its first wave! So it's tough to argue that girl-oriented themes are getting more than their fair share of new parts.

I like Elves sets. They always have a sense of excitement to them that you dont find in the other lines....maybe it is just the colors and styles of the sets, but whatever it is, it works!!

^^Ninjago, City, Creator, Technic, Juniors, and Mixels are definitely unisex themes. Maybe not Ninjago, but it has a large number of female fans and older fans, so it definitely does not appeal to only young boys.

Creator, Technic, and Mixels are pretty much completely gender-neutral... City has been adding more and more female minifigs to their sets lately. Creator has very few minifigs, a mix of vehicles, animals, and buildings, and is not marketed to anybody in particular. Mixels is the same way, no minifigs or marketing indicating a specific gender... and Technic isn't marketed here in America. It just kinda gets put on the shelves. :P

And NEXO KNIGHTS has a humongous number of new molds, Aanchir is right... I've tried making many of the sets in LDD, and some of them look totally different because so many parts are missing. :(

I'm fine with Elves being the colors and style that they are, as it really fits well into LEGO's overall offerings as a unique, beautiful theme. That being said, I do think that there might be a market for a fantasy theme that is a little bit 'less bright' than Elves, but not as 'dark' as the LotR/Hobbit sets (Bilbo's house aside).

Kind of like some of the past Castle themes, something that is really fun, yet also somewhat grounded as far as the architecture. In my dreams, a Wheel of Time license would be fantastic.

@jmjt4 "I dislike themes such as Ninjago and Chima. They only appeal to young boys. Yes, my criticism may be a bit harsh, but I believe that there can be a middle ground between boy's and girl's LEGO sets."

I guess my daughters are boys then. Thank you for clearing that up for me. I wouldn't want to embarrass myself.

The middle ground that you speak about has always been present in the LEGO brand at least in my experience. My family and the families of my friends have been open-minded and looked at the quality of the toy experience instead of letting societal gender stereotypes dictate what toys are worthwhile.

My brother is going to pick these sets up for my kids for Easter (you know, so he's remains "best-uncle-ever"). My oldest is quite excited, but I think I'm more excited. These reviews make the wait so much more unbearable! But keep them coming.

@ModularRoger: Well, the Elves theme is getting a bit darker this summer (Shadow Castle!), so it's not 100% bright and cheery. Who knows, maybe if the summer wave sells well we might start to see more of that kind of darker and more conflict-driven stuff. But granted, its architecture definitely isn't "grounded", so I guess that's not the kind of thing you're talking about.

And yeah, I miss LDD updates as well... ;_;

Nice review! I am a fan of elves, and this might become my newest elves set in a few days.

I would like you to review the water dragon, I think it looks pretty cool, and those wings in blue and pink...soo good.

Since everyone else is adding there 2 cents in I guess I should add mine. Like you jmjt4, I am a male TFOL. Admittedly, these set have little appeal to me. Why? Honestly, they are a bit too girly for my liking.
Now, I still think that they are fantastic sets and like the good capt. pointed out the designing on these sets are nothing short of fantastic. I'm excited that LEGO is making set series specifically marketed to young girls.
Now yes, these sets by all definitions are marketed to young girls the same as Star Wars, Ninjago, and other action/adventure set are marketed towards young boys. This does not mean that boy can't play and enjoy Elves or Friends or girls can't play and enjoy Star Wars and Ninjago. LEGO's enjoyability is not truely limited by gender differences or age differences.
On a different note does anyone else agree that other LEGO designers (*cough* Star Wars *cough*) should take a hint and stop re-releasing sets. I mean, it's getting absolutely distasteful.
But I digress.....

Wow this looks absolutely incredible, if a little small. There aren't a lot of sets that approach the level of detail in good MOC's like this one does.
And getting that hourglass (plus all those parts in rare colors) in a $20 set is a steal...
Be right back. My wallet calls for me.

I'll throw in another vote for the Starlight Inn. I'm definitely gonna buy that one, I think, but I'd like to see it reviewed first.

Elves as a theme caught me by surprise. I didn't think I'd love it this much (particularly since I do despise minidolls and their awkward lack of playability), but I really do.

Thanks for the review! I am not much of an Elves fan but did pick some of the sets up on sale last year, so might do the same for this one.

There is quite the huge difference between " I just want to say that I want LEGO to try to make sets that appeal to people of all ages and genders. " versus "Oh god, why did LEGO even have the idea for this theme? What is the significance of having an entire line of sets with poor fantasy-themed models and girly minidolls? I truly despise Friends, but this is even worse"
The reality is that Lego does exactly what you want in that first quote by making a wide range of themes, such as Elves, in order to appeal across all ages and genders and market segments. . A single theme is never going to appeal to everyone at once, but ideally the variety of themes will mean there is something to appeal to all markets.
The significance of the line is due to the fact that Lego failed to appeal to a large segment of girls and was not getting that business segment. Friends, Princess, Elves tries to address aspects of that. You do not have to like it, but the sale results show Lego was correct in that there was a large hole in their line-up of themes.

@jmjt4: I agree with you that the Disney Princess sets tend to be pretty lackluster. Not that the movies they're based on are bad, but they aren't very true to those movies. Part of this is on account of the age range — the Disney Princess sets are routinely aimed at ages 5–12 or 6–12 rather than 7–14 or higher like we see in a lot of Star Wars or Super Heroes sets — but another part of it just has to do with the fact that they are "Disney Princess" branded. Disney Princess merchandise ROUTINELY sanitizes the events of the movies it's inspired by, downplaying any kind of action or conflict in favor of painting a magical, romantic, and often cliche picture of the luxurious life of a princess.

I don't feel like the Hunger Games would make a very good LEGO theme, though. Those books/movies are definitely well written, but IMO very, very bleak. Compared to Super Heroes and Star Wars, which often have plenty of colorful action and idealistic heroes, The Hunger Games takes place in a grim dystopia and approaches things with a much more cynical outlook. There isn't much brightness, idealism, or humor to offset the series' intense and traumatic violence. All in all, it's not very "toyetic", and while that term is often used disparagingly, there's some truth to the notion that you often get better toys from a series with subject matter that looks fun and kid-friendly.

LEGO is supposedly going to be one of the brands involved with DC Comics' new Super Hero Girls brand (http://www.dcsuperherogirls.com/en-us), so maybe that might set a higher bar for licensed themes for girls. So far it's hard for me to tell what age range that brand would be aimed at, though.

I think LEGO has done a pretty good job with their non-licensed themes though, especially Elves. The sets have pretty balanced color palettes that explore the whole spectrum of colors, not just pastels. They even have a good mix of earth tones in a lot of the architecture and scenery. I haven't seen the inventory for this particular set, but at a glance I'd say its color palette is like 10% magenta, 10% blue, 10% green, and nearly 50% earth tones. Plus its main character is male, and the subject matter is fairly adventurous action-oriented, not domestic. In general it's not nearly as "pinkwashed" as a lot of other companies' toys for girls tend to be.

Yes, Princess is definitely targeted at a lower age. While I am excited about DC Super Hero Girls, I am expecting it to still be targeting a younger age, but older than Princess. We will have to see how the sets look, but the brand itself looks a bit younger than Monster High even if the same age.

A Fantastic Beasts theme, though, would appropriately hit a range of ages and genders. That is a rare thing for content.

Just because you have data points to explain your opinion does not mean it is not an opinion.
This has been discussed plenty elsewhere, but Lego found in their research that girls often played more with avatars that reflected them, and the minifig did not fit that need as well as a minidoll. While one can say the hands do not move and the legs do not move separately, that data does not mean the theme would be better with minifigs. It is your opinion that it would be. There is other flexibility in the minidoll, such as very detailed hair, new color hair, and new hair accessories. The is more detail in the overall body and look compared to a minifig, especially in the facial features. There are pros and cons between minifig and minidoll. I am sure there are plenty that would pick the minidoll over the minifig due to the feature set of the minidoll, just as their are plenty that would choose the other way... It is simply your opinion this theme would be better with minifigs, but there are also definitely those that would say it is better with minidolls due to the features of minidolls. Opinions either way. The only real data point that matters is that Lego had data to justify such a change to minidolls in some of these sets.

It has been noted that TLG tested a version of the Minidoll that had wrist joints, and those in the testing did not like those Minidolls because they added bulk to the figures. TLG did not blindly jump into the Minidoll. They research to find the option that would be most appealing. Are all gong to be pleased? Nope, but the sales speak for themselves.