Review: 40202 Easter Chick
Posted by MeganL,
This year's seasonal sets started with the Cupid Dog, on which there were decidedly mixed opinions.
Do things get back on track with the Easter Chick?
Inside the set we find two unnumbered bags and an instruction booklet. The build starts with the torso of the chick. There is a nice use of bright yellow 1x1 with points for the tail. Bright yellow and a deeper yellow/orange with some patches of white make up the model. The chest finishes off the torso using the same technique we saw used on the Cupid Dog, with bow pieces. Most of the build is SNOT technique, with the exception of the wings.
After the torso, the wings are clipped on. They are of the deeper yellow/orange and contrast nicely with the body. The wings are hinged, allowing for flapping up and down.
Building the head is next. There is a good use of a sloping brick for the bottom part of the beak. The head is finished by the addition of two very expressive eyes. The eyes are larger than they should be for a chick but they add all the expression, which really finishes off the model. The head swivels fully on the body which allows for many more poses.
The last part to be built are the feet. Using a 3x3 plate as the base, two 1x2 with shafts are used for the feet themselves with 1x2 bows for the nails (the same are also used for the top of the beak) that are clipped on, allowing for movement there as well. The body also swivels on the feet, allowing for full range of motion in a couple of spots on the finished set.
Overall thoughts
When I first saw pictures of the set, I have to admit I was under-whelmed and wasn't sure I would like it. As odd as it sounds, I think they must have been unflattering pictures, as when I saw the set in person, I thought the chick looked rather cute.
Little sets like this remind me of the reason why I first fell in love with LEGO - being able to create something with some basic (for now) pieces. There are no new pieces in this set, which I think is a good thing.
I love the bright colours - as it should be for a chick - and also that all of the colours are set appropriate, unlike the jarring grey we saw in the Cupid Dog.
My only quibble with the set is that the nails on the chick seem way too big in proportion with the rest of the chick. I realize this is for stability as well as a limitation on the parts available, but it looks like the chick has giant feet. However, it also serves to show that the chick is somewhat ungainly, and what babies aren't ungainly?
This would be a very nice addition to anyone's Easter basket. The back of the instruction booklet also gives you a preview of the Halloween seasonal set - a vampire with his vampire bat. It looks rather interesting!
Many thanks to Huw for the very fine pictures!
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13 comments on this article
Seasonal chick. Nice.
Cute little thing, although I think they didn't need to have an upper beak and lower beak. One narrower, pyramidal, poking-out beak would have looked a bit better and maybe slightly more realistic, too. I know realism isn't the priority, but real chicks are pretty much as cute as it gets.
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/2453889060/A-Queer-Chick1.jpeg
That's why we have LEGO I suppose - if I end up receiving this, I'll put my bricks where my keyboard is.
How will you type? :-)
Very cute. However, some accessories would be welcomed. All seasonal animals have some accessories. Eggs maybe? Or egg shells.
Seems like it has some neat pieces but...am I the only one who finds it really creepy looking?
I wish they hinged the beak so I could feed it the new hotdog bun piece...
@kipper147 definitely not the only one who thinks its creepy, its always given me a slightly unsettled feeling since i saw the first pictures of it... but i still might get it for a parts pack.
Beak is too big - looks more like a duckling than a chick(en)
I love animals made of lego (dogs cats duck monkey lion hyena ....) . this one is a funny Mixel but not an animal. Next !
The face always struck me as somewhat unsettling, perhaps due to the use of the 1x1 plates with points next to the beak, which I can't help but see as fangs. Also, I think the face is overly flat on the front and would look better with more dimension to it.
Kipper ... no, I find it really creepy as well. It's the over-sized eyes and giant clawed feet, it looks unsettlingly creepy. Also, those 1 x 1 modified plates *do* really look like fangs. This gives me the creeps. Pass.
Fascinating that it creeps some of us*, especially those who can only see design No. 15070 as fangs. By coincidence, I've just this evening finished a MOC of my garden in which I used white 'fangs' as the breasts of magpies and yellow 'fangs' as the breasts of blue-tits.
* I think it's super-cute, much better than last year's hideous bunny.
I asked my sister is she wanted it for Easter and she called it the creepiest thing. It's like half chick and half duck. It's really weird.
The bunny was a lot better but none if these are great.