Review: 40466 Chinese New Year Pandas
Posted by Huw,
40466 Chinese New Year Pandas is one of three BrickHeadz that were released in January, and also the third produced to commemorate the Chinese new year, following 40354 Dragon Dance Guy in 2019 and 40436 Lucky Cat in 2020.
It contains a mother panda with two cubs, and an attractive display stand for the adult bear.
Instructions are divided into two manuals which, should you wish, enables one person to build the adult while another tackles her cubs.
The figures themselves are fairly plan and blocky, particularly compared to others released recently, but nevertheless they capture the look of the vulnerable species effectively.
The 3x3-cube-headed cubs are similar but not identical. One is sitting, the other laying down. Both have green shoots to chomp on.
As is usual for seasonal BrickHeadz, this one comes with a more elaborate base than normal ones, which in this case features a lantern on the left and a small tree with hanging lanterns on the right.
Pandas are cute and adorable and these blocky representations of them are not too bad either, although nothing particularly special or noteworthy. I suspect, therefore, that outside of Asia they will mostly appeal to BrickHeadz collectors and aficionados, such as myself.
The set is available at LEGO.com for $19.99, £17.99, 19.99€.
Here are the three CNY BrickHeadz, 40354 Dragon Dance Guy, 40436 Lucky Cat and 40466 Chinese New Year Pandas lined up together. Do you have them all in your collection?
Thanks to LEGO for providing this set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Thanks to Alice and my wife for building the set. Any mistakes are theirs.
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12 comments on this article
Overall pretty good, but I'm not so sure on the design/end look of the lying down one. Is it just me that sees it as having had an unfortunate accident and is sadly no longer with us? !!
@Apedemak said:
"Overall pretty good, but I'm not so sure on the design/end look of the lying down one. Is it just me that sees it as having had an unfortunate accident and is sadly no longer with us? !!
"
He's just sleeby
That, or the chubby head is too much weight for the body to handle. Brickheadz need at least a year to mature before they can fully support their neck
Is it me, or does it seem as though LEGO is panda-ering to the Chinese market? :-P
I have a mighty need
@Librarian1976 said:
"Is it me, or does it seem as though LEGO is panda-ering to the Chinese market? :-P"
That pun deserves to be pun-ished.
I tried to order them and the Easter Bunny set on 3/1, but the Easter Bunny set is not even listed on the site & the pandas were listed as sold out. Now the pandas are listed on backorder. I wish LEGO would not show sets as sold out & then re-stock them. Temporary out of stock, means they will get more in later, but sold out should only be used when they are not going to re-stock. I almost missed getting these to go with my Lucky Cat & Dragon Dance Guy.
It has a Technic pin hole in its back and a 2x2 plate with pin on the base.
I like them. I wish they would offer new BrickHeadz just a little more often than they have been.
@Royweeezy said:
"I like them. I wish they would offer new BrickHeadz just a little more often than they have been. "
*2018 flashbacks*
@randomly_generated said:
" @Royweeezy said:
"I like them. I wish they would offer new BrickHeadz just a little more often than they have been. "
*2018 flashbacks*"
Lol, I never quite realized just how many there were. The brickheadz sets from 2019, 2020, and even the unreleased ones from 2021 combined are still outnumbered by the 44 that came out in 2018. 44 sets, with quite a few of them being double-packs. That's so much brickhead....
Yes, it was ridiculous. Most were on sale for a month or so at most. Blink and you'd miss them...
My pet peeve with this, as well as the Dragon Dance Guy and some other Brickheadz is the black bricks against the black base. Parts of the pandas virtually disappear on the base. I'm also a bit miffed by the idea that the panda displays don't connect together.