Review: DOTS Bag Tags
Posted by Alice,
Bag Tags are the newest accessory to be added to the fast-expanding DOTS range. Four were released this month, including those I'm looking at today, 41928 Narwhal and 41930 Panda. A unicorn and dragon, both of which are likely to be popular, will follow later in the year.
They come packaged in a very small cardboard box which itself looks as if it's been designed to hang from something.
They each contain around 85 pieces, most of which are 1x1 tiles used for decoration.
The main component of the bag tag is a new 3x3 cube piece which is manufactured from two different plastics: the studded faces appear to be regular ABS while the edges are produced using a much softer material. The join is seamless. One of the faces has two holes in it and appears to have been added to the cube after the rest has been moulded because, as you would expect, it is hollow.
The set contains plenty of 1/4 circle tiles in varying pastel shades. The Medium Blue 1/4 circle tiles only appear in this set. It also comes with one of the new key-shaped tile removers
Additionally, there's a nice selection of printed tiles, one eye design and two different mouths, plus a spare of each.
The transparent blue round tiles with bubble print only appear in this set. It also contains the opalescent round tiles that were first seen in 41916 Extra Dots - Series 2
This ring is another new piece which is used to clip the tag to your bag. The ends clip together and once fastened it won't come apart without digital intervention.
The sets come with a sheet of decoration ideas for all four of the Bag Tags and this is the suggested pattern for the Narwhal. With a tile on each stud only 54 are used so there are around 30 spares which can be used to create your own designs once you tire of this one.
The ice cream/dog poop piece is used for the Narwhal horn. I did wonder why they didn't use the actual unicorn horn piece because Narwhal horns are much longer and pointy, but I guess it's because it would've been more fragile and liable to be knocked off easily.
Two of the new-ish 49307 PLATE 1X1X2/3, OUTSIDE BOW pieces are used for its fins on the sides although as you can see they don't protrude very far.
Here's another facial expression using the other mouth piece.
The colour scheme of 41930 Bag Tag Panda is of course black and white, but it also contains various shades of green 1/4 circle tiles and some pink round tiles.
Again we have the key-shaped tile remover and new attachment ring.
This one contains fewer special pieces, just the decorated tiles which include a square tile with bamboo print.
The Panda uses the 49307 PLATE 1X1X2/3, OUTSIDE BOW pieces for ears and legs.
My mum had a go at building this one with me and it looks like she placed the bamboo tiles the wrong way round! They are probably meant to be vertical like bamboo shoots would be.
Here we've swapped a few pieces to give the animal a blushing/embarrassed look.
The tag you purchase might be influenced by the animal it builds but more likely you'll choose it for its colour, so it either complements or matches the bag you intend to put it on.
The Narwhal tag matches my mum's teal MiaTui bag perfectly!
I'm not sure about the Panda one on my Michael Kors bag though...
One thing I did notice is that when they are attached to the bag the tag tends to face downwards. I suppose this is just because the ring attaches to the back top edge and gravity takes care of the rest. Of course, you could build it with the animal's face on the top face of the cube if this bothers you.
The only complaint I have concerns the colour of the attachment ring. In my opinion the bright orange really clashes and looks less cohesive. It would look much better if it matched the cube.
I think the Bag Tags are cute, they look quite nice as they are without attaching to a bag, so you could collect them all and have them on display. I'm not sure if I would personally use it as a tag on my handbag, but they might work better on a bigger rucksack or holdall bag, or of course on a kids school ruck sack, which is probably what they've been designed for!
They are priced at $6.99, £5.99, €6.99 and contain around 85 pieces. They are available at LEGO.com now and will be sold by other retailers later in the year, I believe.
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30 comments on this article
Nice review! One thing that worries me about these bag tags is the fact the 3D elements might fall off! The mouth on the jumper plate seems like a likely candidate. I tried putting tiles on 1x2 jumper plates on bracelets several times and they always fell off. :/
The main new mold for the bag tags remind me of lego board game dices. Definitely excited to see what Moc-Makers will do with the new parts included with these sets
I was going to get the Narwhal, so it's nice to see it in this review! Good thing I like the color orange and think it works reasonably well with teal, as well as my black-grey-white bag. I'm so glad LEGO made these, as I've always wanted a bag tag but never really got my hands on one!
@Soupperson said:
"Nice review! One thing that worries me about these bag tags is the fact the 3D elements might fall off! The mouth on the jumper plate seems like a likely candidate. I tried putting tiles on 1x2 jumper plates on bracelets several times and they always fell off. :/"
Were the jumpers placed across or along the bracelets? If they're coming off even when placed across (so they wouldn't be affected by the curvature of the bracelet), that's a bummer. So far the only time I've had anything fall off my bracelets was when I had a pretty bad fall — I lost two of the glitter trans-light blue round tiles.
They're really trying some different ideas with Dots. I like it! I love the wealth of new 1x1 parts it's bringing.
> The ends clip together and once fastened it won't come apart without digital intervention.
I'm not sure what "digital intervention" is though!
"Without using your hands!"
Alice's editor added that bit :)
Narwhal's "horn" is actually an extended upper left canine tooth, so I find the position so far away from the mouth (all the way on the forehead) too unrealistic for the source material. Name this unicorn and you have my thumbs up though...
Narwhals, Pandas
Hanging from the handbags
Causing a commotion
'Cause they are so DOTsome...
^ There are plenty of spare parts should a few get lost, and we are talking about pieces that cost just a few pence each, so I wouldn't worry.
So, the actual tag frame is kinda similar to a Games dice in its construction, correct? And that's long been known to be among the most expensive pieces LEGO developed.
These are really interesting, but if I did pick this set up, I would mostly use it as a decorative item indoors. Hopefully, the main charm piece sees use later this year as a Christmas ornament, in appropriate colors.
The big blue piece looks like the Lego game dice piece.
It's certainly the same shape as the dice but manufactured in a completely different way, and the edges are not as rubbery.
They do look a bit funny always angled down, "Hello darkness my old friend"
I'll have to wait and see how much the medium blue quarter-rounds are on BaP, as that's one of the more useful colors they've come in
@Huw said:
""Without using your hands!"
Alice's editor added that bit :)"
Oh I get it now ;) !
Pandas, Narwhals, Unicorns, and Dragons are ok, I suppose, but when are they going to unveil Goats!
I picked up the Dog Bag Tag and, ironically, it did not survive a late-night meeting with my own pooch. Some tiles were saved, the clip-ring was a lost and the cube itself is forever scarred... :(
I will tell this once again - DOTS is one of the greatest new themes Lego made, and its really undervalued by Afols.
@SirZed said:
"Narwhals, Pandas
Hanging from the handbags
Causing a commotion
'Cause they are so DOTsome..."
@SirZed you ought to be knighted if you haven't been already.
@Huw said:
"It's certainly the same shape as the dice but manufactured in a completely different way, and the edges are not as rubbery.
"
@Huw thanks for this clarification! Ever since these bag tags were revealed I've wondered about the similarity to the dice (an element I desperately wish to return, or at least become more affordable for me to acquire).
These new 3x3 pieces remind me of the old LEGO Games theme dice pieces
I can only assume that the fact there would need to be around 35-40 of them, to deal with all the extended characters used in Europe, is the barrier.
After all, why print 40 'boring' letter tiles when you could print 40 eyes, noses, patterns, emojis or other more appealing designs for the same cost and logistics overhead.
I just bought the Panda yesterday at my local Target store. It's very cute and the custom feature (since it's LEGO) makes it even nicer. I think the Dots Bag Tags would make a great Easter basket gift too.
was a real big fan of lego games when it came out, and a big fan of dots so far, so seeing this combine the key dice element and the dots play pattern? absolutely superb
I can see myself using those bamboo-printed 1x1s as wall tiling for a restaurant MOC!
This is cool, but I'd be worried about pieces falling off.
I am going to make some dices out of them
How firm is the stud connection for these? Is it at all likely pieces would come off with normal use?
@ClassicDragon said:
"This is cool, but I'd be worried about pieces falling off."
I have yet to notice anything falling off and It has been around 2 weeks I have my cow hanging on my bag.
@lordofdragonss said:
" @ClassicDragon said:
"This is cool, but I'd be worried about pieces falling off."
I have yet to notice anything falling off and It has been around 2 weeks I have my cow hanging on my bag."
This seems to be extremely popular among dragon lord afols!
@soupperson, I kept on pressing the reply button to your comment but it wouldn’t work. So, I am commenting myself. Anyways... I agree with you. I have some Dots bracelets and since I put my bracelet on the same wrist as my watch, my watch will detach some of the tiles from my bracelet. So, what if the tiles fall off of the bag tag???? You might lose them. But the bag tags are SOOOOOOOO CUTE!!!!!
@Quasar said:
"The main new mold for the bag tags remind me of lego board game dices. Definitely excited to see what Moc-Makers will do with the new parts included with these sets"
Me too, even you can make your own dice with several black round plates!!! Sadly, I think it wouldn't roll very well, but can be a nice decoration tag.