Review: BrickHeadz dogs
Posted by Huw,
Eight BrickHeadz Pets were released during 2021 and, perhaps surprisingly, the series of blocky animals is continuing this year.
40543 St. Bernard and 40544 French Bulldog have just been released, providing canophiles with two new breeds of dog to add to their kennels.
40543 St. Bernard
St. Bernards are large working dogs famous for being deployed on rescue missions in the Alps. Their distinguishing features are a brown and white coat, broad mid-length nose and floppy ears.
The blocky versions of adult and puppy exhibit all three and are certainly recognisable as the breed.
Both canines have a colourful lavender collar and their tongues hanging out. The hind legs of the adult can be splayed out, but otherwise there is no articulation.
Their tails lay flat on the ground, rather than being hinged like last year's dogs.
Last year's German Shepherds and Dalmatians came with a bed to display them in but this year that's been replaced with a flat display base. This one looks like grass and a section of path, plus a bush for the canines to do their business against. The two black 6x6 plates can be removed easily if you wish to display the dogs with other BrickHeadz in your collection.
40544 French Bulldog
French Bulldogs are, in my opinion, not the most attractive dogs, but it seems that I am in the minority because they are one of the most popular breeds to have as pets in the UK and the USA.
Their flat faces and upright ears have been captured fairly well here, although I don't think that the model is as recognisable as the others.
The medium azure collars and cravat provide a much-needed shot of colour to what would otherwise be a drab-looking model.
The animals have short stubby tails, for which a cheese slope suffices.
Their base comprises a section of pavement with a fire hydrant to relieve themselves on.
These are an enjoyable pair of models, and will of course be most appreciated by those that keep the breeds as pets. However, I suspect that the intersection between St. Bernard owners and LEGO fans is likely to be quite small!
The working dogs are the more appealing of the pair on account of their more colourful coats and base.
If you have last year's pets you'll probably want to maintain your collection but if not, and you're not much of a dog person, there's not really a compelling reason to buy them.
They are available now at LEGO.com, priced at £13.49 / $14.99 / €14.99.
The BrickHeadz kennel is getting quite full. What breeds would you like to see turned into a blocky canine?
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30 comments on this article
Still disappointed that Lego doesn't call these 'Brickpetz'
Interesting trivia time.... I learned from a children's TV show called All Over The Place that in Switzerland St Bernard's are sometimes called Barry Dogs after a famous rescue dog called....Barry
I think the French bulldogs look more like old-aged German shepherds. I am a fan of the Brickheadz theme, but these animal builds are not quite my piece of cake.
My kids love these, and then designing their own dogs too. Surprised Lego didn't provide a "yellow" tile beneath the water hydrant instead of grey : )
The base of the St. Bernards looks ugly due to the black plates. Should be the same color as the surrounding.
@greenhorn said:
"The base of the St. Bernards looks ugly due to the black plates. Should be the same color as the surrounding."
It's like that to retain consistency with every other BrickHeadz.
The adult St Bernard needs a barrel around its neck.
I skipped to the conclusion first (as I often do) and saw this:
"The rescue dogs..."
... and was briefly confused, before I realized you were referring to the St. Bernards. I don't know about the UK, but in the USA, a "rescue dog" is a dog adopted from a rescue (shelter).
@MVives said:
"I skipped to the conclusion first (as I often do) and saw this:
"The rescue dogs..."
... and was briefly confused, before I realized you were referring to the St. Bernards. I don't know about the UK, but in the USA, a "rescue dog" is a dog adopted from a rescue (shelter)."
Ah yes, it does have much the same meaning here. I'll change it to working dogs to save confusion!
The French Bulldogs are unfortunately still “Coming Soon” in the US.
I wouldn't even consider real ones, but these are pretty cute... same with tigers really!
I’m still hoping that we get a Scottie Terrier one in the future. Definitely an iconic enough breed to warrant it, and their stocky, blocky stature would suit the Brickheadz format well.
LEGO should have made a separate theme and call it BrickPetz since these don't depict characters from movies/cartoons etc. While I appreciate the change of the base from the same old basket with 2 stickers, I still find them more or less repetitive and boring. And since there are dozens of dog and cat breeds out there this line could go on forever, but it won't. I would appreciate a more realistic and larger depiction of a dog/cat instead of these abstract Funco Pops because the French Bulldogs looks like German Shepherds, the German Shepherds like Pugs and the St. Bernards like Beagles. So it's a fail on the most important aspect.
The dark green bush is the most interesting part to me.
Pets - French Bulldog
BrickHeadz
Price$14.99
Available now
I would love for them to make a corgi, but I'm not sure how they would represent the short legs.
I wasn't too interested in these, but that shot of all four breeds together looks great!
I know Lego tries to vary the bases, but French Bulldogs are much smaller than a fire hydrant. I think a pet bed similar to the earlier Pets would have been a better choice in this instance.
We have a (rescued) Newfoundland/German Shepherd mix, but she doesn't look much like the St. Bernard or the German Shepherd Brickpetz. We also have a (rescued) Australian Shepherd/Beagle mix, who would be hard to capture as a Brickpet. I do think that LEGO could make a nice Chow Chow (to commemorate our late, and rescued, Chow). I also second the vote for some Corgis!
Where’s the barrel of rum to go with the St. Bernard’s?
@Huw agree with you on French Bulldogs.
I'm not sure what it is but I'm not really getting a 'puppy' feel from the smaller St Bernard.
I echo other commenters' disappointment that the St. Bernard does not have a barrel hanging from its neck.
Where is the Review Summary?
We need a Shiba Inu (in both brickheadz and minifig scale mold)!
Given their popularity via memes and crypto currency, I'd be shocked if they weren't already in development
I'd love it if they made a Golden Retriever. Which is in no way influenced by the three Golden Retrievers lying on the floor behind me.
Nice review.
I have an issue with the collars being the same colour so I would change them, I reckon.
Could they pull off a Labrador? Hope so…
Being between Frenchies myself (at least I hope there's another one in my near future!) I disagree with Huw about their attractiveness, but I do think Lego has captured a lot of the charm of the adult breed. The puppy is a little less spot-on, but not bad. I can see why the models are being mistaken for German Shepherds, though--in fact, the ears and coloring make them look more like German Shepherds than the model intended to represent the Shepherds, which I have never liked. Since Frenchies come in many other colors, I think I will use the bricks that come with the Frenchies to MOC my own shepherds, and use the bricks from the Dalmatians to MOC a pair of very common piebald Frenchies instead Or perhaps a cream adult and a pie puppy. Lego is wonderful!
Needs more Schnauzer (with chunky eyebrows and beards).
I love these dog Brickheadz, but I'm still waiting for the Labrador and Golden Retriever. I'm surprised those haven't been done yet