Review: 40571 Wintertime Polar Bears
Posted by Huw,
The fourth and final addition to this year's seasonal vignette collection is the delightful 40571 Wintertime Polar Bears, which consists of two of the arctic mammals displayed on an ice-covered plinth.
Summary
40571 Wintertime Polar Bears, 312 pieces.
£11.99 / $12.99 / €12.99 | 3.8p/4.2c/4.2c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Another pair of cute brick-built animals
- Well-designed
- Plenty of aqua pieces
- The animals' link to Christmas is somewhat tenuous
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
As has been the case with the other three, the base is intricate and detailed. To make sure it's clear that this is a seasonal set a Christmas tree with a couple of presents at its base takes centre stage in the scene. The tree looks fine, but the star on the top is a bit odd.
Aqua parts remain relatively rare, so I was delighted to find 44 of them included in the set.
The adult bear is sitting on all fours and in common with other animals in the series it looks suitably organic thanks to clever building techniques and the curved pieces in the current parts palette. The red scarf adds interest and contrast.
The young bear, meanwhile, is standing on all fours on top of a sledge.
There's not much more to say about it really other than it's another attractive display piece that looks great on its own or next to the others in the series.
The annual collection of seasonal sets are, in my opinion, one of the highlights of LEGO's annual output. This year's are all exceptional models and also offer good value for money. Picking a favourite is difficult, but if I had to, I'd go for the love birds.
The polar bears and 40570 Halloween Cat and Mouse are currently available at LEGO.com priced at £11.99/$14.99. The Valentine's and Easter ones are temporarily out of stock.
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19 comments on this article
The seasonal vignettes knocked it out of the park this year.
Needs a brick-built can of Coke.
@ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"Needs a brick-built can of Coke."
I've always had a problem with those Coke commercials, as bears don't have thumbs to open soda cans, or the dexterity to use a bottle opener for glass ones. Not to mention the issue of making poor polar bears caffeine addicts. They've lost their homes to climate change, now they're going to lose their minds to Coke.
(this post was 100% a joke. If you couldn't see the joke, you need caffeine... why don't you go buy a Coke?)
That use of aqua is genius! I had to angle my screen a bit to confirm it was actually aqua. It looks more like snow than white would have! And now the bears subtly contrast against the background!
On the other hand (paw?) I'm not a fan of the look of these bears. The angles of the bigger bear and continuity of the scarf especially looks incredibly jagged and blocky, like they tried to draw a curved line with an unsteady hand. I know the set's size is limited, but I think that a less fancy attempt to replicate the exact shapes with small parts in favor of using bigger parts with better curving might have worked better for creating the organic shapes. Or better yet, maybe something a bit less ambitious like a red scarf around a sitting polar bear's neck. It's probably just me though, and it might just look better in the flesh anyway, so take this with a grain of salt.
@Murdoch17 said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"Needs a brick-built can of Coke."
I've always had a problem with those Coke commercials, as bears don't have thumbs to open soda cans, or the dexterity to use a bottle opener for glass ones. Not to mention the issue of making poor polar bears caffeine addicts. They've lost their homes to climate change, now they're going to lose their minds to Coke.
(this post was 100% a joke. If you couldn't see the joke, you need caffeine... why don't you go buy a Coke?)"
I always wondered where they got the coke. We should probably check on the arctic researchers. Haven't heard from them in a while.
The cat and mouse are gone already in US, sold out . These polar bears do make me think of the coke commercials, hopefully they last a bit longer, so I can get them. Thanks for the review.
@Murdoch17: And now you've got me wondering how safe (or unsafe) Coke would be for a polar bear.
The star on top of the tree looks like a paper boat. Could it be a reference to the Arctic expeditions? :P
Always Coca-Cola.
Never mind a sledge, where's his Fox's Glacier Mint!
I'm fine with polar bears being linked to Christmas, but man this set just doesn't clear the bar set by the other vignettes in this year's lineup - especially the first two, which (call me crazy) strike me as exemplary set designs and should be held up as some of the best work Lego is doing right now.
@PixelTheDragon said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"Needs a brick-built can of Coke."
I've always had a problem with those Coke commercials, as bears don't have thumbs to open soda cans, or the dexterity to use a bottle opener for glass ones. Not to mention the issue of making poor polar bears caffeine addicts. They've lost their homes to climate change, now they're going to lose their minds to Coke.
(this post was 100% a joke. If you couldn't see the joke, you need caffeine... why don't you go buy a Coke?)"
I always wondered where they got the coke. We should probably check on the arctic researchers. Haven't heard from them in a while. "
Never, ever check on artic researchers when contact is lost... Haven't you seen John Carpenter's "The Thing"!?!
There might as well be a Coke label on the thing. In the Christmas decorations box, I have a Coke-branded snow globe, I think it was bought from Hardee's, and it's ironically EXACTLY the same scene. There's even a polar bear on a sled (albeit, the plastic saucer type) that floats around loose!
I don't know if the Polar Bear/ Coke advert ran in the UK (why wasn't it the UQ previously?).
I have a couple of really good wind-up toys from the Good Old Days of "free" toys from one of the US burger chains featuring polar bears and said fizzy drink, so it may have done.
Christmas hasn't got a right lot to do with robins, or snow, or reindeer, or trains, or fat beardy blokes on sledges or any of that stuff either, has it? so why not polar bears? In a few years time it'll help remind us what they used to look like...
Sadly, 40570 Halloween Cat and Mouse are already sold out here in the US. Tried to get it and 40497 Halloween Owl but only the owl was available and that was in August! Luckily I found a couple of 40570 on Amazon. This seems to happen every year. How do you sell out of Halloween sets in August???
@Huw does todays question include fast food promotions as individual sets?
Thank You.
@Murdoch17 said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"Needs a brick-built can of Coke."
I've always had a problem with those Coke commercials, as bears don't have thumbs to open soda cans, or the dexterity to use a bottle opener for glass ones. Not to mention the issue of making poor polar bears caffeine addicts. They've lost their homes to climate change, now they're going to lose their minds to Coke.
(this post was 100% a joke. If you couldn't see the joke, you need caffeine... why don't you go buy a Coke?)"
This just reads like a PurpleDave comment
Correction - in the US at least, this set isn't available yet. Says coming soon, Oct. 1.
@Mr__Thrawn said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"Needs a brick-built can of Coke."
I've always had a problem with those Coke commercials, as bears don't have thumbs to open soda cans, or the dexterity to use a bottle opener for glass ones. Not to mention the issue of making poor polar bears caffeine addicts. They've lost their homes to climate change, now they're going to lose their minds to Coke.
(this post was 100% a joke. If you couldn't see the joke, you need caffeine... why don't you go buy a Coke?)"
This just reads like a PurpleDave comment"
Thanks for that! I tip my hat to you, sir.