Review: 40644 Piñata
Posted by Huw,
Piñatas, commonly associated with Mexico, are usually made from papier-mâché, decorated, filled with candy, then broken as part of a celebration.
They often take the form of a donkey, which is the case here. It's the first piñata LEGO has made which, rather than spilling candy, drops Dots tiles!
Summary
40644 Piñata, 206 pieces.
£8.99 / $9.99 / €9.99 | 4.4p/4.8c/4.8c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A visually appealing model that will sell like hot cakes
- Unique
- Colourful
- Nothing worth mentioning
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The ass is certainly vividly decorated: the set contains pieces in 24 different colours! From what I can tell it's usual to paint horizontal stripes on the animal's body, but the vertical ones here look just fine.
It looks great from most angles but not so much from the back, and an opportunity was missed to give it a life-like feature at its rear!
A click hinge at the top enables it to be broken in two to spill its contents. 12 1x1 dots tiles are provided, but you can only fit six or seven in the container inside, a 4345 MAILBOX, CASING 2X2X2.
It's a delightful and colourful little model. I do like it when LEGO makes something that has not been seen before, particularly when it's small set like this that won't break the bank and can be bought on impulse.
I can foresee this one selling like hotcakes when it goes on sale in 1st January, simply because it's so visually appealing.
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38 comments on this article
Is it bad that I just was to smash it? ;)
The front seems quite vividly decorated, too!
(I'm so sorry)
This is the set I didn't know I needed until I saw it. Very excited to add this to my wishlist!
Ey! It's the pinata!
Viva Piñata!
Violence in LEGO yet again... poor festive farm animal has back broken in half...
Brilliant lanterns are lighted
Our friends are invited
in chorus united
Pinata!
There’s no need to remind us
With blindfolds they bind us
They turn and they wind us
Pinata!
La Pinata! La Pinata!
Holds the candies for neighbors and cousins
We will whack it, we will crack it
and the goodies will fall out in dozens.
All the children will scramble for candy
All the children will scramble and shout
All the children will grab for a cookie
And the other good things that spill out.
Song sung by grade school children in the USA
Awesomeness! This is a sure buy. Huw is tempting us to crack a joke with the ass word.
Looks like a great pastel parts pack (PPP, not to be confused with price per piece).
Smashing little set... And something for kids to play with in A&E, having eaten all the Lego 'sweets'!
A definite improvement on the prototype 6387808!
I will call him Jack
Will this be a general release set? It seems quite substantial for a 10 euro set, especially a modern-day one!
Pair this with the new monkey kid mech and have it try to smash the piñata
I don't want this but it is a colorful parts pack.
Totally off-topic, but it's good to see there's a Christmas Lego Masters in the UK on Christmas Eve... It's only been 4 years!
@Ridgeheart said:
"This thing is lovely. Great colours, great shaping, and for a tenner each you can buy several to decorate any dreary office or study, you could even keep some (well, not many) mints in it or something. I think I'll pick up a few, looking at this thing really brightens my day.
Also - I'd like to apologize in advance, but it'd be a lie:
@Brent007 said:
"Is it bad that I just was to smash it? ;)"
It's a piñata, friend. That ass was made to be smacked."
I think you could get 5 Skittles in there (center, not ass, you sickies!).
@shedjed said:
"I will call him Jack"
For the happy few who get the reference!
A nice set, but the candy tested terrible.
I was expecting at least 70 or 80 tiles inside it, given the price compared to the number of parts.
Lovely and less than a tenner? I'm sold.
I will say the reviews usually include a link to the set's set page in database, I've have like one here, since I've decided to add it to my want list, I guess I'll have go the long way round.
"The ass is certainly vividly decorated"
... is not a phrase I expected to read when I checked Brickset, this morning, but here we are.
I'd like to see an addendum to this review and see how it stands up to being smashed with a bat.
I've said this tons of times in the comments:
When does 75337 get a review!
ass -- "an animal of the horse family, which is typically smaller than a horse and has longer ears and a braying call."
@ozbrickcreator said:
"I've said this tons of times in the comments:
When does 75337 get a review!"
When we can be 'assed'!
Does it come with a stick or baseball bat?
I can foresee this one selling like hotcakes when it goes on sale in 1st January, simply because it's so visually appealing.
Is that a typo...
I don't foresee this going on sale right when released?
@night13flyer, 'goes on sale' has a slightly different meaning in British English, 'becomes available to buy'
@Huw said:
"The ass"
ha
@Huw said:
" @night13flyer, 'goes on sale' has a slightly different meaning in British English, 'becomes available to buy'"
Aww, was thinking you knew something i didn't lol amazon ect...
What an ass.
(Sorry.)
"[A]n opportunity was missed to give it a life-like feature at its rear!" What, like in 31129? I wasn't really interested when the set was revealed, but the function has me wanting this one now.
@ozbrickcreator: I'm still waiting on the review of the alternate models for 10497.
As far as I know, piñatas are popular thoughout Latin America in general. Just when I decided on buying less LEGO...
not sure it matches that nice color-scheme-wise with the mini (and unbreakable) piñata coming along with the piñata boy released in 2020... Just kidding, this is just splendid! Although the piñata boy might get nightmares of being chased by this giant piñata........ ;)
I'm wondering in what kind of context does a culture devise a game which consist of beating the crap out of an animal which spend most of its day working for you...
Lovely model.
Amazing to build an entire model now using nothing but pieces and colours which have been released within the last 30 years ago. How far we have come! It’s an appealing build.
@Wicher_NL: Now I'm imagining putting that pinata in this one. Pinata-ception!
@jsutton: There are white and red there, too.
It should come with a brick built bat.