LEGO® Icons has rapidly become an impressive showcase of the creativity of LEGO building. The theme has featured everything from highly detailed buildings to iconic cars. It’s also been the home to the wide-reaching LEGO Botanical Collection, which has used LEGO elements to recreate plants and flowers. With the Botanical Collection having the flora covered, this upcoming set branches out to the fauna. Ahead of its release on February 1st, here’s an early look at the LEGO Icons Kingfisher Bird. This set was purchased early and was not provided by the LEGO Group.
Product Details
Set Name: Kingfisher Bird | Set Number: 10331 | Pieces: 834 | Theme: LEGO Icons
RRP: £44.99/$49.99/49.99€ | Number of Bags: Bags x 6 | Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App
Stickers: N/A | Characters: N/A | Insiders QR: Yes
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & General Retail from February 1st
For many years, LEGO structures have been rather blocky. Partly due to the nature of LEGO elements and also the need to offer relevant build experiences for certain age groups. Once the LEGO Group decided some sets could be created purely for adult builders, it opened up new possibilities. Animals have been crafted with LEGO elements before but they are often quite cartoonish. This set changes that quite spectacularly. The Kingfisher bird is found in many countries and is mostly found near waterways and rivers. Despite their striking colouring, they are the easiest of birds to spot. But it’s those colours which make this such a delightful-looking set.
The build begins with the display base. This captures a slice of water in which the Kingfisher has just plucked out a fishy treat. The base also acts as the mount for the Kingfisher. Despite minimal connection points between the base and the bird, it’s a solid join and the effort to hide any of the elements needed to secure them together is extremely well hidden. The surface of the water is created from a mix of clear plates and slopes along with pearlescent 2×1 tiles to give the water a shimmering appearance. But the most impressive part of the base is the use of transparent 2×2 curved plates. These do an excellent job of offering the illusion of the water’s surface being broken by the diving Kingfisher. The base is also home to some flora with a couple of reeds and some leafy plants. Most of these are added once the Kingfisher is installed.
To connect the bird to the base a Technic beam acts as the core of the Kingfisher. The body of the bird is completely built around this offering a secure means of linking the two but as mentioned is also well hidden. The Kingfisher isn’t a big bird but it does have an eye-catching colour mix of features. Much of the Kingfisher plumage is a mix of blues. In LEGO form, this is created with dark blue, medium azure and accents of sand blue, which makes great use of the new leaf elements as feathers on the wings.
The wings are each built separately from the rest of the bird and are shown as being spread out mid-flight. This gives the Kingfisher a dynamic pose. The same can be said for the head. This is added to the bird and is on a slight tilt adding to the displayable draw of the set. Lodged in the Kingfisher’s beak is a simple fish-like mass. It doesn’t look much like a fish, but it certainly gives the impression of one. The one downside of the set is the Kingfisher’s feet. Yes, they look great and are perfectly scaled to the rest of the bird, however, they are the wrong colour. Although there are different species of Kingfisher, the common Kingfisher has orange, almost bright red feet. They look odd on the real bird, but that’s the colour they are.
This is one of those sets, which doesn’t manage to showcase how impressive the set is in pictures. The definition of the water effect and how sections have been connected is lost in the images. So if you have a chance to see the set in person make sure you check it out. It was an enjoyable build, despite rebuilding the water section three times after having a 2×1 clear plate left over. Turns out it was just an extra piece, so I’d recommend, you gather the elements you need for each step when tackling this part of the build. I hope other animals inspired future sets as they along with this set, would make a great collection of unique displayable builds. The LEGO Icons Kingfisher Bird will be available from February 1st.
Available February 1st: UKIrelandUSCanadaMexicoGermanyFranceDenmarkAustraliaNew Zealand
