LEGO® Ideas continues to be one of the most varied and inventive of LEGO themes. The latest set to join the LEGO Ideas line-up certainly embodies that. The Insect Collection transforms various creepy crawlies into unique brick-built display pieces. It’s also the 50th main LEGO Ideas set to be inspired by a fan-created build. I’ve had the opportunity to build the set ahead of its release next month. So here’s a closer look at The Insect Collection LEGO Ideas set.
Product Details
Display spectacular insects from around the world in your home with the LEGO® Ideas The Insect Collection (21342). A charming gift idea for insect-lovers, this set features detailed, life-size, buildable models of a blue morpho butterfly, a Hercules beetle and a Chinese mantis in their natural habitats.
Posable display models
The blue morpho butterfly has adjustable wings featuring LEGO elements in different shades of blue and is displayed with a buildable flower and a honeybee. The Hercules beetle has attachable wings and the characteristic horns of the male of the species, while the fully posable female Chinese mantis (a species of praying mantis) comes with a 7-spot ladybird. Separate building instructions are included for each model, so you can build solo or with others.
- Set Name: The Insect Collection
- Set Number: 21342
- Theme: LEGO Ideas
- Pieces: 1111
- RRP: £69.99/$79.99/79.99€
- Number of Bags: Bags x 7
- Stickers: N/A
- Minifigures: N/A
- Instructions: Paper Booklets x 4 + Builder App
- Availability: LEGO Stores & LEGO Online from September 4th (VIP Early Access) September 7th (General Release)
The set is inspired by the fan-created project from Chema Pérez aka hachiroku24. The original submission featured five brick-built insects including a Butterfly, Mantis, Beetle, Ladybird and a bee. The final set has evolved a little compared to the original design. It now features three main buildable bugs along with botanical-themed display stands. It was revealed as a future LEGO Ideas set back in October 2022.
The set features four instruction booklets which are focused on each of the three builds. The fourth booklet offers an introduction to the set’s fan designer, along with the LEGO Design Team who helped to craft it into the final set. It also offers a few facts about each of the real-life critters that inspired the builds.
As you can clearly see from the images, the final set differs quite a lot from the original LEGO Ideas submission. The overall scale of each insect is pretty much the same but they are now mounted on a display stand. Each stand features the same basic design of a black-bordered octagon. These are then decorated with different pieces of scenery, partly used to mount the insects but also add plants and flowers. These are not as ornate as the various Botanical Collection sets, but they offer a similar use of interesting parts to recreate flower petals and leaves. The blue morpho butterfly has settled on an arching branch. The Hercules Beetle has scurried up a log and the Chinese Mantis is perching on a flowery branch.
The first build recreates a Blue Morpho Butterfly. This striking royal blue-coloured creature is one of the world’s largest butterflies. Of the three insects featured in the set, it probably requires the least amount of detail. That doesn’t mean is any less impactful. The use of different shades of blue and the layering of elements perfectly recreate the delicate wings of the insect. A number of uniquely printed curved plates add even more detail to the edges of the wings. To counter the simpler build of the insect, the base is far more detailed. Surrounding the branch are a number of leaves, some of which use a new element, introduced in the Donkey Kong sets. There’s also a colourful pink flower, being visited by a little Honey Bee.
The Hercules Beetle is a member of the rhinoceros beetle, named so because of its large, horn-like pincers, which are far more pronounced on the male beetles and it’s a male Hercules Beetle that acts as the inspiration for this set. As one of the world’s largest flying beetles, it hides a pair of wings underneath its bright yellow wing case. The wings can be added to the beetle or removed to allow the yellow panels to be closed. The beetle is sitting on a broken log, this is a lot chunkier than the other plates and has you build, you’ll find this hides a fun little detail. It also features a little less plant life, apart from a couple of pale blue mushrooms. It looks great with or without the wings included.
The Chinese Mantis is one of the most unique-looking insects. The female of the species is represented in this set. This is a brighter shade of green, has bigger eyes and is generally bigger than the male, which makes for a better-looking set. One of the Mantis’ most common features is the large folded arms. These have been recreated amazingly well with LEGO elements. With a couple of recoloured NINJAGO weapon blades, doubling a claw-like arms. That isn’t the only great use of parts, the feet of Mantis are recoloured pistols and its antennas are golden crowbars. The use of elements to recreate the slender features of the Mantis is nothing short of amazing. The Mantis is perched on a thin stick branch, which is decorated with a cluster of small white flowers and a couple of large green leaves.
As mentioned the original fan project included five different insects, whereas the final set only focuses on three of them. However, all five insects do actually appear in the set, although in simply different forms. On the Chinese Mantis build, you’ll spot a trio of ladybirds/ladybugs, although these are just printed 1×1 round titles. These are slightly different from a similar element featured in a few past sets. Then nestled among the foliage found on the blue morpho butterfly’s display plate is a tiny brick-built Honey Bee. It might not be as big as the other insects but it’s a neat little build and the printed egg element along with clear fairy wings are perfect pieces to recreate the tiny bug
As part of the release of this new set, a special soundtrack has been created known as the Green Noise playlist. This has been created by Foley artist Sanaa Kelley. The sounds on the playlist have been created by using elements from the set to replicate the sounds of the insects. It’s certainly an interesting companion to building the set. You can listen to it here.
Overall
It was only yesterday I was admiring the Friends Botanical Garden set and how it currently sits at the top of my ‘set of the year’ list but that could change after building this set. It was a delight to build and all three insects look great and they are amazingly detailed. It’s hard to say which is my favourite as they each offer something unique. I think the choice to drop two insects in favour of the display stands really elevates the set. It also makes them an interesting companion set to the various Botanical Collection builds. As a LEGO Ideas set, it’s one of the most impressive ones released in recent years. It’s well worth the price point and goes to show that not all sets need to be inspired by a popular license to result in a fantastic and whimsical LEGO build. There really is no downside to this incredible LEGO set.
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The LEGO Group provided this set for review purposes. The thoughts within this review are those of BricksFanz.com and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
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