Last year the LEGO Group announced it had expanded it’s licensing partnership with Universal Pictures to include both the Trolls and Minions franchises. The first sets to be released are those based on the Trolls sequel, Trolls World Tour. The sets introduce unique Minifigures, new elements and brand new material pieces. One of the sets which caught my eye, was set 41254: Volcano Rock City Concert. It features three Minifigures and some of those interesting new elements. But are the Trolls sets worth building or should they be avoided? Read on to find out, yes it’s time to Rock and Troll…..
Product Description
This cool LEGO® Trolls World Tour Volcano Rock City Concert toy brings the world of music to life for Trolls fans. With 3 minifigures, play starts straightaway. Kids will love helping Poppy get ready, with different hair accessories, as she prepares to take on Queen Barb in the ultimate rock battle. Then they can put Poppy and Barb on the spinning podiums to role-play dramatic music scenes from the movie. Kids will enjoy imaginative play long after this Trolls movie toy set is built. Check out the movable felt wings, the spinning platforms and backstage snacks. Kids will love finding the collectible string to place in the lyre – along with strings collected from other LEGO Trolls World Tour sets. LEGO Trolls World Tour opens a world of play for fans of the DreamWorks Trolls movies. Each set has printed instructions and comes with Instructions PLUS to help youngsters enjoy building.
- Set Name: Volcano Rock City Concert
- Set Number: 41254
- Pieces: 387
- RRP: £34.99/$39.99/39.99€
- Measurements: measures over 17cm high, 22cm long and 11cm wide
- Microdolls: 3 – Barb, Poppy & Branch
- Availability: LEGO stores, online & LEGO retailers
The Build
The latest iteration of the Trolls, has them as a tall haired society of music loving creatures. The plot of the sequel will see Trolls tribes from other worlds battle it out to control all music. This particular set is heavily inspired by the musical element of the story. An epic stage makes up the bulk of the set, with two smaller builds of a drum kit and throne joining it. On the surface the stage looks, well very much like a stage, but there are a couple of functional play features built into the base of it. There are two podiums, each featuring a microphone, these are placed atop a couple of ‘splat’ gear discs. A smaller ‘splat’ gear pokes a little out from the edge of the stage, which allows you to spin the podiums around. One odd thing I found here is the placement of the podiums. Obviously they both turn in unison, the instructions suggest the left disc is slightly off from the right one, yet the images of the box suggest they are both parallel to each other. Which I like better and makes a little more sense.
Other play functions include two hinged platforms either side of the front of the stage. These represent the backstage area, with a dressing room on one side and a refreshment station on the other. The stage area is made even more impressive with a couple of lattice tower elements and two roller coaster track pieces in a new lilac colour. These really help to give the stage a cool look. But it wouldn’t be a rock concert without an overly elaborate effigy looming over the stage. Here it’s a bat-type display with a 10×6 plate adorned by a selection of flat tile elements to create a face-like pattern. The wings are created using brand new material pieces. These are made from a rigid felt type material and are a neat additional to the set, and possibly an indirect nod the Trolls ‘real’ hair origins. The felt wings are held in place by a combination of a couple of 1×1 plates and a 2×2 disc. Here you’ll also find some new music note elements. There are different coloured notes to be found across the Trolls sets, which also tie into the story of the movie. The notes connection point is the small rod nub, so they can be connected inside holed studs and hair pieces, like many of the Friends accessories do.
Built separately from the stage are a drum kit and throne. The drum kit looks quite cool especially with pearl silver cymbals. Although the centre bass drum would have look better if it was a little bigger than the rest of the kit. Along with the drum kit, you also build a fancy looking throne for Barb. I really like the four lights, which stick out from behind the centre disc section, which also has a cool animal print cushion sticker. Just so people know who’s throne this is, Barbs name is displayed above in neon, also achieved with a sticker. In fact there are a few stickers, others include the front of the drum kit, backstage posters, fronts of the two speakers either side of the stage and even Barb’s guitar.
The Minifigures
The set contains three Minifigures, each use the original short legs, standard torsos and brand new heads and hairs elements created especially for the Trolls characters. I know there will be those who think the new heads shouldn’t be used in place of standard Minifigure heads, but the characters wouldn’t like right without these new heads. It’s the same as certain characters in the Star Wars theme, which have unique heads or bodies. However enough of the characters are made up with standard Minifigures parts to still look like LEGO.
Characters featured in the set include Poppy and Branch, who are both the main character of the Trolls films. Although they are also featured in other Trolls sets, their outfits are exclusive to this set. Poppy includes a new skirt element and her hair can be accessorized with various small silver pieces, she also has a rather plain pink guitar. Branch has a hollow section in the top of his hair, in which cakes can be stores. No I’ve no ideas either. Barb is exclusive to this set, she is a new character for the Trolls sequel. She’s the Queen of the Hard Rock Trolls and the films antagonist. Her mohawk looks great, although the lighting bolt coming out the top of it seems a little odd.
Overall
The Trolls sets have certainly divided LEGO fans, the unique looking Minifigures are one of the main gripes, but I quite like them. They fit the look of the characters from the movie, far better than standard Minifigures would. I like that they can be jazzed up with various mini elements, although I’m still not sure why Branch has a cupcake in his hair. But for me the star of the set is the actual set. It looks great, has fun play features and includes some nice new and recoloured elements. The material pieces also add a nice visual detail. The weird and colourful world of the Trolls movie is a perfect match for LEGO. I get there would be everyone’s cup of tea, but I like building at least one set from a theme, and after building the Volcano Rock City Concert set, I’ll definitely be picking up some more of the Trolls World Tour sets.
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