Many LEGO® themes have provided more advanced LEGO creations for older LEGO fans, and some of the most varied come from the world of Disney. Beyond the many castles, the 18+ Disney have begun seeking inspiration from some of Walt Disney Animation’s animal stories. Last year, we were treated to a brick-built version of The Lion King’s Young Simba and for 2025, inspiration comes from a true Disney classic, 101 Dalmatians. After taking a look at the smaller Lucky and Penny 101 Dalmatians set, here’s what the much bigger build has to offer.
Product Details
Set Name: 101 Dalmatians Puppy | Set Number: 43269 | Pieces: 1722 | Theme: Disney Classics
Number of Bags: Bags x 12 | Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App | Stickers: sheet x 1 | Characters: N/A
RRP: £129.99/139.99€/$149.99/199.99AUD/179.99CAD
Availability: LEGO Stores & LEGO Online from June 1st
Many of the early animated Disney films were inspired by classic stories and fairy tales. Following the success of animal-focused features including Dumbo, Bambi and Lady and the Tramp, in 1961, Walt Disney turned a novel written by English author, Dodie Smith. She has several dalmatians as pets, and the idea for ‘The Hundred and One Dalmatians’ came after a friend commented on how the spotty dog’s iconic fur would make a lovely fur coat. As the story’s name suggests, it includes over a hundred dalmatians, and this LEGO model is inspired by only a fraction of them. Although it’s not based on a particular character, the set gives you the option to change the model in various ways. These include configuring the set in different ways and building different details.
The build is similar in scale to the Simba set is and this also makes it almost 1:1 in size to a real puppy. The build begins with the body of the dog. Because of the way you can customise the model, parts of the body section can seem quite complex. That’s also in because the set needs to replicate natural shapes. Creating curved areas with LEGO elements has become a little easier as the LEGO element selection has become more varied. However, it still requires a lot of elements to get both the body’s shape and the connection points needed for the four legs and head.
It’s the limbs of the pup which offer the set’s most unique feature. You can choose to display your brick-built pup in a playable bow or sitting patiently. The ability to switch poses doesn’t require a complex rebuilding. All four legs can be popped off. If swapping from the downward dog pose to sitting, then you can take off a small section of ‘bent’ legs and simply swap them around. The head can also be connected at a different angle. There’s a storage gap in the back of the body where you’ll find a plate to cover up the gap on the back of the head and offers somewhere to place the parts taken from the feet.
That’s not the only customisation option for the pup. You can build different coloured ears and fur around the ears. These changes do require rebuilding sections, making these changes a little more complex. You can also choose to add either a red or blue collar and display different yellow tags. These include several names of the pups from a film or just a star. Unfortunately, these elements are all stickers, as is the plate used for the tongue. The tags being stickers are particularly annoying, as if you don’t apply them straight, you can instantly tell once the tag is added to the collar.
This is a delightful little set and feels as if it’s just stepped out of the film. The eyes are really animated; the simple addition of white dots on the black background of the eyes brings the puppy to life. The ability to switch poses of the puppy is nicely done, especially as you don’t need to rebuild sections just to swap it around. The additional options of adding different ear, fur and collar names are nice to have, but I do feel this has pushed up the set’s price. It’s also good to see the Disney theme seeking inspiration from the wider Disney catalogue, although this set may have limited appeal. That being said, I would certainly like to see more sets similar to this, not necessarily animals, but builds beyond the cycle of castles and Frozen sets. The 101 Dalmatians Puppy will be available from June 1st and will be joined by a smaller, less expensive set, featuring 101 Dalmatians, Lucky & Penny.
Pre-order: UKIrelandUSCanadaMexicoGermanyFranceDenmarkAustraliaNew Zealand
<The LEGO Group provided this set to BricksFanz.com for review purposes. The thoughts within this review are those of BricksFanz.com and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group or Disney. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
