It’s time to set sail for the Grand Line as we kick off the reviews of the upcoming LEGO® ONE PIECE sets. Where better place to begin than where a young Monkey D. Luffy’s urge to become a pirate grew, Windmill Village. The orphan boy longed to become a pirate and join the Straw Hats crew. But with Shanks crushing those dreams, Luffy seeks comfort in food and downs a Devil Fruit. Unbeknownst to the youngest, this mysterious fruit bestows its eater with unique powers but at a cost. Here’s an early look at the smallest LEGO ONE PIECE set, the Windmill Village Hut.
Product Details
Set Name: Windmill Village | Set Number: 75636 | Pieces: 299 | Theme: ONE PIECE
Number of Bags: Bags x 3 | Stickers: sheet x 1 | Characters: Monkey D. Luffy, Makino & Shanks
RRP: £24.99/$29.99/29.99€/49.99AUD/39.99CAD
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online and LEGO Retailers from August 1st
Although the set’s naming and product description skirt around it, the set is essentially a bar. Appearing in several flashbacks, the small waterside bar is home to a young Luffy and also acts as the waterhole for Shanks and his Straw Hat Pirates. As the smallest set in the range, it features a small wooden hut and a strip of pier. The use of different coloured elements and a mix of flat and studded plates helps give the hut a ramshackle appearance. Inside the huts is a small bar and a pair of seats; it’s also dotted with bottles and cups, which are neatly clipped to the bars used to create the back wall of the hut.
The pier extends from the side of the hut and serves as a mooring point for the small rowing boat, used by Shanks to transport his bounty from his ship to the mainland. The legs of the pier sit on blue plates to give the impression that it’s in the water.
You can gain better access to the interior of the bar by removing the side wall panel and the roof, which simply sits on top of the hut’s frame. There are little details from the scenes in the Netflix series, such as the neon ‘Party’s’ sign hanging behind the bar, surfboard menu, a Devil Fruit which is made from two crown elements and a lone Wanted poster tile. These are found in all of the ONE PIECE sets but are random, so you may not find the same one shown here.
Despite being the smallest of the ONE PIECE sets, it still contains three unique minifigures. Admittedly, they are probably the least exciting. Yet, they are still pretty good. They include the owner of the bar/hut, Makino. Although she lacks the head scarf, the rest of the minifigure is a good representation of the character, including the plain skirt piece. Shanks is more a suave buccaneer than a classic pirate. His trademark, bright red hair, is shown via two different elements. You can use a standard hairpiece or a unique version of his straw hat. The decision to create both a standard straw hat piece and ones with hair was very much needed to represent the characters in the best possible way.
Luffy features in most of the sets, and in this one, he’s shown in his younger form. His two different expressions are rather contrasting. One shows Luffy in floors of tears and the other is best described as menacing. As mentioned, Shanks has his own straw hat, but the set also includes a second version. This can be worn by characters, but lacks any hair, which makes it look a little odd, hence why it’s merely included as a prop instead of a wearable accessory.
The Windmill Village Hut set will be overlooked thanks to how impressive the rest of the ONE PIECE sets are. Plus, its minifigure line-up is a little less exciting; however, it’s still a great little set. It’s nicely detailed and a good representation of what was seen in the Netflix series. Plus, it contains a collectable Wanted poster tile, although you do not need to buy every set to get them all, their placement in all sets is random. Set 75636: Windmill Village Hut launches on August 1st, alongside the entire LEGO ONE PIECE range.
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This set was provided to BricksFanz.com by the LEGO Group for review purposes. The thoughts within this review are those of BricksFanz.com and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group or Netflix. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
