One of the new Brickheadz sets for 2022 is Lion Dance Guy (40540). This little guy celebrates Chinese New Year in a traditional lion dance costume. In Chinese culture, the lion symbolizes power, wisdom, and superiority. People perform lion dances at Chinese festivals (such as New Year) or big occasions to bring good fortune and chase away evil spirits. I for one would love some good fortune and prosperity for us all 😊 And for a Brickheadz set, this has quite a bit of detail and it makes for a fun display piece. Read on for the review.
NOTE: This set was provided by The LEGO® Group to True North Bricks for review. This does not guarantee a favourable review and all opinions are my own. For a breakdown of the rating system, please click here.
SET SUMMARY
- NAME: Lion Dance Guy (#151)
- SET #: 45540
- THEME: Brickheadz / Seasonal
- COST: $12.99 CAD
- BRICK COUNT: 239
- RELEASE DATE: January 1, 2022
QUICK REVIEW
- VALUE: 100% (a perfect score for cost-per-brick and cost-per-minute, tiny but great bargain)
- BUILD: 80% (usual fun build techniques, great parts useage, very plain base)
- ENTERTAINMENT: 75% (cute gift for those celebrating Chinese New Year and/or younger builders)
- OVERALL SCORE: 86% (colourful build with nice detail and a very good value for cost/parts)
VALUE: 100%
Lion Dance Guy (40540) is off to a perfect start thanks to a 100% value score. Brickheadz are often an “average” or “good” value based on cost-per-brick. A price of $0.13 per piece is the overall average based on all reviews. So it’s no exaggeration to say that Lion Dance Guy is one of the best valued sets to date at only $0.05 per piece. With 200+ pieces and still only $12.99 CAD, it represents a really phenomenal deal! Similar piece counts are often sets with 2 builds and MSRPs of $19.99 CAD or more. For whatever reason, this set nets you a high piece count and low cost. My build time was also just under half an hour, or 28 minutes for a cost-per-minute of $0.46. Once again, a perfect score. Pretty fantastic so far.
BUILD: 80%
Lion Dance Guy (40540) comes in the usual size box for a Brickheadz set. And for extra value, the box is taped shut and doesn’t have push-in tabs to open. Faaaaancy. The box art itself is also a punchy red, so it stands out nicely. Inside you will find 4 small unnumbered bags, a 6×6 plate and a 63 page instruction booklet. The figure is the primary build and it sits atop a fairly simple base. A lantern and 2 drums are your decorative add-ons. The build is straight-forward but actually quite clever in spots. All the usual SNOT techniques are employed, and some great parts useage also. LEGO® bananas are evidently quite versatile.😂
Lion Dance Guy’s costume looks really accurate and the extra height of the build makes for a substantial build. I love the eyes which look like all new printed elements. And I’m really impressed with the lion mouth – it’s instantly recognizable. The prodigious use of quarter-round tiles (DOTS) adds some lovely texture to the headpiece too. The base however is very plain. An extra bit of decorating would would have been nice, but it doesn’t look bad or detract from the overall. Brickheadz bases are generally quite sparse so I can’t ding it too heavily. So while there’s nothing ground-breaking in the build, the end result is quite lovely. Sharp, bold colours also help this little guy stand out. Yes it’s a tiny set, but I quite enjoyed the build and it earns a healthy build score of 80%.
ENTERTAINMENT: 75%
Are you going to have hours of play time with Lion Dance Guy (40540)? Unlikely. But Brickheadz occupy that niche area of cute, small display sets. They bring some fun and colour to the shelf and not much more. I have a few other Brickheadz in my collection. My personal fave being Ariel & Ursula from Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Tom also has a review or two that you can find here and here. The more you love the reference or IP, the more you will gravitate towards the set. In this case, it’s a holiday gift so it will likely appeal to only a specific segment of fans/cultures. Those of Asian/Chinese heritage will no doubt find this a lovely set to commemorate the holiday. But I do think this will appeal to younger builders in general thanks to bold colours and a fun design. And it’s a nice way to introduce some new cultural ideas to AFOLs and KFOLs alike.
OVERALL: 86%
Lion Dance Guy (40540) is a fun but niche addition to the Brickheadz line. There’s some great colourful build techniques and smart parts useage. There is probably limited appeal outside of those celebrating Chinese New Year, but it would make a great gift for those who do. If you’re looking for some good parts and value however, this is a very affordable way to do so. Tiny set, but big on value. I enjoyed the build and think others will too. If you need more zing, there’s lots of ways to spruce up the base and MOC it up. And if you have some young builders and want to expose them to some new cultural ideas then this isn’t a bad way to start.
And that is that my friends. Thanks again to The LEGO® Group for this set for pre-release review. But now it’s back to you for the usual feedback. What do y’all think? Are you big fans of Brickheadz? Does this make your holiday shopping list? Any other themes you want to see explored in this line? As always please comment and share your thoughts with us. And until next time, keep on brickin’. 🧱
-Frank
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