I received the Piranha Plant (71426) as a gift for my birthday in December 2023. This review is not sponsored in any way. I strive to always provide my honest opinion on LEGO® products. If you are curious about how I generate scores in this review, I invite you to read about the True North Bricks rating system.

INTRODUCTION

Duh-run-dunt-duh-run-dun-dunt! Hmmm. I hope that actually reads as the Super Mario music cue. Writing musical onomatopoeia is clearly tricky. Just bear with me folks. Today I’m looking at a surprisingly charming Piranha Plant (71426) from the Super Mario theme. This is my first set in this theme. And while I don’t collect the interactive gaming sets, I do appreciate their design and play value. The system / 18+ sets are consistently strong as well. Tom has great reviews on two previous releases; The Super Mario 64 “?” Block (71395) and Mighty Bowser (71411). Admittedly the Piranha Plant isn’t anywhere near as elaborate as those sets. But it’s still a lovely set with a great design. Let’s have a look.

SET SPECIFICS

QUICK REVIEW

PIRANHA PLANT REVIEW

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Value Score Breakdown:

Everyone’s favourite chomping flower retails for $79.99 CAD. This translates to a price/brick of $0.148. With only two prior sets with reviews in this theme, I will use our overall ratings to generate scores. With that in mind, this set earns a score of 78%, just slightly below average of $0.142 for 80%. It is interesting to note that this latest 18+ set for 2023 is also the most expensive from a cost/brick perspective. 2021’s “?” Block and 2022’s Mighty Bowser come in at $0.096 and $0.124 respectively. That’s a significant enough jump, but not unexpected given the price increases in recent years.

My build time clocks in at just over one and a half hours (96 minutes). This translates to a cost/min of $0.833 and a score of 80%. It’s a quick build to be sure. There’s only so much to build and you really can’t stretch things out all that much. Taking both values together, we get a pretty fair score of 79%. It’s a little on the pricey side sadly, so look for any future sales to make it more of a desirable buy.

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Build Score Breakdown:

The Piranha Plant comes in a tall box with typical graphics; a greebling border and the full hero image on the front. Inside the box you will find six numbered bags and a 94 page instruction book. Since this is a smaller set, I didn’t expect to find too much by way of supplemental info in the instructions. Happily enough there’s some fun tidbits and background info, like a history of the plant in the game series. Designers’ insights round out a pretty good package of supplemental material.

Construction is deceptively simple on the surface, but very technic while you build. It’s also two separate pieces. The pot is your first build. The stem, leaves and mouth connect together and that slots into the flower pot. There’s no studs or pins to actually connect to. This works just perfectly as it goes into the base six studs deep. No worries on stability – she ain’t falling over. So, I mean, it ‘plants’ like a real flower?? Close enough anyway.

Warp Pipe Plant Pot

The Piranha Plant itself looks great – very organic, but I honestly think the pot/warp pipe base is the stand out feature. The shape is excellent and it’s instantly recognizable. You can’t have Super Mario without a warp pipe. There’s only four visible studs across the entire surface – that’s amazing. It’s also hella sturdy and robust; it has to be to properly hold up a very top-heavy flower/head. It’s not a technic interior surprisingly. Rather, it’s a well done stacking of plates and bricks with studs out designs. The LEGO Group has really perfected the art of rounded shapes/circles in the last few years. Just look at the Botanicals collection for proof. But I feel it really came together first and clearest with the LEGO®️ Ideas Saturn V (92176).

The entire surface is built with several tiles and practically every size of curved/sloped brick. Even with so many separation lines, the effect really works and from afar looks so smooth. Sitting inside the pot is an assembly to hold the earlier mentioned flower stem. It’s attached to ball joints to allow for some minor swiveling forwards or backwards. Or side-to-side if you turn the flower 90°. Concurrently black bricks give the simple and logical look of soil. Lastly, all you parts collectors take note that this section uses a lot of uncommon elements recoloured in both bright and dark green. These will make amazing additions to any MOC greenery, landscaping, etc.

Chomp Chomp

The Piranha Plant itself is another wonderful piece of design work. Images do not really show how large and heavy the head of this sculpt it. And that’s not a negative mind you, just really surprising! Like the vase, the stem and head are great sculpts with SNOT finishing. The top of the stem has one large ball joint to attach the mouth. Weight doesn’t allow for much movement, but that’s fine as it’s not necessary. Check out the awesome use of those white rounded connector tubes as, well, ‘lips’ for lack of another word. These were first introduced for Mighty Bowser’s shell, and they work perfectly here. Another exclusive new element is the quarter dome brick with printed white dots. I imagine that by now, someone has made giant mushroom mocs with these…

Large pink semi spheres (new recolour) inside the mouth make all the sense and work well. Lots of technic pieces make up the inner mechanics of the mouth. And again, a number of them are all new in red. The teeth are appropriately menacing. If you’re curious, they are tagged on both Bricklink and Brickset as “Bionicle eyes”. Eyes for teeth, what a crazy world. Since that first molding it has appeared in several technic sets in multiple colours. Hinges allow the mouth to open and close quite widely, but the teeth keep it from getting all the way closed.

Leafy Stalk

Last to discuss are the leaves and stem. Super simple construction, but they look and work great. Like the rest, they use a SNOT and studs out construction to get just the right thickness and smoothness. The bright yellowish green plates on the leaves compliment nicely and I like the texture of the studs to break things up. Simple hinges allow for some slight curving and shaping, but it’s still otherwise blocky. Each is on a ball joint to allow some decent poseability. The stalk is made of two 1×16 bricks for sturdiness, and that’s all ya really need. As I mentioned earlier the end of this slots nicely into the pot hold it up with ease.

So what’s the verdict? Pretty exceptional. And I feel that’s not too common for sculptural sets at this scale and size. I think this is just the right size to really pull off the look and still make for an interesting construction. Great techniques and NPU make up the plant and, more impressively, the pot. Many builders will get some great inspiration from this. It’s also just a fun, cute and iconic bit of pop culture. If I had to select one small gripe, it’s the head looks wildly oversized from certain angles. But it’s the smallest of quibbles. My final build score is a well-earned 95%.

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Entertainment Score Breakdown:

The Piranha Plant isn’t a giant set. Nor is it a highly playable set. It is however a great display set, and charmingly fun. For Super Mario fans it will probably tick several boxes; nostalgic, playful and quirky. And for you non-gamers, this is still worth a pick-up. It accomplishes quite a bit in a small, reasonably affordable package. That’s becoming a rarity these days. Sets are getting massive and expensive. Getting fun, smaller sets with good parts and designs is always a treat. It will look so damn cute on display. I’m hoping to put mine under a glass bell jar. Right next to a live plant for some off-beat fun.

Despite being a simpler display model, there is a fun interactive feature. The Piranha Plant’s pot has a hidden door in the base. Pressing a 2×4 tile on the front will spring the base open. You will have to hold the build off the surface however. But in doing so, you will release two printed 2×2 round tiles. These are printed pieces that resemble the gold coins from the games. It’s a fun surprise and adds a much-needed bit of interactivity.

I’ve already discussed the great parts selection for MOC makers. AFOLs will definitely enjoy this for parting out and for putting on display. It’s branded as 18+ but I don’t see younger builders having any issues. It’s challenging enough in sections without being difficult. It will naturally appeal to video game fans, but it will also make a great gift with a broader reach. Overall I’m really happy with this set. It’s fun and cute and it’s an easy recommendation from me. I give the entertainment score an 80%.

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