Review: BrickHeadz Pets
Posted by Huw,Love 'em or loathe 'em, BrickHeadz are still going strong after five years, thanks to the introduction of new ideas and innovations within the blocky characters' constrained format.
This year a range of pets has been introduced, starting with 40441 Shorthair Cats and 40440 German Shepherd, with budgies and goldfish following in the spring, according to LEGO's product certification database.
Although they are still recognisably BrickHeadz, they are far more complex and intricate than the first series of characters introduced in 2017.
40441 Shorthair Cats, BrickHeadz no. 120 and 121
The British shorthair cat is a common pedigree breed and was most likely chosen to be modelled on account of the uniform grey colour of its coat which is easy to replicate in LEGO form.
Both felines are posed in a sitting position, have yellow collars, pink noses, Wolverine's claws for whiskers, and cute white paws.
Their tails can be swished up and down, and a lowered section at the back of their bed allows it to be laid flat.
The bed is built around two black 6x6 plates, as supplied with all BrickHeadz, so if you prefer to display the felines in the same way as others in your collection you can do so.
The bed itself is not particularly sturdy because the bricks do not overlap the joints of the curved plates below, so the corners have a tendency to come away, or at least become loose.
The adult's hind legs are hinged so can be splayed out, but otherwise there is no articulation.
40440 German Shepherd, BrickHeadz no. 118 and 119
German Shepherds are a popular breed in America and, again, I suspect were chosen because their distinctive colouring can be effectively reproduced in LEGO form.
The adult is wearing a dog cravat formed using sand green triangular tiles. I didn't know they were a thing until I Googled it!
Like the cats and their bed, the canines' tails can be moved up and down and a cutout allows them to be positioned horizontally.
The bed is built in the same way as the cats', but with 2x2 curved bricks on the corners rather than 4x4s. This one is sturdier than theirs, because the bricks overlap the corner plate joints.
The decoration on the front of the beds is a sticker. Both sets come with a choice of two, and also a spare 1x4 brick with bow to stick it on.
These are an interesting addition to the BrickHeadz series, which has come a long way since the likes of 41585 Batman.
I think both of them look like the animals they are trying to portray, which is no mean feat given the size and constraints of the BrickHeadz standard. I'd like to think that more cat colours and dog breeds will be forthcoming but on the other hand I suspect that they are a bit too niche to warrant a whole series of them.
There's nothing stopping you from taking the designs and modifying it to suit your own pets, though. I think our black and white cat Tammy might be achievable, but I'm not so sure about the other one, calico Tiggy!
Their appeal will depend on whether you're a cat and/or a dog person or not. My wife was keen to build the cats, but not the dogs!
They are available at LEGO.com, priced at £13.49 / $14.99 / 14.99€ which the usual price for a large/small double-pack, and with around 250 pieces in each, I think they are pretty good value.
Thanks to LEGO for providing the sets for this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Thanks to my wife for constructing the cats. Any building errors are hers :-)
#Ad: If you purchase anything via the links in this article, Brickset will receive a small commission.
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32 comments on this article
It seems the folks at LEGO are more into dogs than cats....
I bought 40441 for my 8 year old daughter and she had a great time building them, she went "off script" for the build, in her logic you need to have the bed, then the mum, then the kitten. This upset her brother no end because that wasn't how the instructions show it. In the end they are now proudly displayed in her room.
Oh look another stolen idea from Ideas :)
But seriously, Lego Doggo was way better than this.
Dogs are very pretty. Cats not really.
@lordofdragonss said:
"Oh look another stolen idea from Ideas :)
But seriously, Lego Doggo was way better than this."
As with all of the other “stolen” Ideas, this set has nothing in common with the rejected Project, except the vaguest description
I may be too interested in the numbers, but is there any clue as to what Brickheadz 104-109 are going to be? Lego seems to have skipped over them.
These are great.... infinitely preferable to the real things!
@lordofdragonss said:
"Oh look another stolen idea from Ideas :)
But seriously, Lego Doggo was way better than this."
I’d argue that the Ideas pitch was more of one set with multiple dog breeds rather than a set for dogs or cats in general.
It's kinda surreal how the use of hinge plates for hind leg articulation is exactly the same technique I used for the hind legs of my frog MOC made with the X-Pod 4349 Wild Pod.
Kinda basic.
@CCC said:
" @LegoSonicBoy said:
"It's kinda surreal how the use of hinge plates for hind leg articulation is exactly the same technique I used for the hind legs of my frog MOC made with the X-Pod 4349 Wild Pod."
LEGO has been using hinge plates for articulating legs for many years. They also did a frog that has four legs articulated using them about 15 years ago. It is a very compact way of giving legs sideways articulation, so ideal for smaller models."
Are you referring to 7606? Yeah, it's a great technique. I don't mean to take credit or anything (though my MOC does pre-date that set by 2 years), but I'm glad we all agree with the technique. There probably have been even older models they used this technique with but none quite as compact (as you say) as these.
I am excited by these but very disappointed they didn't call them 'Brickpetz'.
The cat/ kitten are cute... have them staring at me from my shelf near my computer. The dogs look weird to me. Definitely not German Shepherd-ish...
I may have to get the German Shepherd as a desk decoration for my veterinarian father. We also have a Shepherd as our family dog, so double points
I hope they expand upon this with more breeds. I like them.
I have both sets, I did remove the green triangles, and put in 1x1s in the gap instead, I had some in the two colours which looks better to me. Rather than that neckchief thing!
As with all of these animal Brickheadz:
Imagine how much cuter & friendlier they'd be with alternatives to those cold, dead eyes.
The German Shepherd puppy is just a color scheme away from being Shaun the Sheep.
The whole BrickHeadz range sucks, it is the most horrible thing Lego has ever come up with...
Having two animals in a set seems unnecessary. They should have gone with just one for a cheaper set.
I've actually got the shepherds one on order, looking forward to building it. I didn't feel the need to order the cats, I'm not much of a cat person and I've already got the Lucky Cat.
And yeah, Tiggy could be difficult. (Love the Dots collar.)
@Altair1970 said:
"The whole BrickHeadz range sucks, it is the most horrible thing Lego has ever come up with..."
Five years is longer than the vast majority of themes, so it looks like most people would disagree with that assessment
@bananaworld said:
"
As with all of these animal Brickheadz:
Imagine how much cuter & friendlier they'd be with alternatives to those cold, dead eyes."
I think 41931 extra Dots series 4 has some new eye types, might be fun to try some of those when they come out.
@bananaworld said:
"
As with all of these animal Brickheadz:
Imagine how much cuter & friendlier they'd be with alternatives to those cold, dead eyes."
I mean, they look fine to me, maybe that's my problem, though.
These are interesting and admittedly adorable but not enough for me to get more Brickheadz-- I already have more than enough as is. I can see myself snagging 40441-1 for the teal pieces and Wolverine claws, though.
Not bad. I think they did well to capture the adorable looks, but it could be better. Anyway, it’s good to see LEGO step out of the box.
@Mylenium said:
"The cat/ kitten are cute... have them staring at me from my shelf near my computer. The dogs look weird to me. Definitely not German Shepherd-ish..."
The tan doesn't seem quite right to me. German Shepherds can have some fur that is this light in colour (especially the fluff on their bellies and hind legs), but for the most part, they're darker and more brown-ish. I think dark orange with some tan highlights would look better here.
Waiting for Tiggy!
Big fan of cats, not a big fan of this rendition. I hope the more color prediction is true because I would love a black cat to match my own
@scottd said:
"I bought 40441 for my 8 year old daughter and she had a great time building them, she went "off script" for the build, in her logic you need to have the bed, then the mum, then the kitten. This upset her brother no end because that wasn't how the instructions show it. In the end they are now proudly displayed in her room."
You have to admit, she does have a good point
Personally, these all look good. They will make a very nice sub-series
@bananaworld said:
"
As with all of these animal Brickheadz:
Imagine how much cuter & friendlier they'd be with alternatives to those cold, dead eyes."
How are these eyes any worse than ones you'd typically see on a stuffed toy like a teddy bear or Beanie Baby? Even if they bother you on human characters, I can't see what the issue would be on brick-built animals like these ones.
Anyway, good review! These are very cute sets that take the BrickHeadz line in a promising new direction. It's easy to imagine a whole lot of other possible breeds that future sets could cover, as well as other species like guinea pigs or rabbits!
There are some popular pet species that might be a little more awkward in this style, though, like horses and fish. LEGO would at least come up with alternatives to the "pet bed" style display stand for those not to feel bizarrely out-of-place.
Of these two, I'm more drawn to the cats, but that's more because I'm a cat person than because of either set having a considerably stronger design than the other. Moreover, I think I'd be less likely to buy this specific set than to buy loose bricks on BrickLink to try and recreate the two kittens my wife and I recently adopted, who are close to the same size as one another but have more varied coat colors.
Perhaps it would be in LEGO's interest to make a "Go Brick Me" style set for pets in the future, with bricks in lots of different colors, and instructions showing how to build different ear shapes, tail shapes, muzzle shapes, and coat textures and patterns for different cat and dog breeds!
Pets eh...
This morning I spent over $600 to get a piece of nylon pulled from my cat's butt.
Do you know how much Lego I could have bought with that money?
It's a lot of Lego, let me tell you!
@Aanchir said:
"Perhaps it would be in LEGO's interest to make a "Go Brick Me" style set for pets in the future, with bricks in lots of different colors, and instructions showing how to build different ear shapes, tail shapes, muzzle shapes, and coat textures and patterns for different cat and dog breeds!"
Ugh, Go Brick Me was such a timeless set deserving to be a mainstay like LEGO Classic sets, but it had possibly the shortest run of any widely available BrickHeadz set. Now sealed copies are going for 120+% of its original price, and I'm so, so glad I got it at 40% off before its untimely retirement. Somehow the wedding BrickHeadz have managed to outlast it.