Review: 21245 Panda Haven

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Of the seven Minecraft sets that were released in January, 21245 The Panda Haven is certainly one of the more eye-catching.

Once again I've asked our resident Minecraft expert William, now aged 9, to review it for us.

Summary

21245 The Panda Haven, 553 pieces.
£44.99 / $49.99 / €49.99 | 8.1p/9.0c/9.0c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »

Anogther set that will delight fans of the video game

  • Cute pandas
  • Large panda can be posed upright or on all fours
  • Fragile head hinge

The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.


Packaging and Instructions

The box shows images of how the Panda can be used and set up, either standing on four legs or sitting down. Inside the pieces are divided into five packages and this is clearly explained in the instruction booklet. I think it is really good that the box shows the characters included in the set.


Minifigs and Animals

Baby Panda - I really like that the head moves in an up and down direction, and it looks very cute.

Daddy Panda - is much larger than the baby panda and to make it requires more pieces, and the head is the same and moves up and down.

Skeleton - The skeleton is so cool, as he has an enchanted bow and arrow, and he can bend forward and backwards. Just like in the game!

Jungle Explorer - as in the game, he has a stone axe.


Construction

The set was difficult and took me about 5 hours to build. I had to follow the instruction booklet carefully, and I had a real problem with the neck of the giant Panda. The head falls off every time you try to move it. So getting the Panda to sit and move its head was impossible. The hinge does not work, if you want to move the head. [It uses click hinges which are stiff and have a tendency to detach when you try and adjust them -- Huw]

It is great that the roof opens up so you can see inside and that works perfectly. I like that inside the house is a purple bed, crafting table, lamp and a cookie. There is also a cake which is round, but in Minecraft the cake is square!

The jungle explorer I think stole the chicken egg, which is now being kept in the incubator.


Completed Model

I like the set but was disappointed that the head did not work properly, and I spent about 30 minutes trying to fix it, but the hinge is really stiff, and the bricks fall off when trying to move it. Otherwise the set is good and has lots to play with.

[Note that a month or so passed between William building the set and me photographing it, and it was played with a lot in the meantime, so it might not be exactly as it should be in the photos -- Huw]


Verdict

The head hinge needs to be improved, and then it will be great. The set costs £45.00 which is good value, and I like the finished model. My mum thought the set was good value, as it kept me busy for 5 hours.

William diligently preparing a review while building...

30 comments on this article

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By in Netherlands,

Baby pan-doo doo doo doo doo doo...

I apologise, William. Thank you for writing this review for us from your perspective, I appreciate it.

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By in United States,

Great job, William!

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By in Netherlands,

William is a lucky guy!

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By in Netherlands,

Good review, William!

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By in United States,

Great review!

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By in United States,

Wonderful review William!

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By in Sweden,

I loved his reviews so much. It's not even a theme I'm interested in, but his perspective is worth the read every time.

Keep it up!

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By in United States,

I think it would be cool if LEGO made hermitcraft sets. I actually just want a jelly panda print!!

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By in United Kingdom,

Nice review. More good work from Wiliam. from his reviews, it seems the Minecraft line is perfectly pitched at its target audience.

I also now understand why all the heads of my models are detached whenever kids get near them.

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By in Belgium,

Good work on the review, nice to see the perspective of the target audience

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By in United Kingdom,

Love these reviews, please get William to do some more! I'd love to see his review and then one from CapnRex or Huw of the same set - just for comparison from different audiences.

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By in United States,

Fantastic review work William!

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By in Canada,

The return of the cursed circular Minecraft cake

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By in United Kingdom,

Excellent review!

I really like those pandas, they're genuinely cute

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By in France,

Excellent review. Future Brickset admin on sight?

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By in United States,

Great review, Wiliam. Maybe that's actually a pie, not a cake. As my Dad told me long, long ago, "Pi r round, cake r square".

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By in United States,

Did anyone else notice he is building 21244 in the final photo?

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By in United Kingdom,

@BillingsBrix said:
"Did anyone else notice he is building 21244 in the final photo?"

The subject of William's next review.

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By in Australia,

It seems like you're still getting plastic bags in your sets too. I've read about the paper ones making a few appearances on brickset and on the first page of a few 2023 instructions but never encountered them myself. Do you know if they have started putting them in already?

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By in United States,

@datsunrobbie said:
"Great review, Wiliam. Maybe that's actually a pie, not a cake. As my Dad told me long, long ago, "Pi r round, cake r square"."

You could say the cake is a lie...

(wrong video game franchise, I know)

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By in United States,

Excellent work again, William.

Any chance we'll see a Deep Dark Battle review from him, Huw? Curious to hear his thoughts, it's a great set.

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By in United States,

Keep those reviews coming, William!

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By in United States,

@ozbrickcreator: I know, I've bought a lot of sets since the initial announcement, and have yet to see a single paper bag. Maybe they should have waited to start hyping them up until they were, y'know ready to go? I'm beginning to wonder which I'll see first: Paper bags, or boxed CMFs.

@Murdoch17: That comment was a triumph. I'm making a note here: Huge Success.

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By in Germany,

Thanks for the excellent review as always. Looking forward to the Sword Outpost one.

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By in Netherlands,

@Murdoch17 said:
" @datsunrobbie said:
"Great review, Wiliam. Maybe that's actually a pie, not a cake. As my Dad told me long, long ago, "Pi r round, cake r square"."

You could say the cake is a lie...

(wrong video game franchise, I know)"


A fake is the pie.

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By in United Kingdom,

@ozbrickcreator said:
"It seems like you're still getting plastic bags in your sets too. I've read about the paper ones making a few appearances on brickset and on the first page of a few 2023 instructions but never encountered them myself. Do you know if they have started putting them in already?"

This is the only one we've found: https://brickset.com/article/86704/paper-bags-appearing-in-sets

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By in United Kingdom,

Great job William! Great to hear a review from the intended audience and one that is an experienced builder (as we can see from his organising bowls in the last photo)
Also from the last photo, not only does he get to build and review sets, he does so with a cup of tea AND a Capri-Sun.
Talk about living your best life

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By in United Kingdom,

"William diligently preparing a review while building..."
Not only an excellent reviewer, but also a future provider of much more convincing Lego 'lifestyle' photos!

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By in United Kingdom,

The exclusive jungle explorer figure looks female to me? Hopefully she/he will appear in future smaller sets with small brick built animals and scenery, as the giant brick-built Panda just makes the set expensive.

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By in United States,

I'm not interested in the Minecraft sets, but I always read William's reviews.

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