Review: 21301 Birds
Posted by CapnRex101,
It was only fairly recently that LEGO Ideas announced that the Birds would become an official set along with The Big Bang Theory, but we have already been provided with a review copy by the CEE Team. 21301 Birds will be coming out on the 1st of January and will be priced at £39.99 or $44.99, containing 580-pieces.
I was surprised to hear that the price was as high as it was before images were revealed a couple of weeks ago, but now that I own the set I think the cost is justified. Three fairly substantial models are included, and all three look great, although the Robin is by far my favourite personally, probably because we often see these flying around here in the UK at this time of year.
Box and Contents
This box matches the rest of the LEGO Ideas sets as it is made of a thicker cardboard than the standard box and opens at the front using flaps. The wooden design on the front and back looks brilliant and the natural theme of the set continues with some foliage printed behind the images of each model. The back of the box shows a map of the world with annotations to show where one might find examples of the birds included in reality and there are also shots of them in the wild which looks brilliant.
Inside are three instruction manuals and three numbered bags, one for each bird. There are interviews with the original designer, Thomas Poulsom, and details about each of the birds printed in multiple languages situated before the actual instructions in each booklet which are nice additions.
In his interview, Thomas discusses how he was initially inspired to construct a robin from LEGO when he observed one landing on a spade and how he hopes to continue building birds like these as well as some more exotic and even extinct species!
The Build
The build begins with the Robin, construction of which is not dissimilar to one of Chris McVeigh's famous spheres. All three models are absolutely laden with SNOT building techniques, but this one more than any other, with construction going in six different directions!
Once you have built the central section of the Robin, brown, red, grey and white plates are added to cover this. Initially these patches of colour appear rather haphazard but when the model is complete they look fantastic and achieve exactly the natural appearance one would hope for.
Construction of the Blue Jay is much like the Robin, with a central block of brackets, hinges and ball joints to which the panels visible from the outside are then attached. This build is a little more varied as not all of this bird is built horizontally or vertically unlike the Robin, where curves are formed simply by 'stepping' the plates.
Although this is a fairly entertaining build as a whole, the repeated addition of 1x1 plates to form the neck of the Blue Jay is rather dull. However, there can be no argument that the results looks excellent and are well worth the effort.
The third and final bird to be built is the Hummingbird. This is undoubtedly my least favourite of the three and construction is simplest for this model too. The entire body of the Hummingbird is built upside down with only the head the right way up, although even that makes use of SNOT techniques to create such a condensed but detailed design.
The flower too is not a particularly interesting build, although those dark green tentacle pieces make for an effective stem. This is a common technique in MOCs but I have not seen it in an official set before, and it may be new to some builders.
The Completed Model
All three models have their charms and they capture the subject matter nicely, but for me the Robin and Blue Jay are far superior to the Hummingbird as they look better on display. The colour scheme works well for each of them but the Robin is my favourite as the bold blocks of colour contrast nicely with one another, yielding an eye-catching display model.
The Latin terms for each bird are printed on a black 2x4 tile fitted to a display base for the models, a feature which further improves their displayability. The stand for the Blue Jay could do with some improvement as it looks a little plain with a simple light bluish grey axle piece, although this is an easy fix if you are not keen on it.
The Hummingbird lacks the detail of the others, predominantly on account of its smaller size. The shape of the bird has nevertheless been captured fairly well as far as I can tell and the addition of a flower adds to the display value. The stepped construction used for the wings looks slightly awkward from some angles but to me it seems to suggest the quick, fluttering wings which Hummingbirds are well known for, so although this is a simple technique it works rather nicely.
Overall
This is purely a set for display, and it fulfills that role brilliantly. I have no complaints regarding the appearance of the Robin or the Blue Jay, and even the Hummingbird features a good level of detail. The value for money is certainly there as although the models are quite small, all three are densely packed with pieces.
My only significant criticism would be for the Hummingbird, which looks a little bit strange beside the other, much larger birds included. The flower is a nice addition but I still do not think it quite matches the excellence of the Robin and Blue Jay, leaving me slightly disappointed with it.
For adults this set is going to be a winner, and it would of course make a great gift for any birdwatcher. Few models are as liable to provoke interest from non-LEGO fans as these and I imagine this set could bring many new fans to the hobby.
Many thanks to the LEGO Community Engagements and Events team for providing the set for review.
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17 comments on this article
I wanted to like this to buy it , but I really only like the blue jay. It's really good also , but I would much rather have a sharks set like this , with a hammerhead , great white and a whale shark. Most likely id end up buying two sets to put in each of my Lego areas. I don't think it would happen though.
Maybe though theyd make the sharks from finding nemo or Bruce from jaws?
Looks like a fantastic display set! Thanks for the details and photos in your review.
Hope they introduce more bird sets. All three models look great to me. But I guess that many sets will be broken up and models of just one bird will be sold to folks who like only that one.
It is cool to watch and listen to birds outside. Very calming. Maybe this feeling will accompany the LEGO displays inside.
Cool to see the techniques used here. I didn't know the American robin was so different from the European one.
Gonna grab this one. Looks really great. Read the review on EuroBricks as well and I am persuaded to get this - just hope I can afford it! :-)
I hope they have this in stock two weeks into 2015 (that's when 2nd lot of student finance comes in)
The set doesn't interest me all that much, Although the blue Jay is pretty nice, as i see them often.
Looks interesting. I don't mind looking/listening at/to birds, but I don't know if I need to display any in my home.
I'd prefer more of a dark orange color on the Robin. That would have been neat. Especially with the picture they provided. I may pick it up, I may not. We'll see. I've been pretty hit/miss with the IDEAS sets so far. But they seem to be selling well since they are always sold out.
Great pictures. These models look so damn good. If ever there were a model that one would not be "ashamed" to display publicly (as if), this would be the one. This is really the heart and soul of what LEGO is.
Big Bang Theory can go to places where bad things go.
Great review, but what is the meaning of: SNOT (not trying to sound ignorant).
I think the hummingbird model suffers from being combined with the other two birds. Seen alone, it is quite effective, although highly stylized; seen beside the Blue Jay (which, even more than the Robin, is a very detailed rendition of a complicated shape) it looks crude. I wonder how it would look if the wings were made of trans-black pieces with trans-green at the top and/or bottom?
Now that I'll have the instructions for these models I look forward to buying pieces in other colors and trying my hand at some of the other birds that were featured in the original Cuusoo presentation! In particular, there were a fine Cardinal and an excellent American Robin in the North American series that I'd love to try and build. Even though the Blue Jay was the obvious choice to put in the final submission, I'd love to have the two Robins sitting side-by-side....
Someday I hope Mr. Poulsom will make instructions available for more of his beautiful models, whether through Lego (despite the current rules about Ideas sets) or privately. Surely people who aren't from Britain or the U.S. will want to build the birds they know and love most--and I know I'd enjoy having more of his beautifully colored Tropical birds as well!
@Lordmoral, SNOT==Studs Not On Top, meaning building in more than one direction (sideways and down instead of just up).
Haven't paid much attention to Cuusoo/Ideas/Whatever lately, but I'm glad to see this set has FINALLY made it through. Feels like a lifetime ago that I supported it. The hopeless idealist in me hopes that we get more of this sort of set and less bland licenced sets in the future.
@sklamb, thanks for the answer.
Just the excuse I needed to build a Lego slingshot! Haha
Looks good. I'll assume a $54.99 CDN price on it too.
40 quid seems a lot, but this is a rather special set and unlike anything else. I'll probably get one if they are available for a while. Not like the Mars rover, which I loved the look of but missed out on as it was sold out rather quickly.
I'm not a fan of these. From what I can tell the models are not to scale - so miss a crucial part of the "educational" element for younger builders. IMHO the lack of scale will also create a problem for AFOLs wanting to display these too. Finally, the lack of detail will limit the appeal to ornithologists.
However I'll watch this set with interest. I was initially skeptical about Mixels too, and am now an obsessive collector, so what do I know ;-)
@LordMoral - SNOT = Studs Not On Top
(There is a good LEGO glossary of terms in the first issue of Blocks if you can get hold of it where you are)