Getting a new mob in LEGO form and a strange new looking Steve in this set.

Mobs and Minifigure

The set includes a Baby Camel, a Phantom and a buck tooth Steve in fear of his life.

This is the first time we have got a Camel but in baby form during the release of the set. It's pretty accurate as they can get, using a new head/neck piece made for this mob.

As for the Phantom, they're a return since The Sky Tower, with a few changes, such as the inverted tile with hole to put in a pin for it to stand. But for some reason, they changed the colour of the bracket from dark blue to an inaccurate black. I don't understand why this has been done as the dark blue was still in use. Though it's understandable why this one isn't fully accurate, sense having accurate wings and/or the 3 printed tiles would raise the price of the set.

Steve, for some reason, has a strange new face for this set. Given a buck tooth and blue marking across his eyes, looking like he's in complete fear. Another difference between this Steve is the skin colour, being in nougat instead of light nougat. This is a little good, as Steve in the game never has a light skin tone.

Set

This expedition set is a small camp site, having simple builds, such as a campfire, a crafting bench and a tent. The tent is a simple build, using parts to represent fence and wool. If you don't want to take the top off, Steve can squeeze in from the front.

Though with the campfire, the description says that it is, but looks more like candles instead. If the white piece was changed to a wooden colour, it would have helped to be more like a campfire.

Around the camp we got a dead bush, a single slop of water and a new cactus. Though in a game you can't put anything on the side, I do like this new change to the cactus. Much thinner than the original design.

One last thing, Steve comes with an enchanted Axe which isn't common but hasn't been in any expensive sets.

Overall

This is a nice small set taking place in the desert, and good for anyone who needs some desert stuff for their Minecraft build, especially since you get a camel in it.

I recommend it, but if you're planning on getting multiples for the camel, be warned that you'll be getting multiple terrified Steve running around in your Minecraft build.

Steve's Desert Expedition is a 2024 Minecraft set that costs $13.99 CAD.

Minifigures:

This set includes one minifigure and 2 other figures. The included minifigure is Steve, the default protagonist of Minecraft, but with a new expression (a new concept introduced into the theme this year) and a more accurate, darker skintone than the last Steve figure which was used for the previous 9 years of the theme. It's great that we finally have a Steve figure with the right skin tone, but it is slightly irritating that it took until the themes 10th year to get it. It's also somewhat annoying that the new colour is limited to a face with a frightened expression (at least I think that's the emotion being portrayed) instead of a more versatile normal face. Steve wields an enchanted axe.

The next figure found in the set is a baby camel. These creatures are a fairly recent addition to the game's universe, added during the 1.20 update in 2023. This is a rather cute figure with a specialized head part with cute little ears and an accurate grumpy expression added on a 1x1 tile attached to the front of the head part.

The last figure in the set is a Phantom, a monster that attacks players who haven't slept in 3 or more nights (and a highly disliked creature within the Minecraft community). This figure looks good, and I like how you can move the wings, head, and tail to pose the figure, but I think this figure could be improved, as in the game the creature has a skeletal structure that can be seen on its wings, body and tail, whereas the figure has unprinted dark blue pieces instead. A transparent stand is included so that the Phantom can be displayed in a flying position, which is a very welcome inclusion l, and I think any set that depicts a flying thing should include a similar display stand (within reason of course, I don't think most UCS sets could be held by a simple transparent build)

The Build:

The build of the set is a small wool tarp held up by some fences in a desert scene. A crafting table is located in front of the shelter, as well as a small water stream and a dead bush. What I believe is supposed to be a campfire is located to the left in front of the tent, though it could also be a wooden slab with two candles placed on top of it, represented by a 1x2 rounded plate with 2 flames sticking out of it. A cactus is located to the left of the shelter, and is built using a new technique which looks good, but I wonder why the change occurred (a minor inaccurate detail is that the cactus is placed touching a block to its side, which in game is not possible)

Conclusion:

This is another great $14 dollar Minecraft set, with great figures and a lovely build, and there isn't even a pointless explosion play feature packed in this set, which is more than I can say for several other recent Minecraft sets. It is definitely worth the price.

Pros

New version of Steve
Good selection of characters
Good looking build

Cons

Lack of printing on the Phantom figure