We Build LEGO Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots, a Plastic Homage to the Classic DreamWorks Movies

I can’t truly explicate to you wherefore I was truthful excited astir LEGO announcing a Shrek-themed set. It’s surely not the prettiest acceptable successful the world, but I grew up with the irreverent ogre. For amended oregon worse, the DreamWorks movies defined my consciousness of wit and, for a small while, my euphony taste. I conjecture gathering a integrative ceramic mentation of these iconic characters appealed to maine arsenic an homage to this impact. To beryllium honest, it was besides entertaining to archer radical I was “busy gathering Shrek.”

LEGO Shrek, Donkey, & Puss successful Boots retails for $129.99 and includes an awesome 1,403 pieces. It took maine a mates of days to build, or, much specifically, the magnitude of the archetypal 3 Shrek movies I did successful information ticker successful the background. Shrek-maxxing, if you will. It’s marked arsenic an 18+ acceptable intended for adults, and I’ll admit it was 1 of the much challenging builds I’ve done successful presumption of tiny and finicky details.

The gathering process starts you disconnected with the Puss successful Boots minifigure. I’ll get my somewhat analyzable feelings astir this 1 retired of the mode sooner alternatively than later. Puss successful Boots is 1 of those iconic characters you whitethorn person forgotten wasn’t adjacent successful the archetypal Shrek. Despite the framework of each 3 characters from Shrek 2 connected the beforehand of the box, the remainder of the set, arsenic we’ll get into, is intelligibly designed astir that archetypal movie.

I'm gladsome he's here, but I privation helium was bigger.

As such, the summation of Puss successful Boots arsenic a somewhat abstracted minifig feels a spot ‘tacked on.’ I’m jumping up of myself a spot here, but this feeling is compounded by the information that helium is so overmuch smaller than Shrek and Donkey. LEGO decidedly knows he’s a peculiarly fashionable quality (let’s beryllium honest, The Last Wish was amazing), and accurately assumed including him would pull his ain level of involvement successful the set. Part of maine conscionable wishes helium was a bigger portion of it.

That said, it’s inactive an awesome minifig. The lone flimsy disapproval I person is that the look doesn’t consciousness wholly similar Puss successful Boots, but I admit that’s a hard happening to execute with immoderate minifig. In this case, it’s the accessories that marque it work. Between his torso, leg, and caput pieces, you’ll spot a integrative process and a cloth cape. You besides get abstracted pieces for his sword and hat.

Once you person your minifig, find determination to support him safe, due to the fact that beauteous overmuch everything other successful this acceptable straight connects to each other. You physique from the crushed up, starting with a instauration made of writer and rocks with a small watercourse astatine the front. A tiny item you spot sooner alternatively than aboriginal is simply a frog successful the swamp. Is this a notation to Fiona’s dad? I don’t spot wherefore not.

Dad? Is that you?

Once you person immoderate semblance of a instauration to enactment from, you commencement gathering Donkey. Like astir LEGO sets, the gathering process follows a wide taxable of ‘colorful insides’ that you furniture the existent recognizable colors of the characters connected apical of. Most of Donkey is perfectly symmetrical, truthful you physique each broadside of his legs and assemblage successful sequence.

This adjacent signifier confused maine until I realized portion of what I was gathering wasn’t conscionable Donkey himself, but a stone instauration for his beforehand legs to basal on. I had to fiddle with a spot with the amazingly flexible achromatic legs to get the positioning right, but there’s plentifulness of abstraction to marque his airs look natural. Once you decorativeness those beforehand legs you tin connect the body, and you person a somewhat creepy headless Donkey.

The headless Donkey.

It shouldn’t beryllium excessively astonishing past that the adjacent signifier of the physique is Donkey’s head. His little jaw tin unfastened and close, revealing his monolithic teeth and a tongue, and his ears tin besides determination from broadside to side. Most importantly, there’s nary stickers! There’s really not a azygous sticker crossed the full physique - each of the details are printed straight onto prime pieces, redeeming you the hassle of painfully trying to enactment things up.

Before you determination connected to the existent ogre of the hour, you enactment connected a mates of smaller details that straight notation the archetypal film.

You commencement with a duo of sunflowers. I admit that the flowers are angled upwards toward the ‘sun,’ and you spot the stems into hinges you tin mode from broadside to side. You besides physique an adorable small onion, which you tin ideate has layers “just similar an ogre.” The operation of these pieces notation a country with Shrek and Donkey walking done a tract aft Lord Farquaad assigns them the quest to prevention Princess Fiona.

Onions are conscionable similar ogres.

Then, you physique a smaller bluish angiosperm with reddish thorns. Now, this one’s a spot of a funky reference. In the movie, Fiona sends Donkey to get this bluish and reddish angiosperm arsenic an excuse for immoderate unsocial clip with Shrek. Little does she cognize Donkey is colour blind, truthful helium ne'er really finds the flower. Nonetheless, the ceramic mentation of Donkey appears to person succeeded successful his quest.

There’s tiny slots for each of these smaller details to beryllium attached toward the backmost of the build, but you tin besides airs them with immoderate of the characters.

Then we statesman connected the ogre of the hour. I was amazed to find it was really a spot of a enigma what you’re gathering astatine immoderate fixed infinitesimal with Shrek. I lone recognized this series aft I completed it, but you commencement with the bottommost of his tunic and a ‘foundation’ for his torso earlier you commencement moving straight connected the ‘body.’

The tedious tunic.

One happening I noticed betwixt some Shrek and Donkey is that the ‘inside’ of their bodies usage predominantly reddish and pinkish bricks. This offers assortment (and clarity) successful accustomed LEGO tradition, but astatine times it makes the physique consciousness slightly… graphic. I cannot accidental whether that’s a bully oregon atrocious thing, but I bash deliberation it was intentional.

One of the astir tedious tasks successful the full physique is placing 22 one-slot circular pieces successful a perfectly symmetrical pattern, but I admit it does springiness Shrek’s tunic a good-looking texture. Shrek’s legs are really connected hinges that tin rotation successful a circle, but yet fastener into spot connected the set’s foundation.

Inside Shrek’s gut, you’ll spot different onion, arsenic good arsenic an eyeball and waffle. The eyeball is apt a nonstop notation to 1 of Shrek’s meals during the iconic ‘All Star’ montage. I tin lone retrieve waffles being referenced arsenic 1 of Donkey’s favourite foods, but I’ll admit it’s not wholly dissimilar Shrek to person eaten it for himself.

A look wrong an ogre's stomach.

I don’t person excessively overmuch to study astir the process of gathering Shrek’s face, but overmuch similar Donkey, his eyes and rima are printed straight onto their respective pieces. His ears (is that the close term?) tin wiggle backmost and forth, and I’ll springiness recognition to however the acceptable uses a assortment of curved pieces to make close proportions for his chemoreceptor and chin.

The last measurement was really gathering his arms and hands, and I'll admit I ne'er noticed until gathering this acceptable that Shrek lone has 4 fingers. On 1 of those hands, you connect a tiny grey portion that ends up connecting straight to an unfastened spot connected Donkey.

Now, this mightiness not substance excessively much, but the instructions archer you to enactment an armless Shrek into the instauration and past connect his arms. I repeatedly broke things erstwhile I tried to bash this, truthful I ended up attaching the arms first. Tiny detail, I know, but the consequences for maine were disastrous.

No stickers!

I finished things up with the ‘Beware Ogre’ motion (still nary stickers!) and immoderate smaller details astir the foundation, which, contempt referencing a mates of antithetic scenes, delineates the vibe that you’re successful Shrek’s swamp.

There’s a tiny wide portion utilized to person Puss beryllium connected Shrek’s enarthrosis similar successful the country referenced connected the beforehand of the box. I couldn’t fig retired a mode to marque this look cute (and kept breaking different pieces successful the meantime), truthful I judge my constituent astir ‘tacking on’ Puss inactive stands. Still a large minifig!

I'm atrocious I couldn't airs you amended Puss successful Boots.

What I bash emotion astir this acceptable is that it feels similar a existent statue. Some caller LEGO sets, similar the Animal Crossing sets oregon The Nightmare Before Christmas build, are much similar a postulation of abstracted tiny sets you person to manually portion unneurotic to display. While you tin detach Shrek and Donkey, some of which person a decent magnitude of mobility successful their caput and limbs, they’re fundamentally baked into the instauration successful specified a mode that makes the acceptable an casual show piece.

Now, however volition radical respond to maine having a alternatively ample mentation of Shrek and Donkey sitting successful my surviving country arsenic a decoration? I person to ideate it’ll beryllium a speech starter astatine the precise least. The world is, dissimilar sets similar the Botanical collection, there’s not overmuch that’s aesthetically appealing astir the acceptable extracurricular of its transportation to what I see 1 of the champion movie franchises. However, due to the fact that I bash emotion Shrek, I’m precise blessed showing him off. Let’s conscionable anticipation Shrek 5 doesn’t impact that consciousness of pride.