Brickheadz 41597 Go Brick Me

The LEGO® Brickheadz theme seems to have been a huge success for The LEGO Group. We sent a copy of 41597 Go Brick Me to Chris McVeigh and asked him to... er... go brick himself.

41597 Go Brick Me asks you to build yourself as a BrickHeadz. It’s the best kind of LEGO set; one that provides structure through a branching building guide, but ultimately nudges you outside the lines. The template for your BrickHeadz is you, and that means the end result is always unique.

The set includes enough parts to create two BrickHeadz. An assortment of Brick Yellow [TLG] / Tan [BL], Medium Nougat [TLG] / Medium Dark Flesh [BL], and Reddish Brown bricks are provided for skin tones, and you can create your character’s hair with Black, Reddish Brown, Bright Yellow [TLG] / Yellow [BL], and Bright Orange [TLG] / Orange [BL]. (Dark Brown and Dark Orange hair options would have been great, but in terms of broad strokes, the other colours certainly work.) A selection of brightly coloured bricks are included for clothing, and you can accessorize your character with fun parts like a camera, microphone, trophy, or guitar.

As with many new LEGO sets, Go Brick Me includes a number of new parts and notable recolours (particularly if you’re a fan of Medium Nougat). Let’s take a look at those now.

Glasses Elements

Square: Element ID 6208551 | Design ID 35366
Round: Element ID 6208550 | Design ID 35365

Go Brick Me introduces two entirely new parts: Lattice 3X6, W/ 3.2 Shaft, No. 1 [TLG] / BrickHeadz Glasses Round [BL] and Lattice 2X6, W/ 3.2 Shaft, No. 1 [TLG] / BrickHeadz Glasses Square. The set includes only one of each, in Black.

Although the frames are markedly different shapes, the parts are still quite similar: 5.25 bricks wide by 2.25 bricks tall, with a single inverted stud connection on the underside.

Because the rims are the standard size of a bar/shaft (3.18mm), you can attach any compatible clip/holder to the frame. However, this is also where the elements diverge. The round frames have an inner ridge that locks a clip/holder parallel to the frame...

...while the square frames let a clip/holder rotate freely.

This makes it possible to add arms to the square glasses.

Brick-built solutions for glasses at this small scale are clunky and chunky, so these new frames address a building challenge while adding to BrickHeadz’ distinctive look. The element design is also basic enough that builders can certainly find other creative uses for the frames. And they’ll soon be available in greater numbers now that they’re slated to appear in licensed BrickHeadz like Harry Potter.

Recolours and Rare Parts

Exclusive to this set are 1/4 Circle Tiles in Bright Yellow (Element ID 6172383 | Design ID 25269); you’ll also find them in Bright Orange (6173925), Black (6172383), and the still relatively rare Reddish Brown (6149677). The set provides eight of each, and they’re primarily used to give definition to your character’s hair or shape his beard.

Go Brick Me also comes with a complement of Plate 2X2, Corner, 45 Deg (Design ID 26601). It’s new in Bright Orange (6218367), and the set also includes the part in Black (6174243), Reddish Brown (6218366), and Bright Yellow (6195184), all of which are relatively rare. As with the 1/4 Circle Tile, these small wedge plates are primarily used to shape your character’s hair. Two of each colour are included.

Another new part in Bright Orange is Angular Plate 1.5 Bot. 1x2 1/2 (6218368 | 99780). Two of these half-size brackets are included and can be used to change the direction of studs in the hair/beard. (And like other parts mentioned in this section, you’ll also find them in Black, Reddish Brown, and Bright Yellow.)

Medium Nougat Comes of Age

In order to effectively represent medium skin tones, Go Brick Me includes a robust selection of new parts in Medium Nougat [TLG] / Medium Dark Flesh [BL]. It’s somewhat of a milestone for the colour; in order to understand why, let’s take a look back.

Medium Nougat was introduced in April 2010 in LEGO Prince of Persia sets like 7573 Battle of Alamut, and later that year, it appeared again in LEGO Harry Potter 4837 Hagrid’s Hut, 4840 The Burrow, and Creator Expert 10216 Winter Village Bakery. These sets included many bricks, slopes, and arches in Medium Nougat, but one class of part was curiously absent: basic plates.

Like what we do here at New E? Throw a few quid our way! It'll help us bring you extra posts from Denmark

At this point in LEGO history, a new brick colour was quite exciting. Dark Brown had been introduced in 2008 with a selection of bricks, plates, and slopes, but it had limited application. As a brighter, richer colour, Medium Nougat had plenty of potential for use in buildings, furniture, terrain, and food. And so many builders waited patiently for plates.

And it would be a long wait. Over the course of the next six years, only two basic plates would be produced in Medium Nougat. Plate 2x2 (6056383 | 3022) arrived in late 2013 with Friends 41039 Sunshine Ranch; in 2016, Plate 8x8 (6133486 | 41539) appeared in LEGO Minecraft 21124 The End Portal and 21125 The Jungle Tree House.

The nougat started to flow a little faster in 2017. The LEGO Batman Movie 70904 Clayface Splat Attack arrived in January with a sizeable amount of recolours in Medium Nougat, including curved slopes, modified plates, and round plates. Still, the set provided just one new basic plate in Medium Nougat: Plate 2x2 Corner (6177535 | 2420). February brought Plate 6x6 (6162899 | 3958) in LEGO Minecraft 21131 The Ice Spikes and 21133 The Witch Hut, and September 2017 saw Plate 1x4 (6167700 | 3710) debut in 21310 Old Fishing Store.

In the seven years since the debut of Medium Nougat, other new colours like Medium Lavender, Medium Azure, Olive Green, and Aqua [TLG] / Light Aqua [BL] have been introduced, all of which would get a basic complement of plates relatively quickly. And yet by the end of 2017, Medium Nougat still lacked the most basic of plates: 1x1, 1x2, and 2x4.

TLG has clearly sought to redress this imbalance in 2018. January’s Justice League BrickHeadz brought us Plate 1x1 (6215606 | 3024) in Medium Nougat, and April saw the introduction of Plate 1x2 (6218360 | 3023) and Plate 2x4 (6093494 | 3020) in 41579: Go Brick Me (and other BrickHeadz).

And really, Go Brick Me is a treasure trove of Medium Nougat. New and exclusive to this set are 3X Plate 1x4 W. 2 Knobs (6218363 | 92593) and 4X Flat Tile 2x4 (6218359 | 87079).

Other new elements include 2X Plate 1x2 W/1 Knob (6218364 | 15573), 4X Roof Tile 1x2x2/3 (6218358 | 85984), and 4X Plate 1x2 W. 1 Horizontal Snap (6218361 | 11476), which can all be found in BrickHeadz 41609: Chewbacca, too. And there’s the aforementioned basic plates, including 4X Plate 1x1; 4X Plate 1x2, 2X Plate 2x2, and 4X Plate 2x4.

Go Brick Yourself

Go Brick Me is a brilliant set that encourages creativity, and happily, it includes enough new elements to intrigue part enthusiasts. So treat yourself to this set the next time you’re out – you deserve a little me time.

READ MORE: Shanghai becomes magenta turtles in the hands of Peter Reid

If you enjoy New Elementary and want to help us continue to create articles like this, consider supporting our GoFundMe campaign.

You can even help us by doing what you perhaps do already - buying Go Brick Me or anything else from Amazon USA: Amazon.com Canada: Amazon.ca UK: Amazon.co.uk Deutschland: Amazon.de

Products mentioned in this post were kindly supplied by the LEGO Group. All content represents the opinions of New Elementary authors and not the LEGO Group. All text and images are © New Elementary unless otherwise attributed.