LEGO® DOTS Review: the Bracelet sets

The latest theme from everyone's favourite Danish toy manufacturer is a creative, crafty experience called LEGO® DOTS. We recently published articles about the Dots launch event in London and the actual bracelet strap element, but we were also keen to look at the five sets that make up the range of Dots bracelets: 41900 Rainbow, 41901 Funky Animals, 41902 Sparkly Unicorn, 41903 Cosmic Wonder and 41912 Love Birds.



The LEGO Dots bracelets are now available to buy for £4.99 / $4.99 / 5.99€ per pack from LEGO online and in store of course, but also at a wide range of toy stores and retailers. No need to panic buy them yet: despite some LEGO sites showing some Dots sets to be temporarily out of stock, there are plenty of other options.
The Dots bracelet sets are all supplied in a colourful recyclable plastic packet, adorned with a picture of a female child striking a pose and the tagline 'Create your own designs'.  If these products are intended to be gender neutral, then there are some boys missing from the packaging!  I have to admit that I am a bit surprised and perhaps even disappointed. Are these really just for girls??

©2020 LEGO Group

I eventually managed to spot two boys in the marketing and promotional images on the LEGO website; I imagine there may be more in marketing videos too but I haven't taken my search further.

What's inside the LEGO DOTS Bracelet sets?

Inside the bag is a bracelet strap attached to a strip of backing card and a small bag of decorative 1x1 elements. The one shown above is the Black version with the decorative elements contained within 41903 Cosmic Wonder. Each packet states the parts count to be 33 but there are quite a few spares supplied, in fact each set had 40 or 41 decorative elements inside. There are no instructions and no stickers: this time individual creativity is the whole point of these sets!

New Elements in LEGO DOTS Bracelets

There are two new elements which are new moulds in the theme. The first is the bracelet strap (Design ID 66821) which comes in Black, Bright Bluish Green/ Dark Turquoise, Medium Azure,  Medium Lavender and Bright Purple/ Dark Pink. As mentioned, we have already taken an in-depth look at the geometry and potential connectivity of Dots Bracelet Strap (Design ID 66821).



The second new element is the Gem in Transparent with Opalescence/ Trans-Clear Satin (Design Plate, 1X1X2/3, No.3 - 6287309| 65092). A new element AND a new colour! A closer look at the underside reveals the Design ID which we previously did not know. This closeup also give a nice view of the glittery sparkle of this new effect though!

The Gem element only seems to be available in Transparent with Opalescence in this first wave of products but it seems there are likely to be more variations in future products: the Dots designer video (see below) showed what seems to be Transparent Bright Bluish Violet / Trans-Purple and possibly also Transparent Bright Bluish Violet with Opalescence / Trans-Purple Satin, while the products seen at the launch event showed another different shade which was possibly a prototype of the Transparent with Opalescence or more likely Transparent Brown with Opalescence/ Trans-Black Satin.

©2020 LEGO Group

If we compare the height of the octagonal Gem element, you can see that while it stands higher than the 1x1 Round tile, it doesn't quite match the height of the 1x1 plate including the stud.

New colours of existing pieces

There's a lovely spectrum of 1/4 Circle tiles included across the five bracelet sets, but only two are new colours.



1/4  Circle Tile 1X1,  No. 17 in Silver Ink/Metallic Silver (6294879|67173) appears in 41905 Jewellery Holder and 41902 Sparkly Unicorn.

1/4 Circle Tile 1X1 in Lavender (6240465|25269) appears in two bracelet sets: 41902 Sparkly Unicorn and 41903 Cosmic Wonder. They also appear in further Dots sets: 41904 Picture Holders and 41905 Jewellery Holder and the promotional Gift-with-Purchase 30556 Mini Frame Set.

New printed pieces in LEGO DOTS bracelets

There are new printed elements in every set so I thought it would be easier to knoll the sets so you can see which sets contain which element and in what amount, rather than one long list.



The other two printed rainbow tiles, 1x1 Tile with Rainbow (6253635) and 1x1 Tile with Rainbow Cloud (6254609), both appeared in 21045 Trafalgar Square released last year.

LEGO Dots 41900 Rainbow

LEGO Dots 41900 Rainbow has Bracelet in Medium Azure and only one other new element: 1/4 Tile with Rainbow in White (6253632|48271).

LEGO Dots 41901 Funky Animals

LEGO Dots 41901 Funky Animals has Bracelet in Bright Purple/Dark Pink (6300084|66821) and contains the following new elements:

• Tile 1x1 Cat in Light Purple/Bright Pink (Flat Tile 1X1, No. 193 - 6253676) 
• Tile 1x1 Rabbit in Light Purple/Bright Pink (Flat Tile 1X1, No. 194 - 6253680)
• Round Tile 1x1 with Paw in Print Bright Reddish Violet print on White (Flat Tile 1X1, Round, No. 106 - 6287766)

LEGO Dots 41902 Sparkly Unicorn

LEGO Dots 41902 Sparkly Unicorn has Bracelet in Lavender with the following NEW elements:

• Tile 1x1 Unicorn Print in Bright Bluish Green (6253790)
• Tile 1x1 Curl in Bright Bluish Green (6253837)
• 1/4 Circle Tile Stars Print in Black (6254613)
• 1/4 Circle Tile 1X1, No. 17 in Silver Ink/Metallic Silver (6294879|67173)
• 1/4 Circle Tile 1X1 in Lavender (6240465|25269)

LEGO Dots 41903 Cosmic Wonder 

LEGO Dots 41903 Cosmic Wonder has the Bracelet in Black and the following new elements:

• Gem 1x1 in Trans Opalescence (6287309|65092)
• Round Tile 1x1 with Planet in Light Aqua (Element ID not known)
• 1/4 Circle Tile with Shooting Star in Bright Bluish Green (6299225)
• 1/4 Circle Tile with Star Dust in Bright Bluish Green (6299160)
• 1/4 Circle Tile 1X1 in Lavender (6240465|25269)

LEGO Dots 41912 Love Birds

LEGO Dots 41912 Love Birds has Bracelet in Bright Bluish Green (6300089|66821) and the following new elements:

• 1/4 Circle Tile with Stylised Eye in White (6299151)
• 1/4 Tile with Feathers in Cool Yellow (6299157)
• 1x1 Round Tile with Split Heart in Spring Yellowish Green (Element ID unknown)

Dotting, not building

Normally at this point I would build the set by following the instructions and perhaps focus on the use of new elements or interesting techniques. I usually try to be methodical, but two things happened with the LEGO Dots bracelets. Firstly, there are no instructions so the aim is just to get creative and enjoy designing your own bracelets. Secondly, my three-year-old twins came into my LEGO room and immediately wanted to build bracelets to wear.

I had separated the elements according to their set for six Dots bracelets in the smaller sections of the plastic container and then there were a few packets of 41908 Extra Dots Series 1 emptied into the larger section on the right. Clearly my organised taxonomy became rather academic when the twins began 'dotting', although Carmen was very focused on the unicorn tiles and so was fiercely guarding the section with all the elements from 41902 Sparkly Unicorn.

Harry was happy to pick a mixed selection from all of the sections and became very focused on placing a tile on every stud. He continued to do this for five bracelets in total and then insisted on wearing them all for the rest of the day (and night, until I removed them for photographing once he fell asleep).



They both thought the Rainbow Poo tile was hilarious, especially Harry, but I suspect that is because he thinks the word poo is quite comical in general. Which is true.



We made seven bracelets in total and I hope you will be able to spot my single effort amongst the six my three-year-olds made!

They turn four in May so are actually very capable at connecting simple System elements, plus these single studs seemed easy even for small fingers. Obviously the 1/4 Circle tiles require a little more positioning if you want to attach a tile to every single stud, but I only had to demonstrate making a circle once for them to catch on.

My effort combined the printed rainbow elements from 41900 Rainbow along with the 1x1 Round Tile in Transparent Light Blue with Glitter (6299918|35380) which is from 41908 Extra Dots Series 1 plus Gem 1x1 in Transparent with Opalescence (6287309|65092) from 41903 Cosmic Wonder, all positioned on the Bracelet in Bright Bluish Green (6300089|68821) from 41912 Love Birds.

Should you buy the LEGO DOTS Bracelets sets?

These are pocket money sets that are attractively marketed to capture the creative attention of children who enjoy arts, crafts and accessorising. While they have a guideline age mark of 6+, there is a slightly younger demographic who also spend a lot of time doing arts and crafts. These youngsters have often not yet been fully brainwashed by the notion of girly/boyish toys and hopefully don't care that a girl is pictured on every packet. I feel that the Rainbow bracelet could definitely have had a boy on the packet; there's one on the webpage.

Packaging aside, these are fun and the Dots concept is a great idea.  There's a lot of enjoyment to be had letting your creative juices flow and playing with the colours and pattens. The bracelets seemed well designed to me and the 16cm fitting was perfect for my 3 year olds with the 19cm perfect for me. We have no adult males in the house to test but I imagine the bracelets will be too small for many AFOL wrists. As our bracelet article explained, the maximum possible circumference is 20cm, so measure yourself before you purchase.

We all know that 1x1 elements are the most common to have a few extras added into sets so I imagine the average family who have already purchased a few LEGO sets will be able to find further elements to utilise as decorative elements, without buying more of the actual Dots sets or pulling apart built sets. With the Dots range being reasonably priced, I can imagine fans growing their collections quite rapidly.

As someone who likes colours, the designs have been well thought out and I can see the new printed tiles appearing in MOCs giving a great reason to buy a few packs to play with or simple use as parts packs for your own building enjoyment. Such fun!

READ MORE: LEGO® Disney Storybook Adventures: all the new and recoloured pieces, and there are a lot

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