LEGO® Brickheadz review: 40420 Gru & 40421 Belle Bottom

TobyMac (@efraimaspie) examines 2 new LEGO® BrickHeadz sets which are available from today: 40420 Gru & 40421 Belle Bottom. Buying these Minions sets? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop, for other countries 'Change Region'. The products in this article were provided for free by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

Minions… annoying little yellow figures that speak some weird language. I can’t say I’m a fan of them popping up everywhere. But, they do give us some neat LEGO® sets with new, interesting elements. Last year, 5 sets were announced, with only 2 released because the movie Minions: Rise of Gru is delayed. Tim Johnson has already taken a look at 75551 Brick Built Minions and Their Lair & 75549 Unstoppable Bike Chase, looking at both the new moulds and the figures and recolours. The other 3 sets are supposed to be released in June this year. But before we can get our hands on those, LEGO is going to release 2 other Minions-related sets, in the form of 40420 Gru & 40421 Belle Bottom BrickHeadz, and today we’ll be taking a look at them.

Both sets consist of 3 BrickHeadz figures: a human character, and 2 Minions.

Parts in LEGO 40420 Gru

The 40420 Gru comes with a total of 243 parts. For a set that contains 2 Minions, there are surprisingly few yellow parts.

We do get a large number of SNOT bricks: 7 different elements, 47 in total.

There are no new moulds in this set, and only 1 recolour: the plate 3 x 3 appears for the first time in Bright Blue/ Blue (6307275 | 11212), which surprised me a bit. I could swear I’ve seen this one before. We find only 1 piece of this new element.

There are a couple of nice prints to be found in the set. In the first column above:

• 1x Plate 1 x 3 with 8 Black Stripes/Hairs print in Yellow (6309042)
• 1x Plate 1 x 3 with Black Jeans Pocket print in Blue (6309057)
• 1x Plate 1 x 4 with Black Jeans Pocket print in Blue (6311387)
• 1x Plate 1 x 4 with White Shape print in Earth Blue/ Dark Blue (6309041)

In the second column:

• 1x Tile Round 2 x 2 with print in Warm Gold/ Pearl Gold (6309053). I’m not sure what the print is. I assume you’ll have to watch the movie to find out? But this design will easily fit into any MOC.
• 3x Tile Round 2 x 2 with Brickheadz Eye print in Dark Stone Grey / Dark Bluish Gray (6313877), also appearing in 40420.

Other than these, there are no interesting parts to be found.

Parts in BrickHeadz 40421 Belle Bottom

The 40421 Belle Bottom comes with 309 parts. Again, not much Yellow, but there is a great mixture of Medium Lilac/ Dark Purple and Bright Reddish Violet/ Magenta.

In this set, also, no new moulds. But there is an interesting recolour: the Plate Special 2 x 2 x 0.667 with Two Studs On Side and Two Raised appears in Medium Lilac/ Dark Purple (6307235|99206) for the first time. We get 4 of this element. Brackets in new colours are always welcome.

There are 4 new prints to be found:

• 2x Tile 1 x 3 with Silver Triangle print in Flame Yellowish Orange/ Bright Light Orange (6311136)
• 4x (plus a spare) Tile 1 x 1 with Black Line print in Flame Yellowish Orange/ Bright Light Orange (6309068)
• 1x Brick 1 x 2 with Gold Chains print in Medium Lavender (6309069)
• And, not in the photo: 4x Tile Round 2 x 2 with Brickheadz Eye print in Dark Stone Grey / Dark Bluish Gray (6313877), also found in 40420.

There are 2 rare elements in the set:

•  2x Plate 3 x 3 in Bright Light Orange (6294582 | 11212), previously found in 3 other sets
• 4 x Plate Special 1 x 3 with 2 Studs with Groove and Inside Stud Holder (Jumper) in Bright Light Orange (6307254 | 34103). I’ve mentioned this element previously, in my review of 40442 Goldfish. There, I wondered why they didn’t pick Bright Orange/ Orange for this part, like the rest of the goldfish. Since then, this element has appeared in Bright Light Orange in 3 other sets. So my guess back then seems to be correct: this element was already introduced, and using the part in Orange would require a new element introduction.

Building the Gru, Stuart and Otto BrickHeadz

We start with the human, Gru. In the chest is a nice technique where not all bricks are connected to studs on the underside. 

The scarf is a great minimalistic detail. The head is a bit standard, made out of a large SNOT cube.

Next are the minions Stuart and Otto. And how do I say this nicely? They are boring to build. Just a SNOT cube with a couple of tiles slapped on the sides. I know, the real-life Minions (can you call an animated figure that?) are also just a basic shape. But this is just too simple.

Building the Belle Bottom, Bob and Kevin BrickHeadz

Belle Bottom has a great colour scheme going on. In terms of its build, this offers a bit more than Gru, especially the hair. It’s both BrickHeadz-square and round at the same time.

Next are minions Bob and Kevin. Like in 40420 Gru, these are very standard and simply boring to build.

Conclusion

I’m torn on these sets. One the plus side: the end result is very nice looking. If you are a fan of the franchise, you’ll easily find a place to display the figures.

On the down side: they are just too simple and boring to build. The human BrickHeadz are okay, but just pass the bar. The Minions look nice, but there is just nothing interesting in the build. This might be because the target audience for the movies is little kids, who will have fun with the build. But for anyone older, it just falls flat.

Looking at the sets from a New Elementary perspective; both sets are loaded with SNOT bricks, but most BrickHeadz are rare, so there are plenty of ways to find them.40420 comes with a recolour of the  3 x 3 plate in Blue, but there is only 1 in the set. 40421 has a nice selection of Magenta and Dark Purple, but none are really rare, except for the Plate Special 2 x 2 x 0.667 with Two Studs On Side and Two Raised in Dark Purple. 

All things considered: a decent set for the target audience but as a MOC-feeder, there is little special to be found warranting the purchase, since all recolours come in low quantities. You’ll probably be better off at Bricks & Pieces. If you do buy the sets, or individual parts, from LEGO.com consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop (for other countries 'Change Region'). 

Since I have little MOC talent myself, I focus on collecting LEGO pieces. One big plus in 40421 Belle Bottom for me: I can add another item to my collection of 1x1 tiles!

READ MORE: We challenged Simon Liu to use LEGO Art 31200 The Sith as seed parts

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