LEGO® DREAMZzz™ review: 71459 Stable of Dream Creatures

Even characters in action & adventure themes need a day off to relax. 71459 Stable of Dream Creatures offers such a setting from the boisterous madness that is the LEGO® DREAMZzz™theme.

There are no bad guys featured in this set and the only weapon is a wood-chopping axe. But beyond that, is it a good set and does it have interesting pieces? Let's take a look.

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
LEGO® DREAMZzz™ 71459 Stable of Dream Creatures
US$79.99/ £74.99/ 84.99€/ AU$139.99
681 parts
1 August 2023
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Interesting parts

New moulds

• 3 x Palm Leaf, Smooth in Tan (6450637 | 3565)
• 4 x Palm Leaf, Smooth in Bright Bluish Green/ Dark Turquoise (6449584 | 3565)

The smooth palm or banana leaf appear here in two unusual colours. I'd like to have one in Red eventually for a tongue!

• 4 x Diddy Tail in Lime (6453008 | 1897)

Diddy's tail is another new piece with an exciting, organic shape. The moulding holes are unsightly though. 

• 2 x Splat 3 x 14 with Bright Green Center in Trans-Bright Green (6430885 | 1995)

The Splat is the signature part of the LEGO DREAMZzz theme. The green one is relatively rare, appearing only here and in 71454 Mateo and Z-Blob the Robot. See our analysis on these parts in our LEGO DREAMZzz parts introduction article.

New recolours

• 1 x Equipment Hourglass with Pearl Gold Sand in Trans-Clear (6440804)

This piece appears in almost every set of the theme.

New prints

• 1 x Tile, Round 2 x 2 with Dreamcatchers logo in Bright Light Orange (6434197)
• 1 x Brick Round 3 x 3 Dome with Center Stud with Cat Face Print in Lime (6434232)
• 2 x Slope Curved 2 x 1 No Studs with Dream Creature Eye Print in Lime (6453592)
• 2 x Dish 3 x 3 Inverted with Medium Azure Spots Print in Dark Purple (6434211)

The Dream Creature eye print is unique to this set and has a strong resemblance to  LEGO® Elves creature prints. It's cool to see this on a printed curved slope, in contrast to Zoey's bird in 71457 Pegasus Flying Horse, which utilized stickers for eyes. They're symmetrical, so only one print ID is needed for two eyes.

Rare parts

• 2 x Bracket 1 x 2 - 2 x 2 in Bright Green (6424626 | 21712) - also in 41732 Downtown Flower and Design Stores
• 1 x Windscreen 3 x 6 x 1 Curved with Rectangular Stud Holder in Bottom in Flame Yellowish Orange/ Bright Light Orange (6418392 | 35299) - also in 60385 Construction Digger
• 2 x Brick Round 1 x 1 diameter Tube with 90 Degree Elbow (2 x 2 x 1) and Axle Holes (Crossholes) at each end in Lime (6327441 | 25214) - in 2 other sets
• 1 x Brick Round 2 x 2 D. Tube with 45° Elbow and Axle Holes (Crossholes) at each end in Lime (6396999 | 65473) - also in 60313 Space Ride Amusement Truck
•  1 x Door 1 x 4 x 6 Round Top with Window and Keyhole, Reinforced Edge in Bright Bluish Green/ Dark Turquoise (6376311 | 64390) - also in 43202-1 The Madrigal House
• 2 x Technic Cam in Reddish Brown (6404660 | 6575) - in 2 other sets

Macaroni tubes, big and small, are very useful in creature and character builds so it's nice to see these rare varieties here. Reddish Brown cam are something I would have craved for as a LEGO® BIONICLE®-building kid, and they're still useful with more friction than back in 2010 due to an updated mould. 

The Bright Green bracket is easy to miss as the colour is not particularly popular among adult fans. The Dark Turquoise door is nice I guess, but not very easy to re-use. The Bright Light Orange windscreen makes me happy though with its unique and elegant shape.

• 2 x Brick Arch 1 x 6 Raised Arch in Aqua/ Light Aqua (6287497 | 92950) - also in 43218 Anna and Elsa's Magical Carousel
• 1 x Plate Special 1 x 1 Rounded with Handle in Flame Yellowish Orange/ Bright Light Orange (6442899 | 26047) - also in 41737 Beach Amusement Park

This set is similar to the LEGO Elves theme, and these rare parts too hark back to mini-doll themes. More colours for the rounded handle plate are always welcome.

Sticker sheet

The set features a moderate number of stickers; I applied some of them. The boards are cute, but not a necessity for the set. I'm generally not fun of stickers featuring designs that could be built - the vines here being a perfect example. The rug is very nice though. The Cat Cactus sticker is cute too - only I think it would have been more useful on a white background. Here it is to be applied on the Dark Turquoise piece, making it harder to incorporate into your own models.

Here's the official image of the set with the stickers:

©2023 The LEGO Group

Minifigures and Co. 

 

This set has four minifigures and, as it is a LEGO DREAMZzz set, it also has 3 Little Dudes. These are Izzie, Mrs. Castillo, two Dreamling mushrooms, Z-Blob, Zoey and Cooper. None of the figures are unique. 

And as this is a peaceful set with the characters just hanging out (and feeding and looking after dream creatures), all of their armour has been stripped off. Izzy lacks pauldrons, skirt and sword, Cooper doesn't have his helmet and Zoey has neither cape nor quiver. It's not a good thing that these accessories has been omitted, of course; but it makes sense in the set's context. Izzy's skirt would have also made it complicated for her to ride the stag. You can read more regarding these figure parts in our introductory article for this theme.

It's interesting that Z-Blob is included, as Mateo isn't. However, it could be because Z-Blob is a dream creature and this is a stable for dream creatures after all that includes Cat Cactus and the Dreamling Mushrooms, not just the stag. Now I feel I should have added the Cat Cactus to this photo, but it seems to like the warmth of the stable; cats are like that sometimes.

 

 

I like the design of Izzie's dream stag. While the intersection to the maxaroni piece on the neck isn't super smooth, the resulting poseability is great and the curve looks natural. The head is built around a space gun piece and it works very well.

The stable

The stable is a colourful, largely symmetrical building with dream plants growing through its roof. The colour scheme - Light Aqua, Dark Turquoise, Orange and Bright Light Yellow - sounds mad but works in a surprisingly serene way. The proportions are good and the Splats make excellent (albeit very two-dimensional) trees reminiscent of a cypress or a tall juniper. The side wings are slightly angled which makes the house stand out from other similar set builds.

The back features some interior: dining room, hall with a stove (positioned awkwardly to block the window), Cat Cactus's stable and the upper floor room with the grinding stone of a mill. Turning the Dreamcatchers logo makes the grinding stone and the windmill rotor turn; it's very simple yet satisfying.

The bonsai-esque tree on the right side has bluish leaves. The alternate design switches their leaves with the stag's horns. 

I suppose they make dream flour here from the seeds of the yellow stalks, which look really nice. I also like the splash of Trans-Pink on the lantern, it's very effective. The actual stable fits the Cat Cactus, but is too small for the stag; I think this set would have been truer to its name if the stable part was of greater importance, as the characters already have a house in 71461 Fantastical Tree House. I also think an another stag-like creature would have made the concept stronger, but as the house is not lackluster in any way, this isn't a severe problem.

Conclusion

 71459 Stable of Dream Creatures is an unusual action & adventure theme set, as it has no antagonists and no weapons. Its design and colour evoke the LEGO Elves theme and even some LEGO® Friends sets. I think I would have liked this a lot as a kid if such sets had existed in early 2000s. Despite being pacifistic it's far from boring: there are animals, a gear function and numerous imaginative plant designs. The building is pleasantly designed and looks coherent despite the abundance of additional elements.

The price of US$79.99/ £74.99/ 84.99€/ AU$139.99 for 681 parts, including 4 minifigs and 3 Little Dudes, feels somewhat expensive, but in this age of inflation the old rule of 10 cents per piece is becoming obsolete. I'd call this an above-average LEGO DREAMZzz set, but as the theme offers very different things for different consumers, it's impossible to make an objective comparison. This is a set for those who enjoy the abundance of weird life forms over dangerous and thrilling adventures.

READ MORE: LEGO® DREAMZzz™ review: 71460 Mr. Oz's Spacebus

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