10 June 2024

LEGO® DREAMZzz™ January 2024 sets: designer insights and Pick a Brick availability

Posted by Zachary Hill

The first half of LEGO® DREAMZzz™ Season 2 — titled Night of the Never Witch — is out now on streaming services. After a binge watch of this kid-friendly show, New Elementary is revisiting the January 2024 wave of related sets: 71471 Mateo's Off-Road Car, 71472 Izzie's Narwhal Hot-Air Balloon, 71475 Mr. Oz's Space Car, 71476 Zoey and Zian the Cat-Owl, and 71477 The Sandman's Tower. If you haven't watched the new season yet, beware of spoilers ahead!


We examined the new parts before their release and many are now available on the LEGO® Pick a Brick (PaB) service, so before the next sets arrive in August, we're giving this earlier wave's most iconic parts a second look. 

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

All sets released 1 January 2024

71471 Mateo's Off-Road Car

£8.99/ $9.99/ €9.99/ AU$14.99
94 parts

The new LEGO DREAMZzz season picks up right where Season 1 ended, with a test of Z-Blob and Mateo's bond. This means the first half of Season 2 is largely devoid of the irresistibly cute neon green buddy, and there's no direct tie-in with this set.


Still, the January wave's most affordable set features Teo and dream-crafted vehicle versions of his companion. Even at US$10, it is nevertheless worth considering the notable parts now available on PaB, including the prominent trans-green "maxaroni" 45° elbows (5489) which first appeared on PaB in May. 

These are ever so slightly longer than the previous versions (1986 and 65473), which brings them into LEGO® System but out of Technic System (yet PaB still gives this part a Technic label, perhaps due to its only connection points being Technic axle holes).


The medium azure elbows (above left) are the older iteration of the maxaroni which don't fit neatly with LEGO System bricks on their own. A gap the size of a Technic half-bushing or thin liftarm is left over, so half that distance has been added to each of the new longer elbows (above right in trans-green) to reconcile this. This makes the new versions no longer fit in place of a #4 135° Technic elbow though, so builders may need to plan which version they need carefully when building with these parts.

Want more info on how this part and previous maxaroni versions vary? Check out our detailed analysis of the differences on our Patreon.



The only way to go more off-road is to get airborne. Rotating those trans-green elbows outwards turns Z-Blob into a quadcopter, which does have a close on-screen counterpart in Season 2 Episode 10 when Mateo and Z-Blob are reunited. 

What frees Z-Blob from his Season 1 burden? That's a spoiler you'll have to watch the show to find out.



All sorts of Grimspawn plague the Dream Chasers through their adventures, and one simple but effective baddie is built in 71471 Mateo's Off-Road Car. Even with only five parts, this villain has the chops to fly away with Mateo's precious hourglass (23945), which is available on PaB as a Bestseller so you can receive it faster.



Just four stickers go on the car, but some clever graphic designer knew just what to do with leftover space on the sticker sheet. Five small bonus stickers invite builders to slather the car or other builds in graffiti doodles matching Mateo's artistry.


71472 Izzie's Narwhal Hot Air Balloon

£12.99/ $15.99/ €14.99/ AU$24.99
156 parts

Izzie loves her stuffed animals, and her narwhal plushie is no exception. Maybe she loves it because her dad won it for her in a carnival game, or maybe it's because Narwhalie be dream crafted into the perfect aerial getaway when the Never Witch's ravens swoop in, during this season's debut episode.


Instead of ravens, here Izzie fights a flying Grimspawn to release Bunchu from the grip of a "nightmare carrot." The puffy round balloon is completed with four medium lavender 5 x 5 round corner bricks (24599), which hit PaB in January.



Alternate builds are one of the hallmarks of the LEGO DREAMZzz theme, so it's no wonder Izzie can easily detach the basket from her narwhal.



A quick adjustment is all it takes to transform the hot-air balloon into a chariot-rowboat hybrid.


71475 Mr. Oz's Space Car

£24.99/ $29.99/ €29.99/ AU$49.99
350 parts

"Nothing wrong with ol' Sputnik here," Mr. Oz says about his sputtering Waking World station wagon. Designer Freddy Charters disagrees with Oz:
He's got a passion for space. We wanted to give him an upgraded version of the car he drives in the real world — there's a joke in the first season that talks about how it's the kind of car a middle school science teacher drives. So it's nice that in the Dream World he can have his dream car with space upgrades.

As part of 2024's 'Space supertheme' cross-line coordination, modified Classic Space logo stickers decorate the space-car. 


The new golden armor of Mr. Oswald and his monkey copilot Albert were added to PaB in January, but haven't yet made an appearance on-screen. 



The car hasn't yet graced the show with its presence either — perhaps the season finale will necessitate this souped-up rover. Until then, the Dream Chasers travel best together in 71460 Mr. Oz's Spacebus.

You can, however, obtain that delicious satin trans-dark blue Windscreen (6508199) and radar dish (6507920) on PaB.



Of all the grimspawn included in this wave, the flying Nightmare Squid with its brain in a jar is one of the most vile. Its fantastic brain piece (6469669) is luckily one piece which has made it onto PaB.


71476 Zoey and Zian the Cat-Owl

£44.99/ $49.99/ €49.99/ AU$59.99
437 parts

There are many supporting characters in LEGO DREAMZzz, but few are as loyal as Zian the Cat-Owl. Zoey doesn't trust everyone, but Zian is always there for her.


Zian has been present in LEGO DREAMZzz since Season 1, similar to four-legged Sneak, who's included in this set. The Night Hunter is a perfect addition to this set as he's been a persistent thorn in the Dream Hunters' sides — especially Zoey's.


Zian is called a griffon in the show, and there are more similar animals in the Beast Realm. The printed eyes, green glitter flames, dark blue round 4 x 4 bricks and most of Zian's unique parts are available on PaB now. 

The most novel parts may be Zoey's firing bow and arrow (80436 & 80437), which have only appeared in LEGO® Avatar 75577 Mako Submarine and the June 2024 LEGO® Friends wave. They have been on PaB since January 2023.


Designer Trine Kinch Møller ensured Zian is just as dynamic as the show suggests:
Finalising a model is very much about stability, and one thing that was very important for me was to make it posable. I wanted to make the cat playable as soon as you've built the core model, make it posable in a lot of cute ways, and make it easy for kids to play without it falling apart.

Cat, owl, griffon, peacock: no matter what Zian is, the Dream Chasers are lucky to have Zian by their sides.


71477 Sandman's Tower

£79.99/ $89.99/ €89.99/ AU$149.99
697 parts

Without their hourglasses, the Dream Chasers can't dream craft, and without the Sandman, there would be no hourglasses. Few clear exterior shots of the Sandman's home have made it on-screen, but that hasn't stopped designer Carter Baldwin from dreaming up something fantastical:
I enjoyed this steampunk, magical approach to it with the giant gears on the side. This was my first time doing a playset location, I've always done vehicles or display pieces before so stability was super important.

Perhaps the Sandman's mystery is by design? As executive producer Tommy Andreasen explains,
The Sandman is a very intriguing character. He's one of those characters we don't talk too about because, ooh, what's his deal? It's like Yoda, sometimes the question is more interesting than the answer.
The Sandman — and it's pronounced "San-muhn," the character will have you know — needs a strong home considering his rough neighborhood. His sanctuary is in the Murky Realm which unfortunately places him next door to the Never Witch. Strong banded doors, chunky gears, and a high-reaching tower give him the resilience and foresight to deal with the challenges of his locale.



This is the first set to include the Never Witch, whose hair and crown do vary from their on-screen appearance. Logan often transforms into a blue Dreamling-sized monster called Lo-Lo, but this full-size monster Logan hasn't yet manifested on-screen.



This cauldron is bubbling over with horrors, similar to a spider-legged cauldron the Never Witch uses to cook up stolen memories. Tending to her villainous brew is a full-time job, so the Never Witch sends her ravens and wolf to do most of her dirty work. Episode 5 of Season 2 reveals the first monster birthed from this pot, a giant spider, scaled down here and multiplied for play.




A stopped clock is right only twice a day, so Carter made the Sandman's clocktower spin. The straightforward Technic gear mechanism adjusts all three clock hands in unison while also spinning an onion dome with an hourglass at its core.  The printed clock face is available on PaB, but here is a special tip: it hasn't been assigned to its set within the database, so you have to search for it by element ID instead: 6509611.



Lots of fun details cover the building such as spilling sand and gold accents, but one of the most interesting is the oversized hourglass atop the tower.


Loose 1 x 1 round plates inside the hourglass serve as sand, a feature which is better appreciated outside of the building.



Further down the tower, more sand is accumulating from every angle.



Even in tower form, the structure can be split into two halves for better play without the spinning clocktower in the way. The Sandman's spell book conveys that pearlescent crystals have something to do with the hourglasses, so the worktable downstairs includes one glistening five-pointed crystal and some nicely designed flasks.

Broken down like this, the tower looks like a bit like a wide fortress. With a few adjustments, that can be properly arranged.
Carter: The mighty fortress incorporates the hourglass and the gears and the magical elements in more of an armoured, defensive posture. It's a very drastic profile change between the two.

This stronger configuration encircles the clock with a full gear wheel. This time, the whole clock spins in tandem with the now-horizontal hourglass, forming a sand-powered gatling gun.



This configuration plays similar to the tower with its top removed, but the hourglass is a bit more fun to spin this way.


More episodes and sets on the way

With the first half of LEGO DREAMZzz Season 2 out, it's clear the designers are able to adapt the general feel of the series into designs that are stable, playable, and able to be recreated into whatever builders may dream up. With the on-screen universe expanding through multiple seasons and miscellaneous shorts, there's no reason to limit designs to what's visible in the show.

These January sets are just some of those released for the Season 2 run of LEGO DREAMZzz. The next wave of sets are due on 1 August, with some based on released show material already. 

If the January wave was any indication, it's possible the most intriguing parts will be available on PaB shortly after release, while others may be limited to their respective sets.

August 2024 LEGO DREAMZzz sets are already available for pre-order in some countries

READ MORE: LEGO® Speed Champions review: 76919 McLaren Formula 1 Car

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2 comments:

  1. Bfa11 Jun 2024, 05:12:00

    I really like the look of the gears on the tower set, very Myst.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zachary Hill17 Jun 2024, 04:09:00

      You might like Tim Heiderich's Myst Island build. It takes up a whole table! I saw it at Bricks Cascade this year and he used the Big Ben clock face for the clocktower, with Technic 24-tooth gears for the stepping stones leading to it.

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