Although LEGO hasn’t yet officially announced or listed these online yet, we picked up two new LEGO BrickHeadz sets, 41624 Mickey Mouse and 41625 Minnie Mouse at our local LEGO Store today. Both sets retail for the usual $9.99 in the US (Canada: 12.99 CAD | UK: £9.99). Mickey includes 109 pieces and Minnie includes 129 pieces.

The packaging

BrickHeadz characters generally come in just a bag or two in a square box, but since this is the first many of our readers may be seeing of these sets, you can take a look at the packaging in the gallery below. Each box has one of the printed pieces displayed on the top, with the actual character on the side. The back of the box highlights the character from a three-quarters angle, alongside the corresponding character sold separately.

However, given LEGO’s recent trend of putting two closely related BrickHeadz characters in a single two-pack set, it’s a little baffling that the world’s most beloved rodents didn’t get the two-pack treatment.

The build & parts

Just earlier this year, our reviews of LEGO BrickHeadz characters glossed over the build because by that point BrickHeadz had become so standardized. LEGO broke that mold (thankfully not literally) with a velociraptor in 41614 Owen & Blue from Jurassic World and with the 3×3 “buddy” characters in recent Harry Potter BrickHeadz sets like 41615 Harry Potter & Hedwig. Similarly, LEGO has moved away from the usual, simplistic template with Mickey and Minnie. The mice’s heads are constructed using 1x1x2 bricks with studs on their sides (in red below) along with the usual 1x2x2 bricks, plus bracket pieces for the middle of their faces.

Their large ears are inset into their heads using corner panel pieces.

These insets then accommodate the ears attached with standard 1×2 clip pieces.

Mickey Mouse’s only printed pieces are the usual trio of 1×1 round eye tiles (two eyes and an extra) plus a 1×4 brick printed with the stylized buttons on his red pants.

Minnie Mouse however gets a whole bunch of printed pieces with a polka dot pattern for her dress and bow. We noted in our recent review of 21311 Voltron that the inverted 1×3 slope piece had never been printed until Voltron, but here’s another pair of them in polka dots for Minnie’s bow.

The finished characters

This pair of iconic, flagship Walt Disney characters are cute to begin with, but Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse are even more adorable in BrickHeadz form. Each character has a little button nose and puffy cheeks, with 1×1 quarter tiles used to achieve the characters’ distinctive widow’s peak hairline. Their oversize shoes also add a lot of charm.

Mickey is simpler than Minnie, and follows the BrickHeadz template more closely, despite the subtle shaping of his face.

Minnie has a lot more going on, fashion-wise, with a flared, polka-dotted skirt and matching bow.

The bow uses a “Travis” brick (1×1 brick with stud on all sides) to attach the inverted slopes, which are just printed on one side.

Conclusions & recommendation

I’ll readily admit that I didn’t grow up with an appreciation for these “core” Disney characters, despite many trips to Tokyo Disneyland growing up in Japan and Disney World when visiting relatives in the States. Even though the BrickHeadz’ subject matter isn’t something that I’m excited about, I’ll also wholeheartedly admit that they’re both well-designed and very cute indeed, with surprisingly interesting building techniques and some great parts in new colors (like the black platter pieces for their ears).

But if you’re a hardcore Disney fan, these are an obvious must have — if you can find them! We’ll bring you an update when these two sets are available more broadly. (Update: Both sets are now available from LEGO for $9.99 in the US (Canada: 12.99 CAD | UK: £9.99).