There has always been something very special about LEGO Seasonal sets. It’s not just the subject matter of the sets, but also their unusual designs and formats that look nothing like regular retail LEGO themes. In 2019, LEGO will be making holidays even more special with a stunning lineup of Chinese Lunar New Year LEGO sets. Although these might be only available in China and the rest of the Asia Pacific region, there’s still an excellent way to take part in these celebrations — the new LEGO BrickHeadz 40354 Dragon Dance Guy brings a festive holiday mood in a very funny format.
The set includes 170 pieces. A quick look at the 3 unnumbered bags reveals a whole bunch of colors featured in the set — actually, 12 different colors.
New and rare elements
Among all of LEGO’s regular retail products, BrickHeadz sets occupy a unique place. For their relatively modest price, these sets include a huge range of the smallest plates and tiles loved by many fan builders, and due to the unique design of the models there’s always a high chance of getting new pieces and elements in new colors. In this respect, 40354 Dragon Dance Guy has a lot to offer.
- Plate 4X4, 1/4 Circle in dark red (Element ID 4613267) are some of the most noticeable pieces of the set. Despite being in production for 14 years already, these parts are still hard to find.
- If you’re into building small posable figures that require a lot of modified plates with holders, you should pay attention to Plate 1X2 W/Holder, Vertical in bright light orange (Element ID 6093459), which has only been seen in 10 other sets so far.
- Until 2017, getting Plate 1X2 With Slide in regular green (Element ID 4272665) was quite a challenge. Now you can find one more in this very BrickHeadz set.
- And if you’re looking for Plate 1X1, W/ 1.5 Plate 1X1, Upwards in black (Element ID 6234695), BrickHeadz sets like 41615 Harry Potter & Hedwig, 41621 Ron Weasley and Albus Dumbledore, and now the new 40354 Dragon Dance Guy are the easiest ways to get some.
- Brick 1X1 W. 1 Knob in bright light orange (Element ID 6092035) is even rarer; there are only 9 other sets that contain the piece in the color, and the new 40354 Dragon Dance Guy is the easiest way to get the pieces.
- Finally, a couple of regular bricks 2×2 in medium blue (Element ID 4201235) are just nice pieces to get as they can mostly be found in huge LEGO Creator boxes of building bricks.
- Plate 1X2 W. 2 Shafts Ø 3.2 in bright light orange, which has only appeared in 5 other sets before, has changed its Element ID and is now featured as 6174004.
Pieces in pearl gold can easily be one of the biggest reason to get this set. Feather (Element ID 6196565) has only been available in 10257 Carousel before, while Plant, W/ Plate 1X1, No. 1 (Element ID 6219088) was only spotted in 41196 The Elvenstar Tree Bat Attack.
Assembling the figure
At first, the building process doesn’t look much different from any other BrickHeadz figure. But everything changes once you start covering the figure’s head with red pieces.
The dragon’s upper jaw is a dedicated build assembled in several steps. Apart from the figure it looks amazingly compact and well-designed, and it is something we could have seen in LEGO Creator sets.
The top of the costume is assembled last. This is an unusually long and massive part for a BrickHeadz format. Once again, its design is very Creator-like, with just several pieces mixed to create a very efficient design. And yes, the dragon’s eyes are made with minifigure microphones (part 90370).
The finished model
The complete figure looks magnificent. Basically, it is a regular BrickHeadz figure in a dragon costume, and it can be compared to a regular minifigure in a dragon suit as seen in Series 18 of Collectible Minifigures. Even though both look charming and cute, it’s stunning how much more detailed the BrickHeadz costume actually is.
Suddenly I realise I have never seen a mix of red, gold and bright light orange in a LEGO set before, and these colors look particularly nice together.
We rarely criticize designs of LEGO boxes, but this is one such case. The three-quarters view on the box front does absolutely no justice to the dragon’s face design. It’s only when you look straight into the dragon’s eyes that its face, nostrils, and teeth form a complete design. And it looks very, very impressive! But because of the eyes’ peculiar structure it’s really hard to see the dragon’s face from any other angle.
One more pretty thing is the stand decorated with a couple of very simple, but clever Chinese lanterns.
Not the character look like it is in the street ready to give a fantastic performance!
Conclusions and recommendation
Such an excellent set as LEGO BrickHeadz 40354 Dragon Dance Guy can hardly be a bad choice. Its value for money is way above average, its design is unique and funny, and it doesn’t look like we are getting more China-themed BrickHeadz anytime soon. Whether you’re starting you BrickHeadz collection or you already have a solid number of sets, this one will be an absolutely brilliant addition.
LEGO BrickHeadz 40354 Dragon Dance Guy includes 170 pieces and retails for £9.99 / $9.99 / 9.99€. The set will be available at the usual retailers soon.
