Classic

Bricks and Animals

A big, colorful brick box that happens to build ten charming animals.

Brick Rated Score

4.0/5

Set 11011 · 2020

Pieces1,500

Minifigsn/a

Year2020

Set number11011

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The verdict

The hippo with the little bird perched on its back is the one that got me, and honestly the whole set has that same easygoing charm.

This is a proper creative brick box dressed up as an animal kit, and at roughly four cents a part with 1,500 pieces in 39 colors, the value is hard to argue with. If you want a slick display model with fancy techniques, this isn't that, and the ten animals themselves are genuinely simple. But if you want a deep, cheerful parts pile that keeps a kid busy for weeks, it's a lovely thing to own.

Best for: Parents building a first real brick collection for a young creative kid

The full review

What it is

Every so often LEGO® quietly puts out a set that isn't really about the models on the box, and this is one of them. Bricks and Animals gives you 1,500 pieces in 39 different colors, and the ten animals it builds are almost the excuse rather than the point. You get a peacock on a stand, a bull, a penguin on its own patch of ice, a dinosaur among rocks, a unicorn, an ostrich with a nest, a snail, a hippo with a tiny bird riding on its back, a panda with bamboo trees, and a giraffe with its own tree. Each one comes with its own little setting, which is a lovely touch and makes the whole thing feel like a tiny zoo rather than a bag of parts.

The catch

Here's where I'll be straight with you. These animals are built for ages 4 and up, and they build like it. If you're an adult chasing clever engineering or a display piece for the shelf, you'll finish the lot in an afternoon and feel a bit unchallenged. There are basically no specialty or rare parts here either, so if you were hoping for exciting new molds to raid, this isn't your set. And 1,500 pieces sounds glorious right up until you're on your hands and knees hunting a 1x1 round in the carpet. There are a lot of very small elements in this box, and sorting and storing them all is a real commitment, even with the tub it comes in.

Who it's for

The right home for this set is pretty clear. If you want a display model, skip it, there are far better animal builds out there. But if you're setting a young kid up with their first serious brick collection, or you just want a big, cheerful, well-priced pile of colorful parts to build freely with, this is close to ideal. The instructions are clear enough that a four-year-old can get going the moment the box opens, and once the ten animals have been built once, the whole thing becomes raw material for whatever they dream up next. That second life, as pure open-ended bricks, is where this set quietly earns its keep. It won me over as exactly what it is, not what it pretends to be.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

Building the animals is quick, gentle, and honestly quite relaxing. Each of the ten comes as its own small numbered build, so you can hand different animals to different kids and everyone gets going at once. The techniques are about as approachable as LEGO gets, mostly stacking bricks and plates with the occasional hinge or clip to give a peacock its fanned tail or the snail its curl. Nothing here will teach you a new trick, but the pacing is friendly and forgiving, and there's a real satisfaction in watching ten little creatures appear on the table together in one sitting.

The pieces are the actual story. This is a color library more than a model kit, 39 shades spread across 1,500 elements, heavy on small plates, round tiles, and useful bread-and-butter bricks that go straight into your general collection. The printed eye pieces are the standout, giving each animal that bit of character without stickers, and there's a nice spread of slopes and small curved parts for detailing. At around four cents per part it's one of the strongest price-per-piece deals LEGO offers, and it ships in a reusable storage box. Just know the trade-off going in, this is quantity and variety over anything rare or exotic.

Fun facts

01The set builds ten animals at once, each with its own mini scene, from the panda's bamboo grove to the hippo carrying a little bird on its back.
02It packs 1,500 pieces across 39 different colors, which works out to roughly four cents per part, among the best value ratios in the LEGO catalog.
03It was retired at the end of 2022 after a nearly three-year run from its February 2020 release.
04Despite the animal theme, it's really a creative brick box, LEGO includes a storage tub so the parts can live on as free-build material long after the animals come apart.