Super Heroes Marvel

Dancing Groot

A hand crank, a flower pot, and one very good bit of engineering.

Brick Rated Score

4.2/5

Set 76297 · 2024

Pieces459

Minifigsn/a

Year2024

Set number76297

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The verdict

I turned the handle on the back of this pot for the first time and just laughed out loud, Groot's whole body twists and shakes like one of those old dashboard hula dancers, except LEGO built the mechanism themselves out of gears you can actually see working if you know where to look.

It is a display piece first and a build second, the parts count is modest and there is real repetition in the foliage, but the payoff at the end earns it. This is the set for a Guardians fan who wants something that does something on a shelf, not just sits there. If you need a dense, technical build to feel satisfied, this one will feel short.

Best for: Guardians of the Galaxy fans who want a shelf piece that actually moves

The full review

What it is

Dancing Groot is exactly what it sounds like, a buildable flower pot with Groot growing out of it, and when you turn the crank on the back his whole body twists and grooves like the battery powered dancing flowers people had on their car dashboards in the nineties. I did not expect to grin the way I did the first time I cranked it, there is something delightful about watching a mechanism you built yourself actually perform. He comes with posable arms and a head you can swap between plain, headphones, or sunglasses, and there are three different nameplates for the pot so you can rename him if you want.

The catch

I will be honest about where this set is thin. The piece count sounds generous for the price, and per piece it lands close to where LEGO usually prices things, but a good chunk of those 459 pieces are small leaves and foliage bits repeated over and over to build up Groot's body. There are not many unique elements here, so the actual building experience moves quickly and never gets technically demanding. If you are the type who wants a long, absorbing build, this will feel over before you are ready.

Who it's for

Get this one if you love the Guardians and want something on your desk that reacts when you touch it, that hand crank mechanism really is worth the price of admission on its own. Skip it if you are looking for build complexity or a big minifig haul, because this is a display piece with a fun trick, not a construction challenge.

The parts story

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

Building it is straightforward and pleasant rather than absorbing, you spend a good stretch of the instructions placing leaf and foliage pieces to build up Groot's body and the plant growth around the pot, then things get interesting when you reach the internal frame. That's where the hand crank mechanism lives, and LEGO kept the gear train tidy rather than overengineering it, which makes assembling it feel purposeful instead of fiddly.

The standout here is not a rare printed part, it is the mechanism itself, a compact gear system tucked inside the pot that converts a simple hand crank into a full twisting, shaking dance motion. The customizable pieces add nice value too, buildable sunglasses and headphones for Groot's head, and three interchangeable nameplates so you can personalize the pot. There is also a small hidden compartment inside for stashing spare leaves and the nameplates you are not using, a thoughtful touch for a set at this price point.

Fun facts

01The set released on August 1, 2024 at $44.99 USD, and the mechanism is designed to mimic those battery powered dancing flower toys popular in the 1990s.
02Groot's head is swappable, and the set includes buildable sunglasses and headphones as alternate looks.
03There are three different nameplates included for the flower pot, so builders can rename their Groot display.
04Despite a relatively high piece count for a display set, only a small number of unique part types make up most of the build, since so much of it is repeated foliage.