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Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter

A dragonfly the size of a doorway, with wings that actually flap.

Brick Rated Score

4.4/5

Set 10327 · 2024

Pieces1,370

Minifigs8

Year2024

Set number10327

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The verdict

This is the set that made me forgive LEGO for putting red pins where I can see them, and that's saying something.

The flapping-wing mechanism is genuinely clever, the eight Dune minifigs are all exclusive with fresh prints, and the finished shape is one of the prettiest things Icons has done. It's pricey and the build gets fiddly, but you're getting your money's worth here. If you loved the films, this one's an easy yes.

Best for: Dune fans who love a technical, function-heavy build to display

The full review

What it is

I'll be straight with you, I didn't expect to fall for a grey aircraft. But the Atreides Royal Ornithopter won me over the second the wings started moving, and it kept winning me over the more I looked at its shape. This is a LEGO® set built around one big idea from Denis Villeneuve's Dune films: a flying machine modeled on a dragonfly, all long thin wings and a hunched insect body. LEGO leaned all the way into that, and the finished model has a wingspan of around 80cm, which is nearly as wide as a doorway. It's the kind of thing that stops conversation when someone walks past your shelf.

The catch

The headline feature is the flapping. Press one trigger and the wings sweep up and down about 7cm, and honestly it looks great, like the whole thing is hovering in place. Getting there is where the honesty comes in. This is a heavily technical build, and even people who build a lot found it tricky. For long stretches early on you're assembling Technic framework and thinking nothing is happening, because the movement at the wing roots is tiny until the long blades go on and multiply it. Then it clicks and you get it. The mechanism can also be a bit precious once it's done. A panel near the wing occasionally pops off when a gear linkage catches it, and the little plate behind the trigger likes to work loose if you push it over and over.

Who it's for

Then there's the money. It's $164.99 for 1,369 pieces, and most of those pieces are dark bluish grey and black, so nobody's buying this as a parts pack. The value case rests almost entirely on the eight minifigures and the display piece, and for me that case holds up. Those eight figs are all exclusive with all-new prints, including Baron Harkonnen with a gloriously long fabric robe. If you loved the films and you want a centerpiece with a party trick, grab it. If you're mostly in it for clever parts to reuse, or you want something quick and relaxing, this isn't your set. But as a display model with real engineering under the hood, it's one of the more special things Icons has put out, and it's since retired, so it won't sit on shelves forever.

The parts story

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

Building this is a Technic-forward job from the very first bags. Designer Mike Psiaki laid down a dense internal skeleton, and of the 1,369 pieces around 583 have only Technic connections with another 75 mixing Technic and regular System, so you're threading a lot of axles and pins before anything looks like an aircraft. The body comes together as a braced core that has to be sturdy enough to swoosh, then the wing arms and the gearbox that ties them to that single trigger. The wings themselves go on last and that's the payoff moment, when the small motion at the hinges suddenly turns into a big graceful sweep across those long blades. It's a build that rewards patience and punishes rushing.

The standout element is the long wing blade, a big recognizable piece that basically defines the model's look. There's also a good run of parts arriving in new Trans-Black, which parts hunters noticed right away. Beyond that, the palette is heavy on dark bluish grey and black, common colors that don't add much resale or MOC value, which is the fair knock on it as a parts source. The real treasure is the printing: eight minifigs with entirely new face, torso and outfit prints, plus Baron Harkonnen's absurdly long cloth robe. So the parts story here isn't rare recolors, it's engineering and those exclusive printed figs.

Fun facts

01It was designed by Mike Psiaki, the same LEGO designer behind heavy hitters like the UCS X-wing and the towering Saturn V rocket.
02The wingspan runs about 80-81cm, roughly 32 inches, which is only a little narrower than a standard interior door.
03The whole flapping motion is driven by one trigger, and the wings travel about 7cm up and down to mimic a hovering ornithopter.
04The design chases the films' dragonfly logic on purpose, with long thin insect wings rather than the stubby helicopter look you might expect.