LEGO Art

Macaw Parrots

Two pastel parrots that turn a bare wall into something alive.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 31211 · 2024

Pieces644

Minifigsn/a

Year2024

Set number31211

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The verdict

This is the set that kicked off LEGO Art's Fauna Collection, and the choice to render two macaws in soft pinks and pale yellows instead of screaming tropical brights is what won me over.

You build a yellow parrot perched on a flowering branch and a pink one caught mid-flight, both with hooks already fitted on the back so they go straight onto the wall. It is a calm, pretty couple of hours rather than an engineering puzzle. Best for someone who wants brick-built wall art with actual charm and doesn't need a fiddly challenge.

Best for: Adult builders who want relaxing, display-ready wall art in soft pastel colors

The full review

What it is

The macaws are the first thing LEGO put out under the Fauna Collection banner, and I love that they didn't go the obvious route. A real macaw is all electric blue and blazing red, so I expected a wall of loud primary bricks. Instead designer Milan Madge went pastel: a pale yellow parrot sitting on a flowering branch and a soft pink one with its wing thrown open in flight. It is a bold, slightly unexpected choice for LEGO Art, and it is exactly why these two read as art on a wall rather than as toys pinned up for display. Seen from across a room they genuinely catch the light.

The catch

I'll be honest about where it wobbles, though. The pale yellow bird is the simpler of the two, and it also carries the set's most talked-about flaw: the yellow bricks don't all match. Up close you can see the shading drift from piece to piece, and once you notice it you can't unsee it. Hung on the wall at a normal viewing distance it mostly disappears, but if you build for the joy of a flawless finish, this one will nag at you. The branch and its little flowers and leaves are also the fiddliest stretch of an otherwise relaxing build, so the calm is not wall-to-wall. And at 644 pieces for a 59.99 dollar launch price, you are paying for the design and the wall hooks, not for a mountain of bricks.

Who it's for

So who should chase one down? If you want brick-built wall art with real personality and you like the idea of a soft, warm color palette instead of the usual neon, these two are a delight, and the flying pink parrot alone earns its space. The pink build is the longer and more interesting of the pair, so if you split the work, hand yourself that one. If you live for clever mechanisms or a dense, meaty parts count, I'd steer you elsewhere, because this is decoration first and puzzle second. It has now retired, so prices on the secondary market have already crept above RRP, which is worth knowing before you commit.

The parts story

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

Building these is a soft landing rather than a workout. Most of the time you are laying up colorful curved bricks and slopes into the body and wings, and it flows so easily that a lot of builders knock out both birds in a couple of relaxed hours. The one section that makes you slow down and concentrate is the branch with its flowers and foliage, where the small elements get a bit finicky. There is no complex internal frame to wrestle with here; the reward is watching two big, graceful shapes take form fast, which is a lovely change of pace from a technical set.

For parts collectors there is a real haul tucked in here. At launch the set brought sixteen molds or recolors that existed nowhere else, plus a handful more that had only appeared in one other set. Six of those newcomers are inverted slopes, and the palette is the draw: Bright Light Yellow, Bright Pink, Coral and Dark Turquoise across curved bricks, slopes and leaf pieces. If you build your own creations, those pastel and Coral recolors are the kind of thing you'll be raiding this set for long after the birds come off the wall.

Fun facts

01Macaw Parrots was the launch set of LEGO Art's Fauna Collection, the sub-line that later added the Tiger (31217).
02It was designed by Milan Madge, and both birds ship with picture hooks already attached to the back for wall mounting.
03The set retired at the end of 2024, and sealed copies have since risen above their 59.99 dollar RRP on the secondary market.
04The pink parrot spreads to about 54cm wide in flight, while the yellow bird on its branch stands roughly 40cm tall.