Super Mario

Mario Kart – Shy Guy & P-Wing

A pocket-sized racer with a shell launcher that actually works.

Brick Rated Score

3.8/5

Set 72045 · 2025

Pieces249

Minifigs1

Year2025

Set number72045

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The verdict

I love that this little set does not just sit there looking like a kart, it plays like one.

Pull it back, let it rip across the floor, and thumb a shell out the back while Shy Guy hangs on for the ride. For twenty dollars and 249 pieces that is a lot of actual play packed into one box. It will not challenge an adult builder for more than a lunch break, and the racer itself is small enough that it can feel a little slight sitting next to the bigger Mario Kart sets, but I still think it earns its spot on a shelf or a desk where a kid can grab it and go.

Best for: kids who want a grab-and-race toy first and a display piece second

The full review

What it is

This is one of the smaller combo sets in LEGO's 2025 Mario Kart wave, and it pairs Shy Guy with a brick-built P-Wing racer that actually does things. There is a pull-back motor under the hood, so you wind it up and send it rolling, and a shell-launching function on top so you can fire off one of the included red or green shells or drop a banana peel behind you as you go. For a 249 piece set that is a genuinely satisfying amount of function, and it is the kind of set where the fun starts after the build is done rather than ending there.

The catch

I will be straight with you about where this one sits in the range. The build itself is short and simple, built more for a seven year old's first Mario Kart set than for an adult who wants an afternoon project, and the finished racer is small enough that it can look a little slight next to the theme's bigger vehicles. Brickset's own community rating landed at a middling 3.9 out of 5, which tracks with what I would expect: it is a toy first, and it does not try to be anything grander than that.

Who it's for

Get this one if you want an affordable, playable entry point into the Mario Kart line, especially if Shy Guy is a character your kid actually cares about, since he has not shown up in nearly as many sets as Mario or Luigi. Skip it if you are shopping for a display centerpiece or a meatier weekend build, the bigger karts and tracks in this wave will serve you better there.

The parts story

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

The build moves quickly and leans on the same chunky, play-friendly parts you would expect from a set built for younger builders, with most of the piece count going toward the racer's chassis, the pull-back motor housing, and the shell-launcher mechanism rather than fiddly detail work. It is over in well under an hour, which is by design, this is meant to get a kid to the fun part fast.

The real draw is the P-Wing itself and the shell-launching function, both specific to this pairing rather than recycled from the theme's standard kart sets, plus the printed Shy Guy minifigure, who is still a relatively rare face in LEGO's Mario Kart lineup. The set also throws in banana peel and red and green shell pieces so you actually have ammunition for the launcher, small props that punch above their weight for how much they lean into the Mario Kart fantasy. At roughly 8 cents a piece it is a fair value for a themed set with its own dedicated figure and mechanism.

Fun facts

01Shy Guy & P-Wing was one of the launch sets for LEGO's Mario Kart theme, which rolled out August 1, 2025.
02The P-Wing takes its name from the glider power-up introduced in the Mario Kart video games, here reimagined as a brick-built pull-back racer.
03The set's shell-launching function lets builders fire the included red and green shell pieces, echoing the actual power-ups from the games.
04Designed by Hans T, the finished model measures about 14 x 4 x 7 cm, small enough to race across a tabletop.