Super Mario

Mario Kart, Wario & King Boo

Wario steals the whole show, and honestly, he earns it.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 72038 · 2025

Pieces512

Minifigs2

Year2025

Set number72038

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The verdict

The Wario figure is the reason to buy this one, and I mean that with my whole heart.

LEGO gave him the full brick-built treatment with a chunky purple cap, that ridiculous moustache, and a front fender shaped like his own W, and it made me grin. The catch is that his half of the box got all the love while King Boo's Teddy Buggy feels like it was finished in a hurry. If you already collect the Mario Kart line and want two more racers on the shelf, you'll be happy, just go in knowing one kart is the star and the other is the sidekick.

Best for: Mario Kart collectors who want Wario's Badwagon on the shelf

The full review

What it is

This is a 512 piece Super Mario set that gives you two karts, Wario's Badwagon and King Boo's Teddy Buggy, plus two little traffic cones to set up a course. The thing that got me is Wario himself. He is a brick-built figure, the first time the line has given a human-like character this full treatment rather than the usual interactive electronic figure, and the shaping is lovely. The front of the Badwagon uses curved slopes to draw either a W or a moustache depending on how you squint, the taillights are Nexo Knights spearhead pieces tucked in at the back, and the whole car has real presence. Add the detachable glider, a large piece of decorated soft film that clips over a frame, and you have a racer that looks like it drifted straight out of the game.

The catch

There is a real caveat here, though. All the effort clearly went into Wario's side of the box. King Boo's Teddy Buggy has a nicely done bear head and then not much else going on, and the rest of the kart feels basic next to the Badwagon. King Boo himself is close to a copy of the figure from the Haunted Mansion set, so if you already own that one, you are essentially paying for a second version. Then there are the stickers. Two sheets, one per kart, and the yellow wheel stickers in particular are a pain to line up cleanly. After the number of times LEGO has used these exact wheel decorations, it is genuinely puzzling they still are not printed. At full retail of fifty dollars for 512 pieces, you are paying a bit of a licence premium too, which is normal for this theme but worth naming.

Who it's for

If you are collecting the Mario Kart sub-theme and want Wario in your lineup, this is an easy yes, because that figure and the Badwagon are the best part of the whole release. It also works nicely for a Mario fan aged eight and up who already has a Mario, Luigi, or Peach interactive figure to drop into the driver's seat, since that opens up the honking, drifting, and gliding sound effects. The people who should hesitate are the ones who already own the Haunted Mansion King Boo and you are lukewarm on Wario, half this set will feel like a repeat, and there are stronger single-kart sets to spend your money on. Buy it for Wario, enjoy King Boo as a bonus, and keep your expectations for the Teddy Buggy modest.

The parts story

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

The build splits neatly across five bags, and it is a genuinely pleasant afternoon rather than a marathon. Wario's Badwagon is where the interesting techniques live, with layered curved slopes doing the front-fender shaping and a satisfying little shell-launching mechanism built into the body. The drifting action gives the wheels that tilted stance, and the glider assembly is a treat because that big soft-film piece slots over a clip frame and swaps between both karts. King Boo's Teddy Buggy comes together fast, maybe too fast, since once the bear head is done there is not a lot left to sink your teeth into.

For parts people, the standouts are the two brick-built figures themselves, especially Wario with his printed elements and that unmistakable silhouette. The taillights are a clever reuse of Nexo Knights spearhead pieces, and the glider film is a rare part that only one previous set has included. The printed pieces are good where they exist, which makes the reliance on those fiddly yellow wheel stickers sting all the more. Part-count value is fair rather than generous, but you are buying character models here, not raw brick tonnage, and on that measure the Wario half delivers.

Fun facts

01Wario is the first human-like character in LEGO Super Mario to get a full brick-built figure rather than the usual interactive electronic figure.
02The Badwagon's rear taillights are made from Nexo Knights spearhead pieces, a neat bit of parts reuse.
03The set's large soft-film glider had appeared in only one previous Mario Kart set, and it clips onto either kart here.
04Scanning the W barcode on the back of the Badwagon adds Wario's own voice commentary, with exclamations when the kart jumps, spins, or drifts.