Disney

Mini Steamboat Willie

A free gift that quietly outbuilds the set it was copied from

Brick Rated Score

4.2/5

Set 40659 · 2023

Pieces424

Minifigs1

Year2023

Set number40659

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The verdict

I went into this expecting a throwaway freebie and came out genuinely charmed.

Shrinking the 2019 Ideas Steamboat Willie down to 424 pieces should have lost something, but the paddlewheel still spins and the chimneys still bob when you push the hull along a table, and that little bit of play value makes it feel more like a toy than a shelf piece. I will be straight with you, you could not buy this one outright when it mattered, it only came home with you if you spent enough on Disney, Marvel, or Star Wars during one October week in 2023. If you already own one, or you can find it secondhand at a fair price, it is a lovely little companion piece to the bigger boat and a fun one for a kid to actually play with rather than just look at.

Best for: Disney and LEGO Ideas collectors who want a playable companion to the big Steamboat Willie set

The full review

What it is

I did not expect much from a gift with purchase set, but Mini Steamboat Willie won me over fast. LEGO took the 2019 Ideas boat, one of the most beloved sets in the Disney lineup, and rebuilt it at a quarter of the size for Disney's 100th anniversary. What got me is that they did not just shrink the shape, they kept the mechanism. Slide the hull forward and the paddlewheel turns and the twin chimneys pop up and down, the same trick the big version uses, just packed into something you can hold in one hand. That single detail turns it from a knickknack into a toy you actually want to push around.

The catch

Here is the honest part. This was never something you could just buy. It only came home with people who spent $100 or more on Disney, Marvel, or Star Wars sets at LEGO.com or in store during one week in October 2023, or hit a higher spend threshold at shopDisney. That window is long closed, so today the only way in is secondhand, and sealed copies run well past the roughly $50 value BrickEconomy has logged for it. It is also entirely black, white and grey to match the film's monochrome look, which is a lovely creative choice but means it will not pop on a shelf full of colorful Disney builds.

Who it's for

If you already collected one back in 2023, or you love the original Ideas boat and want a smaller sibling for it, this is a genuinely satisfying little build with real charm and a minifigure you will not find anywhere else. If you never got the chance and are shopping resale purely for piece count or play value, I would steer you toward a set you can actually buy new instead, this one is a collector's curiosity more than a practical purchase now.

What works

Working paddlewheel and bobbing chimneys that actually function when you roll it along a surface, not just static display detail
Exclusive black and white Mickey minifigure with newly printed grey legs and printed buttons, a genuine one-off variant
Compact three-stage build across five numbered bags that still feels like a real model, not a scaled-down afterthought

Worth knowing

It was a gift with purchase only, so getting one now means hunting the secondary market and usually paying more than the $50-ish value BrickEconomy tracks it at
Being all monochrome black, white and grey, the build can feel visually flat next to the color of most Disney sets
Smaller and less detailed than the 2160-piece Ideas version, so it will never replace that one for display-focused collectors

Sold? Grab it.

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The parts story

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

The build itself splits into three quick stages across five numbered bags, so it never overstays its welcome. You are assembling a full little hull, deck details, twin chimneys and the internal gearing for the paddlewheel, all in miniature, which means a lot of small, fiddly placements packed into a short build. It moves fast enough that you could finish it in one sitting, but there is enough going on mechanically that it never feels like padding.

The standout piece for me is the exclusive Mickey Mouse minifigure. LEGO gave him newly decorated legs that are now fully grey rather than the usual black and white split, with his buttons printed directly onto them, a small but deliberate upgrade over earlier Steamboat Willie minifigures. The whole set leans on monochrome grey, black and white parts to match the 1928 cartoon's look, which is not a palette LEGO uses often, so builders who like unusual color-restricted builds will find plenty to admire in how they pulled off shading and detail without a single bright brick.

Fun facts

01It is a scaled-down tribute to 21317 Steamboat Willie, the 2019 LEGO Ideas set, built for Disney's 100th anniversary celebrations in 2023.
02It was only available as a gift with qualifying purchase, a full $100 or more spent on LEGO Disney, Marvel or Star Wars items, during one week from October 23 to 31, 2023.
03It was also offered through shopDisney with a higher spend threshold, which Jay's Brick Blog noted was unusual since LEGO GWPs are almost always LEGO.com or LEGO Store exclusives.
04The whole model is built entirely in black, white and grey to mirror the black-and-white look of the original 1928 Steamboat Willie cartoon.