Dreamzzz

Pegasus Flying Horse

A gorgeous nightmare that falls apart if you look at it wrong.

Brick Rated Score

4.0/5

Set 71457 · 2023

Pieces482

Minifigs4

Year2023

Set number71457

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The verdict

I built this one for the Nightmare King, plain and simple, and he did not disappoint me.

The black and coral color combo on the winged horse itself is genuinely striking on a shelf, unlike anything else in my LEGO room. My honest caveat is that the cage section around him is loose in a way that got frustrating fast, wings and teeth-bars popping out if I so much as bumped the table. This is a display set that wants to be admired, not handled, and once I accepted that, I liked it a lot more.

Best for: Dreamzzz fans and minifig collectors chasing the Nightmare King

The full review

What it is

The 71457 Pegasus Flying Horse is one of those sets I went into for a single reason and came out liking for a completely different one. I wanted the Nightmare King, since this is the cheapest set to get him in, and he is worth it on his own, the shadowy cape, the printed crown, that dual molded sword all add up to a minifig that actually earns the title king of nightmares. What caught me off guard was how much I ended up loving the horse itself. The black and coral colorway with those pops of dark pink is not a combination LEGO uses often, and it makes Pegasus look properly otherworldly rather than like a generic fantasy horse kit.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the build, though. The cage section that traps Pegasus is the weak point of the whole set. It is finicky to assemble and even more finicky to keep together afterward, the wings and the teeth-like bars around the opening knock loose if you nudge the shelf, let alone if a kid actually plays with it. Reviewers across the board flagged the same thing, and I felt it myself while photographing the finished model. At 482 pieces and around fifty dollars, it is also on the smaller side for this price point, so if you are counting pieces per dollar rather than minifigs per dollar, this is not the strongest pick in the theme.

Who it's for

Get this one if you collect Dreamzzz minifigs or you just want a striking, unusual looking creature build for a shelf where nobody is going to be swinging it around. Skip it if you need a set that can survive actual play, or if four minifigs and a fantasy horse do not interest you, since the build itself is modest compared to bigger sets in the line.

The parts story

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

Assembly moves quickly since this is a mid-size set, and most of your time goes into the horse's body and the surrounding cage rather than any one fussy technique section. The wings attach with a hinge system that looks great posed but needs a gentle touch, which is really the whole personality of this build in one sentence, beautiful when still, temperamental when handled.

The real part-count value here is in the minifigs, not the piece bag. The Nightmare King brings a printed crown, a dual molded sword, and a fabric cape that reviewers singled out as one of the best villain designs LEGO put out that year. Zoey reuses her look from the companion set 71456 but adds an exclusive cloth cape you cannot get anywhere else, and the black and coral elements on Pegasus itself are distinctive enough that I would not be surprised to see LEGO fans hunting them down for other MOCs down the line.

Fun facts

01This is the cheapest LEGO set to include the Nightmare King minifigure, making it a target for collectors who do not want the whole Dreamzzz lineup
02Zoey's minifig is shared with 71456 Mrs Castillo's Turtle Van but gets an exclusive cloth cape only in this set
03Brickset users rate the set 3.7 out of 5 based on dozens of ratings, reflecting the split between loving the look and disliking the fragile cage
04The set has already retired and its secondary market value has climbed slightly above its original 49.99 dollar retail price