Seasonal

Penguins in Love

A tiny icy love story that punches way above its brick count.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 40886 · 2026

Pieces278

Minifigsn/a

Year2026

Set number40886

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The verdict

This is one of those small seasonal builds I keep underestimating right up until I snap the last brick into place and actually smile at it.

Two penguins leaning into each other on a little ice shelf sounds simple, and the build genuinely is quick, but the posing is the whole point here, and LEGO nailed the tilt of the heads and the huddled-together body language. I would not buy this for the piece count or the challenge, I would buy it because it is a genuinely sweet little display piece that costs less than a fast food meal for two. It is built for shelf decoration and gifting season, not for builders chasing an engineering puzzle.

Best for: Valentine's Day gift buyers and shelf-display collectors who want a quick, charming build

The full review

What it is

I will admit I went into this one expecting a throwaway novelty, the kind of small seasonal set that exists mostly to fill a shelf at the store checkout. Penguins in Love won me over faster than I expected. The two penguin builds lean toward each other with just enough asymmetry in the pose that it reads as an actual embrace rather than two identical clones stood side by side, and the little icy base with its cool blue and white palette sells the arctic setting without needing a single extra prop.

The catch

I do want to be honest about what this set is not. At 278 pieces this is a short build, probably under an hour even if you are savoring it, and there are no minifigures included, so if you are shopping by part count or play value per dollar this will not be your best pick in the LEGO Valentine's lineup. Seasonal sets in this range also have a habit of vanishing from shelves fast once the holiday passes, so if the look grabs you I would not sit on it too long deciding.

Who it's for

Get this one if you want a sweet, low effort display piece for Valentine's Day, a small thoughtful gift for a LEGO fan in your life, or a gentle first build to hand to a kid who is not ready for a thousand piece set yet. Skip it if you are chasing a serious building challenge or need minifigures to justify the box on your shelf, because this set was never trying to be that.

The parts story

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

The build itself moves quickly and calmly, which fits the tone of the set. You are working in small connected sections, first shaping the rounded penguin bodies, then layering in the black and white color blocking that gives each bird its markings, and finally setting both figures onto the icy display base. There is no fiddly multi-step technique here, it is the kind of build you can do while half watching something on television and still end up with a clean, satisfying result.

The standout elements are the curved and sloped pieces used to get the rounded penguin silhouette without it looking blocky, along with the black and white color blocking that does most of the storytelling work. It is not a set built around a rare printed part or a brand new mold you will brag about, the appeal here is purely in how the shapes and colors combine into something that unmistakably reads as two penguins in love the moment you step back and look at it.

Fun facts

01Penguins in Love continues LEGO's small-format Valentine's seasonal line, following past romantic pairs like the Valentine's Bear and Valentine's Puppy sets in earlier years.
02Seasonal LEGO sets in this size class typically arrive in stores several weeks ahead of the holiday and are pulled from shelves shortly after, making them a limited-window release rather than a permanent catalog item.
03The set uses no minifigures, relying entirely on the sculpted penguin models themselves to carry the display, a common approach for LEGO's small animal-pair seasonal builds.