Super Mario

Piranha Plant

The most cheerful little menace ever to grow out of a green pipe.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 71426 · 2023

Pieces540

Minifigsn/a

Year2023

Set number71426

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The verdict

This one won me over faster than I expected.

It captures that goofy, toothy Piranha Plant grin so well that it makes me smile every time I walk past it, and the price is friendly for what you get. The catch is that it is genuinely top-heavy, so the head wants to droop and you will fuss with the pose. If you grew up jumping over these things and you want a bright desk companion, it is an easy yes. If you want something you can flick and animate, temper that a bit.

Best for: Nostalgic Mario fans who want a bright, characterful display piece on a budget

The full review

What it is

There is something disarming about a Piranha Plant sitting on your shelf looking thrilled to be there. This is a 540 piece Super Mario set that builds the classic spotted plant rising out of a green warp pipe, and it is the first Mario set that skips all the electronic play functions, so it is purely a display model. That decision actually works in its favor. Instead of chasing the app, LEGO spent the budget on the sculpt, and the finished plant has real character: the fat white-dotted lips, the toothy grin, the pair of leaves reaching out like little arms. I was expecting a novelty and got something I genuinely wanted out on the desk.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the flaw everyone runs into. The plant is top-heavy. The head sits on a ball joint at the top of the pipe, and that joint cannot quite hold all the weight upright, so the head bows forward on its own no matter how you set it. It is stable and it will not fall over, but you lose the proud, looking-up pose you might picture, and a stiffener piece does not fully fix it. The mouth mechanism also leans on Technic axles and bushings rather than plain bricks, which a fair few builders found fiddlier than it needed to be. And around the middle of the build a couple of sections repeat enough that my hands went a bit automatic. At its full price it is fair rather than a steal, so it lives or dies on how much you love the character.

Who it's for

Who should get this: anyone with a soft spot for Mario who wants a cheerful, colorful piece that reads instantly from across a room. It is an accessible build, roughly an hour and a half, and forgiving enough that a newer adult builder will have a good time. Who should skip it: if you were hoping for a poseable action figure you can animate, or you want rock-solid engineering with no droop, this will nag at you. Buy it for the grin, not for the mechanics, and you will be happy.

The parts story

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

Building this is a pleasant surprise if you assume a licensed cartoon plant will be dull inside. It comes in six numbered bags, and you start with the warp pipe, which uses smooth curved dark green tiles to get that clean rounded rim. Then you work up the stalk in flexible green segments before the head, and the whole upper structure is threaded with ball sockets, Mixel ball connectors, and hinges so the leaves and stem can be angled. The single best moment is the hidden panel on the side of the pot: press it and a trap door springs open, dropping the coins as it goes. It is a small trick but it made me grin.

For parts people there is decent value here. The lips are the star, layered from 2x2 round bricks, macaroni bricks, and conical elements to build that puckered pout, and the spots come from eight printed slopes rather than stickers, which I always appreciate. The two coins are printed 3x3 round tiles in bright yellowish orange, a nice usable print. The interior hides a red Technic frame carrying Bionicle-style ball joints doing the heavy structural work. At 540 pieces for the price it is a reasonable per-part deal, and the color palette (all that dark and bright green with white dots) is genuinely useful for landscaping in other builds.

Fun facts

01This is the first LEGO Super Mario set released with no digital or electronic play functions, making it purely a display model.
02There are no stickers anywhere: the plant's spots come entirely from eight printed sloped parts.
03A hidden panel on the side of the warp pipe triggers a spring-loaded trap door that drops the two printed coins.
04It carried a $59.99 / £57.99 RRP and is scheduled to retire on July 31, 2026.