Creator

Red Dragon

A tiny box that turns into three completely different animals.

Brick Rated Score

4.3/5

Set 31145 · 2024

Pieces149

Minifigsn/a

Year2024

Set number31145

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

I built the dragon first and just sat there turning it over in my hands, the articulated jaw and the tail that actually curls are doing a lot of work for a set this small.

What gets me about this one is the 3 in 1 promise actually pays off, you are not just rearranging a couple of panels, you get a genuinely different silhouette each time with the fish and the phoenix. At under twenty dollars it is one of the easiest recommendations I make for someone who wants a real building experience without committing a whole afternoon. If you already own a shelf of bigger Creator sets and want scale or minifigs, skip this one, it is not that kind of set.

Best for: budget-conscious builders and dragon fans who want a satisfying quick build

The full review

What it is

I love a set that punches above its price, and the Red Dragon does exactly that. For under twenty dollars you get a genuine 3 in 1 Creator build, not a token alternate model tacked on for the box art, but three fully realized creatures. The dragon is the headline, with a hinged jaw, a long segmented tail, and wings that fan out convincingly for how few pieces are involved. Rebuild it and you get a fish with overlapping scale plates, then a phoenix that trades the dragon's menace for something lighter and more graceful.

The catch

I will be honest about the size, this is a small set and it reads as one on a shelf next to the bigger Creator animals. The connections at the wing joints can feel a touch loose once you have posed the model a few times, which is a fair complaint from builders who like to display and rarely rebuild. And because it is a true 3 in 1, you do have to take apart whichever form you built to try the next one, there is no keeping all three at once without buying a second copy.

Who it's for

If you want a low-cost, high-satisfaction build, something to hand a curious kid or knock out on a slow evening, this is a lovely pick. If you are shopping for a centerpiece set with minifigs and real scale, look elsewhere in the Creator lineup, this one is built for charm, not for size.

The parts story

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

The build itself moves fast, which suits the set's personality. You start with the dragon's core body and legs, then layer on the tail segments one at a time, watching the articulation take shape before your eyes. The head is the most satisfying part, a compact hinge setup gives the jaw real range of motion, and the small horn and spike pieces do a surprising amount to sell the dragon look despite the low piece count.

The standout pieces are the wing elements and the overlapping scale plates that get reused across all three builds, they are shaped to slot together in a way that reads as texture rather than flat panels. There is nothing here in the way of new or rare molds, this set leans on LEGO's existing animal-building vocabulary, but it uses that vocabulary cleverly. For the part count, you are getting real value, every piece earns its place across the three alternate builds rather than sitting there as filler.

Fun facts

01Set 31145 is part of LEGO's Creator 3-in-1 line, meaning the same 149 pieces rebuild into three official alternate models: the dragon, a fish, and a phoenix.
02It released in 2024 as one of the smaller, budget-friendly entries in the Creator animal series, priced to sit well under most other 3-in-1 sets.
03The dragon's jaw and tail use hinge and ball joint pieces to allow posing, a feature LEGO designers lean on across the Creature-focused Creator sets to add play value to small builds.
04Creator 3-in-1 sets like this one are designed with instructions for all three builds included in the box, so no separate purchase or app-only open up is needed to access the fish or phoenix forms.