Brickheadz

Sonic the Hedgehog: Knuckles & Shadow

Two rivals, one box, and a surprising amount of personality packed into blocky heads.

Brick Rated Score

3.8/5

Set 40672 · 2024

Pieces298

Minifigsn/a

Year2024

Set number40672

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The verdict

I built Shadow first and caught myself grinning at how they nailed his stripe pattern using nothing but standard bricks stacked at an angle.

Knuckles came together just as fast, and side by side on a shelf they read instantly as themselves, not generic red and black blobs. This is a quick, satisfying build for anyone who grew up with a Sega Genesis or has a kid deep into the Sonic movies right now, and it's cheap enough that I don't feel bad recommending it as an impulse pickup. If you want a real engineering challenge or a display piece with lasting presence, though, this pair won't scratch that itch.

Best for: Sonic movie fans and BrickHeadz collectors who want the whole rival trio on the shelf

The full review

What it is

This is the Knuckles and Shadow half of LEGO's 2024 BrickHeadz push into the Sonic universe, released alongside a matching Sonic and Tails set so the whole core crew ends up on your shelf as a family. I'll be straight with you, I went in expecting the usual BrickHeadz shrug, cute but forgettable, and came out more charmed than I planned to be. Knuckles's dreadlocks and Shadow's red-striped quills are the kind of details that could have been phoned in with a single sticker, and instead they're built out of actual brick geometry, which is exactly the kind of small cleverness that keeps me coming back to this theme even when I roll my eyes at the format.

The catch

The honest caveat is the one every BrickHeadz review has to make: the body underneath that great head is a simple stacked cube, and once you're past the face there isn't much left to engage with. At 298 pieces split across two figures, you're building two smaller sets rather than one meaty one, so the total time at the table is shorter than the box size suggests. And because this is a licensed character set, the price sits a notch higher per piece than LEGO's own original BrickHeadz lines, so you're paying partly for Sega's blessing.

Who it's for

Get this if you're building out the Sonic BrickHeadz set (Sonic and Tails is the natural companion), if you've got a young fan of the movies who wants their favorite rivalry on a desk, or if you just like fast, cheerful builds between bigger projects. Skip it if you're looking for a serious afternoon build or a display piece with real heft, this one is a fun forty-five minutes, not a weekend project.

The parts story

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

Building these two is quick and low-stress, which is the whole appeal of BrickHeadz when it's done well. You start with the signature big cube head, layer in the eyes and face plate, then work outward to the ears, quills, and in Knuckles's case those dreadlock-style spikes framing his face. Shadow goes together in a near-mirror sequence but with his red racing stripes worked into the shoulder and chest bricks instead of stickers, which is a nice touch of restraint from the designers.

The standout piece for me is how much character both figures get from ordinary elements angled and layered rather than from any exotic new mold. Knuckles's fists and Shadow's shoes both use recolored parts pulled from elsewhere in the LEGO system, repurposed cleverly enough that they read as bespoke. There's nothing here that will excite a hardcore parts collector hunting rare printed pieces, but for a licensed character build at this size, the part choices punch above their price.

Fun facts

01This set launched alongside 40671 Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails as LEGO's first wave of Sonic-themed BrickHeadz, timed to ride the popularity of the Sonic movie franchise.
02BrickHeadz as a theme debuted in 2016, and licensed character pairs like this one have become one of the line's most common formats, letting LEGO sell rival or duo characters in a single box.
03Shadow the Hedgehog debuted in the games back in 2001 as Sonic's dark counterpart, and this is one of the first times he's been rendered in official LEGO form.
04Knuckles's design leans on his signature dreadlocks and boxing gloves, the two details that make him instantly readable even in the chunky, simplified BrickHeadz style.