Super Mario

The Mighty Bowser

The King Koopa done properly, a poseable brick beast that behaves like a puppet.

Set 71411 · 2022

Pieces2,807

Minifigsn/a

Year2022

Set number71411

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The verdict

If you love Super Mario and want one statement piece for the shelf, this is about as good as brick-built characters get.

It nails Bowser's look, moves in ways you don't expect, and stays genuinely fun to build across all 2,807 pieces. The catch is the price and the footprint, so this is a fan centrepiece rather than an impulse buy. If you have the budget and the space, grab it before aftermarket prices climb further.

Best for: Adult Super Mario fans who want one show-stopping display character

The full review

Let me tell you about one of the best character builds LEGO has ever put out. The Mighty Bowser is a 2,807-piece LEGO® set that turns Mario's oldest enemy into a proper display centrepiece, standing over 32cm tall and stretching 41cm wide once he is on his battle platform. This is not a chibi little figure. It is the King of the Koopas at full menace, with the spiky shell, the horns, the red mane and that toothy grin all captured in brick, and not a sticker in sight. Reviewers across the board fell over themselves for this one, and it is easy to see why the moment he is looming on your shelf.

Here is the part that makes it more than a statue. Bowser actually moves. There is a button that swings his head and neck, a lever that drops the jaw open, and opening the mouth flicks out a dart shaped like a fireball. His arms move at the shoulder, elbow and wrist, the fingers and thumb articulate, and the legs and tail pose too, which is why people keep calling it a puppet more than a display piece. There is even a battle platform with a hidden POW block and two knock-over towers, so if you own a LEGO Mario, Luigi or Peach figure you can stomp the Action Tag and stage a proper boss fight. Note those interactive figures are sold separately, so out of the box this is a display and pose piece rather than a full playset.

Now the honest bit, and it is mostly price and size. At $269.99 RRP this was the most expensive Super Mario set going, and more than one reviewer argued the big display stand quietly inflates the piece count and could have been cut to bring the cost down. It is also a technical build in stretches, so if you are new to LEGO some sections will test you. And it is big, so plan your shelf space before you commit rather than after. Discounts of around 20% showed up fairly quickly at retail, but the set has now retired, so you will be shopping the aftermarket where sealed copies have already climbed above retail.

So who should grab this? If you are an adult Mario fan who wants one show-stopping character on the shelf, this is a near-perfect pick and worth hunting down. If you have kids who mainly want to run the interactive Starter Course games, your money goes further elsewhere, because you would still need to buy a Mario figure to open up the play features here. But as a build and a display, Bowser is a boss in every sense, and grabbing him before aftermarket prices climb further is the smart move.

The parts story

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

The build is a real journey and the pacing is spot on. You work through it bag by bag, starting with an internal Technic frame and gearing that drives the head movement, which is a neat bit of engineering, then you layer the body, legs and arms around it. Each section hands you something new to figure out, so you rarely coast on repetition. The shell is the highlight, a satisfying puzzle of angled plates and slopes that lock together far more cleanly than you would expect from something that curvy. It leans technical in places, with a fair bit of Technic connection work, so total beginners might find a few steps fiddly, but confident builders will love how the shapes resolve.

As a parts pack this thing delivers. The designers openly said they needed brand-new elements to get Bowser's shapes right, and roughly 9% of the parts had been released within the previous five years, including new Technic steering ball joint receptacles and large open versions with reinforced designs used for the articulation. You also bank a big store of everyday green and dark green slopes, curved pieces and Technic connectors that are gold for anyone building their own creations, and the whole thing runs on a sensible limited palette rather than a rainbow of odd colours. Given the sheer piece count and the number of newer and rarer moulds tucked inside, the parts value is one of the stronger arguments for the set, even before you factor in how good the finished figure looks.

Fun facts

01At launch this was the biggest and most expensive LEGO Super Mario set ever, with 2,807 pieces and a $269.99 price tag.
02A button hidden under the shell swings Bowser's head and neck, and he also has a working fireball launcher plus moveable eyes and eyebrows for expressions.
03The design team said they had to create brand-new elements to capture Bowser's shape, and about 9% of the parts were moulds released within the previous five years.
04Stomp the battle platform's Action Tag with a LEGO Mario, Luigi or Peach figure and it triggers an on-figure boss battle, though those figures are sold separately.