LEGO Art

The Rolling Stones

The famous lips and tongue logo, reborn as a chunky 3D brick sculpture.

3.8/5

Set 31206 · 2022

Pieces1,998

Minifigsn/a

Year2022

Set number31206

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The verdict

If you love the band or just want a piece of LEGO Art that finally breaks out of the flat square mosaic mould, this one is a genuinely fun and different build.

It goes properly three dimensional, uses way more techniques than dropping round tiles on a plate, and looks great on a wall. Just know the tongue section turns into a red-on-red puzzle that can test your patience. Grab it if you want art you actually enjoy assembling, skip it if you wanted quick and relaxing.

Best for: Rolling Stones fans who want a build with real bite, not just a tile mosaic

The full review

What it is

Let me tell you what makes this LEGO® set stand out from the rest of the Art shelf. Instead of another flat grid where you press 1x1 round tiles into a canvas, 31206 takes the Rolling Stones' famous lips and tongue logo and builds it as a chunky three dimensional relief. It was released for the band's 60th anniversary in 2022, and it is the first Art set that throws out the rectangular frame entirely. The lips pop, the tongue sticks out, and the whole thing reads as a sculpture rather than a picture. If you have found previous Art sets a bit meditative to the point of boring, this is the one that actually feels like a build with something going on.

The catch

Now the honest bit. This set sits around $149.99, which is real money for something that hangs on a wall and does nothing else. There are no minifigs, no functions, just the display piece and a QR code that opens up a Rolling Stones soundtrack to play while you build. The part everyone flags is the tongue. It is a big area of red parts placed on top of other red parts, almost like a jigsaw where every piece is the same colour, and the highlighting in the instruction booklet does not always make it obvious what goes where. You will find yourself double checking sections and occasionally hunting for a piece you thought you already placed. It is absorbing if you are in the right mood and mildly annoying if you are not.

Who it's for

So who is this for? Fans of the band, first of all. If that logo means something to you, this is a brilliant way to put it on your wall and it will start conversations. It is also a great pick for anyone who liked the idea of LEGO Art but wanted a build with more going on than colour by numbers. Who should skip it? If you wanted a relaxing wind down build, the red-on-red tongue might frustrate you, and if you have no attachment to the Stones the subject is too specific to justify the price. It retired in December 2023, so it is off shelves now and you will be buying secondhand. For the right person though, it is one of the more interesting things the Art line has ever done.

The parts story

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

Building this is a lot more engaging than a standard Art mosaic, mostly because the structure underneath is pure Technic. Rather than a canvas, the base is a skeleton of Technic frames, roughly 17 of the 6x8 frames, 5 of the 4x6, and 8 of the 4x4, plus five of the big 16x16 pinhole baseplates in black. You bolt that framework together first, then start layering the shape on top using wedge plates, angled plates, and stacked tiles to get that raised 3D contour. The lips and the tongue are built as their own contoured sections, so the pacing stays fresh because you keep switching techniques instead of repeating one motion for two hours. The red tongue is the marathon leg, all texture work with 1x1 round tiles and ingot pieces layered for depth.

For parts nerds there is decent value here. You get 135 different element types, which is huge for the Art line, and the standout new element is the Plate 8x16 in red (five of them in the box). The red ingot piece appears to debut in this set too. There are no brand new moulds, but plenty of useful recolours in black, white, and red, and stacks of Technic frames and angled plates that are great for your own MOCs later. There is also a lovely Easter egg hidden under the tongue: a '60' spelled out in 1x1 round plates that fade from dark red through to bright light yellow, a nod to the 60th anniversary that nobody will ever see once it is built.

Fun facts

01The lips and tongue logo was designed in 1970 by art student John Pasche for just £50, and first appeared on the 1971 album Sticky Fingers.
02It was the very first LEGO Art set to abandon the square frame, building the design as a raised 3D relief instead of a flat mosaic.
03Hidden underneath the tongue is a '60' built from 1x1 round plates fading dark red to yellow, honouring the band's 60th anniversary.
04A QR code in the box opens up a Rolling Stones soundtrack to play while you build, and the finished piece stands 57cm tall.