As I write this, I am almost a week down the track from Brickvention, our local AFOL Networking event. As such, I am still in recovery mode. It remains High summer here: hot days, short nights, with grass drying out and the fire season approaching. But in the northern hemisphere, the days are slowly lengthening, the snow starting to melt, and thoughts are turning to the approaching spring, with new life: plants growing back, and migratory birds returning and setting up home in new nests, with eggs getting laid. And easter is coming, with its festival of coloured eggs, too. As such, I was delighted to see the first images of 40639 Birds’ Nest. I was delighted when I received a preview copy to review.
At 19.99AUD, it is a fairly inexpensive set, but is it the thing to put on display in your living room? Read on to find out.
The set comes in a small box, and has 232 pieces. We have a mixture of Orange, bright yellowish orange, browns/nougat/dark orange, as well as a selection of blossoms, stems, leaves and branches. The instructions were particularly clear.
The build starts off with a simple solid core, with a number of slopes forming the core of the mother bird: Orange on the breast, grey for the tail, and a number of SNOT bricks, as well as some ball joints, which will attach the wings in time.
The studs are covered up, giving the bird a more curved shape to its body, as well as translucent eyes, with a printed black 1×1 tile forming the centre. The mixture of Dark Stone grey, flat silver and sand blue on the wing brings a pleasing, organic combination..
The next is built over a reddish brown base, surrounded by SNOT Bricks, and built up using a variety of curved slopes and plates, while stems and branches are added.
As the nest develops, we are given a small branch with pink and purple blossoms attached.
We follow up with the two chicks – predominantly cool yellow in colour, with tan beaks. One has an opened beak, the other closed. They also have small wings, which give the pair quite a bit of lively expression. their eyes are comically oversized but add significantly to the cuteness of this part of the build.
Finally, we build 3 colour eggs, with contrasting central stripes. It would be remiss of me not to point out the Easter Egg Vibe that the set is radiating.
finally, we can put them all in the nest together,
I love the overall simplicity of the build. While aspects of the branch and blossom would be a little fiddly, I think it would be suitably challenging for a 9-year-old to put together unaided. I think it would also be a great starter set for developing organic shapes and creatures. The final model might have limited play value, but overall I think it could be great fun for kids to experiment with building techniques.
At $19.99 AUD, it represents good value, The set goes on sale on February 1st 2023 from LEGO.com and LEGO Branded retail outlets. If you are interested, consider using these affiliate links – the Rambling Brick might receive a small commission, which goes toward maintaining the costs associated with maintaining the Blog.
For what it sets out to do, I think this is a great little set, with some interesting pieces. I happily give it 3.5 out of 5 arbitrary praise units. What do you think? Does this set meet your wish list? leave your comments below and until next time,
Play Well!
This set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes. All opinions are my own.
The Rambling Brick 