LEGO® Creator 3 in1 is going in for creature modeling in a big way in 2025, with six of the nine new sets featuring creatures, real or imagined. The LEGO Group have sent a few of these sets over for review. (all opinions are my own)

Today, I’d like to look at 31165 Wild Animals: Panda Family. With 626 pieces, and priced at $AUD59.99 / $USD39.99/ €39.99/ £34.99. the set brings us builds with the theme of animal families – featuring an adult and its young. Here the builds include Pandas; Orca and Penguins. Lets take a closer look.

The box comes with 5 paper bags inside. we have a wide variation in elements present, including a couple of new moulds.

Some of these new elements include a 2×2 version of the 1×1 half circle/squre tile, and a 2x2x2/3 quarter circle curved slope element, adding to the parts family started a couple of years ago with the 3×3 version.

As you can see, most elements are black and white, while there are a few in a variety of other colours, including lime green Technic connectors, and bamboo leaves. There are elements from the full spectrum of the parts palette including rounded plates, 2×2 ‘rock’ tiles in black and white and the 2×2 curved plate with cutout. There are only four two by four bricks present, and I was delighted to see them in red – if only for the sake of their iconic value.

Lets look at the panda

The bags are ordered according to the instructions for the Panda Family. From there, we mix all of the elements together.

We start by constructing the baby panda, who has a posable head. The hips move in and out, but the arms have limited mobility. A delightful addition to this part of the build is a small rocky outcrop with some bamboo growing from it The adult panda starts at the legs, and works up – constructing a core element, and then attaching elements adding to the core of the body, front and back.

Finally, we build up the head of the adult panda – front and back. One relatively new element essentially enables the look of this model, through the positioning of the ears: 77485 the 1×4 rounded plate. After that, the 27261 design plate 2×3, Rock #1 – with 16 elements in black and another 6 in white, which provides an organic. shaggy look to the fur.

Here is the completed model, front and back:

I am impressed by the expressiveness of the panda: while there is limited articulation – the eyes are just so expressive (the look is achieved with a 1×2 plate with a ball at each end, SNOTed in front of two 1×1 Technic bricks. Arms can move up and down, and the wrists can turn. The legs are limited to moving out at the hips a little.

Despited this limited movements, the model is relatively expressive. This allows us to create some interesting family dynamics.

I think I made a fundamental mistake in building this model first, as I think its the one I wish to keep on display. This model uses virtually all of the elements included in the set, with a very small handful left over.

The Orca uses the colourful elements to form the sea floor, while relying on curved elements to form the shape of the body, and using ball joints and clips to give the body its sleek arc. The juvenile feels cartoonish in its form. I appreciate the very small fish, attached to the transparent rods.

Here is the model, with the LEGO City Orca, as seen in 60368 Arctic Explorer Ship. As you can see, the model is only slightly larger in scale to the premoulded version.

Penguins

The pair of penguins take another tack, with a small downy juvenile, and a larger adult. The child is a relatively simple build, on a small ice floe, while the adult starts off as a solid core with, with studs pointing outwards. We add a hinge to the neck, which adds a degree of parental concern to the penguin. As well as flippers.

This model appears to be a King Penguin

All of these models bring us delightful animal combinations, taking advantage of some elements with interesting forms. We have already mentioned the 2×3 rock plate, but also half circle plate 2×6.

The Pandas use up virtually all of the pieces in the set, while the Orca and penguins use around half. Unfortunately, not exclusively the opposite half of the pieces.

In my opinions, Creator 3in1 brings out the best in LEGO Design by demonstrating the versatility of the System, and multiple uses for different elements. I always enjoy rebuilding to get the other models, although it would be exciting if the alternate builds were to use up a greater proportion of the element pool. While these are not necessarily fully articulated and posable animals, there is enough movement in them to make them interesting. I am happy to give this set 4 out of 5 arbitrary praise units

Which is your favorite build of this set? Why don’t you leave your comments below.

31165 Wild Animals Panda Families goes on sale January 1 2025 and has 626 pieces. It is priced at $AUD59.99/$USD39.99/€39.99/£34.99.

If you have enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it with your friends, families and communities. You can also keep up to date with us by following The Rambling Brick on our socials: Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Tumblr (or just sign up for our mailing list) and find some extra content on Instagram and TikTok.

We really value your feedback: please let us know what you think about the sets we review, and the articles we post. And if you wish to support the Rambling Brick, consider clicking on our affiliate links before going shopping at LEGO.com. The Rambling Brick receives a small commission, and it costs you nothing extra.

Until Next Time,

Play Well!