We have looked at a few creature builds over the last 2 years: the T. Rex, Panda, Kitten, Panda, Safari Animals, a Flamingo, and more – each coming with three options to build. One thing has been apparent: the number of brick designs in play has taken a quantum leap over the last few years. And with each set, the colour palette of these elements expands. Today, we will take a look at another: 31166 Beautiful Horse. Not only do we have the titular horse, but also a dear and bear to build. That said, just about anyone looking at it from a short to moderate distance might well be saying “Medium nougat parts pack”

Let’s take a closer look at this new Creator 3in1 set (provided by LEGO, all opinions are my own)

Thanks to the Knoller-in-Chief, we have these parts laid out in all of their glory. There are a lot of medium nougat pieces here. Over a third of the parts included in this set, in fact. This set works to >ahem< flesh out the range of curved sloped elements in medium nougat, including the 3x3x1 curved slope, quarter circle,(6) and the 2x3x1 curved slope with wedge cut off(4 of each). While we get the 2×3 curved slopes, this set sees the introduction of the 1x3x1 curved slope (12 included). We also see the introduction of the 2×4 flat slope and 2×3 inverse slope in medium nougat. Inverse curved slopes are also introduced in this colour: 1x2x2/3 (11 included) and 1x4x1 (8 included). We also have a wide variety of of green b and bright green curved slopes and bricks. We also see the introduction of the 1x6x1 curved slope in bright green.

The builds

The Horse.

As with so many creature builds these days, the core adopts the longitudinal form of the torso, while setting up multiple studs on the side, to allow the addition of bricks/curved slopes to the sides. Towards the front end, a couple of ball sockets are transfixed with axles. This element appears for the 3rd time in 18 months, having initially only appeared in reddish brown as part of the Legends of Chima run back in 2014.

We build up the neck, using inverse slopes, with tan slopes and curved tiles making up the mane. The ball joints plug in, allowing a small degree of movement for the neck.

The head is roughly 2 studs wide, with the nose presented as one stud wide, on some offset plates. The doubled-up plates with a technic hole (connected by a peg) do a great job in representing the nostrils. Microphones plug into some hollow studs to create the eyes, while a couple of 3×3 round tiles are added to form the masseter muscles, giving the horse’s cheeks the distinctive shape.

We move on to the hind legs. They add a little reddish brown to the colour scheme, with the fetlocks tapering to white. The hind legs connect using the 3×3 rotational click joints.

Front legs are constructed rather quickly, while the relatively new grey 1x1x1 box is reflected to create the horse’s hooves.

We add a tail: it is remarkably long, and relatively fixed.

Finally we have a horse. It is relatively posable, with relatively rigid rear legs, while the front legs give us a flexing knee based around a click joint. The positioning of the plate on the thigh ensures that the knee cannot bend backwards. The model is relatively stable in this situation, but by positioning the legs in some ways, it will fall over, so…

…we move on to build a base for the horse.

It is essentially a rectangle with bright green curved slopes wrapped around the edges, with 3 Technic pegs emerging from the surface. A little texture attached using SNOT elements enhances the appearance.

By fixing 3 of the 4 feet, it allows a degree of posability, but not to the extent that the hose becomes unstable. I am disappointed that the rear legs do not flex, but I recognise that at this scale, it would have created a much more complex, less stable model and more expensive set. Over all, this model used virtually all of the pieces included in the set. I enjoyed posing the animal, but realise I did not take enough pictures before pulling it all apart and starting on the other builds.

Oh Deer

The deer is significantly smaller than the horse. The rear hips make use of the car bonnets, while the antlers invert the tan arches from the tail, while some teeth are added into the holes in some SNOT Bricks. While most of the head is only 3 studs wide, it feels fo delicate. Those eye tiles were hidden in the horse’s torso, so they could be brought out for this build.I thought this build was sweet, and demonstrated some interesting techniques – the lower jaw is in fact a plate with clip which is also attached to the nose and upper snout.of the dear. The legs are fine, and the absence of knees guarantees relative stability. While it was sweet, even somewhat startled, I had to pull it apart in order to build the bear.

Can you bear it?

The bear uses around 3/4 of the elements in the set. I love the way that the body has been made rso round, while the head feels like it is made of ever diminishing round layers. I appreciate the forward facing eyes, as well as the 2×2 rounded tiles forming the shape of the ears. The tan ‘stone’ element makes for perfect ruffles on the chest. The bright reddish violet 2×2 rounded plate is perfect as the bear’s tongue.

This build also includes a small piece aof landscape: a narrow stream, with some rapids. I was a little disappointed not find a salmon included in the build, but this doesnt detract from this friendly fellow at all.

In conclusion

This is another satisfying creature-focused Creator 3in1 build. I found each of the models satisfying, but probably preferred the overall structure of the horse and the expressiveness of the bear.

The set provides at least 10 recolours in medium nougat (= number of elements used – the number of elements listed in the parts inventory on 16/8/2025), and 235 of the set’s 685 pieces appear in this colour. There is no doubt that there have been seemingly endless creature builds appearing in the Creator 3in1 theme this year, outnumbering any other year, by proportion or absolute number in the past 25 years. This graph looks at Creator 3in1 sets with more than 200 pieces, which. have taken as an arbitrary cut off for representing a significant 3in1 build. (Creator as we know it today did not really evolve until 2006, and prior to this, the Creator label existed for Generic brick sets, and the Designer label was applied to the specific model sets. I have included both of these in the pre-2006 data.

I suspect this graph will evolve into another post, sooner rather than later. Suffice to say that just as my computer screen has gone from 280×192 with 8 colours back in the early 80s and now features 8K resolution (7680 x 4320) with a near infinite range of colours, the LEGO System of Play has been busy filling in the gaps in the parts range to improve the definition of our builds, allowing more natural, organic shapes to be created in brick form. We have seen multiple creature builds in the past couple of years where we are seeing the range of elements repurposed in new colours.

In short: the primary model here does what it says on the box: we get a beautiful horse, but also a whimsical dear and a bear in quest of an adjective. All resplendent in medium nougat. There are interesting techniques on display, to help hone your animal builds. The additional pieces of landscaping enhances the appearance, especially for the horse and bear.

Was there anything I did not like about this set? Not a lot. I mentioned the flexing of the rear knees (or lack thereof)in the horse, earlier. Otherwise, my sole gripe comes down to the parts list in the manual. The list of dark green parts is interrupted in part by some of the bright green elements, and the colour difference is barely discernible under the warm lights we have in our house. I dont consider this to be a serious issue, and is only likely to affect people closely examining the inventory and writing reviews of the set…

I give this set 4 out of 5 Arbitrary praise units.

This is a set that looks great on display, or will be used as an additional box of bricks for someone keen on building animals.

Creator 3in1 31166 Beautiful Horse is now available, with a recommended retail price of $AUD79.99, €49.99/£44.99 $USD54.99. We are fortunate in Australia to be paying one of the lowest prices in the world for this set – I feel it represents reasonable value here. I’m not sure that I feel the same about the current prices in much of Europe ( but especially Scandinavia), where the price converts to another $10-20AUD.

What do you think of this set? Is it one for you? your kids or Grand kids? what animal would you like to build with it? leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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Until Next Time,

Play Well!