LEGO DreamZzz is a fever dream that meets the real world! But what are the characters and the show all about?
LEGO Dreamzzz. Lets be honest here. If you were anything like me, when you first heard about this in-house theme, you would have thought this was the equivalent of a weird fever dream crossed with a set line that sounds so far fetched that its from another planet. No? Just me?
Well, LEGO DreamZzz is here and coming in hot. With a vibrant and varied first wave, TV show and media everywhere showcasing the potential of this in-house theme. So how does it hold up? I read every detail of the sets, I watched the entire show and now I have my hands on the sets. Let’s dive in and see what exactly is going on with LEGO DreamZzzz.
Before I start, a side-note. Each set has a ‘choose your own adventure’ build for the last bag or two. Meaning there are alternate ways to build your model, and you will have left over parts you’re not use to having left over. In our review, we have built just one of the alternatives.
Sets available from 1st August 2023.
Izzie and Bunchu the Bunny (71453)
Izzie is my favourite character from the show, hands down. I am also super glad that she is available in one of the cheapest sets of the wave.
In the show, Izzie pulls out one of her stuffed animals from her backpack and uses the new concept of “Dreamcrafting” to turn it into a live large creature she can ride. Although the set looks somewhat mechanical, this is pulled off really well at this small scale.
I don’t have much qualms with the set, and the new waist pieces for the Bunchu Bunny will be pivotal in making some new cool MOCs, I’m sure.
The figure of Izzie sports a new hair mould of purple and blue, very reminiscent of what my wife current has. Love the sword too. These are going straight to the new sigfigs!
Mateo and Z-Blob the Robot (71454)
Where the Bunchu Bunny looks odd by having mechanical parts intermixed, Z-Blob thrives. Z-Blob is a previously-imaginary-turned-real-friend of the protagonist Mateo, and this form of Z-Blob is his battle mode in the show.
Z-Blob’s articulation is far superior to Bunchu Bunny’s, and easily able to be made more dynamic with a few rearrangements of the parts. The alternate model for Z-Blob is also used in the show a bit, despite how silly it can look.
As for side builds, we get Mateo in a basic outfit, sporting the new hair mould and an oversized pencil, which he uses as a weapon in the show. The other character is pretty non-specific, and is designed to be put on the monster bed for the conflict-in-a-box.
Grimkeeper the Cage Monster (71455)
Grimkeeper the Cage Monster is a baddie introduced in the series that gives us a glimpse at the darker tones of the show. For one, the character of Cooper is captured early in the series, and is imprisoned in the belly of Grimkeeper the Cage Monster.
Grimkeeper is nonspecific, and there are hundreds of them. Their goal is to capture dreamers and imprison them for transport to the Nightmare King. When imprisoned, the dreamers don’t wake up, their bodies wither, and it is heavily implied that they start to die. Moreover, when they get to the Nightmare King, their creativity and imagination is drained from them as a fuel source. After that? Who knows.
As for the build, Grimkeeper is menacing, although also goofy. His head implies danger and business but his lower legs are really scrawny and weird. It works well for the monstrous aesthetic though.
Mrs. Castillo’s Turtle Van (71456)
Mrs. Castillo’s Turtle Van is one of those sets that I feel like the LEGO designers really had a lot of fun making. The concept is goofy, but the end result looks amazing. Being able to return the van to a normal version is fantastic, as the show shows more of the Van in the real world than it does in the dream world as a turtle.
Mrs. Castillo sports a brand new body mould, but I do have to question the validity of needing such an intricate new mould. Mateo comes back here too, and we get the first version of Zoey in fig form – the resident badass-loner character. The printing on these characters are no short on detail, and I love them all. Although Z-Blob being represented as a ‘minilander’ with the slime mould on his head really doesn’t work for me.
Pegasus Flying Horse (71457)
Coming in hot to make an entrance, the Nightmare King’s steed easily sets the tone for what to expect from the baddies in this wave. The set is hard to fault with such a solid build and menacing presence. The steed can be made as just a Nightmare horse (Night-Mare if you will) or as the Pegasus version with built-in throne.
Zoey gets a minor character upgrade with the addition of her teal cape and her bird, which is a proper character from the show. I do wish the bird had more of a build akin to the Bunchu Bunny or Z-Blob mech, but this is okay too. The new elements and colours here are always welcome.
The Nightmare King figure makes his first set appearance here, and boy is this a figure to behold. The crown element, cape and sword just screams Sauron-inspired, but there is no doubt he’s the bad guy. All round top figure.
The last figure we need to talk about is the demon figure, aptly named Susan in the show. Her head is constantly alight with flame, and she acts as one of the leaders of the Nightmare King’s forces. The figure translates weirdly into real bricks, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.
Crocodile Car (71458)
First of all, this is a large set to build and make a monstrous car out of for something that only appears in the show for one scene. And even then, the crocodile aspect of it wasn’t even there. It was just a ‘Monster’ Truck.
Getting that out of the way, this is the first set that I think could have been simplified down because of price. There are a lot of elements of the truck that come together to make the crocodile, but there are so many colours colliding it looks like a bit of mess. Maybe that is completely intentional. The characters of Cooper and Logan (worst character in the show btw!) accidentally dual Dreamcraft a hodgepodge of a machine to be able to escape. Cooper brings the car, and Logan bricks the blue crocodile aspect of it.
Bad Guys
As for the baddies, we get our first instance of the Night Hunter, who is a near perfect figure barring the fact he has a normal left hand. In the show, he has a hook for a left hand instead. The new moulds are great for the cape and hat of the figure, as well as the other printing elements across the other figs. Logan, the weird blue little dude, is not a nice figure to look at. In the show, he even has fingers. Eeeww.
The last character for the villains is Snivel, one of the three goons alongside Susan and Sneak (who doesn’t have a figure yet). Their vehicle is really kind of basic, and I wish we had something more to make them menacing rather than something to race the car with.
Being a fan of the show, this doesn’t scream to me to be a set to pick up. Sorry designers. Figs are amazing though.
Stable of Dream Creatures (71459)
The stable of Dream Creatures is a set that I feel more so sets the backdrop for the world of DreamZzz, rather than add anything really to it. This set gives us lots of potential to intermix elements to be able to change the deer creature and other elements of the house, and that’s it.
Don’t get me wrong, I do like the set for what it stands for. The new moulds, bright colours and fun dollhouse effect that it brings, but the figures let the set down for me a little bit.
Our four Minifigures we get in this set are Izzie, Cooper, Zoey and Mrs. Castillo, all of which have appeared in other set. Adding to that, Izzie is missing her shoulder element and weapon. Cooper doesn’t have any accessories or helmet, and Zoey has no cape, nor bow, and doesn’t feel at home in a set such as this.
I think that this build would have benefitted by having some different elements at play, such as Zoey’s bird being in this set. Giving many different ways to change that animal. Here, the build is very flat and one-dimensional, with no height or conflict to keep kids at play. I like it in concept, but execution feels off.
Mr. Oz’s Spacebus (71460)
Okay, this is a set that will be popular. Classic Space logos? Old dude mentor? Space Chimpanzee? Black Classic Spaceman? Yeah, it’s a big win for some people.
Mr Oz’s Spacebus is quite a prominent vehicle in the series, and is used often to transport all the characters around the Dreamworld. The insides of the build are cramped, but filled with lots of little details to love. There’s a stickered window element showcasing the tower to the Nightmare King’s tower, as well as fun stickers all over with a classic “ZZZ” slapped on them.
The colour theme of this set is hands down great, and doesn’t feel like a conflict like the above Crocodile car.
Although the set technically comes with only two Minifigures, it isn’t short on play! I’m also glad to see we get Einstein as a figure in this set. Highly recommmend.
Fantastical Tree House (71461)
The Fantastical Tree house doesn’t make an appearance in the series until the very end of the show. And although I don’t remember getting much of a good look at the treehouse in the show. The vibrant colours and whimsical nature of this set feels really spot on.
I’m a big fan of the plant at the bottom that looks straight from The Little Shop of Horrors, as well as all of the fun graffiti stickers I look forward to repurposing for cityscape builds. The bulk of parts of brown for the tree will always be welcome in my book, and I’m so glad to have some of the new coloured blue plant elements to add to a fantasy setting.
The baddies of the set get themselves a cute chibi-Grimkeeper, and for the size it is, I’m really happy with how this thing turned out. I really do wish that LEGO might have thought about making a second one of these creatures and putting it into a set. I love it.
The figures of the set are almost the same as previous sets, although this time around Izzie has a waist piece in cloth and Mrs. Castillo has a different coloured Dreamcrafting staff. I’m also glad to be getting the Night Hunter here again, as I really do love this figure. Snivel still needs to grow on me.
This is a set that is a bit of a big buy, but I would highly recommend picking this one up if you want a taste of the DreamZzz theme without getting every set.
Nightmare Shark Ship (71469)
Oh boy, is this thing an absolute menace.
The Nightmare Shark Ship is a monstrous ship that was once used to try and hunt down the main characters. Upon seeing Izzie Dreamcraft a stuffed shark toy called Mr. Sharkyjaw against the Nightmare King’s forces, the Night Hunter took the shark and combined it with the ship. What they made was, this. And oh boy is just as menacing in real life as it was on the show.
This thing is the true representation of the bad guy forces of the show. I love the weird eyes that just seem to be everywhere on the ship. Coupling up with the eye motif of the Nightmare King, as well as the unsettling contrast of the shark against the dark grey/sand blue aesthetic of the ship. The rear engines of the ship blast out a weird opalescent purple/pink, which complements the magenta highlights throughout the ship.
There is very little I dislike about this set, other than the long cylinder used for the tail and the lack of the Night Hunter in the set. For a set that is supposed to be the defining thing for the bad guys, it feels very understocked in regards to the militia part of it. I would have gladly taken the Night Hunter (who piloted the ship/made it) as an extra figure, or even two or three of the small minilander bad guys like in Dr. Oz’s Spacebus.
Outside of these things. I love this set. It is probably my favourite set of the whole entire wave, tied closely with the Treehouse set. 110% recommend.
Verdict
For an in-house theme with full creative liberty, LEGO certainly did not hold back. On paper, this entire theme sounded like a fever dream, and it still kind of does, but it absolutely rocks it.
That being said, there are some sets that I don’t feel like are quite worth the pricetag or worth to add to the collection. It’s not a theme without it’s flaws, but there are very minimal ones at that. The good sets are great! There’s only two that I don’t think hit the same level as the rest of the wave.
But for a first wave? Amazing.
Thank you for reading
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