Review: LEGO Art Macaw Parrots 31211

LEGO Art Macaw Parrots 31211 - Brick Banter - New Release Review

The LEGO Art Theme takes flight!

In an unexpected move for the LEGO Art theme, LEGO have made pastel coloured decorative birds! This was never a set that I expected, and 2-dimensional art featurettes from LEGO is an interesting new territory with the LEGO Art Macaw Parrots.

But with my curiosity piqued, I’m really keen to take a look at these sets. What do I think? Read on.

LEGO® Art Macaw Parrots (31211)
RRP AUD $79.99 – CA $54.99 – EUR €44.99 – UK £39.99 – USA $44.99
644 pieces
Available from LEGO.com and LEGO Stores from 1st January 2024.

Pink Macaw Parrot

First off, wow.

I have built a LEGO bird wingspan before, and I know how incredulously hard it is. Being able to make a build like this that has the impact it does is fantastic.

The colour choices here in the set also make the set quite striking. I’m not a huge fan of pink, but this is a set that seems like it wouldn’t be too hard to supplement colours with when they become available. I also like that the eyes are Dark Blue, and not Black, which is a very harsh contrast comparatively.

Is this perfect? Well, no. This is an amazing shape and build, but it’s best viewed from afar. Come up too close to it, and you’ll quickly notice the potato body of the bird. If this is in a space where you can see these at a distance, great. But if this is hung up high and you see it from below often, the middle bodied potato bird comes out.

Yellow Macaw Parrot

The Yellow Macaw Parrot does a fantastic job of using it’s striking colour to help accentuate the dark azure sheer of it’s feathers. You can clearly tell which way it is looking, it’s pose and what it is doing.

I love the levels used in this model, having the wing sitting forward from the rest giving an authentic perching pose.

In a similar fashion to the pink Macaw, the colours are fantastic. The dark blue eye, the intricate beak, and shaping work well.

The small amount of plant life that stems off the branch is also a fantastic touch, as this set could be boring otherwise.

On a more minute nit-picky scale, the Yellow Macaw does have a fault. The colour variation in the body isn’t noticeable from afar, but up close, is differing like early iterations of teal. This isn’t a fault of designers, but it’s worth mentioning.

Verdict

Overall, these are great. They hit the nail on the head with intention and execution.

I do feel like I need to stress that the positioning of these sets will be a factor to their impact in your home. Place wisely, and don’t focus too much up close.

Otherwise, the only other fault I think I have with these sets is trying to figure out which one is my favourite…