Review: LEGO Shrek: Shrek, Donkey & Puss in Boots

72423 LEGO Shrek Donkey Puss in Boots New Release Review Brick Banter - 2026 May

LEGO are all Ogre making a new Shrek model!

LEGO Shrek: Shrek, Donkey & Puss in Boots. Not a set I think would ever appear in my lifetime. The film has a 5th instalment coming sometime soon and the original film turns 25 this year, but still, not something I saw coming. But alas, this nostalgic and crude humour based animation film was an absolute success, and still has many fans to this day. So naturally, it seems like LEGO took an opportunity following How To Train Your Dragon and pivoted to Dreamworks’ other big property – Shrek.

Is this set good? Does this set keep a hype up for consumers to buy Shrek merch like they did back in 2001? Read on!

Shrek, Donkey and the Base

The main bulk of the set is clearly the character builds. Although I thought that Shrek would never look good when translated to brick, the designers have done a really good job.

For our main figure, Shrek, we get a slew of new elements in lime green. He also has some new exclusive prints for his face, which look very on brand for the character.

The body has little articulation outside of the head and arms, but where mobility stops, detail appears. I am quite impressed by the angled belt that wraps around Shrek’s body, and the way the slopes work to give a ‘tightened waist’ feel.

Donkey is a character, when translated to bricks, feels weirdly static. I couldn’t put my finger on it until I realised he simply looks weird because he isn’t furry. Obviously LEGO can’t replicate that, but the iconic fuzz is gone, and with that in mind, he looks great.

I do feel Donkey’s eyes are slightly off somehow, maybe just a fraction too small for the character. This is likely the limitations of the part it is printed on.

As for the rest of the diorama, is an otherwise basic but nicely curved base. There are small references to the ‘Blue flower with red thorns’ and ‘Ogres are like Onions’ conversations from the first film. I am also a huge fan of the signpost at the front, authentically converted to brick.

Puss in Boots Minifigure

Our only minifigure for the set is Puss in Boots. He’s a great figure to have, mind you, but it feels incredibly odd to have him this way when the others are brick built. Not only that, he does appear smaller than what he would be because of it.

Puss’ figure is simplistic in design, but does translate well as a minifigure. It is very simple however to pass him off as a nonspecific cat, rather than the iconic cat.

Verdict

Overall, this isn’t a set I expected from LEGO. With more focus on display than play, I assumed we would be getting something akin to Shrek’s Swamp.

But with that aside, this is a great conversion to brick. I’m not saying it is perfect, but it is immediately recognisable.

Puss in Boots feels like the biggest let down for me. The set might have honestly been better without him, or marketing him as an exclusive extra figure on the side. It feels weird with him intermixed.

Is it a good set? Yeah. Is it something I think fans will flock to in a hurry? Not so much. There are lots of LEGO display sets nowadays, making shelf choices more important than ever. But do we think that this will kick others of the spot? No. Happy to be proven wrong.