Review: LEGO Super Mario The Might Bowser

The Mighty King Bowser is here to make an impact! (and maybe steal your girl!)

LEGO 71411 – The Might Bowser

RRP AUD $399.99 – CA $349.99 – EUR €269.99 – UK £229.99 – USA $269.99
2807 pieces
Available from LEGO.com and LEGO Stores from 1st October 2022.

About This Set

Stomping his way into the scene, the Might King Bowser is here to impress!

I, for one, did not see this coming at all. Being a fan of the LEGO Super Mario line with my kids. Hearing that LEGO had a large Super Mario set reveal made me very excited, and then seeing what it was, blew me away.

Never in my lifetime did I expect to be able to build a LEGO Bowser for a display piece in my home, and 7-year-old me playing Super Mario 64 and Paper Mario 64 would be losing my mind right now.

But taking all that stuff aside, is the King truly living up to his name? Or am I looking at this with rose-tinted glasses? Read on!

About This Set

One of my favorite things about this set is the way that LEGO has made sure to tile over or round out each of Bowser’s limbs as much as they can. Really solidifying the grandeur of a display piece this set is.

Each of the hands has opposable thumbs, and are built in a similar manner to the golden claw that comes in the Bowser’s Airship set. (We have a review of that here!)

Following this, LEGO has made it so that Bowser’s jaw can open up for his signature roars. I personally prefer his open mouth, but as it is also a play feature, it doesn’t hold up on its own and drops shut with its own weight.

Bowser’s head is controlled by a few hidden latches on the underside of his shell, between his arms and the white.

The technic piece controls Bowser’s head opening his mouth, and the bricks push from one side of the model to the other to turn the head left to right. If the head isn’t directly facing forward, this part unfortunately looks a bit ugly from the side.

Continued

Bowser’s head also has a dual feature of not only opening up to talk, but also shoot a fireball projectile using the newer designed spring-loaded shooter. Simply open his head all the way and fire away!

The platform that Bowser comes with also has a few fun features involved too. Such as the collapsing pillars that Bowser can smash and the hidden LEGO Super Mario Tile in the front of the model that can be used to have Mario battle it out with the King.

I really like that they did something to incorporate this with the LEGO Super Mario line, and it allows parents to play along with their kids as the “big bad” and try and stop the pesky plumber!

And lastly, one of the fun features is having Bowser’s eyes on rotating tiles, which allows Bowser to look around his surroundings and even go cross-eyed if need be.

Verdict

Overall, this set is definitely a display piece. It’s quite clear that this is an impact piece to catch your attention, and the King certainly delivers.

Is he perfect? No, not entirely. I am really glad to get this set and how he interacts with the LEGO Super Mario line, but if you are wanting him as purely display, those extra features of the technic and the sticking out brick to move his head and jaw would certainly not be ideal.

Do I recommend this set? Heck yeah I do! This is a set that looks cool, feels cool, and my 7-year-old self would love seeing it.

(That being said, that stand that he comes with might not be long for this world. I honestly don’t reckon he really needs it.)