Review: LEGO 40466 Chinese New Year Pandas

January 10, 2021 | 6

The Spring Lantern Festival and Story of Nian aren’t the only Chinese New Year-themed sets released in 2021 – for all you LEGO Brickheadz fans, you’re treated to a pretty cute set of Chinese New Year Pandas, which have the numbers 115, 116 and 117.

Love ’em or hate ’em, you gotta respect Brickheadz’ longevity, and staying power, evolving from a primarily pop culture license base theme, to a core seasonal theme with the occasional foray into a themed license.

To celebrate the Chinese New Year, we get a trio of Pandas, which is a little odd, because Pandas aren’t really a Chinese New Year thing. Pandas are Chinese, but they’re not part of the celebrations at all.

Here’s a short review to of LEGO 40466 Chinese New Year Pandas!

Special thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set for review

40466 Chinese New Year Pandas Set Details

Name: Chinese New Year Pandas
Set Number: 40466
Pieces: 249
Price: AU$29.99 | US$19.99 | £17.99 – Buy from LEGO.com [AUS] [USA] [UK]
Exclusive to: LEGO.com, LEGO Brand Retail Stores
Theme: Brickheadz / Seasonal / Chinese New Year
Release Date: 2021.

Pandas are synonymous with China, being their national animal and all, and are impossibly cute. If you haven’t spent at least a few hours of your life watching funny Panda videos on Youtube, have you really lived?

I wouldn’t really go as far as call this a Chinese New Year-themed LEGO set, but more of a set that celebrates one of China’s most recognizable symbols and animals.

Panda Fun Fact: did you know Panda Diplomacy is a thing that China does to connect with other countries?

Most Brickheadz builds are pretty generic, and the Pandas are no different. Thanks to the form factor, the build is very straight forward, with only minor aesthetic details and techniques used to vary the designs.

If you’ve built one of them, you’ve probably built them all.

One of the things I do look forward to during the build are their brains, usually represented by a pink 2 x 2 brick. I was pleasant surprised to see some green bricks in there, which I’m guessing represents all that Bamboo they eat.

Also love that the Baby Pandas have tiny little brains as well, represented by 1 x 1 studs, although one of them doesn’t have a green core.

Here are the completed Pandas! While Pandas are notorious for their poor libido and absolute determination to make themselves go extinct by refusing to make babies, it’s nice that they included 2 babies – perhaps as a sign of hope, optimism and beating the odds.

Panda Fun Fact: Did you know that breeding isn’t particularly high on the Panda’s priority list, which doesn’t help their low population numbers? That and the loss of habitat. This isn’t helped by the fact that there’s only one day a year when female pandas are able to get pregnant.

Baby Pandas

The Baby Pandas are essentially mini versions of the adult Panda, and they’re both clutching green shoots, which I assume are bamboo because that’s the only thing they eat.

Unlike most Brickheadz which stand up right, one of the Baby Pandas is actually meant to be posed lying on its back which is super adorable.

To get it to lie on its back, there’s a little hole at the back, which connects to a pin allowing it to swivel about on its back.

Adult Panda

The Main Panda is also in an unorthodox Brickheadz pose, sitting down on its bum, which is a very typical Panda look.

The use of the quarter tile for the Panda noses is also a pretty nice touch.

Panda Fun Fact: Pandas enjoy eating and sleeping, and can spend up to 14 hours a day eating. up to 38 kgs of bamboo a day. Bamboo isn’t particularly nutritious, so they have to eat as much of them to avoid dying. It also doesn’t help that it’s their only food.

Another really cute future is the Panda’s tiny stud tails on their butts!

Panda Fun Fact: Did you know, Pandas are no longer endangered? Thanks to China’s conservation efforts, Panda numbers have consistently grown, and there are about 1800+ Pandas alive in the world.

This is perhaps where the Chinese New Year connection comes in – the adult Panda comes with his own expanded platform, which has a tree and a pole with a Chinese lantern hanging on to it.

To the Panda’s left is a small mandarin tree, which has orange studs on the leads, as well as 2 lanterns hanging from them. Always nice to see the gold drum-lacquered elements make an appearance, and I like how both builds give the Brickheadz a sense of time and place.

What I liked:

• Pandas are pretty cute
• All 3 Pandas have different poses
• More regional/culturually-themed Brickheadz are always welcome

What I didn’t like: 

• No exclusive printed elements
• Chinese New Year tie-in is tenuous at best

Final Thoughts:

Brickheadz are fun and inexpensive LEGO builds, and while don’t have the biggest or most passionate fanbase, it’s nice to see what LEGO does with the format.

The Chinese New Year Pandas are a decent addition to the Brickheadz collection, with a heavy emphasis on cuteness.

The set is obviously targeted at the Chinese market, who hold Pandas as one of China’s most prized international symbols, so unless you’re an ardent Brickheadz collector, or you’re someone that can’t get enough of Pandas, it’s a set that you can easily skip.

As a concept, I do like that you get 3 Brickheadz in the kit, and it does feel like you’re getting your bang for your buck, but to me, I wish they had made a stronger tie-in to Chinese New Year, other than the Mandarin tree.

Perhaps the addition of some printed tiles, or rare exclusive elements would’ve made it easier to recommend.

40466 Chinese New Year Pandas isn’t something I’d recommend easily, especially with so many other great new 2021 sets out on the market. But if you’re a Brickheadz collector, or cute and cuddly builds, it could be worth considering if you’re looking to fill up your cart on LEGO.com to qualify for free shipping or a gift with purchase.

Rating: 2/5

Thanks for reading this short review of 40466 Chinese New Year Pandas, and I hope you learned a thing or two about Pandas!

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Special thanks to the LEGO Group for providing this set for review.