Review: LEGO 40548 Spice Girls Brickheadz

April 22, 2022 | 5

LEGO’s continued push into embedding itself into pop culture continues this year with a very interesting evolution of the Brickheadz line with 40548 Spice Girls Tribute, a 5-pack Brickheadz that pays tribute to one of the most iconic girl pop bands of the 1990s.

It’s a fascinating shift for Brickheadz, mostly because the theme has so far been heavily reliant on fantasy characters (like Stranger Things, Looney Tunes, Marvel) – to see LEGO crossing the line and adapting actual real-life celebrities and pop culture stalwarts like the Spice Girls, I think signals an interesting direction for the theme.

The Spice Girls Brickheadz comes in a 5-pack box, with blocking depictions of Baby Spice (Emma Bunton), Scary Spice (Mel B), Sporty Spice (Mel C), Ginger Spice (Geri Halliwell), Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham) in Brickheadz form.

The LEGO Spice Girls Brickheadz are available exclusively from LEGO.com and LEGO Stores. See below for regional pricing

• 40548 Spice Girls Tribute [US] – US$49.99
• 40548 Spice Girls Tribute [AUS] – AU$79.99
• 40548 Spice Girls Tribute [UK] – £44.99
• 40548 Spice Girls Tribute [EU] – €49.99
• 40548 Spice Girls Tribute [CA] – CAD$64.99

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

40548 Spice Girls Tribute Set Details

Name: Spice Girls Tribute
Set Number: 40548
Pieces: 578
Price: AU$79.99 | US$49.99 | £44.99 – Buy from LEGO.com [US] [AUS] [UK]
Exclusive to: LEGO.com, LEGO Brand Retail Stores
Theme: Brickheadz
LEGO Designer: Dan Squirrell (@dansquirrell)
Release Date: 1 March 2022

With 5 Brickheadz in the pack, this is the biggest Brickheadz pack yet, and the build experience can be a shared experience, as each Spice Girl have their own instruction booklet.

It’s a fun shared build activity, especially if you have friends or partners that are into the Spice Girls.

Here’s Emma Bunton, aka Baby Spice – she has blonde hair done up in high pigtails, with a fringe (aka bangs). Her hairstyle is one of her most defining features, and generally, the Brickheadz does a decent job of capturing Baby Spice’s look.

She has a short pink dress, which is rather plain, with no interesting prints, which is slightly disappointing.

Baby Spice’s silhouette is quite nice, and her bangs are pretty spot on, so combined with her dress colour, it does a decent job of getting Emma’s look right, which is a win when it comes to any Brickheadz.

Next is Victoria Beckham (nee Adams) aka Posh Spice. She’s one of the most high profile members of the girl group, mostly due to her relationship with England football star, David Beckham.

She’s also unfortunately labelled as one of the least talented Spice Girls in the vocal department, as she doesn’t feature prominently in most Spice Girls songs, and doesn’t have many solos/lines.

The Victoria Beckham Brickheadz is okay, her jet black hair is done up as a bob, and she has a plain little black dress on – it’s also quite ironic that she’s clutching a mic, as she doesn’t sing much.

Amongst the other Spice Girls, you can instantly tell its Victoria Beckham, but otherwise, just like Posh Spice, she’s quite plain and one of the least interesting Brickheadz in the set.

Next we have Mel C, aka Sporty Spice. Her Brickheadz is a bit more fun, and while her outfit is plain with no printed details, I do like the use of the colours to represent an orange tank top, blue trackpants and bright green sneakers.

I also like the design of Sporty Spice’s hair, which is done up in a high ponytail – it gives the Brickheadz some much-needed height, and outside of some uneven and sharp angles, looks pretty unique.

I especially like subtle use of a black hairtie.

From the side, you can also see a printed 2×1 brick, which has an athletic stripe running down the side, to solidify the tracksuit look. The vibrant colours, and distinct attire, and hairstyle make this one of the more interesting Brickheadz in this collection.

Here’s a look at Geri Halliwell, aka Ginger Spice. She’s one of the most visually distinctive Brickheadz in the collection, and like her real-life counterpart, exudes plenty of energy and vibrancy.

The Ginger Spice Brickheadz does a fantastic job capturing Geri’s iconic hairstyle, with different with blonde and red highlights, and also includes a headset mic built in.

The sculpting of the hair is marvellous, and I especially like the v-shaped dip on the top, to give her hair that extra bit of dramatic volume.

For fans of the Spice Girls, the choice to dress her in her iconic Union Jack dress from the 1997 Brit Awards is inspired, and will satisfy hardcore fans with the accuracy and homage to one of Ginger’s most iconic moments.

The Union Jack is formed out of 2 printed 2×4 tiles, and will no doubt be a very popular piece for citizens of the Commonwealth. #RuleBritannia

Last but not least, we have Mel B, aka Scary Spice, and her Brickheadz rendition is nothing short of terrific.

Mel B’s big hair, and even bigger personality is captured perfectly here – special shoutout to the amazing detail on Scary Spice’s hair, and how the shape, and textural details were brought to life.

Mel B also comes with a heap of printed 2×1 bricks which have leopard prints on them, which is her signature look.

Overall, another very good rendition that requires no further explanation, and captures her look flawlessly.

What I liked:

• Brickheadz that are finally based on real people
• Huge 90s energy
• All Spice Girls Brickheadz look great next to each other
• Fun printed elements like the Union Jack and Mel B’s Leopard print

What I didn’t like: 

• Very pricey and poor value, especially to non-LEGO fans
• Could use some more printed tiles with their names on them
• Will not appeal to most people

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Spice Girls is a really fascinating first choice for Brickheadz’s first foray into the real world of pop culture celebrities, but that’s a good thing as it shows a whole new category that Brickheadz can explore to stay relevant.

Pipping even Funko Pop to the Spice Girls license is a coup that LEGO should be proud of, but I’m not sure of the decision to include all 5 in one pack, and charge US$50/AU$80 for it.

For a large bundle of 5 Brickheadz like this, you’d expect some savings, and I think a US$40 pricetag would make this a far more compelling purchase, and also put it squarely in the impulse gifting category, which would be useful for LEGO fans to gift Spice Girls fans with this, and introduce them to the addictive world of LEGO.

As Brickheadz, the designs are really good, with all of them capturing some of the most iconic Spice Girls looks, ensuring that they all appeal to fans of the girl group.

There are some really nice elements such as the Leopard Print bricks, to the Union Jack flag.

I’m not sure if there is a large crossover of LEGO fans who are also Spice Girls fans, and while I think it may have large appeal to those outside the traditional AFOL sphere, the set is ultimately let down by the price, which makes this a hard one to recommend.

I really would’ve liked a lot more printed elements, OR at the very least, bring back printed plaques for the base with their names on them, which wold elevate and help these standout from the other Brickheadz.

For Brickheadz fans, I think this sends the theme in an interesting direction, and can only expect more movie, music stars and even historic figures to follow now that we’ve crossed the line from fantasy into the real world.

Could be so much better, and I say this as someone who grew up at the height of Spice Girls mania, and is a fan of their music and impact on pop culture.

Rating and score: 3/5 ★★★✰✰

Build [3] – Lots of great little Brickheadz details, and the hairwork is especially strong here
Real Value [2] – This feels overly expensive, and LEGO should’ve priced this to be more accessible.
Innovation [3] – Brickheadz taking on real world people is an interesting move
Coolness [3] – Anyone growing up in the 90s would vouch for how huge the Spice Girls were. As Brickheadz… I don’t know
Keepability [3] – Depending on the shelf life, I think these are quite the novelty item, especially if the Spice Girls go on a huge reunion tour (again) that’s not marred by Covid

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review of the Spice Girls Brickheadz!

40548 Spice Girls Tribute is available now from LEGO.com and your local LEGO store!

In case you missed any previous Brickheadz releases, check out some of my recent Brickheadz reviews!

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