Review: LEGO 40492 La Catrina “Day of the Dead” Brickheadz

July 31, 2021 | 0

2021 is shaping up be a renaissance year for the LEGO Brickheadz theme, with Pets, Minions, Harry Potter and more. The newest Brickheadz is a surprising one – 40492 La Catrina, which is a delightful celebration of Día de los Muertos aka the Day of the Dead.

The La Catrina Brickheadz was a really pleasant surprise – we’ve had Seasonal Brickheadz in the past, mostly celebrating “Western” holidays like Christmas, Easter, and Halloween, but it’s great to see LEGO branching out to other cultures like the Day of the Dead.

The La Catrina Brickheadz will be released on 1 August 2021, and like all Brickheadz, will be available from LEGO.com or your local LEGO store.

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

40492 La Catrina Set Details

Name: La Catrina
Set Number: 40492
Pieces: 141
Price: AU$15.99 | US$9.99 | £9.99 – Buy from LEGO.com [AUS] [USA] [UK]
Exclusive to: LEGO.com, LEGO Brand Retail Stores
Theme: Brickheadz / Seasonal
Release Date: 1 August 2021

The La Catrina was a really fun Brickheadz to build. While the shape and aesthetics were mostly humanoid, like most traditional character-based Brickheadz, you divert from the usual build thanks to her dress, hat and hair.

The colours, like most of the costumes and outfits from Día de los Muertos celebrations, are bright and colourful, with a distinctive gothic, skeletal look. Día de los Muertos is a celebration of the dead, where communities and families gather to pay respects to those that have passed.

The name of the Brickheadz La Catrina is a nod to La Calavera Catrina, an iconic artwork from 1910 that has come to symbolise the Mexican Day of the Dead festival.

La Catrina makes fantastic use of printed elements for the details of her face, as well as another (on the side) 1 x 4 brick on her torso for her dress’s detail.

The printed elements really elevate her look, and combined with the bright colours of her dress, and bright magenta hat, make this one of the most distinctive Brickheadz that LEGO have ever produced.

Speaking of her hat, it gives La Catrina a grand size of scale, and I also like the floral decorations on it, which match the floral aesthetic of the Day of the Dead.

Another really nice detail on her dress, which also has really aesthetically-pleasing colour blocking, is the “floating” effect of the hem of her dress – which is lifted slightly from the base.

What I liked:

• A really cool cultural celebration to depict
• Great printed elements
• Colours of the dress and hat make this stand out
• Hands down one of the best Brickheadz ever created

What I didn’t like: 

• Nothing at all

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I have to say, La Catrina is one of the finest Brickheadz that LEGO has ever produced so far. In a theme that is mostly dominated by licensed themes like Super Heroes, Star Wars and Harry Potter, the original non-licensed Brickheadz stand out in the best way.

Choosing Día de los Muertos as a subject is an absolutely inspired choice because it has a beautiful, colourful and striking aesthetic that translates amazingly into the La Catrina Brickheadz.

Also, the Mexican community is absolutely massive worldwide, so LEGO have to be praised for recognising and commemorating this very special celebration in the Brickheadz theme.

Even if you don’t religiously collect LEGO Brickheadz, I can highly recommend La Catrina purely because of how great and unique it looks as a display model and I hope that we see more Brickheadz in this vein, celebrating the many rich and vibrant cultures of the world.

Rating and score: 5/5 ★★★★★

Build [4] – The dress, hair and hat make for a novel Brickheadz experience
Real Value [4] – Like most Brickheadz, they’re pretty good value, especially with all the printed elements
Innovation [5] – The novelty of the Day of the Dead festival is a big plus here
Coolness [5] – Eye-catching and a fantastic cultural celebration
Keepability [5] – The uniqueness of this set, and just how good it looks make this an instant Brickheadz classic

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

40492 La Catrina Brickheadz will be released on 1 August 2021, and will be available from LEGO.com or your local LEGO store.

Let me know in the comments which of the new Ginger Tabby, Cockatiel and Hamster Brickheadz appeal to you most!

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