The good, the bad and the odd of the Trolls World Tour theme

When I first saw the promotional image of the Lego Trolls theme I was excited. I looked like a theme that was going to be bright and colourful – two things that I enjoy.

Then the set images were released and it seemed to live up to my expectations. I was particularly interested in the large transparent pods, the colour palette and the look of the minifigures, but in order to make an informed decision about this theme I would need to get the sets.

Of course now that I have gotten my hands on all the sets, built them and had a good look at the details I’d like to share my thoughts on this theme.

Let’s start with the good

I really enjoyed the first few sets I built. The actual build process was fun and interesting – especially the foliage details included in the Hot Air Balloon.

As I’ve already said I do really like the colours that have been used across this theme. I have been able to leave all the sets fully built on my dining room table and they look gorgeous. The colours and shapes make me smile when I look at them, plus the sets are inspiring me to create the terrain and world around the sets. It is always a good thing when a product inspires me to be more creative with it.

The figures are quite cute. I actually prefer when Lego produces specialised moulds for the heads. I really like the Simpson and Toy Story characters that have this feature, and wish that Lego had continued those pieces on the most recent Toy Story wave. I also like the unique hair pieces and even the body shapes of Cooper and Hickory.

Lastly, it is fantastic to get a range of new parts in lots of vibrant colours. I can see some creative Lego builders making the most of these unique parts in the cities, cyber builds and microscale buildings. So just to have the opportunity to add more parts to the Lego inventory is wonderful.

Now let’s talk about the bad

Some of the sets are a little heavy with the stickers. For example the caterbus relies on the stickers to create the green and yellow sections of the bus. Admittedly the caterbus looks amazing – so it is well worth having the stickers. The other challenge was the stickers on the Village set, which are holographic. Unfortunately that does make them very difficult (err…impossible) to move once placed – so be VERY careful when placing these. I think using stickers is an affordable option to get the desired look but for those of us who don’t like applying stickers it can be a problem.

One of the other things that has been surprising is that there are some sets that I would consider not completely finished. For example on the caterbus there should have been a magenta two by four tile added to the top, front part of the bus to finish it off – Lego didn’t include that part. Again is the Rock Stage set there are two navy jumpers at the top of the set with nothing placed on the stud – it think it would look better to at least include something on there, perhaps extra lights or speakers.

Lastly, I must admit I do find Mr Dinkles very creepy and weird. I know this may just be my opinion but he is not a cute looking character… there is something about him that does not translate well. Hopefully, the reason for this character to be so unappealing may become more obvious in the film. But in the meantime I will have to sleep with one eye open.

Pop Village Celebration, LEGO Trolls World Tour official image

Lastly, let’s run through some of the odd things

On the Lego website in the description sections of a number of these sets Lego states that you can collect the lyre strings as part of this theme. I like that idea – I like having all the keys from the Elves theme and all the infinity stones for the Avengers gauntlet. However, it took me a while to figure out what part was supposed to be the lyre string – I think it is the various coloured lightning bolt pieces but I’m still not entirely sure… Surely, if you are going to encourage people to collect all the parts across the sets then, at least, make it obvious what we are supposed to be collecting.

While I find Mr Dinkles extremely off putting, I do find the Mermaid a little odd. She could have been made to look really pretty and gorgeous. I would have thought to have made her look a little more e-girl and cute, which would also fit into the ‘techno’ vibe of her set. I think there is something not right about her eyes and she could have had a prettier hair style… although she is still an OK figure to have in my collection.

Lastly, it is also a little odd that we haven’t gotten a Troll character wearing the tie-dye t-shirt featured in the promotional images, even as a polybag. I love that outfit and would have loved to have added it to my collection. So that was a little disappointing.

LEGO Trolls World Tour characters, official LEGO image

I hope you have enjoyed my thoughts on this theme. I suspect that there will just be one wave of the Trolls, much like Unikitty. So it will be interesting to see what Lego does next to fill the gap of bright, colourful and quirky sets.

Ruth and Pucky