Geekin’ Out: Merida Legos!
Okay, let me begin by saying that I would much rather have the cool witch, the tree scene in the woods, or even a better castle than the flowery castle-thing the creators made with this set. Let me also say that we could do without the Lego Friend-ified Merida; whatever happened to the old Lego faces? Merida doesn’t even wear eye makeup.
All of that said, I am pretty excited over the new Merida Lego set, Merida’s Highland Games. I like that it’s not called “Brave,” but that it actually includes the titular character’s name. Disney seems to have a problem doing that lately in its movies about female characters (Brave, Frozen, Tangled…), although we will have Maleficent next year. I’ve seen the set, which includes 145 pieces, going from $26.99 to $45 so far, depending on where you shop. I had heard it would be $20 but I haven’t found it for that much yet.
Merida’s Highland Games includes a very flowery piece of castle (that does not look like the one in the film at all, but neither does Merida), a catapult, an archery range, and lots of accessories like the cake she made her mother, her three brothers transformed into bears and even a couple of blue will o’ the wisps. Wood Sprite is gaga for the set because of the wisps alone, but she also wants the bears, archery target and catapult. “I wish they had a better castle,” she confided to me, and I have to agree. That said, I do think that this set combines the “doing” elements that most “Friends” Legos lack (catapult, archery, etc.) with the “prettier” design that they claim customers want, so it’s a decent compromise.
Merida’s Highland Games is designed for ages 5-12 but I don’t think they’d object to parents playing, too! It’s available at Toys R Us, Amazon.com and eBay from what I’ve seen so far.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia