LEGO Super Mario 71426 Piranha Plant review

LEGO Super Mario 71426 Piranha Plant is a delightful set for fans of the source material who want a small, compact display piece that doesn’t break the bank.

While somewhat top-heavy due to the inescapable nature of the Piranha Plant’s design, this set is perfect for placing on a shelf or desk. LEGO Super Mario 71426 Piranha Plant may not be ideal for anyone who loves the more interactive LEGO Super Mario sets, but as a miniature display piece, it’s the best set that the LEGO Group's partnership with Nintendo has produced thus far.

--- LEGO Super Mario 71426 Piranha Plant set details ---

Theme: LEGO Super Mario Set name: 71426 Piranha Plant Release: November 6, 2023

Price: £57.99 / $59.99 / €64.99 Pieces: 540 Minifigures: 0

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--- Where to buy LEGO Super Mario 71426 Piranha Plant ---

LEGO Super Mario 71426 Piranha Plant can be purchased directly from LEGO.com or official LEGO Stores, and will likely also be available from a variety of third-party retailers.

--- LEGO Super Mario 71426 Piranha Plant build ---

Up until now, display-worthy sets within the LEGO Super Mario range have been locked behind an uncomfortable price point. As impressive as 71411 The Mighty Bowser might look, its size and cost makes it difficult for many fans of LEGO or Nintendo to dip their toes in the water without feeling a dangerous hit to the wallet.

While there are plenty of LEGO Super Mario sets to suit every price point, 71426 Piranha Plant is the first 18+ set with a double-digit price tag, and as such, this set will naturally appeal to fans of Super Mario who are put off by the vast majority of more play-oriented sets aimed at a younger audience, but who don’t feel they can justify the cost of larger display sets.

As a small, affordable display piece, 71426 Piranha Plant is absolutely excellent. Instantly recognisable, fun to construct, and boasting a small play feature that’s sophisticated enough not to make any adult fan embarrassed, this set is the best that anyone could have hoped for from a LEGO Super Mario set at this size.

The set isn’t as filled with features and details as some previous 18+ LEGO Super Mario sets – it’s certainly a far cry from the hidden secrets in 71395 Super Mario 64 Question Mark Block – but not every LEGO set needs to be overflowing with interactivity. Considering the high level of creativity on display within the LEGO Super Mario theme as a whole, there’s something to be said for a set that does exactly what it says on the box in an understated, minimalist fashion.

Theoretically posable, this is a LEGO Super Mario set that’s designed to sit quietly on a desk, and be rarely touched or played with. It features a clever money bank design (along with a pair of large printed coin elements) but this has limited functionality and probably won’t hold anyone’s attention for very long.

This is a set which is designed first and foremost to be looked at, and given the eccentricities of the LEGO Super Mario range as a whole, it feels refreshing to have a set that’s intended to be seen and not heard.

More so than a LEGO Super Mario set, 71426 Piranha Plant is reminiscent of a Botanical Collection set. Much like the LEGO Group’s various flora-inspired creations, construction of this set starts with its pot (in this case a Super Mario warp pipe), before moving on to the stem of the plant, and finally its bulbous flower.

If there’s a downside to 71426 Piranha Plant’s design it’s that this flower – complete with chompy teeth, a hinged jaw, and a bright pink tongue – makes the set dangerously top-heavy. This is exacerbated by the use of ball joints just within the top of the warp pipe, which give the set a greater range of posability, but also make it very easy for the Piranha Plant’s head to topple to one side, causing the whole set to fall over.

While it is then possible to pose 71426 Piranha Plant to a certain extent, this must be done carefully, or else the set will come down hard on whichever surface it’s resting on, or, in the worst case scenario, launch itself off a shelf and down on to the floor.

This then is definitely a set for display rather than play, as while the chunky design makes for an eye-catching talking point on a shelf or a desk, it’s clear that the intention here was not to create something that can withstand a lot of fiddling without falling over.

--- LEGO Super Mario 71426 Piranha Plant characters ---

If there’s one thing that LEGO fans have been desperate to see from the LEGO Super Mario range, it’s minifigures, and yet again 71426 Piranha Plant will leave these fans disappointed. The brick-built Piranha Plant itself is the only character in the box, and in a departure from previous 18+ LEGO Super Mario display sets, it doesn’t even feature a stickered tile that’s designed to interact with the battery-powered LEGO Super Mario figures.

Whether or not this lack of interactivity is seen as a benefit will depend on personal preference. For fans of the all-singing, all-dancing digital Mario and friends, this may be reason to avoid 71426 Piranha Plant. For those who have never been particularly sold on the LEGO Group’s take on gaming’s most famous mascot, the fact that 71426 Piranha Plant stands independent of previous LEGO Super Mario sets might actually be seen as a plus.

--- LEGO Super Mario 71426 Piranha Plant price ---

Priced at £57.99 in the UK, $59.99 in the US and €64.99 in the EU, 71426 Piranha Plant does feel a little highly priced for a build with this many pieces – there are certainly other sets at a similar price point which feature more bricks.

This is no doubt due in part to the density of the elements used in the set; this is a chunky build, and that means it takes up a small footprint. The inclusion of large printed elements on the Piranha Plant’s head has no doubt added to the cost of the set.

While this isn’t the best value-for-money from any LEGO set at this price point in terms of the number of pieces in the box, it’s far more affordable than previous 18+ LEGO Super Mario display sets. For this reason alone, this set will likely appeal to Mario fans who could never quite bring themselves to bite the bullet on larger, more expensive LEGO Super Mario sets.

--- LEGO Super Mario 71426 Piranha Plant pictures ---

--- LEGO Super Mario 71426 Piranha Plant pros and cons ---

For those looking for a small, affordable LEGO Super Mario display set, 71426 Piranha Plant is the best that’s been offered thus far. It’s a compact, chunky, and fun interpretation of a familiar gaming icon, which sits perfectly on a desk or shelf.

The set is quite top-heavy, which detracts from its posability, and it’s far from the most interactive of LEGO Super Mario sets, but for anyone who just wants a small display set, this is going to be hard to beat.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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--- Alternatives to LEGO Super Mario 71426 Piranha Plant ---

Anyone looking for a LEGO Super Mario alternative to 71426 Piranha Plant may wish to consider 71395 Super Mario 64 Question Mark Block, which has a larger piece count and similarly works well as a display set. It's just a bit more expensive.

On the other hand, for anyone wanting a more play-focused LEGO Super Mario set, 71424 Donkey Kong's Tree House comes in at a similar price point and piece count, and features a different famous video game enemy.

Finally, for those looking for a display-worthy LEGO set inspired by a famous video game character that comes in at a similar price point, 21331 Sonic the Hedgehog – Green Hill Zone does what Nintendon’t by including a minifigure alongside brick-built characters.

--- LEGO Super Mario 71426 Piranha Plant FAQs ---