Review: 41179 Queen Dragon's Rescue
Posted by MeganL,
The new wave of Elves sets continue with more dragons. Finally we get to see the dragon that's been featured on the front of all the Elves sets this year - Elandra, the Queen Dragon. We haven't met her yet because she's been held captive. What is it like to rescue her? Read on to find out…
The front of the box art shows Elandra the Queen Dragon in full flight with Emily Jones riding. Azari, holding the key to the shackle that had been holding Elandra, is waving from below in front of the lava river flowing through a sinister looking castle tower. The back of the box shows several features of the set, including the sliding dungeon door and stepping stones, as well as Azari and Emily setting the Queen Dragon free.
Inside the box are seven numbered bags, a small sticker sheet, a sheet with two flags, a dragon's head, a perfect bound instruction book (with cardboard - I am a big fan of the cardboard) and a larger plastic sheet that has the cutouts for the dragon's wings.
I was somewhat surprised to see that these dragon wings are a plastic sheet as opposed to the thicker plastic used for the other dragons. As befitting the queen dragon, they are quite a bit larger than the other dragon wings, so perhaps it wasn't cost effective to make them using the typical molding process. Of course, there is a brick separator.
The mini-dolls for the set are Emily Jones and Azari Firedancer. Neither mini-doll has new torsos or shorts/skirts, but that is compensated for by the rather snazzy cloaks that both mini-dolls are wearing. Emily has a pale blue cloak with a gold pattern on the outside and cutouts on the bottom, while Azari has a cloth fuchsia cloak with similar cutouts.
Additionally, Azari comes with a hood that overwhelms the mini-doll, even while wearing the cloak. This hood is has some nice detailing on the forehead but otherwise looks a little plain. Perhaps that is the point, especially since Azari and Emily are on a rescue mission! Azari has her red magic crystal and comes with her regular hair in case she doesn't want to wear her hood.
Azari comes with the Book of Dragons that has a printed cover that has previously only been seen in 41176 Secret Markeplace. The inside of the book is a new 1x2 printed tile for this set that shows a dragon with an assortment of dragon eggs, which makes sense, being the Book of Dragons. Emily's accessory is an hourglass - perhaps to measure how much time they have to rescue Elandra?
A few new parts are found in this set, including the 6x14 baseplate in orange that is used for the lava river. Continuing on the base are a couple of Technic parts putting together a gear for the very cool sliding system for stepping stones across the lava. These steps slide out when Azari summons her magic.
Next is the main entrance platform as well as a fancy green crystal that's used as the top of the turning mechanism for the sliding stepping stones. As with all Elves sets to date, there is some very nice detailing of the crystals - in this case the clear green and yellow 1x2 pieces topped with clear blue cheese slopes that are set just off of center. That crystal structure is on a hinge and can be moved to gain access to a small cubbyhole that contains a vial.
The second bag starts with a staircase to the entrance using clear blue cheese slopes and lavender coloured brick w/ bow 1x3 pieces. More crystals and a tree with somewhat withered boughs finish off the entrance.
Next is the start of the two storey castle tower, starting with the dungeon where we find the little mouse. This mouse is new to this set and has cute markings on its forehead, though unfortunately does not seem to have a name. There is some cheese in the cell as well as an indication that the little mouse has been in there for a while, as evidenced by a sticker applied to one of the walls.
We then meet Dusti the evil fox. Dusti is a pale green colour and is also new to this set. I think this is an outstanding animal figure and the printing on Dusti is just terrific on her forehead, ears, back and tail. She manages to be cute as well as somewhat threatening.
Gaining access to the next floor is provided by the same newel lavender steps that we had in the Secret Marketplace. The second floor is furnished with a sack, goblet, rascal heart as well as Dusti's bed, which uses a sticker with a rather interesting design. The bed is smaller than what we typically see but makes sense, since Dusti is not a big fox. There is a printed 1x1 round tile that I am not sure what it represents, maybe a cookie? Most importantly, the key to free the Queen Dragon is also in the room.
We move to the façade of the second level, starting with attaching a flag - new to this wave of sets, being found only here and in 41180 Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle. A sliding door with an ornate sticker is built and can slide through a gap through the second floor to be the confining wall for the mouse in the dungeon. A lever with a green crystal that was built as part of the base is the mechanism to raise the door. I have not seen a level mechanism used for this purpose in Elves sets; it is very elegant and works smoothly.
The façade for the second level adds quite a bit of detail topped off with the stylish black horns for each side. The third level is furnished with a small catapult that Dusti can use to ward off any would be rescuers. There are also a couple of barrels that have another hidden key in them as well as a fish and a couple of green rocks for additional ammunition. The catapult is easily adjusted to face in almost any direction. Good thing Emily and Azari have those cloaks to escape notice! Finally, the shackle with green chain is attached to the bottom of the lavender staircase.
The remainder of the bags - all of four of them! - are used to build Elandra, the Queen Dragon. She must be an impressive dragon!
Technic parts start the body of the dragon. A new inverted 6x10 bow in orange is used for the dragon's underbelly. After the first bag the body of the dragon does not look that much different than the chassis of many vehicles.
The ensuing bags add the legs, neck, head and wings. I was surprised to see that Elandra's head is bigger than the other dragons - I had expected a white version of the other dragons. Her head is larger, but also has some very nice printing in blue and gold. Elandra's head and neck is similar to the fire dragon, in that the neck is a different articulated portion as opposed to more hinged like the earth and water dragon.
Building the legs is somewhat tedious and by nature repetitive but there is no way around it.
Elandra's wings are not the molded plastic of the other dragons, but rather a thick plastic sheet with ornate blue, white and gold printing on them. They are anchored on either end by white pieces that keep them somewhat in place, and capped off by gold "epaullettes". I found it difficult for the plastic to remain flat and close to the wing structure. While these wings are larger than the other dragons, I don't think it provides as finished a look as the rest of the dragons. The wings do have a good range of movement up and down.
Finally, we build the tail, which is built like all the other dragons by using the light grey ball joints. I will re-iterate my frustration here that for the number of times that LEGO uses this piece, they should be able to make it in a different colour.
The Queen Dragon is unusual in that only a single sticker is used for detailing - one on her chest. Where the other dragons may have stickers on their feet or their tail, Elandra has clear blue pieces as well as gold pieces for adornment.
Overall thoughts
For the price point (833-pieces, $69.99, £59.99, 69.99€) the set includes a rather nice multi-level structure with some features as well as the largest dragon.
I think the castle tower is terrific. There is a great story behind it. I really like how this series in general has girls going out and getting things done! There are a lot of lovely details in the set and lots of opportunity for play. The colours have been done well, with the green adding just enough of a sinister element.
The mini-dolls are great as always, with Azari's hood being a nice addition - we have not seen that piece in an Elves set before. The animals are fantastic with their detailed multicolour printing.
I am of mixed minds with Elandra. She is very impressive because of her size - see the picture below for size comparison with Zonya the Fire Dragon. Even though she is larger, she is just as posable as the smaller dragons. I really like that her construction is not reliant on stickers for details. However, I am not a fan of the plastic sheet for wings.
This is yet another Elves set that continues to provide yet more elements to build a comprehensive world - the castle tower is a great add and could be easily combined with some of the other sets in the series.
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13 comments on this article
My daughter will love this! I already planned to get it for her birthday.
That dragon sure looks amaizing.
833 pieces? It looks really small in the pictures for some reason...that dragon is awesome though.
This set looks really nice, but that dragon looks a whole damn lot like My Little Pony's Celestia.
@Teriyaqi Well I think the dragon is your main build here really so the structure won't be that large. The dragon herself seems to somewhat dwarf the structure that supposedly is keeping her captive!
Nice review, hadn't noticed that the building part was so similar to 41180 Ragana castle (which is where they actually rescue the queen in the cartoon) - was there any connection points to hook them together, or is that left for MOC?
The dragon have some problems though - Feet are ugly because they look compacted and you can see some lime peeking behind her back legs :(
"We meet Dusti the evil fox" ... That fox looks super sketchy. With all due respect, MeganL, personally I will be avoiding that fox :P
@sparrownest - no connection points on the set, though I wouldn't think it would be too difficult to modify to connect to 41180. I haven't picked up 41180 yet, so I'll definitely try it then.
Um... no, those little brown detailed bits on the sides of the saddle are stickers as well. I'm pretty sure about that.
This is quite a lovely set, except for those plastic wings... they work very well on Ninjago dragons, especially Lloyd's, but not at all here.
You're right, @PicnicBasketSam. I didn't think of the saddle as being part of the dragon (even though that is part of the build). I was mostly thinking of stickers being used on the feet in the other dragons.
@MeganL thanks, will be looking forwards to reading about it.
I'm surprised you didn't mention how the hips attach, because it's actually quite interesting. Instead of using Mixel joints like the smaller dragons, this one has its hips attached on Technic axles that use Bionicle ball joints/ball cups for added friction. It does result in slightly less articulation than the smaller dragons but allows for a much sturdier build for this huge one, allowing it to much more easily support its own weight. And that internal complexity is mostly masked by the smooth shaping of the dragon's underbelly.