LEGO Minecraft set 21117 - The Ender Dragon review

LEGO Minecraft has arrived with an astounding amount of excitement in our house, and I don't believe for an instant we'll be the only ones. Although the entire range is designed for builders aged around 8+, my two youngest boys still think they're awesome. We had a look at the full range and gave our first impressions the other day, and today we actually got our hands on set 21117 - The Ender Dragon.

This is a large set with 634 pieces. Inside the box there are the instructions, 5 bags numbered 1-4, a bag containing the dragon wings and 3 base plates, and a loose base plate - please excuse the photography, this is Manchester in November, natural light is a rare phenomenon.

I set my slaves onto it immediately - they didn't take much persuading...

The first bag contains Steve - complete with his Diamond Armour and sword.

 

There is also the Sand Island and the first part of the Dragon.

There is no instant gratification in this build for a younger LEGO fan. Excited as he had been, my 6 year old dipped out for half an hour at this point because he caught sight of something shiny. He'd found building stuff he didn't really recognise wasn't as exciting as he'd hoped.

Fortunately his enthusiasm returned, and the Dragon itself appears by the end of bag 2. 

 

The Ender Dragon is lovely. He's very different to the Ninja's Dragons, and very true to Minecraft. His face is actually really expressive, and he is almost infinitely poseable - although he's hard to balance unless he's bent at the knees or standing on LEGO.

His wings are attached to the unrecogniseable block that bored my son in bag 1, and they have a really sturdy and effective method of moving using a large button on his back. It works incredibly well.

The whole dragon from jaw to tail tip can be posed, and it makes it great frankly. The scope for display model or plaything is almost as broad as your imagination.

The first thing to build in bag 3 is the 3 Ender Men. These are great, and based on a really interesting element that looks almost like a tuning fork, with the same brilliant (almost) cubed head.

They're far more fun than first glance because they're also poseable. Holding their arms at different angles and heights actually gives them expression.

My 4 year old has been off school ill, and he has played with the Ender Men most of the day.

 

Then we come to the larger scenery. The Obsidian pillars and removeable Ender crystals, including a red light brick crystal. 

I have to say when I had a first look at these sets that this was my least favourite, and after reviewing I haven't changed my opinion. I think it's too limited for imagination and rebuilding - although there are some rebuild ideas at the back of the instruction book.

Playability, although limited, is excellent. The dragon is really sturdy and has a million poses with hinging that won't fall apart, and the scenery is open and easy to play all around, and in fact is easy to turn as a whole piece towards the user.

The End Game is only going to be achieved by a very few players, so this set is not scenery that most people who buy this set will ever have played in, or will ever see on screen. That hasn't bothered my young lads though, but they are both below the suggested age range and easily pleased. 

The adult collector will no doubt be delighted with Steve in his Diamond Armour, his weapons, the Ender Men and the rarer elements in this set, which are quite exciting. The heads are excellent.

This is a fair value set for the money, although the 634 pieces does include 40 purple dots and the build has a large amount of single or double stud pieces. I think it only really works for people who are specifically interested in the End Game, but then if you're reading this, then you already are....me, I'm far more interested in The First Night set 21115.

The Ender Dragon set 21117 retails at £59.99 and is available from LEGO Shops and LEGO Online - where you can also earn points towards free LEGO.

We were sent our set for review