Set Review ➟ 31031 Rainforest Animals
31031 Rainforest Animals is one of those new sets that immediately make you think “cute!” LEGO has been offering sets with built animals for a long time, but some of these sets have a special something that make you like them even more.
In part this is due to the colour palette which works really well with the kind of animals that were chosen and also the obvious character of the parrot that adorns the front of the box adds to the interest of the set.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, as with any CREATOR set worth its salt there this is a 3-in-1 with increasing complexity number of used parts and technique.
The first animal in this rain forest series is a piranha; a simple construction that teaches some basic lateral building techniques (the eyes and the volume above the fins) and uses the new ball and socket parts to create simple but attractive posable fins.
Taking apart the fish to build the next animal I immediately missed a brick separator (stacked 1x2 plates can be really hard to separate)—fortunately I've got a dozen or so in a drawer…
Up next is the chameleon, a creature that is easily identified and has all the articulations that can be expected in this kind of construction. Again, to a novice builder the way different sized parts are stacked to create texture is an interesting lesson, and the final model is fun and playable.
The most entertaining build—or rather “builds”, plural!—is the third in the set. Not one, but three models are built, representing a fly, a frog and a parrot.
The fly, built with just 14 pieces is a little large for the scale, but who knows the size these animals can become in a rainforest…
The frog is easily recognisable and the best part of the model is the opening mouth which only lacks a long tongue to catch that fly!
But it is without a doubt the parrot that’s the star of this third building round. It is robust, recognisable and makes great use of modified plates to create visual volume in the wings and tail, as well as a special function: the parrot can be fed biscuits (or are those seeds?) which will be "deposited" when the parrot lifts its tail…
There are other factors that make the set very recommendable. Personally I love the box format, which is closed with 2 seals on either side so you don’t need to break the box to open it. The parts in the set have inspired some builders to make attractive alternative models with the inventory of theis set. Google for Grohl’s Draakie for example or the “Owl, Birdie, and Snake” he posted on his Facebook timeline.
Although the box has a small reference to the CREATOR website, it wasn’t until I went there that I realised there is actually a 4th official model for this set: a kind of exotic bird that looks like a peacock dressed up for carnival.
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