LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31165 Wild Animals Panda Family [Review]

Recently, LEGO set designers have taken the Creator 3-in-1 line of animal sets to the next level. Sets like LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31129 Majestic Tiger, LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31154 Forest Animals: Red Fox, and LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31150 Wild Safari Animals have given wildlife fans a lot to be excited about. With 4 new sets coming in January, this trend is showing no signs of stopping. The most impressive of the latest wave features a panda bear and cub snacking on bamboo, with a penguin and chick and a pair of orcas as the alternate models. LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31165 Wild Animals Panda Family contains 626 pieces and will be available on January 1st for US $39.99 | CAN $49.99 | UK £34.99. You may also be able to find the set after release from 3rd party sites like Amazon and eBay.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Unboxing the parts and instructions

The set comes in a standard Creator 3-in-1 box. The primary model of the panda and cub is prominently featured, while the two alternate models – an orca/pup or a penguin/chick combo – are included on the front at a smaller size.

The back of the box shows all three models from different angles and at roughly the same size. Each model features a minimal setting: for the pandas, a small bit of landscape with bamboo trees; for the penguins, a small piece of snow-covered land at the edge of the water; and for the orcas, an underwater setting that includes separate stands for each orca.

Inside the box are 5 paper parts bags of various sizes and three instruction booklets, one for each model. The set contains no stickers but has printed 1×1 round tiles for use as eyes (4).

The build

Panda and cub

The panda cub starts with simple legs attached to a white base. The foot pads are made using light nougat tiles. Then a round belly is added using these new 2×2 curved sloped pieces. Two short arms attach to the shoulders and one can hold a small bamboo shoot.

The cub head employs an interesting technique to for the eyes of the model. It involves sticking 2 black microphones into a pair of Technic bricks. More rounded white curved parts round out the head, which is attached to the small ball joint neck.

Next a small assembly of landscapes including attachments for two long bamboo stalks and 2 smaller sprouts. There’s also a pair of small flowers using eggshell bottoms in magenta.

For the adult panda, we start with the right leg, which is fixed in a sitting pose. It’s angled slightly at the knee, and uses dark sand tiles for the foot pads. The leg is attached to the base of the waist using 2×2 round tiles with a center stud, which, when combined with the 2×6 plate with 2 rounded corners, allows the leg to swivel in and out slightly.

With the two legs attached, we then extend the waist using the large curved white corner slopes.

The core of the panda torso is a stacked assembly with many outward-facing studs that attach to the top of the hip section.

Larger white rounded slopes are used to smooth out the back and front, with a variety of colorful parts filling in the underlying structure of the torso.

The sides of the panda are smoothed out via the smaller 2×2 rounded slopes. Two mirror-built arms are attached, either of which can hold the long bamboo stalk to be built.

Finally, we begin sculpting the adult panda’s round head. This starts with a smaller core of outward-facing studs and curved outer sections adding to later. The eyes of the adult are made with a modified plate with ball joints on each side. A small mouth that opens attaches to the finished head with a medium ball joint.

The finished Panda and cub, each holding their own bamboo snack, can be arranged around the bamboo tree.

Penguin and chick

The penguin chick is mostly light gray, with black for the head and feet. More 2×2 rounded parts create a soft-looking belly and back in white. The feet use the 3-pronged textured slope (the panda’s fur in the main model) to great effect. There’s an icy base as well, which the chick can attach to with a single stud.

I believe the adult penguin is male, as they often care for the chicks while the mother hunts, and feature more colorful plumage. It’s body starts with a core of outward-facing studs similar to the core of a LEGO Star Wars helmet set. The head is well-detailed, with a long curved beak and yellow/orange details just under the chin. The whole assembly attaches to the core using Technic bricks and pins. These allow the head to tilt forward about 40 degrees.

Next up, a small round belly comes to form. It’s got Technic bricks where feet will attach, allowing the penguin to stand protectively over the chick.

Two long black wings are added, which have a pretty good range of motion. And finally, a long black back made from many different curved slopes completes the model.

These two penguins might be my favorite of the three models. I only wish the chick could look up to meet their father’s loving gaze.

Orca and pup

The orca pup uses a small amount of elements, but looks great. I feel like it’s a bit small compared with the adult, but it could be a newborn as opposed to a more mature child. The pup has a small stand made up of transparent bars attached to a small yellow fish.

The adult orca is composed of three main sections plus the tail fluke. The first section is the head with a hinged lower jaw and attachments for the two front flippers.

The middle section has a spot for the large dorsal fin. The sides of the orca adult are sculpted using a variety of curved and sloped elements in both black and white.

And the final section of the body tapers down to the wide tail fluke. A dorsal fin and the front flippers are finally added to complete the body.

The stand for the adult is larger, and includes some colorful flora and another small yellow fish.

In my opinion, these two make the best display model of the three, since they can be arranged separately. The splash of color on the display stands contrasts nicely with the black and white orcas.

The finished model

Each of the three pairs of parent and child wild animals in this set are full of detail and delight.

Conclusions and recommendations

The many recent animal-based Creator 3-in-1 sets have continued to impress with more and more detail and interesting construction techniques. This is especially true when compared to the early sets from the theme. Considering the dominance of black and white for these three pairs of animals, the set includes a surprising amount of bright and colorful elements cleverly used both inside and outside the main builds. The inclusion of so many new curved elements and specialized parts like the black three-pronged part used for fur and feet make this a pretty descent parts pack as well.

If you are fans of pandas, penguins, or orca, this set would make a great addition to your collection! LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31165 Wild Animals Panda Family contains 626 pieces and will be available on January 1st for US $39.99 | CAN $49.99 | UK £34.99. After release, you can probably find it on Amazon and eBay as well.