Do you need LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31157 Exotic Peacock at the centre of your collection, showing off its colourful plumage? Find out in the Blocks review!
With its striking blue and green plumage there is no mistaking the bright feathers or extravagant tail of the peacock. Considering these birds are native to the jungles of India, where there are predators including tigers, you’d think that the trailing tail would be a bit of a liability. Yet they are essential for courtship displays as peacocks compete to impress the picky peahens. So, is 31157 Exotic Peacock impressive enough to fly into your collection?
| Set | 31157 Exotic Peacock | ||
| Price | £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99 | ||
| Minifigures | 0 | ||
| Pieces | 355 |
After building a solid frame of exposed studs and ball joints to create the overall shape of the body, curved shell elements and tiles are added to recreate the peacock’s rounded chest. There’s a nice selection of blues mixed with purples to hint at some iridescence, moving into teal for the tail. It really starts to come to life when you add the head. A yellow LEGO tooth element brilliantly doubles as the beak, while plant stems double as the head feathers.
Upgrade your LEGO hobby! If you take out a subscription to Blocks, the monthly LEGO magazine, you’ll get each issue first and at a discount, plus other perks including a free digital subscription and the chance to win LEGO prizes every month.
The actual tail is a little repetitive, but that’s to be expected given that the eight feathers are essential. Leaf pieces are finished with trans-blue round tiles to mimic the ‘eyes’ on the tail, which look really effective and there’s some variation in the patterning too. The ball joints cleverly allow the tail to either fan or fold depending on how you want to display the model.
Considering this is a Creator 3-in-1 set, the butterfly is quite complicated. Over half of the build is dedicated to the flower that the bug sits on, which also acts as a counterweight so it can be displayed with the wings splayed out. Meanwhile the dragonfly is similar, although much quicker to build, and the use of the translucent tiles across its four wings is a nice way to suggest their intricate structure.
Each of these animals are fascinating to build and brilliantly use the included parts, with the colour range making every model beautiful for display.
SCORE: 66/100
VERDICT: A flight and feathers theme translates into a wild selection that all offer very satisfying models.