LEGO Mario Kart is in the midst of a heated race — three new karts are joining the theme across two new sets, 72044 Piranha Plant Power-Up Pursuit and 72045 Mario Kart — Shy Guy & P-Wing, releasing on August 1.
Two new LEGO Super Mario sets are coming on August 1, 2025, both a part of the Mario Kart subtheme: 72044 Piranha Plant Power-Up Pursuit will come with 588 pieces, retailing for £44.99 / $49.99 / €49.99, and 72045 Mario Kart — Shy Guy & P-Wing will have 249 pieces for £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99.
Continuing the trend set by LEGO Mario Kart sets from earlier this year, the new sets are upscaled when compared to minifigures, designed to fit the larger, brick-built LEGO Super Mario characters.
72044 Piranha Plant Power-Up Pursuit comes with more than just a dizzying bit of alliteration – two carts are included alongside a Piranha Plant on wheels. The ‘Power-Up Pursuit’ bit of the title is doing a lot of heavy lifting — the power up is four pieces in the style of a Minecraft crafting table build placed on a small, clear stand. Though the scarcity perhaps drums up the drama.
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The two karts belong to Toadette and a Koopa Troopa, each designed around their drivers’ unique aesthetic. Both Toadette’s Cat Cruiser and Koopa Troopa’s Tanooki Kart will come with the ability to drift. The Piranha Plant gets a set of wheels of its own, though it’s just two screwed into the base of its pot, so it’s in for a rocky ride. A set of shells loaded into stud shooters then rounds out the accessories for the set.
72045 Mario Kart — Shy Guy & P-Wing is just a single kart, but the price does go significantly lower to reflect that. Shy Guy gets a personalised kart with the iconic face stickered onto the hood, and the P-Wing can be attached to the back of the kart to get some airborne action. A shell-launching stud shooter is also included here — a green shell is probably accurate to how chaotic shooting anything from a stud shooter can be.
Both sets have the option to add one of the digitised LEGO Super Mario figures (Mario, Luigi or Peach) for an extra bit of playability, whether that be sound effects or power-ups. It is a bit of a shame that can’t be done with the karts’ intended riders, but the cost of digitising every figure in the theme would simply be too great to be fully worth it.
Both 72044 Piranha Plant Power-Up Pursuit and 72045 Mario Kart — Shy Guy & P-Wing will be out on August 1 for everyone on LEGO.com and in LEGO Stores. If you’re interested in having either join your LEGO Mario Kart tracks, consider purchasing them via our affiliate links to help support the work we do at Blocks, online and in print.
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