I loved building figures as a kid. One of my most prized possessions as a child was my big red LEGO bucket, a treasure trove filled with infinite possibilities where magical worlds could (and often did) come to life. I always dreamed of LEGO partnering up with my favourite video games while I was building trains or rockets; Spiral Mountain from Banjo-Kazooie would have been high up on the list, but Zelda was, is, and always has been the game I’m most obsessed with.
I’ve followed the LEGO ideas page for a long while now, voting up all the Zelda designs that were submitted and hanging my head in despair when they didn’t come to fruition. And then the Danish Block Giants announced an official Legend of Zelda LEGO set of the Deku Tree for $299/£249, which instantly made me feel a little conflicted. There’s no doubt that it looks amazing, but it’s not something that every family is going to be able to afford. If you have two kids who both want one of these sets for Christmas or a birthday so they don’t have to share, then it suddenly becomes an expensive affair.
So it got me thinking; what other Zelda sets are there for nerds like me to put together? Well, luckily for you, and much to my enjoyment, I’ve found two fake Zelda LEGO sets to review that have not only kept a die-hard Zelda fan entertained but have also provided an exciting challenge and look epic when completed. Both sets are under $30/£30 on Amazon and, dare I say it, have changed my mind about buying ‘the real deal’ forever.
Link Building Toys: Multiple Brands
- Pieces: 334
- Age: 6+
- Cost: $22.99
- Build Time With 2 People: 1 Hour
- Available From: Amazon (Worldwide)
Link is incredibly iconic and one of Nintendo’s stalwart characters that fans love the world over. Up until recently, he was solely recognisable from his green clothes, the garb of the hero that we’ve seen him wear since the very early days of the NES and Game Boy. Those of you who have played Breath of the Wild, however, will know that he’s had a bit of a makeover of late, with a new look and the ability to change clothes heading into the series, along with the Champions Tunic.
Capturing the likeness of both generations of Link, I thoroughly enjoyed building this epic set. I mean, just look at them both standing on the windowsill up there, two perfect, blocky recreations of my childhood gaming hero that are as cute and quirky as any Funko Pop figurine.
The set itself costs $22/£22, which using my gift of a mathematically-charged brain comes to $11/£11 per figurine. You really can’t knock that kind of value for money, especially considering that these are sturdy figures once constructed and the fact that they come with weapons that can be swapped and changed.
Building these two Link figurines was pretty straightforward; the set comes with an instruction booklet that shows a step-by-step guide on how to put them together. If you’ve ever made a LEGO figure or kit before, then you’ll know exactly the kind of thing I mean, and you can see a brief glimpse of the instructions in the video above if you’re new to the block-building scene. Each character came in its own bag, and the green & blue tunic variants make it easy to spot which one is which.
One thing I love about this set is that there are lots of pieces that were never around back in the day when I was into LEGO, which was instantly apparent from making Link’s hair. I mean, if this had been in the 90s, Link would have had a few yellow blocks for his locks and he would have been happy about it. In both of these sets, however, there was a complicated process to create layers of hair, fringes, and tufts, a process that required small fingers which I do not have.
Yet again, I’m impressed by the attention to detail in the weapons and accessories in this Link Building Toys set. Link’s belt buckle, his shield, the Master Sword, bow and arrow, the iconic green hat – they might be cheap, but they certainly don’t look or feel it.
When it came to putting them together, it took me and my LEGO-mad friend an hour to complete both figurines while I was visiting Austria. That was going at pace too as we knew we had a lot of LEGO to get through. The figures themselves measure 2″ wide x 3″ high x 2.3″ deep when finished and are currently sitting on my shelf between my handhelds. They’re very sturdy too and survived the journey back to the UK in my suitcase without so much as a lost piece or bent sword, which means you can pick them up and move them in your home without worrying about a foot dropping off or your hand going straight through the middle of Link’s head (sorry for that disturbing image!)
The main sticking point for many people will be the short length of time it takes to build these figurines. Still, I feel that a lifetime of looking at them fully formed while gaming or playing is worth both the cost price and the quick build time.
- Amazing figurines of Link’s old and new character design
- Easy and fun to build
- Weapons can be swapped for different looks
- The hair is super fiddly and could be challenging for younger fans
- Over quite quickly if you are an expert builder
Master Sword: Sillbird
- Pieces: 684
- Age: 8+
- Cost: $29.99
- Build Time With 2 People: 3 Hours
- Available From: Amazon (Worldwide)
If you’re looking for a kit with the same awe-inspiring feel as the Official Deku Tree set, then this Master Sword set complete with swirling Dragon and Korok certainly hits the spot. And yes, the sword glows in the dark once it has been left in sunlight for a little while just like in Breath of the Wild. I know that doesn’t have much of a practical application for a 34-year-old bald Italian man like the one writing this article, but it’s unbelievably cool so I don’t care!
First impressions – this is an amazing set. Made by building-block aficionados Sillbird, it measures just over 12″ high when completed and comprises of 684 pieces, all for the incredibly affordable sum of $29.99/£29.99. That’s 10% of the cost of the Deku Tree set (if you’re buying from America), and I had a blast building it. Like the set above, the Master Sword kit came with an incredibly detailed booklet that was split into three parts – the base, the dragon, and the sword, with the Korok taking up a small slot at the end of the book. Each part came in its own numbered set of bags that correspond with the booklet, meaning as long as you take your time and follow the booklet, you won’t have any problems.
The detail in this set is immense too. It took two of us 3 hours to build it from scratch, which means (to get my maths cap on again), it will take a solo builder an average of 6 hours to put together. It seemed to go up quickly once we got building and there were many ‘ah wow’ moments when pieces slotted together to reveal a new feature.
A lot of that time is down to the details on top of the main sword block that the Master Sword slots into. Looking at the pictures and the timelapse video I posted on X of the whole process, you can see all the small triangular roof shape pieces, Death Mountain, flowers, trees, and the clouds that create the feeling of height, along with the mighty Dragon protecting the Master Sword in its slumber (I know the Dragon is smaller than the sword, but just use your imagination!). For a fan like me with thoughts of Kakariko Village and the sword itself lodged in the Temple of Time or Korok Village, it’s a set that manages to capture the very essence of Zelda without even having Link in sight.
That being said, some of the pieces are so small and fiddly that if you’re not already bald, you might soon be after trying to put them together. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, but there was definitely a moment when I wanted to cast the tiny white blocks that made up the dragon out into the courtyard outside and use Autobuild to put them all back together. Then I remembered that I didn’t have Link’s abilities and wasn’t a computer game character, so I just knuckled down and persevered.
I know what some of you are thinking – ‘this set is cheap, so there are bound to be some pieces missing’. Well, not only is that wrong, but there were actually spares of some of the smaller pieces in each packet in case they did go missing. Missing pieces in your set is something you have to prepare for with all building block kits, including from Denmark’s finest. LEGO are well known for sending out missing pieces, so I thought I would contact Sillbird on Instagram to see if they offer the same service. It turns out that they do, and they were more than happy to send me out any pieces that I discovered were missing so long as I snapped a photo of the piece in the instruction booklet and sent it over to them!
The box says 8+ on the side, but my friend and I who are both over 30 felt a little stumped at times, especially when it came to building the Master Sword itself and working with building outwards rather than building upwards. Some of the instructions ask you to flip pieces over at certain stages and it took us a while to get our heads around it. Again, I’m not complaining as neither of us had built a LEGO sword before (fake or otherwise), and the process of discovering how was incredibly fun.
One thing I do want to warn you about, however, is the fact that this is a very delicate set once built. There’s a lot going on in it, and with the best will in the world and the steadiest hands, that Dragon is still going to be a pest when you move this set from place to place while dusting or rearranging. There are a lot of components to it, and while the very nature of the Dragon twisting around the Master Sword itself certainly makes for an impressive sight and one that sets my nerd senses tingling, it means that it can be temperamental when moving it from shelf to shelf. The Dragon needed rebuilding after a stint in my suitcase, so once it’s been built, treat it gently.
Having said that, this is certainly not a toy; it’s a decorative piece designed to be looked at and used carefully, and while the Master Sword is cool, it’s delicate and not like the Green Ranger’s Sword you might have owned back in the 90s. This is the kind of piece that compliments your games room, a focal point for your friends to geek out over, and in the same vein as the previous product, Sillbird has set a low price for a kit that feels and looks like a premium product.
- Amazing set with a glow-in-the-dark Master Sword
- Immensely detailed with lots of scenery
- Rewarding to build and a good challenge even for experienced builders
- Dragon looks stunning and finishes the piece off perfectly
- The dragon looks amazing but is very fiddly and prone to bits dropping off when touched
- The ‘Master Sword plaque could be a little more exciting and in keeping with the general theme of the game
- The clouds require the patience of a saint
