[REVIEW] 75637 One Piece: Buggy the Clown's Circus Tent

[MKJoshA]

INTRODUCTION

Even though I believe
All the tales that I am told
You might think I'm naive
But I'm set to move ahead
If we ever meet again
I'll tell you all about
The adventures on my journey
And the things I wanna see...

Showing up on screen for the first time in 1999, One Piece is a anime revolving around the story of Monkey D. Luffy. There are many signatures of this beloved anime and manga, one of them being the whacky characters. Buggy the Clown shows up in the 5th episode of the original anime and for its 2023 live action season 1 Netflix aptly chose to use Buggy as one of the main antagonists. 

This is my 3rd review of this line. You can read my review of the Going Merry and the Windmill Village Hut respectively. 

Out of the 5 minifigure scaled sets Lego has prodoced Buggy gets one themed for him. Is it a barrel of laughs or do the jokes fall flat? Let's find out!

SET INFORMATION
Number: 75637
Title: Buggy the Clown's Circus Tent
Theme: One Piece
Released: 2025
Part Count: 573
Box Dimensions: 25.9 x 22 x 7.6 cm
Weight: 694g
Set Price (RRP): £44.99/$54.99/€49.99
Price per Part: 7.9p/9.6c/8.7c
Links: Brickset, Bricklink

THE BOX AND WHAT'S INSIDE

On the front of the box we get a stylized interior shot of Buggy's Circus Tent.

The back shows off the play features and Nami violently attacking a box. Ok, she's actually closing it up to keep parts of Buggy trapped. If you're not familiar with the character of Buggy it's not me spoiling him for you, it's the set! Just like Luffy has the power of the Gum-Gum fruit allowing him to stretch like rubber, Buggy has the power of the Chop-Chop fruit allowing him to chop off parts of himself and move them independently of the rest of his body. Nami traps them in the box leaving Buggy tiny.

In addition to the bags and instructions there are 2 sticker sheets. The larger is printed on white while the smaller is printed on a transparent sticker.

THE BUILD
The tent makes good use of Lego geometry to get the curved shape.

Starting off we SNOT some cheese slopes to fill the gap around the door. This is a technique commonly seen in MOCs these days and it's fun to see building techniques like this making it into official sets.

You can see from the top that the cheese slopes don't sit perfectly flush against the wall, but it sits close enough that the gap is not very noticeable. From this angle you can also see the huge number of unsightly injection points. I've mentioned this many times before. But if you have these kinds of flaws in your sets (and with any newer set you will) you need to complain to Lego customer service. You don't have to ask for replacements, the replacement parts wouldn't be any better anyway. But if we don't say anything Lego won't change their production method. Their motto is "Only the best is good enough." We need to hold them to it.

From the bottom you can see how the hinge plates connect the angle plates.

This connection is re-enforced on top making the build solid.

The most egregious example of the injection mold marks is seen on the trans-yellow studs. It almost makes the piece unusable.

One of the side builds is dunk tank that Buggy uses to trap Luffy. This is where the trans-clear sticker is applied and the end result shows off my thumb print more than bubbles. From the front, with good lighting the sticker works. But unless you use sterilized tools to apply the sticker it's not going have a great end result.

The end result of the build is a portion of circus tent, a cage to capture Nami, a spinning wheel for a knife throwing trick, and the dunk tank. Under the sides of the tent are a pile of crates used to hold the little pieces of Buggy when you don't have him in his chopped up mode.

There is also a throne of sorts for Buggy.

The sides of the tent have technic connection points and the seating areas can expand using the clips on the sides. It seems the idea is to encourage buying multiple copies of the set to create a bugger version of the tent.

From the front we get a creative little step using the panel below the door frame. We also get to see the 2 Wanted Posters. For me I got Don Krieg (again) and appropriately, Buggy. You can see that the white and red "fabric" of the tent rest close together, but the geometry isn't as clever here as with the building so the end result looks sloppy. 

We get a total of 4 different characters in this set. Luffy and Nami have the same outfits as the other sets they are in. Zoro's blue shirt is different than his tan in the Going Merry but he also has it in the Baratie. Buggy is unique to this set. Also included is a stickered SNOT brick with Thing hands and a red bandana. To use Buggy in this form you have to move his head. I wish Lego would have included 2 copies of the head so you don't have to take him apart each time. A cheap move on Lego's part.

From the back you can see the back printing and alternate face prints. Luffy's grin is the same as in the Going Merry.

Zoro's bandana is a new mold for this theme. It sits lower on the head and has fewer wrinkles in it.

To finish off this story arc, we'll end as all good One Piece arcs do: with food. Unfortunately there's only 1 food element in the set, the new pear piece! A unique inclusion in this set as there are no pears of significance in One Piece. But it's nice to get a new element in another set.

OVERALL

It's an okay little build with good techniques. The side builds add play value and I think I would rather have them than not. But the tent is small. It doesn't feel big enough to do the scene justice. Two more "panels" would have made it look and feel better. Having 8 empty chairs inside the tent doesn't help either. The giant Buggy head inside the tent looks good, but it doesn't add much value to the scene. The set has potential, but it's missing a lot in terms of value.

SCORE
How do I rate this set?

DESIGN 5
As an overall set this one falls flat. It's got some clever angles, but not much else. The side builds a decent, but leave you wanting more from the set overall.

BUILDING EXPERIENCE 8
I'm giving higher marks here because I really enjoyed the geometry used to make the shape of tent. I did not enjoy apply the stickers.

FEATURES 6
Parts move, there are plenty of play features, but overall it feels underwhelming.

PLAYABILITY 8
This might be the best part of the set. It is easy to re-create scenes from the Circus Tent episode. The problem is without more of the Buggy Pirates even the play features feel like something is missing.

PARTS 6
There are an okay number new elements and re-colors. But nothing that makes this set better than most. The pear and Buggy move it from 5 to 6.

VALUE FOR MONEY 5
This set has the "right" number of parts for the price. But the build feels small and incomplete. And with Buggy being the only unique figure of the set there are not a lot of reasons to buy this one. 

FINAL SCORE: 6
This set just doesn't feel worth it. Each part is nice and adds value to the scene. But the sum of the parts don't add up to a good value. If you're going to be buying other One Piece sets I'd recommend skipping this one and just Bricklinking Buggy.

 

Last time we left Luffy and company wondering where Zoro went... 

 Guys, I'm really worried about Zoro. What if something happened to him? What if something happens to me!?!

 I wouldn't worry about old Moss-head. He'll be fine.

 Yeah, he's pretty tough. Hey look, food!

 No wait Luffy! We don't know if that food has been poisoned!

 Mmmm, yum!

 Do you guys hear that!?!

 Hey look, it's Zoro! How'd you get in there?

 I don't know, I got turned around somehow. Just get me out will you?

Tune in next time to find out what happens next!