[REVIEW] 71428 Yoshis' Egg-cellent Forest

[Clone OPatra]

In a world where we call every somewhat small set a battlepack, this set is undoubtedly the Yoshi battlepack. Let's-a-go check it out!

SET INFORMATION
Number: 71428
Name: Yoshis' Egg-cellent Forest
Theme: Super Mario
Released: 2024
Part Count: 107
Minifigures: 2 buildable Yoshis
Set Price (RRP): 9.99 EUR / 8.99 GBP / 14.99 AUD / 9.99 USD / 13.99 CAD
Links: Brickset Bricklink Flickr album

I've been into Mario stuff for a very long time, and while I don't care for the look of LEGO's electronic figures or to try out the gameplay, I have collected up a small amount of sets and buildable figures from the line to incorporate into a Mario display. I didn't have any Yoshis yet, so this set caught my eye from the time it was first revealed. Let's check it out.

YOSHIS
LEGO's Yoshi design essentially hasn't changed since the first Yoshi they did in 2020, in 71367. The only difference is that they replaced two 1x1 quarter tiles on the front with a single 1x2 half circle tile. As of just a few months after this set came out, there's now a single tile that incorporates the shape of a 1x2 rectangular tile and the two 1x1 quarter circles, so I wonder if we'll be seeing that used in future.

Like most of the figures in this line since its inception, Yoshi has a compressed, somewhat rounded and somewhat squared off design. I find it pretty cute, and I like that they've left studs to play the role of the little mounds Yoshis have over their eyes in-universe. However, it's got to be said that there isn't enough opacity in the white print for the eyes. Do better LEGO.

They've got all the main aspects of Yoshis, like the red "spikes"(?) on the back of their heads and back, their cute little tails, their white bellies, and the correct colours of boots for these particular colours of Yoshis. They're just blockified, since it's LEGO.

Out of all the characters LEGO has done, I like the koopa and goomba in Big Bad Island the most and I wish we could get a Yoshi at that scale, but LEGO has no reason to do that. These are good and cute, but the slightly larger scale is better for fidelity of detail and for display.

Upon building these I had the immediate urge to see how easy it would be to adapt them for minifigure riders. While it doesn't seem possible with only the pieces provided in this set, it's still rather easy (minifigures borrowed from my recently reviewed 60437 Jungle Explorer Helicopter).

SCENERY
While the Yoshis are undoubtedly the main draw, the "egg-cellent forest" part of the set isn't too shabby itself. The two-tone tree looks great and Mario-esque, and the egg is actually exclusive so far to this set. Given its prevalence in some games including the original Super Mario World, that's pretty neat to get. The nest design appears to come from more recent games, like Super Mario Galaxy II.

The back of the tree, in case you were wondering, is nothing much to look at.

Still, when each Yoshi uses 31 parts, 45 more parts for the setting is enough to make it feel decent for the price, on par if not more substantial than the later character pack series.

FINAL THOUGHTS & RATINGS

For what it is, for people missing these particular colours of Yoshis or who, like me, don't yet have any Yoshis at all, this is a very decent little set. Even without an electronic figure, I'd imagine kids who like Mario stuff would have fun playing around with a couple of cute Yoshis too.

However, one thing I haven't discussed yet, and about which I've seen some discussion online, is the colour choices here. LEGO has done only five out of the canon at least 10 or 11 colours of Yoshis in games, and neither of these colours are exclusive. The pink one already came in two sets before this one, and the yellow in three including a polybag. Wouldn't it have been more fun and special if at least one of these was in a new colour? There are plenty of bright colours left to choose, including light blue, purple and orange.

Personally it doesn't bother me because I didn't yet have any Yoshis, but looking at it more broadly, the set would have more value if it offered at least one new colour.

8 FIGURES 
The figures are good but a new colour would've been better, and they need an extra layer of white print in the eyes.

9 PIECES
Though many are small, there are a lot of pieces for a set this size, and the exclusive Yoshi egg is a must-have.

8 BUILD/DESIGN
While they're quite chibi-esque and oddly squared off like everything in the line, I still enjoy the design of the Yoshis, and the design of the tree is great too for something small but recognisably Mario.

7 Playability
I don't know what playability is offered with the barcode, but there's inherent playabiliy from getting two cute characters (even if they are the exact same).

10 Price
USD $10 feels perfect for this, and AUD $15 feels fine too (especially because it's on sale all the time).

8.4 OVERALL
LEGO doesn't do enough sets in this price range anymore, and especially not with this much building involved. For a kid or adult who like Mario, provided they like the LEGO Mario aesthetic, this set provides inherent fun and value with two cute Yoshis. A new colour of Yoshi would've pushed it up closer to a 9 or 9.5 out of 10, and actually good eye printing could've netted a perfect score.

[Lyichir]

I know the app/digi-fig features of this aren't to everyone's taste, but I have to say I was somewhat disappointed by this review... without going into any detail about what the barcode tile actually does "in-game", the review ultimately doesn't really tell a whole lot that isn't already self-evident from the box pictures of the set. The lighting in the photos is quite blown out as well, making them arguably worse than the box pictures when it comes to showcasing the overall look of the characters.

[Clone OPatra]

2 hours ago, Lyichir said:

... the review ultimately doesn't really tell a whole lot that isn't already self-evident from the box pictures of the set. The lighting in the photos is quite blown out as well, making them arguably worse than the box pictures when it comes to showcasing the overall look of the characters.

The review is about my analysis of and thoughts about the set. You didn't know that looking at the box pictures. You personally might know other related things like the egg being exclusive, the number of instances of these colours of Yoshis before and their slight differences, and more, but I worked that analysis into my review too in order to land on my ultimate rating for the set. I also did a quick MOD of the figures, so for a small set there is a whole lot here that isn't self-evident to everyone from the box pictures alone.

Did you think I disparaged the digi-figures (which I didn't?), and thus found disappointment here that you didn't in my equally short review of the equally small Jungle ATV set?

Fair point about the pictures though, not my best (though they look better on my phone than desktop oddly).

If it makes any difference as well, I bought both this set and the Jungle ATV because I wanted them and subsequently decided to review them, and didn't request them from LEGO.

[Mandalorianknight]

I liked this review- I feel like the vast majority of people who read set reviews probably aren't playing the lego mario AR... game? I've never understood what exactly it is besides mario making noises when he scans barcodes. And regardless, it's not like those don't exist elsewhere on the internet. You're not obligated to tell people what the little tile doe to review the set.

I've been wanting to see more of these small $10-ish sets that aren't purely gimmicks or battle packs (agree to disagree on this being a yoshi pack- it needs 4 figures, this is my ironclad argument. The 2021/2 star wars blister BPs are the exception that proves the rule), and this is a very nice little set. I'm not a huge mario guy, so even at this price I'd need a green yoshi to pick it up, but for people who are fans, this seems like a very fun set.

[MKJoshA]

I got my kids a lot of Mario sets off eBay for Christmas last year. They like playing with them but hardly use the AR features. I really want that Yoshi egg. I hope it shows up elsewhere so I don't have to buy this set