Lego Belville: Dolphin Wind Surfer
Written: May 21 '02
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Pros: Dolphin, Laura figure, shovel & pail, nice beach scene.
Cons: Too girlie for me, no longer in production, hard to find other sets.
The Bottom Line: Belville should have been a powerful line, but due to a lack of exposure, it went the way of the Soccer series.
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| Freak369's Full Review: LEGO - Belville Wind Surfer |
It’s a shame that the Belville line never took off in the United States. Finally little Jane and Kelly had a chance to explore the wonderful world of Lego’s that their brothers always talked about. Despite a push in the foreign market, the girls of Belville never became as famous as their plastic arch nemesis Barbie. Designed to be larger than standard Lego figures, the variety of clothing, skin color, hair color and accessories should have been enough to get this set on the map. Sadly, most of the older sets were discontinued and replaced by two divisions of the line; Cold North and Princesses. Each retained the girlish appeal but came with more accessories and a fairy tale storyline.
Dolphin Wind Surfer
Note: The correct title of this set is Dolphin Windsurfer, not Belville Wind Surfer as it is listed at Epinions.
You might think that since this set only has 17 pieces that it is a waste of money. Get that thought out of your head. I’ll be completely honest; I bought this solely for the dolphin. I know, it seems like a waste to purchase a set just to obtain one piece but the dolphin just looked too cool. Until now, there have only been a few sets that had any underwater animals – most notable the Aqua Zone line. Make no mistake about it, this is a girls set – 100%. Unless you have a boy that wants to blow up a miniature Barbie wanna-be – chances are this set will be about as well received as a pink bunny outfit for Halloween [think A Christmas Story].
The wind surfer has a yellow base, a four and a half inch pole and a nicely accented sail. The sail is blue and pink with clear windows and is made of a thick plastic. While the plastic is thick, it isn’t indestructible so you might want to take some precautions with it. I found that with the Arctic Wind Surfer the best way to keep it from splitting or ripping was to apply small pieces of tape around the edges. It does remove a little from the aesthetics of the piece, but if you are going for the long haul of trying to keep it in one piece, then this is one of the few options available.
Some of the very nice extras include a functional seashell that can be opened to hide small treasures [very small treasures]. The shell is a light peach color but the actual color may vary from set to set. In the three sets I have opened I got a light pink one and two peach / flesh colored ones. What beach scene would be complete without a shovel and pail? Larger than regular Lego accessories, these fit perfectly into Laura’s hands and can be used with a little bit of persistence. The pail is in royal blue and the shovel in a dark pink. So far from the three sets I have opened, these colors have been consistent.
While I fell in love with the dolphin from this set, it is a little out of scale when compared to the wind surfer and the Laura figure. Unlike the underwater animals from Aqua Zone series, this dolphin has no moving parts. The sharks and stingrays in the AZ line had functional jaws and fins [respectively]. Even with the off scale representation, the dolphin is a great piece. If you were to buy it separately from a brick broker [yes, there are brick brokers] you could look at spending between $3.00 to $4.00 plus shipping. So it makes sense to pick up a set of Lego’s for almost the same price and have some cool extra stock pieces.
Laura, the figure included with this set, is much larger than the usual Lego people. This was done solely to lure little girls into falling in love with the series since they look more like humans than the typical ‘mini figs’. Another great scheme was to have them about three to three and a half inches high [depending on the character] while the parents measured between four to four and a half inches. This way they could still be used with other non-Lego dollhouses – thus increasing the replay value.
Laura looks much like a Barbie. She comes with a few pieces of clothing [small jacket, blue bikini bottoms and a life jacket]. And you might want to consider investing in some replacement clothes if you plan on using this figure for more than just surfing or beach scenes. Lego still insisted on using the generic plastic hair but thankfully they added a little detail to it. It can be removed with a little work once it is snapped into place. This is helpful if you want to swap it out with a baseball cap. Laura had articulated legs, hands [the wrists actually] and shoulders as well as the ability to be repositioned at the hips. She also has working knees so she can be bent in a variety of ways. Something you will almost never see from a standard Lego figure.
Things To Know
Contrary to what some Lego enthusiasts have said, the Belville series of Lego’s were released in the United States. Out of the 23 sets, only 10 of them made it to shelves while the rest were made available at the Lego website through their Shop At Home store. This set is pretty rare these days and is you can find it at the suggested $3.99 price, you should buy as many as you can without thinking twice. Most of the Beach, Forest and Hideaway sets are no longer sold or listed at the Lego site and are only available through brokers or auctions.
Since there are a variety of different sized pieces, some of the smaller ones could present a choking hazard and extreme care should be used if smaller children are sharing the same space as older kids. The most notable hazard is the wind surfer pole that could easily puncture a small childs mouth if chewed upon. The shovel and seashell are also small enough to be swallowed – so keep a close eye on them.
The Bottom Line
Chances are Laura and her accessories will end up being sent off to my niece. I have little to no interest in ‘girlie’ things – especially when it comes to Lego’s. As I mentioned, I purchased this set for one specific reason, the dolphin. Most of the other items are too large to be incorporated into others sets or scenes so that initial idea was a wash for me. For girls between the third and fifth grade that still enjoy playing with dolls, this might make a great introductory set to see if there is any interest.
For those with girls that like to play with dolls or dollhouses, I highly suggest that you check out the Lego line of Belville sets. The new lines of Cold North and Princesses which have a fantastic array of unique, colorful and enchanting pieces. You can see some of the sets by visiting the following link : http://www.lego.com/belville
The Stats
Set Name: Dolphin Wind Surfer
Family Set: Belville Beach
Lego Set: 5844
Number of Pieces: 17
Age Recommendation: 6 –12
Ease Of Assembly: Very Easy
Time Of Assembly: 5 minutes
As always, thanks for the read!
^V^ Freak ^V^
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $3.99
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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