LEGO Mario Peach Starter Course, Super Mario 64 Question Mark Block, and Mighty Bowser Review

Starting small and working our way up, the Peach Starter Course introduces Princess Toadstool to the lineup of interactive figures. In addition to Peach, other characters include yellow toad, a hothead, and the greatest of all time, Lemmy Koopa. This course includes a teatime table, flying question block, mushrooms, spring-loaded present, castle tower, a goal flagpole, and a very cool tree swing. Avoid the lava, give Lemmy the boot, and reach the flagpole to win!

Next up we have the Mario 64 Question Mark Block, which is one of the coolest sets we have EVER had the pleasure of building. The outside looks the part, but the hidden features are what elevate this set to legendary status. The build is notably dynamic, featuring precise mechanisms and miniature dioramas! Pull on this back panel, rotate the top 180 degrees, and unfold the panels to reveal a full diorama of Peach’s Castle, Bob-Omb Battlefield, Cool Cool Mountain and Lethal Lava Land. Pouring over these dioramas, you can see so many tiny and specific details of the original stages. The castle and mountainside both come away to reveal an interior view. But wait, there’s more. Slide this panel up to reveal Bowser, and push down here to open a spinning platform where you can recreate Mario spinning bower by the tail. Wow. Sheer perfection. Well, almost perfect. We do wish the bottom wasn’t hollow, but it’s in service of accommodating all these play features.

Lastly, let’s look at the Mighty Bowser. At 2,807 pieces, this set will take you a few days to complete. Bowser’s building process has a few special engineering treats, like the shell construction, and the roaring mechanism.  Complex details are inexplicably rendered entirely from LEGO pieces, like the rounded edge of his shell and his bushy eyebrows. Bowser has articulation in the head, a swivel at the neck (controlled at his midsection,) rotation at the shoulders, swivel at the wrists, and a bend at the elbow. The legs and tail also move, but they are made only to bear weight, while standing, there are no actual joints. Oh, his eyebrows and hair are on ball joints and hinges respectively, and you can rotate his eyes. Pull back on this switch to have Bowser roar and spit a fireball missile at high speed. Lastly, he comes with a beautifully detailed base, with a hidden nfc chip compatible with figures from the standard LEGO Mario line, as well as a hidden pow block under the left column.