LEGO Minecraft 21281 Baby Pig's Birthday Celebration review

LEGO Minecraft's smallest 15th-anniversary set is a must-have thanks not only to its incredible value but also for the best Creeper build so far.

The 15th anniversary of Minecraft is a hot topic for the long-running LEGO theme, celebrated through two sets (though one is much more explicit for the anniversary than the other). The smaller of these is 21281 Baby Pig's Birthday Celebration and the unusual birthday build is a must-have for any Minecraft fan as well as a great introduction to the game's whimsically adorable creatures.

Release: October 1, 2024 Price: £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99 Pieces: 351 Minifigures: 0 LEGO: Order now

Happy birthday to...

It's debatable whether or not 21281 Baby Pig's Birthday Celebration is intended as a 15th-anniversary Minecraft set but given the subject matter and how few birthday sets there have been in the theme to date, it certainly fits the bill. As a more affordable anniversary set over 21265 The Crafting Table, there's much to love and little to dislike.

Even taking apart 21281 Baby Pig's Birthday Celebration with a fine-tooth comb, there are no major issues with the build, which is rare for even the best LEGO sets. At the centre of the celebration is a giant LEGO Minecraft cake, providing a sense of scale for the creation as cakes are nearly one block in depth and width in-game. You might not have guessed from official images, but the cake can be split into slices to share with the rest of the party.

There are only three slices for the six guests in 21281 Baby Pig's Birthday Celebration and this is really the set's sole shortcoming. Despite this, the cake is simple but enjoyable to build and it's satisfying to take it apart and put it back together again. The baby zombie seems especially excited to take a bite.

Otherwise, most of the set calls back to the LEGO Minecraft BigFig series that ran from 2019 to 2020. Before covering the figures though, the price of £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99 for six of them and a cake using 351 pieces overall feels like an anniversary gift from the LEGO Minecraft team to the fans, making for one of the best-value builds in the 2024 portfolio.

They did the mash

Putting aside the cake, the six brick-built figures in 21281 Baby Pig's Birthday Celebration are just as good. Not taken from previous sets are the baby fox, baby cat, baby llama and baby pig, but these aren't quite the first upscaled LEGO Minecraft cat and pig figures.

Compared to past creations, the 2024 figures offer an inherent upgrade in every way. From an adequate amount of additional colours mixed in for interesting appearances to challenging techniques uncommon to LEGO Minecraft, these figures are fantastic.

Each animal has at least some options for posing too, Aside from the the baby pig's legs and the baby llama's heads, the tails, heads and legs move for a variety of poses to enjoy the party. They're the kind of builds that evoke the pure, simple fun that LEGO Minecraft is known for while being endlessly playable and displayable. Considering that it's all in one affordable package, 21281 Baby Pig's Birthday Celebration is a recipe for success.

As fun as these figures are, they're not quite the best part of 21281 Baby Pig's Birthday Celebration and the biggest build of the £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99 set is still to come.

They did the monster mash

Whether the baby zombie and creeper are invited guests or party crashers is up to you but there's no doubt that the two returning figures are the best parts of 21281 Baby Pig's Birthday Celebration. The Creeper was first released in 21156 BigFig Creeper and Ocelot and while most of the build remains the same, some slight updates to the texture and detailing as well as the addition of a humorous printed piece make for a substantial upgrade to the 2020 figure.

The baby zombie BigFig debuted in 21157 BigFig Pig with Baby Zombie – also from 2020 – and there are more changes to note overall. This includes the addition of dark green elements to the head for increased accuracy. The greatest change is black and blue elements for the joints, blending them in much more effectively than the grey pieces used in the past.

These two figures are the most impressive of 21281 Baby Pig's Birthday Celebration for their range of motion and size, for the baby zombie and Creeper respectively. From hugging fellow monsters to busting some moves, the duo add some excitement to the anniversary celebration.

Whether 21281 Baby Pig's Birthday Celebration has been released for the 15th anniversary of Minecraft or not, the new LEGO Minecraft set is one not to miss. That goes especially for those who have yet to experience the theme's BigFigs. It's also an ideal celebration of the game relative to the low price of £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99. In this case, you get much more than you pay for.

Though the set has its fair share of small elements, there aren't nearly enough of them to drive up the piece count compared to the price in the same way as, say, LEGO Art sets. The volume of builds is much more than a standard model for this price, especially when you consider that the last BigFig Creeper set was £12.99 / $14.99 / €14.99 for only a Creeper and a cat. The 2024 set has nearly double the number of pieces too, making for a great-value package all round.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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Our honest opinion: An adorable range of involved builds with a phenomenally low price tag. For under £20, it's a Minecraft must-have.