Although the build itself isn’t complex, it’s more involved than it appears, with the angles used for the jaw quite satisfying to attach. Some of the red bricks from the crab are re-used here to make a little fish (with the expressive eye tiles) who looks petrified of whatever horror lies behind it. In fact, judging by the design and the little fish swimming away from it, the model has almost certainly been influenced by that very scene in which Dory and Nemo are terrorised by a pretty monstrous-looking version of the underwater creature. If the latter doesn’t sound too familiar by name, then the model itself should be to anyone who has ever watched Pixar’s Finding Nemo. In 31088 Deep Sea Creatures we are treated to builds of both a squid and an anglerfish. The great thing about Creator 3-in-1 sets is that once you have built one model, you only have to take it apart, pull out a fresh set of instructions and continue with models B and C. Once the tail fin is attached with a friction-hinged plate the shark is complete – and looks absolutely brilliant. The torso is split over two more builds which are connected via ball-joints allowing for some flexible horizontal movement and some slopes to render a decent body curvature.

The jaw can be moved up and down, and thanks to the modified 1×2 tan plates with teeth, there is more detail than could be achieved in the past thanks to new elements that LEGO likes to treat fans to every so often. Such is the case here starting with the head, the designers have you twist and turn as you put together an assortment of small pieces to build up the shark’s recognisable features including an ingenious use of a lightsaber blade for the eyes. The beauty of some LEGO sets are the multiple stages of mini-builds that don’t quite make sense until the instructions require them to be joined together. A couple of pearl-gold treasures in an angled brown crate next to some seaweed and the scene has been nicely set. It’s a very simple build but the pincers making use of ball-socket joints shows that you don’t always need many parts to build an effective and articulate model. Before getting to the fin-tastic model we are treated to a quick build in the form of a small red crab who makes use of slightly rarer printed eye tiles allowing for a more expressive face.

Lego deep sea creatures