Review: 31116 Safari Wildlife Tree House
Posted by benbacardi,LEGO’s Creator line allows the company to go back to basics with building techniques, and explore themes and ideas that wouldn’t fit in any of their other ranges. One of the larger upcoming sets, 31116 Safari Wildlife Tree House, takes a couple of minifigures out of the City and on holiday to sub-Saharan Africa, with a choice of three different models to build.
Brick-built animals are also a staple of the Creator range, and we get seven different species included in this set, a couple of which wouldn’t be out of place in their own polybag. Let’s take a closer look at the wildlife on safari…
Minifigures
The set contains two minifigures; a woman and a young boy. They’re both wearing jackets with a variety of pockets, the woman in blue and the boy in dark red. Their legs are unprinted.
Both figures look suitably attired for the safari, if perhaps a little overdressed; I can imagine shorts may be more comfortable!
They also both have dual expressions, which is a welcome surprise. The woman has a wide smile on both sides, but her eyes are closed for one expression. The boy has freckles on both sides, with a slight smile on one and a very worried expression on the other. Perhaps he’s not too sure about being so close to the wild animals?
The Primary Model
For a set based on safari, some wild animals are of course expected. The primary build contains a spindly giraffe and a small brick-built flamingo. Both look excellent for so few parts. The giraffe has multiple articulation points, and it captures the rather ungainly posture of the large animal in quite a cute way. The head, particularly, has been represented very well considering the limitations of LEGO bricks at this size.
It’s a slight shame that the legs can only move forward or backward, but I suspect that only ball joints would be able to produce a wider range of motion and would have looked quite out of place. The colouring is accurate, even down to the use of white on the legs, where the patterned hide of a giraffe often fades out to lighter shades.
The flamingo makes excellent use of two 1x1 heart pieces for wings, and although the beak looks a little odd with its exposed stud, it’s very recognisable standing on its single leg on a round blue tile representing water.
The rest of the build is a single tree house assembly, with a ladder leading up to the balcony that surrounds the small building. Sand green pieces are used for various foliage around the base of the tree, including the creative use of sausages to represent the unfurled leaves of a sub-Saharan African plant!
On top of the rather stubby tree trunk sits the base of the tree house, with a small balcony surrounded by balustrades on either side of the building. They are rather small, though, with standing room of only four studs on each.
The tree house itself is also quite small, as it doesn’t even take up the full size of the roof, which overhangs on every side, propped up at the corners by red pillars. An orange door provides access to the interior, with windows on the three remaining sides, providing a good view of the surroundings from inside the hut. I’m not sure I agree with the colours chosen here, however, as they wouldn’t blend into their surroundings particularly well.
I do like the texture of the roof, however, made from a staggered set of curved bricks in dark blue, which gives a slightly ramshackle look. A small African hornbill is perched on top, and a weather vane is attached to the side, which can spin freely.
Inside the building is exactly what you’d expect from an African safari tree house, a… toilet?! I suppose that you may need somewhere to relieve yourself if you were waiting up the tree for quite a while for the wild animals to appear! The interior footprint is only 2x6 studs, most of which are taken up by a sink on one side and a toilet and cistern on the other. LEGO seems to have many creative ways of representing both, and I don’t think I’ve seen this particular sink design before.
On the other side of the shack, the roof overhangs by three studs instead of one, providing shelter for an outdoor sofa. A sunset silhouette of a pair of elephants beneath an African acacia tree is hung above the sofa; the only printed piece in the set, and unique. The sofa itself is white, which I would imagine is a fairly poor choice for a piece of outdoor furniture! However, it would be a fantastic place to sit back with a drink and enjoy the view.
All together, the discrete parts form a quite attractive diorama. The tree house and giraffe are perfectly scaled together, and a camera is included for the figures to capture what must be quite a magical moment on their safari. The flamingo seems slightly unrelated to the rest of the build, however, as there is nothing else included to indicate any water nearby, and also feels slightly too large.
Alternative Builds
As this set is part of the Creator 3-in-1 range, there are in fact two more models to enjoy. Both use significantly fewer parts than the primary build, which is fairly standard, although I do wonder whether more effort could have gone into including a few more of the left over parts, somehow.
The first alternative build produces an attractive (if somewhat squat-looking) biplane. The use of the door frame to provide the cockpit surround, and the window frames as the struts on the aeroplane's wings, are quite effective. There’s room in the cockpit for a minifigure to sit, and rudimentary controls are included, with an inverted tap representing the plane’s yoke.
Also included with the plane is a small tree, and some of the giraffe’s pieces have been repurposed as a lion. Although quite cute, the lion does look slightly more canine than feline to me, however. An African lovebird is perched in the tree, but my favourite part of this build is perhaps the animal skeleton that lies beside the trunk. A handful of white parts has produced a very effective partial skeleton; presumably the remains of the lion’s latest meal.
We’ve gone from the land-based tree house to the skies with the biplane, and the final model that can be built from the 3-in-1 set takes us to the water, with a small catamaran. A large articulated sail sticks up above the boat, and the parts that formed the roof of the tree house have been reused to excellent effect as the curved sides of the double hulls. There’s room on board for both minifigures.
Speaking of wildlife, two appropriately water-based animals are included with this build; a rather rigid crocodile, and a marabou stork. The crocodile may be quite blocky, but this is a Creator set, and it is instantly recognisable. The teeth, particularly, look excellent, although it is a shame the mouth isn’t able to open and close, as that is the first thing my children tried to do.
Conclusion
The Creator range is known for being colourful, relatively basic, and generally quite good fun; this set lives up to those three expectations very well. With the 3-in-1 models, the alternative builds can often seem slightly disconnected from the main build, or somewhat thrown together, but the two included here tie in excellently and are just as fun to play with in their own right.
The set is aimed at ages 7 and above, although that must mostly be due to the building techniques involved, because children of all ages would have a great time with any of the models, particularly the animals. I will admit to being somewhat biased, as giraffes have long been my favourite animals, but I’m of the opinion that they aren’t represented in LEGO enough! My almost-five-year-old daughter found the toilet in the tree house particularly funny, and spent quite a bit of time playing with the primary model.
Whilst I don’t agree with some of the colour choices of the tree house itself, I think the set is pretty good value for money for almost 400 parts, a variety of cute wild animals, and three decent models to choose from.
The 397-piece set will be available at LEGO.com from 1st March priced at £24.99 / $29.99 / 29.99€.
For a set with an abundance of animals, however, there is a distinct lack of goats—sorry Huw! Although that is, perhaps, a good thing; between the crocodile and the lion, they probably wouldn’t stand much of a chance.
Thanks to LEGO for providing the set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
151 likes
45 comments on this article
I could find a place for that first build in my City.
Certainly a cute set, and a slightly different variant of the treehouses of the past.
Good variation of alternate builds providing 2 different vehicles, and still keeping to the Africa theme with the animals.
3-in-1 sets are great for the more basic parts , and this one still has some nice selection of clip-bar connection parts.
The Croc is simple but I think it's still fair, the studded back works well as scales, certainly different from the croc in 31093.
Huh, interesting set! The boat actually doesn’t look too bad, but the interior of the treehouse isn’t great. Really? A bathroom? I think something else would have been nicer. All the animals are nice, however. How many spare parts are left over in the alternate builds, by the way?
@BrickworldYT said:
"How many spare parts are left over in the alternate builds, by the way?"
I didn't count, but a significant amount. At a guess I'd say they each use no more than 2/3rd of the parts from the main build, if that.
I must say I'm pleasantly surprised by this set! All three builds seem to be pretty well-executed despite being so different from each other.
I love new KROCKI
The acid test of the alternative builds of a 3-in-1 set is if you’re tempted to buy more than one of the set so you can have each of the different builds simultaneously.
Really cool set, love brick built animals. I might start a small zoo for my city.
At 30 bucks for almost 400 pieces, with a lot of natural colors, I might pick this up just as a parts pack.
Nice, but it needs more tree.
This is a lovely looking set and good value. Just disappointed it wasn't available earlier, as LEGO has been using its image to promote Creator 3-in-1 since 1st January!
The moment the pictures leaked I knew I needed having it standing next to the 60267 Safari Car!
I always like brick-built animals! The primary model looks very nice. Not so crazy about the alternate plane and boat. I tried building a giraffe and lion a few years back:
https://flic.kr/p/Sa7KF8
https://flic.kr/p/2j7weCZ
@TeriXeri said:
"Certainly a cute set, and a slightly different variant of the treehouses of the past.
Good variation of alternate builds providing 2 different vehicles, and still keeping to the Africa theme with the animals.
3-in-1 sets are great for the more basic parts , and this one still has some nice selection of clip-bar connection parts.
The Croc is simple but I think it's still fair, the studded back works well as scales, certainly different from the croc in 31093."
Agreed all three models fit the theme, the use of mold colored
I think the crocodile they had on the PaB wall models was the best small creator one (33 pieces) 3850001
This is top of my creator list...
Great to see something different in the creator line and making the animals looks fun. The tree could do with a few more leaves though which may explain why the giraffe is tempted by a green hot dog? The alternative builds are different although the boat could be a lot larger.
Nice review, thank you benbacardi.
Actually, this is one of the most creative sets in years imo, and it does justice to the theme name.
Clever builds, all 3 of them, but I would choose the first one over the other two. It is very, very playable and wouldn't look bad at all in many bigger dioramas, be it city, country, seaside, you name it. How can a tree-house be disliked? It even has a decorated interior, and I personally enjoy the white sofa (even though it could be very easily MOCed it into a tan-hued couch).
Lovely brick-built animals: outstanding giraffe, African birds, even the croc has its charm. And minifigs!
All in all, a sweet classic set with up-to-date yet simple building techniques and a nice variety of bricks (the printed elephant-painting tile is a great touch). A great buy for the price.
I’d love a lot more of these if it weren’t for those hideous brick built animals.
Personally i think this looks hideous
A unique printed elephant-painting tile? SOLD!
I'm usually partial to moulded animals, but I really like these, especially the crocodile, which is surprisingly charming! Lots of fun to be had in this set.
3-in-1 sets invite being judged on all the builds. The B and C builds are ok but not outstanding. The A build is great, though, because giraffe.
A set for enough to be on my Wanted List and a solid B+ grade. It's a good, fun set for only $30.
Nothing like celebrating valentines days with a good safari.
This looks great. I love the giraffe, and the whole set should pair nicely with the rumoured upcoming City Wildlife sub theme.
On my priorities list.
These green sausages though...
I'm a fan of 3-in-1 and this looks really good. Like the base models, the ideas for all the animals and plenty of scope for tweaking and adapting - which is what I think this theme is all about. Just need to justify the cash for more than one set.
While I really like Lego toilets/bathrooms I certainly didn't expect this one! With an area of 2x6 studs it's probably one of the smallest to include a sink, unlike the twice as large one in 10278 Police Station.
@benbacardi : There's a similar sink in 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens. You forgot to add the two quarter circle tiles to its front though.
A treehouse with a blue roof - reminds me of 6054. Oh, and that's not a weather vane, it's an anemometer, a device used to measure wind speed.
Everything about this is weird, and not necessarily in a good way
Green hotdogs will poison the giraffe.
I just want those green hot dogs....
Has there ever been discussions about dual-faced heads? Nothing against this reviewer, but the use of the expression "welcomed surprise" triggered me a little as I highly dislike dual expression. You simply can't have some of the simpler hats or headsets without them looking like Voldemort.
Therefore I've always preferred single expression, and I'd pay extra to have more heads to switch in every now and then, but dual, meh. I had a similar opinion as a kid as well...
Nice build and review otherwise!
You know, I actually liked this set, until I saw the terrible building interior. They couldn't have put bunk beds or some kind of kitchen in there?
But yet still, we're going with Lego's weird obsession with toilets?
I don't mind the giraffe, because Lego's struggled with them in the past, but everything else, here, is losing me.
The toilet raises some serious questions about this treehouse’s plumbing.... or lack thereof
Looks to be a decent parts pack, but I have plenty of orange doors and red windows as it is!
These photos look strikingly like Studio 2.0 renders to me — it's like some variant of the uncanny valley where they look NOT photorealistic and the only thing keeping them within the realm of realism is the depth-of-field effect. It's so strange!
Every time I see a set like this, my wallet is a step closer to death.
Now this is a good set and price. Not like the blacksmith shop or the Harry Potter crests
Lego loves treehouses and lighthouses!
@legoed19 said:
"Lego loves treehouses and lighthouses!"
And now you've got me picturing a tree-lighthouse.
Wow, I need that elephant tile!
I love how people are complaining that there's a toilet rather than a kitchen or bedroom. I know when I'm out watching animals, I'm more likely to want to eat or go to sleep than go to the toilet!
Love the giraffe model too. Almost enough to get this set, if it gets reduced along the line.
I can see many buying 3 of these to have the alternative builds co-exist with the original.
I really like new printed tile 2x2
The toilet makes perfect sense, where else would someone sit after snapping pics of wildlife and uploading them to their social media accounts to utilize their time in the most efficient manner?
A treehouse, toilet, and sofa. What else do you need?
$50 bucks says this was designed by a dude...and it works for me!
I think this is actually supposed to add on to the apartment in 10270, which lacks a bathroom. The birch tree is the right height to feed the giraffe.