Review – 40379 BrickHeadz Valentine’s Bear

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner so we thought it was a good time to review the latest entry in the seasonal BrickHeadz collection, the 40379 Valentine’s Bear. Or just Bear, as it’s identified on the box.

This is the third Valentine’s Day BrickHeadz set, following Bee from 2018 and Puppy from 2019. How does Bear compare to its two predecessors? Let’s find out.

The Package

Bear comes in the Valentine’s Day themed BrickHeadz box, with the background slightly modified from the previous two entries. Bear has several pink hearts floating in the background, whereas Bee and Puppy had just one large heart.

The front of the box features the finished build while the back of the box previews two other 2020 seasonal BrickHeadz sets, Sheep and Lucky Cat.

Bear includes 150 parts in three bags, plus the standard instruction book. Brown – Medium Nougat, to be precise – is the main color here.

I can’t say I build a lot of LEGO sets — we’re self funded here at the BrickGeekz Blog, so everything we build and review has been bought on our own — but I did want to note the 1×1 pink heart tiles and red 3×3 heart plate. I believe these are new parts introduced in 2019 and used in LEGO Friends and LEGO Movie 2 sets, as well as the awesome Gingerbread House. It’s the first time I’ve personally used them in a build and they’re a welcome addition to the Valentine’s Day BrickHeadz sets. The previous two Valentine’s Day BrickHeadz, for example, used two 2×2 coupling plates to make the large heart. While it formed the same shape, the use of two overlapping plates with holes at the tips never quite had the proper look. A single 3×3 heart plate works perfectly as a replacement.

The Build

Unlike most BrickHeadz, Bear is in a seated position. His tummy and feet are attached with two 1 x 2 angle plates. These plates are sand yellow instead of the medium nougat color used to build the rest of the bear. You can see a hint of the sand yellow below, between the leg and the arm. It would have worked better if those two angled plates were medium nougat as well. It’s a small detail in the overall build, but it does stand out as the color does not quite work in this context.

Like all BrickHeadz, Bear includes a central core with colorful bricks and a pink brain.

Two interesting notes, or at least they were interesting to me, is that you build the face last on Bear’s head. Usually the face is the first part of the head to be built. And Bear has one white SNOT brick behind the top of its head, instead of the standard grey. I’m not sure why this one part is a different color, since it’s not visible in the completed build.

The completed bear gets pink cheeks and a large rounded nose with a 1/4 circle tile for the tip. . , before completing the build with the accessories and display stand.

The Verdict

With the display stand complete, Bear is sitting in between a checkerboard of red and white 1×1 tiles, which I’m assuming may be a picnic blanket? Bear also comes with a small but detailed micro-sized bee swarming over a honey pot to its right, and a heart-adorned flower to its left. The variety of colors between the stand and the accessories brings a nice balance to the set.

I also like the use of the bright green 4×4 1/4 circle plates with the base, as that’s my preferred color for grass when I design my own MOCs. It’s the first time this piece has been used in this color in any LEGO set. The previous two Valentine’s BrickHeadz used bright yellowish green instead.

How does Bear compare to the previous Valentine’s Day BrickHeadz? It’s a definite improvement over the Bee. Bee is soewhat uninspired, with a flat face and and lack of any significant detailing on the head and body, which is kind of indicative of the early BrickHeadz sets. I am a big fan of Puppy and I have to give Puppy a slight edge over Bear. But not by much. The two make a great pair and seeing them side-by-side, one can almost imagine them being designed together and released as a single set.

If you read my review of Reindeer, Elf, and Elfie, the most recent Christmas BrickHeadz set, you’ll know I wasn’t a big fan of that build. And after seeing the preview image of Sheep, which is the upcoming Easter BrickHeadz set, let’s just say I’m trying to keep an open mind on that. But for now, Valentine’s Bear gets the seasonal BrickHeadz sets back on the right track with a cute little design that will be a welcome addition to your BrickHeadz collection.