Choose Your Own Adventure: French DreamZzz

LEGO DreamZzz continues to be a product line that captures the imagination. Just like the book series for kids where you can choose your adventure and turn to a certain page to continue the story, these sets offer an A and B model so builders can choose what to build. But what if we challenged AFOLs to choose their own adventure? We did that with the first wave of DreamZzz, and the mostly American builders showed us some spectacular dreams and some chilling nightmares.

But what about builders in Europe? LEGO offered BrickNerd the second wave of sets from the first season of LEGO DreamZzzz. This time, the boxes went to France, and I had the opportunity to challenge some of my best LEGO friends to see what adventures they would choose with the five new sets. This wave was smaller than the first but certainly has some things essential to the show!

The first thing I had to do was to distribute the sets. 71476 Zoey and Zian, the Cat-Owl and 71471 Mateo’s Off-Road Car went to the North of France to Nathalie Choquet (aka Antha). In my opinion, she’s one of the few builders who takes a highly personal, poetic and abstract approach to creating MOCs. Her creations are often inspired by a particular part. I knew this DreamZzz wave would suit her approach to building and her way of looking at LEGO.

71472 Izzie's Narwhal Hot-Air Balloon and 71475 Mr. Oz's Space Car went to the West of France to Loïc Gilbert (aka Lokiloki). I’ve collaborated with Loïc on several projects and competitions which have always been opportunities for us to surpass ourselves and inspire each other. I knew that his qualities and the variety of his work would give birth to beautiful creations based on DreamZzz world.

Finally, 71477 The Sandman’s Tower stayed with me to discover it and see what kind of adventure it would take me on. So let’s hear from these builder’s in their own words about their DreamZzz sets.

Nathalie Choquet (aka Antha): The Cat-Owl and Car

My first impression of 71476 is that it allows you to build Zian, Zoey’s cat, with two possible versions: the owl-cat or the peacock-cat. As soon as I opened the box, I was struck by the remarkable harmony of the color palette, ranging from trans-bright green to dark blue. The teal and trans-green foliage elements create a successful silhouette of this curvaceous cat, with two construction options that make it a cat that truly belongs in the world of DreamZzz.

I've never been keen on building according to the instructions, but I enjoyed building this set. I like the playability of the model: the head, legs and tail are articulated. The ingenious and delicate construction of the cat’s legs and paws highlights the paw pads. Zian is there, on my table, and I find him very beautiful. I'm rarely so enthusiastic.

Looking at it, I thought maybe we could humanize it, so I made a few modifications to make it stand upright and go on a few more adventures. Here's the cat man. :)

But no set survives the desire to build with new parts, so I finally took it apart anyway. All the curved parts inspired a little creation, particularly the brick round 4 x 4 dome top with round 2 x 2 recessed with four studs (part 79850), appearing with this set for the first time in dark blue.

I thought I’d build some strange plants that only grow in Zoey's dreamland. Maybe they’re mushrooms, but I can’t be sure... I attached their heads using pearl gold 4697b originally used for the the cat’s legs.

For Mateo’s Off-Road Car, it was a set that's way out of my league—I’m not really into vehicles. But I had a lot of fun building Mateo’s two vehicle models.

I like their airy, curved shape, an effect created especially by the trans-bright green brick, round 2 x 2 D. 45 degrees Elbow (65473). The set is prime to take you off to and adventure in the air!

The palette of pieces didn't particularly inspire me to create anything, even though I'm still fascinated by the 65473 curved pieces, and I'm sure it won't be long before I use them in a future creation. I also admit that creating on-demand with a limited number of pieces is a very difficult mission for me.

However, I thought I'd make a mini-creation and create another flying monster. The colors are nice, but it's definitely a monster... Hopefully you can avoid him in your dreams

Samuel Pister (aka Pistash): Sandman's Tower and a Dream Egg

I started building this set with my 9-year-old son. The building steps went smoothly and were pretty straightforward. On the inventory side, there isn’t a large quantity of new parts, but the parts are still interesting and can be reused quite well in other buildings. In the end, it's essentially the seventh bag that's going to inspire me to go on a MOC’ing adventure.

We noted some nice techniques, such as building the gears on the sides of the tower. The construction ends on a high note with the top of the tower: the sandblasting and the needle mechanism are really well thought-out.

The figurines are a real “coup de coeur,” even if some from can be found in the previous wave. Sneak is the real winner here with a well used headpiece from a CMF bat monster.

It's very interesting in this DreamZzz range to have a choice that isn't just a construction alternative, but rather an opportunity to choose how the story or characters evolve. This immersion is reinforced by the beautiful illustrations that punctuate the theme's instructions.

I'd also like to highlight the appearance of the new color, reddish orange, which completes the color palette here between bright red and orange. I won't have enough parts to build anything to highlight it, but it was worth mentioning.

For my dream, I tried to be inspired by the set. I decided to use the pieces as inspiration rather than limiting myself to just he pieces in the set. As I was looking at the completed set, the tip of the tower reminded me of a Fabergé egg, so I knew what I needed to do!

I used all the pearl gold parts as a base and ornamentation, in particular part 18969.

I knew I wanted it to be transparent, so why not use some Trans-Purple color? Purple is a regal color and is classically paired with gold to great effect. There aren't many parts in this color, but the LEGO Movie Pop-Up Party Bus windscreen seemed particularly well-suited to the task. These allow me to add a little decoration to the interior with some little hidden frogs admiring a powerful artifact.

Loïc Gilbert (aka Lokiloki): Taking Flight

I received Izzie's Narwhal Hot-Air Balloon (71472). This set features Izzie’s minifig and her bunny, flying in her colorful hot-air balloon. It offers two alternative builds: while the narwhal stays the same, in the third step, it can either tow a sled or a basket. The fantastical nature of the set was perfect for a fantasy photo of them on an adventure.

I really like Izzie’s minifig, especially the translucent elements in her hair and sword. The main point of interest for me was the color palette used in the set. The pastel tones from the Medium Lavender and Medium Azure elements emphasize the dreamy aspect of the build and make the few pearl gold parts pop. The only downside is the weak connection points between the basket and the balloon—I suppose it can easily break in the hands of children.

For my dream, I wanted to build a MOC based on the set focused on two unique elements: the big magenta rounded corners and the azure leaves. Playing around with those parts, I saw that using multiple leaves could imitate the feathers of a bird, and the rounded corners could make a nice belly.

Overall, the rounded elements from the set can give a nice organic aspect to another animal. I managed to use other parts from the set: the pearl gold elements for the beak and eyes, some reddish brown bars and clip, and even the minifig legs for the tail. The inside of the bird is a bit intricate to keep all parts in their appropriate position, and only the side facing the camera is finished—clearly a MOC only built for one shot!

For Mr. Oz's Space Car (71475), the first surprise opening this set was the paper bags containing the parts instead of the usual plastic ones. Apart from the obvious gain in terms of sustainability, the paper bags are easy to open with the perforation stripe, and they are less prone to the accidental “explosion” that we all have experienced at least once.

The two first bags are used to build the car itself. The blue windscreen obviously stands out. It is more opaque than the usual trans-dark blue color but still lets some light pass with a light glitter effect. We can also find four plates 1x8 in the new reddish orange color, although not visible in the final set. I really like the design of this futuristic car—the bright color scheme reminds me of the outrun aesthetic.

With the final bag, we can choose between turning the car into a spaceship or a rover. Both options offer plenty of playability for children. A chance to choose their own adventure!

Mr. Oz minifig is stunning, his pearl gold armor with the hourglass printed tile makes him look like a time and space explorer.

For building a set with this MOC, my main goal was to use the new blue canopy in a different way, not just as a standard spaceship windscreen. I struggled to find an original use, but Sam gave me the idea of a Nike Air Jordan shoe which I immediately liked.

I kept the color scheme of the set and used the bright light orange curved slopes at the front of the shoe. The other parts that make up the MOC are my own.

It was a challenging build: some tricky angles are required for such a rounded subject. It is not exactly symmetrical but must still look consistent when seen from both sides. I’m pleased with the technique used for the laces and the simple yet realistic swoosh logo.

 With this MOC, I think I found a more comfortable way of walking on LEGO!

DreamZzz of Adventure

Did we all choose the adventures you thought we would in our journey through LEGO DreamZzz? I was very happy to have this opportunity to test some new sets before the official release with my friends Antha and Lokiloki, and I’d like to thank them warmly for sharing their time with us. It was a real pleasure to dream together around this colorful and original product line.

DISCLAIMER: These sets were provided to BrickNerd by LEGO. Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Which DreamZzz sets would you most like to remix into a new MOC? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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