Cute as always

It is definitely a very cute block set. My Pikachu obsessed son loves it. It does have a few flaws. You have to leave him upright and you can't play with him. If you try and pose him or play with him his head falls off. It's a great display piece but kids would rather play with him.

So fun, but one problem

It's so hard for me not to be able to give this little fella five stars, for reasons that might turn out to be entirely my own fault! So basically, he cannot hold the 'all fours' pose without his head falling off. However, I do have extra pieces left. Since none of the other reviews I can find mention having pieces leftover...well, maybe it's my fault. I have contacted the company to ask and will hopefully get a reply soon, but after double and triple-checking every instruction, the only thing I can find that I did wrong was put the thumb on the wrong side on one of the hands (see pictures, the thumb has since been fixed.)

To explain further, in order to move Pikachu's head (or tail) you must pull back and the joint 'clicks' loudly into place at each new angle. The very last angle cannot be achieved on mine as the neck hits off the body and cannot be pulled back far enough. As a result, when placed on all fours, Pikachu's head is too heavy and simply droops and hits the ground. While pegs hold on his head, they are not deep enough and when you try to adjust the head, they will simply pull out. I reread the instructions for this section over and over again and cannot figure out what I did wrong. Same with the tail, it cannot 'click' onto the last angle as it hits the body. His arms are not strong enough to hold him up with the weight of the head and he just slides down.

It's a bit disappointing for me as I had planned to keep him in the all-fours position, but I am still rating this set highly because he looks amazing in the sitting position and we had a blast building him. For building this with kids, I fully recommend doing it together as the instructions can be tricky in some places and could definitely be clearer by showing an 'end' picture at each step, or having words for tricky bits.

For reference, my partner and I are both super nerds and decided to build this together. We are newbies to any kind of complex block style building set and have only built freestyle as children. This set took us five and a half hours to complete. So I feel pretty slow compared to the times others are saying. We didn't struggle a ton, but there were definitely some parts we had to stop and discuss at. We decided to do it like a jigsaw and find the pieces as needed, rather than sorting them all out initially, though you do sort it a little as you go.

I HIGHLY recommend following the directions closely and only opening the bags as it says. Everything should be in your bags as you go. Ignore the very first page which seems to imply opening way more bags. Start on the second page of the instructions. Open both 'orange stripe' bags which have a bookmark and a removal tool (which also works great for applying tricky bricks) in them that must be built.

The other advice I would give to beginners is this:

- If you're having trouble finding a piece, flip it over. Sometime it looks flat from the back.

- If you love your back, do it at a high table or desk, with a supportive chair.

- Gather pieces needed for step THEN do the step.

- Take your time. Check and double check after each piece, to make sure you have got it absolutely right. Sometimes the diagrams can be confusing. Make sure they are pushed together well on all corners and angles.

-Sizes are different, there are several pieces that are strange shaped that come in different sizes. Make sure you have the correct size for the part you are doing. This is by far the most tedious bit. Use a fine eye to check the picture and when in doubt, think logically about how it is supposed to line up.

To be honest, despite the difficulty, we absolutely loved the experience. We're really good at working as a team (furniture building together level good) and building something ourselves was like a combo of a puzzle and DIY and you can't help but feel proud at the end. I couldn't wait to get our Pikachu time every night. I would absolutely recommend this for a family activity or for couples, it will build patience, problem solving skills and rewards you with a big, cute, Pikachu figurine to love at the end of it.

I will update this review if I hear back from the company regarding the leftover pieces.