LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion review

LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion is the animated franchise’s ultimate set, thanks in no small part to its minifigures.

75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion comes four years after the original LEGO models based on the Despicable Me franchise, finally providing an opportunity to depict Gru’s iconic home. The highlight of this set is undoubtedly its minifigures, and for the most part they’re the definitive assortment based on the blockbuster animated franchise.

Those planning on picking up just one LEGO Despicable Me 4 set will be instantly drawn towards 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion and for good reason – the contents are about as memorable as you can get for Despicable Me, only missing a standard Minion minifigure in blue overalls. And aside from one notable inconsistency, there’s a lot to love in this set.

— LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion set details —

Theme: LEGO Despicable Me 4 Set name: 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion Release: May 1, 2024

Price: £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 Pieces: 868 Minifigures: 8

LEGO: Order now

— Where to buy LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion —

As the biggest LEGO Despicable Me 4 set, 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion is the largest model in the theme and finally offers the full Gru family in minifigure form. You can pick it up now in the UK and Europe on LEGO.com for £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99. It launches worldwide on May 1 but a surprise early release has arrived for some parts of the world.

— LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion build —

The house is the largest model in 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion and it takes up the vast majority of the piece count. While the treehouse and tiki build take up much of the parts, the house doesn’t feel lacking in any major way as a result.

It has been scaled down compared to how it appears in the movie but this has been done convincingly, with finer details including the inconsistent colouring, a backdrop for the roof window and a sticker for the standard Minion minifigure – which isn’t physically included in this set – waving through the highest window.

The driveway depicted at a smaller scale on the house’s exterior feels out of place, especially since there is no included vehicle, but that would have driven up the piece count and price and you don’t feel its absence too heavily.

The profile of the house does a great job of hiding the interior, as long as you don’t look at the model from the side. Despite this, the model expertly captures the shape of the unique abode while still being functional.

Inside, 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion is jam-packed with details. With the many rooms fitted inside the tight space, it feels somewhat cramped – but Minions fans will remember that only Gru lived here before he grew a heart and found a family. There’s still just enough space to fit the included minifigures and the claustrophobic approach means that references can be found everywhere you turn.

The base of the build seems to be inspired by the underground laboratory with a pair of rotating sections including a toilet, equipment, water fountain and more, though Gru may want to consider childproofing that dynamite… somehow.

The ground floor has enough space to pose minifigures by the front door, and it does a good job at getting across the idea of a laboratory with quirky functions while adding necessary amenities including the toilet and ladder.

Up one floor is the girls’ bedroom, which is the only area that feels lacking enough to notice. There should be three of the iconic bomb beds but there’s unfortunately only enough space for one without affecting the house’s exterior appearance.

One bed just about suffices, though the girls will have to rotate their sleeping patterns unless one wants to use the sofa upstairs. Including only one of the recognisable beds does mean that there is space on the underside of the roof for some fun references, such as an Easter egg for the fluffy unicorn plush, the goat from the second movie and Minions stickers.

Across from the bedroom is Gru’s living room with the fireplace. The fireplace provides a smooth method of displaying the chimney on the exterior profile that makes complete sense in the room. The rotating throne and axes on the wall sell the idea of this space, though it would have been nice to see Gru’s crocodile sofa or torture devices in the room as well, perhaps in place of the throne given the other living area.

At the top of the house is another living room with a sofa, albeit not in the shape of a crocodile. It’s the least entertaining space in the house but provides a fun opportunity for posing. The stickered portrait above the furnishings is a fun detail too, though it includes Kyle the dog who is nowhere to be seen in 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion unfortunately.

The rest of the models in 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion are nowhere near as enticing as the house but are infinitely more colourful by comparison. These include a treehouse and a tiki drum zone, connected by a zip line.

They don’t distract from the main attraction of 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion and it’s hard to see how the piece count they take up could be used to sufficiently expand the house enough to make a difference. Equally, they don’t exactly fit with the house though. The added opportunities for play in them are enjoyable and we’ve had a surprising amount of fun with the zip line, despite its relatively short length.

— LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion minifigures —

The minifigures in 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion are just as impressive and fun as the models. The stars of the set are those you’ll already be familiar with from previous movies, presenting characters that are either entirely new to the world of LEGO or have only been seen once before as a minifigure.

Gru (though Felonius is his first name) featured in the 2020 sets but only as a younger depiction of the character. The minifigure proportions don’t work quite as well for the unique frame of this character, as depicted properly in 75582 Brick-Built Gru and Minions. Still, the reuse of Pinnochio’s head from the LEGO Disney Minifigures series isn’t entirely necessary as the rest of the minifigure portrays Gru well enough to make him recognisable even without his formidable nose.

That said, the scarf is limited by moulding in a single colour and the torso should be black to match both the legs and the character’s animated appearance. It’s a surprising inconsistency given the legs in 75582 Brick-Built Gru and Minions and this is one of the biggest immediate issues with the set.

Thankfully, the rest of the family’s minifigures don’t have the same problem. Agnes, Edith and Margo have all been captured perfectly, though Margo would benefit from mid-sized legs to put her above her sisters but still shorter than Lucy and Gru.

Lucy is one of the stand-out minifigures in 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion thanks in no small part to the sunglass-adorned alternate face print, which will find plenty of use beyond this LEGO Despicable Me 4 set. Gru Jr. uses the standard LEGO baby body and given the limited screentime this character has had in trailers for the fourth film, it appears to work fine for him and nothing new was necessary.

The only Minions featured in 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion are Mega Minions. These include one with a rough texture and jagged teeth in blue overalls with a different emblem than most Minions have as well as another two in an orange suit over their yellow skin.

These weird new Minions are pretty interesting, with one sporting an extended lens and another an elongated head (that can be adjusted easily) and long arms. Exactly how these will play into the new film has yet to be seen at the time of writing, but they are intriguing additions to a fantastic set. Still, at least one completely normal Minion minifigure to go alongside Gru would have been appreciated.

— LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion price —

75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion costs £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 for 868 pieces including the house, two side builds, eight minifigures and a baby. This is a fair price for the contents of the set, and while not exactly generous, you probably wouldn’t have expected it to cost any less (with one eye on other licensed LEGO sets at the moment). That the LEGO Group has managed to keep things in double figures while still including (almost) everything Gru’s house needs is pretty commendable too.

— LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion pictures —

— LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion and cons —

75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion is the best LEGO Despicable Me 4 set for minifigure enthusiasts and one that fans of the animated franchise will want to keep their eye out for over the next few months. It packs a lot into one build and while its interior may feel a bit cramped, at least nothing major has been missed.

Aside from one notable inconsistency with the Gru minifigure, the minifigure selection and model assortment is fantastic and the set is worth picking up on its own or alongside the other LEGO Despicable Me 4 sets.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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— Alternatives to LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion —

LEGO houses are thankfully common across a wide variety of themes. The best movie-inspired alternative to 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion is 43217 ‘Up’ House with similarly desirable characters, though it’s not quite as big.

42620 Olly and Paisley’s Family Houses comes in at the same price point as 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion with a pair of houses whose functions and interiors offer a similar experience to the Minions set, but without a licence attached to it. Also worth noting is 31139 Cosy House complete with some fun LEGO-specific references to appreciate, much like 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion has Despicable Me Easter eggs.

— LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion FAQs —

Author Profile

Jack Yates

LEGO has been a part of my life ever since I was young. It all started when my brother passed down 7657 AT-ST to me. It’s guided me through my early years, through school and eventually through my degree in journalism. I still have all my collection proudly on display, including my many NINJAGO sets, my favourite of all the LEGO Group’s themes. Outside of Brick Fanatics I am an avid gamer and enjoy a good game of Dungeons & Dragons.

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