Every obstacle in LEGO Super Mario 71423 Dry Bowser Castle Battle Expansion Set, explained

LEGO Super Mario 71423 Dry Bowser Castle Battle Expansion Set dives into a new area of the theme – but what new obstacles are on offer in the set?

Dry Bowser, Dry Bones, and the rest of the Dry characters from Super Mario are all undead versions of Bowser, Koopa Troopas, and more figures from the franchise. One of the latest LEGO Super Mario reveals, 71423 Dry Bowser Castle Battle Expansion Set, doesn’t just offer looks at some of these villains and heroes in their boney form, but also some of the obstacles typically faced by players in the undead locations.

Here’s a look at some of the traps and trials at hand in the set and compare them to their digital counterparts.

Bone Piranha Plant

The Bone Piranha Plants debuted in New Super Mario Bros. 2, being clear variations of the bright red Piranha Plants already typically seen chomping down on Super Mario characters. The key difference between these plants is the washed-out colour, coming in a pale green instead of the vibrant red, with dark grey, dried-out leaves around the base.

The brick-built versions accurately capture these colours, all the way down to the dead leaves and white teeth. These plants are typically associated with Bowser, due to their resistance to fire, but are also seen in Bone Dry maps and locations, such as deserts.

Bone Goomba

Another common Super Mario icon that gets its Bone counterpart is the Goomba. However, Bone Goombas appear to only be playing dead, wearing skull helmets but otherwise having the same appearance and behaviour as regular Goombas.

In 71423 Dry Bowser Castle Battle Expansion Set, the Bone Goombas appear to be built from white elements, with just a hint of their regular teal colour underneath. This means that, unlike in the game, there won’t be any cracking of Bone Helmets, but simply defeating the Bone Goombas as one entity if you play with the interactive elements of the set.

Magmaargh Attack Function

These flaming Magmaarghs are variants of Blarggs that first appeared in Super Mario Galaxy 2. While much of 71423 Dry Bowser Castle Battle Expansion Set focuses on bones, the other key element is fire – and Magmaarghs certainly bring that. These huge molten creatures have a large mouth that chomps down on anything that passes in front of them.

In the LEGO set, the Magmaargh appears to be guarding a treasure block. The LEGO Group has promised it also has some form of attack function, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Magmaargh’s flaming bite is recreated with LEGO elements.

Purple Toad Trap

The key objective of 71423 Dry Bowser Castle Battle Expansion Set is to get past the aforementioned obstacles to rescue Purple Toad from his cage – which looks like it might be intended to look like it’s made of bones as well. It seems like the cage can also be used to crush Dry Bowser as well, achieving two goals in one fell swoop.

Purple Toad, also known as Mailtoad, is the messenger of the Mushroom Kingdom, delivering messages for Mario in a number of Super Mario games. His purple and gold vest matches his appearance on these occasions, suggesting he might have been caught by Dry Bowser while en route with an important bit of information.

Bowser’s Mouth

The centrepiece of 71423 Dry Bowser Castle Battle Expansion Set is, of course, Dry Bowser himself and the gaping boney mouth that acts as the entrance. There’s a platform between the jaws that guards the Key Block, making it an important part of the interactive elements, as Lugio or Mario will need to dive between Dry Bowser’s sharp teeth to get it.

Dry Bowser originally ascended when Mario dropped Bowser into lava, explaining his affinity and invulnerability to flames. His appearances since then have always been as an antagonist, often being harder to kill than his red and green, living counterpart, Bowser.

71423 Dry Bowser Castle Battle will launch on August 1, 2023, selling for £94.99 / $109.99 / €104.99 at 1,321 pieces. 

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