LEGO Icons 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger review

The LEGO Group heads back to Springfield in 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger (that’s good), a set pulled in more directions than the show has seasons (that’s bad).

The latest licensed LEGO theme from days gone by to return under the Icons banner is The Simpsons, and joining 2014’s 71006 The Simpsons House and 2015’s 71016 Kwik-E-Mart on shelves this summer is 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger, a set seemingly hoping to satisfy both those of us who grabbed those sets and those of us who missed them all at the same time. That’s a heady goal, and ultimately causes this fast food restaurant to sag under the weight of its own ambition.

10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger

Release: Jun 1, 2025

Retiring: Dec 31, 2028

Price: £179.99 / $209.99 / €199.99

Pieces: 1,635

Minifigures: 7

Here’s what 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger wants to do: bring something new to the table for veteran LEGO The Simpsons collectors, while simultaneously allowing new fans – of which there are presumably a far greater number given it’s been 10 years since the last time we visited LEGO Springfield – to play catch-up on highlights of those original sets.

Here’s what 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger actually does: stretches itself too thinly between not only those two different demographics, but also between fans of golden-age Simpsons episodes and fans of more recent (relative to the age of the show) seasons. Everything from the Easter eggs and minifigure line-up to the size of the set and even the choice of vehicle leave you with more questions than answers.

For the first LEGO The Simpsons set in 10 years, and likely one of the few remaining locations that actually makes sense to adapt into bricks (let’s face it, we’re not going to be getting Moe’s Tavern any time soon), Krusty Burger comes in at a relatively modest 1,635 pieces. That number falls well short of the piece counts devoted to both previous sets, and the result is a restaurant that struggles for real estate inside and out.

That won’t necessarily be a bad thing for those of us already suffering from our own LEGO real estate issues (shelf space and so on), but it is surprising in an era where the LEGO Group isn’t afraid to bolster its piece counts and prices. The bad news is that the price does little to reflect that lower piece count at £179.99 / $209.99 / €199.99 – maybe by dint of those unique moulded heads for each of the seven included minifigures – so you’re still going to be paying through the nose for this set anyway.

While 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger is limited in space, though, it makes almost every stud count, with judicious use of its internal footprint to cram in tables and chairs, a booth, Krusty’s Kidz Zone (a ball pit), a bathroom, kitchen and counter and even the drive-thru window. There are fun moments and parts usage scattered throughout the 12-bag build, from the golden Wolverine claws doubling up as fries to the overflowing toilet and empty toilet roll holder. (This is a fast food restaurant bathroom through and through.)

And what this set really has going for it across all that is that – like 71016 Kwik-E-Mart and 71006 The Simpsons House before it – 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger really captures the cartoon aesthetic of the show (at least beyond that terrible box ‘art’), from the bright colours to all 40-something stickers. Yep, this set’s new element budget pretty much went entirely into its minifigures, because there are – count them – zero printed pieces.

By the time you open bag four or five you’ll have trained yourself to dread any flat surface that falls out (a tile, the side of a wall and so on) because there’s a pretty good chance it’s going to need a sticker applying. You won’t want to leave any of them off, mind, because it’s in those stickers where you’ll find the bulk of the references and nods to the series. And those are in and of themselves a curious bunch.

Highlights from the show’s golden era (and around the edges) include an order screen for 700 Krusty Burgers (from Season 5’s Boy-Scoutz ‘n the Hood), Homer’s painted sedan (from Season 6’s Homie the Clown – more on that in a sec) and an overflowing grease trap (from Season 10’s Lard of the Dance). But the biggest nod is really to Season 20’s Coming to Homerica, a mostly forgettable episode from the show’s wilderness years in which Krusty gives the town food poisoning through his new veggie burger.

That’s not only through a poster inside but also the outfit this unique Krusty minifigure is wearing, and it just feels like a really odd decision on pretty much every level. There was clearly a desire here to create a new Krusty the Clown variant for anyone who already owns the previous minifigure, but it’s been 10 years since he was last on shelves (in a LEGO Dimensions pack, reappearing from 2014’s Collectible Minifigures series). And as we’ve got Homer in his regular outfit – aside from a few Ribwich stains on his shirt – the clown-themed sedan doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. There’s no Krusty, or Krusty impersonator, to drive the thing.

In fact, the choice of vehicle is probably the biggest question mark hanging over 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger, because Homer’s regular sedan already appeared in 2014’s 71006 The Simpsons House. If the LEGO Group was cognisant enough of those sets to give us a new and obscure Krusty variant, it’s tricky to understand why it didn’t take the chance to give us Marge’s station wagon here (not least because that’s the car Homer and Bart use to funnel grease from Krusty Burger, as already referenced in the set).

And then there are the references and characters left out: a few transparent pieces in one of the walls as a nod to Homer’s window to weight gain (from Season 8’s King Size Homer), for example, or Grampa Simpson in his Krusty Burger employee uniform (from Season 5’s Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy). Even the menu confusingly refers to ‘milkshakes’ rather than ‘Krusty Partially Gelatinated Non-Dairy Gum-Based Beverages’. These are tiny details, but a set like this arguably lives and dies on tiny details.

The minifigure selection here likewise comes across as an attempt to satisfy everyone at once, bringing us repeats of Bart and Lisa alongside brand new characters in Sideshow Bob, the Squeaky-Voiced Teen and Officer Lou. It’s gratifying that these stylistically match the existing range of LEGO The Simpsons minifigures, but where you could have very few complaints over the execution of any of the original characters, there are a couple here that might leave you wanting – especially Sideshow Bob, who really needed even bigger hair to compensate for the unavoidably-too-wide neck. Lou similarly suffers from a hat that’s just a little bit too small for his head.

But then you’ve got the Squeaky-Voiced Teen, who’s pretty much spot on, and while the outfit may be obscure it’s tough to say the minifigure designers haven’t successfully pulled off Krusty the Clown. It’s a mixed bag all round, compounded by the fact the LEGO Group has passed up the chance to include Principal Skinner (arguably the biggest missing character from the original LEGO The Simpsons Collectible Minifigures series) in reference to the legendary steamed hams segment from Season 7’s 22 Short Films about Springfield.

Who cares? Well, if I had to guess… diehard Simpsons fans. And who else but diehard Simpsons fans are the target market for a £200 LEGO Krusty Burger set?

There are things to enjoy in 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger (the overall aesthetic, the interior details, some of the minifigures), and it will fit right in with both 742 Evergreen Terrace and the Kwik-E-Mart in style if not necessarily scale. In effect, the LEGO Group has picked up right where it left off in 2015, and for that there can be few complaints – but it does feel like there are just one too many missed opportunities or questionable calls within this package to call it an ideal return to Springfield. Here’s hoping it isn’t the last.

Our honest opinion: A set that arguably tries to do too much with too little budget, 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger represents a welcome – if flawed – comeback for this gaggle of cartoon characters.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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