LEGO Ideas 21372 La Catrina is dead, but delightful

LEGO Ideas 21372 La Catrina balances display with articulation, awareness with beauty, and is overall a shining example of what LEGO Ideas can be.

Ever since I laid eyes upon the original La Catrina submission on LEGO Ideas, I knew that it was deserving of an official counterpart. I was overjoyed to see yop1172's project be picked for a model and was eager to see the results, bracing myself for some changes. 21372 La Catrina certainly has such changes in spades.

LEGO Ideas 21372 La Catrina has been scaled down by around half the size suggested in the original project, featuring 1,212 pieces and standing 43cm tall. Despite this huge size difference, the official LEGO Ideas design is equal parts stunning and eye-catching.

While I have no personal connection to Day of the Dead, the message behind it and its vibrant colours have infatuated me. 21372 La Catrina is a shining example of the holiday's aesthetic. Mixing the concept of death fluidly with an inviting atmosphere to create a beautiful contrast, especially in LEGO form.

Skeletons aren't often depicted as buildable figures in LEGO sets, especially not human ones. 21372 La Catrina is unique in that respect, challenging the design team behind it to make a skeletal figure that is both sturdy and accurate. They thoroughly succeeded in this task, as LEGO Ideas 21372 La Catrina is far more articulated and posable than I could have ever anticipated.

With a moving head, hat, arms, elbows, hands and fingers, 21372 La Catrina can take on several different poses, drastically improving its display value. There's no fear of parts flying off, either. 21372 La Catrina has been expertly designed to use the skeletal nature to its advantage. What may have been hidden on other builds – Technic elements and ball joints – are in full view here and therefore have nothing in their way. Consequently, everything is strongly connected to the core of the model and the mechanical nature of these joints lend themselves well to a skeleton.

Functionally, LEGO Ideas 21372 La Catrina is stellar, but there is one unfortunate flaw. While much of the model is suitably sturdy, the hat is flimsier than we'd prefer. You need to only push it down at its tip, or else the small build will come apart. Fixing it in such a situation isn't hard, but when the hat is one of the main points of articulation, this is a frustrating experience.

Moving past the hat, the design of 21372 La Catrina is excellent, with its contrast of bright colours and darker tones. That's not to mention the incredible part usage and a build that will challenge even the most experienced LEGO fans. 21372 La Catrina is a wonderful journey, even if the first half of the build is inevitably repetitive.

As beautiful as the dress is, it is made up of similar segments that are assembled at once and in layers. This results in building the same assembly over again. There has been an effort to better this task by making these assemblies small and easy to put together. However, you cannot escape the fact that the first six bags are repetitive. Getting through this first half is worthwhile, though, as the second is eye-opening.

The skull deserves a moment in the spotlight, especially for how well-rounded it is with or without the hat. It's one of the most astounding parts of 21372 La Catrina – detailed yet solid. The part usage on display with neck ruffles and boomerangs is excellent as well. It's an example of how scaling La Catrina down ended up improving the overall model, since a larger skull would have been able to rely on more normal pieces.

For £109.99 / $139.99 / €119.99, LEGO Ideas 21372 La Catrina feels understandable, but not quite generous. There are a myriad of larger elements, only printed parts, and the final build looks amazing on display. However, the build isn't colossal. While it absolutely could have been bigger and more expensive to match the proposal, the audience for this build is already going to be limited regionally.

It will appeal most to the Mexican LEGO community and those living elsewhere around the world. LEGO fans from other regions may have no knowledge of the Day of the Dead or the holiday figure, and are unlikely to spend too much on a sculpture for either. As such, pricing and sizing 21372 La Catrina as low as the LEGO Group has is a wise move. It serves another purpose too.

Compared to most other LEGO Ideas sets and other 18+ models on shelves, £109.99 / $139.99 / €119.99 isn't as bad as it could be. This allows other enthusiasts to get a LEGO-driven taste of the holiday and learn more about it. Learning has never been so dead, but delightful. This sense of learning from others is what LEGO Ideas can provide, when concepts are given the right amount of support.

LEGO BrickHeadz 40492 La Catrina not included

The new LEGO Ideas set isn't going to be for everyone, but it is a fantastic depiction of La Catrina that the Mexican portion of the LEGO community will adore. 21372 La Catrina is beautiful and cleverly constructed. You'd never guess that it is designer Jim Clayton's first set.

21372 La Catrina will land in stores and online from August 1. Pre-orders are open now for £109.99 / $139.99 / €119.99. It's not exactly what fans voted for, but we can understand why the changes have been made. Rest assured that it is still a charming depiction of La Catrina, skull and all.