I’m glad the LEGO Pokemon sets just got revealed, because now I know my wallet is safe

Today marks a special occasion, as LEGO has finally revealed some of the upcoming Pokemon sets for later this year, including Pikachu, Eevee, Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise. For fans of LEGO, this should be a big milestone as one of the largest collaborations for the brand, and for Pokemon fans, it should be a time to rejoice for even more ways to actually “catch ’em all.” I am a huge sucker for both LEGO and Pokemon, with the latter being one of my favorite things in the whole world, and let me tell you – after seeing what the collaboration brings, I can rest assured that my wallet is not going to be emptied.

I don’t say this lightly. LEGO Pokemon sets would normally be a dream come true for me, an adult whose child self only had a handful of safe spaces growing up, with LEGO and Pokemon being two of the most prominent. Even in my adult years, LEGO and Pokemon remain my safe hobbies, a beacon I sometimes embrace daily. I’ve been playing Pokemon Legends: Z-A almost exclusively since it came out, and my house is decorated with LEGO plants and other sets. However, the newly revealed LEGO Pokemon sets just feel “wrong,” and for this reason, I know I won’t get them.

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Why LEGO Pokemon’s Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise Set Drops the Ball

For starters, pun intended, the LEGO Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise set is a mess for multiple reasons. Let me go through them:

• I have owned and still own some massive LEGO sets, and there is no way the Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise set feels right to handle if it’s intended to hold the weight of that Charizard on a plastic pole while also making each Pokemon and their respective biomes detachable to play frequently.
• The faces of each Pokemon of the trio are only partly right. Be it that they are too blocky, be it that the expressions seem off, the faces are not on par with other quality LEGO products. In my opinion, this holds true for Blastoise above all others, as the natural roundness of its face is missing, replaced by a squared feel. Venusaur has a similar problem, but also a different one, as its ears are rounder than they should.
• Charizard’s tail ends abruptly, which makes the fire unnatural. Venusaur’s body size seems to have shrunk. Blastoise’s cannons are too long and narrow.
• The set costs $650, which is a lot and prices out a huge chunk of the audience. On top of that, the Kanto Region Badge Collection set is probably the coolest set revealed today, but it’s exclusively given out as a gift (unless stocks run out) when purchasing the Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise set.
• No LEGO Smart Minifigures or even regular Minifigs are included for any of the three Pokemon.

For these reasons, I find the Kanto starter Pokemon set inadequate for its price, if not in general. Granted, these are issues that other fans may not notice or think much of, but to me, they’re a massive dealbreaker.

LEGO Gets Eevee Right, for the Most Part

The Eevee set is probably the only one that’s done right, but even then, it does have some issues. These are:

• Eevee’s ears seem a bit smaller than they should be compared to the head, and the inner part missed the opportunity to have a darker layer on top of the brown one to better represent the Pokemon’s colors.
• Eevee’s head is rounder and more accurate than that of Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise, but it still suffers from too much “blockyness,” especially near the eyes and its cheeks.

These are my main gripes with this set, and overall, I think it’s the best of the bunch alongside the virtually unobtainable Kanto Badges. This is especially right considering its $59.99 price tag, whereas anything higher than that would have been a bit too much of an ask. Eevee is one of the most popular Pokemon ever, so this should be good news for most trainers.

LEGO Pokemon’s Pikachu Set is $200 Nightmare Fuel

Finally, the set I think is the most disappointing is the new LEGO Pikachu with its Poke Ball, and again, I think there are various layers to this. The main issues are:

• Pikachu’s face is honestly nightmare fuel. There have been many designs for the series’ mascot, from the beloved so-called “fat Pikachu” to modern takes in the anime, and none of them is half as bad as the face of LEGO Pikachu.
  • Proportions are wrong, the mouth is more pronounced than anything else, the eyes have an unnatural feel, and they have weird gaps above them that seem like small eyebrows. The ears are just glorified sticks, the front paws are unnecessarily long, and the Poke Ball lacks that round feel that the Eevee set has, or even the LEGO Mario Kart set.
• Pikachu’s face and neck are locked in a specific position, so if you decide to remove it from its display, it wouldn’t have a natural look while standing on its feet.
• The Pikachu set costs $199.99, which is a bit much for what is arguably the most renowned Pokemon of all time and one of the most popular ever.
• For this price, the set should have come with a Pikachu Minifig.

Overall, I think the Pikachu and Poke Ball set is by far the most disappointing of the lot, with Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise being a close second. However, I think the issues of the latter pale in comparison to the former if you consider that it’s three models vs. one, and Pikachu is arguably done a lot less well than any other set in the wave.

Yet, more LEGO Pokemon sets are releasing in 2026, so there is hope. According to recent LEGO leaks for 2026, these may include some interesting Pokemon like Croagunk, Larvitar, and Cubone, but seeing the current ones, I don’t think I can be very hyped. Hopefully, I’m proven wrong.