One of the Best LEGO Sets Ever Still Can’t Be Fully Fleshed Out in 2026
When LEGO revealed Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale, it immediately felt like one of those once-in-a-generation crossover wins. It wasn’t a vague fantasy homage or a wink-and-nod aesthetic. A full-on, officially licensed reimagination of the Forgotten Realms reached shelves, and it was complete with monsters, a modular adventure space, and a massive red dragon coiled around a tower like it owns the place. And it delivers spectacularly.
But even in 2026, one frustrating truth remains about this epic LEGO set. Red Dragon’s Tale cannot be fully realized as fans imagined, only because the minifigures that accompany the very first D&D LEGO set are virtually extinct.
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Red Dragon’s Tale Is a Near-Perfect D&D LEGO Set
Set #21348 is, frankly, ridiculous in the best way. At nearly 3,800 pieces, it’s not just a display piece—it’s a playable, story-forward build that understands what makes D&D a must-play tabletop game. Here’s a breakdown of what’s included in this massive set:
- A Tavern: The tavern alone is doing heavy narrative lifting in this set. It includes removable roof, furnished interior, and enough personality to feel like the kind of place a campaign would actually begin.
- Building Extensions: From the tavern, the set unfolds into a dungeon and tower. They are stacked vertically and thematically.
- Cinderhowl the Red Dragon: Cinderhowl is the visual centerpiece. Cinderhowl is a posable, menacing figure that turns the whole build into a proper boss encounter.
- 6 LEGO Minifigures: Although small in numbers, the included minifigures in the D&D LEGO set are strong, too. The core party covers familiar D&D classes (wizard, cleric, fighter, rogue), alongside an innkeeper and a dragonborn NPC.
- D&D Monsters: The villainous selection features some of D&D’s most iconic monsters. It includes a beholder, owlbear, and displacer beast, so it feels curated rather than random.
- One Digital Goodie: There’s also an actual downloadable campaign designed to be played alongside the set.
As a love letter to tabletop roleplaying, Red Dragon’s Tale is one of LEGO Ideas’ strongest successes. This only makes the missing piece for most consumers feel even more glaring.
The Minifigures That Made the World Feel Perfect—And Then Vanished
Around the same time, LEGO released a separate Dungeons & Dragons Minifigures line: 12 characters pulled straight from the game’s broader lore rather than a single campaign setting. These weren’t generic adventurers. Some of them were instantly recognizable figures and species that expanded what D&D LEGO could look like. Among the Minifigures were:
- Tiefling Sorcerer
- Elf Bard
- Halfling Druid
- Dwarf Barbarian
- Dragonborn Paladin
- Aarakocra Ranger
- Gith Warlock
- Mind Flayer
- The Lady of Pain
- Strahd von Zarovich
- Tasha the Witch Queen
- Szass Tam
They were weird, specific, and for any hardcore D&D fan, perfect. But they were also randomized, limited, and never meaningfully reprinted. The result is predictable and infuriating. Sealed packs are scarce. Complete collections are rare. Individual figures, especially characters like Strahd or the Lady of Pain, now sell for absurd prices on resale sites, assuming they can be found at all in good condition. For collectors, it’s frustrating. For builders and players, it’s a downright shame.
Red Dragon’s Tale’s Missing Minifigures Still Hurts in 2026
Red Dragon’s Tale begs to be expanded. It’s modular by design. It encourages customization. It practically invites players to slot in new NPCs, villains, and party members to make the adventure feel uniquely theirs. And yet, the most thematically rich Minifigures LEGO has ever produced for D&D are locked behind aftermarket paywalls.
Want a vampire lord to stalk the dungeon? Hope you’re ready to overpay for Strahd. Want extraplanar weirdness? Good luck tracking down a Mind Flayer. Want to reflect the full, messy cosmology of D&D beyond the Forgotten Realms? That ship has likely sailed. What should have been a living, expandable LEGO D&D ecosystem instead feels oddly frozen in time and defined by what was released once, briefly, and then quietly allowed to disappear.
A Missed Opportunity LEGO Still Hasn’t Fixed
The frustrating part isn’t that the Minifigures sold out. That was inevitable. The frustration is that LEGO has not addressed the demand since. To this day, the Minifigure box set is still listed as a “retired product” on their website.
For a brand that excels at evergreen lines and long-tail collectibility, the handling of D&D Minifigures feels uncharacteristically disappointing, especially when paired with a flagship set that clearly wants more narrative depth. Red Dragon’s Tale is still one of the best LEGO sets made in recent history. Yet, it exists in a strange limbo: a richly detailed world that can’t quite be populated the way it deserves. In a game built on imagination, improvisation, and endless possibility, it’s ironic that the limiting factor isn’t creativity. Availability is.