LEGO and Toei Animation have unveiled its first official Dragon Ball set. Based on the beloved sci-fi martial arts manga and anime by Akira Toriyama, the 1764-piece set features protagonist Kid Goku (complete with his tail) riding his Kintoun (or Flying Nimbus), the Dragon Balls, and Shenron, the serpentine genie summoned by gathering all seven of them. Priced at $179.99, the set will be available to order for LEGO Insiders from Sunday, November 1, and then to everyone else on November 4.
Blocks magazine shares the set was designed by Jae Won Lee, while Goku’s unique hairpiece was sculpted by Nicola Belfiore. Lee comments Shenron, being an Asian dragon, “is based on the snake, so it’s very hard to make the right connections and then turn, because the LEGO brick is square. It’s very hard to make a curve shape and then I really want to hide the studs on the belly part. I mocked up this set more than 20 times – so we have a lot of sketch models on the shelf.”
Federico Begher, LEGO’s Senior Vice President of Product, Marketing and Development, says, “The LEGO Icons Dragon Ball: Shenron & Goku set is just the beginning, and we look forward to seeing how this partnership inspires fans to explore the Dragon Ball universe through LEGO building and creativity.” Masayuki Endo, President and CEO of Toei Animation, adds, “This initial release celebrates the original Dragon Ball episodic series – and no Dragon Ball collection will be complete without these LEGO Dragon Ball products.”
The set marks the 40th anniversary of the original Dragon Ball anime, which premiered in Japan on February 26, 1986, 15 months after its source material’s print debut. Other projects to mark the anniversary this year include Dragon Ball Super: Beerus, a reedited and enhanced version of the series’ first arc (itself an expansion of the 2013 movie Battle of Gods) from 2015, premiering on Netflix on October 11.
The set continues LEGO’s run of sets based on non-Marvel and DC comics, which also saw the release of its first official Peanuts and Tintin products this year. As Begher states, more LEGO Dragon Ball releases will follow next year. A LEGO Icons Yu-Gi-Oh! set is also currently in the works. In the meantime, you can check out more images of the set below, and on LEGO’s official page
