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The new set’s long, official name – LEGO Mario Kart: Mario & Standard Kart – denotes that LEGO Mario Kart is a subgenre under the larger LEGO Mario banner. By that logic, can we hope for more Kart sets of this size and scope? Yes, there are playset-scaled Kart sets (see at Amazon). But surely, there’s an audience for a large Luigi in a Sports Coupe or a large Princess Peach on a Cat Cruiser.

Divided across 17 bags, Mario & Standard Kart is two separate builds. The first build is the Standard Kart. You construct a LEGO Technic mesh, held together by pins and reinforced by bricks, to form the Kart’s floorboard. Then you attach the individual parts of the body shell via rods and clamps, including its rockets/exhaust pipes, its side panels, and its steering mechanism, which also forms the Kart’s front exterior.

The steering mechanism deserves special mention because of how it marries form to function. One end fastens to the front of the set via clamps, and then you ‘fold’ it onto the hood, as if it were a storm door on a hinge. You rig it so that when you turn the steering wheel, the front wheels also turn accordingly.

The Kart construction process is more involved and detail-oriented than you might think. The build looks simple, but it takes a lot of tiny, little steps to create that big cumulative effect. It’s a delightful contradiction that the build manages to look sophisticated – like labor went into its creation – despite its inherent childishness and whimsy.

Once you’re done with the Kart, you build Mario, whose construction follows the same general procedure as The Mighty Bowser‘s from three years ago. First, you build the torso, with ball-and-socket connections at its extremities. Then you build two legs, which attach at the bottom. Then two arms, which you attach at the sides. And finally, the head and hat, which you attach at the top. Interestingly, the hat is the most complex part of the Mario build; you attach two separate, smaller builds to the top of Mario’s head to create its signature, bent appearance.

Mario is ubiquitous, but building him meant that I also had to flesh out his smaller, less iconic details – the hair sticking out from under his hat, the marking on his gloves, the rolled up cuffs on his jeans. My 10-year-old son and I love building jigsaw puzzles together, and whenever we put together a famous painting, we notice colors and brushstrokes that we wouldn’t otherwise notice or appreciate. That’s what it’s like to build Mario out of LEGO – you see little things that contribute to the whole, even if they don’t stand out on their own.

Unfortunately, Mario is not separable from the Kart. He has no butt; his torso anchors directly onto a gray plate, which in turn attaches to the Kart seat. It is both frustrating and understandable why LEGO did this. A solo Mario build, with fully articulable limbs, would sell like hotcakes, and LEGO and Nintendo wouldn’t give it away so easily.

No doubt, thousands of LEGO fans will figure out a way to modify this model and make it stand independently of the Kart. But for now, there is no official way to make this happen. Maybe it would be a good DIY project for a rainy weekend?

Regardless, the final result looks fantastic. The Kart mounts on a buildable stand, which you can tilt upwards or downwards and rotate 360 degrees. This gives you some flexibility; you can pose the Kart any way you wish, whether going uphill, or going downhill, or sliding into a banked turn. I pose my Mario by having him grip the steering wheel with his left hand and pump the air with his right hand. You can almost hear the “Whoo-hoo!”

If this is the direction LEGO’s heading? I’m all for it. Two of the most impressive LEGO sets from the past three years have been Mario-themed. The Mighty Bowser debuted in 2022. The Piranha Plant debuted in 2003. The Mario & Standard Kart reaches that same high standard by balancing build quality with visual presentation. And the more big replicas of Mario iconography that we get, the better.

LEGO Mario Kart: Mario & Standard Kart, Set #72037, retails for $169.99, and it is composed of 1972 pieces. It will launch exclusively at the LEGO Store on May 15. Preorder now.

Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. He’s also been published in Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.

The Razor Crest 75331 consists of 6,187 pieces, which makes it the third largest Star Wars set in brick count. The resulting build is impressively large at 20″ long, 29″ wide, and 10″ high. This is an offical Ultimate Collector Series – or UCS – set. The UCS models are the largest and most detailed Star Wars sets that LEGO produces and an obvious pick for collectors. They are also technically challenging build that are aimed at adult (18+) builders and the instruction manuals are often hundreds of pages long; the Razor Crest is no exception with about 250 pages.

This is a faithful recreation of the iconic ship from The Mandalorian TV series. The detailed interior is easily accessible and features two removable engines and cockpit, two side hatches, a cargo compartment with space for the included Blurrg minifigure, a weapons cabinet, a LEGO minifigure sized carbon-freezing chamber, and detachable escape pod with space for another minifig. Five minifigs are included: the Mandalorian (set exclusive), Mythrol, Kuiil, Grogu in a pram, and a Blurrg.

Although this is a complex build, the interior is made of different color-coded interior components and different steps are individually packaged in bags to make the process more user friendly. Although the Razor Crest is fully intended to be more of a display piece, it’s more interactive than most other UCS sets with a lot of internal elements that you can explore even after the build is completed. If you’re a LEGO Star Wars collector, this is a must-buy.

Retired LEGO sets that are still available at Amazon

For more LEGO news and deals, check out the recently retired LEGO sets of April, the best LEGO Star Wars sets to build, an upcoming LEGO Mario Kart set geared towards adults, and our recent LEGO River Steamboat in-house build.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

You can currently pick up the same set this guy used for only $15.99 on Amazon. He has also provided detailed instructions about how to build it yourself via the Rebrickable website for only $3. If you have a love for both Star Wars and The Lion King, now is your chance to combine those two things into something much worse.

New LEGO Star Wars Sets That Aren’t This

Outside of this weird creation, LEGO actually did release a bunch of new Star Wars sets this month for May the Fourth. While there were no Millenium Falcons in this lineup, there was a new Jango Fett ship, a Star Wars logo build, and several cool new helmet. You can find a list of all of the new Star Wars builds available below or dive into our larger list of new LEGO sets for May for all of the latest options.