Review: 41172 The Water Dragon Adventure

Naida is spending some time with her new dragon friend Merina and getting to know her better. They both have the ability to control water, and they feel right at home by the pretty waterfall! Together, they can walk in the woods, fly in the sky or swim in the ocean. They are like two sisters who are best friends!

This set was provided by the AFOL Relations & Programs team (AR&P) of The LEGO Group for the purpose of sharing set details with fans.
Opinions provided here solely reflect those of our reviewer. 
Photographs are property of Friends Bricks and are not directed by TLG in any fashion.

Box Front

Box Back

Box Top

Box Contents

Bag 1 contains lots of gray elements with a ball and/or a socket not typically found in sets featuring mini-dolls. They are for Merina’s joints, which will allow her to be posed in various ways.


In the small bag, there are a few more interesting parts, like those white 1x2 plates with 3 teeth! 

Here are a few other elements of interest from Bag 1. The wings have a hard plastic feel on the parts in Medium Azure, but the darker blue edges are more bendy and rubbery. 

And the elements on the bottom of this photo are those I had not encountered before: 1x4x1 Inverted Bow bricks in Medium Lavender on the left, and "1x1 vertical tooth plates" in Medium Azure, currently only known by its official name in Danish: "Plade 1x1 M. 1 Lod. (=lodret) Tand".

The mini-doll to accompany the water dragon is naturally, the water elf Naida!

She got a lovely new outfit in a darker shade of blue this year. 

The print details on her are beautiful. The decorative print on her left arm has a new design in silver this year.

Surprisingly, her face print stays the same as last year while all the other four main characters are showing a new facial expression this year. 

Putting together Merina is not as easy as Naida. First we are building the dragon torso.

Then we are attaching her neck and long tail, as well as the seat on her back for Naida to sit in comfortably. 

I’m not too happy with the stickers… If the blue areas of the stickers were transparent, they would probably look slightly better.

Merina’s head is sculpted and painted beautifully. 


The smooth feel and gorgeous details of her head make up for her brick-built body which some people might find aesthetically questionable at this stage.


Her front legs have been attached.


Then her hind legs…


When her wings are inserted, she finally starts to look more like a proper dragon! 



Now let’s open Bag 2!


And here are the contents of the  small bag.

We are getting a few nice transparent pieces in Bag 2.

Small simple builds first: a water lily and two small plants to be fed to Merina.


Then we are building the little area with a waterfall.


It appears that this blue catapult is actually just water formed in that shape by Naida’s special elemental power.

Naida can throw food at Merina with this function! 


It might be just me, but the pieces that get thrown often end up under the couch or in other wrong places. 

I sometimes spend more time looking for what was thrown than actually playing with the catapult. It is fun, though.

Once the basic structure gets built, the tree with gem-bearing foliage accentuates the scenery. 

Beautiful gem rocks are also added. Behind one of them you will find a pair of binoculars as hidden treasure. 

Finally, the clam and the 2 perfume bottles have been placed to decorate the area. 




This place is now ready to welcome Naida and Merina!



But the white background doesn’t feel like Elvendale…

How about it now? 

Yes, they look quite pleased.

“Let’s explore different parts of Elvendale!”

When Naida rides on Merina’s back, they can travel fast!

Both of them are in their “element” when they hang out in the water.


Yes, a water dragon can fly, too! 

What a great view from up here!

Merina can even sit up and hold her friends lovingly thanks to her articulated body. 

Here she is photographed with the two versions of Naida mini-dolls.

41172 The Water Dragon Adventure is the smallest and least expensive Elves set to let you experience the joy of creature building. 

I hope many of you give Merina a chance and find out how sweet and fun she really is!