Today is a special occasion, which LEGO has finally revealed some of the upcoming ones Pokémon sets for later this year, including Pikachu, Eevee, Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise. For fans of LEGO, this should be a major milestone as one of the biggest collaborations for the brand, and for Pokémon fans, it should be a time to rejoice in even more ways to actually “catch them all.” I'm a big sucker for both LEGO and Pokémonwith 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 be sure that my wallet will not be emptied.
I don't say this lightly. LEGO Pokémon set would normally be a dream come true for me, an adult whose own children only had a handful of safe spaces growing up, with LEGO and Pokémon are two of the most prominent. Even in my adult years, LEGO and Pokémon remain my safe hobbies, a guiding light that I sometimes embrace daily. I have played Pokemon Legends: ZA almost exclusively since it came out, and my house is decorated with LEGO plants and other sets. In contrast, the recently revealed LEGO Pokémon sets just feel “wrong” and for this reason I know I won't get them.
Official LEGO Pokemon sets are coming in 2026, but so far they're underwhelming and expensive
LEGO is kicking off 2026 with a bang by releasing around 200 new sets, but the partnership with Pokémon may not be as exciting as it seems.
LEGO Pokemon sets went from hero to zero real quick after today's reveal
Why LEGO Pokémon's Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise sets drop the ball
For starters, the LEGO Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise sets are a mess for several reasons. Let me go through them:
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I've owned and still own some huge LEGO sets, and there's no way the Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise set feels right to handle if it's meant to hold the weight of that Charizard on a plastic bar while allowing each Pokemon and their respective biomes to be detached for frequent play.
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The faces of each Pokémon in the trio are only partially correct. Whether they are too blocky, whether the expressions seem offensive, the faces are not on par with other quality LEGO products. In my opinion, this applies to Blastoise above all others, as the natural roundness of the face is missing, replaced by a square feel. Venusaur has a similar problem, but also a different one, as its ears are rounder than they should be.
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Charizard's tail ends abruptly, making the fire unnatural. Venusaur's body size appears to have shrunk. Blastoise's cannons are too long and narrow.
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The set costs $650, which is a lot and prices out a large portion 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 supplies run out) when you buy the Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise set.
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No clever LEGO minifigures or even regular minifigures are included for any of the three Pokémon.
For these reasons, I find the Kanto starter Pokemon set inadequate for its price, if not in general. Sure, these are issues that other fans might not notice or think much about, but for me, they're a massive dealbreaker.
LEGO gets Eevee right, for the most part
The Eevee set is probably the only one that got it right, but even then it has some issues. These are:
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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 to better represent the Pokemon's colors.
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Eevee's head is rounder and more precise than Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise, but it still suffers from too much “blockyness”, especially near the eyes and cheeks.
These are my main issues with this set, and overall I think it's the best of the bunch along with the virtually unobtainable Kanto marks. This is especially true given the $59.99 price tag, while anything higher than that would have been a little too much to ask. Eevee is one of the most popular Pokemon ever, so this should be good news for most trainers.
LEGO Pokémon's Pikachu set costs $200 Nightmare Fuel
Finally, the set that I find the most disappointing is the new LEGO Pikachu with his Poke Ball, and again, I think there are different layers to this. The main questions are:
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Pikachu's face is frankly nightmare fuel. There have been many designs for the series mascot, from the beloved so-called “fat Pikachu” to modern versions of the anime, and none of them are half as bad as the face of LEGO Pikachu.
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The 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 look like little 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.
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Pikachu's face and neck are locked in a specific position, so if you decide to remove it from the display, it wouldn't have a natural look when standing on its feet.
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The Pikachu set costs $199.99, which is a bit much for what is arguably the most famous Pokemon of all time and one of the most popular ever.
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For this price, the set should have come with a Pikachu Minifig.
Overall, I find the Pikachu and Poke Ball set to be by far the most disappointing of the lot, with Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise a close second. But I think the problems with the latter pale in comparison to the former when you consider that it's three models to one, and Pikachu is arguably done far less well than any other set in the wave.
Yet more LEGO Pokémon sets will be released in 2026, so there is hope. According to the latest 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 get too hyped. Hopefully I've proven myself wrong.
