Nickelodeon is known for programs like “The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron”, “Danny Phantom”, “Avatar” and “The Fairly Oddparents” but none of them can hold a candle to “SpongeBob SquarePants”. What is it about that big yellow sponge that has kids of all ages captivated? If there weren’t already enough SpongeBob products on the market, Nick and Lego partnered to create an entire series dedicated to the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob isn’t the first character to be immortalized in plastic, so far they have done Harry Potter, Batman, Spider-Man and Star Wars.
While some people may trash the cartoon and say there are no redeeming qualities to it, I beg to differ. SpongeBob has good friends, is gainfully employed and is loved by almost everyone. The partnership between Nick, the SpongeBob creators and Lego have produced some extremely well thought out sets that will have kids laughing and parents howling. While they aren’t cheap, they all offer a tremendous amount of replay value and are worth every single penny.
Set Name: The Krusty Krab Set Number: 3825 Price: $19.99 Piece Count: 295 [3 figures] Year Released: 2006
When I first saw this set I had to laugh, The Krusty Krab is a dead ringer for the treasure chests featured in other Lego sets only on a much larger scale. With working doors, a lever to flip the Krabby Patties and lots of things to do inside the restaurant, this is a set that is well worth the suggested retail price of twenty dollars. Comes with SpongeBob, Plankton and of course Mr. Krabs.
Set Name: Build-A-Bob Set Number: 3826 Price: $29.99 Piece Count: 445 Year Released: 2006
Standing almost twelve inches tall, this is a very well done homage to SpongeBob. The design is ingenious and there are even working gears inside that allow you to spin his eyes. This does take a while to build but it is worth the effort if you are a fan. Since it is a larger version of SpongeBob there is more detail to him and the kit comes with Plankton and a handful of jellyfish.
Set Name: Adventures In Bikini Bottom Set Number: 3827 Price: $39.99 Piece Count: 579 [four figures] Year Released: 2006
This is one of the coolest SpongeBob sets around; it is a very nice replica of his house in Bikini Bottom and comes with SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, Gary and jellyfish that you can toss around or play with. In some ways this reminds me of Hagrid’s Hut fro the Harry Potter series because you can open the house to reveal the contents. My favorite piece has to be Squidward’s awesome tiki style house. This is a mid sized set that had a tremendous amount of replay value.
Set Name: Chum Bucket Set Number: 4981 Price: $34.99 Piece Count: 337 [five figures] Year Released: 2007
Plankton will stop at nothing to know the secret to the Krabby Patty, the Chum Bucket set proves that! There’s a robot version of SpongeBob as well as one with a very terrified look on his face. The coolest figure in the set is the robot customer, reminds me a lot of the robots that were on the Jetson’s. The Chum Bucket is easy to build and like the other mid sized sets, offers you a lot of replay value.
Set Name: Mrs. Puffs Boating School Set Number: 4982 Price: $49.99 Piece Count: 393 [three figures] Year Released: 2007
This is one of the larger sets in the series and one of the most fun to build and play with. Can you help SpongeBob pass his driving test? That’s a little harder than it sounds. The soft plastic rails allow you to send SpongeBob speeding along the course and there are a few obstacles that you need to watch out for. Comes with SpongeBob, Patrick and Mrs. Puffs. So far, this is the only set to have this rather portly figure but hopefully she will appear in others.
Like almost all of the other themes in the Lego series, there were also key chains made for the SpongeBob release. So far there are only a handful but they are all well done, made to last and are exactly copies of the figures that you see in the sets. So far you can get SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick, Mr. Krabs and Squidward for about four dollars a piece. Lego also introduced a three piece magnet set of SpongeBob, Patrick and Mr. Krabs but I skipped on ordering these. If you have the figures you can buy some magnetic tape and make your own.
The entire SpongeBob series is incredible and the designers put a lot of work into trying to make things as realistic as possible. The figures are highly detailed, the building are well planned out and the replay value is high. The only thing they need to do are to add on some smaller sets with lower prices so parents can give the sets a test run with kids to see if they like them. Being a Lego fanatic I ordered them as soon as they were available and haven’t been disappointed with any of them so far.
