An enormous Lego Spongebob Squarepants set has been revealed, and it recreates Bikini Bottom in all its cartoon glory. However, while fans are loving its look, they're not so keen on the pricing.
Following a leak earlier this week which fans were already going nuts over ("holy shit it's peak" was my favorite comment on the reddit thread discussing the idea), the toymaker just showed off the set ahead of its September 1 release date. Made up of 1,700+ pieces, Lego Spongebob Squarepants: Bikini Bottom recreates the cartoon's underwater neighbourhood with impressive accuracy to match the best Lego sets. It also comes with three minifigures; Spongebob, Patrick, and Squidward, not to mention brick-built figures for Gary the Snail and DoodleBob. The downside? It costs $220, or £190 if you're based in the UK.
In terms of what the community's saying, responses seem very positive on social media about how it looks... but are less glowing when it comes to that price. On a reddit thread discussing the kit, commentor KaiTheGenshinGuy writes that "It's one of my favourite Lego sets already but the price is terrible." This is a pretty consistent response across the thread, and anecdotally speaking, it's common feedback that I've been seeing elsewhere.
Still, if that price tag has you wincing, don't worry – Lego's got another Spongebob set for you. A smaller, $12.99/£10.99 BrickHeadz kit is due on September 1 as well.
UK: £189.99 at Lego
While it's on the expensive side, this kit stuffs a lot into the box to justify that higher cost. It's a 1,794-piece recreation of Spongebob, Squidward, and Patrick's houses as they appear in the show, with facades you can spin round to reveal detailed interiors. It comes with three minifigures and a bunch of miniature builds like Patrick's boat and the Jellyfish Fields.
UK: £10.99 at Lego
If you don't want to shell out as much as the full set but still want a Lego Spongebob memento, there's a much cheaper BrickHeadz model that comes with his jellyfish fishing net as an accessory.
The thing I can't get over is how screen-accurate the Bikini Bottom set is here; it looks as though it's been dragged off our TVs and laid out in the real world by some eldritch sorcery. Everything from the building dimensions to those distinctive tinted windows makes it feel incredibly true to the show, and it's far closer to the real deal than the last Bikini Bottom kit we got in 2012. That was a lot cheaper, so it had fewer pieces to play with, true, but I think the design team is still cooking with this 2026 upgrade. It reminds me of last year's excellent Lego Krusty Burger; it really captures the spirit of the show.
Just like Krusty Burger, this kit is chock-full of references once you flip the buildings around. Lego promises "feature-rich interiors with nods to iconic storylines," and a quick examination shows off references like Squidward's clarinet and a portrait of Gary the snail. In other words, it's a love letter to the long-running show.
While I'm loving the dollshouse-like interiors, my favorite element is how they've managed to give everyone the right, distinctive shape despite being minifigures. Patrick is suitably rotund, Squidward has an original head sculpt rather than the usual cylinder, and Spongebob is basically a square with arms and legs (as he should be). It doesn't feel like any corners have been cut. As demonstrated by this reddit thread on the evolution of Lego Squidward over the years, it's also clear how far we've come.
What do you think? Will you be pre-ordering either (or both) of the Lego Spongebob Squarepants sets now ahead of their release this September?
Considering how a Lego Donkey Kong arcade set just got leaked as well, I'm hoping we'll get an official reveal for that too in the coming days.
