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LEGO Creator 3in1 Safari Wildlife Tree House 31116 Building Kit Featuring a House Toy, Biplane Toy and Catamaran Toy; Best Building Sets for Kids Who Love Imaginative Play, New 2021 (397 Pieces)

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• The LEGO Creator 3in1 Safari Wildlife Tree House (31116) building set will grip kids’ imaginations with 3 models in 1: a tree house toy, plane toy and boat toy
• This LEGO set includes boy and girl minifigures with a camera accessory to add even more fun to kids’ safari adventures
• The tree house toy features a balcony with a couch and ladder, an interior with a toilet and sink, plus 3 brick-built animals: a posable giraffe toy, flamingo toy and hornbill toy
• The biplane toy has a cockpit for a minifigure, plus a lion, a tree and an African lovebird, while the catamaran toy comes with an adjustable sail, a crocodile toy and marabou stork toy
• The 397-piece LEGO Creator 3in1 toy set offers a fun build to little animal fans aged 7 and up and is a great birthday or holiday gift guaranteed to make them happy

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Kids can role-play an exciting safari on the African savanna with this fantastic LEGO Creator 3in1 Safari Wildlife Tree House (31116). The building set is packed with everything they need: A tree house toy featuring a balcony and ladder and an interior with a toilet and sink, 2 minifigures and 3 brick-built animals – a giraffe toy, flamingo toy and hornbill toy. Kids will be thrilled to build 3 different, fun-filled models with this LEGO Creator 3in1 set. They can construct the Safari Wildlife Tree House, rebuild it into a biplane with a lion, turn it into a catamaran with a crocodile, or use the bricks to create something new. LEGO Creator 3in1 sets let kids explore their imaginations with 3 models to build in every box! The play options never end as each model can be rebuilt into something brand new as often as kids choose. Pick from an amazing range of 3in1 sets, including cars, motorbikes and robots.

Important information

Safety information, from the manufacturer.

3 times the safari action with LEGO bricks

Kids will love going on an action-packed safari with the choice of 3 amazing playsets in 1 featuring cool animals to build.

Awesome safari adventures await!

Thrill-seeking kids can enjoy fun adventures at the Safari Wildlife Tree House, then rebuild it into a biplane or catamaran.

LEGO Creator 3in1 Safari Wildlife Tree House

Includes 2 LEGO minifigures

Playset features boy and girl minifigures and loads of brick-built animals including a giraffe and lion for safari role play.

Learn crucial skills on 3 epic adventures

Inspire kids to explore their imaginations and hone crucial skills as they build and rebuild this playset’s exciting options.

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Customers are satisfied with the quality of the toy building block. They mention it's a great Lego set, cute, and has a unique design. Some appreciate the good value.

" Cute set ! My 8 year old really likes it...." Read more

"...Very happy with this set! Good value and unique design . I hope this is helpful to you!" Read more

" Good product just as described ." Read more

"The box was bigger than what I expected! Lovely product ! Please know it took three weeks for the item to arrived but it was worth the wait!" Read more

Customers find the toy building blocks very easy to assemble. They also appreciate the great instructions, which are detailed and simple for even the youngest Lego fan.

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"I got this for my 11 year old for Christmas and it was just right to assemble , not too hard not too easy. He loves giraffes too so that’s a bonus!..." Read more

"...I love that there are directions for three different things , it makes me feel like I got my money’s worth" Read more

"...Had some help from his dad putting it together. The directions are so detailed and made simple for even the youngest Lego fan." Read more

Customers find the toy building block set fun, creative, and wonderful for imaginations. They also say the animals make it fun to imagine stories. Customers also appreciate the great directions and detail in the set.

"My daughter like the buildable giraffe. The set is fun and the optional build are fun too." Read more

"Great gift, love this set. So much detail , great directions. You'll want to purchase two! One to keep and one to gift." Read more

"It’s great that children can assemble 3 projects. The animals make it fun to imagine stories ." Read more

"Very easy to assemble, lots of fun . Many tiny objects that I love, notable mentions: tiny couch, tiny toilet, little bird, flowers and flamingo!" Read more

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"...Very happy with this set! Good value and unique design. I hope this is helpful to you!" Read more

"...He loves giraffes too so that’s a bonus! I think it’s a great set at a reasonable price " Read more

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The Brothers Brick

World's no. 1 source for lego news, reviews, and fan creations., it’s always time for adventure with the new lego creator 3-in-1 31116 safari wildlife tree house [review].

A couple months ago some marketing material put out by the LEGO Group seemingly, accidentally teased an image of an unknown new set. Gasps ensued. An adorable giraffe?! Where can I get that?! Well folks, now it’s here. The new Creator 3-in-1 set 31116 Wildlife Safari Tree House is coming to shelves near you! This kit will be available March 1st, and will retail for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £29.99 . Join us as we don our safari vests and tour this fun new addition to the LEGO Creator line.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

The box and contents

The colorful box is sure to catch your attention from across the room. The front features the customary picture of the main build alongside smaller images of the alternate models. The back gives you a better look at the play features of all three. It’s clear that the boy isn’t great about staying clear of danger, as he tries to take pictures far too close to the wildlife. Meanwhile, his carefree counterpart is wholly unconcerned.

Included in the box are 4 polybags, the largest of which has a tiny bag inside. Additionally, there are 3 full-page books, one for each model. The main book has a QR code so the builder can use digital instructions if they choose.

A few of the most interesting and less common parts include several sand green sausages/hotdogs, a couple of black twigs (including the extra), the cool new 1x2x1 half-cylinder in light bluish grey, and the excellent printed tile. While the hotdogs came in a handful of sets, the twig and half-cylinder have only been in a few so far. Of course, the beautiful printed tile is unique to this set, but it’s cool enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes a cameo somewhere else.

The main model

Out of the gate, the main build has you putting together the flamingo first. As far as brick-built flamingos go, it’s pretty cute, especially with the heart tile for wings. Second, and most exciting, is the giraffe. If you’re familiar with Toys R Us, you may have exclaimed, “Geoffrey!” and you wouldn’t be alone. It’s the first thing that came to our mind too! This adorable build is one of the best things about the set. It makes particularly great use of the black twig for a tail, the reddish-brown inkwell/nipple element for the horns, and the small truncated cone for feet.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the cactus(?) is the weirdest I’ve ever seen. Perhaps someone in Africa will know exactly what the odd plant is, but if it’s truly a cactus, it’s not the best representation. It’s the only use of hotdogs in the set, which seems like such a strange choice.

Another interesting choice was the use of a black 4×4 turntable tile on the tree trunk. The tree doesn’t turn, and it would likely look more natural and organic with a 4×4 reddish brown plate. On the plus side, this is (surprisingly) the first appearance of the new dark brown 2x4x2 half cylinders.

Arguably most interesting of all was the addition of indoor plumbing to the treehouse. Aside from the literal treehouses of millionaires, how many have you seen with bathrooms? And with so many windows?! I didn’t see any when I went to South Africa, but my partner saw something similar in Zimbabwe. You learn something new every day! I guess I’m just stuck on little backyard treehouses… In any case, they probably could’ve done something a bit cooler here, but at least the half-cylinder makes for a perfect little sink.

Back to back with the bathroom is a great couch for observing the savannah. Here’s where we find that lovely printed tile of a mother and baby elephant under a setting sun. Capping off the slope-textured dark blue roof are a little hornbill and a weather anemometer. The latter makes great use of eye-catching azure inkwells. Throughout, the color choices of the whole build are a little hodge-podge, but it definitely makes for having an interesting parts selection.

When all is said and done, there is a fair quantity of cool leftover parts. Thank goodness for sets containing extras of the small elements! If you treat them like some people treat their pocket change (by putting them into a jar when they empty their pockets) over time you’ll become rich with exciting greebly bits!

Moving along to the second option in the kit, we take to the air!  It starts with a cute lion, which could actually also pass as a dog. Simple, but nevertheless sweet. The tree and bird are pretty run-of-the-mill, but that’s to be expected. I do appreciate the attempt at a bare-bone carcass of some long-gone herbivore.

The triumph of the second build is certainly the biplane. It’s an excellent alternative use of the pieces from the main model. I love the accent colors, and that the red column elements were used to achieve the illusion of a rounded fuselage. There’s also a seat for a pilot.

At the end of this build, there are naturally a large number of unused pieces. On one hand, you can lean toward saying, “using the extra pieces they should have added that here, or this there,” but on the other hand, it leaves a lot of potential for using your own imagination to add to the model. A hut perhaps? Or more animals? Possibilities abound!

Build three

The final option for this 3-in-1 brings us to the water! Like before, we begin with the wildlife. The “marabou stork” isn’t terribly exciting, but like the lion, the simple crocodile is pretty cute. While birds are one of the most common critters you encounter in the wilderness, it would’ve been nice to see the designers branch out and offer up a hippo or some other cool creature.

As with the plane, the catamaran raft is excellent and a triumph for the set. It’s difficult to choose a favorite between the two, but this one may take the win. Also like the plane, it employs great use of the available pieces. And of the three, it probably has the most appealing color scheme. There’s even a little cubby under the sail to stash your treasures.

Again, in the end, we have a good pile of extra parts. What I find most interesting about these piles are the parts that were exclusively used on the main model. Unique parts such as the ones I mentioned at the beginning of this article. While it gives the builder lots to work with, it feels like a missed opportunity for the designers to do something else interesting.

The minifigures

Yet to be discussed, but not to be forgotten, are the pair of minifigures. One side of their heads shows smiling faces, while the other shows concern on the boy and a laugh on the girl. I imagine them as a pair of siblings, and she thinks his healthy fear of the wildlife is funny. The boy’s turquoise legs have only been seen in a few brand new sets. The rest of their parts are not new, but the torsos would still make a good addition to any collection.

The completed models

Now to reveal the final products! The namesake build is cute, but a bit less exciting than most of TLG’s other treehouse sets. The most interesting parts about it are the pops of color and few unique parts. But where this wins is with the animals. Both the flamingo and giraffe are adorable, but I can see most people buying it simply because of the giraffe.

As previously mentioned, the lion from the first alternative build is cute, but both it and the tree are far from standouts. While the giraffe of the main model pulls you in, the biplane of the second one keeps your attention. It provides a clever departure from the treehouse.

Finally, the second alternate model seals favor with its pontoon raft. The crocodile has the same appeal as the lion, and the bird isn’t worth much mention. But the raft is just as cool as the plane, if not more. As a 7+ set, things aren’t going to be overly complex and intriguing, but there’s enough there to love.

Conclusions and recommendations

So, does the set measure up to others? The treehouse itself may not sit atop the list of best LEGO treehouses, but in its overall presentation, this set has far more hits than misses. If you’re someone looking for a gift for a kiddo in your life, I would definitely recommend it. There is something fun and worthwhile about each of the models, and the array of parts offer lots of potential for imaginative creators. Even as an adult, the colorful, interesting, and useful elements would make this a great parts pack. The price per piece makes it a decent value as well.

Feel free to tell us in the comments what you would do with the extra pieces in each of the photos above! And while you’re here, why not drool over the goliath of LEGO Tree Houses, LEGO Ideas 21318 Treehouse .

LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31116 Wildlife Safari Tree House will be available March 1st and will retail for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £29.99 .

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1 comment on “ It’s always time for adventure with the new LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31116 Safari Wildlife Tree House! [Review] ”

That cactus thingie looks somewhat like the Aloe Succotrina. Not close enough that I’m willing to bet much money on it, though…

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06 May 2021

Lego® creator review & alt-build: 31116 safari wildlife tree house.

Alice Finch ( @bippitybricks ) returns as our guest reviewer again today, with LEGO® Creator 31116 Safari Wildlife Tree House in her sights. She examines each of the 3-in-1 models before designing a 4th of her own! Buying this £29.99 / US$29.99 / 29.99€ / AU$49.99 set? Consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: UK LEGO Shop | USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop , for other countries 'Change Region'. The products in this article were provided by LEGO; the author's opinions are not biased by this.

31116 Safari Wildlife Tree House is in the LEGO® Creator line and features an animal, a vehicle or structure, and at least one colourful bird in each of the three models. Seeing as most of us are still staying close to home, taking a trip on a LEGO safari is a welcome departure from the living room, office or wherever you have been spending the last year.

1- Lion and Biplane

The first model built is the lion and biplane. The first step in all three of the instruction booklets is putting the minifigures together. 

The lion made good use of many of the small 1x1 brackets and multiple colours of cheese slopes to shape the head. The legs and head are all hinged with plates with clips and handles, and the first instance where I wished there was a ball and socket joint to allow the head to do more than nod. The lion has a leafy shrub to provide it with shade to lounge, swat flies, and eat. 

A partial skeleton under it suggests a recent meal of an ungulate, perhaps a springbok. The skeleton is a wonderful storytelling detail that is cleverly built with only a few parts for the head and clips as a row of ribs.

The shrub itself uses standard techniques- slopes as the roots, arches as branches. It uses a newer technique for securely attaching the leaves on 1x2 plate with bar arm up (6261358 | 4623) so that the branches can move and still stay attached. 

The first of several clever bird builds is perched on the top of the bush. This particular bird is straightforward with a 1x1 with 4 studs as the base, tooth plates for wings, and cheese slopes for shaping the head and body. On its own it isn’t particularly remarkable, but as part of a collection of four different bird builds in this set, it is nice to show options for how to use a few simple parts to build a variety of species. 

I do find it slightly amusing that of the three models, this is the only one where the child minifigure is not with the adult high in the tree house, on the boat, or in the cockpit of the plane (where there isn’t room for a passenger). Instead, on the instruction cover, the child is on their own, in close proximity to the lion, which is focused on the child’s camera, making it look like a dog with a wagging tail, waiting for its ball to be thrown and fetched. This one may be a friendly lion- it is hard to see it as too ferocious with those googly eyes. 

Now on to the biplane, with a typical open cockpit, and effectively uses the dark brown cylinder halves as the engine cowlings. The overall use of colour is a strange mix with both bright and dark colours, but that is to be expected in a Creator 3-in-1 when parts are being used for multiple purposes. This part efficiency is demonstrated with the windows as the struts for the wings and two pillars and door frame for the cockpit. The effect is a bit chunky, but it works.

2- Catamaran and crocodile

The second build is the catamaran and crocodile. Let’s address the question that I know everyone is asking- is it a crocodile or an alligator? Even though the shape of the head is not detailed enough to differentiate, there is a simple way to prove it is indeed a croc. Alligators are found in the US and China and not in Africa. Since the name of this set includes the word “safari,” safari = Africa, and therefore also = crocodiles. As it turns out, the Nile crocodile is found in freshwater environments all over Africa and is considered the most dangerous after Australian saltwater crocodiles. Good thing the child is on the boat for this wildlife encounter!

The croc puts the white clips from the skeleton to great use as teeth, sandwiched between a pair of 2x16 plates (6331218 | 4282), now available for the first time in olive . Even though I’m thrilled to have yet another part in olive, this was the second time I wished for a ball and socket joint to make the croc have some kind of flexibility like an intimidating swishing tail. Right now, it looks a bit like a log. 

Pictured earlier sitting by the croc is another bird, which might be a plover as that has a symbiotic relationship with crocodiles: the plover cleans the croc’s teeth and the croc doesn’t eat the bird. This makes for another great storytelling moment as the rigid form of the croc can now do more than slink along the banks of the water, watching and waiting for the catamaran to capsize. 

The catamaran features a single sail, a raised deck, and makes effective use of dark blue 10x1 curved slopes (6251378 |  85970) to shape the 2 parallel hulls. Even though catamarans originated in Oceania and Asia, and are not particularly connected with the waters of Africa, we’ll assume it is just a modern craft, out for a pleasure cruise, in crocodile infested waters. 

The hulls use all of the x4 white and x12 orange headlight bricks, and since they are all covered, it made me wonder, why orange? So far, this is the only set produced in 2021 that uses them in orange so it doesn’t seem to be a need for production efficiency. Maybe something in the third model specifically needs them to be orange. 

Besides the bird, the other little detail in this model is the telescope built from a clear bottle. Without it, the catamaran would seem plain. The potential for exciting storytelling helps make up for it.

3- Treehouse and Giraffe

The third build is the namesake tree house with a giraffe and flamingo. This is by far the largest and complex of the models, as there were only the extra small parts left over, compared to what looks to be about half the parts left after the first build.

Again the booklet begins with the minifigures, but this time with one small change. The adult now holds a green flower, a prompt for her to feed it to the giraffe. At the San Diego Zoo you can buy pellets and feed them to the giraffes. It is quite an experience to hold out your hand and have the elegant creatures amble up to you, then flick out their amazingly long prehensile tongues and collect the pellets from your hand. 

The giraffe has quite a few details that make it look distinctly giraffe-like, even without the spots. Starting from the top, the Round 1x1 with Bar and Pin Holder (6186673 | 20482) are perfect for the horns, which are not actually horns. They are ossicones, made of cartilage that hardens, or ossifies, into bony tissue and are covered in skin. Both females and males are born with ossicones, but they lie flat and are not attached to the skull to avoid injury to either mama or baby at birth. Similar to the bones in human skulls, they fuse later in life. 

A row of black 1x1 round plates mimic the fringe down its long neck, which, by the way, has the same number of vertebrae as you and me. The tail, which in real life has a tuft of long dark hair, useful for keeping biting insects at bay, is made out of a carrot top. Even though the long legs lack a knee joint, they are suitably awkward when posing it upright or bent over as if it were drinking water. And lastly, the BB-8 heads more formally called cone 1 ½ x 1 ½ x ⅔ truncated (6199468 | 33492) make up the hoofed feet.  

Now onto the treehouse, which uses those 2x16 in olive, plus a couple 4x8 half round plates to create the base for the ladder and the tree. The tree again uses a variety of brown slopes to represent the roots. On top of the roots is the black 4x4 turntable base (4517986 | 61485), which at first I thought meant that the trunk would be able to rotate, but instead looks to be, in combination with the axle that goes through the centre of the trunk, a secure way of attaching the vertical part of the tree to the base. The ladder pieces, attached to a rocky base with clips at the bottom and the platform at the top, secures the tree firmly so that it does not budge. The rest of the tree, with its arch branches and green leaves is standard and symmetrical and makes for a rigid base.

The viewing platforms and walkway are all protected with railings built from the x24 tan 1x1 cones, and makes for good spots to feed or photograph the giraffes. The structure itself uses the 4 red pillars to frame a space for the two features of the treehouse: a white couch and a tiny bathroom. 

It is slightly odd, but not completely unexpected to find a toilet and a sink as one of the defined interior spaces of a LEGO building. I wondered about the questionable plumbing for the toilet, but only until building the cute sink using the new Cylinder Half 1x2x1 (6311384 | 6801), so far available in only 3 other sets, all of them large and expensive. 

The singular 1x6 brick in light aqua is also used here, although it is completely covered by the couch on one side and  is only barely visible from the bathroom side. As nice as it is to have a brick in this colour, I wish you could actually see it. It is available in 9 other sets, most of which are the heart shaped boxes from the LEGO Friends line.

The walls of the bathroom are built using the red windows, this time with glass, various medium nougat bricks, and those orange headlights I was waiting to be significant. I can’t say I’m convinced that the use here necessitated them being orange. The combination of brown, medium nougat, dark tan, red, orange, and dark red makes for quite a garish combination. Exchanging the orange headlights for any one of these other colours would have helped significantly, and how nice it would have been to have them in medium nougat or dark red, colours that would have worked well in either of the other models. 

The structure is effectively roofed with the dark blue curved slopes and has just enough exposed studs for yet another variety of bird to perch on. The spinning weather apparatus in dark azure is another nice detail. 

Under the tree are two smaller plants built primarily in sand green. The teeth plates used on a previous iteration of a bird and as the crocodile’s feet now form a plant reminiscent of a succulent, with a single dark pink blossom. And making excellent use of x4 sand green sausages (6258159 | 33078) is another plant, reminiscent of nothing in particular, but that is of little importance since I now have x4 sand green sausages, plus an extra, which is more than any other set. 

And last but not least, the best bird of the bunch, a flamingo. Even though they do actually have two legs, it is a perfect excuse for using only one antenna for the visible leg they perch on while resting. The heart tiles make perfect wings to complement the other dark pink and magenta parts making up the rest of the bird. 

Alice Finch’s alternate build of 31116 Safari Wildlife Tree House

Seeing as this is a Creator set, it seemed only proper to build an alternative, keeping the basic structure of the three models in mind- a structure or vehicle of some kind, an animal, and a bird.

The structure, in this case, is the safari park entrance, featuring the printed tile and the four red windows as the fence, where the child is throwing food pellets to the springbok.

The animal is an attempt at a springbok, which was inspired by the skeletal carcass in the lion model. 

I found it extremely challenging to build with the parts available. Even though the colours were a good match, the parts availability made it tough. It turns out there are very few basic plates in the set. And for the third time, I wished for that ball and socket joint so that the head or neck could more freely rotate. The tail is up as a warning to others to beware of the humans in the vicinity. 

I also tried to build a different kind of tree. The same brown slopes, cylinders, arches and leaves used in the set are now built upside down. I used the same axle through the middle of the trunk technique to connect the down facing studs of the trunk to the up facing studs of the branches. The sausages are used for the long acacia tree thorns that giraffes skillfully avoid.

And finally, the bird. Since all the other birds seemed to only have one leg, I made sure this one had two. It wasn’t inspired by a particular species, only by an attempt to use the available parts in a different way than in the other birds from the set. 

There are a few things that recommend this set as worth getting. The large parts of the builds themselves are not particularly instructive, but there are good parts and enough clever uses in the animals to make it a fun set to build.

There are lots of great little parts in a variety of colours and in enough quantity to be useful. As a group, the birds are probably the most creative use of all these little bits. The birds also offer good prompts for storytelling during play. And lastly, I appreciate the fact that this is a set based somewhere other than Europe or North America, and includes animals that may be common in zoos but are actually native to Africa, the only proper place for a safari.

READ MORE: The new LEGO® Botanical Collection set reviewed for parts and build: 10289 Birds of Paradise

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6 comments:

Nice review, the part selection seems great and vast enough to make a bit more models with it, I'll be sure to give it a go

Good review! You may have been bothered by the orange headlight bricks but personally, I think that even if they aren't "realistic", the splash of sunset-y color they add to the third model is nice and livens up the look of it more than a "realistic" brown or nougat would. By contrast, the catamaran (which doesn't use the brighter reds or oranges of the other two models visibly) winds up looking maybe a little drearier despite its interesting build. The little anemometer on the top of the treehouse is also a great touch!

Hmm, could that lion-dog perhaps be a Chinese Guardian Lion that somehow strayed off to Africa? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_guardian_lions

This is one of the most informative, interesting, and humorous reviews I have ever read. I love all the bits about the animals and plants, and comments about the safety of the child. This delightful article makes me want to buy 3 no, 4 sets so I can build all of them. Also, the green sausages!

"...just a modern craft...in crocodile infested waters." Not as inconceivable as you might think. :) Thanks for the insightful review!

Thank you for helping me figure out what the skeleton was. Much appreciated. I also thought the lion was a dog as it was alone with the kid while the adult flew the plane. The little birds are indeed great to build.

Safari Wildlife Tree House

Description

Get ready for an amazing safari on the African savanna! Stand on the balcony of the brilliant Safari Wildlife Tree House to take photos. You can even feed a friendly giraffe or climb down the ladder to play with a flamingo or hornbill. Later, rebuild it into a cool biplane that can fly over a lion, or a catamaran to sail alongside a crocodile. The choice is yours with this incredible 3in1 set.

Building Instructions

31116 Safari Wildlife Tree House

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REVIEW: LEGO 31116 CREATOR 3-IN-1 SAFARI WILDLIFE TREE HOUSE

Times change, pandemics come and go, but LEGO remains timeless and releases a new Tree House every year.

That’s what I thought when I saw the LEGO Creator 3-in-1 Safari Wildlife Tree House 31116 that I received from The LEGO Group and Brickcentral for a review.

Right away I was in love with the theme. I simply love safari pictures and wildlife. And what kid (and kid-at-heart) doesn’t like tree houses?

This set will be released on March 1st and offers fans the chance to build three different models: a tree house with a giraffe , a catamaran with a crocodile , and a biplane with a lion .

I built all three and took some pictures, which I will show you in this review. I’ll also share some behind-the-scenes that explains how I tried to create some convincing wildlife scenes with it.

The wildlife safari tree house

Let’s go with the first model, the Wildlife Safari Tree House, which uses all the parts.

This one is nicely built, with a mixture of colors (sand green, olive green, dark orange, etc) that we do not see often in such sets. The house is mounted on a baseplate assembled with olive green plates, and has an access ladder and guardrails. On one side there’s a white couch where characters (at least the ones with movable legs, too bad kiddo) can sit, and the other side is the entrance to the house with a bright orange door.

I appreciate the small details, such as the exotic flowers underneath (one bloomed, one closed), the rotating weather station on top and the picture frame with the elephants . And the giraffe (I’ll come to that below).

What’s in the “house”? Don’t get your hopes up. It is very narrow , and only has room for a sink and a toilet . I would dare say it’s more a WC than a house if it wasn’t for the sad fact that a minifigure can’t even sit there with the door closed (helloooo, privacy?) Well, one could fit something else in there. I tried, successfully.

Speaking of which, two brick-built birds are offered in this model: a king fisher (one of my favorite birds) and a flamingo . Simpy adorable.

One very positive feature is the brick-built giraffe . It looks convincing and is the star of the set. Looking at it, I couldn’t help but wonder if we’ll ever get other wildlife brick-built animals (elephants, hippos, tigers, lions). Anyways, I did some shots in the same style as the picture frame, a silouhette against a sunset . An easy classic.

Minifigures

The minifigures surely represent a mother and her son and are meant to stay as such throughout the different models. We get to follow their adventures in the wildlife.

The mother comes with a smiling face and a laughing one with eyes closed; the son is an amateur photographer who seems the happy shy type, but also mildly annoyed by his mom. Or something else. Otherwise, why put such a sad face on a kid in a beautiful setting surrounded by giraffes and birds?

The river catamaran

To answer this, let’s have a look at the second model, the small catamaran .

This model uses some clever SNOT techniques for the floaters. The boat is again very convincing, has room for the two minifigures and has a rotating sail. If it wasn’t for the fact that we lose the giraffe when building this, it would be my favorite of the three models.

In terms of fauna (it is a wildlife theme), this model comes with a small water bird and a crocodile . The first is as nice as the previous models, but the crocodile is simply built by sandwiching some white and brown parts between two long olive green plates. The mouth does not open and the legs are stiff too. It takes some imagination to make this one jump into action.

This crocodile is probably why the designers saw fit to give the boy an annoyed second face, as you can see from my shot. Or is it really mainly because of what his mother makes him go through?

The biplane

Speaking of which, let’s check the third model: the small monoplace biplane .

This plane comes with a cute and well crafted lion but also a very crude tree hiding the skeleton of a dead animal (a deer? Seems like antlers on top…) Honestly, this last part left me wondering who would like to play with this, but it kind of sets the tone for a wildlife decor so I take it.

The plane, a double-wing model, is cleverly built and has a rotating propeller , which can even spin when blowing at it. The use of the red pillars and door frame in a SNOT manner was satisfactory and I am sure will give ideas to young LEGO fans.

Sadly there’s only one place in the cockpit so that kid will have to hang on tight for dear life (here again a good reason for the frowny face).

As for most Creator 3-in-1 sets, the alternative builds do not use up all the parts and leave almost 200 leftover parts . This is acceptable for allowing different age and experience levels to build them. More experienced fans will surely have fun trying to beef up the official models with the spare parts, as is clearly intended for this theme.

Behind-the-scenes

I will show you here the two small scenes I crafted for the sunset house shot and the river shot . Both use slightly similar lighting setups, but differed in the color grading.

Look at the image above for some clarity. The setup was done on a glass table with cardboard paper covered using a mixture of large rocks, granutaled cork, fake moss of 4 colors, vivarium branches and plastic leaves.

For both shots I used a semi-transparent wrapping paper (1) (this came with furniture, perhaps IKEA glass cabinets), which I hung on a studio background support . I lit up a desktop lamp with a RBG LED bulb , which was set to dark orange (2) . I then supplemented lighting on the hairline of some elements (house, people’s heads, the giraffe) using a powerful LED flashlight (3) fixed to the background support suing a Small Rigs clamp. This was aligned to more or less the line of the desktop lamp, slightly above not to appear in the picture frame.

I then used a cool-white LED panel bounced back to the scene with a piece of paper (4) .

For the safari tree house picture I used the glass table as a water pond , which offered some reflection when the point of view was set at the proper angle.

I also used a small nano led inside the lamp (5) to provide some practical lighting. It really served its full purpose for a night shot (see below).

For the river shot , I laid some plastic food wrapping paper (6) for simulating water and wrinkled it to make it look like the boat’s trail. I added another one behind the crocodile to replicate water splashing out (poor kid).

For both pictures (and a lot presented here), I took several shots at different focal points throughout the scene (characters, giraffe, flamingo for the house shot; both characters and crocodile for the catamaran). I shot at f/5.6 on a 100mm lens , trying to keep ISO below 400 with a proper exposure, and merged the different frames using focus stacking in Photoshop. This allowed me to focus sharply on the main elements throughout the scene while blurring out most of the background.

Conclusions

Overall, the 31116 Creator 3-in-1 Safari Wildlife Tree House offers three cute little models, all of which involve a few non-conventional building techniques that will please younger fans who like challenges. Color schemes are perfectly suited for the wildlife context.

The designers managed to provide several brick-built animals, some simply superb (the giraffe, the lion and the flamingo), other lack luster (the stiff crocodile). I enjoyed the house, despite the lack of real functionality (it’s a toilet with a terrace!), but largely preferred the boat. I am sure people will occasionally switch between models to have the best of both worlds.

Overall Score: 8/10

31116 Creator 3-in-1 Safari Wildlife Tree House has 397 pieces. The set retails for €29.99/$29.99/£29.99 and will be available on March 1st. Thanks to LEGO and Brickcentral for providing this set.

The review represents my personal point of view.

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LEGO® 31116 Safari Wildlife Tree House

Specifications

• Brand: LEGO
• Theme: Creator
• Ages: 7 - 99
• Total parts: 397
• Launch Date: 01-03-2021
• Weight: 500 gram
• Dimensions: 26,20cm x 28,20cm x 5,90cm
• EAN code: 5702016889383

Browse through the LEGO® catalog and be surprised.

• The LEGO® Creator 3in1 Safari Wildlife Tree House (31116) building set will grip kids’ imaginations with 3 models in 1: a tree house toy, plane toy and boat toy
• This LEGO® set includes boy and girl minifigures with a camera accessory to add even more fun to kids’ safari adventures
• The tree house toy features a balcony with a couch and ladder, an interior with a toilet and sink, plus 3 brick-built animals: a posable giraffe toy, flamingo toy and hornbill toy
• The biplane toy has a cockpit for a minifigure, plus a lion, a tree and an African lovebird, while the catamaran toy comes with an adjustable sail, a crocodile toy and marabou stork toy
• The 397-piece LEGO® Creator 3in1 toy set offers a fun build to little animal fans aged 7 and up and is a great birthday or holiday gift guaranteed to make them happy
• The LEGO® Tree House toy measures over 7 in. (18 cm) high, 4 in. (12 cm) deep and 4 in. (12 cm) wide – the perfect size to play with or proudly display in a bedroom
• Create bigger adventures with other great LEGO® Creator 3in1 sets: Cyber Drone (31111), Wild Lion (31112), Race Car Transporter (31113), Superbike (31114) and Surfer Beach House (31118)
• LEGO® Creator 3in1 sets allow kids to enjoy amazing imaginative play as they devise fun stories around the 3 different models in every box
• For more than 6 decades LEGO® building bricks have been made from high-quality materials to ensure they consistently connect and pull apart every time
• LEGO® building bricks meet stringent global safety standards

View the building instructions for this LEGO® set.

• Download - BI 3103, 40, 31116 2/3 V29
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• Download - BI 3103, 36, 31116 3/3 V39
• Download - BI 3103, 64+4, 31116 1/3 V29
• Download - BI 3103, 64+4, 31116 1/3 V39

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Instructions For LEGO 31116 Safari Wildlife Tree House

These are the instructions for building the LEGO Creator Safari Wildlife Tree House that was released in 2021.

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• Creator 3-in-1

Safari Wildlife Tree House

Retired Product

Specifications

Kids can roleplay an exciting safari on the African savanna with this fantastic LEGO® Creator 3in1 Safari Wildlife Tree House (31116). The building set is packed with everything they need: A tree house toy featuring a balcony and ladder and an interior with a toilet and sink, 2 minifigures and 3 brick-built animals – a giraffe toy, flamingo toy and hornbill toy.

3in1 kids’ toys fuel kids’ passions Kids will be thrilled to build 3 different, fun-filled models with this LEGO Creator 3in1 set. They can construct the Safari Wildlife Tree House, rebuild it into a biplane with a lion, turn it into a catamaran with a crocodile, or use the bricks to create something new.

Fun toys to inspire imaginations LEGO Creator 3in1 sets let kids explore their imaginations with 3 models to build in every box! The play options never end as each model can be rebuilt into something brand new as often as kids choose. Pick from an amazing range of 3in1 sets, including cars, motorbikes and robots.

• The LEGO® Creator 3in1 Safari Wildlife Tree House (31116) building set will grip kids’ imaginations with 3 models in 1: a tree house toy, plane toy and boat toy.
• This LEGO® set includes boy and girl minifigures with a camera accessory to add even more fun to kids’ safari adventures.
• The tree house toy features a balcony with a couch and ladder, an interior with a toilet and sink, plus 3 brick-built animals: a posable giraffe toy, flamingo toy and hornbill toy.
• The biplane toy has a cockpitfor a minifigure, plus a lion, a tree and an African lovebird, while the catamaran toy comes with an adjustable sail, a crocodile toy and marabou stork toy.
• The 397-piece LEGO® Creator 3in1 toy set offers a fun build to little animal fans aged 7 and up and is a great birthday or holiday gift guaranteed to make them happy.
• The LEGO® Tree House toy measures over 7 in. (18 cm) high, 4 in. (12 cm) deep and 4 in. (12 cm) wide – the perfect size to play with or proudly display in a bedroom.
• Createbigger adventures with other great LEGO® Creator 3in1 sets: Cyber Drone (31111), Wild Lion (31112), Race Car Transporter (31113), Superbike (31114) and Surfer Beach House (31118).
• LEGO® Creator 3in1 sets allow kids to enjoy amazing imaginative play as they devise fun stories around the 3 different models in every box.
• For more than 6 decades LEGO® building bricks have been made from high-quality materials to ensure they consistently connect and pull apart every time.
• LEGO® building bricks meet stringent global safety standards.

Customer Reviews

MOC - Mini Saint Basil's Cathedral - Moscow

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Mini saint basil's cathedral - moscow.

Mini Saint Basil's Cathedral - Moscow by gabizon

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Lego Architecture MOC - Mercury City Tower

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• Official LEGO Comments 2

Last Updated . Click "Updates" above to see the latest.

This skyscraper is orange color, I thought it would be very compatible with Lego pieces. As a result, it was a nice combination of white and orange, I think. I tried to fold the edge of the design as metaphor. Especially with orange pieces of transparent glass skyscrapers did. The design is based on the LDD. I hope you will like it.

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Status : Complete Type:   Commercial Offices Residential Condominiums Architectural style: Structural Expressionism Location: Moscow International Business Center                   Moscow, Russia

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