Help your fellow builder by leaving your feedback based on these three criteria:
- Originality: How original is this - never seen before?
- Building Techniques: How much skill do you think the creator of this MOC has, in terms of building technique?
- Details: Express how much you like the details of the build.
Your feedback is only shown to the creator as well as yourself. It is not available for other users to see. The creator won't see your user name.
Last Updated . Click "Updates" above to see the latest.
Where the idea came from?
This is a LEGO Ideas set that depicts a famously known character from the Dr. Seuss book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The original book debuted in 1957, and throughout the years, there have been many movies and cartoons about the Grinch, including the one released in 2000, starring Jim Carrey. It is important to underscore that both have contributed to and fulfilled the story of the Grinch, making it the ultimate masterpiece and shaping the character we know today. Thus, this set was inspired by both.
The exterior and certain elements of the interior were taken from Dr. Seuss's original book. Features such as the cave, simplistic design, mountain exterior, sleeping area with the Grinch’s simple bed design, mismatched pieces throughout the set, workshop space, and tunnel-like depth of the cave all reflect the book’s depiction.
On the other hand, characters, references, and scenes like the crash test, mini-Grinch creature with a lighting effect, Christmas dinner in the cave (which, contrary to the book, where no explicit mention of a Christmas dinner in the Grinch’s cave is made), and many others were all inspired by the 2000 movie starring Jim Carrey.
Project Consideration
Before submitting the project, I carefully evaluated the consideration factors put forward by the LEGO Group, one of which is feasibility. I thought it could be interesting to create a fictional LEGO cave where the Grinch lives. The cave would include Easter eggs, characters, and references to iconic scenes from the movie and the book. Not to mention, we still haven’t gotten the Grinch character in LEGO form.
However, one factor slightly concerned me: it is a Christmas-related set. Don`t get me wrong, I love Christmas. But at the moment, there are already many Christmas sets on the shelves, such as Home Alone, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and other traditional sets. And they are all amazing!
We could design a Grinch cave without referencing Christmas. But this character is, after all, a symbol of Christmas—a symbol of hope and trust in humanity. It reminds us that there are many values, beyond the material world, that can unite us, help us remain equal, and allow us to live peacefully while respecting everyone.
The Grinch also reminds us that we can sometimes hurt others’ feelings, leaving someone upset or feeling excluded from society. Intentionally or unintentionally. But there is always time to apologize and make things right. That’s what I love about this set. As a result, I remain optimistic that maybe we will see the Grinch alongside other sets on shelves as a seasonal gift and a reminder symbol of belief and unity.
Set Characteristics:
Number of pieces: 1,743 (including minifigure pieces).
Dimensions: 58.1 x 52.3 x 29.4 in Stud
Characters:
- The Grinch (we could also include Santa's outfit);
- Max;
- Cindy Lou Who;
- Martha May Whovier;
- Mayor Augustus Maywho;
- Lou Lou Who.
Buildable Objects and Sections:
- The Grinch's cave;
- Sleigh;
- Bongo monkey;
- Max's house;
- Mini crash-test vehicle;
- Grinch's bedroom;
- Living room and a fireplace;
- Lift to move from the ground floor to the first floor;
- Study room;
- Workshop;
- "Mini Grinch" creature with a red lighting brick.
Play Features of the Set
- The cave has three levels. From the outside, I’ve imitated cave steps for minifigures to move up and down. The steps are usually 3x1, which is enough to place a minifigure.
- Sections of the cave can be lifted and moved, which really helps the playability and accessibility of the set. Tiles with occasional studs between floors ensure that sections can be easily separated or attached together.
- The ground floor has more of a cave effect with dark pieces, and it gets lighter as you move up. The first floor is a bit more snowy, and the top floor is primarily snow-covered.
- On the ground floor, there’s an Easter egg right next to the hatch labelled "Dumpit to Crumpit." If you remove the cave piece, you’ll see an imitation of the Grinch’s present to Martha May, which he built in his childhood, as well as a shaver (I’ve imitated this with a fan). I thought it’d be great to include both of them.
- The "Dumpit to Crumpit" hatch is functional—you can open and close it.
- On the first floor, there’s a cave door that you can open to get inside. Once inside, you can use a trap door to send an uninvited guest back to the ground floor (down to the Dumpit to Crumpit). There’s a slide inside to ensure that objects or minifigures won’t get stuck there.
- You can interact with the garbage feature by opening the top section. There’s enough space to place a minifigure, which creates an imitation of the Grinch falling from it straight to the dump yard.
- At the very top of the cave, there is an open platform for the sleigh, with enough space to place the entire sleigh without interference from other objects.
- Use the sleigh to steal Christmas presents. You can put presents in and out of the red bag on the sleigh, as there is space inside. You can even ride the sleigh, and if you recall from the movie, the Grinch used a boot as a brake to stop the sleigh. There are two brown boots on hinges on both sides to imitate this. It’s not a standard sleigh we’ve seen until now; the Grinch built it using the pieces he found in his cave.
- Use the "Mini Grinch" creature model for Max to scare visitors away. This piece has a red lighting brick for a realistic effect.
- The Bongo monkey’s arms, head and legs are on hinges, so both can be moved and rotated. There is a small key and a battery behind the monkey, imitating that it is a toy monkey with a winding mechanism to make it work.
- Use the mini crash test car and a "Hit here" sign to test the safety of the Grinch’s sleigh. There is even a yellow helmet located in the Grinch’s bedroom on a cupboard. This model has only a few pieces, so it is possible to "hide" them in various locations, including the cupboards in the set. You can build this mini vehicle by finding the pieces in different spots.
- The lift between the ground and first floors is functional. There is an axle bar that is used for the platform to move up and down, and there are two wheels that can both freely spin as there is a bit of space left specifically for the wheels..
- The workshop room includes mixers that the Grinch uses to reduce the noise of Christmas songs and cheer, a cupboard with tools, an X-ray with a small and large heart, and a pogo stick.
- The study room contains a small radio, a book featuring the Grinch’s super busy schedule, a funny lamp, and a rope connected to it. You can launch the Grinch to slide down this rope from the first floor. The Grinch’s chair includes a leg rest that can be adjusted to any position you wish, as well as a backrest that is adjustable too as both are on hinges.
- Max’s house has bright Christmas lights and a small chimney on the outside.
- An intruder light alerts the Grinch about guests.
- The Grinch’s bedroom features a green phone, funny lighting, green clocks, and a cupboard with a yellow helmet which he can use for the "mini crash test vehicle".
- The dining room is really the final scene, with a table for six characters to sit around and have a festive dinner with the famously known "Who Hash" and turkey. There is a Christmas tree and a fireplace. This is an Easter egg—something I thought would be great to have—where you can see the Grinch’s and Max’s stockings. I guess they have been good this year, and I really hope Santa will visit them.
Stickers in the Set:
- Dumpit to Crumpit
- Intruder
- Mean 1
- Hit Here
- Green Clock
- Max
- Grinch
- Hazardous Waste
- Who Hash
- X-ray with Small Heart and Big Heart
- Keep Out
Final Notes
I thank you all for taking the time to read this. Your comments are always welcome.
Massive thanks to my wife for helping me with the stickers and designs—I’m terrible at Photoshop! :)
If you like this set, I would greatly appreciate it if you could like and share it. Thank you, and have a great day.
Help your fellow builder by leaving your feedback based on these three criteria:
- Originality: How original is this - never seen before?
- Building Techniques: How much skill do you think the creator of this MOC has, in terms of building technique?
- Details: Express how much you like the details of the build.
Your feedback is only shown to the creator as well as yourself. It is not available for other users to see. The creator won't see your user name.