In 2022 LEGO surprised us (or at least me) and released a BrickHeadz set dedicated to the Spice Girls. Even though their popularity dates back to the nineties, we must not forget what a phenomenon they were and what an influence they had on pop music.
| Release year | 2022 |
| BrickHeadz numbers | 165, 166, 167, 168, 169 |
| Number of figures | 5 |
| Number of pieces | 578 |
| In my collection | Yes, since 24 July 2022 |
Somewhere I heard a story of a LEGO Store employee saying they had sold only a few of this set. This seems to be confirmed by a promotion that appeared shortly before I wrote these words (January 2023), when the set could be bought for PLN 137.99, reduced from PLN 229.99. I won’t hide that I approached the subject very pessimistically too, and bought the set basically out of a sense of duty. Over time, though, I came to appreciate it, because I have to admit it is special in several ways.
Firstly, it is the only set with this many figures. 5 characters is a record for the BrickHeadz series and I don’t expect that limit to be exceeded any time soon (at the time of writing we have probable leaks that a Star Wars Endor five-pack is coming; it was originally due in January 2023, we are waiting).
Secondly, it is a truly unique situation, because for the first time LEGO honoured real people in this way. Until now, whenever BrickHeadz referred to people, it was always to fictional characters from films, animations or books (let’s assume that is the case with Harry Potter). This time we have heroines we can point to by first name and surname. Even though I have never been a big fan of theirs, I appreciate their achievements and I hope LEGO will regularly return to the idea of portraying flesh-and-blood people. The agreement between LEGO and Universal Music Group, announced in 2020, may well contribute to this, and I believe the Spice Girls set is a child of that deal.
Thirdly and finally, LEGO organised a lottery for VIPs, and for 50 VIP points you could enter a draw for one of 13 sets signed by all five members of the Spice Girls. If someone can’t live until they get this version of BrickHeadz 40548, right now (a reminder: January 2023) they have two offers to choose from: one on bricklink.com for 1499 EUR and the other on ebay.com for 3500 EUR. Good luck 🙂
Judging the figures themselves on their merits, I have to honestly admit they turned out very well. It is impossible not to recognise them if you have ever heard of the Spice Girls. Fans should be genuinely delighted. The design was done by Daniel Squirrel, a LEGO designer, who said this about his work:
Growing up, the Spice Girls were everywhere. When the opportunity to create a global British icon from LEGO bricks came up, I couldn’t pass it up. I felt a certain sense of responsibility as the only Brit in the team, to make sure we did them justice.
Daniel Squirrel
To mark the launch of the set, LEGO also organised an event at the LEGO Store Leicester Square in London. It took place on 5 and 6 March 2022 and LEGO described it like this:
Fans will get the chance to star in their own magazine front cover, meet the LEGO Spice Girls BrickHeadz in their own individual worlds and dance along to some of the Spice Girls much-loved hits.
LEGO invited the well-known photographer Rankin to collaborate. Decades ago he photographed the Spice Girls, and those photos are now recognised all over the world. This time the photographer’s task was to recreate his old photos with the BrickHeadz figures, and you can see one such photo below.
Finally, I would like to mention an offer of shelves dedicated to this set. It is a commercial offer, but in my opinion it looks superb, and I described it in a separate post. I won’t go into detail here; please head to the linked article, where you will find the actual link to the offers for the BrickHeadz Spice Girls and more.
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