LEGO Reviews Super Mario72046

Game Boy

Name: LEGO Game Boy 72046
Brand: LEGO
SKU: 72046
Rating: 4.75 (5737 reviews)

93 · MUST-HAVEINVESTMENT GRADE: AAA2025421 pcsHigh agreement · 94%

Expert reviews

3analyzed

Owner ratings

5.7K+

Consensus

BUY

BrickScore

Must-Have

Owners

Synthesized Verdict

"With a BrickScore of 92.6 and 5,737 owner ratings averaging 4.75 out of 5, the LEGO Game Boy is a near-perfect execution of licensed nostalgia: every reviewer praised its working buttons, lenticular screens, and printed details, and virtually none found meaningful fault."

Reviewers are nearly unanimous in their enthusiasm for the LEGO Game Boy (72046), praising it as a love letter to Nintendo fans and a masterclass in nostalgia engineering. The tactile details, including functional buttons, a rotating D-pad, a flippable on/off switch, and a working cartridge slot, consistently draw comparisons to the original hardware. Owners back this up emphatically: 5,737 ratings average 4.75 out of 5 across all major retailers, with Amazon buyers giving it 4.9 stars, and 74% of LEGO.com owners saying they would recommend it.

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LOVED (7)

01Functional interactive elements: pushable buttons, rotating D-pad, flipping on/off switch, turning volume and contrast dials, and a working cartridge slot
02Three lenticular display screens that shift as you tilt them, capturing old-school screen animation
03Two game cartridges included (The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and Super Mario Land) each on its own display stand
04Faithful 1:1 scale accuracy to the original hardware that reportedly fools casual observers
05Minimal sticker usage with most labeling done via printed pieces, including the iconic 'Dot Matrix with Stereo Sound' text
06Satisfying build experience featuring SNOT and layering techniques that mirror the real device's construction
07Strong value perception at $59.99 for 421 pieces with this level of detail and interactivity

CRITICIZED (2)

01Price-per-piece of $0.142 is above average for LEGO, and a handful of reviewers noted the $60 asking price feels steep at first glance before building it
02Some reviewers would have preferred different game cartridge choices (Tetris was mentioned as a preferred alternative to Zelda)

What reviewers are saying

"The LEGO 72046 Game Boy is one of the best and most satisfying sets of 2025, and is a glimpse of what's possible when all the stars align when designing a LEGO model."

Jay's Brick Blog

"Without bias, I think this is one of the best models of a real thing that LEGO has ever made."

JANG's LEGO Reviews

"A wonderful love letter to the early days of gaming"

Brickset Reviews

Ecosystem

Original Game Boy (handheld) — The LEGO Game Boy achieves a near 1:1 replica of the original Game Boy. Stack them on top of each other, and you'll see that it's really close to being the exact same size, which is remarkable given the restrictive medium of LEGO. The different ports, wheels and buttons are all where they should be, and the LEGO versions are so faithful to the originals that you could use them as replacement stickers.

Other LEGO replica sets of real products/things — More accurate to the design of the real thing than probably any other LEGO replica of a real product they've done in the past. Unlike most LEGO replicas which often cost three to four times as much as the real item and lack in functionality and accuracy, this set delivers on both fronts at a reasonable price point.

Real Game Boy hardware — At $60, comparable in price to broken Game Boys or poor condition working units. Can find good condition Game Boys for slightly more. However, this is not a replacement for actual Game Boy hardware—it is a display piece and replica, not a functional gaming device. This is for collectors and LEGO enthusiasts, not for those wanting actual gaming capability.

71374 Nintendo Entertainment System — Similar design philosophy with new moulds and small tiles; however the NES set's larger size and higher piece count give it a better sense of value per piece, whereas this Game Boy feels overpriced in comparison

Super MarioTier 1Investment Grade

By Reviewer · 3

Avg score

Consensus

BUY

Jay's Brick Blog

Editorial Source

100

BUY

"The LEGO 72046 Game Boy is one of the best and most satisfying sets of 2025, and is a glimpse of what's possible when all the stars align when designing a LEGO model."

Key Pros

✓Accessible price point (US$59.99)
✓Mostly printed elements (only 2 stickers)
✓Ingenious build experience with advanced techniques

Key Cons

✕Battery cover cannot pop open (would have been cool to include LEGO AA batteries)
✕No sound-brick functionality

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JANG's LEGO Reviews

Expert Video Source

BUY

"Without bias, I think this is one of the best models of a real thing that LEGO has ever made."

Key Pros

✓Exceptional design accuracy to original Game Boy
✓Innovative lenticular display screens with animation
✓Tactile and interactive play features (movable D-pad, pushable buttons)

Key Cons

✕Only 421 pieces means relatively quick build (~1-2 hours maximum)
✕Limited animation frames on game cartridge screens (only 2 frames each vs 6 on main screen)

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Brickset Reviews

Editorial Source

BUY

"A wonderful love letter to the early days of gaming"

Key Pros

✓Amazing accuracy to the real 1989 Game Boy
✓Wonderful love letter to early gaming era
✓Mostly printed elements for authentic detail

Key Cons

✕High price point (£55/$59.99 for 421 pieces)
✕Pricey relative to other LEGO sets despite quality

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Dimensional Analysis

Investment Layer

Buy now (2)Wait for sale (0)

Exclusivity

Jay's Brick Blog: Wide retail availability; released 1 October 2025 on LEGO.com, Amazon.com, Amazon Australia and most toy stores.

JANG's LEGO Reviews: Nintendo-licensed product, exclusive to this set design

Resale

Jay's Brick Blog: One comment suggests putting it on the 'before it retires' list rather than 'release day' list, implying expectations of strong aftermarket demand before retirement.

JANG's LEGO Reviews: Likely to maintain value well or appreciate due to Nintendo licensing, design accuracy, and unique lenticular features. Licensed sets typically hold value better than unlicensed replicas.

Minifigures & Standout Parts

Standout parts (per reviewers)

Corner mould with specific angle
New LEGO element commissioned to mimic the Game Boy's corners, complete with speaker slots and the B-button label printed on it
New bracket element
Bracket encountered in the set that the reviewer had never seen before
Lenticular screens
Three lenticular screens in green (a colour that doesn't exist as an official LEGO colour) depicting opening screen, Super Mario Land scene, and Link's Awakening scene
A and B button hats
Believed to be new hats, used for the A and B buttons construction
Printed elements
The set uses mostly printed elements rather than stickers, with only 2 stickers for the Game Pak cartridges
Recolored bevel gear in black
Long time since LEGO released a new color of this part

What Owners Say · summarized from 60 written reviews (LEGO, Amazon, Walmart)

Owners overwhelmingly praise the Game Boy set as a masterfully designed, nostalgic build with impressive mechanical details and excellent value, though a small minority note shipping damage and wish for slightly longer build time.

COMMON PRAISE