Review: LEGO 71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Bus

One of LEGO's big launches in 2023 is LEGO DreamZzz, a brand new, original theme featuring some of the craziest and most fantastic designs ever.

LEGO DreamZzz is supported by an excellent animated television series (available on Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube), which forms the narrative backbone of the theme.

I've had the chance to spend some time with the LEGO DreamZzz sets before release and it's a really fun theme for younger children, with some really interesting and imaginative builds and great new minifigures, but a lot of the sets are really expensive, which might put off parents who are currently struggling with the cost of living.

To kick off my series of LEGO DreamZzz reviews, we're taking a look at 71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Van, available from August 1, 2023 on LEGO.com and most LEGO stores alongside the first wave of LEGO DreamZzz sets

Who is this set suitable for? Anyone who wants a large selection of unique DreamZzz figures and a fun looking Turtle Van

71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Bus Set Details

Set number: 71456
Set Name: Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Bus
Pieces: 434
Retail price: US$47.99 / AU$72.99 / £42.99 / €47.99 / CAD$59.99
Theme: DreamZzz
Release date: August 1, 2023

Unboxing and building instructions

In short, DreamZzz sets combine the rich narrative familiar to fans of Ninjago or Monkie Kid with Creator 3-in-1.

Most DreamZzz sets have three different modes, a normal one based on something in the real world, followed by two fantastic dream world versions that you can see on the back.

Here's a look at some sticker sheets that also include some replacement stickers that you can use to decorate your set or stuff, with some cartoony symbols that I really like. Kids love stickers, so these extra stickers are a great extra.

The DreamZzz manuals are terrific, and so enjoyable. Instead of grotty renders, the front covers of the manual feature these lovely illustrations.

There are more of these rich and beautiful illustrations in the instructions to enrich the building experience. It's almost like a wordless comic book telling a story as you build the set, and after such a drastic decline in instructions this year, this is a big step up in quality.

For this reason, I won't throw away any of these DreamZzz building instructions.

At a certain point, the building experience bifurcates, and the young builders are given the choice of whether to build a turtle bus in party mode or a turtle bus in flying submarine mode.

This is a really cool mechanic that makes you feel like you're getting more out of your LEGO sets and encourages you to take sets apart to transform them into something new.

71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Bus Minifigures

The 71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Van minifigure set is an excellent introduction to LEGO DreamZzz and one of the reasons I chose this set as an introduction to the topic.

The set offers a great assortment of two traditional minifigures with the protagonists Mateo and Zoey, the new Mrs. Castillo Granny figure and two of those strangely cute DreamZzz figures, Z-Blob and a Grimspawn, which look like miniature casts.

Here's a closer look at Mateo and Zoey, the main characters included in the set. They're wearing their Dream World outfits, which give them a cool, upgraded look in addition to their normal clothing, and the print is really sharp and detailed, with the hourglass motif prominently featured.

Mateo, as the illustrator, has a giant pencil as a weapon, while Zoey, who is more experienced, has her hourglass, which she uses for Dreamcraft, as well as her bow and arrow.

Here's a look at the back printing and the double-sided heads.

The new LEGO wigs are great and I love Zoey's purple dreadlocks and Mateo's hair has green streaks too. Mateo has vitiligo, which is noticeable on his face and gives him a very special look.

Next we have Mrs. Castillo, an eccentric and wise old lady who runs a popular food truck that the children in the real world frequent. LEGO has gone all out here, introducing a brand new shape for her body that also allows for large arms to be attached, giving her a truly unique silhouette and shape.

It's a truly unique torso body with armholes on each side that can be equipped with any Technic pin compatible element, and here you can see the size comparison with a normal minifigure.

And here are the different components of Ms. Castillo. It's a really interesting new minifigure that really nails the stocky old lady look. I'm excited to see what else LEGO does with this shape.

Next we have these little figures that are brand new to LEGO DreamZzz, so I'm hoping they'll be called DreamZzz figures. They look like small LEGO figures, with arms that can "grab" any bar-shaped element and are compatible with minifigure heads, giving them a very chibi look.

Here is Z-Blob, a character designed by Mateo who comes to life in the dream world, as well as a Grimspawn. Grimspawn are villains who serve as cannon fodder and provide a lot of comedy in the television series.

Here's Z-Blob, removing Vidiyo Slim's head to reveal a cute face with two eyes.

And here is Grimspawn when you take off his helmet. The heads have a great design and can easily be repurposed for medieval fantasy minifigures.

These new DreamZzz figures are really cute and growing on me and I'd love to collect lots of them - hopefully when they're available to order online from Pick a Brick.

71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Bus - Food Truck Mode

Building 71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Van is relatively easy, and you start with a simple food truck that wouldn't look out of place in LEGO City.

It has an attractive white and sand green color scheme and lots of fun stickers to decorate it. In some ways it reminds me of a minifigure scale T1 campervan.

Here's a look at the side, where you can see the menu and sign, as well as the shutters opening to reveal Ms. Castillo ready to take orders.

The interiors are quite spacious, and although Ms. Castillo's minifigure is quite large, there is plenty of room to move her around.

The build is based on Mrs. Castillo's food truck found in the real world. In the dream world, however, everyday things can suddenly take on fantastical forms with the help of the powerful hourglasses that give dreamers the power of dream art.

The choice is yours - build a party mode or a turtle bus in flying submarine mode!

71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Bus - Party Mode

Thanks to the powers of the Hourglass, Ms. Castillo's humble food truck transforms into a Turtle Van! The transformation is pretty seamless - you don't have to remove a lot of elements, just add all those little things to bring it to life.

This is a simple but effective way to transform the toilet into something different, and I really like how colorful, fun and downright silly this model looks.

Party Mode activates the Turtle Van, which moves by being attracted to a carrot dangling from a stick.

There are some really nice details, like the printed turtle head. Actually, it's a turtle... but all turtles are turtles, so it's not technically wrong.

I really like the use of these large elbow pieces for the legs.

On the roof there is a small palm tree, a treasure chest with trinkets and this insanely cute cat cactus ready to party. Cat cactus, you know?

I could stare at him all day.

The turtle van also comes with a yellow and orange splat part, which is a signature element of LEGO DreamZzz. These new elements feature a really interesting new shape that mixes trans-plastic with more solid colors. They are nicely textured and have a single axle hole connection at the base.

Party Mode, as the name suggests, is a lot of fun and is my favorite configuration for Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Van.

71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Van - Flying Submarine Mode

If you're in a hurry and don't have the time or patience to move the Turtle Van on its four legs, you can opt for Flying Submarine mode instead.

Instead of a carrot, a red chili pepper is used as food for the turtle, and it transforms into jet mode, with its legs aligned in a more aerodynamic position as it zooms through the sky.

The cat cactus also flies into the sky, with its own jetpack and rockets that propel it through the air.

This is pretty fun, and I like the periscope, which suggests that this is also a functional submarine, but that's the configuration you build if you want to have it zooming around.

Not as charming as Party Mode, but still pretty fun, and again, younger builders have the opportunity to modify and transform the toy, seamlessly transforming from food truck to turtle van to flying turtle submarine.

If I were 8 years old I would appreciate this and have a lot of fun with it. I think LEGO has done a good job of bringing fun and imagination to the DreamZzz sets.

What I liked:

Great selection of minifigures that are a great sample for DreamZzz
The food truck can be easily adapted to any LEGO City
The Turtle Van has a lot of charm

What I didn't like:

Flying submarine mode is difficult to depict
A bit expensive

Final Thoughts

You can definitely see what LEGO is trying to achieve with LEGO DreamZzz - combining a compelling story with interesting characters from the TV series and attempting to bring LEGO back to its roots of being able to build anything you want.

71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Bus is a great starter set to get acquainted with LEGO DreamZzz and I would recommend it if you're curious about the subject.

The minifigures are a great introduction to the new DreamZzz figures and you get Ms. Castillo, two small DreamZzz figures, and Mateo and Zoey. Mateo is included in almost every set, so it's not a huge attraction (get it?), but the supporting cast of minifigures is solid.

The build itself is fun, and the comic book and choose-your-own-adventure-inspired instructions bring a breath of fresh air to LEGO building and are something I'd like to see more of. The build itself isn't particularly new or challenging, but I liked that you essentially get a LEGO set with 3 different shapes, which gives the set a lot of replay value and hopefully prevents it from getting boring.

Where 71456 Mrs. Castillo's Turtle Bus (and most of the DreamZzz Sets) fails, is the price. Priced at US$47.99 / AU$72.99 / £42.99, it feels very expensive for what you get and feels like it's 20% more expensive than it should be, which I think is a big barrier to entry, not only for LEGO fans wanting to try out LEGO's new Big Bang theme, but also for parents looking for toys for their children.

As a set it's a lot of fun, and fans will definitely enjoy the cool new minifigures, but the price is a major stumbling block, so you'll want to wait for a good deal, especially if you're on a tight LEGO budget.

Structure [4] - A very fun and compact structure, and with 3 different shapes it offers a rich building experience
Real Value [2] - Poor value for money for the Amount of the parts and minifigures
Innovation [4] - Lots of innovation with the manuals and seamless transformation
Coolness [3] - The Party Mode Turtle Van has a lot of personality and looks fun and silly
Durability [3] - Depends on how successful DreamZzz is as a theme, but this is one for playing and experimenting, not so much for building and displaying

Rating and Score: 3/5 ★★★✰✰