The Many Faces of Winnie the Pooh

Today’s guest article comes from Bethany Wright, a builder living in Ohio who makes MOCs move. You can find more of her work on Instagram and Tips&Bricks.

Back to the Hundred Acre Wood

When the LEGO Ideas 21326 Winnie the Pooh set came out in 2021, its release was perfectly timed with my entry into the LEGO hobby. The set was whimsical and harkened back to my childhood memories of Winnie the Pooh. I even made my first large MOC inspired by the set.

LEGO Ideas 21326 Winnie the Pooh. Images via LEGO.

Alas, the set retired in 2023, and I assumed that was the last we would see of the Hundred Acre Wood. But not so fast! Fast-forward to 2026 and LEGO has released not one but TWO new Pooh sets: 43300 Winnie the Pooh and 44305 Piglet’s Birthday Fun. BrickNerd sent me an early copy of the set via LEGO, with the plans that I would somehow motorize Pooh Bear because I love movement in my MOCs.

Sets 43300 and 44305 via LEGO.

And then… the mouth happened.

The Mouth That Started It All

When the box arrived, I was caught off guard. The promo photos felt… off. Slightly uncanny. Something about the mouth. Someone online suggested adding quarter-circle tiles to give Pooh a tongue. That was the first experiment.

OG Pooh vs. The Mouth Experiment

As we discussed whether or not the mouth addition was worthwhile, my husband disappeared into our LEGO room – coming out with an arrangement of white parts. “Let’s give Pooh teeth!” Mmmmmm okay. Not orthodox Pooh, but sure. Let’s try.

Pooh Bear with various types of teeth.

Eye See What You Did There

Little did I know my husband was far, far from done. While I stepped out of the room to take care of dinner, he grabbed our Tray of Eyes (what, you don’t keep your printed eyes in a labeled tray?) and began experimenting.

Where it all begins…

Now my husband is no stranger to putting weird eyes on LEGO sets. He took the Mona Lisa and created a variety of hilarious pics that later inspired me to make my blacklight Glowna Lisa. Armed with his favorite eye tiles, nothing could have prepared me for what came next.

Blank Slate Pooh

The Many Faces of Winnie the Pooh

First up, we have classic Vampire Pooh. Did you know that Bear Vampires only have 1 fang? It’s true. I read it on the internet.

Vampire Pooh

Next comes Stoner Pooh. Beekeepers use smoke to sedate bees during honey harvesting. What exactly did Pooh put in the smoker? And then somehow, adding buckteeth and bulging eyes made Pooh look suspiciously like the Buc-ee’s (American gas station) beaver mascot…

Stoner Pooh and Beaver Bear.

Did you know that honey can be turned into an alcoholic beverage by mixing it with water and yeast? It’s called mead. It’s an ancient beverage that Sloshed Pooh may need to take in moderation…

Sloshed Pooh

Looks like Pooh Bear is getting vertigo from all these changes. He’s a Dizzy Ol’ Bear! It was at this point in our exploration that we realized we could also change the orientation of Pooh Bear’s eyebrows. By the way, Pooh’s shirt can be popped off and inside is this adorable sticker of Christopher Robin and friends.

Dizzy Ol’ Bear and Angry Pooh

Happy Bears

From 2001-2008, Disney released a series called Pooh Babies. This is our homage to Baby Pooh. Next, if you’ve made it this far, I’d like to remind all of us what started the experiment—changing Pooh’s mouth. I really liked this version. He looks happy and ready to eat some honey!

Baby Pooh and Happy Pooh

But Cyclops Pooh shows that some eyes can be too big. Then, we began experimenting with Maxifig accessories that happened to be the right size. And that is how we wound up with Pirate Pooh and Harry Pooh-ter.

Cyclops Pooh, Pirate Pooh and Harry Pooh-ter.

Bear-ad-Dûr

A whole new horizon unlocked when we realized that Pooh’s head could be used in other ways. Naturally, the next logical step was Bear-ad-Dûr. You’ll notice Piglet finally makes an appearance.

Beware the Eye of Pooh!

Driglet

Speaking of Piglet, my daughter realized Piglet’s head was the perfect size to switch with one of her Elves’ dragons. Dragon-Piglet (Driglet?) looks so cute with his arms tucked behind his body. Did you know that Piglet is also the perfect size for the Happy Plants? In case you need a third planter, may I suggest…

Driglet and Planter Piglet

The Joint Venture

The next morning I came home from running errands to find that my kids had left me a little treat. It’s the ultimate bear mash-up with pandas. Furthermore, they realized that Bionicle heads can connect to Pooh’s ball joint. So then Toa Pooh naturally became a thing. Bionicle lovers, this one’s for you: head of Onua Uniter of Earth.

Ball Joint Connection, Panda Poohn and Toa Pooh

This proceeded to unleash a creative frenzy, as we ran around the house looking for what other head snatching we could do.

Mario Pooh, Piranha Pooh, Groot Pooh, and Body Groot Pooh?

Grin and Bear It

By now poor Pooh Bear was feeling a bit tired of having his head yanked off constantly. But no amount of disguise could prevent what was to come next. Pooh began to get angry and gave in to his dark side.

Mustache Pooh, Winnie the Rage Bear, and Sacrifice Bear

Pooh went on strike. Then he became embarrassed.

Bottoms up!

And finally, after rapid cycling through the five stages of grief—and with the help of a friend—Pooh finally reached acceptance about the fate of his face. All returned to normal. Well, almost. A feline friend also had something to say…

Don’t worry. Piglet’s alive. And Cat Pooh!

So, what would you score this set after seeing our creativity with it? Pooh gives it a 6-7.

I’m sorry. We have teens in our house.

PS: If you’ve made it this far, allow me to indulge you with one more photo. My husband wanted to re-enact the scene from Alien. I told him it was too much, but he was so proud of his creativity. Alas, here we are.

Alien Pooh? OR adorable Pooh?

Pooh, Who?

By now you’ll notice I missed my mission for motorizing Pooh Bear. While Pooh’s arms and head can rotate, hooking them up to movement will take a little bit more creative brainstorming unless I want to motorize another 6-7 MOC again. Yes, again—I already accidentally did it once with the BrickNerd mascot, Nerdly. I hope to get to this challenge someday soon, and if I do, I’ll be sure to write about it!

Thanks to BrickNerd for sending this awesome set to experiment with. I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time! And if you want to see a breakdown of new parts and cool techniques, you can check out a detailed analysis on Tips&Bricks! Just search for the Winnie the Pooh review.

LEGO Disney 43300 Winnie the Pooh is available now for pre-orders for US $150 | EU €150 | CA $190 | UK £140 | AU $230, launching March 1st.

DISCLAIMER: This set was provided to BrickNerd by LEGO. Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Which face was your favorite and which one will haunt you forever? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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Original link

Original author: Dave Schefcik