Although I really liked the adventurousness and the colors and elements in the LEGO Elves theme when it debuted last year, I didn’t outright love any of the actual sets in the theme just yet. But all that’s changing with this year’s fresh wave of Elves sets! Whereas most themes have already had their first wave of new toys released earlier this month, Elves fans are going to have to wait a wee bit longer. But it’s going to be worth the wait, as evident by the LEGO Elves Fire Dragon’s Lava Cave 41175 and the rest of this winter’s sets!

In early 2015, the new Elves LEGO sets theme burst onto the scene, giving little girls a chance to build sets aimed at a female audience that were about more than just going to the mall, cruising around on a yacht or being a princess (not that there’s anything wrong with those things–they’re just not for everyone).

While not the best-selling new theme ever, the Elves sets definitely got off to a positive start and have begun carving out a real niche for themselves. And to kick off 2016, the Elves 2016 sets have a whole new element added to them to take that fantasy to another level: Dragons!

The winter 2016 Elves sets range will bring us a half-dozen new sets, but we’ll begin by looking at my personal favorite among them: the Zonya the Fire Dragon’s Lava Cave!

This set exclusively contains the orange and pink LEGO Fire Dragon figure, as well as minidolls of human Emily Jones and fire elf Azari Firedancer. Emily is the theme’s self-insert character, so I always like to see her included, whereas it seems appropriate for the fire dragon to come with fire elf Azari.

While the main selling-point of this set is obviously the dragon itself, a few environment builds are also included as part of the 445 piece set.

The lava cave is a bit small, but I like the functionality of the opening “magic” lava waterfall and the cute moss beds present on the interior.

The black and purple horned appearance of the Shadow Fountain gives off a real “Maleficent” vibe, doesn’t it? That’s not a bad thing, as that immediate emotional reaction adds to the potential sinister nature of the Shadow Fountain.

I actually really enjoy the aesthetic of this environment piece, and I think that the gimmick–“a sliding function to transform the fountain from green poisoned water to blue clean water”–sounds really fun!

The photo that really sells this set to me, though, is that of the Azari and Emily figures both riding comfortably atop the back of Zonya, the Fire Dragon! What little girl (or boy!) doesn’t want to ride on top of a flying dragon?

Moreso than the bakery and spa in last year’s sets, the addition of the Dragons this year really adds an fantastical aura of excitement, really invigorating this line. I have a hunch TLG will be very pleased with the sales of the Elves sets this winter!

The 41175 Fire Dragon’s Lava Cave and the rest of the winter 2016 LEGO Elves sets is scheduled to be released in February/March 2016 in the United States. With the theme in its second year and the sheer coolness of the added dragons, I’m expecting this to be the best-selling series of Elves sets yet!

What do you think about the Fire Dragon’s Lava Cave 41175, brick fans? Are you excited about the look and design of these new-styled brick-built Dragons, or do you prefer the Ninjago Dragons (or perhaps no Dragons at all)?