LEGO 40886 Penguins in Love Review: The 2026 Valentine's GWP
- Published
- March 30, 2026
- Pieces
- 278
- MSRP / street
- $0 USD
Today's review is LEGO 40886 Penguins in Love, which was a promotional free gift with LEGO purchases around Valentine's Day in 2026. It was a gift-with-purchase (GWP) available January 29 through February 6, 2026, free with LEGO orders over $80, and it's since been retired — so these days you'll only find it on the secondary market (BrickLink, eBay) for around $17.
What you get in the box
It comes in five bags and weighs in at 278 pieces, recommended for ages 8 and up. The build is a small Antarctic scene: two cartoon-style brick-built penguins standing on a floating, heart-shaped sheet of ice. Each penguin has movable wings and a turning head, printed heart eyes, and a little orange beak — and the romance is laid on thick, with one penguin holding a pastel-blue fish and a pebble to gift the other. A clear rod topped with three LEGO heart pieces finishes the scene.
- Set number: 40886
- Theme: Seasonal (Valentine's Day)
- Pieces: 278
- Age: 8+
- Availability: GWP (Jan 29 – Feb 6, 2026), now retired
- Finished size: ~5.5 in. (14 cm) tall
The build
It's a quick build — can be done in a half hour or so for adults. Kids may take a bit longer; in my experience they got a little confused with the orange vs. yellow pieces and how everything orients together. Worth noting: the two penguins are nearly identical, so you essentially build the same thing twice. That keeps things simple, but it does make the back half of the build a touch repetitive.
Pros
- It was a free gift with a Lego.com purchase.
- Not a tough build. Kids will like it.
- Cute heart-shaped display scene
Cons
- Hard to leave out year round
- You build the same penguin twice
Is the LEGO Penguins in Love worth it?
As a free gift with purchase, it's a no-brainer — it's a cute, kid-friendly Valentine's decoration that costs you nothing extra if you were already spending $80 at LEGO. On the secondary market at around $17 it's still a fair little seasonal set, though the "build the same penguin twice" repetition and its narrow Valentine's-only appeal keep it from being essential. If you like quick seasonal builds, pair it with something like our LEGO 40816 Decorative Easter Egg review.