LEGO Icons 11386 SpongeBob SquarePants: Bikini Bottom Review

LEGO Icons 11386 SpongeBob SquarePants: Bikini Bottom makes its strongest case through the scenery. Its pineapple house, Squidward’s home and Patrick’s rock bring the familiar neighborhood together in a 1,794-piece display set, with furnished interiors and small details drawn from the animated series. The set is priced at €209.99 and is scheduled to go on sale September 1, 2026; pre-orders are already available.

This release also marks LEGO’s return to the Nickelodeon SpongeBob SquarePants license. Compared with the earlier sets released from 2006 to 2012, the new model has more detailed construction and a more polished finish. The build is enjoyable, and the completed scene feels designed to reward a close look, particularly for fans who recognize the show’s homes and background touches.

A neighborhood built for display

SpongeBob’s pineapple house is the set’s standout structure. Its curved, textured surface gives the fruit a convincing sense of volume, a tricky shape to suggest with brick-built surfaces. The joins aren’t perfect everywhere, but the overall result is attractive and makes good use of the building medium. Inside, the furnished rooms add another layer of interest: the buildings aren’t just facades, and the interiors include references for viewers familiar with the series.

Squidward’s house and Patrick’s rock help the scene read immediately as Bikini Bottom. They are recognizable and carefully finished, giving the display more variety than a row of similar façades would. Smaller builds fill out the space, too. A miniature jellyfish field has two concealed gears that make the jellyfish turn, adding movement to an otherwise static arrangement. The designer’s treatment of the boat’s red background is another neat detail: it looks tidy within the wider build.

Familiar faces, a short roster

The included figures are SpongeBob, Squidward Q. Tentacles, Patrick Star, Gary the Snail and DoodleBob. The character builds show clear progress over earlier versions, benefiting from a broader range of available colors and updated building techniques. For collectors comparing the older releases with this set, the improvements are most apparent in the figures’ overall finish and color choices.

Gary is the least successful of the group. His brick-built form looks comparatively rough, and the printed pattern appears on only one side. That choice stands out more beside the newer molded snail-phone piece from the LEGO One Piece range, which offers a more refined reference point for a snail-shaped character. The rest of the lineup fares better, but five figures still feels sparse for a set at this price.

There were obvious candidates for expanding the cast: Mr. Krabs, Mrs. Puff and Sandy Cheeks had already appeared as minifigures in the 2006–2012 sets. Their absence limits the scene’s character variety, especially for buyers who hoped the return of the license would bring a broader selection in one substantial display model. The source review doesn’t suggest that additional sets are planned, so the five included figures carry the full burden of representing the show’s cast here.

Strong scenery, a premium price

About ten stickers are included, a familiar compromise that may disappoint builders who prefer printed parts. Some elements do get printing, including the house windows and the Bikini Bottom buoy, so the set mixes both approaches across its visible details. For a display model, those choices matter: printed details can feel more integrated, while stickers leave placement to the builder.

My read is that LEGO Icons 11386 succeeds best as a compact portrait of Bikini Bottom. The pineapple house, neighboring homes and animated jellyfish give the 1,794-piece build plenty of character, and the interiors reward fans who know the source material. The license carries a premium at €209.99, though, and the five-figure roster feels like the set’s clearest missed opportunity. It’s a strong return for collectors drawn to the buildings; the limited cast is the detail to weigh before pre-ordering.

LEGO Icons 11386 SpongeBob SquarePants: Bikini Bottom is listed in the LEGO online shop. The review set was supplied by LEGO.

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