LEGO Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck (76989) Review

The LEGO Tallneck (set 76989) is based on the action role-playing game Horizon Forbidden West for PS4 and PS5. LEGO has had forays into gaming waters before – over the years they’ve released sets based on video games Minecraft, Overwatch, Super Mario, Sonic, but this is the first time they’ve done a collaboration with PlayStation.
Note: LEGO provided this set for review, but opinions are my own.

The World of Horizon Games

I have to admit, I haven’t played the game, but I am familiar with the story. Horizon Forbidden West takes place in a post-apocalyptic 31st century world ruled by machines, while human civilization has been reduced to tribes after the extinction of all life on Earth caused by rogue robots 10 centuries ago. Aloy is the main protagonist in the game series. She’s a huntress of the Nora tribe and her task is to protect herself and her people against the sinister robots and other tribes. The only machines that aren’t hostile to humans are the Tallnecks. Their role is to analyze the environment and send data to other machines, as well as to enable long range communication between them. They are literally walking antennas/radars. Aloy can override them to get the map of the area and various points of interest.
One such robot is the main subject of this set.

Box Content

The LEGO Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck set consists of 1222 bricks grouped in 8 bags, with two extra elements outside of packaging, a small sticker sheet and instruction booklet. The first three bags contain all the parts needed to build the base, the minifigure of Aloy and a Watcher. The rest is used for the main build – the Tallneck.

The Minifigure

I have to admit that I am delighted with the design of this minifigure. It is probably one of the best minifigures LEGO has ever released. Aloy comes with a unique hair piece, representing her wavy hair and braids. It also includes a blue transparent circle through which you can see the AR device called Focus printed on her head. And there are two of those, one for each alternative facial expression. When you remove the hair, you can admire all those little details printed on the front and back of Aloy’s torso. The arms and legs are also printed. She wields two weapons, a white bow and a spear. The only issue I have with the spear is that the tip falls off easily, which can be a bit irritating.

Building Experience

First, you build a Watcher – a small machine that reminds me of a velociraptor. It comes with three transparent studs (blue, yellow and red) to represent the various levels of alertness. In the game, there are many smaller machines wandering around the Tallnecks, so a Watcher is such a nice addition to this LEGO diorama. The base consists of a mix of nature – with flowers, tall grass, stones and a birch tree – and urban environment – well, what’s left of it. A dilapidated traffic light overgrown and consumed by the vine plant is a perfect addition to the scene and evokes the state of the post-apocalyptic world.

After that comes the main build – the Tallneck itself. I had so much fun putting it together. There are certain repetitive stages during assembly, but they most certainly don’t feel like it. I mean, it’s not annoying to build this massive machine (like, for example, the apple tree in the Medieval Blacksmith set).

Interesting and clever building techniques combined with bricks that I haven’t seen before make this model very satisfying to assemble. There is only one drawback – the time required to complete everything is very short. After four to five hours I was finished, but I wanted more. Btw, I recommend playing the soundtrack from the game while building, it really enhances the experience.

Storytelling Possibilities

When it comes to toy photography, the 76989 set offers a lot of storytelling possibilities. You can recreate many situations from the game. Unfortunately, it was rainy at the time of writing this review and I didn’t get the chance to capture the outdoor scenes I had in mind, so I had to improvise and create different scenes at home. Check out the rest of the photos below.

Who is This Set for?

Whether you’re an AFOL, a gamer, or maybe both, this beautiful display piece will be a real gem in your collection. I believe the fans of the Horizon games would be thrilled to own the Tallneck.
It is currently priced at $89.99 on LEGO.com. I hope this is the first set in a series and there will be more sets based on these video games.

Many thanks to ToyPhotographers.com for the opportunity to review Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck (76989) set and the LEGO Group for providing it.

Zoran Pesic (IG: Bricktoygrapher)

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