Toy Story is one of my favorite animated movies. I grew up on the first two, and while I enjoy the later entries, they aren’t quite as impactful as the ones I knew as a kid. But I’m still happy that younger generations get to experience Pixar’s iconic characters through their own lens. There are a few characters from the films that appear in every entry, creating a throughline from this era to the previous. Slinky Dog, voiced by Jim Varney and Blake Clark over the years, is one of these characters. He’s one of Woody’s closest pals, and one of my personal favorite characters.
LEGO was kind enough to send IGN the new Slinky Dog Bookends set, and I had the pleasure of setting aside time to put it together. At 1,311 pieces overall, it took me roughly four hours total to finish across two nights. Naturally, I threw on Toy Story and Toy Story 2 for the ultimate nostalgic experience.
The build, which contains nine bags’ worth of pieces and three separate instruction manuals, starts with the smaller blue book, that stands in the middle of the finished set. I thought I was just in store for just slapping some bricks together to make a book shape, but I was extremely mistaken.
Sure, the exterior is just a few regular bricks for looks, but the inside of the book contains a seamless hidden compartment that can be pulled out like a drawer, where the Slinky Dog minifigure sits. The rail system you build to allow this hidden Easter egg aren’t new techniques by any means, but it’s still an innovative design choice. The Slinky Dog minifigure is adorable, and is one-to-one not just with the character we see on screen but with the larger version, which we’ll get to in a bit.
From here, it was time to put together Slink’s rear end. I always appreciate when LEGO bricks can make something look round and smooth, and the Slinky Dog part of the build is no different. The body also uses a few interesting techniques I haven’t seen before, like attaching bricks upside down and using empty space as a way to fit others in. The coolest part, however, is the curled metal spring that makes up Slinky Dog’s body. This is present on both the front and back halves of the dog, and when attached together the final build actually wobbles like a regular slinky would. It’s a really impressive detail that made this build just that much better.
The front half of Slink was essentially the same process, and building up his head and face was super fun. This again used intricate techniques to achieve a round head shape, and the massive cloth floppy ears and sausages for eyebrows are adorable touches. His green collar attaches in such a way that it’s loose and can be spun, another fun detail I appreciated.
One of the best parts of putting together Slinky Dog himself were his paws. His feet are pretty detailed, and the adorable toe beans will melt your heart if you’re a dog lover.
The last part of the build was putting together the larger, purple book. Like the blue book, it’s just attaching bricks until the shape is achieved, but theres an even more awesome and interactive Easter egg with this one.
The inside of the book features a mechanism where, when you turn the crank, one of the “walls” opens and reveal the Woody minifigure. But that’s not the only Easter egg; in this compartment are three-stud-tall references to iconic characters using their color schemes. These include Buzz Lightyear, Bow Peep, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, the three Aliens they adopted, and even a Pizza Planet box. I will say, however, this modern Woody minifigure isn’t as screen accurate as older versions, which was a bummer, if not necessarily a deal-breaker.
Functionally, this set serves well as a pair of bookends. It’s rather large, standing at over 8 inches high and 17 inches long, so you’ll likely have to make some space on your shelf. I was initially concerned that the sleek bricks would slide away once you’ve propped them against real books, but there’s a clever design built in beneath the books; there are four rubber stoppers, using LEGO tire pieces, at multiple points at the bottom of each book, so this adds plenty of traction to keep everything in place.
If you don’t want to use this set as a bookend, it’s modular enough to display it as part of your LEGO collection, and it looks great. You can detach Slink’s two halves, which can be slightly annoying without the right amount of leverage on the pins, but when he’s put together it’s a great decoration. But unlike the books, Slink’s feet do not come with rubber stopper for traction, so whether he’s in bookend form or not he can be a bit fussy to set up straight.
For more, check out every LEGO book nook and bookends set, plus our picks for the best Disney LEGO sets which includes Pixar sets as well.
LEGO Toy Story: Slinky Dog is available at Amazon and the LEGO Store for $149.99.
Myles Obenza is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Bluesky @mylesobenza.bsky.social.
