LEGO 21251 Steve’s Desert Expedition Review

Watch the full build and review on our StudSource YouTube channel.

After our little filming disaster with the Lightning McQueen set, we scaled things way down for LEGO 21251 to get the whole build and review process figured out. Steve’s Desert Expedition is about as small and low-stakes as a Minecraft set gets, and that made it the perfect reset.

Building LEGO 21251

75 pieces, and StudSon put it together fast. This is a 6+ set, and it showed. He compared it directly to the Lightning McQueen build he had just finished, which is a 9+ set with roughly 270 pieces, almost four times as many. Nothing in this one gave him any trouble.

The scene itself is simple but charming. You get Steve, a Phantom, a baby camel, and a small desert campsite with a crafting table, a chest, a campfire, and a block of ice. StudSon’s favorite part was the Phantom, specifically how it goes together. It has real wings, a tail, and a printed piece for its eyes, which he called out as a nice detail. Every printed piece in this set is exactly that, printed, not a sticker. Coming right after a set full of stickers, that stood out to both of us.

The full build: the Phantom perched above, Steve and the baby camel out front, and the small desert campsite with crafting table, chest, and campfire tucked in the middle.

StudDad’s Take

I am giving this one a 9 out of 10, and I mean that. This is not a set that needs to be complicated to work. At $10.99 for 75 pieces, it is a genuinely easy pickup for a stocking stuffer, a birthday party favor, or something to keep on hand for the next time your kid has a friend over who is into Minecraft. Everybody wants Steve, and this set gets you Steve without any fuss.

Funny enough, I actually bought this one back in October 2024 for $6.59 on sale, and it sat in the pile for almost two years before we finally got around to building it. That is the kind of set this is: cheap enough to grab on impulse and small enough that it is never a big deal to let it wait its turn.

Now that it has retired, third-party sellers on Amazon are asking around $18 for it, more than 60 percent over the original $10.99 MSRP. That is the retirement tax in action on even the smallest, cheapest sets. If you can find it closer to MSRP anywhere else, grab it there instead. At $18 it is still a fine pickup, just know you are paying a real premium for a set that used to cost about a third of that.

Steve with his diamond pickaxe, next to the baby camel. LEGO even includes a spare nose piece in case the little one on the camel gets lost.

StudSon’s Take

He said this was definitely easier than Lightning McQueen, no surprise given the piece count and age rating difference. Nothing about the build gave him trouble. His favorite piece was the Phantom, and he did have one honest gripe: he wishes there were a mommy camel to go with the baby one, since LEGO only includes the single baby camel in the box. He said he would recommend this set to another kid who likes Minecraft. He gave it a 7 out of 10, and was upfront that his score reflects that he has not been playing as much Minecraft lately as he used to.

Should You Buy It?

Yes, especially if you want a low-cost, no-stress Minecraft set to have on hand. It builds fast, it comes with Steve, and the Phantom and baby camel give it more personality than a set this small usually has. It officially retired at the end of 2025, but small sets like this one tend to hang around on Amazon and other retailers well past their official exit date, so it is still worth a look.

Check Current Price on Amazon →