La Catrina LEGO Set Spotlights the Stylish Day of the Dead Figure

The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico have dazzled the world with their colors, imagery, and unique approach to death, promising a yearly visit from loved ones in the great beyond. At the center of these celebrations is La Catrina, a stylish personification of death that has become a symbol of the festivities. Honoring this figure and its legacy, LEGO has announced a 1,212-piece La Catrina set, arriving just in time for Día de Muertos.

José Guadalupe Posada, a famous Mexican cartoonist, created the original design for La Catrina and used it for political commentary. Particularly, it mocked people who pretended to hold higher positions than they did. “Death is democratic, because at the end of the day, whether you’re fair or dark-skinned, rich or poor, everyone ends up as a skeleton,” Posada would say. As such, La Catrina wears what upscale Mexican women would wear in the early 20th century, when this character was conceived. La Catrina was then adopted by muralist Diego Rivera as a representation of death, making it one of the most recognizable icons of Mexican culture around the world.

This symbolism inspired Mexican LEGO fan José Miguel Medina Pérez to create his own version of La Catrina. After seeing many clay sculptures of La Catrina during a trip to Michoacán, he set out to make one with LEGO bricks. However, due to how detailed the outfits can be and the search for anatomical accuracy, the process wasn’t as straightforward. “At first, I wanted to make a full skeleton focused only on the anatomical side. Then, I remembered those Catrina sculptures, imagined the challenge of building the dress and thought about the cultural impact it could have,” he tells LEGO. “In total, Medina spent more than 240 hours producing five versions until he was satisfied with the finished version.

Medina submitted his project to the LEGO Ideas platform, where fans share their creations with hopes of them becoming an official LEGO set one day. After reaching 10,000 votes, LEGO’s Review Board selected his Catrina. “This project means a lot to me because it represents an icon of my culture. I also hope it can inspire other fans to keep building,” he says.

The LEGO Catrina boasts marigolds and printed sugar skull decorations that attach to her hat and layered dress. You can also choose whether she holds a marigold, whose bright petals are believed to guide the spirits of the dead back to the living world, or a monarch butterfly, as many people believe it represents the souls of ancestors returning each year.

Once built, La Catrina stands over 17 inches tall. You can display it year-round as a nod to Mexican culture, or simply make it part of your seasonal decorations. It wouldn’t even be out of place as part of an ofrenda (an offering), particularly one dedicated to someone who enjoyed playing with LEGO in life.

You can order your La Catrina LEGO set on LEGO’s webstore by clicking here.