LEGO Mario Kart Luigi & Mach 8 72050 Review: Player Two Joins

🟢 Introduction — Player Two Has Entered the Race

🍄 This review is part of our LEGO Super Mario Hub – every Nintendo-flavoured LEGO set we have built and graded, from the Game Boy to the full Mario Kart grid.

In every Mario Kart household there is the player who calls Mario, and the player who insists on being Luigi. The LEGO Super Mario Mario Kart - Luigi & Mach 8 (72050) is the set for the second camp — and, realistically, for everyone who bought the Mario & Standard Kart set and immediately felt the itch to complete the grid. Luigi takes the wheel of the green Mach 8, and the shelf suddenly has a race on it.

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LEGO Super Mario Mario Kart - Luigi & Mach 8 (72050) (opens in a new tab)

Luigi in the green Mach 8 kart, built at matching scale to the Standard Kart so the pair line up as a proper two-kart grid.

I will be upfront, because it is the same honest caveat as its sibling: this is a compact 18+ display set, not a centrepiece. But that misses why these sets exist. They are not trying to be the biggest thing on your shelf — they are trying to capture the most-played game in your house in a form you can hold and pose. On that score, Luigi and the Mach 8 nail it. A 9/10 on its own, and the set that finally makes the Mario Kart corner of the shelf feel finished.

The key spec is that last one: matching scale. LEGO built these two sets to stand together, and the moment you line them up, the whole thing clicks into place — two karts, two brothers, one starting line.

🔧 Build Experience — Familiar Chassis, Fresh Personality

If you have built the Standard Kart, the Mach 8 will feel pleasantly familiar — and then quietly surprise you. The underlying chassis approach is the same clever curved-bodywork problem-solving, but the Mach 8’s styling is genuinely different. Where Mario’s kart is all smooth, enclosed panels, the Mach 8 has a more exposed, open-frame look, and LEGO leans into that with visible structural elements that would normally be hidden. It is the rare case where the “skeleton” is the aesthetic.

The green-and-white colour scheme is sharp, and the build avoids feeling like a recolour of its sibling because so much of the bodywork geometry is distinct. You are not building the same kart in a different colour — you are building a different kart that happens to share a parts philosophy. That distinction matters, and it is to LEGO’s credit that they bothered.

Luigi, like Mario, is a brick-built posable figure rather than a minifigure, and the design team absolutely nailed his energy. Where Mario grins with confidence, Luigi has that slightly anxious, taller, ganglier charm — and the printing and proportions capture it. Posing him gripping the wheel with a nervous expression is the photo you will take, and it is a great one.

It is a one-evening build, ideal for a relaxed Sunday afternoon and very easy to share with a kid who wants to help with the wheels and the figure.

🏎️ Design & Display — The Set That Completes the Picture

On its own, the Mach 8 is a handsome, distinctive little kart — the open frame and the green livery give it real presence at desk scale. But the honest truth, and the whole reason this set exists, is what happens when you put it next to Mario.

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LEGO Super Mario Mario Kart - Mario & Standard Kart (72037) (opens in a new tab)

The other half of the grid. Mario in the Standard Kart — get both and the shelf finally looks like a starting line rather than a single entry.

A single LEGO kart on a shelf looks like a charming one-off. Two karts, at matching scale, in their respective character liveries, look like a deliberate, collectible display — a starting grid frozen in brick. The pairing does something neither set quite achieves alone: it tells a story. Anyone who walks past instantly reads “Mario Kart,” and the rivalry between the red and green karts gives the display a narrative hook that a lone kart lacks.

Place the pair beside the LEGO Game Boy and you have a proper Nintendo shelf — the handheld that started it for our generation, and the karts our kids are obsessed with now. Old and new, side by side. That is exactly the kind of cross-generational display these sets are built to create.

👨‍👧‍👦 Family Fit — Built for the Luigi in Your House

Every family has its Luigi loyalist, and this set is catnip for them. There is a genuine thrill for a kid in owning the brick version of the character they always pick, and Luigi has a particularly devoted fanbase among younger players precisely because choosing him is a small act of personality.

Like its sibling, the build is approachable enough to co-build with an older child, and the finished kart is sturdy enough to survive being raced across the floor against Mario. In our house, the two karts immediately became a thing the kids set up and “raced” by hand, narrating the commentary themselves. That is the magic trick LEGO’s Nintendo line keeps pulling off: turning a digital obsession into a physical, shareable object.

For the dad gaming after bedtime, Luigi and the Mach 8 on the desk is a small, daily grin — a reminder of the most reliably fun part of the family week.

There is also a small parenting win hiding in here. In our house, owning both karts quietly defused the eternal “I want the one you have” argument, because each kid could lay claim to a kart. Mario for one, Luigi for the other — and suddenly the display became a shared, slightly territorial thing they both cared about rather than a single object to squabble over. It is a minor detail, but anyone who has refereed a sibling dispute over a single toy will recognise the value of “there are two, one each.”

🔋 Long-Term: The Pair That Keeps Earning Its Keep

A few months on, the two-kart grid is still on the shelf, and it is the pairing that keeps it there. A single display piece can start to feel like clutter once the novelty fades; a deliberate little scene — two rival karts lined up at the start — reads as intentional decor and keeps its charm. The matching scale was clearly the point, and it pays off over time: the karts look like a curated set rather than two impulse buys, and that “collection” quality is exactly what stops a display piece from drifting into a drawer. If LEGO extends the Mario Kart line with more characters, this is the kind of grid you will happily keep adding to — and that long-tail collectibility is a real part of the value here.

💰 Value — Buy the Pair, Thank Yourself Later

Priced sensibly for a compact 18+ build, the Mach 8 offers the same clever techniques and posable-figure charm as its sibling. As a standalone purchase it is good value for a distinctive display piece.

But the real recommendation is unambiguous: buy it with the Mario & Standard Kart set. Individually, each set is a 9/10 desk piece that feels like half a story. Together, they are the complete Mario Kart display, and the value of the pair is greater than the sum of the two boxes. For the full line-up of our Nintendo-themed builds, see the LEGO Super Mario Hub; for the wider grown-up shelf, the LEGO 18+ Hub.

📌 FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions

What is the LEGO set number for Luigi and the Mach 8?

The set number is 72050, sold as Mario Kart - Luigi & Mach 8. It includes the green Mach 8 kart and a posable brick-built Luigi figure.

Is LEGO Mario Kart 72050 worth it?

Yes — especially as the second half of a pair. Luigi in the Mach 8 is a great build in its own right, and beside the Mario & Standard Kart set it turns the shelf into a proper grid. A 9 out of 10.

Do I need the Mario set (72037) too?

You do not need it, but you will want it. The two karts are built to matching scale and are clearly designed to be displayed together. As a single kart Luigi looks slightly lonely; as a pair the display is complete.

What kart is the Mach 8?

The Mach 8 is one of the standard karts from Mario Kart 8, with a distinctive open-frame look. LEGO captures that exposed-engine styling, which gives it a different silhouette from Mario’s Standard Kart rather than being a simple green repaint.

Can children build LEGO Mario Kart 72050?

It is rated 18+ for display, but a confident builder around age 10 and up can manage it with a hand from an adult. The finished kart rolls on rubber tyres and is sturdy enough to survive being raced across the floor.