Review: 41061 Jasmine’s Exotic Palace
Posted by LostInTranslation,
Amid all of the publicity about the LEGO Frozen set, the rest of the 2015 Disney Princess range has seemed to pass under the radar somewhat. I for one was very happy to see the inclusion of the set I am about to review, 41061 Jasmine’s Exotic Palace, in the line-up, whilst disappointed to see yet another based on The Little Mermaid (is Ariel really so popular as to merit 3 sets in the first two waves, ahead of characters such as Belle or Snow White?).
I suspect (or rather, I pray!) their time will come eventually though. As well as featuring a different character, this set also has the added bonus for me that it has a vaguely Middle Eastern style of architecture, which I love and hasn’t been seen much since the short-lived Prince of Persia theme.
The set contains 143-pieces, including one minidoll of the set’s title character Jasmine, which is, in my opinion, outstanding. The design of her turquoise outfit is extremely accurate to the classic representation of her and the new hairpiece is spot-on, even down to including her trademark gold earrings. While I do in general prefer minifigures over dolls, I would go as far as to say that I think this is one of the best ever reproductions of a well-known character in LEGO form.
Jasmine is accompanied in the set by her pet tiger Rajah, reusing the tiger cub from several 2014 Friends sets. This tiger is really too cute to serve as Rajah and is not quite the right colour but in terms of size, I think the proportions are acceptable since Rajah is shown as being rather large in relation to Jasmine.
Now on to the build. The parts are divided up into two bags and there are also two instruction books and one small sticker sheet. This set contains a lot of new or rare parts; I’ve taken a picture of the most uncommon ones. The last few years have seen a big expansion in the palette of colours available and it is fantastic to see the range of parts in colours such as medium lavender and magenta increasing. The most interesting new parts, in my opinion, are the two 2x4 printed tiles which form the basis of the magic carpet, but I’ll talk more about those when we get to that part of the build.
The set as a whole is actually comprised of six separate builds which together form the overall scene. First up is a small palm tree with a drumstick lying at its base, presumably Rajah’s dinner. The tree is simple but effective, though I do wish that the connector at the top was reddish brown rather than black or that there were four palm leaves included to cover this up to a greater extent.
Next we build the magic carpet, and I have to say I think the designers have done an excellent job with the printed pattern on the tiles, which seems to me an extremely accurate reproduction, although personally I always thought of the carpet’s colour as being more purple than blue but perhaps LEGO purple would be too dark and hence blue was chosen. The base of the carpet is formed of some rare bright light orange pieces, with clips jutting out to represent tassels. On the underside, two boat studs are used to reinforce the connections of the plates but the unfortunate side effect of this is that, on a flat surface, the carpet becomes unbalanced when Jasmine is seated on it, even with Rajah beside her, and it tips to one side. I would have quite liked a moulded or brick-built magic carpet character to be included as well, to show that it has a personality as well rather than merely being a mode of transportation.
The next mini-build is a plinth with the famous lamp atop it, which is the same as the lamp twice used in the collectible minifigures series. The final build in book 1 is a market stall selling some kind of potions which again is simply but effectively designed. The tile on the front sadly has a sticker applied to it rather than being printed, but I do like the design used, mimicking some kind of Middle Eastern blanket or throw. Alongside the market stall there is a barrel containing a snake, with a pearl gold lightsaber handle presumably representing a flute for charming said snake.
Book 2 begins with yet another mini-build (reminds me of the advent calendar, only better!), this time of a fountain, which is another simple but elegant model. I was surprised that the nose cone is situated in between four studs on the round plate forming the base as I wasn’t sure if that was a ‘legal connection’, but in view of the small space available, I guess a round jumper plate would not have fit inside the four white macaronis.
Finally we come to the main build, of a lounge area of the palace. The colour scheme of white walls with a gold domed roof is perfect, and the accents of medium lavender complement this well, brightening up colours that might otherwise be a bit dull (though obviously more realistic!). The window patterns on the walls are again stickers and while I don’t mind that stickers are used, I would prefer it if their white background matched the white of the wall element so that they aren’t quite so noticeable.
Inside the lounge, I absolutely adore the magenta floor cushion with the patterned sticker on top. I think this is an excellent use of stickers and looks very effective.
So far, so good. But you may have noticed I haven’t mentioned the elephant in the room – no, not Abu when transformed under Genie’s spell. It’s the A-word: Aladdin.
When drafting this review I found myself repeatedly making the same observation for each section of the build:
Why have we got the lamp when there’s no Aladdin to rub it (or Genie to emerge from it for that matter?).
Why have we got the carpet, when Jasmine is not seen to ride it in the film without Aladdin?
Why do we have a market stall, which is where Jasmine meets Aladdin, without our street rat hero?
I don’t mind that this set is composed of a number of small separate sections but these ought to make sense from a storytelling point of view, and without any additional characters I feel that this is lacking. Aside from the obvious ones of Aladdin and his simian sidekick Abu, we could have had the Sultan (Jasmine’s father), the Genie, Jafar or even generic characters such as a palace guard, snake charmer or market seller. I suppose that this all stems from licensing and merchandising rights but it is such a shame. This is a recurring problem with the Disney Princess theme, and whereas with a minifigure line you can create other characters as you please without them standing out, there are not enough minidoll body parts (in particular male ones) to achieve this.
I am planning to ransack my old Prince of Persia sets in order to expand this set into a full-blown Agrabah scene including fleshed-out versions of the market and the Sultan’s palace but then I will have to use minifigures for other characters and lose the fabulous Jasmine minidoll. Darn you TLG, for putting me in this predicament!
Anyway, in conclusion, this set, as the sum of its parts contains some lovely design features and interesting builds, plus an array of uncommon parts. For its price point of £19.99/$19.99, I think it is good value for money. However, for anyone who loves the film (like me), when building this set I think you will have a vague nagging feeling that something essential is missing...
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17 comments on this article
I don't think it stops them including Aladdin but I think it stipulates which version of Aladdin - I'm pretty sure I've seen Disney Princess licenced merch that featured Aladdin in his Prince outfit. I think it does however rule out Genie and Sultan.
Nice review Lucy, this is one of the few from this wave I wouldn't mind having, but mainly for carpet and some of the parts for other use.
I couldn't help but think that the additional Little Mermaid set might be to get the most out of the minidoll mermaid tail piece - I'm also expecting a Mermaid character to turn up in the elves theme if it continues into next year.
Apologies for my ignorance but what are the licensing issues with including Aladdin and co? Is it because the line is exclusively for Disney princesses (literally adhering to the theme title) and nothing much else?
As amazing and accurate as these mini dolls are at representing the characters, I can't help but feel that the figures aren't very Lego-y (I only own the Frozen set), with only the hands (barely, since they're immovable) and feet being stud-friendly, and head I suppose being compatible with Lego-hair. They look like those Polly Pocket figurines ha. Ah who am I to argue if they're selling well, I suppose the same could be argued for Star Wars figures with special moulded heads and other characters being completely moulded like Salacious Crumb etc.
The Princesses merchandising licence focuses on specific characters that Disney have 'Coronated' as Princesses, and any toys etc in the licence have to generally have to focus on romance elements of the stories.
To focus on romance, an Aladdin would be very helpful to recreate the A-Whole-New-World-Flying-Carpet-Love-Scene in Aladdin. (if not even essential!)
:(
Rajah is accurate to at least one split-second moment in the movie! Jafar turns him into a cub near the end of the film. Hehe.
Unless Im mistaken, Ariel and Cinderella both have their male couterparts/love interests represented in their sets. Maybe Aladdin will be coming with another set!
belle! my dog is named after hearing!
Good review, spot on; definitely needs an Aladdin. Got this for my 6 year old daughter at the weekend and she loves it, been playing with it, her Rapunzel tower and some Friends minidolls every evening since.
If the theme is all about romance how are they doing "Brave", no romance there.
Better get this one quick before they pull it like Jabba's Palace.
How do the carpet prints look, if you put them directly together?
There's absolutely nothing that rules out Aladdin appearing in the future. The smaller sets in this range all have only one mini-doll (with assorted animal characters) as far as I'm aware, so its not really a surprise he wasn't included in this one.
Reading some comments here I can't help thinking: Is there some "princess club" legal something inside the Disney theme? Isn't that just a group of Disney characters that happen to be princesses?
Thanks for all the comments.
I don't know all the ins and outs of Disney Princess merchandising/licensing but I'm sure I read somewhere that rights to other characters like Villains and other title characters like Aladdin were negotiated separately.
Even if we couldn't have Aladdin though, I think my point still stands: Why no other characters at all? Seriously, how many other sets in different themes at the £19.99 price point (or even £24.99 in the case of Cinderella's carriage) have only *one* figure?
As I said in the review, I like the build part of the set (and other DP sets) and I like the minidolls but the number of characters per set is letting the line as a whole down.
I REALLY don't like this set. $19.99 is way too much for 143 pieces and ONE figure, much less the British equivalent of $30.27. That's absolute highway robbery. Price aside, Aladdin is missing, that little cub is a poor excuse for a tiger, and the build is frankly a piece of junk. I would only consider it on a deep sale for the parts.
I don't get why TLG is so stingy with minidolls either. Pretty much every other theme has 2-4 minifigs in this price range, but in all the minidoll/girl-oriented themes, you wont get more than 1 figure under $30. Are they more expensive to produce?
And I don't think there is anything limiting them from making Aladdin. We got Prince Charming, Eric, and Flynn, so why not Aladdin?
Why no Aladdon? My opinion is his fez. There is no hairpiece with a fez and it would be a limited use mold. Were a minidoll Aladdin made without the fez it would just give the haters more reason to hate.
I am really surprised that Jasmine's hair was done so perfectly. She is a great minidoll. TLG probably couldn't justify two new expensive molds in one set that would have such limited uses.
Hmmm... reading this review makes me want an actual Disney catch-all theme...