Review: 43231 Asha's Cottage
Posted by CapnRex101,
The majority of Disney sets introduced this year have celebrated the studio's 100th anniversary, revisiting some cherished films and characters from the past. However, new releases continue too, including Wish, an animated film arriving in December.
LEGO has developed three sets focused on Wish, including 43231 Asha's Cottage. The architecture of the model appears surprisingly detailed and I can easily envisage this forming part of a medieval or rural display. However, this high standard of detail has seemingly resulted in an expensive price, of £46.99, $49.99 or €52.99.
Summary
43231 Asha's Cottage, 509 pieces.
£46.99 / $49.99 / €52.99 | 9.2p/9.8c/10.4c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Asha's cottage looks fantastic and provides broad appeal, other than its price
- Beautiful architecture
- Vibrant colour scheme
- Great selection of characters
- A little overpriced
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Mini-Dolls
Asha is the main character in Wish and appears in all three sets, wearing the same lavender and pink dress in each. The intricate triangular detail around the neckline and shoulders looks superb and I love the pinned section of her dress, showing more patterned material underneath. This design continues to the very edge of Asha's skirt and appears very realistic.
The mini-doll also features a new hair component, beautifully moulded with complex braids. This element is made from the standard plastic, which I prefer to the rubber sometimes used for mini-dolls. Asha includes an exclusive head too, adorned with brown eyes and freckles, which match the character's appearance in the film.
As the title of the movie suggests, Wish explores the customary idea of wishing upon a star. In this case, a Star actually descends to fulfil wishes and is represented here by a unique piece. Unsurprisingly, the character looks adorable, featuring a fun facial expression and five points that resemble limbs, although Star is able to float on a trans-clear base.
Asha's mother and grandfather are provided as well, beginning with Sakina. This mini-doll is another with a relatively new hair element, appearing in black for only the second time, after 60367 Passenger Airplane. Sakina should wear a pink headdress, but her garb is otherwise accurate to the movie and the headdress would probably have required a new piece.
Sabino is an interesting mini-doll, including a wrinkled head, which are fairly scarce for male characters in Friends and Disney sets. However, the wrinkles and smile on Sabino's face are noticeably exaggerated, so correspond with his animated appearance, but could be difficult to integrate with Friends, for example. The character's clothing and cape look perfect though.
The Completed Model
A well stands outside Asha's cottage, which past Disney movies have shown to be an effective location for making wishes! The combination of dark bluish grey and light bluish grey elements looks good and I like the stickered stonework on both sides, as well as the textured roof on top. The same building technique is used on Asha's cottage, so there is a nice consistency between them.
The cottage is by far my favourite aspect of this set, representing a clear departure from other medieval or otherwise old-world buildings produced before. The curvature of the exterior looks lovely and the colour scheme is beautiful too, especially with bright light yellow used across the roofs. Moreover, the model measures 18cm wide, which feels like a good size for play, without being needlessly large.
However, you can widen the building because its curved walls are assembled using hinges. I favour the more compact structure shown above, but this feature is needed for play inside the cottage and alternatives for display are always welcome. Even the gaps between the lower and upper floors are not terribly obvious from the front.
The doors and windows are lavender, which is a lovely accent colour for the cottage. I like the printed shutters in particular and these pieces seem sure to prove popular for other creations. The brickwork underneath is instead represented by stickers and reminds me of the patterns seen on giraffes, providing further detail to Asha's home.
Also, the green curved slopes around the base look nice, especially under the tree towards the left side of the cottage. The bright green 1x4 double curved slopes are interesting as well. They were seemingly designed for Donkey Kong and are only available here in this colour. In addition, the teal leaves are surprisingly effective, combined with traditional green and brown shades.
Bright light yellow 2x3 rock elements create the texture of straw on the roofs. These pieces look splendid and I find the mixture of yellow colours appealing as well, further giving the impression of rich texture. The windows and their wooden supports are equally attractive, notably including a printed panel for the central window, rather than the sticker I had expected.
Turning the model around reveals its interior. The space is modest, but large enough to include plenty of detail and place the mini-dolls. The beautiful colours of the exterior continue inside, as most of the furnishings are orange or various shades of pink, employing stickers to add finishing touches where necessary.
The compact shape would limit access to the ground floor, but fortunately the walls are hinged, as mentioned earlier. This configuration brightens the entrance to the cottage and shows more detail along the walls. However, there are no clips to secure the walls when they are closed, so this mechanism could perhaps have been improved.
A wooden cabinet is placed against the wall, containing some cutlery inside its drawers. The pearl gold highlights look nice and a printed book is kept beside the cabinet, featuring a floral design on its cover. This doubtless originates from Wish, but seems generic enough to appear elsewhere. Like the aforementioned window, this printed book cover was a pleasant surprise.
Additionally, a printed 1x2 tile is found inside, including illustrations of Star and Valentino. The latter is Asha's goat companion, who appears physically in 43223 Asha in the City of Rosas. A small dining table occupies the area in the middle of the house. The magenta tablecloth stands out and I like the stickered cake, with its decoration in the shape of a smiling face.
Glittery lamps frame the dining area, again providing some colour. Otherwise, the ground floor also features another cabinet and a fireplace, complete with a printed 1x1 tile on the chimney breast. This intriguing emblem appears repeatedly throughout this set, between Asha's dress, the cover of the book and stickers on the upper level.
The bedroom upstairs is more reliant on stickers for detail than the space below, unfortunately. Even so, the stickers are easy to apply and only that on the fireplace bothers me, as I think the flames could have been brick-built. The patterned rug and bedding look superb, while the plates displayed on the wall appear decidedly Spanish in style, reflecting the Iberian setting of Wish.
My favourite detail in the bedroom is definitely the knitting basket, which contains an orange Technic sphere for yarn and chopsticks as knitting needles! The sticker above displays Asha, alongside the symbol shown on the fireplace. In addition, Sabino's lute hangs on the wall and this accessory is relatively uncommon, having only appeared three times before.
Overall
43231 Asha's Cottage looks marvellous from the outside, as expected. I love the bright colour scheme and the curvature of the building is appealing, differing from equivalent sets produced before. The interior is slightly less impressive, although still provides ample opportunity for play. Moreover, the three mini-dolls and Star are brilliantly detailed.
In fact, the only weakness of this set is its price, in my opinion. £46.99, $49.99 or €52.99 feels quite expensive for a model of this size, which is unfortunate because I think a more affordable price could have attracted fans of medieval buildings, who might modify the model for display with 10305 Lion Knights' Castle, for instance. For that reason, I look forward to the inevitable discounts.
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14 comments on this article
Nice review, and I agree, it does look quite nice from the outside.
I know very little about this movie but this is SUCH a cute set, with a great-looking build and an absolute ABUNDANCE of interesting recolored and printed pieces. That definitely is reflected in the price, though.
I’m surprised you didn’t comment on the Hidden Mickeys on the cake and the plates…
Funny this movie is out relatively soon, and I've still yet to see it advertised anywhere... Read what you want into that, but it seems like Disney isn't doing very much to push it.
As for the set, its a very 'Disney Princess' looking little cottage and the mix of yellow parts and shapes do a great job of representing a thatched roof. Can see why they've gone the sticker heavy route for some of the detailing, though I think the curved green slopes meant to represent grass are a little out of place.
Price wise... Disney Tax in effect yet again. Yes its 509 peices, but quite a few of those are single studs/tiles and other small and common parts. Overall it feels more like it should be a £35 set then a nearly £48 one.
Such a hopelessly charming and nicely detailed little thing, very easy to swap out some of the brighter colours to make it more "realistic" and blend it in with a medieval or rural setting.
Sabino looks like palpatine!
@beige said:
" @Mister_Jonny said:
"I’m surprised you didn’t comment on the Hidden Mickeys on the cake and the plates…"
Okay that made me reread the article"
Same here.
It reminds me of Elves, which is only a good thing.
That star piece would make a good Lumalee for the Mario theme!
https://mario.fandom.com/wiki/Lumalee_(The_Super_Mario_Bros._Movie)
It feels like the sets from this wave have no right looking as great as they do!
Good review! Honestly, the price of this set in USD doesn't seem too terribly exorbitant to me. As an Elves fan the closest comparison that came to mind was 41174, another quaint, fairy-tale-influenced two-story building… but this set seems bigger and more interesting to me inside and out thanks to the "round" construction, creatively desgined fireplaces and chimney, elaborate thatched roof, front awning, and cozy dining room.
It's also got a decent variety of figures and accessories for its size — at least enough so to furnish and populate the interior without any space seeming "wasted" or any flagrant omissions to someone like me with no awareness of the movie. $40 would probably seem fairer to me for a set like this if it were just a matter of size/volume, but the amount of detail and complexity elevates it enough that I would probably expect a price tag more like $45 even if it weren't licensed.
All in all, I think the designers did a really good job here! Certainly compared to some past Disney sets from earlier in the theme's lifetime, this one seems less like one that will need designers to give it a "second pass" a few years later for the design to really feel well-rounded and satisfying. Thanks again for the detailed photos and writeup!
@Zink said:
"Stickers galore. Hot take: LEGO shouldn't use stickers at all. "
There are quite a few prints too. Is it just me, or are prints becoming more common recently?
@ozbrickcreator said:
"That star piece would make a good Lumalee for the Mario theme!
https://mario.fandom.com/wiki/Lumalee_(The_Super_Mario_Bros._Movie) "
That was my thought as soon as the sets were announced. I hope we get Mario Galaxy sets next year with a bunch of different coloured Luma.
I guess the people complaining about the stickers were also upset the set wasn't more expensive?