Review: 43272 Heihei
Posted by SetToBuild,
The characterful Heihei is a wonderful choice for the statuette or sculpture line. Last year, the Disney sculpture range brought us Simba and Stitch, and the announcement of Moana 2 offered us this adorable opportunity. Now Heihei can stare into the void eternally from the comfort of your home!
Summary
43272 Heihei, 566 pieces.
£34.99 / $39.99 / €39.99 | 6.2p/7.1c/7.1c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
The chicken lives! Adorable, but could be more articulated.
- Charmingly accurate
- Vibrant colourful new and existing pieces
- Limited articulation and posability
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Box
The box art is notable in having a sparse background, which emphasises Heihei’s striking colour scheme. The back of the box shows two subtle call-outs describing the (limited) articulation points available in the model and showing that the model is detachable from the stand. In fact, it’s very detachable—don’t pick it up by the body!
Completed Model
The designer nailed Heihei’s posture—it almost looks like he is about to bend down and peck at the ground, but he sadly can’t. While the straight-backed stance is accurate, the fact that his head can only rotate, not tilt, is a real shame. Animation in the form of a ball joint at the neck would have really been the finishing touch, allowing him to tilt his head curiously.
The tail is elegantly shaped with clips and bars, which hold reasonably firmly; time will tell if these start to droop. Great use of plant elements makes the smaller feathers stand out chaotically.
One element of articulation that is offered is Heihei’s adorable little flappy wings or ‘arms’. Standard mixels joints connect these to his torso.
Almost all of the parts, except for some ball joints, are of various bright colours. The 3 x 3 x 2 rocket cone element is seen in Dark Azure for the first time since 2018’s 41346 Friendship Box.
At the start of the head part of the build, there is a handy key to guide you through the similar-toned colours. However, with so many close colours in the rest of the build too, it would have been nice if they pulled this through the rest of the instructions, much like the instructions in 21333 Vincent van Gogh - The Starry Night.
The angled dishes for the eyes are perfect for Hei Hei’s bulbous eyes. There’s also a perfect use of the new 1x1 curved slope for his tiny beak.
I appreciate the use of the pink 1x1 stud to represent Hei Hei’s pea-sized brain—this gave a giggle during the build process!
The stand is lush and decorated well with a printed Hei Hei nameplate. The subtle details of the wooden appearance are reminiscent of 43252 Moana's Flowerpot, so much so that I think we’ll be displaying the two next to each other.
Fittingly for this colourful set, the extra pieces are also very vibrant.
Conclusion
Since this is the UCS Heihei, complete with stand and name plaque, I wish the designers had made the inclusion of a single figure on the stand. The oddly terrifying version of Heihei from 41150 Moana's Ocean Voyage was fortunately replaced by the much better version in 43183 Moana's Island Home in 2020. Fans will be delighted to learn that this later design is still in production, having come back in 2025’s 43258 Kakamora Barge.
Overall, this is a good-looking model and is an appropriate size for shelf display for both adults and children. The 9+ age range is reasonable given the complexity of the colours and connections, but children who’d struggle with that would likely still be enamoured with the bright and attractive model if built by others.
The desirability of this set is quite high in my view, attracting older fans of Moana (which was nine years ago now!) and new fans of Moana 2. I’d hope that retailers will drop this down to £30 or £25 to sweeten the appeal—Heihei is Mrs. SetToBuild’s favourite character from the movie, but she wasn’t very convinced by the £35 price tag.
Will Heihei be gracing your shelves? Or will you be immediately dismantling him for all his new recoloured parts? Let us know in the comments below.
113 likes
27 comments on this article
Not a snack. Do not eat Legos.
Know only of the existence of Moana because of the Lego sets and thus know nothing about the character, but I like what I see! It looks weird but in a fun, cartoonish way. Despite the decent PPP not quite sure if I see €40 of value here though, but maybe I'm just misjudging the size.
If Heihei weren't voiced by Alan Tudyk (who I've loved in everything I've seen or heard him in), I wouldn't really have any interest. But now, I'm somewhat tempted to get it and display it next to 75120, since Alan also voiced K-2SO.
It's so colorful and textured that I can imagine using a baseball bat to smash it open in order to get the taffy and hard candy inside. Would fit well alongside 40644 and 77071.
That looks very nice and cheerful.
At the inevitable discount it is certain to find a way into this Vaiana loving home.
"Boat snack!"
Haven't actually seen Moana, but I know that line.
;)
And so I wake in the morning
And I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream at the top of my lungs
What's going on?
@TheOtherMike said:
"If Heihei weren't voiced by Alan Tudyk (who I've loved in everything I've seen or heard him in), I wouldn't really have any interest. But now, I'm somewhat tempted to get it and display it next to 75120 , since Alan also voiced K-2SO."
I don't think I knew Tudyk voiced Heihei. I have 75120 as well. Such an awesome set. Looking forward to seeing the rumored K-2SO buildable character later this year.
Missed opportunity with the inability to have the boatsnack peck the ground.
I absolutely ADORE the colourfulness of this set! But, I have enough lego dust collectors on my shelves already so I don't think I will ever buy this one.
Space parts don’t often come in these colors. Thank goodness this space chicken exists!
@WizardOfOss said:
"Know only of the existence of Moana because of the Lego sets and thus know nothing about the character, but I like what I see! It looks weird but in a fun, cartoonish way. Despite the decent PPP not quite sure if I see €40 of value here though, but maybe I'm just misjudging the size."
yeah, it's decently sized but not really £35-sized - I think £25 is good, £30 is likely
I'm sorry "the passage of time", but there is simply no universe in which Moana came out 9 years ago.
These ubiquitous, feral chickens are the bane of my visits to Hawaii. Nevertheless, this set captures a lot of humor, and I can use it as a troll gift to relatives- once it's on sale.
I say! I say! I ain't payin' full price for a scrawny chicken!!
@tne328 said:
"It's so colorful and textured that I can imagine using a baseball bat to smash it open in order to get the taffy and hard candy inside. Would fit well alongside 40644 and 77071."
Careful, there. Those "hard candies" are literal rocks.
i was taking mine to display at work and when i took it out of my car i was holding the base and his feet so that he wouldnt fall but his ankles came off and he fell on the concrete in the parking lot and his eyes got some nice dings on them :(
"Heihei." With a name like that, who do you think of first, 4 Non Blondes, Michael Jackson, or He-Man?
@Alia_of_AGL said:
""Heihei." With a name like that, who do you think of first, 4 Non Blondes, Michael Jackson, or He-Man?"
Honestly, I can't remember the actor, or the show, but some sort of variety show (maybe In Living Color?) where one of the recurring characters would say, "Hey, HEY, Hey!" Otherwise, I'd have to go with The Nylons (Na na na na, na na na na, hey Heihei, goodbye).
@Alia_of_AGL said:
""Heihei." With a name like that, who do you think of first, 4 Non Blondes, Michael Jackson, or He-Man?"
Two guys whose names shouldn't be mentioned here, but their initials are B&B.
@tne328 said:
" @Alia_of_AGL said:
""Heihei." With a name like that, who do you think of first, 4 Non Blondes, Michael Jackson, or He-Man?"
Two guys whose names shouldn't be mentioned here, but their initials are B&B."
Huh-huh...
@StyleCounselor said:"I say! I say! I ain't payin' full price for a scrawny chicken!!"
If they do another Looney Tunes CMF series, I hope they give us a Foghorn Leghorn.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @StyleCounselor said:"I say! I say! I ain't payin' full price for a scrawny chicken!!"
If they do another Looney Tunes CMF series, I hope they give us a Foghorn Leghorn."
I know. So sad. :(
@TheOtherMike said:
" @StyleCounselor said:"I say! I say! I ain't payin' full price for a scrawny chicken!!"
If they do another Looney Tunes CMF series, I hope they give us a Foghorn Leghorn."
If they do another Looney Tunes CMF series, I hope it's Muppets instead, so I can get Gonzo in his suit and Pigs In Space. I already have Marvin the Martian.
Very colourful, although prefer it without the base plate as this seems to distract your attention and not really needed apart from increasing the piece count. Waiting to see the various attempts at neck articulation, but likely to leave gaps, so would look less appealing.
@Alia_of_AGL said:
""Heihei." With a name like that, who do you think of first, 4 Non Blondes, Michael Jackson, or He-Man?"
We're the Monkees?
@Volfogg said:
"i was taking mine to display at work and when i took it out of my car i was holding the base and his feet so that he wouldnt fall but his ankles came off and he fell on the concrete in the parking lot and his eyes got some nice dings on them :("
Me sucedió igual. Es muy inestable en la base y en los pies...
También resulta dificultoso distinguir ciertos colores muy parecidos en el proceso de construcción...
@ambr said:
"Very colourful, although prefer it without the base plate as this seems to distract your attention and not really needed apart from increasing the piece count. Waiting to see the various attempts at neck articulation, but likely to leave gaps, so would look less appealing."
Given the height and shape, without the display base, this thing would topple over like...well, like a chicken with its head cut off.