Review: 41062 Elsa's Sparkling Ice Castle
Posted by CapnRex101,
Frozen is perhaps the greatest film phenomenon of recent years and one might therefore have expected LEGO to have produced sets related to the movie before now. However, just over a year after the film was released we finally have our first taste of Disney's Frozen in LEGO form with the release of 41062 Elsa's Sparkling Ice Castle, priced at £34.99 or $39.99 and consisting of 292 pieces. This does not seem like great value at first look but as many pieces are large or brand new, I think it is justified.
But was it worth the year long wait? I have to confess that I have indeed watched and enjoyed Frozen, so have a good idea of what Elsa's ice palace actually looks like. Personally I would have focused on more purple and blue colours in a model of the castle than there are on the official version, although many of its main features are captured effectively and it is still easily recognisable even if some artistic licenses have been taken.
Box and Contents
The box is a little smaller than I had expected given the price point but the artwork is nevertheless rather attractive, featuring snowcapped mountains and pine trees as one might expect. There is a liberal spread of sparkles over the castle and, unusually but not at all surprising, a large Frozen logo in the corner. Often we see the relevant princess here but in this case both Elsa and Anna are present stood behind the Disney Frozen banner, which makes sense as that is what will catch the eye of a girl walking past the shelf I am sure!
On the back we can see the inside of the palace, some of the features and the many accessories included. There are three numbered bags, two instruction booklets and one chrome-backed sticker sheet inside the box as well as a loose 8x16 plate.
Minidolls
The three figures included are probably the greatest draw to this set. The first of these is Anna, the naive princess of Arendelle who could be considered the film's main character. This is my favourite of the three as she is not only the most detailed, but also the most accurate to her appearance in the movie. Her hair piece is a brand new mould complete with twin braids and fur lined hat. Anna's head is detailed with blue eyes, freckles and a smile, which is a new and exclusive design. The detailed printing on her torso and dress pieces is accurate to the film as is the pink cape which wraps around her shoulders. Anna is equipped with a torch for her journey, which makes use of an ice cream cone piece unusually.
The Anna minidoll is, in my opinion, about as good as it could be. Unfortunately the same cannot quite be said for Elsa. Perhaps Elsa's most famous attribute is her pale hair, which has not been captured very well by this new blonde component. The colour is not quite as it should be and her ponytail, which is draped over her shoulder for much of the movie, instead hangs down behind her. Although these issues are easily overlooked, it is a shame that this exclusive piece was not designed to be more accurate. However, the rest of Elsa looks great as she wears the light blue dress seen in the film, a sparkly cape not unlike Vitruvius' from The LEGO Movie and wields a trans blue flame piece to represent the ice she magically produces from her hands. I am disappointed that this figure is not a little better, but since this is surely not the last Frozen set we will see there should be plenty of chances to rectify this issue in future.
The final figure included is the enormously popular Olaf. Although he is not strictly a minidoll he fits nicely with the two sisters and is easily recognisable as the animate snowman even if he is a little oversized. His body and arms are brick built and look great, making good use of a pair of brown carrot toppers. His head on the other hand is a unique piece complete with a single tooth and enormous grin. An orange unicorn horn completes this figure although he is still missing the few twigs which make up his hair in the film. This slight inaccuracy is once again a little bit frustrating but he still closely resembles his film counterpart, so this is not a major omission in my opinion.
The Completed Model
Elsa's ice palace in the film is enormous and as such I would not have expected to see a model at anything like that scale. However, the purple and white colour scheme of the castle is plain to see and I would have liked the LEGO version to capture that a little better. If one were to replace all the trans-light blue pieces with parts the same colour as the snowflake at the top this set would look fantastic, as it is, it only really approximates the appearance of the palace in the movie.
The first bag only builds a few smaller models to accompany the ice castle including a picnic rug, icy slope and sled for Anna. These greatly improve the playability, particularly the sled which can slide down the slope to launch it across the floor. On hardwood flooring it can go a couple of feet thanks to the four skis, although it stalls almost immediately on carpet. There is room to seat Anna comfortably and the sled as a whole looks rather elegant with scrolled details on either side. A red and white rug is included with a sandwich and cookie for recreating Olaf's song 'In Summer' in which he ponders how it might be to experience Summer. Another cookie is hidden beneath the icy slope, which also provides storage for a pair of ice skates.
Elsa's ice palace itself is a grand affair, although it is not particularly large, only measuring about 23cm or 9 inches in height. The large entranceway has a couple of steps up to it with flowers on either side and there is a sparkling crystal inside. This is just one of five pieces in the brand new glitter trans-light blue colour which looks fantastic here giving the impression of both ice and falling snow.
Some substantial artistic license has been take on the ground floor as we find an ice cream dispenser, an ice lolly and a chocolate ice cream cone. Although this is obviously not at all accurate I appreciate some humorous additions and this area undoubtedly increases playability even further!
There is also a seat, a pair of skis and a small tree on the bottom level as well as a moveable spiral staircase which leads up to the first floor. The ability to move the staircase is built in to the design of the component parts but I wonder whether this feature is supposed to recreate how the palace grows organically as Elsa sings 'Let It Go.' This is about as close as the designer could have got to recreating that scene and it does the job well.
The second floor contains a bed, flaming torch and accessories table with a tiara and perfume bottle. The tiara fits nicely on Elsa's hair piece for when she returns to Arendelle and the balcony where she finishes singing is also present, although unfortunately without the doors to slam.
On the top floor is another cushioned seat, a letter and a book, which I suspect is intended to be Hans Christian Andersen's Snow Queen given the cover, on which the film is loosely based. The entire castle is topped with a trans-purple snowflake piece, which has not appeared in this colour since 2007. This is the ideal colour when compared to the film and completes the model nicely.
Overall
To be honest it doesn't really matter how good the set actually is as the Frozen branding is what will sell it to most buyers I am sure. However, this is a pretty impressive incarnation of Elsa's palace in my opinion which recreates many of the major features as well as including some play features and accessories. The colours are not perfect with regard to accuracy but they convey the snow and ice of the scene very effectively and contribute to a striking display model.
The addition of a couple of smaller models from other parts of the film is very welcome and it is a delight seeing Olaf in LEGO form, particularly since he is not integral to this scene in the film and therefore did not have to be included.
Although I have one or two reservations about the Elsa minidoll and I would have preferred to see a bit more purple on her palace this is a great set as a whole, which I can wholeheartedly recommend to any Frozen fan. There is an impressive parts selection if you are looking for a set to harvest for pieces, but I doubt we will ever see much of a price reduction on this set as it will no doubt fly off the shelves. Now that we have this model, I cannot wait for more Frozen sets!
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25 comments on this article
Thanks for another great Minidoll set review. I really appreciate it, and it has made me more excited for this set which is not one that I really wanted but my daughter chose to pick up when we order on a January 1st from shop.lego.com.
I have to disagree with the hair piece mold for Elsa. Having it drape over her shoulder, I think, would create a piece that is either too bulky if designed for stability or too flimsy if designed for aesthetics. Designing it to lie on the shoulder and allow for the cape and movement would be difficult. The hair, as is, is easily recognizable as Elsa's. The coloring could be closer, but I'm not going to fault it either as it matches many official Disney images well.
The Olaf figure really does look great using some standard LEGO pieces.
The stairs, I think, are a nice coincidence for the "Let It Go" scene. Rapunzel's Creativity Tower also using the spiraling staircase pieces.
The crazed Walt Disney World fan in me would like to think that Disney has ordered TLG to not make a set larger than the Cinderella's castle set from last year hence the smaller than expected size of this set. I was disappointed with the size of Rapunzel's tower from the pictures, but when I build it, I though it was perfect for the theme. I don't own this set yet, but I think I'm find it's size appropriate too.
The Disney Princess theme is new, and we all been made aware of how long ahead of time TLG develops sets. I don't find it odd that it has taken TLG this long to release the set. It's not like they were working with Disney to release a theme along with the movie like With The Lone Ranger from several years ago. Sofia the First is only making her first appearance in DUPLO this year which is something I have been promising my daughter since we watched the opening movie in November of 2012 and I knew Jake and the Neverland Pirates sets were coming in 2013. We may not like it, but we have to wait for things sometimes.
Thanks so much for the link to the video, now I'll have that tune stuck in my head for the rest of the day :-)
Great review, Chris, thanks!
The film is very annoying and isn't anything special but the set looks great for parts and the mini dolls are nice.
Despite some drawbacks and dislikes, first and foremost this is a kids toy.
That being said, we got this for my daughter this Christmas.
She absolutely loved it... and in her eyes it is perfect.
That is all that really matters IMHO.
I find the review to be a little bit ironic.
'This does not seem like great value at first look but as many pieces are large or brand new, I think it is justified.'
I remember when people complained about big LEGO pieces. Boy have times changed.
^ Not at all. Those complaints were in reaction to large, juniorised pieces which were unnecessary, while the large pieces in this set are just plates and rock wall components needed to capture the organic shape of the palace.
I just wanted to point out the irony of having the torches in the ICE castle. Not sure they mix well........
All the same, great review, Cap'n!
Can't wait to get this - going looking for it this week! >.<
Thanks for a wonderful indepth review. Looking forward to adding this set and the new 2015 Disney Princess sets to my collection.
Lego trivia: The trans-purple snowflake piece is not new. It was in the 2005 Lego Belville: Hans Christian Andersen set 5961: Snow Queen.
This piece was even highlighted on the 5961 box side as the 1:1 scale photo insert.
Lego has come full circle. :)
If this set were released before Christmas and given a small amount of promotional advertising, I think it would have flown off the shelves and we would have another Elsa-doll panic-buying situation on our hands. :D But having said that, once kids find out about this set, I think it will sell like hot cakes anyway, and if they release a few more sets in the run-up to next Christmas, I foresee them to be massively popular. I expect Frozen will continue to be almost as big a phenomenon next year as it is now, if not bigger (as scary as that sounds ha).
Love the review and agree with almost all of it. My daughters loved building this and have no complaints about the size. As a parent I was glad it came in at a lower pricepoint even if it was smaller than it could have been. Also getting used to mini dolls and minifigures playing together so perhaps Gandalf and Emmet might stop by for a visit.
not a fan of friends and the disney princesses, but they have all the colour varieties that i like. This set is more trans and white, so it's not a draw for me.
As a suggestion, if u want to build a larger castle, u can buy and build up 2 sets, then place them back to back (with a few minor amendments to the staircase). so the possibility to build alternatives is quite good.
Thanks for this review. My brother found this set for us before Christmas, and we gave it to our daughter from Santa. She was very excited to get it, and she built it Day 1. She said she needed help, but I think she just wanted to show off how much confidence she got building the Cinderella castle by herself!
This castle isn't much like the movie at all, though. It's really just a play set with a few dolls thrown in. That's what she's enjoying about it, so that's what matters to me for it.
I think this set looks great, glad its under $40, and can't wait to get it for my daughter.
Having built this set with my daughter this week, I'm glad to say that the above review is excellent. My biggest disappointment was also Elsa (especially her hair). The photo above doesn't even show the purple bow that the instructions say to insert into the little hole in the rear braided area. (I don't recall a big bow in Elsa's hair in the movie.)
I was so glad to be able to learn about some early release locations via Brickset because Santa (I) was able to pick one up in a US Target store in time for Christmas. My 4-yo asked Santa for Anna & Elsa dolls and a "rainbow castle" this year, so I was REALLY glad I could buy this LEGO set as the castle and not have to get some crummy, already constructed, doll castle toy (any excuse to buy LEGO). :-)
I know LEGO releases new products in January, but I really think they missed a huge profit making opportunity by not having these easily accessible to all in time for Christmas.
This set was available for pre-order on the official lego site on the morning of 25th Dec.
Maybe another toy manufacturer had some kind of exclusivity deal on the run up to Christmas. LEGO possibly opened up ordering at the earliest they were legally allowed in each region.
It's great set, and perfectly pitched (building complexity wise) for a child in the target age group.
My only grump is that Elsas hair should go over her shoulder, and not a straight plait down her back.
Going to be online early (maybe right after the crystal ball drops) on Jan 1st for this; just have a feeling it's going to go fast. If it was available at all in stores nearby I haven't seen it, but I have seen the Ariel and Jasmine new sets, so the Frozen set was likely gone from the shelves faster than you can build a snowman! (Or only slightly faster than the Series 13 minifigs have been disappearing).
In the UK it's already on back-order from LEGO.com.
We picked this up a few weeks ago. My daughter was thrilled to have it for Christmas. She isn't a Frozen freak like a lot of little girls, but she likes it enough and loves Elsa's ice powers (I think she just likes mutants). Anyway, the set itself looks decent. I think coloring could be better also, but some new colors are always useful.
Her immediate response after excitement was "why doesn't Olaf have hair?" I agree, making a new mold for this figure and they don't include all of it? Very odd. They could even do the soft rubber as the hair like they do on spears and whatnot.
Otherwise, a nice set. Although I'd love a cheaper price. But licensing always tacks on a bit.
My copy (well it's for the wife's birthday) has been shipped today. I guess it did help that I ordered it on xmas day morning.
> Also getting used to mini dolls and minifigures playing together so perhaps Gandalf and Emmet might stop by for a visit.
Well the people who should really get used to this are LEGO and TLM staff themselves :p.
UK LEGO stores put their stock out on Boxing Day and sold the lot in a few hours. A real shame this wasn't available earlier, to be able to give as a Christmas present.
>"(I don't recall a big bow in Elsa's hair in the movie.)"
I guess they included that so you can take the bow of and throw it across the room and belt 'let it go'. I am not puzzlef by the cookie under the ski-slope.
Thanks for the review, picked it up and our little boy was massively excited (it as an extra late xmas present yesterday). Built hit himself and playing with it all the time. He now wants the whole princess theme! (and all the lego movie sets and all of star wars,hmmm,looks like I need to start playing the Lottery ;-))
Not fond of the purple, Olaf, or Elsa's hair... although the ice cream is a hilarious touch and the glitter-trans-blue is absolutely perfect. Overpriced, too... I don't like this very much. Well, it'll sell like hotcakes, so I suppose that's all LEGO needs for it.
What I can not understand is why Anna and Elsa's faces look completely nothing like their originals. They look like bad cosplayers, or something like this. Hey, even some LotR mini figures was more like original characters, and it was classic mini figures, so it was harder to give personality!