Clone OPatra Posted November 7, 2021 Posted November 7, 2021 As part of Revember, I'm taking a look at a set from a line that hardly anyone seems to talk and/or care about here on Eurobricks (this one's obviously not for the stats). Some people somewhere must care about these sets though, since LEGO is in the money-making business, not the "niche products nobody wants" business. Join me as I dive into... SET INFORMATION Number: 43181 Name: Raya and the Heart Palace Theme: Disney Released: 2021 Part Count: 610 Minifiguresdolls: 2 Set Price (RRP): 79.99 - 89.99 EUR / 74.99 GBP / 119.99 AUD / 79.99 USD / 99.99 CAD Links: Brickset, Bricklink INTRODUCTION As I mentioned up top, the Disney Minidoll line (and most Minidoll sets, honestly) go oft-overlooked in our slice of the internet AFOL community, though I don't see a tremendous amount of coverage or discussion of them on the other AFOL sites I read either. But for me, a lover of eye-catching, colourful designs and unique parts, the Disney sets based on recent films provide some of the most displayable and special location-based playsets that LEGO puts out. All that makes it sound like I'm a voracious purchaser of LEGO Disney, but to be totally honest this is only the second set from the line that I own - the first being the previous time I requested to review one, 41068 Arendelle Castle Celebration way back in 2015. That's partially because the playsets they make that are NOT based on new films haven't been all that impressive to me, nothing in the intervening years based on Moana or Frozen II truly caught my eye, and my LEGO budget is still more concentrated on Harry Potter, Star Wars, and buying parts and minifigures. Still, I requested to review this set for the same reason as I requested the Frozen one six years ago: a unique, impressive-looking location set, cool parts, and bright colours. THE FILM At the time of writing this review, I have not seen Raya and the Last Dragon, nor watched any trailers, so I really know next to nothing about the story, location, or characters presented in this set. Through that lens, I will see if the details make sense or if there's anything I feel like I'm obviously missing, which might provide some fun. It also means I'll be judging the set just as a set, and not against the source material. I intend to watch the film after writing this review, and make a follow-up section or post on how the set achieves whatever it's going for. THE BOX The box doesn't let an uninitiated consumer like me in on any plot secrets. Namaari seems to be waving some swords, while looking at her (magical?) purple pet fox, as Raya arrives to the Heart Palace on a giant slug-armadillo - let's call it a slugadillo, coining it now. The back provides a tour through the set's moveable parts, features and hiding spaces. I especially appreciate the LEGO-fication of the same Raya picture as the front of the box. THE PARTS & THE BUILD Five colour-filled numbered bags greet us out of the box, along with an un-numbered bag containing the big parts used on the dome, the slugadillo, and the grey disc part which is no bigger than some of the parts that do come in the numbered bags. The instructions and sticker sheet come nicely packed in their own bag to avoid crumpleage (coining that word now too). This set has the fewest black or grey parts I can recall seeing in a set of this size - just five black and one grey - and it shows here. Pretty much every single patterned detail, besides the dome and randomly one 2x3 tile, uses a sticker. There's no use crying about it. There IS use crying about the sticker that goes on the 8x8 round tile though. I was used to that part being printed when it has a pattern, but Bricklink proves me wrong. I'm still annoyed that's not a print anyway, but at least it isn't four independent stickers applied to the one part. 1996 was a weird time. BAG 1 The first bag contains a lot of basic bricks and plates to kick off the base of the palace, plus the parts to make the saddle for Raya's slugadillo. In contrast to the trend of sprinkling figures throughout the build in minifigure sets, both minidolls come in this bag, along with the purple fox. The basic bricks in medium azure turn out to be a lot more common than I thought they would be, but the hinge parts are exclusive to this set in that colour. They remind me of Alien Conquest, though only the minifigures in that theme used medium azure. Upon completion, we get a long base hinged into multiple section plus the figures which I'll look at closely later. BAG 2 Bag 2 brings a lot more large parts, including the 4x5 panels with window exclusively in blue, and the cylinders with handle in teal that come in just three sets. You can also see the printed tile, which again I'll talk more about later. The palace now has some rooms and an elaborate throne, but is still looking more like a wall than a palace. Note the low number of leftover parts. BAG 3 More medium azure and teal here, including those 4x4 dishes that were created for the Vidiyo Beat Boxes. RIP. Our wall has some minarets now! I noticed the window sandwiched by double-cheese slopes is the same build used in the recent Chamber of Secrets, though the Vidiyo dish caps it off much more nicely than the weird thing with clips that the Chamber designer went for. They have different looks trying to be achieved though, of course. BAG 4 Woah, this is different! Suddenly lots more colours, and lots of tiny parts. One of those big Mario plates has crept out of the Mario theme for the second time (a reddish brown example did it first last year), which is nice to see, plus we get the classic Adventurers crate in dark red for only the second time. You could call this bag the detailing bag, because it has put a lot of life into the palace by way of small details. Look how many spare parts there are! BAG 5 Bag 5 feels much lighter, with parts to finish things off on the front of the palace. Notable parts include the 4x4 Mario plate in white that's been in just four sets, and the opalescent fishbowl helmet, also in four sets currently. Voila, our palace is complete - annoying sticker on 8x8 tile and all (minus one pearl gold spike I must have knocked off). I should note that those four lanterns are an intriguing build - I haven't seen an official build before requiring plates stacked at a particular angle from each other. THE MINIDOLLS Much like fleshies, stickers, the changes to the greys and brown, etc. etc., minidolls are here to stay, so there's no use raging about them if you don't like them. I'm happy to complain about the quantity of them included in sets, though. Now again I haven't seen the film, so I can't say for sure if the Heart Palace is a lively, thriving place, or a desolate palace in a remote location that only Raya and Namaari visit, but just two figures feels like not enough for an $80 USD set. From LEGO's perspective, I get it - minidolls have a lot of work put into them, and are surely more expensive to produce than minifigures, but from the consumer side it's more fun to have more figures and we don't necessarily "feel" LEGO's costs. Let's talk about how deluxe these figures are, though. Both have unique headgear designed for them, extremely fine detail, and a fair bit of personality, especially Namaari (the one without the hat, if you didn't know). Raya's face looks a bit more bland. Both figures use the same pants part, but it looks totally different given Namaari's "hips" being a different colour and her having silver boots painted on. Her foxy friend looks a bit strange though, with all that gold and tusks. Is the fox actually a boar in disguise, or vice versa? I've removed the headgear and cape for a better look at the details. Namaari has asymmetrically printed shaved hair on her head, to work in conjunction with her hair piece. Raya's torso looks exceptionally good, and this is the only set where she wears a cape and brown shoes. She's got bare feet in the other sets, for some reason. Perhaps her booting up to get serious is a big sequence in the film, I don't know. More excellent detail from the back. While Raya's hat/hair includes a pin hole for accessorizing as is standard with minidoll hairpieces, it's thankfully inobtrusive. Unlike most minidoll sets which eschew direct conflict, this set contains a few *gasp* weapons! Raya's unique sword looks nice in shaping, but is reminiscent of those creepy old Ewoks and Gungans and original Dobby that lacked painted detail and desperately needed them. Look at the front of the box and you'll see that only the handle should be green, while the blade should be metallic. It's odd because the sword already seems dual-moulded, with a solid handle and more flexible blade, so they could've at least gone with a sand green handle and flat silver blade, if not printing for the inlaid gem as well. They almost got there, but stopped short. In case you're wondering, the hairpieces work perfectly well on minifigures. I've seen plenty of people using Namaari's hair for Cara Dune from The Mandalorian, although I don't know where all those people are getting the hair piece, because I haven't seen it on Bricks & Pieces and it hasn't been very available on Bricklink (though somebody sold 93 in one go, what the heck!). And if you ever wanted to see a whole lot of Raya's cone hat on minifigures, check out Megbricks' picture. Good stuff. THE SLUGADILLO The Raya sets really include a lot of unique moulded elements. I have counted nine in total across the three sets (two hairpieces, three Ongi monkey things, this slugadillo, Raya's sword, and two parts for the Sisu dragon's head and mouth), which strikes me as a lot for a line of three sets. This guy is no small fry either. It's moulded with lots of excellent detail, while not being too detailed to the point of feeling out of place with LEGO. The face printing and little toes are exceptionally cute. All in all it bodes well for a LEGO Appa, if they ever get another shot at Avatar: The Last Airbender (please, LEGO!). The little build for Raya's saddle also looks quite cute, with perhaps a sort of rolled up blanket and a sack of food. The parts down the side represent a bridle, I suppose? And just for the heck of it, one more picture of everything in the set besides the palace itself. These are some truly fun things to play around with, and all done to a very high level of quality besides the somewhat lacking sword. THE PALACEOVERVIEW With the side dishes out of the way, let's move on to the main course: the eponymous Heart Palace. At a glance, it looks stunning. The various blues, white and gold coalesce into a model with a lot of shelf appeal. The bulbous dome stands out (the second use of that part, after Trolls World Tour), towering over the rest of the set. You can also glimpse a click hinge at the front, underneath the stickered dish. That's for adding an entranceway, included in 43184 Raya and the Sisu Dragon. Does that mean that this courtyard is technically inside the Heart Palace, and enclosed all around? Not sure, but as it is without that set the whole palace feels light and airy with no true exterior to enclose it. Like we saw in the build, the "interior" side also has a fair bit of detail and looks good as well. Let's take a tour... THE GRAND TOUR We begin in the central courtyard. I whinged about this being a sticker, but regardless it looks great. I also appreciate any set that takes up a larger footprint than its physical LEGO parts, because more space feels like more value for play and display than a densely packed but smaller model. Before I take you "inside" around the semicircle, we'll look at the sections most visible from the outside. In the centre we have an exquisite throne, which you might think is only playable from the courtyard side but in fact folds down into a relaxing daybed. What luxury. Moving over we have a section with a revolving platform, that includes the2x3 tile with a printed map that resembles the Sisu Dragon with a bunch of yellow labels. So is the Heart Palace where Raya goes for a map to find the Last Dragon? Honestly, I have no idea why this part is printed. I guess LEGO has a habit of printing maps. One last stop before the "internal" rooms: the front most rounded panels open up for spots to store Namaari and Raya's weapons while they're grabbing a bite to eat in the banquet hall. Now working our way around from left to right, the first room contains just enough space for the decorative crate, which contains a whole lot of diamonds. I'm getting more Adventurers vibes from those. Next is the banquet hall, which contains some fun micro builds like those wooden cups of water and built up food. It all looks very healthy. A couple of slight problems with this room bug me, but probably wouldn't bug a kid playing with it. For one, given the table's construction and minidoll proportions, the figures sit so low that the table winds up at chest height and the stuff on the table towers above them. Second, since minidoll feet take up more space than just two studs and can't separate, they can only be placed abutting with the table. All in all a great looking room that doesn't interact with figures as well as I'd like. Flipping past the throne room we come to the other larger room, which contains the rotating platform and some kind of zen tree with a tea-preparation station? The tree cleverly makes use of the new-ish coral piece in the coral colour. That looks fantastical, but then again the whole set looks like fantasy. Usable floor space becomes an issue once again in this room: you actually can't place minidolls ANYWHERE if you want the platform to turn. It looks like there should be plenty of space for figures, but I tried, and no dice. If you leave the platform static it's fine, but you'd assume you could both pose figures and turn the platform without issue. The final room has what looks like an apothecary, and only has studs for figures to stand on one side of the table. It's... fine. We have the dome section left to explore, containing a very spacious bedroom making great use of the Mario plate as a base. There's loads of space on the bed, a cute little reading lamp and one more of those decorative three-toned paper lanterns hanging above. Cute stickered portraits adorn the walls, though they intriguingly look like actual cartoon characters and aren't LEGO-fied. One shows the three Ongi from 43185 Boun's (Extremely Overpriced) Boat with a character I don't recognise, while the other shows Boun himself with Slugadillo. So, who lives here? Are these Raya's pictures, showing past adventures? To show just how much space there is on the bed, I've positioned Namaari and her fox-boar friend comfortably, with Raya climbing up by way of those bar pieces that serve no other purpose. The whole dome spins loosely, which can be taken as a play feature. If you wanted to see what the Heart Palace looks like with the bedroom facing out, here you go. For display this doesn't make much sense, but could be fun for a kid playing around. Show up to the Heart Palace and jump straight into the bedroom, why not. SUMMARY & CONCLUSION As a disclaimer upon disclaimers, though I requested to review this set because it looked cool to me, and there's the suspected subconscious bias that receiving a set for free will colour one's opinions, I really would've had no qualms lambasting it had I found it extremely lacking. Just look at my review of 76387 Hogwarts: Fluffy Encounter - I received that set for free to review and thoroughly walloped it. If you've managed to read through my whole review, you'll be able to tell that I feel pretty warmly towards this set. It looks great, it takes up a good amount of space once built because it has plenty of larger panels and creates empty space within itself, and it has lots to offer in the way of unique or rare colours of parts, including the slugadillo which is unlikely to ever be seen again. The design isn't perfect: most of the interior rooms are limited, including the larger ones, and even without having seen the film it's kind of obvious that the Heart Palace has been miniaturized, given the unusable windows especially. Still, for kids I think it would be a fun set to play with, and for adults it's either a unique model to display or a good parts pack. Bring on an Agrabah Palace done to this level, I say! SCORE How do I rate this set? 8 MINIDOLLS The two included are fantastic, some of the best I've ever seen, but there should have been at least one more for a set this size. 10 PIECES Amazing selection and lots of exclusive or rare parts. 9 DESIGN The Heart Palace looks great, with a good mixture of big parts to build it up and small ones for fine detail. Only the interior rooms have some design faults, which are not detrimental. 8 PLAYABILITY Overall there's a fair amount of space for play, and a couple of built-in features like the spinning platform and dome. Less figures make for less playability though, and the problems in the banquet hall and rotating platform room could annoy some other people. 7 PRICE Given there are only 610 pieces for $80 USD, the set doesn't feel as overpriced as one might expect. The palace is relatively large thanks to the larger pieces used and the shape employing empty space in the courtyard, and our friend slugadillo adds value. Still, ten units of currency less wherever you are would sit better. 8.4 OVERALL - An excellent set with a few flaws, and an easy buy at a slight discount. Until next time... Quote
JaBaCaDaBra Posted November 7, 2021 Posted November 7, 2021 Thanks for this great review, as a granddad I have build some of these sets with my grandchildren en I only can say, i love them. Only thing I absolutely do not understand is that LEGO does stickers with these sets for kids. Quote
Jack Sassy Posted November 7, 2021 Posted November 7, 2021 A good review! This can work perfectly as an extension to the Scorpion Palace or even as an updated version of the original itself. Quote
Oky Posted November 7, 2021 Posted November 7, 2021 Great review as always, Cloney. It’s always nice to see the unbiased thoughts from someone who is not familiar with the source material, although I do recommend the movie, especially if you’re an Avatar fan, and look forward to your opinions after having seen it. The set does look pretty good and represents the scenes fairly well, emptiness and all, even if it’s kind of an odd amalgamation of them with one of the interior scenes serving as the courtyard as you guessed. I do think they could have included some more traps. Also, while it was indeed just Raya and Namaari in that scene (although when they were younger), I think they could have included Raya’s dad for more playability. And yes, we need an Agrabah Palace like this! Quote
mostlytechnic Posted November 7, 2021 Posted November 7, 2021 Have to agree with you a lot on this review - it's not a set I'd buy for myself, but it looks great for what it is and I suspect it'll be a hit with kids who like the movie Quote
Generaltrons bricks Posted November 8, 2021 Posted November 8, 2021 The parts look fine to me.. plenty usable. The mini dolls i dont bother with.. wont complain about em either. The hair pieces are interchangable with minifigs for the most part so some use there too. I dont complain about stickers at all.. like the hair pieces, the stickers could always be used on different parts in different ways if prefered. Still lego product to me so usable if needed. Overall a nice set. I saw the movie, it was ok. If i ever got my hands on it... I would part it out for other projects. Lol Quote
Clone OPatra Posted November 8, 2021 Author Posted November 8, 2021 17 hours ago, JaBaCaDaBra said: Only thing I absolutely do not understand is that LEGO does stickers with these sets for kids. Thanks! LEGO has been using stickers for time immemorial, so they must have determined that kids from about age 6 on can use them. I say that because the 4+ range exclusively uses prints. I can remember putting stickers on from an early age myself, or kids hopefully have an adult they can go to for help. 16 hours ago, Jack Sassy said: This can work perfectly as an extension to the Scorpion Palace or even as an updated version of the original itself. Agreed! This set certainly gives me Scorpion Palace vibes, empty space and all. What a footprint that set had for $50. 14 hours ago, Oky said: The set does look pretty good and represents the scenes fairly well, emptiness and all, even if it’s kind of an odd amalgamation of them with one of the interior scenes serving as the courtyard as you guessed. I do think they could have included some more traps. Also, while it was indeed just Raya and Namaari in that scene (although when they were younger), I think they could have included Raya’s dad for more playability. And yes, we need an Agrabah Palace like this! Thanks Oky. Your comments have made me even more intrigued to watch the film, which I definitely intend to do soon. I'm also glad I stuck to my intuition that I should review the set first, since so often one can get mired completely in comparing a set to the source material that it detracts from actually reviewing the LEGO. We've had so many Beast's Castles already, it's really time for something more substantial from Aladdin! 12 hours ago, mostlytechnic said: Have to agree with you a lot on this review - it's not a set I'd buy for myself, but it looks great for what it is and I suspect it'll be a hit with kids who like the movie I'd been eyeing it for a while before I got this chance to review it, and I am planning to probably get the Encanto house, so maybe reviewing this is pushing me in the direction of actually buying more Disney. 2 hours ago, Generaltrons bricks said: I dont complain about stickers at all.. like the hair pieces, the stickers could always be used on different parts in different ways if prefered. Still lego product to me so usable if needed. It's a good point. Personally I've never felt confident enough in a MOC to apply stickers to it, not that I MOC much anyway, but I've seen other people use stickers in MOCs and it can be really great. Quote
samurai-turtle Posted November 8, 2021 Posted November 8, 2021 23 hours ago, Clone OPatra said: The box doesn't let an uninitiated consumer like me in on any plot secrets. Namaari seems to be waving some swords, while looking at her (magical?) purple pet fox, as Raya arrives to the Heart Palace on a giant slug-armadillo - let's call it a slugadillo, coining it now. I believe "slugadillo" official name is Tuk Tuk. Plus for those that don't know the Heart Palace is Raya's home and Namaari (the rival) is visiting on some royal meeting. But my big question is where did the "purple fox" come from is it a blink and you miss it moment from the movie? 23 hours ago, Clone OPatra said: Unlike most minidoll sets which eschew direct conflict, this set contains a few *gasp* weapons! Raya's unique sword looks nice in shaping, but is reminiscent of those creepy old Ewoks and Gungans and original Dobby that lacked painted detail and desperately needed them. Look at the front of the box and you'll see that only the handle should be green, while the blade should be metallic. It's odd because the sword already seems dual-moulded, with a solid handle and more flexible blade, so they could've at least gone with a sand green handle and flat silver blade, if not printing for the inlaid gem as well. They almost got there, but stopped short As the sword is based on a ceremonial sword but in the movie it is the "family sword" that Raya inherits. I mean for what it is it does seem to work. As I got one from the poly bag set and I didn't notice any need to be more colorful. So I guess in that sense it makes it reasonable for it not to dual molded (not to mention the cost savings measures). 23 hours ago, Clone OPatra said: Cute stickered portraits adorn the walls, though they intriguingly look like actual cartoon characters and aren't LEGO-fied. One shows the three Ongi from 43185 Boun's (Extremely Overpriced) Boat with a character I don't recognise, while the other shows Boun himself with Slugadillo. So, who lives here? Are these Raya's pictures, showing past adventures? I guess this does bring up a good question. When does this set take place the beginning or the end of the movie? The others in the pictures are "new friends" Raya meet up with during her redemption journey. The same thing could be said about the "dragon map" she could be placing one in the Heart Palace as a reminder for others. Because it wasn't original stored in the Heart Palace and this one could be a copy since it is the local river. Quote
koalayummies Posted November 8, 2021 Posted November 8, 2021 Excellent review. Intrigued by the slugadillo; according to wikipedia "Raya's best friend and trusty steed who is a mix of armadillo and pill bug.". Pilladillo? Largemadillidiidae? On 11/7/2021 at 2:08 AM, Clone OPatra said: Just look at my review of 76387 Hogwarts: Fluffy Encounter - I received that set for free to review and thoroughly walloped it. Wow I had never seen that set before! Quote
The Reader Posted November 8, 2021 Posted November 8, 2021 @Clone OPatra Great review. Thanks a lot! On 11/7/2021 at 11:08 AM, Clone OPatra said: One shows the three Ongi from 43185 Boun's (Extremely Overpriced) Boat with a character I don't recognise, This is the baby which is the boss of the three Ongis. On 11/7/2021 at 3:28 PM, Jack Sassy said: This can work perfectly as an extension to the Scorpion Palace or even as an updated version of the original itself. I fully agree with that. That's why I tend to buy that set (and the set with Boun's boat). 11 hours ago, samurai-turtle said: But my big question is where did the "purple fox" come from I suppose that's a baby version of the big battle cats Namaari's people is riding on. 11 hours ago, samurai-turtle said: When does this set take place the beginning or the end of the movie? Regarding these portraits I would guess at the end of the movie. Quote
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