Review: 41062 Elsa’s Sparkling Ice Castle

[DrJB]

I bet some would buy multiple sets (because of the unique colors) and build their own LARGE castle ... MOCers, get to it!

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

I like these new transparent pieces!

Nice set and great review

[lightningtiger]

Well, I've never seen the film and more than likely won't......but that won't stop me saying - build okay, minidolls and Olaf.....AWESOME.

Thanks 'mostlytechnic' for a great review and Brick On in the snow while singing "Let It Go !"

[Blondie-Wan]

I see the reviewer's points, but I actually find this a pretty nice set. I appreciate the review, though.

One point I think I should note, since I keep seeing others bring up this set's release timing:

Let's be honest, Lego should have released this sets months before this Christmas and is loosing a perfect opportunity to sell a decent set, with much more pieces.

This seems to be one of those sets that LEGO really should have released a month before Christmas, it likely then would have been toy of the year 2014,

I'm trusting there is something else going on behind the scenes because this should have been a huge set and released in November of 2014 at the latest.

I suspect LEGO didn't have a choice, as the release date was probably mandated by Disney. Note that this isn't just a Frozen set; it's a Disney Princess set, and "Disney Princess" is a specific franchise / brand in itself, with its own rules about what fits (look at how the "Disney Princess" logo is more prominent on the box than the Frozen logo). Right now, there are officially eleven Disney Princesses - Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel and Merida. The first eight of those (along with Tinkerbell, who was soon dropped after it was decided she didn't fit with the rest) made up the official lineup when the brand was launched in 2001. Tiana, Rapunzel and Merida, whose movies came after that, were all subsequently formally inducted into the line, with real-world coronation ceremonies and everything. Elsa and Anna haven't actually been formally inducted yet. Therefore, even though they're both Disney princesses (with a lower-case "p"), they're not actually official Disney Princesses (with a capital "P") - yet.

It's widely expected that they'll both be officially added to the lineup this year, which is probably the only reason LEGO is even being allowed to sell the set right now at all. Perhaps LEGO begged Disney to let them start selling the set in January since at least it's the same year the characters will presumably be added to the line, and Disney allowed it - Disney doesn't like turning down money, after all. But Disney is also very conscious of and orderly with its branding, and has all kinds of rules in place for how its brands are used. The fact they're allowing this set to be out there under the Disney Princess label at all, despite the fact none of the characters in it are official Disney Princesses yet, is actually kind of astonishing.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Blondie-Wan

[Prawnking]

Nice review. The transparent pieces really stand out.

[Faefrost]

Great review, although I am a little confused? We are complaining about getting parts in new colors? Wha...?

I agree that the set is a little smaller than I would like. But I also understand they were trying to hit a mass market price point. It strikes me that it will be both easy and affordable 2 MOC 2 sets together to make it a little more robust. Things like the stairs going up both side, and adding a chandelier which give a better feel. I accept that this is a playset and not a recreation of the movie details.

Oh and actually the tree is one of the more accurate things. Remember in the movie, where they met Olaf? The frozen forest just before the castle,mouth all the hanging frozen vines. As someone said it was summer before Elsa flash froze everything. So some frozen greenery is accurate.

The ice cream stand... Not so much.

[Silent Nomad]

What does Olaf look like with two 1x1 round studs for his feet? I'm thinking about getting that minifigure and putting him in my display case like that. How I was thinking of doing it is have the two 1x1 studs in the front and a transparent 1x2 plate behind them, but I want to know how that would look with the real minifigure.

-Nomad

[9v system]

Might get this for the transparent blue parts

[9v system]

got it today its a great parts park. thanks for the review.

[sunhuntin]

What does Olaf look like with two 1x1 round studs for his feet? I'm thinking about getting that minifigure and putting him in my display case like that. How I was thinking of doing it is have the two 1x1 studs in the front and a transparent 1x2 plate behind them, but I want to know how that would look with the real minifigure.

-Nomad

i did that with mine, and also used the antenna pieces for his arms as they are more posable. he looks better that way. i put 3 white studs underneath, with one at the back to hold him steady.

[Silent Nomad]

i did that with mine, and also used the antenna pieces for his arms as they are more poseable. he looks better that way. i put 3 white studs underneath, with one at the back to hold him steady.

I've bought a copy of the minifigure since asking the question, and I've done what I proposed, and it baffles me that they didn't design the minifigure that way. The set comes with two spare white stud pieces, according to bricklink, but there's no third white stud piece like you used (though how you did that is beyond me if you centered it), or clear 1x2 plate like I used. Do you mean the joystick piece? If you do, I don't like that he'd lose his hands if I did that, and I don't think the piece comes in the same brown color as his original arms, which is the only color I'd be comfortable using for that piece in that purpose if I wasn't already uncomfortable with doing that.

[sunhuntin]

i didnt centre it, just placed it behind one of the others. i didnt follow the instructions to that extent, so skimped using a white stud somewhere to use it for olaf.

yes, i guess it is the joystick. in the set, it was to be used at the smoothie bar, and is often used on minifig scale toys as remote control aerials. i just liked the fact i could make him wave. the supplied arms i felt made him look like a generic snowman with olafs head plonked on top, lol. mine is for public display, so if i can get the characters to "interact" with the public, so much the better. the white stud feet give him a little more height, which also helps make him more true to character.

[Silent Nomad]

i didnt centre it, just placed it behind one of the others. i didnt follow the instructions to that extent, so skimped using a white stud somewhere to use it for olaf.

yes, i guess it is the joystick. in the set, it was to be used at the smoothie bar, and is often used on minifig scale toys as remote control aerials. i just liked the fact i could make him wave. the supplied arms i felt made him look like a generic snowman with olafs head plonked on top, lol. mine is for public display, so if i can get the characters to "interact" with the public, so much the better. the white stud feet give him a little more height, which also helps make him more true to character.

Having an empty space behind one of the feet would bug me.

I can see why you used the joysticks, but I still say that I, myself, wouldn't even consider doing that unless the stick parts were brown. It's cool that you made him able to wave, though. The reason I came up with the white stud feet wasn't purely for height, it was because in the movie he has separate snowballs for his feet, but the minifigure has no representation of that in its original form. I thought of using the white studs because those have been used as snowballs in a lot of winter themed sets.

[sunhuntin]

fair enough. its not anything the public would notice so im not too worried about not filling the other space. ive got him on the picnic rug from the set, and the corner stud on that fills the other space. he does look better with his feet. with the joysticks, i was just glad the bases were white. the stick part is black, which is close enough. the display he will be in is busy enough that it wont stand out. the wave and posability was more important to me than the color, but i can understand why you wouldnt want to compromise on that.

[Silent Nomad]

Now I'm curious to see what this display looks like. Do you have a picture of it?

[sunhuntin]

this is the most recent set up, last christmas so no palace. will be shown this year for the first time. i have the set up at my model railway club and due to being outside, everything has to get packed up before going home, and then re set up the next night. thankfully, the show is only 2 nights. the first year it was a basic oval with a bridge. its grown heaps since then, mainly to accomodate the buildings.

the track is a tomy thomas the tank, with winter village in the middle and cartoon characters scattered throughout. its like a giant "wheres waldo". quite amazing what the kids see and pick up on

the track is a fresh build each year, and often changes slightly over the two nights as i cant always remember what bit of track went where.

[Cmay91472]

FYI.... This set will be on sale at Target next week (or the week after... Forgot to ask for clarification when the person who fetched one from the stockroom for me told to save my receipt and bring it back for a price adjustment) for $31.99. Whether or not it's actually in stock is another story.

[gundamz]

How tall is the Elsa figure? Is it significantly taller than minifigures?

[9v system]

Yes it is taller than a standard minifig

[hanchueh]

I went to two Targets on the day it had the sale. Both of them were sold out by noon.

[9v system]

Is it ok if I post my GBC remake of this set?

[Silent Nomad]

Is it ok if I post my GBC remake of this set?

I'd be very interested to see that.

[9v system]

I'd be very interested to see that.

Well it is a white marble pump. Which is driven by a 9v technic motor, balls come out the top of the pump and roll off the end of the frozen castle.

[9v system]

Anyone else got this set yet?