Review: 40600 Disney 100 Years Celebration
Posted by CapnRex101,LEGO has produced a variety of sets celebrating the 100th anniversary of Disney, including some brilliant sets. The promotional 40600 Disney 100 Years Celebration has now joined the range and is available with Disney purchases of more than £95, $100 or €100 on LEGO.com.
This 226-piece set seems remarkably substantial for a promotional item, especially given the inclusion of a unique minifigure and a light brick. On that basis, the purchase threshold feels very reasonable.
Summary
40600 Disney 100 Years Celebration, 226 pieces.
40600 Disney 100 Years Celebration looks fantastic, with a reasonable purchase threshold
- Excellent standard of detail
- Good size, relative to required spend
- Fun projector feature
- Unique minifigure
- Projected image could be clearer
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigure
Mickey Mouse has worn various costumes throughout the character's long history, several of which are represented in minifigure form. On this occasion, Mickey is dressed in a pearl silver jacket with metallic silver stars on the front and back, resembling a costume introduced for the Disney 100 celebrations at Disneyland.
However, I presume this is intended to be an original design, as the trousers, red bow tie and metallic silver waistcoat, with blue stripes, all vary from the Disneyland costume. Nonetheless, this minifigure looks superb and the dual-moulded head perfectly recreates Mickey's distinctive visage, as always.
The Completed Model
Mickey Mouse has evidently influenced the model too, which features his traditional colours of black, red and yellow. These bold shades are certainly attractive and the three sections of this structure are connected using clips, so their angles can be adjusted for display, or they can be completely rearranged.
Pink 1x2x2 bricks with slots are found on the back, returning in this colour from 10773 Minnie Mouse's Ice Cream Shop. These can be used to support small photos or similar, as shown on the packaging. Although perhaps unnecessary, this is a nice feature and does not interfere with the appearance of the model at all.
A desk occupies the first section. This assembly is surprisingly complex and makes excellent use of dark orange 1x2 double corner panels to form shelves. I love the golden highlights and the printed sketch of Mickey Mouse looks fantastic, introduced in 43222 Disney Castle. A pearl silver and pearl dark grey pen is also included in a mug, while a lamp illuminates the drawing.
The focal cinema screen is adorned with Minnie's bow and characteristic round ears, attached from behind using Technic elements. The screen itself is simply represented by a 4x6 tile with studs around the edge. Plates and tiles are attached to these studs and form a curtain, which suits the traditional style of the projector.
Technic wheels are integrated as reels on the side of the projector, which also contains a light brick. The light passes through a printed window on the front and projects Mickey's animated debut in Steamboat Willie onto the screen! Moreover, Mickey can watch his first appearance from the provided seat, with popcorn available on the armrest.
Functional projectors have appeared in previous LEGO sets, most memorably for me in 8635 Mobile Command Centre. The function is always fun, but this example is slightly less effective than I hoped, as the image is rather fuzzy and the orange light is not ideal either. As mentioned before, I wish LEGO would release a light brick with a white light, as this could be coloured as desired.
The third section includes a celebratory cake and displays the number 100, cleverly constructed using light bluish grey plates and tiles. I particularly like how overlapping 4x4 round plates with holes create zeroes. A couple of balloons are included too, providing an extra splash of colour.
Overall
I have been impressed with the Disney range thus far this year and 40600 Disney 100 Years Celebration is splendid as well, for a gift-with-purchase. The model somewhat lacks cohesion, but each section looks good. The desk is particularly attractive and I am glad to see the printed Mickey Mouse sketch in a smaller set than 43222 Disney Castle.
Also, I like the functional projector, even though the resulting image is not as crisp as I hoped. The exclusive Mickey Mouse minifigure is also a nice bonus, hence the purchase threshold of £95, $100 or €100 seems surprisingly low! With a number of exceptional Disney sets available currently, this is definitely a gift-with-purchase I would recommend.
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30 comments on this article
Agree about the light brick, I've never seen it disassembled so I don't know if it's an amber LED or an amber lens.
@Rimefang said:
"Agree about the light brick, I've never seen it disassembled so I don't know if it's an amber LED or an amber lens. "
There is color led inside, same goes for red light brick.
Wow, that projection looks bad. I don't think a different light would save it (I actually think orange kinda works better here for that yellowed, retro feel), a white light would definitely be better in a lot of recent sets though.
But hey, at least on the box the render is nice and crisp, so you know what you're getting. /s
Why HAVEN’T they done a white light? I’m not an electronics expert by any means, but surely it’s possible and more versatile than a yellow light?
I'm not an expert on LEDs either; but from what I understand, individual blue and white ones produce a weaker light than those with more reddish colours (with green somewhere in the middle). This could be why TLG is staying away from them (for now).
I also wonder if changing the distance to the screen might provide a more clearer picture.
As an self-educated rookie on electronics:
The forward (operation) voltage of white light LEDs is higher than for single color ones:
red: ca 1.6 V
orange, yellow ca 1.9 V
white: above 3V
Therefore these cannot be operated (for a long time) from 3V lithium batteries.
Eh....the minifigure clearly saves this set but why not Walt Disney himself?
So this is a Disney exclusive GWP?
Is there a normal GWP for July, or do folks getting the Eldorado Fortress on release get nothing?
@krysto2002 said:
"So this is a Disney exclusive GWP?
Is there a normal GWP for July, or do folks getting the Eldorado Fortress on release get nothing?"
There will be multiple GWPs from July 11-15 but they will require a $220 spend. There will also be double VIP points but only for selected themes.
They should include a Ron DeSantis minifig haha
Looks like it sold out in the US already. It was in my cart, and I went to answer the phone, two minutes later it was no longer in stock. Surprised it went so fast. Or the production run was not as large.
Bummer.
Is the projected image printed on the light brick, or a separate clear panel that goes over it?
Very nice GWP. I was actually quite impressed that the projector shows an image recognisable as anything. Wasn't expecting much more than just lighting up!
Appears to be gone in the U.S. already. It's really disappointing that Lego still can't get their stocks figured out for promotional items.
@TheLastJedi said:
"Looks like it sold out in the US already. It was in my cart, and I went to answer the phone, two minutes later it was no longer in stock. Surprised it went so fast. Or the production run was not as large.
Bummer."
Same here! LEGO dot com chat support said it’s sold out too and they’re working to remove the banner ad for it. Major fail
@TheOtherMike said:
"Is the projected image printed on the light brick, or a separate clear panel that goes over it?"
It's a separate clear panel. If you zoom in on the photo showing the armchair and projector, you may be able to see it more clearly.
I can't see this item when i put more than CAD140 Disney Lego in the cart, already sold out???
If it's already sold out, then I guess I'll be saving my Lego money for 10320. Shame, I was hoping to get my hands on this one.
@ricecake: I see it now. Thanks for telling me where to look.
GWP sold out <24 hour? Lame Lego. Lame.
@lippidp said:
"They should include a Ron DeSantis minifig haha"
Ha, ha! With his faux-generalissimo pout, and extra-high cowboy boots!
@lippidp said:
"They should include a Ron DeSantis minifig haha"
*sigh*
Got mine at the LEGO store in Amsterdam yesterday, with the small store-built Disney castle.
Maybe I'll get to build it tonight.
@chefkaspa:
The tricky thing is, the voltage has to match, or at least be pretty close. If you plug a 1.5v LED into a 3v power source, you’re going to burn it out a lot faster than running a 3v LED off the same source. And it’s easier to step things up than down. You can step up voltage by stacking batteries. You see this done all the time with devices that use 2xAA (3v), 3xAA (4.5v), etc. it works the other way, too, where you can chain a series of 6x 1.5v diodes together and plug the whole string in to a 9v power source. Again, commonly seen with Christmas light strings.
Stepping down requires a special component that can step the voltage down. So, the easiest way to run a 1.5ish volt diode off a 3v button cell is to chain two diodes together, and I’d be shocked if they have actually done that in such a small trinket. They may have done just that for the PF light harness, which had two tails that each ended in one LED. Without cutting one apart, I don’t know if these were wired in series (doubling the voltage) or parallel (leaving the voltage unchanged).
@picdo01:
Disney owns Mickey Mouse, but perhaps not Walt’s likeness. Walt has a living descendent who is not on the best of terms with the company he founded, and may pose a challenge to getting a minifig of the man himself approved.
@lippidp said:
"They should include a Ron DeSantis minifig haha"
They have DeSantis minifigures in sets for several Disney-owned franchises already, for conflict-based play pitted against Captain America, Leia Organa, and Indiana Jones.
Does anyone have an idea what the 2 light blue 1x1 roof tiles on the Animators Desk are supposed to represent? I just can’t figure it out haha.
What exactly does it project? The 2x2 tile with Mickey on it? A cardstock? Could we then project any 2x2 with an image?
heard sold out 12 hours
The cake is a lie.
@PurpleDave said:
" @chefkaspa:
The tricky thing is, the voltage has to match, or at least be pretty close. If you plug a 1.5v LED into a 3v power source, you’re going to burn it out a lot faster than running a 3v LED off the same source. And it’s easier to step things up than down. You can step up voltage by stacking batteries. You see this done all the time with devices that use 2xAA (3v), 3xAA (4.5v), etc. it works the other way, too, where you can chain a series of 6x 1.5v diodes together and plug the whole string in to a 9v power source. Again, commonly seen with Christmas light strings.
Stepping down requires a special component that can step the voltage down. So, the easiest way to run a 1.5ish volt diode off a 3v button cell is to chain two diodes together, and I’d be shocked if they have actually done that in such a small trinket. They may have done just that for the PF light harness, which had two tails that each ended in one LED. Without cutting one apart, I don’t know if these were wired in series (doubling the voltage) or parallel (leaving the voltage unchanged).
@picdo01:
Disney owns Mickey Mouse, but perhaps not Walt’s likeness. Walt has a living descendent who is not on the best of terms with the company he founded, and may pose a challenge to getting a minifig of the man himself approved."
Well, I think we solved the mystery of "where's Walt" :)
My wife just assembled this. A few thoughts...
-Disagree about the projector... seems much crisper than I was expecting. I actually prefer the amber LED as it gives an "old movie" feel.
-The use of a tile for the '1' in '100' looks odd when the zeros are studded. Easily fixed with a 1x4 plate.
-The connection of the projector to the base is too weak, IMO. Again, easily fixed... with a 2x3 plate.