Review: 43244 Elsa's Ice Palace
Posted by benbacardi,Disney's Frozen was released over a decade ago, yet remains one of the most popular Disney Princess movies of all time. LEGO have released numerous Frozen sets over the years, based on both the original and the 2020 sequel, focusing heavily on the two main princesses, Elsa and Anna.
43244 Elsa's Ice Palace is the sixth LEGO interpretation of the impressive palace of ice Elsa builds atop the north mountain as she discovers her powers during the film. Standing at 36cm tall, it is a relatively sizeable model, though previous versions have been significantly taller. Does this set offer anything above and beyond what has come before?
Summary
43244 Elsa's Ice Palace, 630 pieces.
£89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 | 14.3p/15.9c/15.9c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A decent set with a couple of play features, but expensive.
- Enjoyable build and fun opalescent parts
- A couple of play features in the palace
- A baby reindeer!
- Fairly expensive
- There have been better ice palaces before
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minidolls
As with the majority of the Disney Princess sets, minidolls are provided instead of minifigures, and they certainly fit the female characters better. Five figures are included in the set; as you would expect, Elsa and Anna amongst them.
Elsa's wearing the iconic outfit she transforms into as she climbs the mountain—a blue dress with long pale sleeves, decorated with snowflakes and ice, completed with a floor-length sparkly cape. None of these parts are new to this set, but the printed design looks excellent. I do always find capes on both minidolls and minifigures a little unwieldy, though.
Anna's printed skirt and boots, although very similar to the previous version, is new. It's paired with a recent torso print that perfectly matches the dress she wears for the majority of the film, completed with the large pink cape she wears to fend off the cold in the snowy mountains.
Both dolls are wearing large smiles on their faces, which are excellently detailed with large colourful eyes, and Anna's distinctive freckles. Both hair pieces replicate the girls' choices in the film, although Elsa's could do with being a lot longer to be most accurate.
Of the three remaining characters, only one is human—Kristoff is joined by a baby reindeer (it can't be Sven, as the timelines don't match up!) and Olaf, the snowman Elsa brought to life.
Kristoff's outfit is the same as in the previous ice castle set—dark boots, and a navy blue tunic with pink detailing and highlights. A slight smile is fixed on his face underneath messy blond hair.
Olaf comprises his usual dedicated pieces for his head and body, long brown arms and a brown carrot top on his head representing his twiggy hair. The design, although used for a number of years, captures his happy-go-lucky attitude excellently.
The baby reindeer piece is new this year, and is adorable—a multi-colour part with pale horns and shaggy hair around his neck, a grey muzzle, and large printed eyes. A rounded 1x2 plate fits onto the stud in the hole in his back, perfectly completing the body shape. I'm not sure why this wasn't moulded as a single piece, though; I can't think of a use for the single stud that wouldn't look strange with such a large chunk taken out of the reindeer's back.
The figures are accompanied by a small ice sledge, a mini version of the one Kristoff and Anna ride up the mountain in together. The sledge sits on four skis, and there's room for Kristoff to sit, and a stack of ice on the back.
The Ice Palace
The palace itself is split into three main sections—a central tower flanked by two smaller facades that are a mirror image of each other. They're split across a number of instruction booklets, so could be built simulatenously with multiple builders if you wish.
Each facade is two storeys high, with a large ice shard projecting into the sky from the rooftop. A number of translucent opalescent pieces are used to mimic the shimmering reflective quality of ice, a technique that is used to great effect throughout the entire model. A coniferous tree stands on the small base the palace is built upon, dwarfed by the building.
The rear of the model is open for play, and this side of the palace houses two tiny rooms—a bedroom on the ground floor, entirely occupied by a brick-built bed, and above a small table with a shard of ice and a snow globe. The first of the set's eleven stickers are applied here, as floor and wall decorations, and the covering on the bed.
The snow globe contains a small model of a castle, represented in the set by a light aqua minifigure head with a unique print of a simplified version of Arendelle Castle, Elsa and Anna's home. The opalescent globe isn't as translucent as I'd like to be able to see the print more clearly, but it's still a pretty good effect.
Both the table and bed are easily removable for play, attached only by a couple of studs.
The construction of the right hand facade is identical to the left, with only a slightly taller tree differentiating the two sides.
Inside, the ground floor room houses another bed (purple rather than blue this time), and the top floor holds a storage box with a pair of pink snow shoes and a carrot (presumably for the baby reindeer, or Sven when he comes to visit).
Below you can see more clearly the mini models that can be easily removed from the palace for play—Anna's purple-themed items on the left, Elsa's on the right. I particularly like the detail on the beds, depicting the duvets partly pulled back from the pillows.
Next, the most interesting part of the palace is constructed—the central entrance hall and large two-storey high doors. More translucent opalescent pieces continue the ice theme, and the large blue doors sit neatly above a short run of icy steps. The gears either side of the doors form part of their opening mechanism, which I'll show in more detail below.
Inside, a large ice chandelier hangs above the entrance hall, which is flanked on either side by stylised portraits of the two princesses. Each is designated one side of the palace—Elsa on the right (with the blue bed and snow globe), and Anna on the left (with the purple bed and snow shoes). Above the portraits sit two small tables in alcoves, a family portrait decorating Elsa's side, and some sheet music for Anna.
The doors are cleverly attached to the entrance hall's floor via a pair of gears, which allow the steps to slide forward between the palace's walls, rotating the doors open as they go. Jumper plates guide the platform between the gears' teeth, and a handful of studs on the otherwise smooth floor allow a minidoll to stand behind the doors and move forward with the steps as they open.
There's one final play feature awaiting us in the entrance hall, as the chandelier is attached to the ceiling only loosely by a technic pin. A small amount of pressure on the protruding top of the pin causes the chandelier to crash to the ground, allowing children to recreate the same moment in the film.
A pair of clips on either side of the entrance hall model allow it to be connected to each of the previously built facades, completing the final width of the build, awaiting construction of the central tower.
Inside, the princesses' portraits flanking the entrance hall clearly indicate their designated halves of the palace.
The final part of the model completes the central tower, which consists of a balcony above the entrance hall topped by a large icicle decoration. More stickers are applied to decorate the balcony's balustrade, and translucent blue and opalescent parts continue the icy theme.
On the inside of the tower, above the balcony, two storage cupboards contain a golden tiara and a silver goblet. I'm not sure what either are doing hidden away up here at the top of the palace!
Placing the balcony above the doors completes the palace build. The model now stands at over a foot tall, and looks quite impressive—the translucent opalescent pieces do a fantastic job of imitating the properties of ice, and I like the symmetry in the design.
Inside, the entrance to the balcony is dangerously close to the chandelier's trigger—perhaps if Elsa had designed her palace more sensibly the chandelier would never have fallen in the first place! The set below has been emptied of the auxiliary models, showing the inside of the small alcoves they usually occupy.
Conclusion
The target age range for 43244 Elsa's Ice Palace is 6+, so I thought I'd involve my two 6+ children and ask for their opinions!
They were both initially impressed with the impact of the set, and immediately started playing with the figures. In direct opposition to myself, my daughter explicitly said she loved the capes! There were exclamations of "aww that's so cute!" as they discovered the baby reindeer, and had soon figured out the sliding doors. They did think the chandelier had fallen off by mistake, though, when accidentally knocked.
They liked that Anna and Elsa had their own spaces in the castle ("but I don't know why, Anna doesn't live there"), and had the small models out for play straight away. However, the set only captured their interest for a short period of time—I can see it being a great display model on a shelf in the bedroom of a young Frozen fan, but there wasn't a particularly large amount of play potential for them. My eldest (eight) suggested it would be more interesting if it had more of a base to the palace, instead of the thin footprint the model currently has.
As usual, there's quite a hefty tax for the Disney licence, and it seems particularly high in this case. It's not a bad set for somebody who loves the franchise, but I do feel there are much better LEGO sets that could be had for the same amount of money.
43244 Elsa's Ice Palace is available on LEGO.com for £89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99.
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32 comments on this article
Maybe this is a castle that Elsa makes while they’re traveling and that’s why Ana has her own space. Certainly saves money on inns!
I wonder if it would be cheaper to hunt down older ice castles at this point and combine them to make one big structure.
Truly the Millennium falcon of the Disney princess line.
I like the striking look of the castle. And I love the doors, such a mechanism reminds me of the many great play features from when I was a young one.
However... lego really needs to give some room for minifigs to actually stand in their buildings. Outside of some designated jumpers on the entrance and some room in the balcony area it's like they forgot that kids would want to put the minidolls in the rooms! For that price it surely would have been doable to extend the floors of the rooms a bit with a plate and maybe an arch to hold it up or something, right?
I love castles, but for the price I would expect more of the inside.
I have 43197 which I think is the better castle, although this has a lot of interior furniture that would be useful. I don't understand the infinite number of models, do they feel something is missing from each one?
Let it go, there are other castles to be built.
A baby reindeer :-)
snt fom IFone
What???!! Elsa has a Lego ice palace? No way. Next, you'll tell me they make Lego X-wing fighters.
Seriously, they pump these things out regularly. Doesn't hold a candle to 43197. (Yes, I know it's the UCS version).
Can;t wait to get it on sale, such amazing partpack!
For that money you can buy all previous ice castle sets and would still have some money left. This is a greater loss of value than for cars.
I hemmed and hawed quite a bit back in the day, often in Summer, on whether or not to get the beautiful and far better 43197 Ice Castle. I have a pretty big Frozen heart and am a big fan of LEGO Icons caliber sets, but for the first time in forever it seems, I chose to let it go. I’ll probably regret it when I am older and head into the unknown.
I’m usually lost in the woods with mini dolls but some things never change and the ones included here are disappointingly pretty basic and unspectacular. Reindeer are better than people so Sven is a good inclusion. Additionally, you’ve got Olaf if you want to build a snowman, but I would have also appreciated Samantha.
The overall set detail is nice but all is found mostly within the interior. The outside is the next right thing as I love the open door mechanism where you can show yourself right into and out of the castle. Though much more affordable than the 43197 Ice Castle, this fixer upper is unfortunately going to be another pass for me.
There are so many ice castles an article on all of them, compare and contrast could be a good thing.
@yellowcastle said:
"I hemmed and hawed quite a bit back in the day, often in Summer, on whether or not to get the beautiful and far better 43197 Ice Castle. I have a pretty big Frozen heart and am a big fan of LEGO Icons caliber sets, but for the first time in forever it seems, I chose to let it go. I’ll probably regret it when I am older and head into the unknown.
I’m usually lost in the woods with mini dolls but some things never change and the ones included here are disappointingly pretty basic and unspectacular. Reindeer are better than people so Sven is a good inclusion. Additionally, you’ve got Olaf if you want to build a snowman, but I would have also appreciated Samantha.
The overall set detail is nice but all is found mostly within the interior. The outside is the next right thing as I love the open door mechanism where you can show yourself right into and out of the castle. Though much more affordable than the 43197 Ice Castle, this fixer upper is unfortunately going to be another pass for me."
Bravo!
The 1x1 gap on the Reindeer calf is meant for Microdolls to sit in. Friends introduced this same method for a pony / foal in 42634... but there isn't space for a tiny saddle so it looks a little strange.
Never thought I'd see a flick-fire chandelier of all things, *literally* using the flick-fire piece developed for 2008...
(Someone needs to figure out what's going on with the page for 70012-1, the reused item number is throwing off every part database with modern pieces used in 70012-2, claiming that Chima heads are from 1985.)
Just a minor niggle, Elsa's sister's name is Anna, not Ana.
As for the set, all I can say is those door pieces remind me of the trans-blue wing pieces from the Insectoids theme of old.
US$100, that means R$1.000 in Brazil. I paid that for 43197 only two years ago. Heavens.
Using the cyber blade pieces for the doors is an interesting part usage, but I wonder if a new piece would have made for a more elegant solution, especially since it doesn't fill the frame.
I really like the modern minidoll eye designs of the past few years; the more cartoony/anime-like style makes them much cuter and easier to read compared to the original Barbie-like eyes that looked a bit messy at the size and more typically "pink aisle." Do we know if there was a particular reason behind the change, whether it be a request from Disney that carried through into Friends or if it was part of the move to broaden the appeal of Friends that carried through to the princesses?
Only the SIXTH ice palace LEGO has made?!
I have a difficult time believing that.
@yellowcastle said:
"I hemmed and hawed quite a bit back in the day, often in Summer, on whether or not to get the beautiful and far better 43197 Ice Castle. I have a pretty big Frozen heart and am a big fan of LEGO Icons caliber sets, but for the first time in forever it seems, I chose to let it go. I’ll probably regret it when I am older and head into the unknown.
I’m usually lost in the woods with mini dolls but some things never change and the ones included here are disappointingly pretty basic and unspectacular. Reindeer are better than people so Sven is a good inclusion. Additionally, you’ve got Olaf if you want to build a snowman, but I would have also appreciated Samantha.
The overall set detail is nice but all is found mostly within the interior. The outside is the next right thing as I love the open door mechanism where you can show yourself right into and out of the castle. Though much more affordable than the 43197 Ice Castle, this fixer upper is unfortunately going to be another pass for me."
I was in the same boat. Then, I saw it for half off plus a reduction for damaged box for $100. Obviously, I had to grab it.
I'm not as big a fan. Instead, I'm hoping that in the waaaay distant future I have a granddaughter. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
@yellowcastle said:
"I hemmed and hawed quite a bit back in the day, often in Summer, on whether or not to get the beautiful and far better 43197 Ice Castle. I have a pretty big Frozen heart and am a big fan of LEGO Icons caliber sets, but for the first time in forever it seems, I chose to let it go. I’ll probably regret it when I am older and head into the unknown.
I’m usually lost in the woods with mini dolls but some things never change and the ones included here are disappointingly pretty basic and unspectacular. Reindeer are better than people so Sven is a good inclusion. Additionally, you’ve got Olaf if you want to build a snowman, but I would have also appreciated Samantha.
The overall set detail is nice but all is found mostly within the interior. The outside is the next right thing as I love the open door mechanism where you can show yourself right into and out of the castle. Though much more affordable than the 43197 Ice Castle, this fixer upper is unfortunately going to be another pass for me."
Ha! Yes! I like it, but already having 43197, I don't need it. Unless as a parts pack.
I'm pretty sure that is supposed to be Sven . . .no idea why they went with a smaller/baby version? Maybe just for the cuteness factor?
They've made six of these? Well now I have to know how big and fancy and ice palace you could build if you acquired one of each and combined them...
Best. Flick-fire. Ever!
"43244 Elsa's Ice Palace is the sixth LEGO interpretation of the impressive palace of ice Elsa builds atop the north mountain as she discovers her powers during the film." She'd known about her powers for years; the palace was her just going full Dr. Manhattan with them.
I thought @benbacardi had built the set wrong, because the sheet music seems to be a bit of the tune of "Let It Go" yet he says it's for Anna. However the instructions and official pictures all show it this way.
I don't remember the plot details, is Anna especially associated with music more than Elsa? Obviously they both sing because it's a musical... Surely Elsa's famous song should be on her side? Is this a mistake by TLG?
@daniellesa said:
"There are so many ice castles an article on all of them, compare and contrast could be a good thing."
I second that emotion.
I got the big ‘UCS’ Ice Castle on clearance for less than the cost of this one.
A new version of Elsa's castle is released every couple years, slightly quicker than each minifigure scale tie fighter remake release.
I see a great parts pack for my winter village terrain.
The use of the opalescent parts is a distinguishing touch for this model. If I had one of the earlier Ice Palaces, I'd still be interested in getting this one to replace some of the ordinary trans-blue that dominates those versions. Fortunately for the wallet, I don't have any renditions, which makes it easier to pass on this one as well. I'll keep an eye out for the sticker sheet on Bricklink and some of the other parts on PaB, though!
Ain’t no way that’s a $100. Ouch.
@Alia_of_AGL said:
"Using the cyber blade pieces for the doors is an interesting part usage, but I wonder if a new piece would have made for a more elegant solution, especially since it doesn't fill the frame.
I really like the modern minidoll eye designs of the past few years; the more cartoony/anime-like style makes them much cuter and easier to read compared to the original Barbie-like eyes that looked a bit messy at the size and more typically "pink aisle." Do we know if there was a particular reason behind the change, whether it be a request from Disney that carried through into Friends or if it was part of the move to broaden the appeal of Friends that carried through to the princesses?"
I prefer the previous faces (not the very original ones though) but I think that you've posed a good question - I'd be interested to hear the reasoning behind the change too.
@Paperdaisy said:
"I thought @benbacardi had built the set wrong, because the sheet music seems to be a bit of the tune of "Let It Go" yet he says it's for Anna. However the instructions and official pictures all show it this way.
I don't remember the plot details, is Anna especially associated with music more than Elsa? Obviously they both sing because it's a musical... Surely Elsa's famous song should be on her side? Is this a mistake by TLG?
"
I agree - it's either an error or a lazy design choice. The portrait could go with either sister, but the musical sheet seems too generic for Anna specifically.
Despite the price, I do like it a lot. It reminds me of sets that I grew up with, like Harry Potter sets with fun orange and pink pieces and capes.