Disney has become an important part of the LEGO® ecosystem. That’s even without including Star Wars, Marvel or Avatar sets. This year has really seen the partnership between Disney and the LEGO Group blossom. Thanks to the 100th anniversary of Disney, it’s allowed the offering of Disney sets to be extremely varied and this particular set is an interesting example of that. Disney is known for its magical stories and the characters who inhabit them. It’s those characters which have inspired this set. Here’s a closer look at the 100 Years of Disney Animation Icons set.
Product Details
Set Name: 100 Years of Disney Animation Icons | Set Number: 43221 | Pieces: 1022 | Theme: Disney
RRP: £49.99/$59.99/54.99€ | Number of Bags: Bags x 4 + additional elements | Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App (additional builds only on app) | Stickers: N/A | Minifigures: Artist Mickey
Availability: LEGO Stores & LEGO Online from June 1st
The main part of the set is a buildable frame which becomes the base to add the various images. This features a pair of iconic mouse ears in the top left and bottom right corners. With spaces in the grid to connect eight of the plates. The frame can be hung on a wall thanks to the hook element, but cannot be free-standing as it doesn’t have a bracket stand on the rear to keep it up. It could be leant against a vertical surface.
The set has 12 different coloured 8×8 plates which become the canvas for over 70 different Disney character images. These are then arranged into the picture frame to create a unique Disney set. The characters are crafted from various 1×1 tiles and other small plate elements. In total, there are 72 Disney character designs to build and these are sorted into 6 collections of 12 characters. Although you can mix and match character images there are only the relevant elements to create certain ones at the same time.
In essence, this is a LEGO DOTS set in everything but the name. It was noted that the DOTS would be integrated into other themes and this is a great example of that. Although it does use a few larger tile plates and it lacks any of the unique printed tiles found in DOTS sets, it does include a special Disney 100 tile and an exclusive Mickey Mouse minifigure. This feature Mickey in artist overalls and a paint palette board. This is joined by a smaller framed image which features a Mickey Mouse-inspired 100 logo.
The images you can create span over a wide section of Disney films and focus just on Disney’s animated offerings. They include character images or things related to Disney such as a poison apple or mouse-themed numbers and icons. Admittedly some of them are a little better than others, which some slightly tricky to place exactly what they are, this is mostly the case with the images which represent Disney items.
The instruction booklet only features the build steps for the 12 images shown here. Additional images are shown in the booklet but the actual instructions are featured online or on the LEGO Builder app (which were not available at the time of publication). These alternative images are grouped around different aspects of the Disney brand including Pixar characters, Disney Villains and Disney Princesses.
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31st May 2023
Dear Bank Manager…
LEGO has to stop this now. I’m skint!