What fun awaits Anna and Elsa at Arendelle castle? The stories are yours to tell in this portable storybook.
The box is a nice blend between the other Frozen II and Storybook Adventure sets. The white areas of the background are filled with the Frozen II birch-bark pattern, and the colored areas have the enchanted forest design, but the layout follows the same style as the other storybook sets. The box front shows the open, and completed storybook from the castle exterior side. An inset circle in the lower left corner shows the mostly closed book, and magic sparkles drift across the bottom of the layout. The Frozen II logo and a movie-style image of Anna and Elsa are in the lower right corner. This is the same image used for the other Frozen II sets.
My box is covered with stickers to provide the appropriate labeling for U.S. distribution. I know that there are different labeling requirements for different countries. My guess is that the box was produced for the European market and relabeled with the stickers for U.S. distribution because of supply chain issues due to COVID-19.
The back of the box shows another image of the open book from the castle interior side, with call-out circles showing some of the details, like how parts fold in so the book can be closed. Another movie image of Anna and Elsa is on the left side under the LEGO and Disney logos. Across the bottom are two inset images. The first shows all the books in the Storybook Adventure series. The second image shows how the book closes and locks.
While the Mulan Storybook Adventure set was taped shut, this box is glued shut and has the half-moon knockouts for opening on the back. When I picked up all four book sets, two of mine have the sticker information and they both have glued boxes with knockouts. The other two do not have the stickers and are taped boxes. My best guess is that this difference is also related to the manufacturing center in which they were made.
The top of the box shows us the four included micro-dolls (Anna, Elsa, Olaf, and Kristoff), as well as a little brick-built sleigh. Elsa is shown in the 1:1 part ratio image.
The other three sides of the box have the standard logos, warnings, and manufacturing details. As I mentioned above, my box has stickers for some of this information. The right side of the box also has an image of the completed set - it's the same image from the box front.
Inside the box, there are three unnumbered bags of parts, two sticker sheets, the instruction pamphlet, and the book covers and spine. The book covers and spine are loose in the box, as are the sticker sheets and instructions. Nothing was crumpled in my set (yay!) The book covers and spine are exclusive to this set, as the other storybook sets use different colors.
Here's a closer look at the sticker sheets. Just like the Mulan book, one sticker sheet is used in building the set, and the other sticker sheet is left for the builder to decorate the set or not as they see fit.
Let's take a closer look at the parts, starting with the largest of the three bags.
Printed pieces always grab my attention, and there are several nice ones in this set. The flat silver 6 x 8 round tile with silhouetted images of Anna and Elsa is exclusive to this set. The other storybook sets all use pearl gold tiles for the silhouette prints, but silver works better for the colder Frozen palette.
This is also true of the lock print for this set. While the other storybooks share a pearl gold element, this set has an exclusive flat silver 2 x 3 modified tile with 2 clips and key hole print.
The other printed piece in this bag of parts is the bright light orange 2 x 4 tile with geometric rug pattern. This piece is not exclusive to this set, as it also appears in set 41166 Elsa's Wagon Adventure (2019).
In addition to the printed pieces, there are several other new pieces to mention:
- Bright light blue 2 x 4 45° slopes
- Light aqua 1 x 2 x 2 castle windows
- Magenta 2 x 3 tile
Setting aside the micro-doll parts to look at once they are built, the middle-sized bag of parts has more printed elements.
I love the three bright light blue 2 x 3 pentagonal tiles. I'm so glad those are printed and not stickers. They will add fabulous detail to the castle.
The other printed piece in this bag, the 2 x 2 tile with sailing ship and moon image, is not a new print. It has appeared in several sets since 2011, but I always appreciate when we can get a print instead of a sticker.
Moving on from the printed elements, there are two newly recolored parts in this bag:
The 3L technic pin with stop bush in flat silver is exclusive to this set, but I'm sure we will be seeing this recolor show up more in the future.
The 2 x 2 jumper in coral is so far only in two sets: this one and set 43176 Ariel's Storybook Adventures.
Finally, the smallest bag of parts has the rest of our micro-doll parts, and a couple new prints.
The 2 x 2 modified plates with 1 stud in center with gold lacy pattern are new but not exclusive to this set. They appear in all the storybook adventure sets, as well as the polybag set 30554 Cinderella Mini Castle.
The 1 x 2 white tile with piano keys print is also new for 2020. So far it only appears in two other sets, including 41400 Andrea's Play Cube.
Before we take a look at those adorable micro-dolls, here's a closer look at all the printed elements included in this set. I think my favorite are those pentagon tiles. They are so pretty.
There are four micro-doll characters included in this storybook adventure. All of them have exclusive body prints, and the three humans have exclusive head prints with chibi-style big eyes.
Micro-Olaf uses the same head mold and carrot piece from the other Frozen II sets. His body is made from a white minifigure head piece that is printed with his arms and coal buttons. Simple, but effective.
Kristoff has the same hair piece that is used in his mini-doll form. Micro-Krostoff is wearing a tan shirt with vest and brown pants.
Micro-Anna is wearing a simplified version of her mini-doll dress from set 41167 Arendelle Castle Village. The wheat pattern and lavender sash is lovely. She is wearing the same hairstyle we have seen before, and is giving us a cheeky wink.
Micro-Elsa is wearing a simplified version of her mini-doll dress from sets 30553 Elsa's Winter Throne and 41167 Arendelle Castle Village. She is wearing her hair in her iconic single braid. Her magic powers are represented by a minifigure water plume which fits into the peg hole of her hands.
Because of the small size of the figures, they have no articulation and their hands can only hold something with pin (like Elsa's magic).
Here is a comparison of the new micro-dolls with their matching mini-dolls. You can see that the heads are the same size, but the micro-dolls have much larger eyes. I think they are really cute. I would love to see Sven included with Kristoff, but mostly I'm just happy that Kristoff was't left out.
Time to start building their storybook.
We start with putting the book covers and spine together with those shiny silver pins. The silhouette tile is placed on the front cover, and stickers, with Olaf in silhouette, are placed on the spine and back cover.
Next, we add some detail to the interior of the covers. The front cover has a printed courtyard where we build a bridge to the castle. The back cover will be the interior of the castle, so we add a rug to the room. Leaves and jumpers are added to the corners.
The main build is the castle. It is built in three sections and placed in the spine of the book. We start with the section at the top of the spine. The castle exterior uses candle sticks for columns, a sticker for detail on the roof tile, and the pentagon tile for a second story window.
On the inside of the castle, we build a piano under a picture. The piano will fold up when the book is closed.
The center section of the castle connects with the bridge that was placed in the courtyard. A sticker is used for the Arendelle flag over the entrance. The upper spire of the castle is also hinged to fold away when closing the book.
The final section of the castle mirrors the first section on the outside. Inside is a small bed. The coral jumper plate seems a little strange, but it will be used when we close up the book.
The last thing we build is a small sleigh. The whip pieces make convincing runners.
Let's put everything together in the book.
Here's the front of the castle. It is so cute. I'm super impressed by how good it looks given the constrained space that it needs to fit into. The printed courtyard and bridge build really make this look complete without adding the extra stickers.
Turning the book around to look at the interior of the castle, there's not much happening here. The reverse of the castle looks fine, but that big open lavender space needs help. We'll get to that in a little bit.
Here's a top down view of the finished build where you can see both sides of the open book.
When it's time to close the book for the day, the sleigh pins onto that coral jumper that I mentioned earlier. There are also jumpers for all four figures, so nothing is rattling around loose in the book. The piano folds up, and the spire folds down.
The folding bits are a clever solution to make this all fit in the closed book. When everything is opened up, it can be hard to believe that it will all fit.
The book is closed up and ready to be shelved.
But wait! In addition to a few extra parts, we have a whole second sticker sheet that hasn't been used. There are no instructions for where to place these stickers. It is up to the builder to decide if they want to use them, and where to place them. Since I think the castle looks pretty empty without them, it's time to get decorating.
That's better. Now there are plants growing outside the castle, and the interior has furniture. It will be much easier to tell a story now.
Here's another view of the completed build. I chose to use all the stickers.
Here's the castle from the front/exterior and back/interior. I really like that the book is divided this way.
Final thoughts? It's fun. I'm really impressed with the castle and how it folds up to fit into the book. The characters are super cute. I'm a fan of the chibi-style, but it's not for everyone. The stickers are really necessary for this book. Without them the castle interior doesn't offer much inspiration.
As I said in the my Mulan review, these story books make good travel sets. They are compact and easily portable. There is just enough to provide a space for imaginative play and storytelling, and everything puts away neatly. It's not meant to be a display piece, but I do think the closed books will look good on a shelf.
Happy building!
~prrbrix
Disclaimer:
This set was purchased by me, and was NOT provided by The LEGO Group.
Opinions provided here solely mine.
Photographs are mine and are not directed by TLG in any fashion.
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