The characters in LEGO Disney Duos #43226 may get a little wound up as they find a friend in the rush of a current or chasing a stranger around the woods, but in the end everything will be okay because true friends are faithful no matter how dangerous the journey may be.
Disney Duos cost $44.99USD on its release date which makes it a very reasonably priced set. It includes 553 pieces and is rated for 6+. I am a little surprised with this age rating. I can see how the characters themselves would be very attractive to a younger audience, but the building style may be a challenge for some young builders.
Lumiere and Cogsworth were built first and make one fine looking duo. A white Bent Modified Plate supports the stands for all the duos, which is then built up in colors that suit the characters that perch atop them. Positioned between each pair is a silver sign with a printed design featuring the celebration of Disney’s 100 years. The base for these two characters are a bright yellow which is a delightful nod to Belle’s ball gown.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Lumiere’s base builds up quickly using gold pieces. An Axle Connector Hub with 4 Bars supports the head and two arms. The use of some clever pieces allow the arms to rotate and bend in multiple directions allowing Lumiere to pose in many ways that bring back delightful memories of the characters’ scenes within the movie. Cake Frosting pieces are placed atop cylinders to create the top of the candles and they perfectly replicate melting wax.
A beautiful new piece is introduced in this set to create the tall center candle and subsequently his face. The piece is curved which brings his printed face into a lovely viewing position. His dashing debonair smile and arched eyebrow give him a perfectly suave appearance and I am sure he will win over a number of fair maiden’s hearts.
Cogsworth has always been one of my favorite characters. His grumpy little attitude that deep down cares so deeply always touched my heart. I was very happy with the design and collection of pieces used to make him. His wide base creates perfect feet that support a plump little body and a large rounded head. The use of the pearl gold tail pieces as arms was a smart move and they can be popped off and repositioned to give him various arm poses. A gold leaf creates a cute bowtie above what has to be his best feature: large round dish pieces with a perfectly printed face upon it. A gold stud makes a perfect button nose.
Cogsworth has a special interactive feature built into his center. A rotating pendulum can be controlled with a toy winder positioned on his back. This little feature has caused me to spend entirely too many peaceful minutes holding Cogsworth as he ticks time away.
A delightful pair and very well designed.
We must shift gears a bit now from the halls of a castle to the warm waters of the pacific. Squirt and Nemo sit atop cleverly placed translucent blue pieces that give them the appearance of floating, or swimming, through space.
The little sea turtle is as cute as can be. I was most impressed with the way the base to his body was built up. Only twelve pieces were used but the collection chosen creates a perfect base for everything else to be attached to. His shell is made from a Rounded Shoulder Armor piece which has a printed shell design on the top which is accented with large red flowers. He has a boxy little head which rotates with a ball and socket connection. Large brown eyes take up the sides of his head and two stickers were placed which give him his smile and polka dot turtle markings.
Squirt’s fins are built up in a simple but clever way and can be positioned in numerous ways. The back fins are restricted to moving from side to side, but the front fins are much more expressive and can rotate up and down as well as achieve some side movement.
Nemo swims alongside his friend and although he has a simpler style of build he looks and feels like the little clownfish we love from the movie. The orange and white body is built up in a similar fashion to the Brickheadz with a central structure that supports the design elements to attach on all sides.
His tail glides from side to side and his fins also glide front to back. A large fin on the left side brings great attention to his sweet little fin on the opposite side. He has little eyes that appear to sparkle and a small sticker is placed to create his mouth.
These two are definitely the cutest out of the bunch.
The last two duos present some design elements that disappoint me a bit. The previous four characters were unmistakable in their identity, but two of the next characters were designed in such a way that did not honor their sweet faces to their fullest potential. Meeko and Pua deserved better in my opinion.
Pua and Heihei sit atop island green and make a sweet little pair.
Heihei is adorable. A bit off his rocker and that is exactly what the doctor ordered. Yellow leaves were used for his feet which I thought was a great choice. He is a mixture of turquoise, greens and yellow. He is stationary, a slight disappointment as I would have loved to have him be able to bend over to peck away for seeds. His large eye pieces have a printed black center. To finish off his look he has two red feathers perched atop his head, and in his beak he holds a grey “rock”.
Pua as discussed above feels that he is missing a bit of his facial character, but just slightly. I think the problem lies within the eyes and lack of mouth. Pua’s eyes are very expressive in the movie and the use of standard eye pieces is a bit of an injustice I think. Placing a mouth probably would have been a challenge, but the loss of one definitely robs him of looking more like his true self.
Otherwise he is very well designed and super cute. His ears can move back and forth, and have stickers placed on them for detailing. His back legs can move side to side, and his little tail moves up and down. He has a rounded appearance and a bright pink nose which stands out in an adorable way.
Both of these characters were designed to look a bit simpler compared to the previous two, but it works for them and they look great lined up with everyone else.
My daughter adores Percy and Meeko, and she was so disappointed with Meeko’s build that she said she will probably not purchase the set. Unfortunately, I have to agree with her that Meeko was greatly robbed in this set. It honestly looks nothing like him. The build itself makes a really cute raccoon, but it does not create Meeko.
As with Pua’s, the problem lies in the facial features . Otherwise we have a nice looking racoon. His head rotates on a swivel piece and his tail moves up and down. I really liked the combination of pieces used to create the tail. His little paws can grasp treats and I am sure he will be stealing a few of those from the little friend to his side.
Percy sits smugly by Meeko and looks perfectly like his character. His face features a large printed piece for his eyes and a sticker placed on a round flat tile creates his muzzle. The body and hind legs were built up in a unique way which I enjoyed.
His front legs are popped onto a pin that is connected to the body. This gives his front legs a good range of motion forward which allows him to be posed in a couple different ways. His wrists are also jointed which gives further ability to animate him. Percy’s head also swivels around and rests above a blue collar and gold bell.
Our final characters are perched on a brown forest floor and even with the disappointment within the design of Meeko, are a wonderful addition to the group of Disney Duos.
Overall I think this is a special set to pick up and the characters are very cute when on display.