Disney

Elsa's Magical Ice Palace

The Let It Go palace, in translucent blue plastic, with a whole flurry of Snowgies to keep you company.

Brick Rated Score

4.0/5

Set 43172 · 2019

Pieces701

Minifigs8

Year2019

Set number43172

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The verdict

This is the LEGO version of the ice palace from that one song everybody knows, and it captures the sparkle better than I expected a play set to.

You get a tall two-story build full of clear-blue bricks, Elsa and Anna mini-dolls, Olaf, big Marshmallow, and four tiny Snowgies. It leans younger and it leans playroom, so it is happiest with a Frozen fan who wants to actually play with it. If you want a display-grade architectural build, this is not quite that.

Best for: A young Frozen fan who wants a palace to actually play with, not just shelf

The full review

What it is

I have a soft spot for the ice palace from Frozen, so seeing it rendered in walls of clear-blue plastic did the trick for me straight away. This is a two-story tower that stands over twelve inches tall, which is genuinely big for a set at this price, and the translucent bricks catch the light in a way that actually sells the frozen-castle fantasy. It comes packed with characters too: Elsa and Anna as mini-dolls, Olaf, the hulking Marshmallow, and four little Snowgies that are so daft and cute they nearly steal the whole thing. For a Frozen fan, this is a lot of set to fall in love with.

The catch

I will be straight with you about who this is really for. The build itself is simple and quite repetitive, the kind of thing designed so a five or six year old can genuinely do most of it themselves, which is lovely if that is the point but underwhelming if you were hoping for a meaty session. The mini-doll figures are the usual sticking point, some people find them charming and some people just want proper minifigs, and there is no middle ground on that one. Up close the palace is a little gappy and toy-like, with the play features (the sliding bridge, the revolving staircase) taking priority over a clean architectural look. At its original 79.99 US dollars it was fair rather than a steal, and now that it has retired the price has crept up, so you are paying a small premium for the theme.

Who it's for

Get this for a child who loves Frozen and wants a palace they can play with, tip Marshmallow over the balcony, load the sleigh, scatter the Snowgies, and it will earn its keep. It is also a warm, easy build to do together, which is a genuinely nice thing. Skip it if you are an adult collector chasing a display piece or a clever engineering challenge, because the simplicity and the mini-dolls will not scratch that itch. Know which camp you are in and this is an easy call either way.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

Building this is a gentle, low-stress afternoon rather than a workout. The structure goes up in clear stages, walls then floors then the fiddly play mechanisms, and because so much of it is aimed at younger builders you are rarely puzzling over anything for long. The revolving staircase and the little sliding bridge are the most satisfying moments, the bits where it stops feeling like stacking and starts feeling like a toy that does something. It is repetitive in the middle, but it never gets frustrating, and it is a lovely one to build alongside a kid.

The real treasure here is the color palette. Those transparent light-blue bricks and the dark-turquoise accents are exactly the pieces Frozen fans and ice-scene builders raid this set for, and having a big pile of them in one box is the parts story worth telling. The four Snowgie figures (the roly-poly snow babies from the Frozen Fever short) are their own little printed delight, and Marshmallow gives you a chunky snow-monster mold you will not find in many other places. Add a heap of snowflake studs, translucent detail pieces, and the mini-doll accessories, and it is a rewarding box to pull apart for a custom winter build.

Fun facts

01The four little Snowgies are the mischievous snow babies from the 2015 short Frozen Fever, born from Elsa's sneezes, not from either main film.
02The set retired in January 2021 after roughly a 28-month run, and sealed copies now trade above the original 79.99 US dollar price.
03Big Marshmallow is the snow guardian Elsa conjures to throw Anna and Kristoff out of the palace in the first film.
04At over 12 inches tall, it was one of the taller Disney sets of its size class in 2019, thanks to that two-story tower design.