Disney

Raya and the Heart Palace

A playful little palace with real film soul, if you can make peace with the price.

Brick Rated Score

3.7/5

Set 43181 · 2021

Pieces610

Minifigs2

Year2021

Set number43181

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The verdict

This one won me over more than I expected, mostly because of how much personality LEGO packed into a fairly small footprint.

Raya and Namaari as mini-dolls are lovely, Tuk Tuk is an absolute charmer of a new mould, and the revolving wall with the hidden Kumandra map is a genuinely clever touch. My honest hesitation is the value: 610 pieces for the original 79.99 asking price is thin, and you feel it. Best for a Raya and the Last Dragon fan who wants the characters and the play features more than a big brick count.

Best for: Raya and the Last Dragon fans (roughly ages 6 and up) who want the characters and secret-room play more than piece count

The full review

What it is

I came to this one expecting a fairly ordinary licensed palace, and the thing that actually got me was the storytelling built into the play. Raya and the Heart Palace opens up into six little rooms, a throne room, a treasure room, bedrooms in the towers, and the centrepiece is a revolving wall that spins to reveal the map of Kumandra with its dragon-shaped river. That is not a throwaway gimmick. It ties straight back to the film's whole legend, and the first time I turned that wall and the map appeared, I grinned. The two side towers open to store Raya's and Namaari's weapons, the central tower cracks open to a bedroom, and everything is hinged so it folds from a strip into a contained palace. For a set aimed squarely at younger builders and Raya fans, it earns its playability.

The catch

Now for the part I have to be straight with you about, because it is the same thing nearly every reviewer flagged. At 610 pieces for the original 79.99 price, the value is genuinely thin. Put it next to other sets in the same bracket that carry close to double the element count and the maths starts to sting. A good chunk of the palace decoration comes from stickers rather than printed pieces too, which is a personal-taste thing, but at this price I wanted more printing. And once it is built, the palace is more of an open play stage than a solid, satisfying structure. It looks a bit airy on a shelf. None of this makes it a bad set, it just means you are paying for the licence and the characters as much as the bricks, and you should walk in knowing that.

Who it's for

So who should actually get this. If you or a young builder in your life loves Raya and the Last Dragon, this is an easy yes, because the character selection is the real draw and you cannot get these mini-dolls and creatures anywhere else now that the set is retired. The play features are strong, the secret map is delightful, and it will get handled and re-handled rather than sit untouched. If you are chasing brick-for-your-buck value, a dense build, or a display piece with presence, I would gently steer you elsewhere, or at least wait to find it below the old retail price on the aftermarket. This is a set you buy with your heart, appropriately enough, more than your spreadsheet.

The parts story

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

The build itself is quick and friendly, which is exactly what it should be for the audience. It goes together as a series of hinged platform sections that start flat and fold up into the palace, so even a younger builder gets that satisfying transformation moment near the end without a fiddly technical slog. It is not a set that will challenge an experienced builder, but it moves at a nice pace and the play features come together cleanly, especially the revolving wall mechanism, which is simpler than it looks and works reliably.

The star parts are the creatures. Tuk Tuk arrives as a brand-new large armadillo mould with a hollow build to keep him light, and he is genuinely adorable in hand. Namaari's Serlot is a fresh recolour with its own unique printing, so both animals are exclusive pulls. The Raya and Namaari mini-dolls carry new hairpieces, printed heads, and Raya gets a soft-goods cape and hat, all faithful to the movie. You also get some nicely printed curved dome elements and cascading lantern detailing. It is a parts pack built around character and colour rather than raw quantity, and on that front it delivers even if the overall count leaves you wanting.

Fun facts

01The revolving wall hides a map of Kumandra with its dragon-shaped river, pulling the film's central legend straight into the build.
02Tuk Tuk is a brand-new large armadillo mould created for this set, with a hollow construction to keep him light for play.
03The set retired after a relatively short run, and sealed copies now sit slightly above the original 79.99 RRP on the aftermarket.