Review: Frozen BrickHeadz
Posted by Huw,
There seems to be no let-up in LEGO's release schedule for BrickHeadz sets this year. 41617 Elsa and 41618 Anna & Olaf are among nine sets that were released on July 1st, just a couple of months after the last batch.
Although many of this year's may well appeal to young girls, these are the first that definitely will, and thanks to the myriad of colourful parts in them they may well appeal to you, too.
I know how much you all love our BrickHeadz reviews so read on to see if you agree...
Elsa
Elsa is packed separately in a regular £9.99/$9.99 set.
Often the bodies of BrickHeadz are fairly boring and uniform that that's definitely not the case with Elsa.
As you'd expect she's attired in a full-length light blue dress, replicated here with medium and dark azur (sic) parts, and a shawl, produced using aqua parts, which doesn't quite match the colour seen in the film but looks perfectly fine.
Elsa is often seen with her plaited hair cascading over her left shoulder so this has been reproduced on the model as best as could be expected, given the constraints of the BrickHeadz template.
Cool yellow has been used for her hair so the set is a good source of parts in that colour, 44 in total.
There's some nice detailing on the side of her head but the back is devoid of any.
Curved slopes on the right side of the figure have been used to replicate folds in her dress. A slither of tan can be seen underneath which I guess is her ankle although it looks a bit out of place.
Anna
Anna comes in 41618 along with her snowman sidekick Olaf. It retails for £14.99 / $14.99 which is less than other dual packs on account of Olaf being smaller than normal BrickHeadz.
From the front she looks excellent: like her older sister she plaits her hair -- but into two tails -- and, again, they are usually seen hanging forwards over her shoulders, so this has been replicated here.
The colours used for her dress and cloak look excellent and pretty much spot-on. The decorated pieces are, as we have become accustomed to in BrickHeadz, printed.
Unfortunately, from the back she looks very plain with no detail in hair or cloak to be seen. Maybe it's understandable given the figure will most likely be displayed and viewed from the front, but a little more effort would have been appreciated.
Olaf
The July releases have introduced a new 3x3 BrickHeadz template which is used here in Olaf, and for Hedwig in 41615 Harry Potter & Hedwig. Later, Yoda and Rocket will also be based upon it. It makes use of the new 32952 (Brick 1X1X1 2/3, W/ Vert. Knobs) which was introduced last year.
Again, all parts are printed, including a 1x3 plate which has a 'coal button' on one side.
The face looks suitably goofy but perhaps an open mouth expression with a touch of blue would have brightened the figure up a bit.
An interesting technique has been used to mount the 1x1 round 'polo' plate upside down in the centre of his head in which the flower stem is affixed, utilising a brick with clip and a 1x1 nipple tile.
Nothing much to see round the back...
Verdict
I do like a good BrickHeadz and the the two girls here are among my favourites, mainly on account of the colours which make a nice change from the dull palette of most Star Wars and Super Heroes ones. Olaf doesn't do much for me, although I appreciate he's a popular character who would be missed if he wasn't included.
Usually it's the character's hair that separates good BrickHeadz from the boring. Not only do this pair have great hairstyles but they also have interesting and different bodies, which also sets them apart from more mundane ones. The backs are devoid of detail, which is a shame, but as you can see from the picture below, it's not really an issue when displaying them.
I suspect young girls will be all over these and perhaps many older ones too, if only for the excellent selection of brightly coloured parts. Elsa is the first BrickHeadz figure to have cool yellow hair so if that best suits your coiffure you might find it a useful addition to 41597 Go Brick Me if you wish to build yourself.
Overall then, if you're not a BrickHeadz fan already these probably won't turn you into one but if you are, you'll appreciate the bright colours and interesting designs.
Thanks to LEGO for providing these sets for this review, which is an expression of my own opinions.
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22 comments on this article
Thanks for the review, I enjoy your photography and getting a good look at the new colors and parts even if I am not that excited by most Brickheadz sets.
@Bumblepants Seconded!
Hey, baby Olaf!
I'm not a huge brickheadz fan, but it's worth going through the inventories. There're some hidden gems in there.
Like 2 of these in Elsa: https://brickset.com/parts/6216967/brick-1x1x1-2-3-w-vert-knobs
Or these in Olaf: https://brickset.com/parts/6233909/plate-1x1-round-w-horizontal-3-2-shaft
Is it just me, or are the designs just getting lazier and lazier on brickheadz?
I'd say the Anna/Olaf one is the better of the two honestly.
Liking a few things about these... First is that Olaf can be changed a bit on the cheap due to “Mighty Micro” and some “Juniors” having other printed mouth options (Brainiac and Joker).
And Elsa comes with butter bricks which is amazing.
I have to say these are terrible. Brickheadz seem to be getting worse as time goes on. Is that really the best that could be done for olaf?
Elsa and Anna are decent, but Olaf looks terrible. I can’t even tell it’s him!
Why do you think they are getting worse, or that these are lazy designs?
Disappointing. Elsa should be wearing her gloves, and Anna should have a white streak in her hair.
Nice review. These don't interest me at all, but that's mostly because I kind of hate Frozen.
Great review but you say "slither of tan". I think you mean "sliver". Otherwise thanks for giving us a very nice look at these sets.
@giantorange, I don’t understand why you say these are getting worse. These are some of the better ones I think, even if I don’t care about Brickheadz.
@HugeYellowBrick, Elsa didn’t wear gloves while in this outfit, so she shouldn’t be wearing them here. As for Anna’s white streak, since it’s woven into her hair tightly in the movie it would have been hard to replicate that here. Had they attempted it here I’m sure you would have complained about it anyways.
@Huw, the smaller builds for Olaf, Hedwig, and Rocket are called "Buddiez" according to Marcos Bessa.
@Huw: Maybe its the pace they're being churned out at now, but they just feel like they're getting to be generic 'change x piece to make y character' rather then 'How can we make X different so it stands out from y'. Or its just a case of 'slap on z accessory' or 'change the colour of this bit'.
They're just starting to feel like a range with very little variation or design that they can throw out with very little work or creativity.
After the 'go brick me set', they all feel like something you could make yourself without trying rather then something that's had any major development time put into it.
Like quite a few of the BrickHeadz I only care for them as parts packs, once they go on discount. As sets to build they still do nothing for me.
The only BrickHeadz set I would ever build is the BTTF one.
Nice to be told the "cool yellow" color isn't included in GoBrickMe--since, as you say, it's a lovely option for blonde hair that's a definite reason to consider buying Elsa which I hadn't realized before! I wonder how many other Brickheadz would also provide an extra range of color for custom builds?
@monkyby87 The beauty of characatures is that they pick out an attribute and put a fun twist on it to make it recognisable. Olaf just looks like a generic snowman with none of the quirks of the original to make it stand out, it's only because there are limited named snowmen that it works. Elsa is OK, but to be honest you could cut and paste it and call it Goldilocks, it's just a generic blonde with a blue dress.
Olaf looks better than the real design. That thing is creepy...
@GrizBe that may as well be the point. Given that these are meant to be a competitor/cash-in for Funko Pops, which also are generally the same deal ("change x piece to make y character, slap on z accessory"), they're pretty faithful to their considerably less imaginative inspirations.
i don't love bickheadz to begin with but now disney princesse's :(