13 November 2023

LEGO® Disney™ Wish review: 43231 Asha’s Cottage

Posted by Elspeth De Montes

LEGO recently revealed three sets based on the upcoming Disney™ animated movie, Wish. With the movie releasing on 22 November in the US, we thought it was the perfect time to take a look at the middle-sized set, 43231 Asha's Cottage. 

Let's take a look inside and see what new elements it brings.

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
LEGO® Disney™ Wish 43231 Asha's Cottage
US$49.99/ £46.99/ 52.99€/ AU$84.99
509 parts
6 September 2023
Please consider using our affiliate links, we may get a small commission if you purchase:
Set 43231 on LEGO.com

New elements

We track the new elements released in LEGO sets each month, and October's list showed this set had quite a few new elements to enjoy. 

There is one new mould, for a character called Star who appears across all three Wish tie-in sets. 

Star in Yellow (6455021|104963) is a new mould created for the LEGO Disney Wish sets.

© 2023 Disney

    

Star is a 5-pointed star with a winking, smiley face and comes with a simple little stand to mimic the floating nature of the character in the movie. Super cute!

The element has only one connection point: an anti-stud on the underside, which cannot connect a 3.18mm bar inside.

Recolours


There are eight new recolours in the set.

  •  23 x Plate Special 2 x 3 with Rocks in Cool Yellow/ Bright Light Yellow (6458991 | 27261)

  • Plate Special 1 x 1 with Tooth in Cool Yellow/ Bright Light Yellow (6463587 | 49668)
  • Plate Special 2 x 3 with Rocks in Cool Yellow/ Bright Light Yellow (6458991 | 27261)

  • Brick Arch 1 x 6 Raised Arch in Medium Lavender (6458985 | 92950)
  • Brick Curved 1 x 4 x 1, Curved Sides in Bright Green (6458988 | 4045)

  • Plate Special 1 x 2 with Clip Vertical on End in Reddish Brown (6459597 | 78256)
  • Plate Special 1 x 4 Rounded with 2 Open Studs in Reddish Brown (6463591 | 77845)
  • Brick Arch 1 x 5 x 2 in Reddish Brown (6458992 | 3572) is the first recolour for this element, which first appeared in Red in 10321 Corvette, and it is explored in Thomas Jenkins' review of 10321 Corvette.

New prints

Five delightful new printed elements appear in the set. Having not seen the film its a little difficult to explain the significance of these. The stylised rose is particularly nice, and the scribbles on the 1x2 Tile feature Star and Valentino the Goat from the movie.

  • Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Rose print in White (6455001 | 104952) - plus a spare!
  • Tile 1 x 2 with Drawing of Goat, Star print in Brick Yellow/ Tan (6462664 | 105314). Valentino the Goat appears 'in person' as a new mould in 43223 Asha in the City of Rosas
  • 4x Tile 2 x 3 with Dark Purple Wooden Slats print in Lavender (6460896 | 105215)
  •  Panel 1 x 2 x 3 with Reddish Brown/Medium Lavender Window print in Transparent/ Trans-Clear (6460897 | 105216)
  • Book Cover with Rose on Medium Nougat/Sand Blue Background print in Reddish Brown (6462663 | 105313)

Rare elements

If we class rarer elements as being in 3 or fewer sets, there are 10 elements that fall into this category in set 43231.

  • 2x Brick Round 1 x 1 x 1 1/3 Quarter Dome in White (6442360 | 1871)
  • 1x Plate Round Half 4 x 8 in Cool Yellow/ Bright Light Yellow (6249404 | 22888)
  • 1x Wheel Arch, Mudguard, 1 1/2 x 6 x 1 [Arch Extended] in Cool Yellow/ Bright Light Yellow (6296488 | 62361)
  • 2x Brick Round, Half 1 x 2 in Earth Blue/ Dark Blue (6384911 | 68013)
  • 2x Window 1 x 2 x 2 Flat Front in Lavender (6422081 | 79128)
  • 1x Brick Special 1 x 4 with Groove in Sand Green (6407809 | 2653)
  • 2x Telescope in Dark Orange (6070517 | 64644)
  • 8x Plant, with Bar and Off-shoot with Stud in Reddish Brown (6433717 | 1566)
  • 1x Lute with White Strings print in Medium Nougat (6371952)
  • 1x Plate 2 x 12 in Medium Nougat (6351301 | 2445)

Minifigures

There are three mini-dolls in the set, two of which are exclusive. As the main character in the movie, Asha appears in all three Wish sets. New elements for each figure are shown below.

Asha

 
Asha is a 17 year old girl who lives in the Kingdom of Rosas.

  •  Mini-doll Torso Woman with Lavender Dress, Dark Purple Trim, Magenta Belt, Silver Buckle print, Medium Lavender Arms and Medium Nougat Hands in Medium Nougat (6460972)
  • Mini-doll Hips and Skirt with Ankles, Dress with Pin, Magenta Underdress, Medium Nougat Legs, Black Shoes in Lavender (6461097)
  • Hair, Long Braided in Dark Brown (6455310 | 4643).
  • Mini-doll Head, Dark brown Eyebrows, Brown Eyes, Dark Red Lips, Freckles print in Medium Nougat (6454983 | 104934)

Sakina


Sakina is Asha's mother, who works as a seamstress.
  • Mini-doll Torso Girl with Bright Pink/Lavender Dress, White Necklace print, Magenta Arms, Medium Brown Hands in Medium Brown (6462655)
  • Full Length Skirt with Lavender Stars, Gold Trim, Magenta/Dark Pink Underdress print in Light Purple/ Bright Pink (6455026 | 104968). 
  • Braided with Bun in Black (6432153 | 3532) has only appeared once before.
  • Mini-doll Head, Black Eyebrows, Dark Red Eyes, Lips, Smirk print in Medium Brown (6455022 | 104964)

Sabino


Sabino is Asha's 100 year-old Grandfather who features a newly printed face, torso and legs.

  • Mini-doll Hips and Short Skirt with Olive Green Legs, Reddish Brown Boots (6462715)
  • Cape, No. 78 in Bright Red/ Red (6463616 | 105416)
  • Mini-doll Head Male, Thick White Eyebrows, Green Eyes, Big Mouth, Goatee, Wrinkles print in Light Nougat (6455027 | 104969)
  • Mini-doll Torso Boy with Tan/Olive Green Tunic, Dark Brown Trim, Laces, Belt print, Light Nougat Hands in Light Nougat (6462709)

Sticker sheet 

Yes there is a single, colourful sticker sheet. My least favourite stickers have to be the ones with stone detailing in greys and tan shades. I imagine they add to the likeness of Asha's Cottage when compared to the movie but I'm not a fan of adding stickers to walls personally. Remember though that this is a 7+ set, and children love stickers!

The build

The build consists of a two-floor, curvaceous cottage facade with a small wishing well as a side build. This is a simple, straightforward build - in fact, my 7 year-old daughter built the set, and now she's counting down the days until the movie premieres! 

There is definitely a LEGO® Elves vibe to the style and colour scheme, which will be most welcome to fans of that retired theme.


The other side of the cottage offers interior play, with an upper bedroom and a downstairs kitchen, dining area and cupboards. Here you can spot many of the stickers used to add colour and texture to the tiles.  


The walls are on hinges to allow access for play, and when closed the cottage appears to be almost a single room. The size of the set means that the actual floor space is minimal and, once opened, the walls are very much a facade.


The thatched roof uses a mix of Yellow slopes and curved slopes with all the new Cool Yellow elements in the set, to good effect.


The little wishing well is a cute side build that ties in with the main cottage's thatched roof and pink flowers.

Techniques

Although this is a simple set, there are two techniques that I thought I'd highlight from the building process.


The windows in the ground floor utilise the open underside of the Brick Arch 1 x 6 Raised Arch in Medium Lavender (6458985 | 92950) to allow the Fence 1 x 4 x 2 in Black to slot nicely inside. The new printed Tile 2 x 3 with Dark Purple Wooden Slats print in Lavender (6460896 | 105215) look very effective against the diamond leaded window effect.



The use of the Candle in Reddish Brown (6422088 | 37762) paired with the Bar and Off-shoot with Stud in Reddish Brown (6433717 | 1566) as wooden supporting struts is repeated throughout the build. They are used to give the impression that they support the thatched roof on both the ground floor at the main entrance and the first floor where you can see the new printed Panel 1 x 2 x 3 with Reddish Brown/Medium Lavender Window print in Trans-Clear (6460897 | 105216) nestled between them.


The same technique is used, with slightly smaller struts this time, to nicely fill the gap between the 1x2 portions of the curved walls on both sides of the cottage.

Conclusion


At the time of this review, the movie was not released so it's hard to compare to the subject matter. Aside from that, this is a cute set and is an attractive final build. It is simple but that is expected from a 7+ set based on a family movie, yet there are some nice details and a few techniques to make it a fun experience.

The main play feature is the pair of hinged walls that allow better access to the areas inside, but these are still pretty minimal in size.

From a new element aspect, there are some nice recolours and the copious number of new Cool Yellow curves will be great for straw, hay, beaches as well as within architecture builds. The 3 new mini-dolls have nicely printed outfits and the new star element appears to be a good likeness for its movie equivalent, but its not the most exciting new mould for AFOLs! If you are after the elements then it is probably better to wait and see if these elements appear on Pick a Brick rather than buying this set, as the price is a little higher due to it being a Disney movie tie-in.

If you enjoyed our review please consider using our affiliate link, we may get a small commission if you purchase:
set 43231 on LEGO.com.

READ MORE: LEGO® 80113 Family Reunion Celebration: interview with designer Niels Frederiksen

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