LEGO® Disney™ 43257 Angel caught my attention when it was released in June 2025: an overall rounded,
substantially sized character built in a still relatively uncommon
colour; an ode of bright pink. As a design, it looks like a pink
recolour of 43249 Stitch (review by Thomas Jenkins) with some other
changes here and there; new part aficionados will surely notice the
gracefully curving tentacles.
The
re-use of previously designed shapes is understandable, as the female character Angel is basically a pink version of Stitch. I'm not a
fan of such (relatively common) character design practice, where an
established male protagonist gets a love interest by changing colour
into pink and adding eyelashes plus an optional heart accessory – all of which were included here. They deserve better.
Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.
43257 Angel
- Release date: 1 June 2025
- Pieces: 784
Price:
- US$ 64.99 on LEGO.com US
- CA$ 84.99 on LEGO.com Canada
- GB£ 59.99 on LEGO.com UK
- AU$ 119.99 on LEGO.com Australia
- NZ$ 129.99 on LEGO.com New Zealand
- DE€ 549,99 on LEGO.com Deutschland
- NL€ 64,99 on LEGO.com Nederland
- FR€ 64,99 on LEGO.com France
- PLN 284.99 on LEGO.com Polska
- NOK 899,90 on LEGO.com Norge
- DKK 549.95 on LEGO.com Danmark
Interesting parts
Recolours
First, plenty of batches recoloured to bright pink:
- 2x Technic Brick Special 2 x 2 with Ball Socket Wide and Axle Hole, No Arm Holes (6543495 | 67696)
- 4x Wedge Plate 3 x 3 Cut Corner (6543492 | 2450)
I'm very happy that we're getting several recolours of the ball socket per year. I use this piece in most of my character builds, usually in the hip.
- 4x Wedge Curved 4 x 3 No Studs (6543503 | 64225)
- Wedge Curved 6 x 2 Right, Smooth Inner Walls (6543505 | 5711)
- Wedge Curved 6 x 2 Left, Inner Ridges (6544044 | 41748)
- Wedge Sloped 4 x 2 Triple Left (6543498 | 43710)
- Wedge Sloped 4 x 2 Triple Right (6543501 | 43711)
All of these wedges are useful when capturing organic shapes.
- 12x Brick Round 1 x 1 D. Tube with 45° Elbow and Axle Holes (Crossholes) at Each End (6535768 | 7324)
Available in 4 colours (here also in medium lavender, below) across 3 sets, this piece is still quite rare. It's exciting because it is elegant, unique in shape and has good connections – antistuds for versatility, and axle holes for sturdiness.
- 9x Slope 45° 2 x 2 (6543491 | 3039)
Now, this is a piece I would not have guessed to be a new recolour. Good for collectors of 2x2 slopes.
- 14x Brick Round Corner, Curved 3 x 3 x 1 Quarter Circle (6543493 | 76797) - new in 2025, also in 72044 Mario Kart™ – Piranha Plant Power-Up Pursuit
Introduced two years ago, this piece has already found its way to 29 colours, being apparently liked by the designers. It certainly enables smooth transitions and shapes.
- Slope Curved 3 x 2 with Stud Notch Right (6543499 | 80178) and Slope Curved 3 x 2 with Stud Notch Left (6543494 | 80177) new in 2025, both also in 77078 Mecha Team Leader
- 4x Technic Pin Connector Round [Slotted] (6543497 | 29219) - new in 2025, also in 72044 Mario Kart™ – Piranha Plant Power-Up Pursuit
Of course, this is not the only 2025 set to have bright pink recolours. These pieces were released in another set simultaneously, and remain rare.
In Medium Lavender:
- 2x Brick Round 1 x 1 D. Tube with 45° Elbow and Axle Holes (Crossholes) at Each End (6557601 | 7324)
- 2x Plate Special 1 x 1 with Clip Vertical [Thick Open O Clip] (6543488 | 60897, 44860)
- 2x Slope 45° 2 x 1 with 2/3 Inverted Cutout and no stud (6543490 | 28192)
- 2x Tile Round 3 x 3 (6543486 | 67095)
These are all useful parts, even though the quantities are not as exciting as with some of the bright pink ones.
- 8x Tile Round 1 x 2 in Dark Pink (6549916 | 1126)
This little tile has plenty of uses in character building, so I'm happy to have a bunch.
New prints on recoloured parts
- Brick Round Corner 5 x 5 x 3 1/3 Quarter Dome Top with Black Eye Closed, Tan Background print (6541842)
- Brick Round Corner 5 x 5 x 3 1/3 Quarter Dome Top with Black Eye Open, Tan Background print (6541843)
- Windscreen 8 x 6 x 2 Curved with Medium Lavender Splotch print (6541844)
Unsurprisingly, these prints are unique to this set, and the pieces are new and unique recolours. The medium lavender splat pattern is universal enough for other usage, but the large eye prints surely are challenging to use in a MOC. The radical asymmetry doesn't help. Challenge accepted?
Rare parts
- 4x Brick Round Corner 3 x 3 x 1 No Studs (6294350 | 65617) - in 2 other sets
- 2x Brick Curved 6 x 1(6445416 | 42022) - in 2 other sets
- 4x Plate Round 4 x 4 with Pin Hole (6543502 | 60474) - new in 2025, also in 42671 Plant Café & Flower Shop
- 2x Plate Round Corner 4 x 4 (6213793 | 30565) - last seen in 2018 in 10260 Downtown Diner (review by Elspeth)
- 6x Wedge Plate 2 x 2 Right (6543496 | 24307) - new in 2025, in 2 other sets
The quarter corner will be especially welcome for those re-creating the older Modular Buildings.
Finally, the odds and ends:
- Wheel Arch, Mudguard, 1 1/2 x 6 x 1 [Arch Extended] in Tan (6530045 | 4925) - also in 10350 Tudor Corner (review by Elspeth)
- Plate Angled 6 x 6 Heart Shape in Dark Turquoise (6469527 | 46342) - in 2 other sets
- Plate Angled 3 x 3 with Heart Shape in Bright Light Orange (6529336 | 39613) - new in 2025, also in 43266 Cinderella's Dress (review by Elspeth)
- 4x Brick Round Corner, Curved 2 x 2 x 2/3 Quarter Circle in Dark Azure (6527162 | 5852) - new in 2025, in 2 other sets
- 4x Brick Curved 1 x 2 x 1 with Curved Top in Medium Lavender (6544440 | 5841) - also in 11044 Creative Build-and-Play Box
- 2x Plate 1 x 3 in Medium Lavender (6136332 | 3623) - last seen in 2018, in 2 other sets
I nominate the 2x2x2/3 Quarter Circle curved slope (5852), the best new piece of 2025.
MOC: Cat Brawler
I built the rest of the character in one go, first finishing the legs and then continuing upwards. I still had to find a use for those gently curving macaronis: as they're the most interesting pieces in this set, I didn't want to miss them! After all, I had already somehow not used the exciting coral in my two MOCs inspired by 31170 Pink Flamingo – and I didn't want to repeat that failure.
There were two main routes for using the gently curving macaronis. First, integrating them into the structure; this would have been painless due to their versatile connections. Positioning them next to each other creates a ribbed, curved surface, similar to the fold of the skirt I devised in HAVOC-DISSECT IV in 2019, when regular macaroni tubes were still new and exciting.
However, I felt that this was not the most powerful way to use those pieces; instead, I just wanted to make a long winding worm – something not possible before the introduction of this piece.
The worm idea didn't fit with the ordinary human MOC concept, and the lower legs had already pulled the model into a more sci-fi direction. I considered adding some sort of tentacle wires for creepy cyberpunk vibes, but didn't come up with any working scheme. Fortunately, we have two cats in the house. In addition to evoking constant envy with their tails, those fluffy appendages also functioned as inspiration for the rest of the builds.
Along with the tail came the large, clawed paws (in addition to brawling, they're effective against furniture). Overall lanky proportions were fitting. However, I surprised even myself with the bulky shoulder pads. I like silhouettes with big shoulder armour, but I was not expecting to use those weirdly-printed dome-quarters! Fortunately, the black frames – which formed quite elegantly around the dome pieces – helped to make the eye prints a bit more abstract; like some sort of bounty hunter insignia or war paint.
The slightly unsettling cyberpunk vibe extended itself into the head, with its unconventional use of a LEGO® NINJAGO® sticker (from set 70642 Killow vs. Samurai X, from 2018) upside down on a petal from 10374 Bouquet of Pink Roses (see my review of set 10374). No eyes, no empathy? To create some contrast, I added some fabulous ribbons on the ears and the shoes, adding a touch of dark pink along with the stripes in the arms.
Conclusion
Although I'm not smitten with Angel's character design, it is a good excuse for a set packed with recolours. With the price of £59.99/ US$64.99/ €64.99/ AU$19.99 for 784 parts, it has a great value, especially for a licensed set.
If you like building pink MOCs, this set is for you. And if any Disney character designers are listening, I'd like a bright light orange Stitch next please!
Help New Elementary keep publishing articles like this. Become a Patron!
A huge thank you to all our patrons for your support, especially our 'Vibrant Coral' tier: London AFOLs, Antonio Serra, Beyond the Brick, Huw Millington, Dave Schefcik, David and Breda Fennell, Gerald Lasser, Baixo LMmodels, Sue Ann Barber and Trevor Clark, Markus Rollbühler, Elspeth De Montes, Megan Lum, Andy Price, Chuck Hagenbuch, Jf, Wayne R. Tyler, Daniel Church, Lukas Kurth (StoneWars), Timo Luehnen, Chris Wight, Jonathan Breidert, Brick Owl, BrickCats, Erin and Dale, Thunderdave, Jake Forbes and our newest top-tier patron, H.Y. Leung! You folks are better than inverted cheese slopes.
All text and images are ©2025 New Elementary unless otherwise attributed.



















No comments:
Post a Comment