LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons review

LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons packs in the references, clever details and fun little LEGO moments for a quite unique LEGO Disney set.

Paying tribute to an amazing seven different Disney films in the one LEGO set is no mean feat, but is cleverly achieved in LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons through a collection of mini-builds – each offering some unique approaches and proving quite fun to put together. As a collection this may not make for a set you were most immediately expecting to mark the 100th anniversary of Disney, but once built it will sit very purposefully in your House of Mouse collection.

— LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons set details —

Theme: LEGO Disney Set name: 43227 Villain Icons Release: June 1, 2023

Price: £124.99 / $129.99 / €129.99 Pieces: 1,540 Minifigures: 4

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LEGO: Pre-order now

— Where to buy LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons —

LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons releases on June 1 at LEGO.com and in LEGO stores, as part of an extensive summer wave of new releases across a number of themes. Expect it to also appear at third-party retailers, potentially as a retailer exclusive.

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— LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons build —

LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons is such an unexpected and quite unusual LEGO set, all things considered. From reminding you that you are way older than you think (the press release – and even some of our coverage – for this has included an explanation of what a VHS tape was for younger readers, much to our chagrin) to pulling together source material and inspiration from seven different films, this is a tribute to Disney films from across several decades all wrapped up into a style of presentation that is completely different to anything we have seen previously Disney-inspired.

In fact, the only fair comparison to make is with 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collectors’ Edition, which in 2021 took various props from the Harry Potter books and films and collected them together for a semi-cohesive collection of LEGO display pieces.

At half as many pieces, 43227 Villain Icons is obviously not quite as large – there’s no gigantic centrepiece in quite the same way as Hedwig is in that set – but the general idea of pulling together items that have a fundamental connecting thread between them is the same here, if realised slightly differently. Where 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collectors’ Edition saw you build a number of items directly lifted from the world of Harry Potter, at sizes larger than a typical playset would usually allow, 43227 Villain Icons offers a selection of builds at that same larger scale, but that reference their source material in a more meta way.

Beyond the poison apple from Snow White, both the Queen of Hearts playing card from Alice in Wonderland and the pocket watch from Peter Pan more accurately symbolise particular characters from their respective films rather than recreate specific objects seen on screen, while the book for Beauty and the Beast perhaps best references that the 1991 animated musical is based on a fairy tale.

Meanwhile, the VHS tape for The Little Mermaid and two VHS cases for Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin all speak as much about the world outside of the films – and their popularity – as the worlds created by those films. The Little Mermaid was a game-changer for Disney when it was released on VHS, prompting the three decades since of collections upon collections of all the Disney classics to be released for home media. When you know that, it makes more sense to be building such a thing out of LEGO, even if first expectations were you’d be building a seahorse, clamshell or trident, even.

All told then, on paper these seven LEGO builds make for a curious and quite unusual collection to be found in the one combined LEGO Disney set. Yet, for how each has been carefully and lovingly translated into LEGO bricks and – through clever details, creative choices and all-round design ingenuity – each speaks just as well to the colourful worlds that these memorable films created as anything directly lifted from them could.

For items such as the pocket watch and playing card, that is achieved through neat graphic design that so clearly and cleverly places you in the worlds they are referencing, from the expression of the Queen of Hearts on the card to the silhouettes of Peter, Wendy, John and Michael across the face of the watch. And for the apple, book, VHS and VHS cases, it’s about what references and hidden features that the LEGO design team has worked into otherwise highly credible and accurate models.

What looks like a 1:1-scale poison apple lifted straight out of Snow White (don’t bite into it…) has hidden inside the Evil Queen in her disguise, while flipping down the top end of the VHS tape (which really does look like a VHS tape for those of you old enough to know what one looked like) reveals a sequence of LEGO-ised film-reel images from The Little Mermaid. Meanwhile, the Beauty and the Beast book contains not only a little cubbyhole for Gaston to fit in, but also a flip-up micro-build of the encased rose from the story, while both the Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin VHS cases are excellently themed in design to their films and lead villains, and both contain little areas housing respective minifigures too.

Each model has been designed with care and affection for the respective films they are inspired by and for that they will immediately pull you into each world as you build them, one by one.

As a LEGO experience too, having such a mix of models makes for an interesting and – we seem to always say this – unique build like very little that has come before. While the final model will make for an unexpected first impression that may take a while to get used to, trust us that the more you look at it, the more the details and clever design throughout will at once both pull you in and pull together the different builds into something that – even though you may expect it not to – really works as one cohesive collection of Disney-inspired models.

— LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons characters —

LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons includes four villains in minifigure form – Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (and later, the Maleficent films), the Evil Queen in Disguise from Snow White, Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, and Jafar in Genie form from Aladdin. As per the Disney 100 Collectible Minifigure Series, there’s nothing to fault in the design of any of these four and in particular their respective expressions are what really sell their characters in LEGO form.

For an 18+ set that is display-based like this, including minifigures isn’t wholly necessary (consider that while 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collectors’ Edition did technically include three they were also display-based), but they make for a welcome inclusion for not only how well designed they are, but for how they serve as curiosities to discover throughout the larger LEGO set.

— LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons price —

LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons comes in at £124.99 in the UK, $129.99 in the US and from €129.99 in Europe. For offering 1,540 pieces and four minifigures, that’s a fair price-per-piece ratio if that’s how you measure value of LEGO sets. For the sheer one-of-a-kind creative experience on offer here that offers a colourful and wholly appealing display piece when complete, that price serves even better value.

— LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons pictures —

— LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons pros and cons —

LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons is a weird set on first impression, pulling together seven different Disney films from across the decades, taking a focus on the villains and deciding to base the respective models more on items that reference the films rather than are directly pulling from them. Creatively, it represents quite an ambitious swing from the LEGO Group – and not the only one the company is making in 2023 – and we are absolutely here for it.

43227 Villain Icons may not top every Disney fan’s wishlist for how different it is, but trust us that it’ll be for what makes it different that you’ll eventually be pulled in, and you won’t be disappointed. There won’t be another LEGO Disney set like this. There may be many more castles and playsets to come, but only one such display piece exactly like this. One not to miss.

LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons prosLEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons cons
A truly one-of-a-kind LEGO Disney setIt’s not a playset so isn’t as hands-on
Seven different buildsFor an 18+ set it’s still a bit weird to have stickers
Clever build, even smarter references worked into each modelThe beautiful minifigures are hidden away (but you don’t have to hide them)

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by purchasing your LEGO through one of our affiliate links, thank you!

— Alternatives to LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons —

LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons is best comparable to 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collectors’ Edition for combining various items of inspiration into the one collective LEGO set. Beyond that, there’s little out there that closely resembles what 43227 Villain Icons is.

— LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain FAQs —

How long does it take to build LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons?

LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons takes about four hours to put together – time enough to catch a couple of the films then.

How many pieces are in LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons?

LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons contains 1,540 pieces, including minifigures for Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (and later, the Maleficent films), the Evil Queen in Disguise from Snow White, Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, and Jafar in Genie form from Aladdin.

How big is LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons?

LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons measures no more than 23cm wide and 19.5cm tall, while it is deepest with the VHS tape, measuring 19cm or so.

How much does LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons cost?

LEGO Disney 100 43227 Villain Icons is priced at £124.99 in the UK, $129.99 in the US and from €129.99 in Europe, releasing June 1, 2023.

Author Profile

Rob Paton
As one half of Tiro Media Ltd, I mix a passion for print and digital media production with a deep love of LEGO and can often be found on these pages eulogising about LEGO Batman, digging deeper into the LEGO Group’s inner workings, or just complaining about the price of the latest LEGO Star Wars set. Make a great impression when you meet me in person by praising EXO-FORCE as the greatest LEGO theme of all time. Follow me on Twitter @RobPaton or drop me an email at [email protected].

Rob Paton

As one half of Tiro Media Ltd, I mix a passion for print and digital media production with a deep love of LEGO and can often be found on these pages eulogising about LEGO Batman, digging deeper into the LEGO Group’s inner workings, or just complaining about the price of the latest LEGO Star Wars set. Make a great impression when you meet me in person by praising EXO-FORCE as the greatest LEGO theme of all time. Follow me on Twitter @RobPaton or drop me an email at [email protected].

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