LEGO Disney 43272 Heihei review

LEGO Disney 43272 Heihei delivers a surprisingly detailed and vibrant build that could extend its appeal outside of Moana fans.

43272 Heihei has a face that perhaps only a mother could love, with a stare that appears to look right into your soul. He’s more than just his unblinking gaze, however, with over 500 pieces going into his multi-layered rainbow feathers and frame. Coming with his own flower-covered display stand, he’s ready to integrate into your LEGO collection – but is this LEGO Disney set worth picking up?

Here’s our in-depth review, the results of which surprised us the more time we spent with the brick-built bird.

Release: March 1, 2025 Price: £34.99 / $39.99 / €39.99 Pieces: 566 Minifigures: 0 LEGO: Order now

Short and sweet

Using a lot of 1×1 tiles and slopes, the build process for 43272 Heihei is predictably repetitive and at times fiddly. His slender legs and tail feathers have a habit of breaking, so it’s definitely a set that will need a more experienced builder to help out any young hands.

Nonetheless, the 566-piece build is fairly quick to get through and the varied colours mean you’re not left bored, even at the end of it. In fact, the gradual build-up of ‘feathers’ along the set’s body and wings is surprisingly satisfying and the layers mean you don’t need to worry too much about keeping all the tiles straight – easily the most laborious part of most tile-based LEGO sets.

Practice makes perfect

The end result of that semi-repetitive build is a real testament to how far the LEGO Group has come when it comes to brick-built fur and feathers. You only need to look at some of the less successful iterations – naming no names but keeping one eye on a certain brick-built Wookiee – to know that it’s no easy thing to make plastic bricks look like animal coats.

In the case of 43272 Heihei, the LEGO Disney designers have nailed it, however. The combination of vibrant colours and the use of plant elements not just on the base but also on the tail result in an authentic final look that holds up even when you look up close. 43272 Heihei is perfectly symmetrical, adding to the satisfying display, and the gradient tones are especially impressive from afar.

Placing all of the individual smaller tiles might be a chore for some but it really does pay off at the end, adding a surprising amount of depth for a display model with this price tag. It would have been easy to include just a few sloped elements but the attention to detail here makes 43272 Heihei appear just as fluffy and feathered as he does in the Moana movies – and in keeping with his clumsy character.

On loan from the Fauna Collection

Aside from his wide-eyed stare thanks to the oversized eye elements, 43272 Heihei is a pleasure to build even as a non-Moana fan. The amount of detail dedicated to capturing every rainbow feather means the LEGO Disney set could just as easily pass as a wildlife set from Creator 3-in-1 or LEGO Art. Remove him from his name-tagged stand and you simply have a slightly goofy but lovable bird.

The tail and wings are fully posable, with various different options to fluff out the three-pronged tail feathers. From the tip of his crown to the (somewhat fragile) feet, 43272 Heihei is not just a faithful recreation of the Moana rooster but also a set that you can’t help but love the more you build – and the more you stare into those unblinking eyes.

Honest opinion: 43272 Heihei is a delightful recreation of a character but also works as a fun display for non-Moana fans – complete with the Kubrick stare.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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