(Written by William)
When LEGO offered to send out review copies of some of the new Disney sets, I jumped at the chance to check them out. For the most part, there has been a larger-than-average focus on LEGO sculptures across various Disney properties. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find a couple of sets from Disney’s Moana: the #43292 LEGO Disney Pua and the #43293 LEGO Disney Kakamora.
It is funny that, despite Moana being the main character, we really only get sculptures of various side characters. But it is easy to see why. These highly expressive characters tend to steal every scene without saying a word. Plus, there is the added benefit of not having a weird uncanny valley experience, since they aren’t human. However, the art style is pretty unrealistic when it comes to proportions. How does this translate into LEGO? Let’s head off to Hawaii and find out!
#43292 LEGO DISNEY MOANA PUA
Apart from Mawi, Pua has to be Moana’s best friend. Pua can share wisdom just by a look and helps bring a new level of charm to every scene they are in. However, art-style-wise, Pua falls a bit into the super deformed category. This gives Pua an oversized head, which is not ideal when attempting a stable LEGO build.
This becomes very obvious as you build the set. LEGO designers provided a fairly dense body to anchor the head. Additionally, all four legs are angled at interesting orientations, but none of Pua’s limbs can be positioned for more expression. The best you get is that the forelegs can be slightly rotated. This leaves the head to handle all the poseability.
Fortunately, when it comes to expressions, large-headed characters don’t need to do too much to display a wide range of emotions. For this purpose, Pua has a large ball-joint for a neck connection. This gives Pua the ability to have a crazy range of head motion. Adding to this, Pua’s ears are on rotating locking hinges. Turn both ears up to get a happy Pua, or turn them down and get sad. Mix them up, and now you have a more nuanced expression.
Due to Pua’s limited movement, LEGO designers added a few extra features for fine-tuning the display. The flower on Pua’s head and the plant Pua sits by both have a fairly good range of motion, but I should warn you that Pua’s flower is insanely delicate. Finally, Pua comes with a little hermit crab friend that was surprisingly interesting to build. The off-kilter shell, moveable pincers, and croissant legs made for an unexpected building experience.
Finally, all of this sort of attaches to a flat raft. I do want to point out that this raft is next to useless. It does hold up the plant well. However, when it comes to the crab and Pua, there are not enough connection points to really matter whether or not you connected them.
#43293 LEGO DISNEY KAKAMORA
These have to be some of my favorite characters in Moana. I never knew I needed little coconut guys getting shot from catapults to make my movie-going experience complete. I know they are fierce warriors in their own right, but I probably couldn’t help but smile seeing one with a flower in hand, even if it was charging at me.
As for the build, both Kakamora are practically built the same. There are differences when it comes to color, printing, headdresses, and accessories, but when you build one, you have a rather good idea of what you are doing for the other. As a bonus, this is a great set to build with two people. There are two instructions with each book showing how to build one of the two Kakamora.
As for the build itself, if you haven’t had an opportunity to build spherical shapes, this set will give you an idea as to how LEGO designers have been handling the process in recent years. The main point being how to angle triangular signs with clips to fill in the gaps left by rounded sloped curve elements.
As a little hidden surprise, you can lift off the tops of the Kakamoras’ heads to reveal a hidden compartment with a pattern inside them. The tops of their heads only rest in place, so it is not a well-hidden secret.
As for posing, there are some extreme limitations to the Kakamora. Due to their rounded shape and thin limbs, there is no way to make them stand on their own. So, both are stuck in a seated position. The legs can be spread and closed a bit, and the feet can be rotated, but don’t expect much beyond that. The hands and arms, on the other hand, are a different story.
The spot where the arms connect to the body can hinge forward and back as well as be rotated. And since the hands are built onto a single stud, they can also twist around. This is pretty much the extent of their movement, though, so keep your expectations low.
As a final touch, each Kakamora has its own accessory. These are built with a bar that can stick into the palm of the hand, giving the illusion that they are holding either the flower or the spear. It’s too bad that the spear is the extent of the Kakamora’s warrior-type nature, since that was a big aspect of their characterization. Just think of these two as the lazy ones that got left behind, and you should be fine.
LEGO DISNEY MOANA SETS – FINAL THOUGHTS
In short, both of these sets are absolutely adorable. LEGO designers managed to capture the charm of these characters perfectly. This did lead to a fairly interesting build experience in seeing how they tackled rounded shapes and mottled coloring. It is also great that you don’t have to deal with any stickers in either set. Everything that has a design is printed on the parts.
With that said, there are some downsides. What you see is what you get. In other words, don’t expect to play with these models when you are done. There are too many points with weak connections, thus providing a frustrating build and play experience. These are built to be art with only the most minor of adjustments.
As far as price goes, Pua does seem a little steep at $69.99. This is especially true when it comes to previous sculptures and how big they are compared to this one. However, the reason for this price has a lot to do with the density found in this model. Pua is an odd shape, and that shape required a bit more heft than what you would normally need. So, for that reason, the price is more deceptive but still warranted.
As for the Kakamora, $39.99 is a great price. Taken separately, each feels like it could be a twenty-dollar set on its own. Throw in a good build experience, and this is some well-priced art.
And ultimately, that is where my opinion lands. These are both buildable art pieces. Do not expect a toy when you are done with them. There is not even an interesting action element here. So if you do pick them up, make sure decoration is your main goal, because if not, you will be disappointed. If you want to check them out, the sets are available at the LEGO Disney section of the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? How do you like these LEGO Disney Moana sets? Feel free to share your thoughts and own reviews in the comment section below!
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