LEGO® Disney™ review: 43239 Mirabel's Photo Frame and Jewelry Box & 43237 Isabela's Flowerpot

The Walt Disney Animation Studios film Encanto was featured in three LEGO® sets – one large house and two small storybooks – in 2021. It is therefore surprising that two more sets are soon to be released; 43239 Mirabel's Photo Frame and Jewelry Box and 43237 Isabela's Flowerpot. Furthermore, these sets borrow their idea and style from the LEGO® Botanical Collection and the discontinued LEGO® DOTS theme. This double-feature article takes a look at both sets.

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
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43239 Mirabel's Photo Frame and Jewelry Box
US$29.99/ £24.99/ 29.99€/ AU$49.99
334 parts
Released 1 March 2024

Set 43239 on LEGO.com

43237 Isabela's Flowerpot
US$39.99/ £39.99/ 44.99€/ AU$69.99
641 parts
Released 1 March 2024

Set 43237 on LEGO.com

Set 43239 Mirabel's Photo Frame and Jewelry Box

A new colour! A new animal!

The capybara's expression reminds me of my late cat Takku.

We have had 7 Opalescent (or Satin in BrickLink nomenclature) colours to date, and set 43239 brings us another: 376 Trans-Yellow with Opalescence (Satin Trans-Yellow). 

• 1x Brick Round 1 x 1 with Butterfly Print and Open Stud in Satin Trans-Yellow/ Trans-Yellow with Opalescence (6483482)
• 1x Animal, Capybara with Sulky Eyes Pattern in Dark Orange (6495656 | 5422) 

Trans-Yellow Opal reminds me of old Trans-Neon Yellow, a rare colour that appeared mostly in LEGO® Clikits and LEGO® BIONICLE® eyestalks. It's pretty, and I really like to have more opal colours around. 

Its existence seems to have been known about for a couple of years already; perhaps there is now space in the LEGO palette for it because an existing opal colour, 363 Transparent Brown with Opalescence, will no longer be used because 111 Transparent Brown (Old Trans-Black) has been removed. It's worth mentioning that opalescence, like glitter, is considered an "effect" rather than a "colour" by The LEGO Group because they are effects added to existing colours.

New recolours and prints 

 

•  8 x Tile Special 2 x 2 with 2 Quarter Round Cutouts in Bright Bluish Green/ Dark Turquoise (6486867 | 3396)
• 10 x Tile Special 2 x 2 with 2 Quarter Round Cutouts in Bright Purple/ Dark Pink (6486865 | 3396)
• 4 x Tile Special 2 x 2 with 2 Quarter Round Cutouts in Bright Yellowish Green/ Lime (6486868 | 3396)

These tiles, which I call Atari tiles or bowtie tiles, have remained relatively rare since their introduction last year, so it's great to see so many recolours. The set also includes 4 in Black and 14 in White.

 

• 4x Tile Round 1 x 1 with Ornamantal Butterfly print in White (6476329) - with 1 extra
• 1x Brick Curved 1 x 4 x 1, Curved Sides in Bright Yellowish Green/ Lime (6464401 | 4045) - has appeared before with a print

The butterfly print is pretty and seems quite useful. It reminds me of Rorschach's inkblots.

Rare parts 

• 1x  DOTS Bracelet 1 Stud Wide in Bright Bluish Green/ Dark Turquoise (6315217 | 67196) - in 2 other sets
• 1 x Plate Special 2 x 2 with Horizontal T-Bar Underneath in Dark Stone Grey / Dark Bluish Gray (6457961 | 5066) - new mould in 2024, in 3 other sets
• 2x Dish 4 x 4 with 4 Studs in Bright Yellowish Green/ Lime (6468077 | 65138) - also in 10329 Tiny Plants
• 3x Tile 1 x 6 with Groove in Bright Green (6460838 | 6636) - also in 43246 Princess Market Adventure
• 2x Slope Curved 2 x 1 No Studs [1/2 Bow] in Bright Green (6460836 | 11477) - in 2 other sets
• 1x Plate 1 x 10 in Bright Green (6464981 | 4477) - also in 71426 Piranha Plant

Building the box and frame

 

A Mirabell minidoll is included. It is identical to the one in 43215 The Enchanted Treehouse. 

As the name suggests, this set has two main builds with different instructions and colour schemes.

(The frog photo is not included, unfortunately. I had to print it myself.)

Unsurprisingly, the back of the photo frame is not very interesting. I suppose the Dark Pink parts are there for some kind of hanging display option, but I can't see how they'd work.

The box houses a DOTS bracelet: news of this piece's passing were untimely. There is also a golden key, although the box can't be locked; it's for removing the tiles.

The photo frame looks like a small shrine. The bowtie tiles make nice wavy patterns, and the round shapes are pleasant.

Set 43237 Isabela's Flowerpot

New recolours and prints

• 1x Plant, Pumpkin in Bright Green (6492253 | 51270)
• 4x Plate Round 1 x 1 Swirled Top / Poo in Lavender (6492250 | 53119) - with 1 extra
• 6x Minifig Shield Ovoid [Plain] in Lavender (6492248 | 2586)

Lavender is great colour, and I prefer it over the more common Medium Lavender. It's great to see more pieces in this hue.

• 1x Dish 3 x 3 Inverted [Radar] in Green/Dark Green (6492254 | 43898)

I was surprised to note that this piece has never appeared in regular green - hence this separate, post-build photo!

Rare parts 

 

• 4x Large Figure Shoulder Cover, Armor, Round, Smooth [Plain] in Lavender (6398491 | 21560) 
• 2x Technic Knob Wheel in Bright Purple/ Dark Pink (6380668 | 49135) - in 2 other sets
• 2x Plant, Flower, Minifig Accessory with 7 Thick Petals and Pin, Center Ring in Bright Red/ Red (6452533 | 4367) - with 1 extra, also in 80113 Family Reunion Celebration
•  4x Plant, Grass Stem with Bar Hole [3.2mm] in Earth Green/ Dark Green (6396754 | 31576) - also in 10311 Orchid
•  4x Plate 1 x 12 in Medium Nougat (6474197 | 60479) - also in 80113 Family Reunion Celebration

 

 

•  18x Slope Curved 4 x 1 Double with No Studs in Bright Pink (6492249 | 93273) - also in 41670 Stephanie's Ballet Cube 

As a side note, this set also includes a whopping 48 1x2 curved slopes in Bright Pink. That's a lot of pink curves. 

Sticker sheet

 

There is a moderately-sized sticker sheet. All of them are applied inside the pot, so leaving them out (as I did) does not affect it much as a display piece. I like the flower patterns of #4; but they would be more useful in Lavender 2x4 tiles rather than Magenta ones where they are applied. I might save them up for the matching background pieces.

Who lives in a flowerpot? 

Isabela is unique to this set. The hair was introduced with the Pocahontas mini-doll and the accessory flower is common, but the other prints are new:

• 1x Mini-doll Head, Isabela in Medium Nougat ( 6476319 | 92198pr)
• 1x Mini-doll Torso with Flowers in Medium Nougat (6486031 | 92456c)
• 1x Mini-doll Hips and Full Length Skirt with Flowers in Medium Lavender (6476321 | 36187pr)

The mini-doll skirt piece is neatly shaped and is available in several pretty prints, so it's a bummer that it's very hard to connect on anything else than a mini-doll torso.



The flowerpot is decently shaped and features two large orchids, three coral-petaled flowers, a ball cactus and a Bright Light Yellow... thing, that reminds me of the large pinwheel from Teletubbies; an early memory for me. 

The pot is hexagonal, but the shape is made rounder using an interesting technique with curved slopes. The pattern looks like a wicker basket; its colour makes it look like a cake.

The plants are mostly sturdy and look good, although the orchids are recycled from – who would have guessed it – 10311 Orchid. But they're recoloured here, so I don't see it as a problem. Black axles and cams function as supports to the orchids, and they don't stand out too much.

The pot is pleasantly chaotic, and the ball cactus is cute. The coral petals bring good contrast. The earth in the pot is at the same level as the edge, which doesn't look very good.

There isn't much room for Isabela on the top; she has to live on the edge.

The reason that the level of the earth is so high is that the pot is not empty – there are the living quarters inside! These are simple: a bed, a small table, and a miniature ball cactus. The pumpkin mould makes an excellent cactus. The walls are pretty elegant, taking into account that they form the structure of the hexagonal walls.

The back is not intended for display. It looks alright, although I wish the Light Bluish Grey liftarms were a more fitting colour; Dark Red, maybe.

Conclusion

Over the last two months, I've been reviewing the January 2024 LEGO® Friends assortment, and it seems obvious that LEGO® Disney Princess sets haven't reached the high quality of the rebooted LEGO Friends line. They tend to be generic by subject, portraying the same castles and ballrooms, or are irrelevant to the source material (such as 43234 Elsa's Frozen Treats). The building techniques and general design have been lacking the 'oomph' of new LEGO Friends models, and even special sets such as 43215 The Enchanted Treehouse have been more dependant on detailed figures than phenomenal buildings. The lack of adult fan appeal is perhaps reflected by the lack of princess content here on New Elementary; I daresay this is not due to overlooking "girl" themes, because we do like LEGO Friends.

These two LEGO Encanto sets seem to be a conscious effort to renew the LEGO Disney Princess line. Their idea is somehow similar to the Space 'supertheme' spread across several line in 2024: They're Disney Princess and Encanto sets, yes, but they're also unofficial sets of the Botanical Collection and (discontinued) DOTS themes. Both themes have been well-received by adult fans, partly because their great piece-per-part value and excellent recolours. 

The cheaper price is connected to the lack of figures. These two sets have one licensed mini-doll each, but their part assortments are nevertheless decent both in quality and quantity. 43239 Mirabel's Photo Frame and Jewelry Box goes for US$29.99/ £24.99/ 29.99€/ AU$49.99 for 334 parts; I'd call it slightly above average these days, but 40 bowtie tiles (3396), 22 of which are recolours, tip the scales positively. 43237 Isabela's Flowerpot has better value with US$39.99/ £39.99/ 44.99€/ AU$69.99 for 641 parts, with definitely less exciting recolours but, on average, not a bad inventory at all.

The set designs are good. While the flowerpot recycles the design from 10311 Orchid, it was a great design to start with, and the chaotic surroundings of the ball cactus and flowers is pleasant. The pot house feels like something "extra for kids" – a way to vessel the Botanical Collection to young builders? It's not exciting, but making the pot hollow and rounded results an interesting design. As a display piece it falls short of most 'real' Botanical Collection sets, but not severely.

Mirabel's Photo Frame and Jewelry Box has a pleasant arabesque pattern and an amusing capybara podium. But it's hard to get too excited about a Disney-themed photo frame and small container; I have a certain inbuilt resistance to licensed plastic objects to collect dust upon. (Where are all those Lightning McQueen photo frames that will last longer than we do? Hopefully stuffed into attics rather than seabirds.) The good thing is that this one is made of LEGO bricks, so once you get tired of seeing your nephew's face in an Encanto-themed frame you can slip it out, part out the frame and use the pretty bowtie tiles on the floor of the hall of your townhouse MOC or connect it to the neck of your next character build. This is the beauty of the LEGO System. Lifecycles can be extended and extended.

Set 43239 Mirabel's Photo Frame and Jewelry Box on LEGO.com

Set 43237 Isabela's Flowerpot on LEGO.com

READ MORE: LEGO® Friends review: 42604 Heartlake City Shopping Mall

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