Review: LEGO Disney 43243 Simba the Lion King Cub and 43247 Young Simba the Lion King

A few hours before the actual availability of these two boxes, we are now quickly interested in the content of the LEGO Disney sets 43243 Simba the Lion King Cub et 43247 Young Simba the Lion King, two derivative products licensed by Disney which deal with the same subject but which do so in a very different way depending on the audience targeted by these boxes.

LEGO indeed offers us on the one hand a rather basic version of the young lion with its 222 pieces and its public price set at €19,99, on the other hand a more accomplished model with its 1445 pieces and its public price set at 129,99 €.XNUMX. Note that in both cases, LEGO does not require stickers and that all the patterned pieces are therefore pad printed.

Even if I present them to you side by side, I do not intend to compare these two products which do not play in the same league and it would be futile to want to oppose them when the purpose of these two interpretations is not obviously does not justify putting the result obtained into competition.

The simplified version of the lion cub is worth it and in my opinion it is worth the twenty euros requested by LEGO. The brick creature is certainly not perfect and, as is often the case, it will be necessary to find the right angle to expose it in order to hide the few approximations and other aesthetic compromises, but we must agree that it is cute and that the product should easily find its audience among the youngest.

Difficult to do more or better with barely more than 200 pieces, some of which end up on the patch of grass with two ladybugs, a snail and a slug embodied by a croissant. the creature is quickly assembled, it can take a few poses despite its limited joints and the head seems very acceptable to me as is even if we can discuss the somewhat strange rendering of the animal's muzzle.

The pad printed eyes are very nicely executed, as are the ears. The body remains a little cubic from certain angles but we will make do and orient the object correctly to obtain the best possible visual rendering on our shelves.

We can legitimately afford to be more demanding with the model of 1445 pieces sold for €130 at LEGO, we are in fact switching to a range intended for a more adult audience even if I think that the youngest will also appreciate this version more detailed description of the animal. This exhibition model skips the movable legs and just has a head that swivels so that Simba stares at you wherever he is installed.

The assembly process remains interesting with its batch of parts held by a few Technic beams and a few window frames which allow elements to be saved in the internal structure of the model. We then place the surface volumes on Simba's body before attaching the legs using a few Technic pins, nothing unusual or very innovative here. The head is a little more complex and elaborate like a maxi-Brickheadz.

Don't spoil the process too much, you will probably only build this model once before forgetting it on the corner of a shelf and it would be wise to preserve the pleasure that comes from the few hours needed to build it.

The result seems rather successful to me even if the model suffers a little from the same fault as the simplified version of the animal: the rendering is uneven depending on the angles and you will have to find the right perspective to expose it. The fact of being able to orient Simba's head allows you to obtain a nice situation, it is in any case the only functionality of the construction, the jaw of the animal is not movable.

Too bad for the lack of texture of the fur, the designer simply left visible tenons in certain places to contrast with the large smooth surfaces present elsewhere.

Why not, it works on the legs, it's a little less credible on the animal's back but I don't think anyone will expose Simba from behind anyway. Bravo for the finish of the bottom of the legs, it is undoubtedly the most successful part of the model and it is visually very satisfying.

Should you go for one or the other of these versions? or both ? It's up to you depending on your budget, your level of affinity with the license in question, the space available on your shelves and, if you are not buying for yourself, the person receiving the product .

I think that many children will be satisfied with the €20 version which remains very acceptable and which offers some possibilities for staging. The large model is also, in my opinion, generally very successful, especially if it is observed from a certain distance, but the price asked by LEGO seems a little too high to me.

In any case, we will therefore wisely wait for a better offer than the usual public price, Amazon has already listed these two products and with a little patience it will be possible not to have to choose and to treat yourself to both sets for the usual public price of the most expensive.

Discount -10%

LEGO Disney Simba, The Lion King Baby, Toy by C

19.99 € 17.99 €

BUY

Discount -21%

LEGO ǀ Disney Simba, the Young Lion King - Gift Idea

129.99 € 103.08 €

BUY

Note: The set of two products presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at June 6, 2024 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.