How much would you pay for the Wekki 516423 Chibi Maruko-chan Tama Carousel?

 

Hey brick fans, today we are reviewing a different type of building block set. It's the Wekki 516423 Tama Carousel, part of the Maruko-Chan licensed series of sets. There are 4 sets in this amusement park series.

About Wekki

Wekki is a prominent alternative building block brand originating from China that operates as a specialized sub-brand of the well-established manufacturer Sembo Block. Rather than focusing solely on traditional military or massive architecture builds, Wekki differentiates itself by designing whimsical, heavily stylized, and highly detailed cultural display pieces.

Intellectual Property and Theme Context

For builders unfamiliar with the underlying source material, the set depicts characters from a 1970s Japanese manga and anime series focused on the daily misadventures of a 9-year-old schoolgirl, Maruko, and her best friend, Tama-chan. 

From a retail perspective, the set lists on platforms like AliExpress for roughly $35 USD. In my opinion, this price point is excessively high for what fundamentally presents as a niche novelty item targeted primarily toward young girls and casual collectors of the Japanese anime.   Would you fork out this much money for the set?   Let's look at the specs of the set:

Specifications

• Manufacturer/Brand: Wekki (A creative sub-brand of Sembo Block)
• Set Code: 516423
• Intellectual Property Line: Chibi Maruko-chan (Officially licensed)
• Series Collection: Amusement Park / Carnival Series (1 of 4 interconnected sets)
• Estimated Piece Count: 357 pieces
• Brick Type: Standard size / "Lego-compatible" studs (Not micro-blocks or mini-blocks)
• Stickers: Yes
• Figures Included: Tama-chan figure, not Lego compatible
• Pricing: Around $35 USD on Aliexpress (give or take)
• T&T Clearance pricing: $3.41 CDN

I happened to randomly walk into this Asian supermarket in the mall —specifically, a  T&T Supermarket.  The store was clearancing out a few of the Wekki sets.

In addition to the Wekki kits, the small toy section featured several other notable alternative brick brands, including Jaki and Toptoy, but at a much higher price.

So there were three sets on clearance at $3.41 , all of them from the Maruko-chan series.  I picked up both of the sets pictured above.

Unboxing

Here's what the packaging looks like.  It features a picture of the built carousel on the front of the box and on the back, it shows you the play features and the other sets in the series.

Inside the box, there were 7 bags of parts, a sticker sheet, an instruction manual, a paper topper for the carousel.

The instruction manual contains 37 pages and 109 steps.  The bags of parts don't correspond to any of the steps, though.

I counted 20 stickers on the sheet. I didn't apply any of them.

Here's a closer look at the paper topper.

The Build

Alright, since there isn't any correlation between the manual and the parts bags, we have to dump all the parts out to find the right pieces.

We have finished constructing the base of the carousel by step 34.  There are two gears that engage when you turn the white ball at the front.  It causes the long technic rod in the centre to turn.

On top of the base, we build a rotating platform with brick representations of three ponies.

The next phase of construction involves the installation of the central structural pillar, which acts as the core load-bearing element for the upper canopy. Surrounding this core, you anchor the safety railings, floral signage, and a miniature, brick-built toy train that serves as a peripheral decorative accent along the carousel's perimeter.  Step 79 completed.

Next part of the build is constructing and installing the upper canopy.  Step 103 done.

The last part of the process installs the circular topper and builds the little minifigure.

Here's a size comparison of the Tama-chan minifigure next to some standard sized minifigures (Clark and Rusty Griswold).

Final Thoughts

Throughout the construction process, the kit's actual target demographic remains a primary point of consideration, specifically whether a young child could successfully assemble this set without adult intervention. While the mechanical integration of the rotating carousel mounts provides excellent play value, the internal gear train requires precise alignment; a single slight tolerance error necessitated a complete teardown and reassembly of the base mechanism to ensure the gears engaged smoothly without binding.

Component logistics were flawless, with zero missing parts out of the box, and the overall plastic quality proved highly consistent with solid clutch power.

Ultimately, at a clearance acquisition price of $3.41 CAD, the price-to-value ratio is exceptional. However, given the mechanical finickiness of the gear system and the relatively low piece count, paying the standard $36 USD international retail price would be highly difficult to justify.

I'll take a look at the other clearance priced Wekki Maruko-Chan 354 piece Spinning Teacups set 516425 in a future blog post!   

Don't forget to check out my other reviews on https://its-not-lego.blogspot.com.

Thanks for looking, bye!