Review: 41135 Livi's Pop Star House

Heartlake’s resident pop star, Livi, gives us a glimpse into her private life by opening her doors to the public. Let’s see how the “rich and famous” of Heartlake live.

This set was provided by the AFOL Relations & Programs team (AR&P) of The LEGO Group for the purpose of sharing set details with fans.
Opinions provided here solely reflect those of our reviewer.
Photographs are property of Friends Bricks and are not directed by TLG in any fashion.

The front of the box shows Livi’s Pop Star House at nightime, nestled away high in the hills above Heartlake City. It also highlights the two mini-dolls included in this set - Livi and Andrea.


The box design features the design that associates this set with the pop star sub-theme and includes Livi as one of the Friends in the top right hand corner.

The back of the box highlights that the building is modular, as well as the many playing features and accessories included. It also shows the that the pool section can be swung around to be at the back of the house.


The side of the box gives us the usual warnings and indicates the size of the pieces by giving us a 1:1 image of Livi.



Inside the box are:

• three instruction booklets
• a sticker sheet
• five numbered parts bags
• loose 8x16 and 16x16 plates in Tan
• loose 16x16 plate in Bright Green.

The number three booklet got a little bent in the box, but nothing that a little time under a heavy book won’t fix.

Let’s take a closer look at the instruction booklets:



The front cover of the instruction booklets have the same main image as the set box, minus the inset showing the names of the two mini-dolls and the inset showing the interior. Other than the booklet number, the front covers are identical.

As usual with the Friends sets, the instruction steps are clearly laid out and easy to follow. (Mind you having said that, I missed the croissant that was meant to go in the kitchen!)



Similar to the Heartlake Cupcake Cafe (41119), there are no inside back cover pages in the first and second booklets. The back cover of the first booklet has the gorgeous Emma letting us know how we can win a cool LEGO prize, while the back cover of the second booklet features other sets in the pop star theme. 

 

The back pages of the second booklet feature:

• full parts list
• screenshots of the Friends apps
• sets in the Adventure Camp sub-theme
• the new sets that Stephanie is in
• a map of heartlake City, highlighting the other Friends sets in this wave.

This is pretty much consistent across the January 2016 wave of sets, except I think they changed the order for this one. 

        

       



Here are the parts included in Bag 1:



I must admit that other than the Dalmatian puppy, Cookie, (more on him later) and curiosity over what was in the cardboard box, there was nothing else that really caught my eye.  The little cardboard box holds three skirts:



The Magenta and Dark Purple skirts feature a gold star pattern, while the White one has a silver sequins pattern. All three skirts are unique to this set.

The Bag 1 builds include three sub-sets: sun lounge, doggie bed and pool ring.



I love the design of the sun lounge, especially the head cushion. The pool ring is a very simple design, but looks great!  

At the end of the first bag we have completed the pool and deck:



We’ll take a closer look at Livi, Andrea and Cookie a little later. For now, let’s see what Bag 2 holds.



You can immediately tell from the ratio of transparent to White pieces that Livi’s house is going to have a lot of windows!

Bag 2 completes the ground floor structure,complete with sliding glass doors:



On the inside is a nice double sided fireplace, funky floor lamp and refrigerator:



Bag 2 also completes the stair to the first floor. These narrow stairs run along the pool edge and are probably the most dangerous stairs I have seen to date! Fortunately our Friends all have clutch power to hold them firmly in place.



Bag 3 was small, but had quite a few parts in it:



There were quite a few parts that caught my eye in this bag, including:

• Black 2x3x2 cupboards with hollow studs, which are unique to this set (note that there have been Black cupboards previously with solid studs)
• Various food items, such as1x1 sushi tiles, Bright Pink ice-cream swirls and 1x1 round strawberry tiles
• Pearl Gold tap
• 1x2 panel with two sides in Trans-Light Blue, which is only found in one other set (Elvendale School of Dragons (41173))
• Bright Light Orange kitchen accessories
• Dark Purple 1x1 round bricks, which are new in that colour this year, but not unique to this set.

Given this selection of parts, it’s not surprising that Bag 3 finishes the interior of the ground floor:



I really like the design of the chaise lounge and the kitchen sink, although the panel should have been lifted one plate higher:



The entrance, while not grand, gives a big hint that a star lives at these premises!



Bag 4 is dominated by White and Dark Purple:



The Dark Purple guitar is the same one that Livi had in the Pop Star Recording Studio (41103) released in 2015.

I was also curious about how the Orange roller skates were going to be used. Turns out, they are just roller skates stored in a neatly built cupboard:



Although we only get halfway through the structure for the first floor, I really like where it is going:



This brings us to Bag 5, the final parts bag. Here’s what is inside:



The Magenta bowl piece caught my eye. While not unique to this set, it has only been in one other set in this colour, this being the Kwik-E-Mart (71016).

Bag 5 finishes the first floor and roof:



The top floor is pretty much open plan, inside and out. Livi presumably doesn’t have too many close neighbours!



Livi can watch TV from her bed and, with a flick of the wrist, check the security camera:



There is also a small roof top garden:



That completes the building, which does look fit for a star:





This brings us to the two mini-dolls, Livi and Andrea, and Cookie, the Dalmatian.



Let’s take a closer look at the star of the show, Livi:



Livi is not a new character, having been featured in previous Friends Pop Star sets. However, this is the first time she is wearing that Dark Purple top with star pattern, matching the skirt (that she is not wearing). The Dark Purple Skirt with Dark Purple and Magenta shoes has been quite popular with all the Friends other than Andrea.  

I love Livi’s long curly Magenta hair and hope that LEGO will bring this out in a natural hair colour one day. She also has a gorgeous face, with Medium Lavender eyes and two Blue stars on her cheek. The face is unique to Livi.

Visiting Livi at her house is Andrea, one of the main five Friends:



Andrea is wearing a Light Aqua dress, teamed with a Magenta vest and Magenta shoes. She is also supposed to be wearing the White sequinned skirt, but I really couldn’t bring myself to do this to Andrea. The only item in her ensemble that is new and unique to this set is her torso.

Livi has a gorgeous Dalmation puppy called Cookie, who has Medium Lavender eyes and spots in the shape of musical notes:



Cookie was first seen with Livi in the Pop Star Dressing Room (41104) and has been the star of his own set, the oddly but accurately named, Dog on Stage foil pack (561603). I keep wanting to call Cookie a “he”, but I’m actually not sure whether I should be calling it a "he" or a “she”.  

There are a quite a few spare parts once all the building has been completed:



Let’s have another look at the set as a whole:



Overall, I like the look of this set. The inverted slopes on the walls make this house feel like it belongs to a star and is located up in the hills. However, I don’t understand why the pool section is attached with a hinge. It doesn’t make sense to me to close the building because there is no natural flow between the kitchen and the pool area.



I also failed to get too excited over the parts in this set, other than the ultra-cute Dalmation puppy. Having said that, there is a nice selection of window pieces, Dark Purple plates and tiles, and transparent bricks.

The ultimate verdict is of course the nine-year old test. There was plenty of evidence of the set being played with between doing the photos and writing it this review, including Mia and Emma also coming over to visit and half of the contents of the Heartlake Supermarket (41118) ending up in Livi’s kitchen!

Thanks for reading! C&C welcome.

Note: All exclusive parts mentioned in the colours noted were applicable at the time this review was posted. Parts may be available in other colours and sets after the post of this review. Brickset and BrickLink were use to verify this information.