Review: 41310 Heartlake Gift Delivery

This awesome little set really delivers when it comes to play-ability and features.  The main features in this set are Stephanie and her delivery van.  The van is nicely shaped, and has lots of room for parcels in the back.  You can also sit two mini-dolls in the cab.  This set also includes a small store front, which has some parcels, flowers, balloons, a mailbox, a check out stand, and a hand cart.  This really rounds out the set and provides a lot of additional opportunities for play.

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.

In the above image you can see Stephanie loading up the van before making an important delivery.

The front of the box is adorned with the usual Friends logo, BFF's and a colorful ribbon which runs across the box.

The contents of this set is well represented here.

The back of the box shows how the doors at the back van can be opened up, and provides more details regarding the store front. 

In these images you can see a scale to weigh parcels, a mailbox, and some items for purchase.  This set box is easily opened by pressing down on the thumb indicators. 

Inside the box is two numbered bags, a sticker sheet, and the instruction booklet.



The front cover of instruction booklet has the same image as the front of the box:



Here is a sample build page from the instruction booklet:

The instructions are easy to follow, each step only requiring a small number of parts. No need to highlight any particular step for this set, as their were no surprises or unusual things to point out.


As usual the instruction book contains many additional pages with with images of other sets.  I especially like this page:

I sometimes wonder how much time and planning the Marketing group goes into when designing these pages.  On this page, it is clear that Stephanie is about to make a delivery to Andrea's pool party! I wonder what's in those boxes? I'm thinking party hats, rubber duckies, and some beach towels.

I also like this page, which shows the expansion of the original Friends line into three additional themes, including Elves, Disney, and DC Super Hero Girls!

I really like the DC Super Hero Girls theme, and can't wait to see what other super heroes may be included in future sets. Personally, I'd like to see Hal Jordon and Hawk girl! I also wonder if any additional Friends related themes will be developed!?


Here is an image of the parts I found most interesting and useful:

Of course Stephanie is the mini-doll included; no new parts this time.  The sticker sheet includes a very nice "Scale" sticker, which is generic enough that is could be useful on MOC's of all types.  I also like the "OPEN" sticker for doors.  Their are also many decorated tiles and decorated inverse tiles, that are always useful to re-purpose in the future.


Bag 1 contains these parts, which are used to build everything except the delivery van.


After completing the first section of instructions you will have all of these components:


This is what it looks like from the other side:


Bag 2 contains these parts, which are used to build the Delivery Van.


...and here is the Delivery Van:

I actually opened bag 2 first and built the van as this is the part of the set that interested me the most. 


The cab of the van is very simple, providing room for two mini-dolls to sit side by side.  However, their are no doors, steering wheel, or any other detail, it is very simple, albeit adequate.  The roof is easily removed to provide access to the cab area. 

The back of the van has two large doors which make it easy to load and unload parcels. The designer also provided an opening in the roof to make it even easier to get items into and out of the back of the van.


Not only does Stephanie have a delivery van, but she also has a store front where she sells things, and accepts parcels for delivery by her van.  Stephanie's store front is located in the Heartlake City Post Office, where she can accepts mail and provides a delivery service.  She is such an entrepreneur!  I expect Stephanie will need to hire some additional staff and get some more delivery vans very soon!

Here you can see Stephanie loading parcels from her shop into the van:


...and here is Stephanie, on her way to an important delivery:


Finally, here she is unloading a parcel from the van onto her hand cart:

In the back of her mind I am positive that Stephanie is thinking about expanding her fleet to include a new heavy duty van.  She's wondering if Sky Motors can help her with making her next vehicle even better than this one.

CONCLUSION:  This little set is great, providing lots of opportunities for play.   The inclusion of the storefront, with the parcels, scale, cashier, flowers, and balloons, makes it possible to create various scenarios and execute them.   The hand cart actually ties the van and store front together, providing options to get items from the store to the van in a realistic way.   I do have one small criticism's though.  It would have been really nice if a second mini-doll or even a pet had been included, to accompany Stephanie on her deliveries.

Also, as an avid MOC'r I simply can not leave these sets alone, and I am always looking at ways to improve them.  This set is no exception.  After building the van, I immediately starting thinking of ways to improve it.  I really liked the size and the big cargo area in the back, so no need to mess with that.   I really liked the cab forward design, but felt the cab was quite bare.   I decided to add doors, and a steering wheel.  Adding the doors was easy enough.  The challenge became how to add a steering wheel, while maintaining the cab forward design and keeping everything as compact as the original set.  After several unsuccessful attempts, I had to change the build design for the front end (considerably), to make it work.  I feel that I did a pretty good job of completing this personal goal.  See MODDED set below.

SKY MOTOR'S is a high end vehicle customization shop specializing in making upgrades to off the shelf vehicles.

Sky Motors recommends that Stephanie purchase a new van and provide it to the shop for some important upgrades.   The new van will be more practical, making it possible for drivers to get in and out of the cab more easily, and also provide them with an actual steering wheel.  The front of the vehicle will be redesigned to look more utilitarian, and less cute.  While the vehicle is in the shop, some minor body styling changes will also be made improving the lines and paint job.

SUGGESTED MODIFICATION TO ORIGINAL VAN:


Here is a simply breakdown showing a partially un-built view, suggesting one way in which these modifications can be done:


I hope you enjoyed this set review and the modded van.