Review: 41387 Olivia's Summer Heart Box and Zobo History

I *heart* Summer and so does Olivia -- Zobo's new head is still getting used to commands ... oops!

Let's see how this last summer heart box comes together for her.

Heart-shaped box front has the open heart box with real girls having a fun kitchen adventure framed in heart-shaped graphics. The inset shows that everything fits inside the box for transporting as a container.


Back of the box shows Olivia in the box with Zobo grilling (erm, burning) just outside. The "actual size" graphic uses a non-burnt hot dog. Then we have all 5 of the Friends 2019 Summer Heart Boxes.


Side of this hexagontal box shows Olivia and animated Zobo ... more like the Zobo in 41346 Friendship Box.


Box contents: Instructions booklet, dark azure 6x6 and dark pink 6x6 plates, small non-numbered bag and larger bag of parts.


Parts from both bags; you have to open both to build your mini-doll. Vibrant Coral and Aqua are in all five heart boxes, with each character's color-combo added. Vibrant Coral appears in many of this wave's sets too.


Parts List for 41387


Build Olivia first and give her a hot dog -- per instructions. This one shoulder top with cool yellow ruffle and navy zig-zags over dark pink first appeared in this set. Her matching dark pink skirt tie in with her color combo -- with her dark azure completing it. The back has no print, yet her hair is still beautiful!  She also wears this top in Heartlake City Brick Box 41431.


Olivia has noticed the new head for her robot Zobo. I love the printed 2x4 tile with a spacey donut on a gingham background, like a picnic tablecloth.


Here are the parts for the new-to-2019 Zobo. His new head is still binocular-looking in the eyes, yet is thicker all around with a top stud that helps with hats. Although we still need to add a 1x1 plate to fit inside any LEGO hat. In this set he has a navy baseball cap. Per instructions, we give him a burnt hot dog.
Since he has a single skate as the base, this is somewhat a 'micro' version, to me.


Then we build the BBQ grill.


Bottom of the heart box gets medium azure tiles for smooth lining. I'm not sure why we don't use dark azure 1/4 circle tiles.


The Vibrant Coral tends to look a bit orange in my photos -- yet I wanted to emphasize that cross-connect building is still important in these heart boxes. Sure you could build without following instructions precisely, yet for it to be sturdy as a container, we need to get our 1x1 bricks in the right spot.


Heart Box bottom is complete with tiling and 2 studs to secure the lid.


The lid gets the lovely printed tile with "Olivia" so there's no confusion to who it belongs. The cool yellow is pleasant in this amount of coverage. The underside gets shoe slides for extra connection strength -- plus to make it easier to pick up off a flat surface.


Everything built in this set -- plus spares!


Let's look at the changes in Zobo. On the left is a pre-2019 Zobo (from 2018's Heartlake City Airplane Tour 41343) with the binocular piece as a head. The full body with extra 1x1s and a base with wheels is overall larger than this new version. I'm not really sure if it's being considered a 'micro' version of Zobo. This same scale appears in 2 other sets this wave, yet later in the calendar, Zobo is full size.
The binoculars compared to this new head has the same eye diameter, yet anti-stud under and stud with recess on top that can fit at least the 5-petal flowers from 2018. [See image below]
It's bulk makes it easier to handle and it stays on much better than the binoculars (with only a small under recess to stay connected).


So, let's look at older Zobo with the new head ... seems the scale overall is better. The new head can fit without the trans-pink 1x1, yet it looks better with it.


Plus, any LEGO hat will fit (as long as you add a 1x1 plate to connect inside the hat's recessed anti-stud).  The Pilot's Cap with goggles looks great! So did the Santa hat ;-)


The 5-petal flowers in dark pink have the correct size of stem to fit into the new head's top!


With the burnt hot dog disposed of, Olivia and her new Zobo have a picnic on her heart box -- it's a proper weiner!


All tucked into her heart box.

Summary:

Even though this set was available on Shop-at-Home for only 6 months -- a pretty short time, especially for Friends -- I recommend getting one if you see it at any other retailer.

For me the Aqua bricks were the allure ...

This is a good time to remind us all that the Friends design team created the hot dog bun. Adding food to a heart box is not only a nice way to get those elements, yet it also helps to create an activity. Since there's only 1 mini-doll, it's nice for a pet or robot to join. Adding humor of the burnt hot dog is typical of Friends presentation. Getting the black version is nice, since they are somewhat rare.

Although we've already switched to solid Cubes as containers for creating scene and carrying the pieces -- my heart belongs to "brick-built" containers.

Zobo History~ Since Zobo has a new head for 2019, I decided to compose a brief history of Olivia's robot:

First appearance was in Olivia's Invention Workshop 3933 in 2012 and its feet were two white 1x1 plate with tooth parts.

Then we didn't get another until Olivia's Exploration Car 41116 in 2016.

In 2017 we got not only another Zobo, yet also Zuzu and Zobito in Olivia's Creative Lab 41307.

Olivia’s Mission Vehicle 41333 of course had Zobo in 2018.

Built into a cabinet to help with her coffee-making machine in Olivia’s Deluxe Bedroom 41329, Zobo is just the upper half in 2018.

The first container set to have a Zobo was Olivia's Satellite POD 853774 in 2018.

Heartlake City Airplane Tour 41343 has a Zobo directing the runway traffic for Olivia.

Driving the truck for Olivia, Zobo came in 41348 Service & Care Truck the summer wave of 2018.

Only a top part of Zobo appears also in Olivia's Cupcake Cafe 41366 during the first wave of 2019 -- as integrated into the turntable mechanism.

The first of Olivia's Heart Boxes, 41357 in January 2019, has the exact same brick-build, except with a binocular head. It came with a computer tablet and wrench for repairs by Olivia.

Of course her robot is in this set, Olivia's Summer Heart Box 41387, which debuted June/August 2019.

That same wave of 2HY2019 has Zobo in these sets:

Turtles Rescue Mission 41376

Rescue Mission Boat 41381

Friends Advent Calendar 41382 came with Zobo as Santa in 2019, which is a full-size version with the new head piece.

So is this a true Zobo, or a Micro Zobo, or is it really Zobito? So much mystery.

Those fans luckily enough to have subscription/news stand Friends magazines in their country can also build this robot from two different magazine gifts: Olivia's Observatory (2018) and Rescue on a Sea / Robot on a Paddle Board (2019). Considering many of those "mini" sets have pets, it makes sense for Olivia to have her 'pet' robot. Of course, Hamsters are fun too -- just harder to program!

This concludes a brief history of Zobo -- if you've seen Olivia's robot in other sets that what I've listed, please let me know in this comments! Thanks :-)

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