Review: 41381 Rescue Mission Boat

Grab your personal flotation equipment. We are going on a watery adventure.



The box is big. It measures 18.5 x 14.75 x 3.5 inches. The front has the BFF heart overlaying a lifebuoy in the waves showing this is part of the rescue series. We see this set comes with Mia, Olivia, and Andrea on the bottom right corner. The lower left insert shows the part of the rescue boat's interior and deck. The main image shows a narwhal rescue in progress with HeartLake City in the background.

Review: 41405 Andrea's Shopping Play Cube

From Party Hat to Aquarium, Andrea's Pet Store has a lot for such a small cube! Will the birdhouse get a pet, or another animal to grace the magenta counter?


Box front shows Andrea ready for a customer, or just having made a sale -- and has her first "5" coin. The box side panel shows how the new color for Series #2 of satin pink cube protrudes out the front -- secured by 2 top studs. The animal collage shows the random colors each cube may contain.
All the shopping cubes are arranged in a heart shape for us to see on the back.


Box contents: Cube in the new satin trans-dark pink color paired with Andrea's flame yellowish orange, and stuff inside; instructions pamphlet, largest of the 2 parts bags, and sticker sheet.

Review: 41406 Stephanie's Shopping Play Cube

Beauty Shop displays need to grab a customer's attention. After setting out bows and perfumes, Stephanie is offering Lipstick samples. Her winning smile will be hard to resist!

Box front shows Stephanie in front of her beauty shop as part of Series #2 of Friends play cubes. The side panel shows a collage of all animals and colors possible in these cubes; this series new cube front color is easy to see as it protrudes out the front -- held in place by 2 studs. The back shows all the Shopping Cubes arranged in a heart shape.


Box contents: Cube in Stephanie's signature color of Azure blue and the new satin pink; instructions pamphlet; largest parts bag; and sticker sheet.

Review: 41407 Olivia's Shopping Play Cube

Making just the right liquid chocolate viscosity takes science -- so Olivia knows her Candy Store will hit the sweet spot for any shopping trip!

The box front shows Olivia offering a sample from her Chocolate Fountain (yum!) in front of other candy selections. We see on the side panel all the possible surprise colors and other animals for all the 5 cubes this wave. The cube protrudes out the front, secured by 2 top studs; and on the back is a heart-shaped collage of all the shopping cubes.


Box contents: A pink Cube all around for Olivia, with stuff inside; instructions pamphlet, small large parts bag, and sticker sheet -- which is in great shape due to tight fit into the teardrop-shaped box. All items are tucked in above the cube.

Review: 41408 Mia's Shopping Play Cube

Movie Theaters are a great way to take a break while shopping -- so Mia is wise with her idea!


Box shows Mia waiting for customers -- of course the surprise animal is absent, since we may get 1 of 4 colors. This teardrop shaped box allows the cube to protrude out the front; secured by 2 top studs. Series #2 cube covers are satin trans-dark pink. Side panel shows a collage of the various animals in the 4 randomized colors; only 1 animal per cube. The back of the box shows all 5 Shopping Cubes.


Box contents: Cube in satin trans-dark pink and bright yellowish green (I have to say my favorite outfit as a young girl had this color combo :-) closed with its own contents, building instructions pamphlet, largest bag of parts, and sticker sheet. These fit nice and tight into the cavity of the box, above the cube itself, so they don't get much shifting like in traditional boxes. So, the stickers arrive in good shape.

Review: 41409 Emma's Shopping Play Cube

A Toy Store is the set-up for Emma's new Series #2 Cube with a satin pink front. Planes, Trains & Teddy Bears, oh my! What else can we find stuffed into this cute travel container?


Just like Series #1 the box's teardrop shape allows the cube to protrude out the front, secured by 2 top studs. The box front let's us know there's a "surprise" animal by the empty studs near the cash register. Since the appearance of one out of four colors is random, the image leaves it out. The side panel shows us all the new animals with four possible colors. Each of the 5 core Friends gets their own "Shopping" Cube with unique type of store or shop.


Box contents: Cube closed with contents; Sticker sheet; instructions sheet; and largest non-numbered parts bag.

Review: 41372 Stephanie's Gymnastics Show

Set 41372: Stephanie's Gymnastics Show
Pieces: 241
Year: 2019



Stephanie and Mia compete for gold in three gymnastics events. It may be a friendly show, but only one can stand at the top of the podium.



The box front is consistent with the current Friends styling - BBF heart insert in the top right corner, mini-doll cameos in the bottom right corner let us know who is included, and the bottom left corner insert highlights the trampoline action feature. The main box image shows the kit in a high school gymnasium scene with parents and friends cheering on our friends. 



The back of the box highlights all the fun story telling features. Each of the three gymnastic events can be swapped out to take center stage. 

Review: 41385 Emma's Summer Heart Box

Searching for gems in the azure blue sea inside her Heart Box, Emma is up against a crabby collector!


The heart-shaped box front shows two real-life Friends fans ready for a swimming adventure. Notice the Lavender Seahorse? Rumor is we're getting one this next wave of 2020.


Box back uses the yellow crab as the "actual size" demo for pieces in this set. All 5 of the summer heart boxes from 2019 are along the bottom. All contain Aqua and Vibrant Coral as the correlating colors -- paired with each of their own color combos.

Building Challenge: Picnic in a Park

-Post your creation image with a neutral & clutter-free background in this Flickr thread by May 3
-Creations must be built with real LEGO bricks, no digital renders
-One image per creation, or collage with a few views of your park setting ...

Creations built for this challenge!

~FriendsBricks

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.

Friends 2020 Summer sets

Official images of Summer 2020 LEGO Friends sets: HLC and Jungle!

Review: 30412 Park Picnic

A picnic in the park is just the Spring break Olivia needs!

Polybag shows her park picnic just outside HLC, perhaps near the lake.

Series #2 Play Cubes

Shopping Cubes:

Andrea's Pet Store 41405

Review: 30411 Chocolate Box and Flower

Just in time for Valentine's, Friends present a hearty box of chocolates and a lovely Lavender flower!


This polybag is the first for Friends in 2020 and with 75 pieces, it provides an enjoyable build -- plus enough parts and inspiration for rebuilding alternate models.
Carrying the dark purple 2020 corner graphics, HLC skyline, and BFF heart -- this bag matches Friends set boxes.

Review & ReBuild: 41431 Heartlake City Brick Box

Heartlake City Brick Box is a Lavender tub container with 2-in-1 model suggestions (with instructions) containing 321 parts. The cardboard wrap has the new dark purple corners and standard BFF heart inset. We see images of HLC as backdrop graphics.
I love that we finally get this! It should have been in the very first wave of sets in 2012.

It's just like any brick box (tub), such as 10696 Classic Medium Creative Brick Box in yellow, except in Lavender. The Classic tubs come with building "ideas" books too. So this tub is on par with those.


Tub back of cardboard label wrap shows the models you can build if you decide to use provided instructions. You can build one version of each of the three models of at the same time -- not both version as the packaging notes (at the bottom).
Or, you can just look through all the parts and build what you want.


Tub top: The embossed LEGO logo faces the same direction as bricks and plates.
I like the cardboard wrap graphics.

Review: 41404 Emma's Play Cube

Emma has packed her cube with a mini photo studio for travel to Paris!


Package front has the sparkly trans-purple half of the cube protruding from behind the cardboard cutout. Image of the open cube with Emma -- no surprise pet just yet -- shows her photography hobby. This is designated Series #1 of the Play Cubes.

Review: 41403 Mia's Play Cube

All Cubed up and ready to treat pets of any color -- Mia is a Vet with heart!


Package front shows the cube open with all the Vet equipment installed, yet lacking our newly re-colored pet patient. This cardboard packaging is similar to the Heart Boxes, yet the cube itself protrudes out. This is Series #1 of Play Cubes with surprise pets.

Review: 41402 Olivia's Play Cube

Our budding scientist, Olivia, gets a cubed Chemical Lab -- just beware of green slime!

Package front shows Olivia just outside her new Lab above the actual cube which protrudes out of its cardboard pack. We see this is Series #1 of surprise pets.
It's very much like the Heart Box packaging.

Review: 41401 Stephanie's Play Cube

Loving to bake since 2012, Stephanie now has a mobile kitchen cube to share her sweet success!


Package front shows the cube open, yet without the surprise pet. These are a similar cardboard design as used for the Heart Boxes, except the cube is physically protruding out. It's noted this is Series #1 of at least two.

Review: 41400 Andrea's Play Cube

Andrea can go on the road with her new play cube -- complete with stage -- and her rockin' gold lightning bolt face paint!


Package front shows cube built without surprise re-colored pet -- because there are 4 different colors you may get. This package is similar to last year's Heart Boxes, although the cube itself actually protrudes outside of the cardboard.
This is series #1 of at least 2, and the side bevels show a collage of all the newly colored animal pets in this series.