LEGO® Friends build review and interview: 42639 Andrea's Modern Mansion

With 2275 parts, 42639 Andrea’s Modern Mansion is the largest LEGO® Friends set to date. These parts include a lot of interesting new elements which we’ve already taken a look at, but now it’s time to start building!

LEGO® Friends parts review: 42639 Andrea's Modern Mansion

LEGO® Friends celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2022, and in 2023 we saw a relaunch of the theme. The Heartlake City Universe made a time jump, introducing a new generation of characters. But the old friends were not forgotten! The original group is meeting up in 42639 Andrea's Modern Mansion for a reunion and catching up on adventures since their ‘split’. We’ll join the party soon, but first we’ll be taking a look at all the new elements found in the set. And there is a new color!

LEGO® Friends: new moulds for January 2024

Last year's reboot of the LEGO® Friends theme was received with general acclaim. In this review I'll be exhibiting some of the new moulds found in the upcoming January 2024 wave. The parts are pulled from 42603 Stargazing Camping Vehicle, 42604 Heartlake City Shopping Mall, 42605 Mars Space Base and Rocket, 42608 Tiny Accessories Store (also known as Mini Boutique, apparently), 42620 Olly and Paisley's Family Houses and 42621 Heartlake City Hospital.

 

This examination will focus on the "normal" building parts and figure accessories, while leaving the new mini-doll parts for my upcoming set reviews.

LEGO® Friends Sea Rescue sets review & MOC: 41734, 41736, 41752

Earlier this year the environmentally conscious Heartlake City received a revamped sea rescue sub-theme in the form of LEGO® Friends sets 41734 Sea Rescue Boat, 41736 Sea Rescue Center and 41752 Sea Rescue Plane. Today I'll be taking a look at the noteworthy parts and builds of all three sets before attempting an alternate build using their combined inventories.

 

LEGO® Friends review & MOC: 41760 Igloo Holiday Adventure

You know summer is officially over when The LEGO Group starts releasing winter-themed sets! Today I take a look at the smaller of two September 2023 LEGO® Friends sets: 41760 Igloo Holiday Adventure. For a set of modest size, it offers us a healthy number of recolours, rare parts and even two fascinating new moulds!

LEGO® Friends review & MOC: 41747 Heartlake City Community Kitchen

The June 2023 wave of LEGO® Friends releases continues to fly the flag for thoughtfully-designed sets in vibrant colours, and 41747 Heartlake City Community Kitchen is no exception. It includes four characters from the theme's reboot, plus everyone's favourite grumpy kitty, Churro, who all love hanging out in a community-run café.

 

The set features an interesting selection of new, recoloured and rare elements, so let's take a look at them to see what's cooking in the kitchen.

LEGO® Friends review: 41744 Sports Center

Continuing our look at the June 2023 wave of  LEGO® Friends sets, 41744 Sports Center offers a small range of new recolours, a colourful selection of lesser-seen elements and a build that makes great use of all 832 parts.

 

LEGO® Friends review: 41757 Botanical Garden

One of the most keenly-awaited sets in the June wave of LEGO® Friends releases, 41757 Botanical Garden features a stylish butterfly house with cacti and succulents growing inside, along with an outside pond, overhanging cherry tree and three minidolls. It already seems to be a popular set with the AFOL community, so let's dive straight into the interesting parts included.

LEGO® Friends review + MOCs: 41759 Heartlake City Bus

Beginning our look at the June 2023 wave of  LEGO® Friends sets, 41759 Heartlake City Bus offers a modest range of new and recoloured elements. Today I'll be discussing them all, as well as the build itself and some MOCs I made inspired by the new moulds.

LEGO® Friends 41711 Emma's Art School

After all of our recent LEGO® Friends 2023 set reviews, today we are going "old skool" and looking back at one from 2022. 41711 Emma's Art School was one of five sets released last year which told the story of where the original five Friends characters would be furthering their education; the others being 41713 Olivia's Space Academy, 41714 Andrea's Theatre School, 41716 Stephanie's Sailing Adventure and 41717 Mia's Wildlife Rescue.

 

LEGO® Friends review: 41728 & 41733: Thought for Food

I’ve reviewed so many sets from the January 2023 wave of LEGO® Friends, I’m in need of some food and a drink... which these two sets will provide.

41728 Heartlake Downtown Diner has some great sandwiches for me, and 41733 Mobile Bubble Tea Shop serves a refreshing beverage which, according to my children, is made of a combination of milk, tea, flavored syrup and tapioca pearls for a chewy texture. I’ll have a coffee, black.

LEGO® Friends review: 41730 Autumn's House

The buildings I have reviewed so far in the January 2023 wave of LEGO® Friends sets are all located in Heartlake City. Time to take a trip to the countryside and pay a visit to Autumn, who lives with her family on a ranch just a bike ride’s distance from the city.

The original 5 friends all got their own set showing their house, and it seems the new friends group is continuing that tradition. Join me as I build set 41730 Autumn’s House, where we run into a familiar face.

LEGO® Friends review: 41727, 41738 & 41741: For the Love of Dog

Today's review is for all dog-lovers! Join me on a journey through Heartlake City in search of canines in need of rescue.

The January 2023 wave of LEGO® Friends sets includes 3 sets focused on dog rescue: 41727 Dog Rescue Center, 41741 Dog Rescue Van and 41738 Dog Rescue Bike. The LEGO Friends theme is known for introducing new animal moulds and these 3 sets are no exception.

LEGO® Friends room inspection: 41739, 41740, 41754 & 41755 'Room' sets

The January 2023 wave of LEGO® Friends sets bring us forward in the timeline with the original group now all grown up and the introduction of a new group of 8 brand new characters. To get to know them better the theme gives us a look into their rooms with 4 new sets showing their hobbies and interests: 41739 Liann’s Room, 41740 Aliya’s Room, 41754 Leo’s Room and 41755 Nova’s Room. 

The sets average around 200 parts, and are available for £17.99 / €19,99 / $19.99 / AU$32.99. I assume the rooms of the other 4 friends will show up in future?

LEGO® Friends review: 41735 Tiny Mobile Home

Apparently it’s a new trend: Tiny Houses. On one hand, I like the concept: less room means less building materials, heating, maintenance and footprint but just thinking about living in one makes me claustrophobic. I’m not a fan of small spaces. I need room to breathe and move...besides, where would I store my LEGO in a Tiny House?

The trend has also reached Heartlake City, and our friends have opted for a mobile version of a tiny home. Hitch a ride through this review of Friends 41735 Tiny House.

LEGO® Friends review: 41729 Organic Grocery Store

The next set from the January 2023 wave of LEGO® Friends sets under my review is another shop: 41729 Organic Grocery Store. With 830 parts, it sits within the top 5 largest sets out of the wave, and includes some nice new elements. So, grab your cart and load up with MOC-feeders.

LEGO® Friends review: 41731 Heartlake International School

The new year brings us a brand new group of Heartlake friends and according to the press release they'll meet each other at school. So naturally a school comes in the new wave of LEGO® Friends. We've seen 2 previous school sets (5 if you count the Art, Theater and Performance sets), and  I’ll be schooling you today on the third: Friends 41731 Heartlake International School. With 985 pieces it's the second biggest set in the January 2023 wave, so sit up, grab your pencil or laptop and pay attention!

LEGO® Friends review: 41732 Downtown Flower and Design Stores

After examining all of the new elements found in the January 2023 LEGO® Friends wave, it’s time to take a look at the largest of the sets, 41732 Downtown Flower and Design Stores. With 2010 parts, it's not just the largest piece count of the wave, it's the largest ever in the 10 years of the LEGO Friends theme. It's even the first LEGO Friends set to have a 12+ age recommendation.

I’ve been hoping for a Modular-sized LEGO Friends build, and this set comes close. Let’s find out if that 12+ mark is warranted.

LEGO® Friends January 2023: New blocks on the kids

We're nearing 2023, which means a new wave of sets will soon be upon us. Over the next few weeks, here on the website and on our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts, I'll be taking a look at 17 of the LEGO® Friends sets that have been announced. A lot has changed in Heartlake City, and this brings a lot of new elements. Let's take a look at those changes, and all the new elements!

LEGO® Friends parts review & MOCs: 41704 Main Street Building

Products in this article were provided by LEGO®; the author's opinions are their own.

41704 Main Street Building is the largest LEGO® Friends release ever, beating the previous incumbent 41101 Heartlake Grand Hotel by 110 pieces, which had held the top spot since 2015. This new set retails at £129.99 / $149.99 / 149,99 € for 1682 pieces, which gives a reasonable price per part value of 7.7p / 8.9c. If you're buying this set, consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'. 

 

I will take a closer look at the new and rare elements, the minidolls and make a couple of MOCs from some of the pieces.