Despite being revealed last year, mainstream media has only just cottoned on to the fact that LEGO® Friends has changed. The new sets have introduced a number of new characters that better reflect the differences some people have. By some people, that includes kids. You would think allowing kids to see themselves in their toys would be a good thing. Well it totally is, but some have decided characters with differences are terrible and a threat to humanity. Of course, they are wrong and this is another set to prove just that. The Organic Grocery store is a fun little set, which includes two very special mini-dolls. So here’s another new LEGO Friends set review.
Product Details
Set Name: Organic Grocery Store | Set Number: 41729 | Pieces: 830 | Theme: LEGO Friends
RRP: £79.99/$89.99/89.99€ | Number of Bags: Bags x 6 (plastic) + Loose Elements | Instructions: Paper + Builder App | Mini-dolls: 4 | Stickers: Sheets x 1
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & General Retail
There are two components to this set, the supermarket and a small delivery truck. The truck continues a running trend of being an electric vehicle, which could be why it looks quite odd. By odd, it has a rather futuristic appearance to it, especially for a Friends set. I assume the lack of a need for a traditional engine allows for the design of the truck to be a little different. It’s a fun-looking vehicle because of this, but in all honesty, the set didn’t really need a truck.
The Grocery Store has a similar layout to many of the other buildings in the Friends range. So it’s not an entire building but more of a facade and interior, which can be access from the open plan rear of the set. The front side of the set includes things you’d expect to find at a supermarket such as a trolley bay and main entrance, more on that later. But it also features something less common, well in the UK at least. To the left of the doors is a bottle and can return bank. This leads to a cupboard-like section, where returned drinks containers can be collected for recycling.
Although there are a few fun things to be found on the exterior of the set, the interior has far more detail. Sure it’s a little cramped due to the size of the set but most of the space has bee used well. Particularly the area to the left of the doors. Here you’ll find the fruit and veg section, which has used crate elements and longer flat tiles to section them up. It’s another simple but effective use of elements to create unique detail.
As mentioned, as I built the set it rapidly turned into something quite impressive and that’s down to a number of fun and cool little features. Firstly, the brick-built 3D store sign is amazing. The simple combination of food elements and how they are connected to create a shopping basket is outstanding. The enterance doors have a genuinely clever function of being able to slide open as real shop doors often do. There’s a slider just behind the sign, which causes them to perfectly part. Another simple aspect of the set I love is the till point. It’s not overly detailed but captures the general appearance of a till conveyer belt.
The set includes four mini-dolls and a micro-doll. As mentioned in my intro, they include two very special characters. Autumn is one of the new main characters and she has part of her arm missing. As a main character, she’s appeared in numerous sets but features a unique torso design in this set. She’s joined by a unique character called Jordin, who only appears in this set. This character has a condition called Vitiligo. This causes the skin to feature different patches of colour. This is the second LEGO character to represent this condition after a minifigure was featured in the LEGO Ideas Table Football set. The set also includes store worker Issac, he is completely created from new pieces including his hair. Aria is a micro-doll, these are smaller versions of Friends characters, although they use the same sized heads are mini-dolls. There aren’t that many of these smaller characters featured in the new sets. Finally, there’s another main character called Leo, the version featured in this set can also be found in one other set, despite not being unique, Leo has an amazing torso.
Overall
Having built almost all of the new LEGO Friends sets, I can say that this is my favourite. It was great fun to build and has some impressive little features, which elevate it further. The working doors are amazing as is the 3D sign of the store. Inside also impresses with a clever recreation of a till area and produce displays. It didn’t really need the addition of the delivery van, although I do like how odd it looks. It has a futuristic feel to it, which seems at odds with the fairly traditional feel of the store. The pricing is also an issue, it has fewer elements than Autumn’s House but costs £/$/€20 more. I can only assume this is due to the inclusion of some fairly large elements. Despite that, it’s a great set, not only does it include a very unique mini-doll, but overall it provides a set which offers both an enjoyable build experience and something with plenty of playability.
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This set was provided BricksFanz and provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes. The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing a set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
