Next year will see the LEGO® Friends theme completely rebooted with a new cast of characters. This new generation of Heartlake City will be more diverse and offer fun new ways for kids to see themselves in the toys they play with. Even before the upcoming changes, LEGO Friends has offered groups of similar sets such as Heart Boxes and Cubes. This will continue with the new sets and 4 Bedroom sets. These also provide one of the easiest ways to get all of the new main characters. So here’s a look at the first 4 of the Friend’s Rooms sets.
The base build of all 4 sets is basically the same with each one built upon an 8×16 plate. Although they are called rooms, they aren’t enclosed, instead, they feature walls along two sides of the base plate. Each room is then kitted out with various different details related to the character whose room it is. These details are a mix of buildable elements and a fair few stickers. Although each set requires plenty of stickers, they add some great details even if some of the pieces could easily have been printed. Each set includes 2 of the new Friends characters. So across the 4 sets, you can gather the entire new line-up of mini-dolls. Each set also features an animal of some sort, including some new ones.
Liann’s Room
Set Name: Liann’s Room | Set Number: 41739 | Pieces: 204 | RRP: £17.99/$19.99/19.99€ | Characters: Liann & Autumn
Liann is quite arty and her room reflects that with pots of paint dotted about the place and the separate builds being 2 paint easels. It’s quite a sparse room with only a couple of buildable things found in it. They include a shelf unit, which flips down to become a bed. There’s also a small tank for Liann’s gecko pet popcorn. A simple cubic window screen perfectly doubles as a home for a reptile. The room may not be filled with stuff but there are a couple of additional buildable elements, these include a plinth for Popcorn to pose on and 2 paint easels. I love the stickers on these, which show the painting skills of both Liann and Autumn.
Both versions of the characters are exclusive to this set. Obviously, Autumn must be mentioned, she is missing her arm. This is not a sales point or even mentioned in the set’s product description, but it is an important moment as it helps those who will play with this set to identify themselves in the toys they play with.
Aliya’s Room
Set Name: Aliya’s Room | Set Number: 41740 | Pieces: 209 | RRP: £17.99/$19.99/19.99€ | Characters: Aliya & Paisley
Aliya seems to have a whimsical imagination and her room is equally magical. Her room is filled with books, with many of them shown on the stickered walls or in stacks of plates and tiles. There are plants growing up the walls of the room, which add a touch of fairytale flair. The only functional feature of the room is focused on the bed. This includes a slide-out panel below the bed to create a sleeping area for both characters. Separate from the build of the room is a projector and screen, which features a scene reminiscent of the old LEGO Elves theme, well I like to think it is.
As with all the mini-dolls in the room sets, both versions of Aliya and Paisley are only found in this set. With both characters wearing pyjamas.
Leo’s Room
Set Name: Leo’s Room| Set Number: 41754 | Pieces: 203 | RRP: £17.99/$19.99/19.99€ | Characters: Leo & Olly
With the rest of the sets having a theme of sorts, Leo’s abode features a little bit of everything. Overall, I guess it could be considered having strong beach vibes. However, this doesn’t really relate to anything going on in the room. Leo certainly has varied interests. He appears to be quite active with the room featuring stuff related to surfing, football and diving. There’s also a small kitchen area where Leo and pal Olly film online cooking vids. The vlogger’s ring light camera stand shows how different kids’ interests are these days.
This set features one of the most interesting new creatures in the form of a very chunky cat, who is giving off some fairly grumpy vibes. Leo and Olly are in unique outfits, only found in this set, but to be honest, they aren’t the most exciting of the new gang.
Nova’s Room
Set Name: Nove’s Room | Set Number: 41755 | Pieces: 179 | RRP: £17.99/$19.99/19.99€ | Characters: Nova & Zac
This is by far my favourite of the 4 sets. It has an interesting colour scheme and plenty of fun gaming-related details. One such detail is hidden behind a sliding panel and appears to be a Legend of Zelda Easter Egg. Nova’s love of gaming is mainly shown through her gaming rig. Her PC tower is suitably jazzy like many of the current high-end ones which have see-through panels and neon lighting. There is another fun Easter Egg on her screens, Bionicle lives on in Heartlake City. Although much of the set is used to create a scene, there are a couple of play functions. As well as the aforementioned sliding wall panel, Nova’s bed flip open to reveal a hidden area underneath. It’s not just gaming Nova has a passion for, she also seems to be quite the inventor. The set includes a separate workbench built upon which she’s tinkering with the wheels on the harness for her disabled dog, Pickle.
Both the Nova and Zac mini-dolls are exclusive variants, both of the gaming-themed torsos are only worn by the characters in this set.
Overall
Although these are small sets, they are a fantastic introduction to the new characters. Each room does a fun job of reflecting the interests and personalities of Liann, Aliya, Leo and especially Nova. Her room is certainly my favourite but all of them have interesting features and details. There are quite a few stickers in each set and they add something to each room, even if many of them could have been printed pieces. It’s nice to have exclusive variants of the new characters in each set, it’s just a shame only four rooms are featured in this wave of sets. I hope and assume, the rest of the characters will get their own rooms in future sets. Much has been said about the diversity and inclusiveness of the new characters and as mentioned already, having things such as toys reflect real life is very important. For kids and adults to see themselves represented in things around them is quite special.
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These sets were 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.
