Review: 42656 Heartlake City Airport and Airplane
Posted by MeganL,
When I first started building 42656 Heartlake City Airport and Airplane, it felt like something that had been done several times before. I was wrong - this is just the second airport that Heartlake City has had an airport (I'm not counting the partial buildings from 41100 and 41343).
It's about time, then, that this new generation of Friends has their own airport! Let's see if their airport matches up to their predecessors'.
Summary
42656 Heartlake City Airport and Airplane, 958 pieces.
£89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 | 9.4p/10.4c/10.4c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A fun, stylish, well-populated set that is Heartlake's best airport
- Great use of colour
- Good selection of minidolls
- Fantastic play value
- Fun taxi and plane builds
- No control tower
- Not enough seats in the plane for all passengers
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Inside the box there are nine numbered bags, one unnumbered bag containing four 8x16 plates, an airplane nose and an airplane body piece, three instruction books, and a sticker sheet.
Minidolls and animals
I'm very happy that there are seven minidolls and a baby in this set! First up is Eva, baby Emilia and Celine. Eva is dressed with a dark jacket over a white shirt, with a scarf stylishly tied around her neck. Baby Emilia is adorable - I love the new baby minidoll, and of course, she fits perfectly in her stroller. Finally, there's Celine, who is Zac's sister, flying in from France. That explains the passport in her hand and all her luggage! Though I'm not sure why a boarding pass takes up that much space in a suitcase.
The next trio of characters are Ryan, Raj, and Yvette. I thought at first that Ryan was an airport employee with the headphones on, but then I spotted his sunflower lanyard, indicating that he has a hidden disability. Kudos to the Friends team for continuing to focus on diversity in the Heartlake world.
Raj is also travelling from afar, as he also has a passport. He is wearing a rather bright pink shirt that's topped by an even brighter sweater vest! Rounding out this trio is Yvette, the pilot. She looks quite smart in her teal uniform with gold accents.
It's nice to see that Heartlake's favourite bubble gum, Guble Bubble, is making an appearance. Maybe Ryan stopped by the Sweet Shop on the way to the airport?
Lastly, we have two of the core Friends team - Zac and Nova. They look like they've just hit the Heartlake version of Starbucks. Zac has brought along his dog Dango, so evidently he's at the airport to pick up his sister, Celine.
The completed model
Two luggage carts are included, which are very handy. Considering a boarding pass takes up an entire suitcase, the minidolls will have a lot of luggage!
The set provides the ability to play through all aspects of travelling, starting with the taxi ride to the airport. A basic taxi is included here - it doesn't have doors, and I find the design is a little cartoon-y, but I like it a lot.
I love the "Vacation" vanity license plate - there's no question where the passengers are headed.
The roof comes off the taxi for maximum play, and two minidolls can fit in somewhat snugly. There's just enough room in the bag for either luggage or a dog, but not both.
The other end of the travelling experience is of course, the plane! Similar to the taxi, I find this design a little whimsical, but I don't think realism is quite the point here. I really like the green decorative trim that's included on the wings and tail. It seems quite fitting that the logo for this airline is a bird.
The back of the plane shows the engines, which do look a little undersized for the size of the plane.
The nose of the plane, and the roof lifts off, allowing for maximum play. There's plenty of room for Yvette in the cockpit.
The passenger compartment is a little cramped, but there is space for four passengers. Seatbelt signs are in the front and rear of the cabin. A baggage hold is in the rear, but unlike 41429 Heartlake City Airplane, there is no hidden poop, as there's no lavatory on the plane!
Another dilemma - I think our minidolls will have to take turns traveling. There are more passengers than there are seats!
Moving on to the airport - it's a colourful building with clean lines. I really like the colour gradation from left to right.
The airport entranceway is perfect for dropping off passengers. A palm tree with some greenery frames one side, and a living wall is featured on the other.
The taxi fits perfectly underneath, allowing them to drop passengers off at the front door.
The other side of the building features a brick built jet with a bright orange background - as if there was any doubt as to what the building was. I love the colours used for the windows across the front of the building - it makes the airport so much more visually interesting than if clear transparent panels were used.
Around the side of the building is baggage claim - a working baggage claim, thanks to the gear at the top that allows the luggage carousel to spin.
Turning to the inside of the building, the refreshments area features a coffee machine as well as a vending machine. It turns out that Ryan didn't need to stop at the sweet shop for bubblegum - it's offered here in the vending machine, along with other snacks.
Just inside the front door is the check-in kiosk and a water dispenser. However, I think the water dispenser is a little misplaced - this is before the minidolls go through security. They'd have to wait to fill their water bottles. The flight schedule is located just over the kiosk.
After checking in, it's time to go through security. Arrows on the floor show exactly where passengers are supposed to go. At the security check in, there are two moving functions. One gear moves the conveyor belt, so that luggage goes through the x-ray machine. Another small gear on the other side of the metal detector raises two posts - one red, one green - signalling whether a passenger has cleared.
However, there's always those who want to get on the flight through non-traditional means.
(Note: potential stowaway sloth not included in this set.)
Once through security, there's the waiting area, and the gate check in area.
Obviously, there's only one airline servicing the airport, and the same logo that was on the plane is found at the gate.
Overall thoughts
I think this is a fantastic play set! It allows the recreation of so much of the travelling experience, from taking a taxi to the airport, checking in, going through security, and finally getting on the plane.
The vehicles included - the taxi and the plane - are not realistic builds, but they are fun builds, and I think that adds to the great play value here. While the airport doesn't include some standards that airports in other themes might have - such as a control tower - I think the details included of the passenger experience more than make up for it. I do like how the designer has included moving functions in this set at the security checkpoint and luggage carousel.
Finally, the population of minidolls is terrific. Many larger Friends sets in the earlier years were woefully populated, and I'm happy to see that's being remedied now. Having eight minidolls (including the baby) is great, and I always applaud the Friends team's commitment to diversity, especially with the inclusion of Ryan and his sunflower lanyard.
This is one of the higher priced sets, but with the play value and minidoll population, I think it's worth the money.
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30 comments on this article
I think it's nice to see a set that focuses on airport interior here.
A set like 60419 Police Prison Island or 60434 Space Base and Rocket Launchpad can offer a sizeable Control Tower, 60367 Passenger Airplane is still sold for passenger / luggage handling , and even 60465 Air Ambulance offers a decent size airplane.
Yes those are City / Minifig sets, but could easily be in the same universe, in the past Friends and City airports and rail sets often mentioned a direct travel link between Heartlake City and LEGO City International / Central (also see 40518 High-Speed Train LCC-HLC)
New baby minidoll? I propose it be coronated the binidolll...
The stickers on the taxi already coming off is truly lamentable.
What is going on with the taxi stickers?
This looks like a lovely set - I like the curvy windows, colorful transparent pieces, and especially the various Friends signs indicating the function of the particular locality - but falls flat based on the scaling issue alone. The taxi feels ginormous and goofy while the plane hardly screams airborne travel with its various less aerodynamic shortcomings. Placing these vehicles next to a very much downscaled airport building feels abstract and comical in an unfortunate way.
PS: that taxi sign sticker is clearly a design failure.
@GirlWoman said:
"What is going on with the taxi stickers?"
They are supposed to be holding on by imagination only.
Just another reason why prints are the way to go, which almost all manufactures other than LEGO have by now realized and perfected.
As for the set, don't care for the vehicles, but the building is really nice. Not including at least a small control tower is a major oversight imho though.
Looks like a fun set.
Ah, to live the simple life of a stowaway sloth.
It's difficult to get a sense of the airport layout without an overall picture from the back that seems to be missing from the review.
Once again, the City theme is chasing the far better designed Friends sets.
I love how the airport is focused on the "inside the airport" experience rather than the airport being only a landmark to play with the plane around (which is also great but already exists)
As others have said, parts of this set look (too) unrealistic and not to the same scale. I especially dislike the plane's tail. But I think the set offers good play value. And I now know (because I looked it up) that, although it's not very common, planes CAN have propellers behind the engine, the so called "pusher configuration". Learned something! ;)
Looks model after a “super v twin bonanza” with the V tail. And the two engines. The regular bonanza was nicknamed the dr killer in the US. Main difference is the Lego model has the twin engines in a pusher configuration which is quite odd esp these days I’m not sure if it’s been done in the last few decades other than experimental craft. Believe it’s air is too turbulent and other aero issues
The only problem with the taxi sticker is that it was not applied correctly, nothing more.I don't understand why this set did not make it to the shelves of the stores in Gran Canaria, Spain. Is it exclusive to Lego?
@Gus_teXeda said:
"The only problem with the taxi sticker is that it was not applied correctly, nothing more.I don't understand why this set did not make it to the shelves of the stores in Gran Canaria, Spain. Is it exclusive to Lego?"
Ah Gran Canaria, our family’s favorite island!
More nice architecture and color from Friends, and I love that logo on the airport! Missed opportunity to have a mascot, though, to go with the ones in the other 2025 sets.
Just here to point out that the size of that taxi is comical standing next to the plane and airport.
Some modern Friends sets seem a bit overly ambitious and too busy in terms of colors to me. Especially when they try to juggle six main colors including vibrant corol, highlighter yellow AND light azure in the same color scheme.
This set is not one of those. They do include a lot of colors, but using a gradient and using transparant colors like this is very pleasing to the eye, especially because everything around it is framed with whites and blues.
Combined with the interior of the airport being one of the best -if not the best ever, I must say I am impressed. Great set all around.
Except for, as mentioned by people above me, those taxi stickers applied to curved slopes that are apparently already coming off.
If this set included a few of the airport taxi runway road plates I would be tempted to say this is one of the greatest Lego airport sets of all time. It looks really well done!
*adds to growing want-list
This set is supperior to ANY other Lego airports.
Unless I'm mistaken, it looks like Yvette's torso is the broad-shouldered variety that's sometimes used for adult men (but which was also used for Luisa from Encanto). It could potentially be used to give the impression of a suit with prominent shoulder pads, but I like the idea that different body types are being represented (despite everyone being thin). I always appreciate how Friends tries to incorporate a variety of l differences; it makes the world of Friends seem more alive to me
@Rimefang said:
"If this set included a few of the airport taxi runway road plates I would be tempted to say this is one of the greatest Lego airport sets of all time. It looks really well done!
*adds to growing want-list"
I miss road plates.
The only reason Nova is at the airport with Zac is that she's trying to flee the country before the feds catch up with her.
...
I miss Ridgeheart.
@Brickodillo said:
" @Gus_teXeda said:
"The only problem with the taxi sticker is that it was not applied correctly, nothing more.I don't understand why this set did not make it to the shelves of the stores in Gran Canaria, Spain. Is it exclusive to Lego?"
Ah Gran Canaria, our family’s favorite island!
"
Oh, Gracias!
@Zordboy said:
"The only reason Nova is at the airport with Zac is that she's trying to flee the country before the feds catch up with her.
...
I miss Ridgeheart. "
Did you mean @Ridgeheart ? I think he (or part of him) is in Nova's suitcase.
Sure, 41343 may not have had much of an airport, but I don't care, it had a Friends biplane! That's why I wish I'd gotten it.
"Though I'm not sure why a boarding pass takes up that much space in a suitcase."
It's got a *lot* of information on it. Like, not just her entire life story, but her full family history.
"A basic taxi is included here - it doesn't have doors, and I find the design is a little cartoon-y..."
"You got a problem with cartoons?"
"...but I like it a lot."
Apparently not, good to know.
@Thunderbear said:"And I now know (because I looked it up) that, although it's not very common, planes CAN have propellers behind the engine, the so called "pusher configuration". Learned something! ;)]
Whereas I, having been into aviation since before my age hit double digits, went, "Huh, a pusher plane." The V-tail is another uncommon but not unknown feature. Easily the most famous plane to use it is the Beech Bonanza: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Bonanza And I notice that @ak41984's post, right after yours, shows familiarity with those features, and also mentions the Bonanza!"
Great review!
The airplane and taxicab both look very nice and have decent seating and luggage capacity, although unfortunately this set's emphasis on the airport itself means that the plane lacks amenities found in previous Friends airliners, such as a bathroom or drink/snack trolley. The plane's interior definitely still looks very cozy, and the V-shaped tail stabilizer and green trim give the exterior quite a stylish and distinctive appearance despite how many sets share a similar fuselage shape.
The airport is definitely the star attraction in this set — I love the brick-built airplane and cloud motifs used for signage, and the modernist architecture and sunset-colored windows are just as lovely here as they previously were in 42639! I also quite like the pickup/drop-off area, which really helps tie the taxi and the airport itself together and also looks really stylish with its arched canopy and beautifully constructed decorative plants.
The interior is certainly a HUGE improvement on previous LEGO Friends airports, with essential features like a security gate and luggage carousel as well as various vending/refreshment options (which certainly help make up for the lack of refreshments on the plane itself).The play feature to "flash" either a red or green light when people and luggage pass through the metal detectors is especially unique and clever (I'm surprised you didn't include any photos showing off this feature in the review)! There's also a great balance of tastefully arranged warm and cool colors, and I appreciate the tiled walkway to provide both directional indicators and a less bumpy path for the luggage carts.
One small nitpick I have is that some of the airport signage feels a little mismatched. The sign over the entrance features a logo with a plane silhouette superimposed over a heart (very fitting for Heartlake City), but the departures desk omits the heart from the design entirely, and the brick-built sign has the plane superimposed over a setting sun. I feel like if the heart on the "AIRPORT" sticker were omitted or the brick-built sun were replaced with a heart shape, the continuity would be a little stronger.
I'm also surprised none of the mini-dolls in this set seem to come with cell phones. In my experience, airports are one of the most useful places to have a phone — for example, to pull up a ticket confirmation e–mail before departing, to call a friend, family member, or taxi service upon your safe arrival, to check what the outside temperature is like at your destination, or to help with translating signs in an unfamiliar language. Given how often cell phones appear in other Friends sets, their absence here caught me a little off guard!
Those stickers on the taxi roof are not very well adhered in your photos, either. I can't tell if they're peeling, as others have suggested, or if it was a deliberate choice not to press them flat so you could remove them and use the blank 2x4 curved brick in MOCs later. But if it's the former, that's a definite flaw, and the designer should have opted for a sign with flat surfaces for the roof instead of a rounded one. If it's the latter, a note should probably be added to that section of the review to clarify.
Overall, though, it's a fantastic-looking set with lots of detail and play value. Your photos are very crisp and detailed, and the sloths add some delightful humor as always. Thanks again for the review!
What is Lego's problem with normal aeroplanes?
First the V tail which is only used on a small amount of light aircraft (and hasnt been very succesful) and now this pusher propeller plane in a weird mix of futuristic lear jet with First World War era engine technology.
Just make a Lockheed Electra style smaller aircraft, or a Gulfstream style jet. It's not that hard Lego.
The taxi is a nice idea but the proportions are all weird, not to mention the silly use of light yellow. The London black cab in the Friends hotel from years ago was a much better design.
I do agree that a focus on the terminal interior is good. It sucks how Lego City terminals just got worse and worse over the years until we got no terminal or control tower at all.
I see the plane actually has "electric" engines! (From the 1x1 round tile with the plug logo on the front of them)
The airport building and the taxi look like excellent builds, but the plane is not. Honestly, I would find this set much more appealing if it didn't include the plane.
For everyone complaining about the plane: https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Ff4sf3eyle2d31.jpg
@sotwuser One poor CGI rendering of one concept is hardly a defence for this set. It's like people tried to defend the stupid V tail by reference to a jet from the Iron Man movie.
Just make a normal damn aeroplane. You know, the kind kids see at airports.