Review: 41076 Farran and the Crystal Hollow
Posted by CapnRex101,
The Elves sets have garnered a great deal of excitement, not least because of the enormous variety of new parts. No set in the line seems to reflect this so clearly as 41076 Farran and the Crystal Hollow, which contains 175-pieces and is priced at £12.99 in the UK, or $14.99 in the US. An impressive number of those parts are either brand new or very rare, having only appeared in one or two sets before!
Although the parts selection is undoubtedly excellent, the models have their merits too. The combination of bright and dark colours works very nicely in my opinion, and there are a few entertaining play features included for good measure.
Box and Contents
The Elves sets depart significantly from the traditional pink shades of Friends and Disney Princess packaging, replacing that with dark greens, purples and greys, which contrast nicely with the set itself in the centre. The five protagonists appear on the right-hand side in their animated styles, and you can see 41078 Skyra's Mysterious Sky Castle, one of two Summer sets, on top of a mountain in the distance.
On the back are some images of Farran searching for the lime green earth key. The features of the set are shown off and the characters appear again, this time with names beside each of them. It would appear that the squirrel included, who is named Miss Spry, is not entirely friendly!
Inside are two instruction manuals, which is completely unnecessary and obviously very unusual for such a small set. The large 4x12 green plate is loose in the box but the rest of the pieces are packaged in two bags.
Parts
The parts are a significant draw to this set, with no less than four entirely new pieces included, and a further three appear for the first time in a new colour. The dark red 1x3x3 arches interest me as they are bound to be useful for some architectural features, while those reddish brown carrot tops are always nice for adding wooden details to models. A third one is included as a spare.
One large leaf is included in purple and two smaller ones appear in lavender. I don't have a use for these in mind, but I am always pleased for foliage in new hues as plants often look more realistic with a bit of colour variation. The printed map and lime green key are rather more specialised, but nevertheless welcome. I have little doubt the key will be used ingeniously at some point.
Most exciting of all by far though is the new flower stalk component. The number of flower stems has doubled to six which is a vast improvement in my opinion as the bouquet looks far more densely bunched. Only one is included in this set, but there are four in 41075 Elves' Treetop Hideaway, which I hope will reduce the Bricklink prices once the sets have been out for a few months.
Minidoll
One minidoll is included: the forest elf Farran Leafshade. His hair piece is brand new and exclusive to this character, with moulded ears to show that he is an elf. Lord of the Rings fans will find plenty of use for this element I am sure. The head printing features green eyes and some green body art, while his left arm is printed with a brown leaf insignia.
The torso and legs are exclusive to the character, who wears a green jacket over a simple brown tunic and dark green trousers. As you can see he comes equipped with a bag and a 1x1 round tile in trans-green. These appear with all of the elf characters in the line and seem to represent their magical powers in some way. We will have to wait for the TV series to see what exactly those powers consist of.
The Completed Model
Two fairly small builds make up this set, the first of which is a catapult mounted on top of a rocky outcrop. Miss Spry the squirrel is launching acorns, which are represented using golden swirls, from this catapult at Farran as she is attempting to protect the hollow. The squirrel mould is brand new and although it is not much use outside of the Elves line at the moment due to the bright colours and markings on the forehead, there is a good chance we will see it appear in a Friends set at some point. There it might have some more muted colours.
The mound itself is very simple, with a few flowers dotted around and a space round the back for storing acorns when they are not being hurled at the Elves.
On the other hand, the crystal hollow is a fairly elaborate construction considering the price point. As you can see it is vividly coloured with a mixture of dark red, reddish brown, lavender, purple, green and a huge number of translucent components!
The main play feature of this section is that by pulling the green tile at the front you reveal the magic key and the crystals are pushed aside. This is a fairly basic feature but it looks very effective, particularly given the various shades of trans-green used for this part of the model. The trans-pink crystal you can see to the left of the main structure is exclusive to the Elves theme! The trans-medium blue crystal is more common, but still only appears in two other sets that are currently available.
The back of the tree is not nearly as detailed as the front, but nevertheless looks respectable, not least as a result of that trans-light blue rock panel, which is also quite rare as it is included in only three other sets. The trans-green bottle is also a useful piece to add to your collection and adds an extra splash of detail to the model which I like very much.
Verdict
As I am sure you have guessed by now, I really cannot rate this set highly enough. The models are very impressive and there is a fair amount of playability to be had, but in terms of parts this set is unrivaled at the price point. At the moment I am satisfied with one, but as soon as this set goes on offer somewhere I will be looking for a couple more to add to my collection!
I also think this set is a great starter set for the Elves theme. It includes most of the new parts introduced with this wave if you are interested in those, but also gives a good impression of the storyline. Farran Leafshade is not exclusive to this set but it is the cheapest set you will find him in and you get plenty of the other main plot elements including a key and one of the many animals that appear to live in Elvendale.
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25 comments on this article
Not gonna lie, I love the new flower stalk component. I want twenty of them. The shame of this line is that, it seems like 2015 is already jam-packed to bursting with unskippable sets. My budget is already going to break with the DC and Marvel superheroes, the Ninjago and all those beautiful city sets. Never mind the people who are collecting Bionicle, too. I probably won't end up buying any of these sets because I'll have no money, but by gosh, I wish I could.
Question; What's the LEGO ID for that new flower stalk piece? It's already up on Bricklink, but I can't seem to find the LEGO ID for it.
Furthermore, the squirrel is not a new mould. It had already appeared in 3 sets in the past, albeit with another print. According to the Brickset database, it has appeared in the sets 41016, 41017 and 41031 (LEGO ID 6023110).
Looking forward to buying this set, maybe even multiple times. That trans-green bottle looks quite useful, but also that dark brown 1x1x3 brick (which has so far only appeared in 1 set previously) is a real deal breaker for me.
Great review, Capnrex, as always! Looking at the box, your guess that the trgreen tile represent magical power is certainly backed up by the box art.
My brother got this set yesterday at Toys 'R' Us. It's definitely a fantastic design! I love the bright colors of the tree and crystals, and how they seem to be growing out of each other. Sadly, in the webisode, they simply chose to show a tree growing on top of a hill and a crystal formation underneath, rather than the tree and crystals being interwoven like they are in this set. Bit of a missed opportunity there. The golden "acorns" are also an ingenious part use. Like the gemstones that grow on trees and plants in the Elves theme, they help add another level of otherworldly flair to the theme.
I ought to make one correction to the review, which is that the squirrel mold is not new. It previously appeared in the Friends sets 41016 Advent Calendar, 41017 Squirrel's Tree House, and 41031 Mountain Hut (all in Dark Orange with a shared face print). See here: http://brickset.com/sets/containing-part-6023110
Also, while Farran's hair piece is exclusive to Farran in Dark Brown, it does appear in Dark Orange in 41074 Azari & the Magical Bakery on Johnny Baker, a secondary character.
One of the things I love about this set is the fantasy map on the back of the second instruction booklet! Lots of intriguing places marked on that map. I also like that it roughly matches the actual map tile in the sets, albeit with greater detail.
Great review! I look forward to the rest!
@TAFOL: The Element ID for this flower stem is 6097232 and the Design ID is 19119.
Thanks, Aanchir.
Thanks, @thehornedrat. I can't be bothered to watch video reviews either. We are lucky to have a great bunch of talented reviewers contributing here at Brickset. We'll continue to write them as long as you're interested in reading them.
I wanted to mention that the squirrel is not new, but have been beat twice, so I only have this fact now: the Friends boxes are shades of purple, not pink.
The Farren figure is wonderful. I am so glad that TLG decided to include a boy minidoll from the beginning of the Elves theme. It's opens the set and theme to be more gender neutral, as all LEGO sets should be.
I think the set looks great, but it to me is the weakest of the Elves theme. The others are just so great, that the goodness of this set is surpassed.
I have to see the new flower piece in person. I'm not a fan right now. It reminds me of the Playmobil flower piece, but this LEGO version seems odd with now seemingly straight out sticking the lower additional flowers are. I liked just sticking two of the old flower stems together to achieve a fuller flower bunch.
Holy cow... Speed Champions might have some competition for best $15 System set... that's a lot of parts for the price tag! Those translucent parts in such a huge quantity are certainly justification enough.
I'm still kinda undecided on this one. My LEGO shopping list is so long for this year already. I'm trying to get one or two sets from each theme, and quite frankly, I like the Adventure Ship more.
Why is Theme Group for this set under Set Details on this site "GIRLS"? 8038 is LICENSED. 6048 is HISTORICAL. 10194 is MODEL MAKING. Legends of Chima are ACTION/ADVENTURE. Are any tagged as BOYS? It just feels like tagging it as a GIRLS theme makes it harder to buy it for a son. Lego(s) are a family tradition for both my sons and daughter. I don't have a better name offhand but I'm sure this community will have plenty of suggestions.
Ok, so now he have Green, Olive green, Dark green, Bright Green, Dark Orange, Dark Red, Purple, Lavender and Dark Pink leaves.
C'mon Lego, did you ever saw autumn??? Where are yellow leaves I ask you!
Don't forget white leaves, though pretty rare.
Anyway I'm so impressed by all these parts in Evles sets. So much trans-coloured parts, dark red arches, new fences etc. Thank god they are not with regular mini figures - my wallet is safe.
Great review, Captain Rex.
One thing I will say, is that the hair piece is useless for LotR fans. Middle Earth elves don't ever have hair shorter than shoulder length, so it'd be quite a stretch to some spiked up punk look for them. although, that does open up some whacky expanded universe scenarios...
PicnicBasketSam you hit it right on the head. This set might only have a few pieces more than the race cars but feels like a much greater deal. More special and larger pieces just show better than a small car covered in stickers.
The Minidolls looks great. All the cool new colors and pieces. I always like new map pieces. A great small set.
@StrykerCat
You're never going to escape the reality that this is marketed specifically for girls. Instead of trying to change what you can't change, why not just use this opportunity as a learning experience for all of your children that they should feel uninhibited to express themselves and what they like. Have them lead by example and everyone will be stronger for the experience. The rest of society will catch up, it's better to not drag the world along kicking and screaming.
As far as the model goes, they really captured the crystal look very well. It's a sweet little grove.
Thanks for the correction concerning the squirrel everyone, my lack of Friends knowledge is evident! I have edited the review.
That dang squirrel looks like Pikachu! :D
"It would appear that the squirrel included, who is named Miss Spry, is not entirely friendly!"
You'd be upset too if some elf kept grabbing your nutsack.
Question: How do you tattoo a squirrel? Or any animal covered in fur for that matter?
This set has nice parts (especially the new ones), but I can't help but feel that, when everything is put together, it becomes a bit of a garish mess (this set doesn't look as bad, but 41075, on the other hand, appears to suffer from this issue the most out of all the sets in the theme). I wonder if they could have integrated some more natural-looking colors to balance things out?
^ Have you walked into Justice or looked at Lisa Frank stickers or seen some of the large Beanie Boo stuffed animals?
http://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Frank-Design-Your-Bracelets/dp/B00KVLQMQY/ref=sr_1_4?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1424575355&sr=1-4&keywords=lisa+frank
https://store.ty.com/newtys/tyshop_items_preview.cfm?ITEM_NO=36817
Believe me when I say these are the right colors for the targeted age group.
I'm a 29 year old male, I love the colors. I'm pretty sure LEGO's target group is anyone will to give them money. ;)
I can see where Dragon is coming from though. It looks weird on the box because they don't give you enough leaves to make a tree, but they try to space out the ones you do get and it looks off.
^I agree with this. Only the purple leaves and brown trunks jump out at me in 41075 . The little bit of green is a nice accent for the building part of the treehouse. I think the spacing and angles of the leaves are making the set look a mess, but from what I learned from 3065 , don't judge a LEGO tree until you see it in person. Olivia's Treehouse looks must better in person.
Nice review, I wonder if this will get picked up or not. We'll have to wait and see.
@ Eric-John: Correct. I own the Olivia's Tree-house set, and it looks a whole lot better on a shelf than on the boxes.
Haven't seen these sets in the Netherlands yet. I might get one or two from this serie for the parts, but I'm way too exited for the new City, Creator and Scooby-Doo sets.