Review: 42618 Heartlake City Café
Posted by MeganL,
Cafés are a staple in the Friends universe, so it's not surprising that 2024 brings us another one. There have been no fewer than nine cafés in the Friends line. This year's rendition is 42618 Heartlake City Café. The colouring is quite striking with some French accents. At one of the lower price points, I'm interested to see what kind of detail is included in this set.
How does this version stack up against the other cafés? Read on and find out.
Summary
42618 Heartlake City Café, 426 pieces.
£24.99 / $29.99 / €29.99 | 5.9p / 7.0c / 7.0c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Another quaint cafe to add to the Friends collection
- Charming colour scheme
- Very reasonably priced
- Plenty of baking supplies
- None
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Inside the box there are three numbered bags, a 16x16 plate, four pieces that I call gateway pieces, and instruction book, and a sticker sheet. Based on the stickers, the French influences are clear - the logo for the café itself is a smiley croissant.
Minidolls and animals
There are three minidolls in this set. Beatriz is new to the Friends team. As proprietor of the café, she's appropriately dressed in a long apron with white shirt underneath. There's a dog included in the set - perhaps a mascot for the café, or Beatriz' dog. Regardless, he's very cute, with lovely markings on his face, particularly the spot on one eye.
Olly and Paisley from the Friends crew are also featured - they're visiting the café for a snack. Both are wearing clothes that we've seen before. I particularly like the croissant logo featured on the back of Beatriz' shirt.
The completed model
Several Heartlake City cafés have delivery options, and this one is no exception, with a scooter available for delivering tasty treats.
Or, perhaps, some hitchhikers....
(Note: hitch-hiking sloth not included in this set)
The café has a very attractive colour scheme. Spring is in the air with the fresh green colour of the café itself, and bolstered by the colourful pink leaves around the sign and on a nearby cherry tree. There are two tables for the Friends to enjoy their treats al fresco.
A spot off to the side of the café is a designated parking spot for the scooter. The architectural details of the front of the building are lovely. This is clearly a multi-generational business - the café has been in business since 1932!
Friends aren't the only ones that enjoy croissants outside.
(Note: snacking sloths not included in this set)
I like the slopes on the sidewalk, making the café accessible.
Inside, we can see the inner workings of the café. Beatriz is kept very busy back here, with an oven, coffee machine and pastry counter. So busy, in fact, that there's something black in the oven, suggesting that Beatriz may have been distracted for a little bit too long.
Several supplies are stored in the cubbies underneath the counter. On the other side of the counter, several fancy cakes are on display. The clock adorned with a chef's hat is a nice touch, though I'm not sure why the chef's hat is in that particular spot.
The aforementioned supplies warranted a closer look. I'm quite impressed that Beatriz can whip up such colourful creations in such a small space.
Overall thoughts
This is a charming set. I always enjoy building sets in this price range, as the Friends team really seems to hit a sweet spot of functionality, detail, and playability at reasonable cost.
I love the colour scheme of this set - the green is a perfect colour for the café. As is typical for this pricepoint, there's a fantastic level of play value. Speaking of value, this is priced extremely well ata $29.99 for 426 pieces.
Those who don't like "typical" Friends colours will like this set, as I expect this building would fit in well in any City layout. As is typical, there are no back walls in the set, but I think that the architectural details on the facade make up for that.
95 likes
29 comments on this article
Why is it Beetlejuice-themed
Friends bad, now give me likes. /j
Ok but seriously, this might actually be the first time that I'm tempted by a friends set.
I love the 1932 easter egg!
Sloths!
This is nice. The Friends theme really has become the modern day version of Legoland Town.
@HJB2810 said:
"I love the 1932 easter egg!"
What's the easter egg?
@GirlWoman said:
" @HJB2810 said:
"I love the 1932 easter egg!"
What's the easter egg?"
From Wikipedia: "The history of LEGO begins in 1932 in Billund, Denmark, with a carpenter named Ole Kirk Christiansen. He initially produced wooden toys and household items."
@GirlWoman said:
"Why is it Beetlejuice-themed"
Why is Stephanie Beatriz in it
@Brainslugged said:
" @GirlWoman said:
" @HJB2810 said:
"I love the 1932 easter egg!"
What's the easter egg?"
From Wikipedia: "The history of LEGO begins in 1932 in Billund, Denmark, with a carpenter named Ole Kirk Christiansen. He initially produced wooden toys and household items.""
Does that mean this cafe started out making wooden croissants?
The beanie-with-hair piece is an absolute winner!
Lovely playset for a great price !
I'll be buying this one...will fit in nicely with my street scene. This will work splendidly for a corner building! Thanks for the terrific review!
The chef's hat above the clock looks like it could be a trophy for winning a baking competition.
Great review! I love that this set ties in with 42606 and the donut box from 42639. It's the sort of thing that helps to establish this bakery/café as a popular fixture of Heartlake City.
I love seeing LEGO sets include food items that are instantly recognizable despite being made of common, unprinted pieces, and the colorful macarons in this set are no exception! The black forest cake also looks extremely decadent and appetizing. I'm not quite as certain what specific type of cake the one with the strawberry on top and the unfrosted sides is meant to be, though — any guesses?
In terms of furnishings, the recolored cabinet doors for the glowing ovens are a great choice that I'm sure could be very useful for other sets and MOCs in the future! The outdoor dining area also makes very efficient use of space (though of course, it's helped a bit in this by the mini-doll proportions, since minifigs would need a little extra space for their shoulders.
The coffee machine and stand mixer are simpler than in some previous Friends sets, but a lot more compact as a result (I probably would've flipped the mixer arm upside-down and attached a silver 1x1 swirl piece as the beater, but I suppose that wouldn't leave room to add any actual ingredients to the bowl). I also love the modern payment terminal, and the glass display cabinet is of course a must for any trendy café!
As for the building itself, the window/exterior wall construction makes great use of SNOTted tiles to fill in the lower part of the 1x6x7 arches. The signage is very charming, and is nicely aligned with the curved parapet above the corner entrance. The black and white elements used for the door/window frames, cornices, and awnings also balance out the pastels very nicely.
My one gripe about this set is that I wish Friends shops and restaurants like this were easier to combine into a larger street scene. There are a few sets with sidewalks that match one another, like 41732 and 41742 or of course 41747 and 41748, but the very plain-looking pavement here doesn't really match any other current/recent Friends sets. That said, maybe we'll get other sets that belong to this same district/neighborhood in the future.
Thanks as always for your fantastic Friends reviews!
This looks like a really fun build and play set.
This also proves LEGO doesn’t have to gouge customers with the prices - 426 pieces for $30 is like clearance these days. Don’t lecture me about licensing tax - there’s no reason City, Creator, Ninjago, and non-licensed sets need to be priced as they are. LEGO continues to make millions but keeps raising prices. :-/
Nice review!
I assumed the chef's hat on top of the gold goblet piece was meant as some sort of trophy/award on display from a baking or restauranteur competition of some sort.
@8lackmagic said:
"This is nice. The Friends theme really has become the modern day version of Legoland Town."
Perhaps in some regards, although even LEGOLAND Town had a whole lot more vehicle-focused and fire/police/construction focused sets than Friends has ever had! I guess part of that is that the Friends theme tends to focus more on childhood/teenage life experiences (home life, school, shopping, dining, athletics, hobbies, pet care, vacations, etc) than on grown-up jobs.
When Frends came out, I felt it had a high potential. I have always loved this series sets, and this one is no exception :heart:
@Aanchir said:
" @8lackmagic said:
"This is nice. The Friends theme really has become the modern day version of Legoland Town."
Perhaps in some regards, although even LEGOLAND Town had a whole lot more vehicle-focused and fire/police/construction focused sets than Friends has ever had! I guess part of that is that the Friends theme tends to focus more on childhood/teenage life experiences (home life, school, shopping, dining, athletics, hobbies, pet care, vacations, etc) than on grown-up jobs."
I'd put it this way: the City focuses on specific occupations, sometimes a bit excessively (police and firefighters cough-cough), while Frends focuses more on everyday experiences and leisure activities
I don't like the colour scheme, but this would fit nicely into a larger city or town MOC. As do most recent friends buildings.
Can it be used as a fitout for Cafe Corner I wonder.
Only con is tha floor space is not even and it looks awkward.
@GirlWoman said:
"Why is it Beetlejuice-themed"
Buildings this shade of green and similar shades of salmon and brick yellow are pretty common in Florida. I've even seen houses whose brick equivalent color would be something between Light Aqua and Sand Blue.
@HJB2810 said:
"I love the 1932 easter egg!"
I didn't even notice that! I will ad I will admit that if I'd been the graphic designer, I probably would have had the sign read "Established 2012," but it's still a fun detail.
@Terrakota said:
" @Aanchir said:
" @8lackmagic said:
"This is nice. The Friends theme really has become the modern day version of Legoland Town."
Perhaps in some regards, although even LEGOLAND Town had a whole lot more vehicle-focused and fire/police/construction focused sets than Friends has ever had! I guess part of that is that the Friends theme tends to focus more on childhood/teenage life experiences (home life, school, shopping, dining, athletics, hobbies, pet care, vacations, etc) than on grown-up jobs."
I'd put it this way: the City focuses on specific occupations, sometimes a bit excessively (police and firefighters cough-cough), while Frends focuses more on everyday experiences and leisure activities"
I like that City has recently gone back to including slice-of-life sets like Friends, and of course Town before them.
I like this building, it's currently on my wishlist. It seems like a very similar to the Community Kitchen from last year. I'm just curious how it compares sizewise to that set.
@Brainslugged said:
" @GirlWoman said:
" @HJB2810 said:
"I love the 1932 easter egg!"
What's the easter egg?"
From Wikipedia: "The history of LEGO begins in 1932 in Billund, Denmark, with a carpenter named Ole Kirk Christiansen. He initially produced wooden toys and household items.""
The same date is seen at the top of the Fire Brigade modular building
Maybe Beatriz got first prize in Heartlake City's Best Chef contest and she put the hat that she won up there. Here in Belgium, they have the Golden Croissant contest. Our baker around the corner has put his golden croissant in a similar position in his bakery.
Great review and great price - just bought it for my niece, whose anniversary is coming up.
The Golden Toque is quite a prestigious award. And to think this small town lass won it! Good for her!
The set looks decent. I don't love the spring yellowish green as a building with the black and white awning. But I don't know what I'd change either.
I like the glowing ovens. The parking spot works.