Review: 42686 Fun Indoor Playground
Posted by MeganL,
Heartlake City has had a plethora of playgrounds (most notably the contest winner, 41325), including several for all the animals in town. There's been one gap - none of them have been indoors! Fortunately, the Friends team has fixed that oversight with 42686 Fun Indoor Playground.
Summary
42686 Fun Indoor Playground, 668 pieces.
£54.99 / $59.99 / €59.99 | 8.2p, 9.0c, 9.0c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A new business in Heartlake City that the target audience will easily identify with
- Wide variety of indoor activities
- Fun bunny machine ride
- Buildings can be rearranged
- Some of the activities look a little young for teenagers, but perfect for the set's audience
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Inside the box there are six numbered bags, one unnumbered bag containing three 10x10 half circle plates, a netting piece, and (of course) a slide. An instruction package includes four instruction books and a sticker sheet.
Minidolls
There are three minidolls in this set. Sonia is introduced here, and is an employee of the indoor playground called Playland. Nova and Liann are here for a day of fun, wearing clothes that we've seen on them before.
I think Sonia is the most interesting of the group, mostly because I love her hair!
The completed model
The fun starts with two side models. First is a trampoline, the bane of many parents' existence! At least in Heartlake City, those parents can send their kids to Playland! The other side build is a dance machine. I can see this being popular, at least for those kids who don't mind being seen dancing in public (do they exist?).
There's also a fun bunny machine ride. This reminds me of the ride that I've seen for kids outside of grocery stores, though that target age range is much younger than what the Friends are (they're teenagers). I love that the bunny is in cool yellow and their cute pink nose.
A gear can be turned on the other side to provide a rocking motion. Look at the cute cotton tail!
Moving on to the main indoor playground, there's a lot going on here. This reminds me a lot of Kids Empire, a chain of indoor playgrounds in the U.S.
The back view shows that every level has something to offer the Friends in order to burn off all that energy. No wonder they're all svelte!
The netting piece is used as a rope wall to climb up to the second level (and apparently, the only way to do so). There are connectors on the sides of each play section to allow customisation for display.
Once a Friend reaches the top of the netting, there's a rolling log to contend with. For those Friends who didn't care to climb the net, there's a turntable ride on the ground floor (though LEGO calls this a carousel).
Of course, some may be more adept at navigating that log than others.
(Note: log-walking sloths not included in this set.)
The middle section includes the entrance to Playland, a large colourful sign with the business name in the shape of a fun brick-built controller. Indeed, you can see more controllers in the globe window upstairs, so it appears more electronic fun is in store.
The top level of this section does indeed have an electronic based game that is also a shooting gallery. Planetary designs are featured on either side of the controller while blasters are at the ready. I hope they're not shooting at the alien - though that alien rather looks like they're aiming at something themselves.
The floor is decorated much like some space terrain. This shot also shows some of the entranceway to Playland with some shoe cubbies just inside the door.
The other side of the bottom floor shows an electronic payment pad and my favourite detail of the set - a gumball machine!
The last section of Playland features a very important component - a snack bar. The slushie sign makes it quite clear what the shop is offering, and with the size of those slushies, it's easy to see how the Friends maintain their energy. There are chairs in front, but I'm not sure what use they'll be, considering there's so much to do.
Next to the snack bar is a ball pit at the base of the slide (I thought I'd taken a better picture of it, but sadly not).
The top level of this section (which I guess a Friend gets to by hopping from the shooting game?), have some coconuts on swivels. I think they're supposed to be obstacles to get to the slide, but really, they could be targets for the shooters on the next section. Whatever they are, they're fun details at the top of the slide.
Overall thoughts
When I first saw this set, I immediately thought of Kids Empire, a business in which I've spent quite a bit of time lately! The target age range for Kids Empire is a bit younger than what the Friends are supposed to be (they're in high school), but the target age range for this set is just about spot on.
While some of the rides seem a little young for the Friends (the bunny ride, for example), it's also perfect for those kids you would see at an indoor playground. Fortunately, in this set there are also activities geared toward older kids (the shooting gallery and the dancing machine), so the designers have tried to hit all the bases here.
The build experience is pretty standard, but with building each section individually, this set is a master class of allowing play after building each section. With all the moving parts and games, there's plenty of play value, and the price point is certainly not outrageous.
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17 comments on this article
I think this works better if you have the friends as the people working there, and you can use the mini dolls as the kids playing
I would have to add my own norovirus ball pit? UNACCEPTABLE!
I thought the Friends were supposed to be in their early teens, like 14 or so.
No 14-year old I know (and I know a lot) would be seen dead in a place like this, which looks like it's for toddlers to primary schoolers max.
Weird…
https://brickset.com/article/132194/random-figure-of-the-day-frnd0869
I stand by my original comment.
Me too. PLAY MORE LANDS. YOU ARE BEING GREEDY. THIS IS WHY YOUR DECK KEEPS LOSING.
Sonia doesn't want to hear your excuses about "mana screw", you scrublord.
At least there's a different character.
I don't know if it's just me but nearly all of the current wave just has the core characters. There's certainly a sense of fatigue regarding them
We really need mid kid characters
TRAMAMPOLINE!
@Toc13 said:
"I don't know if it's just me but nearly all of the current wave just has the core characters. There's certainly a sense of fatigue regarding them"
It bothers me more than I'd like to admit that Olly seems to have vanished from Heartlake City this year.
I do believe that this is the first time a figure from a set has shown up as RFotD before said set's Brickset review gets posted. Speaking of which:
@PurpleDave said:
"Weird…
https://brickset.com/article/132194/random-figure-of-the-day-frnd0869
I stand by my original comment."
And I stand by my comment that if Sonia is an employee of the playground, then she should have a name tag.
The kinda age-inappropriate playplace probably just ties into the idea that the Friends aren't really any specific age, they're whatever the kid imagines them as. Or if a kid imagines being a teen involves going to playgrounds or Discovery Zones, then they'll act that out.
@TheOtherMike said:
"And I stand by my comment that if Sonia is an employee of the playground, then she should have a name tag."
Gotta use the business's App
@Zordboy said:
" @Toc13 said:
"I don't know if it's just me but nearly all of the current wave just has the core characters. There's certainly a sense of fatigue regarding them"
It bothers me more than I'd like to admit that Olly seems to have vanished from Heartlake City this year."
Maybe Olly got eaten by Olly.
@TheOtherMike said:
"I do believe that this is the first time a figure from a set has shown up as RFotD before said set's Brickset review gets posted."
Difficult to say. I haven't ever tracked that info, and not every set gets reviewed. It's always possible that a current set doesn't qualify right now, but may decades down the line. We got a review of the Renegade timed to the Renegade II's release, after all.
"And I stand by my comment that if Sonia is an employee of the playground, then she should have a name tag."
What? No, can't be giving out kids' personal information. What about COPPA? And...whatever equivalent they have for not-the-internet? Are you trying to dox the poor girl?
Fun unique idea for a set. But yes would have perhaps made more sense if there were some of the smaller friends figs, and the older ones were all in uniform as 'teenage Saturday job' types.
As others have mentioned need smaller kid figures, but seems to focus on all the grown-up areas like the entrance, cafe etc rather than the main event.
I would start with a square of horizontal transparent tubes on 4 towers, double width slides into ball pit in the middle, cargo net climb then worry about the amenities if any pieces left over.
For the teenage friends it would make more sense in an outdoor obstacle course with cargo net climb, a rotating log, zip wire etc. like they did for the City Police set 60372.
Any time I see a character called Sonia, I'm reminded of that name being used as a nickname for the automated announcer on the London Underground (because she gets-sonia-nerves)
@Zordboy said:
" @Toc13 said:
"I don't know if it's just me but nearly all of the current wave just has the core characters. There's certainly a sense of fatigue regarding them"
It bothers me more than I'd like to admit that Olly seems to have vanished from Heartlake City this year."
Because kids dont like him
@lordofdragonss said:
" @Zordboy said:
" @Toc13 said:
"I don't know if it's just me but nearly all of the current wave just has the core characters. There's certainly a sense of fatigue regarding them"
It bothers me more than I'd like to admit that Olly seems to have vanished from Heartlake City this year."
Because kids dont like him"
Actually, he forgot to pay his "protection tax" to Dreadflipper...