Review: Friends Birthday Party sets
Posted by MeganL,
One of the sub themes from the recent Friends release is the Birthday Party.
Is it worth a celebration, or will you be singing "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to?"
41110 Birthday Party
The box art on the front shows Andrea with a couple of her animal friends in a birthday party scene located in a garden. The back of the box shows different features of the birthday party.
This is the largest set in the group. The contents are two numbered bags, a small baseplate and an instruction booklet. There are no stickers! Baseplates is in bright green which appears to be new to this set, as well as 4 curved base sections in the same colour.
Andrea comes to the party with a party hat. This set also features Daisy the rabbit and Violet the bird, who get hats too!
First bag starts with a present for the party, which is a hair bow (really, these Friends do seem fixated on hair accessories). The present top - which is printed - is new to this set.
Next up is a breezy garden swing to pass the time while waiting for everyone to arrive. The newish 1x2x5 brick in aqua is used a couple times in the set, including the swing. Next is a display table for the feature attraction of the party - a carrot cake - and a seat for the guest of honour. In terms of scale, I hope Andrea has invited a lot of people to her party, since the cake is the size that could feed the entirely of Heartlake City! The cake however looks lovely indeed and the pink swirl pieces are used for great effect in the decorations.
The second bag builds the performance stage, since the Friends group is a talented bunch and always do their own entertainment. Maybe Livi will stop by? A nice feature is that the stage rotates. A similar arch to the swing is built, and then a nice use of parts for a small piano with a microphone stand and mike (love the use of a skeleton leg here). Balloons, fairy lights, and a table with a party invitation (also printed, also new to this set) finish off the details of the party.
This is a nice little set. It really sets the stage (no pun intended) for a festive scene.
41111 Party Train
A slightly smaller set, it contains two bags and an instruction booklet. Again, no stickers!
Stephanie is preparing to go the party, as shown on the box art, along with her hamster friends, Heidi and Harry, which are new to this set. Of course, all three have party hats, since they are going to one!
Building starts with another present - yet another hair bow - with another new printed lid. I find the colour of this lid very incongruous with the magenta and white base. Surely some other colour could have been used here. Next is a mailbox that the invitation was mailed to, with the invitation (again, the same printed piece).
The next accessory is a small play area for the hamsters. At first I thought it was for the Friends, but the scale is clearly a bit small, plus the addition of a water bottle at the side of the slide plus food bowl helped clarify that a bit.
The final part of the build is the train itself. I believe the bike piece is new, in a bright cheery yellow. Following that is the three train cars, each with the capability of holding a hamster or present (or anything else someone would want to bring to the party. The train has sidebars in bright blue and yellow and is finished at the end with more cheery balloons. It certainly looks like Andrea will have some guests for her party! Ones that bring their own entertainment, since Heidi and Harry have their own play structure.
41112 Party Cakes has already been reviewed by CapnRex101, so here's a picture but I won't review it again here. It does include Toffee the pug.
41113 Party Gift Shop
These smaller sets have the kinds of openings I really dislike - the ones where you're expected to insert your thumb and tear off the end. Since I'm one of those who like to keep the boxes to their LEGO sets, this really makes an untidy appearance that I don't like. Unfortunately, the glue on the boxes don't make it easy to open neatly.
Anyway, on to the rest of the review…..the inside reveals two bags, a small semi-circle baseplate and an instruction booklet. Again, no stickers! Is it possible we'll have the whole theme sticker-less??
These sets are great for those who like Friends animals. Minu and Mini the baby bunnies are included in this set. They also come with party hats, which considering the size of the bunnies the hats rather overwhelm them.
The present in this build is empty, presumably to be filled once the bunnies have finished their shopping mission. I wonder if there will be a choice of presents other than hair bows? At least Toffee the pug is bringing a cake and cookies. There are also carrots for the bunnies to nibble on, since we all know that shopping is a tiring business and will make them hungry. However I think these particular carrots will last Minu and Mini for many days.
Next is a little bunny playground - that's where we'll find the printed invitation as well as a bright red balloon, but also a working see saw that the bunnies can play on before or after shopping. Between this and the slide from the Party Train, the little animals will have a fine time as this party.
The final part of the build is the gift shop - and as proof that I write reviews while building, it appears that the only things for sale are hair bows! I think the Friends need to diversify in their gift giving a bit more. The cash register is a printed piece that we've seen before but is a welcome change from stickers.
I think the see saw is really fun touch. I think the bunnies would be hard pressed to leave that behind just to go to the party!
41114 Party Styling
The box contents - two bags, a rectangular baseplate in bright green, a round blue baseplate, an instruction booklet and - gah! - a sticker! I was so hoping that we would make it through this series without a sticker. However this one is a mirror, and considering the name of the set I suppose it's understandable.
Like the other sets, this comes with another animal - Jewel the cat. Unlike the other animals, Jewel comes with an embellishment of her own - a necklace. She gets a party hat just like the others.
The present in this set is - of course - another hair bow. I do like the printed gift lids from these sets, though I suspect we will see these regularly in the future.
The rest of the build is the grooming station, starting with a tub with facet for Jewel to have her bath with a mirror on the back. The entire grooming station rotates, allowing for Jewel to check her appearance in the mirror once she gets out of the tub. A dish with a fish completes the set.
Overall thoughts
Put together, the sets make for a very festive party scene. In particular, I think the combination of Birthday Party, Party Train and Party Gift Shop make the best scene. These three sets together complete a party, have presents and guests, and provide things to do for both people and animals. Party Cakes and Party Styling seem extraneous to me. They're only somewhat related to a party and focus on the very common Friends themes of cooking and grooming. We've seen these many times before.
For those who love the Friends animals, these sets are pretty inexpensive ways to get them (Birthday Party is $19.99, Party Train in $9.99, and the other three are $4.99 each). The animals are very cute and I love that they have names. I like that the party is intended for people and animals. However, if you're not an animals fan and think that they're too cutesy, I think the sets can stand on their own without the animals. After all, I put two mini figs in the party scene and they didn't seem to mind it at all!
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9 comments on this article
"[...] it appears that the only things for sale are hair bows!"
I actually thought those were perfume bottles at first, but then it dawned on me that bunnies probably don't have that kind of cash.
Nice review. I now know what to give my youngest Lego-crazy niece as a birthday present!
Thanks for the reviews. Great idea combining them into a single review. My girls would love these sets (they love Lego friends and they love birthday parties!)
Love the idea of combining related small sets into one review. Nice job!
I'm sorry, but when you said "the train can fit a hamster on it" I immediately thought of Sariel's reviews. :P
Good review! This series feels a bit schmaltzy for me compared to other Friends sub-themes (really, all this hubbub over a bunny rabbit's birthday?), but it's well-designed for what it is. It's neat how the series all fits together, with the main "Birthday Party" set having space for all the assorted animal guests.
I love the triadic color scheme of the "Birthday Party" set: Aqua+Tr. Light Blue, Bright Reddish Violet+Tr. Medium Reddish Violet, and Flame Yellowish Orange+Tr. Bright Orange. I kind of wish the other sets were more keyed to that color scheme instead of emphasizing so many other colors like Medium Lilac, Medium Lavender, and Bright Red, but the color schemes certainly all feel festive. The construction of the birthday presents is quite clever.
The one set that is more puzzling to me than anything else is the gift shop set, since I'm accustomed to party favors and snacks being given out to party guests for free. If it were a commercial venue rather than a backyard or park I might feel differently, but here it just feels out-of-place, unless that's meant to be play money!
What a coincidence, I just bought 41111 party train today for half price in Tesco! Also got four other small sets half price, think they're doing a flash sale/Easter promo. I also bought 40121 painting Easter eggs for £6 which isn't even available on Lego.com.
We can now have a Building Block party!
I wasn't as keen on these sets, but I made sure to grab the hamsters and pug from a Bricklink seller. Those little guys and gals are adorable.
Emma's house was a bit boring and no story to it. So I am having her parent's throw her a birthday party and I am using stuff from these sets to help me tell the story! And when July 26th rolls around I'll throw my sig fig a great birthday party with the stuff I do not use for Emma's Party!