Review: 41395 Friendship Bus

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June releases are just around the corner, so it's time to take a look at the last Friends set from the first half of the year: 41395 Friendship Bus. It's indicative of what kind of year it's been so far; I've had this built since January, but as life has since sped up and simultaneously slowed down, so I haven't had a chance to do many of the pictures until recently.

If nothing else, we'll be able to answer the question "How much dust accumulates on LEGO in a few months?" based on the pictures…..


When I saw the set, I immediately wondered if it was going to be affiliated with 41340 Friendship House from 2018, where the Friends took over an old firehouse and made it their own. There are certainly echoes of that theming - repurposing something - in this build. These larger Friends vehicles also seem to have quite a lot packed into them, harking back to 2015 and 41106 Pop Star Tour Bus.

Inside the bag there is a perfect bound instruction book, six numbered bags, and a yellow slide. If you're still looking for one of the newer teal separators, that's in this set. There's also a medium-sized sticker sheet with expected Friends-type of details to be added through the course of the set.

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Minidolls

Three Friends are included in the set: Mia, Stephanie and Olivia. All three have new torsos this year. Olivia's and Mia's torsos are new to this set. Mia continues this year with her fire engine red hair. Her new top is in autumn colours that complement her hair nicely with a lightning bolt pattern (her signature symbol). She has a brown tie belt around her waist. She has a pair of olive green shorts and orange shoes with green soles. It works so much better than it sounds! Mia's newer top has only been seen in a play cube earlier this year, and features a couple of palm trees with a sunset (or sunrise) in the background. Her blue shorts and fuchsia shoes pair well with the new shirt. Olivia's new torso is ideally matched with her dark azur skirt. She has on a dark azur shirt with a sweetheart neckline with some embroidered detailing. It's topped by a cool yellow vest with plenty of fasteners and a notched collar.

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All three minidolls have printing on the back. This is not at all typical for Friends minidolls and I certainly hope it continues. I particularly like the detailing on Olivia's vest.

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Completed build

There are a couple of small builds before getting to the main attraction, the bus. The first is a set up for two of the Friends to play tennis.

View image at flickr

There's also a workbench, complete with paint roller and tools to fix up the bus. Because this is a Friends set, there's the obligatory food item here as well - because who doesn't need a cookie when renovating?

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This isn't quite a build, but there's a special sticker to place inside the laptop piece, to show Olivia looking at star charts. Thanks to this information, the Friends will be able to take full advantage of the open top bus!

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The bus build is quite substantial, as you would expect for a regular bus, but when you consider the extra features that are packed in, it adds some extra complexity to the build (and weight to the bus). The first level of the bus includes a kitchen/dining area, with stools provided for each of the Friends (you can tell by the 2x2 rounds in each of the Friends' colours). Of course there's food provided - a condiment bottle, a fried egg in the pan, something that could be a stack of pancakes, and a sausage in the fridge.

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I also took a mid build picture of the driving area, which I've only just noticed is on the right side of the vehicle, so Huw and the others in England should be pleased.

View image at flickr

There's only a seat available for the driver, there's not second seat. I'm not sure why that would be; the space isn't used for anything else, though does open up the front of the vehicle a bit, as we'll see in another picture later on.

Building the chassis takes quite a bit of time with this model because there's a special feature in it! This isn't an ordinary bus - it's a bus that has a pool. Pull on the bus floor board, and the pool slides out. The mechanism works smoothly, and stoppers are built in so that the pool can't be entirely pulled out. A floatie is included just for fun that includes the use of vibrant coral 2x2 w/bow pieces.

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French doors are used to access the side of the bus - or rather, all of the bus since the driver's area doesn't have a door - and some handy compartments are built into them to store smaller items such as the laptop and the tennis racquets. There's a small penthouse space for the obligatory Friends animal in the set, which in this case is a hamster. Or at least I'm assuming it's a hamster, but I'm not sure why it's been given a chunk of cheese. Do hamsters eat cheese?

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Once the lower level is built, there's access from the top of the vehicle.

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One side of the Friendship bus has a couple of storage compartments where the auxiliary builds can be placed. I love that this set has this feature. There have been many Friends sets in the past where there was nowhere to stash the auxiliary builds and this allows everything to be in one spot. One compartment doesn't have a door, but a simple 1x2 plate that can be used to secure everything in place. With the door and steps leading up to it, the second compartment looks like it could be a shower, especially as it backs to the bathroom, but I'm not sure why the door would be clear and the purpose behind the stickers. Regardless, I love these storage areas.

View image at flickr

Because this is a bus that has everything, of course it has a mailbox! This is a special bus to have customized postal pickup and/or delivery. There's a letter inside. This is also a good spot to highlight the little heart hubcaps, which is such a Friends-type detail to have.

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The top level of the bus is where the Friends catch up on their rest. Beds are at either end of the vehicle, and the roof areas on those ends flip up to allow the Friends to stargaze without anything in the way. The bedspreads for each bed are provided by stickers, and I do like how each Friend's bed is recognizable due to the colour and/or pattern.

View image at flickr

View image at flickr

In the middle portion of the upper level of the bus is a lounging area and an open air garden. There's a telescope for stargazing and bench where the Friends can enjoy a mug of whatever beverage of their choosing. The garden is a bit of a mystery to me, however, I can understand a vegetable patch, but I'm struggling with having a full grown apple tree. How on earth do you navigate overpasses of any kind with this vehicle?

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You may think that in exploring the upper and lower levels of the bus, you're finished. But wait, there's more! The designers have cleverly built in another feature of the set. First, let's look at the other side of the bus.

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There's a sticker-supplied detail of shelving with various maintenance supplies and fire extinguisher. We also have the bathroom here, which is compact but includes all the necessities.

View image at flickr

It turns out that the entire top level of the bus can slide to one side.

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You may not have noticed in the above picture of the side of the bus, but there are two brick built legs that swing down to support the top level of the bus when it's in this position, providing stability in this configuration.

View image at flickr

The shaded area provided can be another entertainment area for the Friends. Both the seats and the table from the dining area can be easily removed to allow for another play area here.

View image at flickr

The front of the bus gets a lot of its details from stickers. I like the heart on the front grill, but it's a shame that it isn't in a contrasting colour as it gets lost a bit here. As I mentioned before, I'm also puzzled why there isn't a second seat in addition to the driver's seat - this space isn't used for anything else, but this layout does give the front of the bus a bit more definition. I find the use of the "Heartlake Tours" interesting as it doesn't seem like this bus is for anyone's use other than the Friends. I'm not sure what the "12" number signifies, except that the Friends sets started in 2012. The license plate includes the set number, but the letters EB - I'm assuming that's the initials of one of the set's designers.

View image at flickr

The back of the bus shows the way that the Friends can access (and also come down from) the top of level of the bus - a ladder up the back and the fun yellow slide for the way down. Another sticker provide interesting details. Each of the Friends' symbols are included - an artist's palette (Emma), a gear (Olivia), a lightning bolt (Mia), a star (Stephanie), and a music note (Andrea). A corner of the stickers also shows that the bus used to be a different colour - a bright orange, giving rise to the theory that this is a repurposed bus, and perhaps used to be a school bus. That would explain why there isn't a second seat next to the driver.

View image at flickr

There are many play possibilities with this set, but in checking around on the LEGO.com website, it looks like the designers have come up with two alternate builds for this set - a clubhouse and a lighthouse. I haven't tried to reproduce these, but given enough time with this stay at home order and I may get motivated to do that!

View image at flickr

View image at flickr


Overall thoughts

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This is a great set packed with all kinds of play opportunities. The larger Friends vehicles have always been winners, and this definitely continues the trend. For the size (778 pieces, $69.99, £64.99, 69.99€) I think this set provides a pretty decent value. I particularly love the moving functions of the pool, the sliding upper level and the ability to transform to an outside space. There's plenty of space for all five Friends, and it's great that three are included with this set. Friends sets notoriously have fewer minidolls than other sets of similar size with minifigs, so much so it feels like three is generous with this set.

I may be a bit too much of an adult for this set, though I'm clearly not the targeted demographic. While I love the open air garden at the top, I'm still mystified by the choice of an apple tree for that area. Undoubtedly the practicalities of that situation don't need to be considered, and I'm sure most children at the targeted age range (ages 8 and up) won't be bothered by this and instead will love that there's a tree growing in a bus. Those who don't like Friends because of the colour scheme will undoubtedly not be happy with the bright pink that's used as accents for this set. However, this is a great set and those parts could easily be swapped. In addition to the new minidoll parts, this set also offers some pieces in newer colours - a parts list can be found here.

That wraps up the first wave of the Friends sets of 2020 - and just in time, as the new sets will be here soon. Which ones are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.


Many thanks to LEGO for providing a copy of this set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

17 comments on this article

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By in Netherlands,

Those alternate builds look great imo, and it's nice for LEGO to officially suggest them.

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By in United States,

Not much of a Friends collector myself but this ticks all the boxes. Stellar functionality, vehicle shaping looks great, especially the front end; the little corner of yellow still visible is fantastic and is just enough to get us wondering what kind of building codes govern repurposed vehicles in the LEGO Friends universe...

One note on the "shower" with a clear door; many pools and hotels have designated areas to shower in your bathing suit before entering the pool in an effort to keep the water clean. I think this makes sense for this set, but misses the opportunity to extend the slide directly into the pool. Maybe there are some restrictions on street-legal vehicles after all.

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By in Poland,

Great, very fun set with horrendous colorsheme. The greens look so akward.

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By in United Kingdom,

"a condiment bottle, a fried egg in the pan, something that could be a stack of pancakes, and a sausage in the fridge."
It's like my student years all over again.
Just needs a few Pot Noodles and a, erm, pot plant growing in a mug on a windowsill.

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By in United States,

I was actually hoping for a side-by-side of 41395 Friendship Bus & 10258-1: London Bus

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By in United States,

Oh yes, because the top of a huge bus is obviously the best place to plant an apple tree.

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By in Canada,

@MeganL I think those square pancakes you refer to might be toast to go with the eggs.

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By in United Kingdom,

Hamsters do eat cheese! Also, great review of what looks like an excellent set!

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By in United Kingdom,

I only have one Friends set, but the theme has some of the best builds in LEGO and some of the best value for money.

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By in United States,

The Friends line has amazing builds and great value in the wrong color schemes. Only rarely does the pink/purple color scheme work for general City usage, which limits my Friends set purchases.

Even so, I own four Friends sets and have two on my wanted list.

This set, even accounting for colors I don't like, is better than every Monkie King set announced today.

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By in United Kingdom,

@guachi said:

"This set, even accounting for colors I don't like, is better than every Monkie King set announced today."

Really? Can I ask why?

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By in United States,

I guess you could say this sticker sheet is "medium" by Friends standards, but for any other theme it would be considered a large sticker sheet!

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By in United Kingdom,

That is a comprehensively complete selection of photographs!

The driver's position on the right-hand side, along with the bonnet which extends backwards on the left-hand side, is a homage to London's classic Routemaster double-decker buses. Nice touch!

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By in United States,

Great review!

As a side note, my sister and I recently binged the second and start of the third season of the Friends "Girls on a Mission" TV series. The series is surprisingly fun—it helps that not only is it charming, it's also quite self-aware, especially when it comes to the cartoonishness of its antagonists. In the show the girls renovate this tour bus as a new base of operations after their once-foe, Dr. Malory Alva, moves into the Friendship House and refuses to leave after having her company taken from her due to a past scheme.

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By in Netherlands,

In the last pic it looks like the bus has just hit the famous 11 foot 8 (+8) bridge with all that damage.

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By in United States,

Megan, the reason why your bus has one driver on the right side is that it is the mighty Routemaster! It's another take on set 10258-1, and I bet there might be some private owners out there seriously considering that slide-out pool...

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By in Denmark,

@Bricktastic_builder said:
"Is it just me, or does it look a lot like Pop-Up Party Bus?"

Both of them are good sizes for vehicles with opening features, but maybe you're picking up on more... I designed the Pop-up Party Bus and helped out a bit with the folding and sliding features on the Friendship Bus!

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