Review: 41432 Alpaca Mountain Jungle Rescue
Posted by MeganL,
I've really enjoyed the Friends Jungle Rescue theme this year. There's only one of the sets in the theme that I haven't reviewed, so let's take a look at that one before we look at some 2021 sets in the next couple of weeks.
I recommended 41432 Alpaca Mountain Jungle Rescue as a gift selection for a set in the $50-100 range. I think this set is excellent and combines a lot of the good things of this theme. Plus, you never know who might make cameo appearances in this review, whether it be sloths (Note: sloths are not included in this set) or pandas (Panda! Panda! Panda!).
Inside the box there are four numbered bags, one unnumbered bag with several BURPS and the zip lines, one instruction booklet and one instruction book, and sticker sheet. Fortunately the sticker sheet was included with the books, so it wasn't crumpled. I normally include a picture of the sticker sheet, but at the time of building I was in the middle of my move and hadn't set up my photography area yet.
Minidolls and animals
Mia and Stephanie are the minidolls for this set. I imagine Mia took a look at Stephanie and said, "Girl, you've only rescued one endangered creature, and that was the baby elephant in 41421 Baby Elephant Jungle Rescue. You even had a truck to help with that one, and you didn't even drive. Let's do some REAL rescuing. Besides, we got a 2 for 1 deal on khaki shorts and shoes at the store, we better put them to good use. Plus I have some friends I made at the other rescues that might tag along."
Mia and Stephanie have both been seen in previous Jungle Rescue theme sets, and wear the same outfits here (and literally, the same shorts and shoes). Printing on the back is also suitably detailed, and I really like that LEGO seems to be moving in the direction of more back printing.
The animals in this set are three alpacas (naturally) and a blue bird. The bird isn't particularly exotic, so I imagine this is the undomesticated version of the bluebird we've seen in other sets such as 41345 Heartlake City Pet Centre.
The completed model
Our story begins when Mia and Stephanie learn about a volcano that is about to erupt! They know there are alpacas in the area that might need rescuing, so they rush right away to the jungle mountain. Sure enough, there's an alpaca near the very top! What if there are more?
Mia and Stephanie set off around the mountain. It's a beautiful mountain with two lovely waterfalls in the new translucent blue. I wonder why they didn't use these piece for other waterfalls in other sets. Regardless, these are lovely pieces and I didn't bother adding stickers at the bottom to show the splashing water at the base.
Sure enough, around the backside of the mountain, the Friends find where the alpacas hang out. There's also a shelter to have a campfire, and a compartment that has some treasure! But the treasure the Friends are looking for are the alpacas.
Except….there are only two alpacas, where there's clearly room for three. Where's the third alpaca? Mia asks. Not sure, the other two say (because of course the alpacas can talk), he decided to go out for some snacks.
Mia sends the two alpacas off on a small brick built canoe with Stephanie. Stephanie has to be really good at navigation with only one oar, not to mention keeping her balance since the canoe is inherently round, and complicated by the fact that the alpaca doesn't fit snugly into one of the compartments.
We haven't shown the rest of the entourage yet, but Mia and Stephanie were not on their own on this trek to find the alpacas. In fact, once the alpacas were evacuated, someone else decided to move in.
The pandas (Panda! Panda! Panda!) have decided that this area looks much more comfortable than their bamboo tree and inform Mia that their trek around the mountain is going to end right here. "Wake us up if it gets exciting", they tell her (because of course they can talk as well).
With Stephanie off on the canoe, and the pandas (Panda! Panda! Panda!) taking up new quarters, Mia heads up the mountain on her own. Soon she comes across some really interesting crystal.
"Hey, wait for us!", she hears, and we see that Mia isn't on this part of the adventure on her own.
(Note: sloths are not included in this set.) Apparently sloths like the pretty crystals too, of which there are three varieties in this mountain, and all of them being seen for the first time in a Friends set.
Mia, glad for the company, climbs up to the next level.
But be careful, Mia, there's some unstable rock ahead!
The sloths take a look at this and say, "Uh, no. We had a bad experience with fire in 41424 Jungle Rescue Base. We'll stay here with the pretty rock.". (Note: sloths are not included in this set.)
Having safety bypassed the fiery path, Mia discovers two more chambers in the mountain. One has a small stream running through it and has some stalagmites and a stalactite; the upper is a fiery gem chamber that has another of the delightful gem pieces.
Finally, Mia reaches the last alpaca, and is prepared for the rescue since the volcano is ready to erupt. But the alpaca isn't having any part of it. "No way. My friends told you about the snacks up here? I'm staying for these here cherries. Besides, my bird friend is here to keep me company."
There's a telescope and viewing platform at this level, that have been obviously been rendered somewhat obsolete due to the impending eruption. Seeing that she can't get the alpaca to leave their snacks, and there's a fiery path the way she came, Mia opts for a different way off the mountain.
Mia leaves the mountain just in time, as moving a lever at the top of the mountain will cause the lava bricks to pop out!
The zipline takes Mia to the cabin HQ for the area, which is equipped with a workstation with laptop computer, a minifridge with a beverage, some snacks, and a map.
The cabin itself is perched on the edge of a river and even has a chimney with some smoke coming off the top, even though it isn't clear to me the combustion source on the inside of the cabin….
The back of the cabin shows a handy hanging spot for the life preservers that Stephanie wasn't using during the canoe rescue.
Mia's greeted at the cabin by her friends the sloths, who never turn down the chance for free food. (Note: sloths are not included in this set.) However, they are a little miffed that all they're getting here are eggs, when they got pizza at the jungle rescue base.
But wait a minute….where's Stephanie?
Turns out there's more than one way to rescue an alpaca, even if it is in a helicopter that has a flip top windshield, only two rotor blades, and a winch mounted on the starboard side that will inevitably tip the center of gravity when the basket is loaded, especially with an alpaca.
"I might not have driven in 41421 to rescue the elephant," Stephanie tells Mia, "but I sure can pilot a helicopter to rescue an alpaca."
Overall thoughts
I thought this was a fun set (obviously). There's lots of potential for storytelling here. The build is straightforward, but the pieces used are great. There are several pieces in new colours, notably the BURP in sand yellow and of course, the alpacas. You can find a set inventory here. The animals here are cute, but I still think I like the sloths best.
The mountain itself is so well done. The waterfalls are great, and there are a lot of things to discover with the different chambers in the back of the set. There are also many levels for minidolls to have adventures on the front of the set. The designer has done a terrific job of making both the front and the back sides of the set playable. I love the moving functions, especially having the volcano erupt!
All of the Jungle Rescue sets are great, and I don't think this set can be beat for the parts selection, the animals, the play possibilities, and the price point. I really enjoyed 41424 Jungle Rescue Base. This set is just as enjoyable and comes in at $20 less (512 pieces, $59.99, £54.99, 58.48€).
At S@H this set is temporarily out of stock (like so many sets are), though you may be still able to find it if you go to a brand store or other retailer.
Watch this space for new 2021 sets soon! Which ones are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.
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23 comments on this article
Ha, love the laptop alpaca video!
I didn't realise that the set came with sloths too!
I hadn't noticed the cave painting with the alpacas before! That's an extremely fun detail.
Great story, but shoddy set building techniques. Unless the whole top of the mountain is supposed to come off at some point?
@Huw said:
"I didn't realise that the set came with sloths too!"
(Note: sloths are not included in this set.)
Gonna have to be a 'no' for me, chief.
Appreciate all the little details inside the mountain, pleasant surprise for sure. Waterfall pieces quite useful too.
Great review! Im not a Friends fan, but sometimes I read reviews anyway, and this set looks like it has a tremendous amount of play value!
For a Friends set this is actually nice. Not to much ugly colors, and a nice overall build.
And the building at least doesn't scream "We think girls can't built Lego"
Maybe I am sense-of-humor-deficient, but I found this review -- and I usually LOVE MeganL's reviews -- way off the mark. Not useful to talk about animals not in the actual set; and the pandas are not included either, which is not noted in the review as far as I can tell. This set deserves better, because it's one of the best Friends sets in a long time. Great value, great unusual animals (3 alpacas!), and a really fun build that looks great when it's done.
No sloths in this set!!! Lol
Sorta regret not picking this up when Argos had it for half price, it looks so cool and those Alpacas are soo damn cute.
I remember being quite disappointed by the alpaca piece in the toy shop cube. It barely had any clutch power, so you barely touched the thing and it fell over.
I love your reviews! thanks for another great one
Calling that watercraft a "canoe" might be a stretch
This is a lovely set, and it was a great surprise when it was revealed! The volcano adds some elements of danger quite different than those we're used to seeing in the Friends theme, just as the quicksand did in the smallest of the Jungle Rescue sets.
There are some very lovely play features to represent the hazards an active volcano might present, including not just the eruption feature but also the rock face that collapses to reveal a wall of flames (although it'd probably look both more believable and more perilous if the designer had access to the "wall of fire" piece that appears in next year's City sets).
And even the cave areas in the back introduce some extremely charming features, from the crystals and rock formations to the straw beds and ancient cave paintings in the lowest level. Truthfully, one of the greatest strengths of "BURPs"/mountain bricks (IMO) is that they provide a hollow enough interior space to add additional decorations or playable areas, so it's good to see this set making use of that.
The fruit piece in this set is certainly usually used for grapes and cherries, but their placement so high up on the mountain and not on a tree makes me think they're probably intended to represent some sort of mountain-growing berry like the Andean blueberry (which often appears reddish like this before it fully ripens): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinium_meridionale
The helicopter is also really nicely designed, and the waterfall gives the set a nice ambiance, although it feels less authentic than the one in 41423, since the top of the mountain being visible makes it harder to understand where this much water would be coming from. Plus, it lacks the stickers at the base.
Great review overall!
I usually really like the Friends sets, but this one actually disappoints me. Other than the Alpacas, it really doesn’t offer much of interest.
Easy pass for me.
Um, I am confused.
The BURP recolor is not new.
I never knew that the habitat ranges of pandas and alpacas overlapped
This review is brilliant. Thanks Megan.
Once again i'm, while not being a longtime Friends-fan and having 2 sons, tempted to buy our first Friends-set. This one along with the jungle rescue base (the elephant!) really makes me wanna put these on my wishlist...
I really think that CapnRex101 needs to let Megan review some of the Star Wars sets just so we can see the sloths (not included in this set) meet Baby Yoda...
This set is a nice mess. Its like they tried to put way more features that.they needed.
But i want it for pieces :D
The Friends theme is seriously outdoing City in terms of interesting builds that aren't police or fire stations. In fact, replace the purple bricks in this set with blue ones and the minidolls with minifigs, and you've got yourself an excellent City set. All of this is great, and you can easily leave off the stickers without it changing the look of the thing. Prints would still be preferred, but these are mostly tiny decorations, most of which feel optional anyway.
If I'd have only one complaint about it, it would be that we're getting the same characters over and over again. I don't have that many Friends sets, but I already have each of the main characters at least twice (Stephanie, included here as well, three times -- and Mia would've been a much better fit for this set anyway). It's great that they have different outfits, once again, but maybe they could've included a male character (I'm sure boys would love this set, too) or a more diverse set of characters.