Review: 41446 Heartlake City Vet Clinic
Posted by MeganL,
One of the smaller sets in the March wave of Friends sets was 41446 Heartlake City Vet Clinic. While it seems like every year there's a different version of a vet clinic that features Mia (the animal loving Friend), this one caught my eye because of the number of new animals in the set as well as the introduction of a new Friends character. Let's meet the new Friends menagerie after the break.
Inside the box there are three numbered bags, one 8x16 white plate, and instruction book and sticker sheet. The sticker sheet is a pretty standard for this size of set with all the requisite cute details.
Minidolls and animals
There are three minidolls in this set. The first two are characters we have seen before - Dr. Donna the veterinarian (also known as Andrea's mom) and Mia, her vet assistant. Donna has a brand new outfit for this set, with a sleeveless vet smock with white tank underneath. The logo for the clinic is just under the left lapel, and I love the graphic designer's choice of incorporating a heartbeat into the paw logo. Donna also wears an ID card and has several pockets. She wears teal trousers and white shoes, looking quite smart for her day at the clinic. Mia wears a similar white sleeveless vest, but with no logo - instead the vet clinic logo can be found on the sleeveless blue shirt she's wearing underneath the vest. Her purple skirt has been seen in several sets.
Another new piece in this set is Donna's hair - it's swept up in a practical bun for her work at the clinic. There's some back printing on both of these minidolls - both vests have the clinic logo on the back with a small cinched belt.
Introduced in this set is Savannah, a new addition to the Friends line up. I really like how the Friends cast has been adding more women of colour - there was Amelia from 41448 Heartlake City Movie Theatre, and now Savannah. Savannah's torso is new with a denim vest with cool floral decals over a sand green shirt. She must be close friends with Olivia, as she's wearing the same sand green skirt and coral shoes that we've seen Olivia wear before. Her hair is new to this set, and I really like her fuchsia rimmed glasses. She comes with a white cane as an accessory.
Goldie is Savannah's guide dog, and she is also new to this set. She's wearing a reflective harness that features (what else?) a heart on the chest piece. From the size of her paws, it looks like Goldie still has some growing to do. Other than the harness, Goldie doesn't have any distinctive printing. Savannah's denim vest has an impressive amount of printed details, including those lovely floral decals.
Bella, Mia's horse, makes an appearance in this set. This version is new in the Friends world; it's the first time I've seen a LEGO Friends horse on which you can raise and lower the head. Bella comes with a coral blanket, as well as a specialized saddle with equipment geared for vision impaired riders.
One of the downsides with minidolls is that generally they can't sit, so Savannah looks a bit awkward riding the horse.
Of course, minidolls aren't the only creatures who can ride…..
(Note: sloths are NOT included in this set)
Since this is a vet clinic, there are three more animals to be featured - a baby turtle, a small dog and small cat. The turtle has made its debut, but the dog and cat are making their first appearances this year.
All the animals are suitably cute, but don't offer any special printing save for the dark brown patches on the dog's face, including a (of course) heart-shaped one over one eye.
The completed model
There's one small auxiliary build. Based on the box art, the vet clinic is close to the lake, so a portion of the road is shown along with a turtle crossing to allow the baby turtle to make it to the water.
The primary build is the clinic, consisting of two floors. On entering the clinic, there's a reception area with a check in station. There's a jar of pet treats on a side table to allay any nerves that the clinic's patients may have. A sticker provides some details on a side wall.
Next to the reception area for humans and smaller pets, there's another area to receive larger animals such as Bella. This area is outfitted with everything a horse would need, with some fresh water, a bale of hay, and a compartment to store a grooming brush and the saddle. Additional details are on a sticker on one of the walls.
Upstairs is the examination room. It has everything Dr. Donna needs for examining her patients - a scale, tools available at hand, several storage options and an examination light.
Like the other rooms, there's some stickered detail provided on the wall.
Dr. Donna provides treatment to all animals. Here she is treating a patient who came in feeling blue.
(Note: sloths are NOT included in this set)
The other part of the upper floor is a balcony accessed through a glass door. There are some binoculars on the railing to provide a view of the lake and the surrounding area. Note the addition of solar panels on the roof, another nod to sustainability that we continue to see in Friends sets.
The clinic has all the basics, and as is not unusual for Friends buildings, there's no discernable way for patients to get from the reception area to the exam room. That's a pretty tall jump for the little puppies and kittens!
The front of the clinic features a charming brick built dog's head. The band-aid is cute, but is provided by a sticker. I like the detail of greenery by the front door. Again, special kudos to the graphic designer for the logo of the clinic. The combination of the paw print (with the paw print being an upside down heart) and the use of the heartbeat to mark a change of colour is quite clever.
Overall thoughts
For a smaller set (258 pieces, $34.99, £34.99, 34.99€) this may seem to be a bit expensive, but it does include five animals, of which four are new this year or new to this set. There's plenty of play value with all the animals provided, and I really like the trend of Friends sets including more minidolls in the sets this year. For those who are looking at parts packs, there are a number of new and recoloured pieces, an inventory can be found here.
I love to see more women of colour introduced in the Friends the and I really like that there are three minidolls included in his set. While the main building feels like more of a $20 set, I think the addition of the animals make this something worth considering for this price point.
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19 comments on this article
This set would be a dream come true if it was a city set. 5 new animals, a decently sized build, and nice minifigures. But...its a Friends set. It has two much pink for my liking, feels very cartoony, and throws in a random horse to bump up the price, despite us having numerous horse stable sets in the past where plenty of horses are in. Sigh, it is what it is.
It's okay, but not very high on my list of potential purchases. It looks very mundane and simplistic. If at least they had not used so many of the 6 x 6 panels and added a properly built wall with details, it would be a lot more enticing.
@TomKazutara said:
"Oof, that horse legs are looking awful,
but hey that save Lego 2 cents of plastic costs."
Just saying, outside of Belville and the skeleton horses, all of them have had the gaps in the inner leg so this isn't really breaking tradition
A horse with hollow legs could drink all y'all right under the table.
@TomKazutara said:
"Oof, that horse legs are looking awful,
but hey that save Lego 2 cents of plastic costs."
It probably has less to do with plastic costs and more to do with allowing the plastic to cool properly. A fully solid plastic leg for the horse would be a no-go, so the only alternative would be adding another preassembled component to each leg—a costly added expense for an already fairly complex molded animal.
To be honest, not having one in hand (let alone having the chance to disassemble one), I have no idea how the Belville and Scala horses got around this issue. Perhaps they were made out of a different material, perhaps they were made of more preassembled components (like a separate "underbelly" between the two "halves" of the horse's body or separately molded legs), or perhaps they were so large and "out of system" that any warping that came from an inconsistently cooled part was deemed irrelevant.
I don't like mini dolls are literally standing on the horse.
But puppy sign looks really cool.
Lego...how long must we wait for a proper return of horses and saddles?
@Jack_Sassy said:
"Lego...how long must we wait for a proper return of horses and saddles?"
I looked into it bc I didn't think it had been that long, but the last time we got a minifig horse with a saddle was 2015 with 75901
Urgh that horse is far to Belville (perhaps that's why she is called Bella. Bella Belville !
Savannah is brilliant although it's a shame there isn't an actual harness that could fit onto Goldie. Although I don't know how Savannah would be able to hold a harness because minidolls can't move their hands.
There's some nice things in the set but it does feel slightly overpriced
https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/silhouette-young-girl-who-standing-600w-224923780.jpg
("Sloths are NOT included in this set...")
Me:...Well, they SHOULD be DANGIT...(Hmmm...Sloths are the new Sheep?)
Seeing that one sloth on the horse's back; I can almost hear his thoughts: 'Wheeeeeeeeee':)
I got this set recently and both I and my kids really like it :)
Could my City use a Vet clinic? Trick question because of course it can.
Really solid set. Great figures and pets. But I dont like the road even if it provides a cool play scenario.
Nothing illustrates Lego's problem with buildings and rooves more than that picture of the free-standing door, barely connected to the rest of the wall by a tile on top with no ceiling above it.
MeganL and Huw need to do a joint review. Sloths AND goats!
Why did they make the sign hinge? It doesn't need to! They could have made it more stable and used one less piece in the bargain.Speaking of the sign, it really should be turned ninety degrees, so that it can be seen by people coming down the road. I realize it's not MeganL's fault, it's that way in official images, but still...
It is a shame Savannah doesn't have a harness for Goldie. Although It's always nice to see more disabled representation in Lego.
I love the cute little road with the turtle crossing, I love all the animals included, I love the uniforms Donna and Mia are wearing, I love that it's not just any dog but a service dog...
The only things keeping me from getting this set are that I have no room in my layout for it, and that a blind character with guide dog exists in minifigure form.
The back ground used makes some of the trans-light blue pieces look like trans-medium blue. Sadly, doesn't seem to have come back.