Review: 41731 Heartlake International School
Posted by MeganL,
The first episode of the new Friends YouTube series (not released yet as of this writing), will portray the new generation of Friends meeting for the first time at their first day of school. That first day is commemorated in 41731 Heartlake International School. There are two wings in the school with plenty of classrooms, so there's lots for the students to explore.
Summary
41731 Heartlake International School, 985 pieces.
£89.99 / $99.99 / €99.99 | 9.1p/10.2c/10.2c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A fitting setting for the new generation of Friends to meet
- Modular rooms
- Plenty of details in each classroom
- Fantastic lab!
- Only three of the main Friends
- No wheelchair ramps
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Inside the box there are 7 numbered bags, one unnumbered bag containing eight 8x16 plates of various colours, and envelope with three instruction books, and two sticker sheets.
The map shows that we'll meet three of the eight main Friends in this set, and that the location of the school is near the centre of Heartlake City, which only makes sense.
Minidolls
There are five minidolls in this set, one teacher and four students. Ms. Hale is dressed in a burgundy dress with black long sleeves, and pink patch pockets. The dress has a highwaisted belt that ties to the side. I like how the printing for the tie belt continues on the skirt, and the hem details at the bottom. Ms. Hale's hair is piled up in a bun. This is the first time that I've met Aliya, who also has some fabulous hair! She's dressed in a white buttoned shirt with a short-sleeved jacquard cardigan, which pairs very nicely with her bright yellow skirt. I like her metallic gladiator style sandals! Next up is Olly, who we just met in 41742 Cat Hotel, and is wearing the same outfit. He has a bright green camera as an accessory. Clearly there are no uniforms at this school, unlike the 41682 Heartlake City School.
Next is Niko, who is not part of the core Friend group but also (obviously) is there for the first day. Niko is wearing a blue sweater with white collar and a blue denim jacket with tan lapels. I'm not sure why Niko is wearing a jacket, since he's wearing long shorts as well! The lavender shoes are a bold choice though, and clearly he makes it to school on a skateboard. Finally, we meet Autumn in this set. She's apparently taken after her mom Mia in being an outdoorsy type. Her clothes are a sleeveless khaki vest with faunal and floral details, khaki shorts, and sturdy hiking boots. Her hair is pretty awesome - I love the auburn colour. Based on her tablet, it looks like she's spending some time in the science lab on the first day.
It's unfortunate that since school is that where the Friends come together as a group first, that we only see three of them in this set. While I understand why all eight wouldn't be included, it would be nice to have at least half of the new crew present.
The completed model
There are two wings in the school as it's displayed on the box. One side is a cafeteria/eating area, and the other houses the classrooms. Most of the classrooms are built on 8x16 plates, so the school can be customised for display. You may remember that several rooms in 41704 Main Street Building were also based on a 8x16 plate, so combinations can be made from that as well.
The back view of the classrooms shows all the details the Friends will encounter in their first day at school. We'll take a look at each room individually.
The entrance to the school is suitably official looking, though I'm not used to seeing a clock on the outside of the door. It does help to tell the students if they're on time, though! While there are double doors, I don't see a wheelchair accessible ramp to gain access to the school.
Inside the door, there's desk for checking in, and a microphone for school-wide announcements. Across the hall, there are two lockers with a trophy perched on top. Not an impressive trophy case, but the lockers are quite interesting. Based on the stickers, it appears that Olly and Aliya may have their lockers here.
Inside the locker can be found some of the students' belongings - a printed bubble gum tile (apparently Guble Bubble is a student favourite), an apple, and a helmet, which may be Niko's.
Upstairs is the science lab. This is a very comprehensive lab! There's a chemistry chart on the wall, and a chemistry experiment is in progress. There's an Erlenmeyer flask over the open flame of a Bunsen burner, while there's a spill in progress from a knocked over container. I certainly hope the liquid spill is water! Elsewhere in the lab, there's a sample under a microscope, a holding fridge, and a skeleton. Last but not least, a hamster calls this lab home, and they supervise all the goings-on from their perch. I think based on Autumn's tablet, that some of this may be her handiwork.
The outside of the lab is also the main facade for the building. There are some nice stickered details here, but for me the standout are the windows. I love that some of them protrude from the building and are put in an interesting geometry. I've noticed that technique in some other Friends sets from this wave, and I really like this little architectural detail.
The other ground floor classroom is an audio/visual (A/V) lab. A large sticker shows what looks like Liann and Olly in a film that's in process of being edited, so I'm guessing this is Olly's class. A video projector is against the back wall, and the video camera is resting on a stand behind the desk. I like the parts usage in the room for the student desks.
Outside the A/V lab the Friends have a chance for exercise with a basketball hoop (and basketball).
Sliding doors lead from the A/V lab to the outside.
Upstairs from the A/V lab is the art studio. There are two works in progress on easels, while a finished work by Aliya is on the side of the cabinet, so this must be Aliya's class.
Several kinds of art media are shown in this room, with a computer station on one side to allow for digital art rendering.
The outside of the art studio shows the same pattern of windows as is found outside the science lab. The roof has a box with some flowers.
With the school being L-shaped, the joining connection doesn't have the opportunity to have a lot going on. However, it provides the perfect opportunity for this set to include the Friends-mandatory bathroom! Today must be Wednesday, based on the cleaning schedule on the outside of the door. It seems that the lab is not the only area that has to deal with spills.
The other side of the school is given over to the school cafeteria and an upstairs outside eating area.
Students aren't the only ones who like to hang out at the cafeteria.
(Note: Sloths are not included in this set.)
The cafeteria has a compact little kitchen with a stove, under counter storage and a sink. Near the cash register there is a sandwich and drink with a straw. A container at the end of the checkout counter has chopsticks and forks ready for use.
The outside of the cafeteria shows the menu, a rainbow-coloured awning over the serving window, and two bowls of sushi ready for the students. You can also see a counter with two stools for an indoor dining option.
Next to the cafeteria kitchen is a flight of stairs, the colour which matches the cafeteria awning. A flowering tree provides some more foliage for the school
The stairs lead up to a partially outdoor eating area. Here someone is in the middle of lunch, with a drink and sandwich from downstairs, and their phone. Some flower boxes with a ladybug and a bee provide an additional colourful touch.
There's a large window for the sheltered part of the eating area, and we see that the school is following many of the other buildings in Heartlake City by being solar-powered.
Overall thoughts
Reenacting school scenario is often a favourite of kids, and this set will provide for that very well. I like the design decision to make the classrooms modular, so the school itself can be customised as needed. Additional props go to making the rooms based on a 8x16 plate, to make it compatible with other Friends sets. I hope we see more of this in other sets in this wave.
The Friends team is continuing their efforts on diversity and inclusion in this set, though not to the extent of some of the others. I do appreciate the diversity in skin tone of the provided minidolls. However, I'm a little disappointed to see that the school does not seem to be wheelchair accessible. It's been great to see on other sets, and would seem to be a natural inclusion for a school.
I really like how the set shows the stories in motion - from the spill in the lab, the film editing, and the artworks in progress. These touches make the set feel much more dynamic and encouraging of play than a static situation. I do wish, though, that for such a momentous set for this wave that we would meet more of the eight main Friends on that first day.
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35 comments on this article
Love those lockers! Would have liked to see someone from the previous Friends lines (doesn't even have to be one of the five) as a teacher, or even the return of Ms. Stevens from 2013 with grayer hair for continuity. Though I am curious about how time lapses in the Friends universe....
Tha map addition is a cool Idea - remember, if you disagree, you don't need to use ist. Could have less stickers, though.
That bathroom is next level.
Must be a fancy expensive private school. :D Not particularly realistic or even believable for what most kids will experience at their own school every day. It also feels a bit too lofty overall and a bit boring.
Took my a while to recognize the boomerang on the roof XD
Good review! This set is packed with fun details and building techniques, and while it's a much less traditional-looking school (inside and out) compared to others in the theme's history, that honestly helps it feel less repetitive/redundant than it might feel otherwise.
The lockers in the front hall IMMEDIATELY prove the utility of that new cabinet element, since lockers in previous sets often felt a lot less authentic to the sort of shape that school lockers often tend to be in real life. The intercom for morning announcements is nothing remarkable build-wise, but it does add some authenticity and play value that previous school sets have lacked.
There's likewise lots of fun detail in the science lab, including the class pet who's appropriately named Bunsen! Between the spills and the flask that is bubbling over, it seems like the sort of place where there is never a dull moment. But of course, kids playing with the set are free to remove the bubble and spill elements to resolve both these incidents. It is kind of a shame that Aliya will probably have to make up this lab assignment another day, since her outfit in this set lacks closed-toed shoes — a big lab safety no-no!
The A/V lab feels a lot like some of the college classrooms I've been in, from the interactive "smart board" to the swiveling desks! The video camera with attached microphone is also a great build, giving it a much more modern and detailed look than the old-school LEGO Space video camera. The basketball hoop is one of the least exciting elements of the set for me, since not only is it a type of feature that's been in nearly all other Friends school sets, it's largely identical to the one in 41682. But that's just a minor quibble.
The features of the art classroom are also very authentic, albeit heavily condensed to fit this 8x16 base. It's so cute that there are artworks from three of the new friends here, including Liann and Paisley who don't come in this set! They all give a good sense of their respective artists' creative styles and tastes in subject matter. The raccoon on the computer screen is presumably Liann's work as well, since she's working on a comic about a raccoon character in 41739!
This set's bathroom is also nicely constructed, with a great build for the sinks and soap dispenser, and a pretty great stall door as well (though the toilet could stand to be more detailed, as it lacks either a cistern or pipes connecting it to the wall). The cleaning schedule in the bathroom and the amount of detail in the kitchen has me feeling like the students are likely encouraged to take part in cleanup and meal prep (and perhaps also maintaining the community garden on the upstairs terrace) for "work study" credits. I suspect that Leo in particular would love working in the cafeteria, especially with what looks to be quite a varied menu!
All in all, while many elements of this set feel more like a college campus than any high school I've been to, they also give it a very unique and modern vibe. Aliya and her friends are very fortunate to get to go to a school as nice as this! The vibrant color scheme and customizable layout also make it especially fun and exciting as a playset (and might inspire builders to create their own classrooms to add onto it. Hopefully it will be just as popular with kids as many of the Friends theme's other standout sets have been over the years!
@Ridgeheart said:
"I mean, I'm still firmly in the "prints before stickers"-camp, but - dang, these stickers ARE pretty great. These graphic designers know their stuff."
Agreed, though I do wish that the bathroom mirror sticker was printed on metallic foil so it would actually show reflections (an issue I also had with the mirror sticker in 41743). One of the major strengths of stickers is that they CAN be used to add reflective or holographic surfaces to parts, whereas printing parts directly allows for a matte metallic finish at most.
Oddly enough, I haven't seen reflective foil stickers in any of this year's sets, even though there were quite a few of them last year. I sure hope that's not a sign that LEGO is moving away from foil stickers altogether… that would be a real shame. :(
The presence of a minifig skeleton has some disturbing implications for the anatomical makeup of the Friends...
@sirventricle said:
"The presence of a minifig skeleton has some disturbing implications for the anatomical makeup of the Friends..."
Now I want to see a minidoll skeleton...
Love the Audio/Visual lab, especially the ceiling-mounted projector. That is one humungous camera, though. I couldn't even tell what it was supposed to be until reading the article.
@PhantomBricks said:
" @sirventricle said:
"The presence of a minifig skeleton has some disturbing implications for the anatomical makeup of the Friends..."
Now I want to see a minidoll skeleton..."
"911 what's your emergency?" I'm reporting someone by the name of @PhantomBricks who appears to be a serial killer or at least one in the making.
Astounding detail! Looks great.
@jkb said:
"Tha map addition is a cool Idea - remember, if you disagree, you don't need to use ist. Could have less stickers, though."
I agree with both your points. It's good to see that the instructions are allowing a bit more story into the build. Also, HOW IS STICKERS NOT UP THERE WITH THE NEGATIVE POINTS?
You know what? I will buy this set to use as the basis for my LEGO CITY School.
I thought this was going to be a set I'd want to add to my Friends collection but it just doesn’t interest me at all. May try to pick up a few interesting parts from PAB but overall I'm not liking much in this wave at all. I guess that's a good thing because there are a lot of other sets I want in other themes I will be focusing on this year.
@PhantomBricks said:
"Now I want to see a minidoll skeleton..."
https://brickset.com/minifigs/sw0359
Seriously though, I wonder why the "model" skeletons in Friends sets have blank skulls. Does Lego seriously think the cheesy typical skeleton face is too scary for little girls?
@MeganL
I argue that the school is indeed accessible. There are small curved slopes forming a ramp at the door, making it clearly wheelchair-accessible. The path below doesn't need a ramp up to it because it's almost certainly intended to be ground level and extended onwards by the imagination. And you could also use your imagination that this is a partial section of the school with more rooms, and an elevator, inside, and the outdoor rainbow stairs isn't the only way to get upstairs.
@casloren said:
" @PhantomBricks said:
" @sirventricle said:
"The presence of a minifig skeleton has some disturbing implications for the anatomical makeup of the Friends..."
Now I want to see a minidoll skeleton..."
"911 what's your emergency?" I'm reporting someone by the name of @PhantomBricks who appears to be a serial killer or at least one in the making."
I suppose my username doesn't help my case, does it? I could simply credit it to "research" purposes or increasing playability. Especially since the school has a chemistry class. It probably wouldn't sit well with their target audience though.
@ozbrickcreator said:
" @jkb said:
"Tha map addition is a cool Idea - remember, if you disagree, you don't need to use ist. Could have less stickers, though."
I agree with both your points. It's good to see that the instructions are allowing a bit more story into the build. Also, HOW IS STICKERS NOT UP THERE WITH THE NEGATIVE POINTS?"
I particularly appreciate stickers in Friends sets, because my kids can apply them and play with them for awhile, and then later I can harvest the parts, remove the stickers and use the parts for MOCs.
Isn't the front door slope a ramp? Unsure why the lack of a wheelchair ramp is called out here as a negative when there aren't even doors to access each room.
You can tell it's not a school in the U.S. No cops and no metal detectors at the entrance. Sigh. :(
Classic train door in sand blue.
Pity it doesn't come in both versions for left and right.
Glad to see that this special yet very versatile piece is still going strong after so many decades.
These Friends sets look like they were ripped right out of Miami Vice. The colors and architecture is spot on. I love them!
@MeganL said:
"[T]here are two lockers with a trophy perched on top. Not an impressive trophy case."
@StyleCounselor said:
"You can tell it's not a school in the U.S. No cops and no metal detectors at the entrance. Sigh. :("
Then again, maybe it IS an American school. Only badass Americans would be so used to winning that they leave their trophy sitting on top of a locker!!
U-S-A!! U-S-A!! U-S-A!!
The lack of wheelchair access is not a big issue imo, you can add a small ramp if you really want too but in real life I assume the tiles are the same level as the grass
Honestly I think the wheel chair access thing might compromise on detail like in the Main Street set from last year so I’m fine with it being left out
Globalism
Compared to the early days of Friends, when my daughters were at an age when they would play with LEGO, the sets seemed to have quite harmonious colour schemes in their buildings.
This current wave to me looks awful in comparison, with garish colour mixes everywhere.
Seriously, what school looks anything like this? If you take off the sign saying school it looks like some budget hotel on some cheap beach resort no one has ever heard of.
I mean, compare this for example with 41005 or 41682. What a difference.
As much I like most of designs this way they would REALLY benefit with less colors. This is becoming problem more and more in Lego.
Is it something highly educational and positive to include an amputee doll (Autumn)? I find it somehow disturbing.
Nice that they included the charge circle under the basketball hoop. You gotta learn early where you can take charges and where you can't.
"- Only three of the main Friends"
... so, those two guys (males?) are not part of the club? ;-)
2023 season opener is on YouTube here ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNxg_AShgp0
The system of 8 wide modules continues, which makes it compatible with other sets to re-arrange sections of the buildings like 41704: Main Street Building and 41732: Downtown Flower and Design Stores and some of the 2023 City sets as well.
@AustinPowers said:
"I mean, compare this for example with 41005 or 41682. What a difference. "
100%. My oldest now isn't even looking at any of the new sets; most recently she got Olivia's Space Academy on sale, which is beautiful and a fantastic build (not done yet!), even though the shiny brand new wave was out. I know this isn't the experience of every parent, but a sudden change of characters plus a complete mess of colors in every set is going to turn off a good portion of kids.
@Father_Nathan said:
"Is it something highly educational and positive to include an amputee doll (Autumn)? I find it somehow disturbing."
Yes. Aknowledging kids that people like that can exist.
At least that's a spill and not a hole in the floor... I love that bathroom; it's always cool seeing the uses the designers come up with for the minifig stand.
@sirventricle: We know from various Easter eggs that Heartlake City and Lego City exist in the same universe, which raises the question of why minidolls are studying minifig anatomy...