Review: 41738 Dog Rescue Bike
Posted by MeganL,
Three sets in the early wave make up a small story arc, with the theme around dog rescue. I reviewed one of the sets with a potentially dark subtext last month with 41741 Dog Rescue Van. That set saw Pickle the dog being rescued. There must be another pet at risk, or else we wouldn't be taking a look at 41738 Dog Rescue Bike.
Summary
41738 Dog Rescue Bike, 125 pieces.
£8.99 / $9.99 / €9.99 | 7.2p/8.0c/8.0c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A lot of play value for a small price
- Two minidolls
- Heartwarming story
- None!
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Inside the box there are three unnumbered bags, a 8x8 half circle plate, an instruction book and a small sticker sheet. As it was a small set, I didn't take a picture of the sticker sheet. There was no map provided with this set, which makes sense, as a rescue can happen anywhere!
There are two minidolls in the set. Aliya is one of the core Friends crew, and she's dressed in a bright yellow sleeveless polo shirt with a bright blue collar and placket, new to this set. The accents work well with her medium blue skirt and dark blue shoes. The microdoll in this set is Victoria, wearing a matching shirt (albeit with sleeves) and has a blue pleated skirt
As it wouldn't be a Dog Rescue set without a dog, a suitably adorable canine is included. The nameless pooch has some nice markings on his face and paws, and it would appear that the Nameless Canine is the subject of the Lost Dog flyer that we saw in 41741 (and in this one as well).
One side build included in the set is a picnic table with an enormous sandwich. I think it's as big as Victoria!
Fortunately, Victoria has some help in eating that massive meal.
(Note: sloths not included in this set.)
The rescue bike is composed of (of course) a bike, but also a trailer pulled behind. The trailer is pretty nifty, with a flip open door to allow putting the Nameless Canine inside. The bike has a storage compartment for food and water, though that does seem to be a rather messy option. The emblem of the local dog rescue is stickered on the flag at the back of the trailer.
Aliya is ready to go, and her bike helmet matches her outfit, and her bike! She's very colour coordinated.
Finally, there's a patch of sidewalk with some clues for the missing pup! Pawprints on the pavement show the direction where the Nameless Canine will be, a collar with tags to be found, as well as some dog poop! Because of the collar and Lost Dog flyer, it looks like the Nameless Canine is a lost pet, and hasn't been abandoned.
Friends sets do have a way of working in some small moving function, so looking behind the greenery shows the pup's hiding place.
Overall thoughts
For the price, I think this is a pretty terrific set. Two minidolls, an adorable canine, some fun little builds and a really great story. There's a lot of play value here, and a great example of showing that you don't need a large set to show how great LEGO can be.
I had been thinking about combining this review with 41727 Dog Rescue Center (forthcoming), but this set has so much story I thought it deserved a review of its own.
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13 comments on this article
Disappointing there's no map, but it does give me an idea; maybe I'll combine all the things and make a larger map of everything. Or someone else could.
But still, it's a thing that could be made.
As a devotee to the wide variety of hair options LEGO produces, these 2023 Friends sets have been a real boon. Although I'm glad to see that LEGO is putting these pieces in non-Friends sets, and with some haste too, (See: The A-Frame Cabin releasing within weeks of the January Friends wave) but I've still been finding myself picking up quite a few sets from this wave anyway. This one's on the list, mostly for parts but still.
A cute set at a reasonable price! If all LEGO sets were that way, we'd have less to complain...
The good thing is: Once you're tired of dog-rescuing, you can put Victoria into the trailer and finally bring her to daycare!
@Ridgeheart said:
"That is one gargantuan dog-carrier for such a tiny pup. (...)"
In the city I live in, and possibly your city too, many huge cars are driven around where the (all too-often) lone occupant is proportionally smaller than the pup is relative to this dog-carrier.
It is both amusing and tragic.
Anyway, a good review of a lovely set!
@bananaworld said:
"
A good review of a lovely set!
...but I have to be honest and admit that I'm a bit done with the sloth thing now."
Not me! There’s entirely too much stuffiness in this world, and having a bit of a laugh when I see those colorful sloths in a LEGO set reminds me there is still humor and happiness around.
( @MorkMan - Sorry for editing and removing the words you've quoted; I felt my comment was too negative already...)
Good review and an immediate buy for myself and my youngest son! A very good value indeed.
I appreciate the ability to snag that dark azure bicycle in an affordable set.
I love all the little "clues" in this set to the missing pup's location, and the fact that the lost dog flyer here appears in several other sets (printed in most of them but even on a separate bulletin board sticker in the grocery store set).
Not sure the helmet works the best for Aliya though—you would imagine that her fluffy hair would still be visible on the sides and back. There probably wasn't budget for a helmet/hair piece just for her in a small set like this, though.
So... sloths like sandwiches? Hmm. Who knew?
Lego really needs to make a new bicycle piece where the handlebars are a separate piece,like they've done with scooters and motorcycles, so that minidolls can be more firmly attached. That complaint aside, nice review. I built this one the other day, and was quite pleased. You mention the sandwich being about as big as Victoria, but the poop is almost as big as the dog that produced it too. Speaking of which, I love the inclusion of the shovel for dealing with that poop. (I also like the pink trash can; I love getting pieces like the trash can in unusual colors. Which is the main reason I bought 41712.) I also love the touch of the little food and water dish.
@Ridgeheart: Olivia has better things to do, she's in space now!
Thanks @MeganL for the review, I have been waiting for this one specifically because I think it's brilliant.