Review: 41729 Organic Grocery Store
Posted by MeganL,
Heartlake City has had its fair share of grocery stores, so much so that City is finally getting into the game of having grocery store sets as well. 2023's version of the Friends grocery store is 41729 Organic Grocery Store. It's a logical progression of some previous sets we've seen (if you ignore the reboot), since there have been organic farms, it makes sense there is a store to sell the produce!
Summary
41729 Organic Grocery Store, 830 pieces.
£79.99 / $89.99 / €89.99 | 9.6p/10.8c/10.8c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
The best Friends grocery store yet with some great building techniques
- First minidoll with vitiligo
- Great buildings techniques
- Shopping carts!
- Why is there a tree in the parking lot?
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Inside the box there are six numbered bags, one 16x6 plate, one 8x16 plate, one 14x6 plate, a folder with an instruction book and a sticker sheet. We can see on the sticker sheet that the lost dog poster has made its way to the grocery store.
The map included with the instructions show that the grocery story is located near the middle of town, which makes sense.
Minidolls and animals
There are five minidolls in this set. Isaac is the first senior male to be found in this Friends reboot. He's looking quite smart in a yellow employee vest with patch pocket and a name tag. Love the white eyebrows! Next we have Autumn, who is wearing the same shorts we've seen before, but a new top - this one decorated with a mushroom motif. It's very appropriate for visiting a grocery store!
The microdoll in this set is Alba, Leo's younger sister. She is appropriately adorable as all microdolls are, and is wearing a purple dress decorated with a dinosaur under the sun. She's very matchy-matchy with her shoes. The chef of the Friends group, Leo, is wearing a food-inspired shirt that has a watermelon print. With a colour block t-shirt underneath and coral longshorts, he makes for a colourful figure.
The last minidoll is Jordin, another employee of the organic market, denoted by her yellow apron with name tag. Her lace up boots looks great. Jordin is the first Friends minidoll that shows someone with vitiligo. The colouring on her face and arms looks marvellous, and Jordin's inclusion underscores the great lengths to which the Friends team is going to promote diversity and inclusion.
Both Autumn and Leo are equipped with phones. Autumn looks like she's about to pay for some groceries, and Leo is in the middle of a chat - perhaps exchanging recipes with someone? We have a welcome appearance of Churro, Leo's grumpy cat. I don't usually see cats in grocery stores, but then again, I don't live in Heartlake City.
The completed model
The first build in the model is a delivery truck. It's a rather modernistic one, with a sloped glass windshield that lifts off for easy access. The stickers show that it's an electric truck, and it does fit two minidolls.
There's plenty of room in the back for delivering produce, such as these pumpkins.
There are all kinds of hitch-hikers to be found these days. However, grumpy cat is not amused.
(Note: sloths not included in this set.)
The market has a very sleek look, though I'll admit I've never seen a grocery store, organic or otherwise, that has such bright accents. I really love the brick built sign over the front door, and the solar panel powered lights next to the front door.
One side of the building is for the recycling centre, with the slot for depositing cans in bottles in the front. A side door allows access to all the collected recyclables.
Looking at the back of the grocery store, the first section is the refrigerated section, stocked with what you'd expect - eggs, milk, juice, and other cool beverages. Thanks to a light purple splat piece, it looks like there's been a spill. Clean up on Aisle 7!
Next to the refrigerated section is the check-out area. The technique in putting that together is pretty great, and that's before adding the Guble Bubble display. That must be the treat for all the cool kids in Heartlake City! Two shopping bags are close by for patrons to use while shopping.
Another great building technique included in this section is the sliding door. Sliding the sloped yellow brick at the top of the door back and forth will cause the sliding door to open and close. It's a simple mechanism that works perfectly, and exactly the same as you'd see in most grocery stores.
The last section of the grocery is the main attraction - the produce! There are several kinds of produce included here, perfect for recreating the play scenario of a shopping trip with plenty of healthy food to fill a shopping cart. Last but not least, a bakery section is found at the end of the grocery store, featuring doughnuts, cookies, and bread.
There's a shopping cart corral at the end of the building. The closer look at the building shows the light nougat used in the building. I think I was distracted by the coral highlights at the beginning. I'm not sure I like the light nougat use here - I think another jewel colour would look better. Perhaps I'm getting used to the Friends colour aesthetic?
The shopping corral has a lone tree providing some shade. There are some basic but effective techniques to build the tree, but I'm a bit mystified as to why there is a tree in the shopping corral. I do, however, love the shopping carts, of which two are provided in this set.
Overall thoughts
I'll admit I was not that excited about yet another Friends grocery store, but this one hits all the right notes. Kids love playing going to the store (I remember I did as a kid), and this set provides a good reproduction of that experience. I love the shopping carts! I think kids will love filling the carts with all the produce and other food at the store. The van delivering produce to the store (presumably from the organic farm) completes the story nicely.
From a building perspective, this set has a lot of great techniques, with the brick built sign, the sliding door, the cash register and others. The set was designed by Wes Talbott, one of my favourite designers from the much-missed Elves line, so inclusion of those great techniques is not a surprise. This is Wes' second Friends set; the first was the excellent 41379 Heartlake City Restaurant from 2019.
There are also some nice recolours available in this set (even if I'm not a fan of the light nougat, this is a good source for parts in that colour). A parts list can be found here.
One downside for this set, of course, is the price. For 830 pieces for $90, it's a bit of the expensive side, though the hours of play to be gained from this realistic every day scenario may be worth it.
82 likes
26 comments on this article
My Aunt has Vitiligo, this is a pretty accurate representation. I’m glad they made it!
Having trees in parking lots is a very common thing, and in many countries, planting trees in newly constructed parking lots is mandatory!
Friends has grown on me. I used to be annoyed with the minidolls since it felt like yet another venture into the world of "girls-only" toys like Belville, but they have been putting out consistently great sets and doing a wonderful job with representation.
I still don't have a good way to integrate them into my city, but I have to give credit where it's due: these are fantastic.
Amazed the print on those sloths is still good considering how much is demanded of them :-).
Man, the Friends cast must really enjoy eating fruits and veggies the size of their heads.
I believe that’s the rear windshield from 76911, which is interesting.
@Zink Yes, but whoever planted it apparently did not get the memo that trees grow over time. :D
Slightly disturbing how many lost dogs and injured animals there are in the Friends series.
I really can't think of why a business would have a tree on their property.... It just doesn't add up
I just love that grumpy cat. It looks so cute.
Really phenomenal set. I bought this one on my last Lego store trip and it's amazing how much of an improvement it is on last year's City grocery store. The sliding door is one of the most simple yet effective functions I've seen in a set in a long time.
I don't see the issue with the tree.....it was probably there before the shop was built, and if it's not in the way, why remove it? Especially for some organic grocery store that would be a bit ironic...
Even when I'm very much not the target audience for this set, I do very much like it. It's just a shame that this might be the most realistic Lego set ever: Organic is expensive, even when it's plastic. Good to see Friends is still continuing its strong run, it just isn't the bargain (at least by Lego standards) it once was anymore.
Trees in parking lots are pretty common, especially for new construction stores. Rarely do I see big, sprawling sheets of asphalt like they used to build.
I love this set. The grocery basket facade looks AMAZING and the minidoll collection is exceptional. The lime green and coral combination is very attractive without being too garish, and the decorated interior puts the City grocer from last year(?) to shame.
Well done as usual from the secret-best LEGO line out there.
This set is fantastic. Very tempted to buy a second and enclose/expand it.
The tree - it’s not like it’s a grand oak. It’s a spindly small tree. Very common to see small trees in parking lots here.
Some cons for me after having built this. I think the vehicle is too futuristic and looks a bit goofy. Additionally, I love the shopping cart and corral, but it’s frustrating how it only really holds one cart at a time when two are provided.
All in all, though, a really nice set.
Love the coral color when used like this, including Leo's shorts.
Also a very interesting color combination of Light and Medium Nougat window and wall accents.
Of course 10297 : Boutique Hotel still is the big set with Light Nougat bricks right now , 31131 : Downtown Noodle Shop also used it in a smaller scale.
As for expanding this, 11030 contains quite a few of the colors used in this set .
41740 : Aliya's Room has some more Medium Nougat windows of this scale.
I can't describe how much I love the wet floor hazard sign
I can't be the only one who was reminded of "They Paved Paradise" by @MeganL's confusion re: the tree. "They took all the trees
and put 'em in a tree museum"
Except they missed one, apparently.
Also, Megan, if they're in the driver's seat, they're not hitchhikers; they're carjackers.
@Pavell said: "I can't describe how much I love the wet floor hazard sign"
I actually think that was my favourite part, as well.
A wonderful set. I think my issue with the Friends reboot is that it feels like they're trying to do too much world-building, too quickly. Instead of the five friends (who were easy enough to keep track of. One was outdoorsy, one was artistic, one sang a lot, etc), there's 10 main characters, plus, each set has it's own supporting cast of further characters. I don't know if anyone's counted, but it feels like there's about 30 people I'm supposed to be keeping track of, at this point.
The grumpy cat is amazing! I still feel a bit bittersweet about the old cast retiring, but I get it, and the Friends line is still doing some really cool things.
"Why is there a tree in the parking lot?"
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
If Lego simply duplicated the design of each Friends set, slightly recolored it, replaced the minidolls with minifigures, and sold it as a City set, that would represent a major upgrade of the City line. Friends sets have become so impressive - so many quality designs, and relatively few duds.
I actually like the building. The delivery truck is awful ugly. Here a business is required to plant trees to makeup for those cut down to build structure or parking lot. I welcome the trees as in the A-frame Cabin 21338 .
@Crispy_Bricks said:
""Why is there a tree in the parking lot?"
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"
So I wasn't the only one who thought of that song!
I had atopic dermatitis since childhood, I've never seen it or psoriasis representation, except for Fallout ghouls, lol. Yeah, they know how it sucks to have your skin messed up, at least in the original games, AFAIR.
The set? The set is okay. I like the wet floor sign with a puddle included :-).
Lovely little set. Buying two and building out the back half of the store would just be - chefs kiss.
33% off on amazon.it already??