Review: 41043 Penguin's Playground
Posted by Huw,
The Friends collectables which first made an appearance last January have, I believe, been a huge success in filling a gap in the LEGO product range for girls' pocket money sets.
Series four has just hit the shops in the UK, and I picked up the three of them at my local Smyths. As usual, they feature a cute animal and a small 'animal habitat'.
The name of the set, Penguin's Playground, says it all really: it consists of the most adorable penguin, and a small section of 'ice' which has a slide with a hideaway behind it. The parts are largely unremarkable, just the mid-blue parts on the slide and one 1x2 curved slope are worth noting. Oh, and the 1x2 plate in trans-dark blue, which is not too common.
There isn't a lot more to say about it really, other than that many people, including me [1], have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of penguins into the LEGO animal assortment. Thankfully, although it has the characteristic Friends animal cuteness, it wouldn't look out of place in a minifig setting. It's two-and-a-third bricks high, so comes up to just above a minifig's waist, which is probably about right for Emperors or the larger species of penguin.
Another pocket-money winner from LEGO!
[1] A few years ago I made a penguin enclosure for our club's Christmas minifig zoo competition, so now I can replace my brick-built penguins with these.
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9 comments on this article
nice review :) just thought i'd let you know, it's 41043 ;)
I'll definitely be buying this, just for the penguin!
When I first saw this, I thought the minidolls had been feeding their penguins far too many fish! But the more I look at it, the more it grows on me. It'd look just right to me if just the 'eyelashes' were wiped off (penguins don't have eyelashes?) First Friends set I might voluntarily pick up! :-)
That's soooo cute!
Nice little sets, I have the first three waves and plan on getting them all going forward. Hope we see fewer re-releases though, this wave has 2 re-released animals, or is the penguin also a re-release?
I still wish that the Friends animals weren't *quite* so cute (I still think they're ace though) - I have to admit that I prefer your brick-built penguins, there is a certain charm to instantly-recognisable brick-built animals!
The penguin and tiger are new.
The turtle is a new color from the first time.
Both my daughters love these sets.......
My favorite animal is a penguin, so naturally I have to pick this up...
Huh... without seeing the pictures (viewing it via mobile) I thought that this would be about a Super Heroes set for Batman. Lol