LuxorV Posted June 10, 2012 In order to better celebrate the imminent release of the second wave of LEGO Friends sets, the Eurobricks Forums Staff, with the help of TLG, decided to provide Reviewers Academy level reviews of the new wave of Friends sets. I’ll present you one of the smaller/starter sets of the line, and I hope you’ll find it useful and/or intriguing enough to be interested in taking the set yourself sometime soon. Theme: LEGO Friends Set name: Andrea’s Bunny House Set Number: 3938 Price: 9.99 $, 9.99 Euro Pieces: 62 (1 minifigure + 6 extras) Year of release: 2012 Links: Peeron, Bricklink and Brickset The Box Front The box is the same size of the smaller Friends sets of the first wave. The front shows the complete set, with the two smaller sections (‘grass’ with fence) side by side to spare space, on a classic Heartlake City park/rural outskirts background. LEGO and Friends logos, the 5 girls’ picture, the age and set number information complete the design, together with Andrea’s full person shot. The overall feel of this box front is very nice, relaxed and evocative of late afternoons in summer time. Back The back displays some of the set’s play features in a row of picture in the middle. You can open the roof of the bunny’s house, so it can take a shower when it rain, you can beat the bunny in the head with the huge carrot, and you can even have the bunny finally rebel and enslave Andrea to clean its house. Of course, smaller kids with more gentile hearts will find kinder meanings for those functions. The upper part is devoted to hosting the LEGO and Friends logos, as well as the step by step instructions on how to build the minidolls. Set number, Andrea’s name and mug shot, and a LEGOFriends.com advertise complete this portion. The lower section shows some of the other smaller sets of the line, both from the first and second waves, one for each of the remaining girls, being Andrea the protagonist here. Again, the feeling is that of a relaxing set, full of fun and happiness. Sides The upper side is pretty blank (or, better, violet), with just the LEGO and Friends logos and the set number in one corner and Andrea’s 1:1 full person shot in the opposite corner. This shot is for those who are curious about the pieces origins. This set includes components made in Denmark, Hungary, Mexico, China and the Czech Republic. We get a bit from everywhere, as it seems. Contents Inside Upon opening the box, we find 2 bags, one 8 x 8 studs baseplate and an instruction booklet (more on it in the relevant section). As you can see from the bags, the main colours are Bright Pink and White, with accents of Lime and Bright Orange to compliment them. Andrea’s body parts (minus head and hairpiece) are stored in separate bags inside the main ones. Re-coloured parts Re-coloured parts include 2 Brick 1 x 4, 3 Brick 1 x 2 and 1 Flag 2 x 2 Square all appearing for the first time in Bright Orange, and 1 Red Bucket 1 x 1 x 1. Not a mind-blowing selection, but still pretty interesting in my opinion. Oh, and I love to see the new minifig sized bucket in a more lively colour then the Reddish Brown from POTC sets. Mind you, I like those too, but I feel a brighter, more modern look fits better City themes. Some people say the do not like the Bright Orange colour. That may be because quite few pieces come in that tone apart for minifigs’ parts. This extended use of Bright Orange for more common bricks may help settle that issue. Rare pieces Together with the over-mentioned first timers, there is quite a selection of other parts which appear in rare colours. The Plate 1 x 6 can be found in Magenta only in another set so far (5961 Snow Queen); the Plate 2 x 2 in Bright Orange is present only in another set so far as well (5962 The Tinderbox); the Plate 2 x 6 occurs again in Bright Pink only in another set so far (3315 Olivia's house); the Plate 4 x 8, here in Bright Pink, can be found only in other 2 sets so far (5560 Large Pink Brick Box & 7586 Sunshine Home); the Tile 1 x 4 in Bright Pink is only in other 2 sets of this same line so far (3188 Heartlake Vet & 3942 Heartlake Dog Show); the interesting Plate 8 x 8 in Green can only be acquired via other 3 big-ish sets so far (4183 The Mill, 7946 King's Castle & 10230 Mini Modulars); finally, the Container, Bucket 1 x 1 x 1 Handle in Pearl Gold only occurs in another set so far (9566 Samurai X). Some of these parts and colours will be available in other summer Friend sets, but I believe this is the cheapest containing them. Extra parts The set also includes a total of 6 extra pieces, which are quite a big number of a set this size. The majority of these parts are common, while one (Container, Bucket 1 x 1 x 1 Handle in Pearl Gold), as said before, is pretty rare for now. Building Instructions The cover has the exact same image as the front of the box. Not much to say here. The inner page, instead, is more interesting, showing the 5 friends doing what (I believe) is most iconic for them, ranging from horse riding, to building sand castles, to flying their private plane! Apparently, Stephanie is the rich kid here, which is kinda strange, since I got the impression it was Olivia who held that place… The random page shows the almost plain violet background. The pieces call-outs are not essential, since the building is pretty simple, but they may help little girls in finding their pieces to complete the set quickly. Here’s a detail shot of the decoration in the lower outer corner of the pages. The parts summary takes two pages, with abundant blank space between the parts. On the other hand, putting all those pieces in one page, plus the Customer Service ad, would have probably made it very messy. As usual, the fore last page shows the other sets in the line, with a picture of the minidolls they include. Again, some of the sets depicted here are from this wave, and some from the previous one. Minifigure/Minidoll We are more or less used to the Friends minidolls by now. I won’t go into details describing how they are made, how their joints work and which standard minifig parts they can be used with and which not. I’ll just describe shortly this version of Andrea. The minidoll is relatively new, and exclusive to this set. By that ‘relatively’ I mean she is a mix of the other two Andrea figs included in sets so far: the torso is from 3932 Andrea’s stage, while the legs are from 3061 City Park Café. I decided to include a shot of Andrea switching her hairpiece with the only other Friends minidoll I own, Stephanie. I think the yellow/blond hairstyle suits her pretty good too, don’t you think? Building Start We start by building the two smaller sections of ‘grass’ with fence, one enriched by a carrot and a plant, the other by the red bucket with a 1x1 round plate to simulate water. Pretty nice modular idea, but nothing too surprising. On a side note, I’m always appalled at the sight of those carrots sticking out of the ground in all their magnificence. Must be something reminiscent of Super Goof’s Super Goobers plant. Foundations Then we assemble the bunny house proper, starting from the foundations, of course. The use of the flag piece as a ramp for the bunny is pretty clever in my opinion. Also, the little door is a nice touch to add detail to the set. Going up As we move towards the completion of this build, we see the lovely nest take shape. If I were a bunny, I think I’d like to live in a small tidy house like this one. Notice the other nice touch included by TLG designers: the small water tank on the left (screen-wise) side of the house. Sheltering the shelter The roof and, of course, the bunny itself complete this section. I like how the roof is tilted backwards; it really reminds me of IRL bunny houses I’ve seen. Finished set Front Andrea surveys her newly built bunny house and makes sure her little pet is well furnished of water and carrots. Of course, the carrot is outside its reach, else the little devil would eat it in no time! Meeting more Friends I thought I could use a shot including the two Friends ‘bunny house’ sets, plus a couple of Fabuland accessories which would figure well in the Friends line, too. It would seem that in spite of all her rich vehicles, Stephanie had to cut some costs when building her pet’s shelter. Bonus images Beware of the cuteness #1 Do not let you be fooled by the cute smiles on the Friends girls faces. Nothing’s stopping them when they are hungry. Beware of the cuteness #2 - Come my children. These wicked humans won’t hold you captive anymore. It’s not what it looks like Loki’s latest trick to fool the Avengers did not quite work as planned… Love at first sight bucket That day Sinner knew he’d found his kindred spirit. Final comments Overall, this is a very nice set, both for the fans of this line and the MOCers. The parts are interesting and a lot appear in rare colours one has never enough of. The minidolls, while not new is a nice addition to anyone’s collection, as well as the bunny and bucket are. Design & Colour scheme – 10/10 (Fresh and summer-oriented. The actual tones may not be found in real life, but they work nicely for a girls’ theme.) Minifig/Minidoll – 8/10 (She’s one of my favourites in the line, as she, together with Olivia, appears to have more character then some others [at least, based on my reading the bios on the LEGO Friends site]. While I do not like the limits of compatibility between these minidolls and the standard minifigures, I’m starting to appreciate them for their worth. The rating has been lowered due to this fig being a mix of two existing ones instead of a new design.) Parts – 10/10 (Great selection, given the relatively small set and simple design. Some new re-colours and many rare ones raise the level.) Playability – 10/10 (The set is clearly designed to play, and it fits perfectly with other sets from this line.) Build – 8/10 (Nothing too complex, but some efficient solutions are used, like the flag as a ramp and the cute little water tank.) Price – 8/10 (62 parts for [presumably] 9 $/€ is not really cheap, but the rare colours may be part of the reason for the pricey tag.) Overall: 9/10 Excellent As always, questions, comments, and pic requests welcome! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pandora Posted June 10, 2012 Thanks for the great review Luxor! The detailing in this cute set is lovely; the little door and the ramp made from the flag piece that you highlighted do help make it more interesting. I also like the water feeder, and the addition of the greenery freshens it up a bit. The funnies at the end are great! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gryphon Ink Posted June 10, 2012 Great review, LuxorV. I like this set. One thing that has impressed me with Friends so far is the fact that they've done a great job making little sets with lots of personality. This set, the drum kit and Olivia's little sand castle are all must-buys for me. I do wish TLG would have made a few more parts options for Andrea, though. Looks like Andrea and Nicole are going to have a very limited selection of outfits throughout the theme. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
just2good Posted June 10, 2012 Excellent review, 'LuxorV'! I think your review sold me on this set. I actually like the quaint design of the set. And, I don't have the new bunny or bucket piece (from last year), so I think this is a pretty good set. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LegoMyMamma Posted June 11, 2012 Very fun review LuxorV It takes a well-staged review to really appreciate all the nice parts in this set. Once again, for a small set, this has enough build/play aspects to be a nice first set. More orange is tempting for sure! As for Steph's "Pet Patrol" set bunny house -- well, you should see how deep that hole is into the ground that her Bunny dug under that little house! Andrea makes a good Loki too! It's great to be able to get this type of introspective of the set, along with immediate demonstration of how versatile these sets can be when Imagination is added Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Legogal Posted June 11, 2012 LuxorV, Do you write cartoons for a real living? Love the funnies at the end....whoever knew that Friends could be so violent? Must take a guy to figure this out! They must be LTAF at TLG reading this review. Anyway, it definitely is an entertaining review! And probably reveals how many of the girls' little brothers will play with their sisters' Friends sets when SIs is out of sight. It is amazing how many folks love bunnies, so I think that this is another winner. (Rabbits eat the plants in our yard, and squirrels dig up every square inch looking for nuts...so we view them less fondly than Friends sets portray.) Thanks for an insightful review....it is so much fun combining Friends with other themes! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
XimenaPaulina Posted June 14, 2012 Great review of this new Friends set Luxor! Reminds me of my previous "time with Friends" when I did a couple of reviews in the first wave. One thing I noticed, at least for myself, is that after the all the hype (and controversy) surrounding the theme a few months back have already died down, it seems the level of interest for 'curious' buyers like me have also waned. This set doesn't appeal to me as much unlike the first time I bought the Andrea's Music Stage set, most probably because I already had the Andrea fig and I'm not much interested on the parts. I couldn't speak for others, so it would be interesting to know how the second wave will perform compared to the first one. I decided to include a shot of Andrea switching her hairpiece with the only other Friends minidoll I own, Stephanie. I think the yellow/blond hairstyle suits her pretty good too, don’t you think? Funny thing, Andrea sporting blond hair reminds of this: And I could say with conviction and without a shadow of a a doubt that Andrea looks much better than it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lego_legis_legere Posted June 14, 2012 Thanks for a so great review ! I heard about "Reviewers Academy" : your work is so instructive for me (I'm new and French... it's not so easy to express my opinion in a foreign langage). I will pick up some technic elements in order to improve my own reviews. The pictures are GREAT (the back ground is sober and uniform) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted June 14, 2012 Great review 'LuxorV', cute set....red bucket is a plus and a clever design for the water feeder for the little bunny rabbit....but that is one big carrot for such a little bunny ! Oh, by the way your big rabbit giving orders to the little ones......BIG BUNNY from The Goodies episode called "Invasion of the Moon Creatures" The hutch is nice, simple and don't forget obey BIG BUNNY ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites