Sven F Posted January 2, 2017 INTRODUCTION This set is part of a new birthday party sub-theme in the Friends line consisting of 5 individual sets and is the second largest, and only one of two that come with a mini-doll. All five sets include animals, a gift box and a party invitation. Other sets in this theme are: 41110 Birthday Party 41112 Party Cakes 41113 Party Gift Shop 41114 Party Styling TECHNICAL: Set Name: Party TrainSet Number: 41111Number of Pieces: 104Theme: FriendsDesigner: unknownAvailability: retailYear Released: 2016Price: $ 9.99 / € 9.99Stickers: 0New elements: 2Exclusive minifigures: 1/1 Brickset entryBricklink Inventory PARTS SELECTION: The set gives us a lot of recolored pieces and two new elements, the little chipmunks, or hamsters as bricklink refers to them, and some party hats. They are both obviously Friends style items, but I am sure fans of minifigures will find a use for them. The set comes in a box with two unnumbered bags. One of my favorite parts here is the new colored bike element in Bright light orange. We had a yellow bike in one single old set, so this is as close as it gets to that if you missed out on the one from the 90's. That's a new print on that 1x2 tile, and I assume it's an invitation for a birthday (or other) party - useful piece for generic use.The trans-clear round tile with pin isn't new as we got it last year, but if you missed it, you can get two of them here plus one extra. I am not exactly sure what they represent in the set, but they are useful pieces, so I am not complaining. The party hats are completely new elements and are held with pins like all the other Friends hair accessories and you get them in 3 different colors and an extra of each. The bright light orange 2x2 tile with bow print is in fact an inverted tile, it has studs on the bottom to fit snugly between panels of a box - these tiles aren't very common in general, and this might be the first printed one. MINIFIGURES: The little animals have holes in their heads so they can also hold accessories. I am not sure if these hamsters would be of use in a non-Friends environment, but if you find them too "cartoony" you can just pretend they are stuffed toys. Stephanie comes with an exclusive torso print for this set, and her hair is one of my favorite hairpieces for use on minifigures. It's her birthday, but she doesn't look a day older. BUILD: We start off with a gift box containing a bow and a little postbox so Stephanie can mail the invitations to her friends. Mind you she only has one, so I guess she doesn't want to attract a crowd. The next build is what looks like a park slide for kids, not sure exactly what all the pieces represent, there is something that looks like a soap dispenser attached to the slide, but just use your imagination, I suppose it's part of the venue where the party will be held. And then the actual train is powered by a push-bike connected to the carts. This may be the reason Stephanie only invited one friend, she only has room for one other person with all the gifts and pets. The first car has one of those panels to hold a mini-doll, the others are just 2x2 jumper plates. The bike element was designed long before mini-dolls so they aren't really adapted for them. She can loosely be seated on the seat, but her hands can't hold the handlebars which is a bit awkward. Maybe the friend she invited isn't a mini-doll. Leftover parts: CONCLUSION: The set is a great template for your own imaginative play and building. I don't think anything here is set very firmly to any particular story. Most of it doesn't make much sense from a grown-up point of view, but it's a great selection of parts with lots of variety and I think it can go very far for the low size and price. I am not going to estimate brick value here because there is more to it than that, This will be someones first LEGO set, any they'll always remember that funky, hamster-powered bike train. Just to get some AFOL perspective here, This set will probably be appealing to most of us for the bike. This is the 8th re-color of the bike element since 1985. The mold changed once for both the frame and the wheels, but the design remains unchanged. It works a bit better with classic minifigures though. Overall Design: 5/10 - Little brick goes a long way here, and just enough context is given to know what's going on, but I would have liked more accessibility which is partly due to restrictions of the mini-doll design. Parts selection: 8/10 – Considering the size and cost of this set, you get many new, and unique elements and no stickers. Play features: 8/10 – This set is all about play. Challenging build: 5/10 - I should look at this from a child's perspective, and I think it's just the right ratio between interesting and easy. Minifigures: n/a – I am no expert on mini-dolls, and I'm slightly biased when it comes to Stephanie because I like her hair piece. There's one figure, and it has unique printing, so that must be a win. You will have to get at least one other set to have someone to actually join the party though. Overall: 6/10 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
carebear Posted January 2, 2017 I Love this set - i bought a lot of them ( great pieces ) Great Review ( thanks ) Greetings Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DangAndBlast Posted February 2, 2017 This one was certainly the best from that sub theme. The bike is great, of course. And it's actually a party for the animals to attend (it's a different animal's birthday, from another set), so it's a slide for the animals :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KlodsBrik Posted February 3, 2017 First of all congrats on your academy achievement. Watched this review as it progressed, and I think you have done a great job on the review. Best regards KlodsBrik Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
