Mini review: 41017 Squirrel's Tree House
Posted by Huw,
2013 sets are appearing in many places now, and I thank everyone who emailed while I was away to report their sightings. They are still thin on the ground in the UK, although my local Smyths (which you recall only opened a month ago) had most of the January Legends of Chima and Friends sets when I looked this morning, including the three polybag sets, which I bought.
They are perhaps the most anticipated of the new Friends line-up because of their interesting pieces and lack of a mini-doll, which has enabled a low price point (£2.99 in the UK).
They are packaged like the Ninjago booster packs, in a heavyweight plastic bag. Inside, the parts are in a regular bag along with the instructions.
41017-1 Squirrel's Tree House consists, as its name suggests, of a squirrel and a tree house :-)
It's an elaborate, sturdy structure, built onto a useful array of brown slopes. A brown arched window frame in the centre of the house keeps the roof square.
Doesn't the squirrel look cute with a bow in his tail? Actually I think he'd probably look better without, to be honest. Can you imagine trying to put a ribbon on a real squirrel's tail? You'd probably end up with less fingers than you started with!
This is a nice set that will be a big hit with Friends fans. It fills a gap in the market for pocket money priced sets that girls will want to buy and collect. Furthermore, it contains a useful selection of parts that AFOLs will find useful, at a price point that will encourage duplicate purchases.
Would you like me to photograph the other two sets? Let me know in the comments.
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17 comments on this article
if you could photo the other sets that would be great
also can you remove the bow from the tail
Hmm. I wasn't previously aware squirrels required houses. Nor bows in their tails. There's about a dozen un-housed bowless squirrels in my garden, how neglectful of me.
please show us the other sets!! i can't wait to see the turtle (minus bows)
thats so cute, i want the set for adding to my arkham asylum. the squirrel will of course need its eyes painted red too...
Yes please show us the other Friends sets!!
Yes, please show the others.
Yes please! Your pics are much better than what is found elsewhere and gives a much better idea of the set in detail. Thanks!
As with everyone else, yes please Huw!
I really like the look of the treehouse, but it's too bad the squirrel (and all the Friends animals) don't fit at all (stylistically) with regular LEGO.
Impressive photographing skills mate, ugh, 2.99$ Does that translate into 5.99$ CND exchange wise? Because that's how much they are priced here, or will be according to the site, which makes sense as the Ninjago Booster Packs are 6.99$ And yet, for the amount of pieces and what not involved doesn't make sense, because 6$ a bag is a bit high to swallow when for 5$ you can get one of the Friends Polybags in stead.
Actually there are such things as squirrel houses, my neighbor has one. Besides where do you think squirrels sleep?
My daughter is going to love this one.
My wife is not well, so to get the kids out of the house and give her some quiet time, I'm taking them to Smyths in a few minutes.
In no way is this an excuse to buy new Chima and Friends sets. Honest.
@Graysmith: I think a lot of them would fit perfectly well with other LEGO animals if they had different face prints. Certainly no worse than the LEGO mouse/rat or the Belville kitten that have been in use in System sets for so long.
Back around Easter the LEGO Shop site had a promotional image featuring some minifigures alongside the Friends bunny and chick. Despite the animals' substantial size, they seemed to fit in pretty well!
bought this set and a load of LOC sets when i was in Asda earlier, very impressed with the cuteness and interesting design
We opened these last night. The one thing that was not mentioned in this review is that each of these set has a '2nd build', which is supposedly found via a link (which I don't think is operational yet). In addition, there is a 'super build' that one can do by combining all three of these sets together.
This alone adds a ton of value to the price for these three sets.
I have to agree, I really love the build on the squirrel house. The flaps fold down, which opens the house, and adds more play value to it.
5 dollars? That would be like 11 dollars in Indonesia...