Review: 41721 Organic Farm
Posted by MeganL,When I first saw the list of the second half-wave of Friends sets, I was excited when I saw one of the names was 41721 Organic Farm. I was envisioning farm animals - pigs, sheep, and maybe a goat?
Alas, I should have known better since the description was organic farm... It's a different kind of farm. That small disappointment aside, there's a nice story with this set with another good array of diverse minidolls.
Summary
41721 Organic Farm , 826 pieces.
£89.99 / $89.99 / €99.99 | 10.9p/10.9c/12.1c per piece.
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A working farm with a nice story and diverse minidolls
- First Friends working farm
- New horse
- Plenty of play value
- US price is high
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Inside the box there are 7 numbered bags, a 16x16 plate, an instruction book and a small sticker sheet. It's one of the smaller sticker sheets I've seen for a larger set. Most of these stickers seem somewhat gratuitous and I think the set could likely be built without the stickers without losing much appreciable detail.
Minidolls and animals
There are four minidolls for this set, which is a nice population, but it would have been nice to see one more considering the price of the set.
Mia is the main Friend in this set, which makes sense as we've seen her in several horse themed sets. She comes with two choices of headwear - the first (not pictured) is her hipster fedora originally seen in 41702 Canal Houseboat. The second is pictured here is her riding cap, last seen in 41683 Forest Horseback Riding Centre. River makes his sixth appearance in a Friends set, appropriately dressed for the farm in a flannel shirt over a white t-shirt with jeans along with some sturdy looking workboots. Priyanka is making a third appearance in a Friends set and a second one with River - they are also seen in 41718 Pet Day-Care Center. She's wearing a vibrant coral knotted shirt with a white curlicue pattern that matches her white shorts well. I love her bright yellow shoes that match the collar of her shirt. Her hair is one of my favourites in the minidoll world - long black hair with two top knots.
Our final minidoll is Marcel, who appears to have befallen some misfortune judging by the cast on his right hand. Clearly it's his organic farm, and he's dressed like a stereotypical farmer with dungarees, a long sleeved green shirt and brown boots. He won't be able to harvest much with a cast - good thing Mia and friends are there to help!
There are only two animals included in this farm set. The most eye-catching is a black horse with flowing mane and tail that is new to this set. Unfortunately only the head is movable, the hind quarters aren't.
Another standard farm animal is found here - a cat, this time in sand blue.
The completed model
As is typical with Friends sets, there are a few auxiliary builds. First up are two signs advertising the wares available at the farm, as well as a kiosk. There's quite a spread! Eggs, various jams and tomatoes are all offered for sale. It looks like transactions are on the honour system, with a money bag in front of the kiosk.
The eggs come from the henhouse, with the requisite chicken. I like the butterfly on the top!
A gear at the side turns the back gate down to allow the eggs to be recovered.
Finally, the apples come from a tree, and a ladder is provided to help harvest the fruit. However, according to the instruction book cover, trying to pick apples is the cause of Marcel's injury. He fell off the ladder, resulting in the cast on his arm.
It wouldn't be a farm without a tractor! Here we have a tractor in a typical Friends colour - purple! It's quite necessary in order to haul all of the produce from the farm. In addition to the wares at the kiosk, carrots and cherries have also been harvested.
It's an electric tractor, so I'm not sure why the exhaust pipe is there. Regardless, Mia and friends are getting a little extra help with the tractor.
(Note: sloth not included in this set.)
One of the staples found at a farm is a farm table! It's here complete with an enormous salad, presumably made of bounty from the farm. Some utensils are included, too, though no extra plates. Perhaps the Friends eat from one plate? There are two teacups and one mug nearby, so it looks like three Friends are enjoying the vegetable vittles.
While the table is built as a side build, it fits neatly in the main footprint ot the farmhouse providing an outdoor eating area. I really like the festive light string overhead. You can see some of the detail of the roof, which is fantastic. I also love the printed wood grain 1x4 tiles. I think the reasons behind why some sets have printed wood grain tiles and others require stickers will always be a LEGO mystery to me.
Of course, where there's food, there's always extra guests. You can work up an appetite running a tractor!
(Note: sloths are not included in this set.)
Just past the open air dining area is an open air kitchen. I'm assuming it's open air as there are no doors, so I'm guessing the farm is in a pretty mild climate. Someone has been busy here! There's a pie cooling on the table, as well as an enormous cake. A fried egg is in the pan on the stove, and a cupcake in the fridge. Veggies are near at hand to be washed in the sink. A first aid kit is found under the stove. I wonder if Marcel has the same propensity with injuries in the kitchen as he does picking apples.
The other side of the kitchen is clearly the cat's domain, with food and water dishes, and a rather elaborate cat tree. The cat doesn't appear to have a name, so likely makes the farm its home.
Next to the kitchen is the stable area. Everyone gets well-fed at the farm, including the horse. There's plenty of water here, and some bales of hay. A sticker provides some details for grooming the horse.
One side of the farmhouse shows the stairs leading up to Marcel's room, which has a lovely decorated sticker on the door.
Marcel's room is quite cosy with welcome mat, a flame in the hearth, and a four poster bed. A sticker provides details such as Marcel's reading material, which apparently features apples. The book didn't help him much in avoiding injury!
The front of the farmhouse is quite colourful, especially with the magenta barn doors and the patchwork roof. Some of the pieces are loose so the roof can be repaired during play. Clearly the Friends have a lot of work to do here!
Another play feature included is the winch, which allows Marcel to hoist a pail of water so he can water the plants outside his bedroom window. That's understandable, since it must be difficult hauling pails of water upstairs with a broken hand.
Overall thoughts
This is the first working farm in the Friends world - there are several sets tagged as "Farm" in the database, but they all have to do with minding horses. I was originally disappointed in learning that a farm set didn't include many farm animals, but that's my fault for not reading the "organic" part more closely! This is a set that offers many opportunities for play in working the farm and repairing the farmhouse. I really like the message this set sends of having a group of Friends work together to help someone in need.
There are some parts in new colours in the set, including the bow window in bright bluish green and the 1x12x3 arch in medium nougat. A complete parts list can be found here.
To me, this set feels expensive for the price (826 parts, $89.99). The excellent 41703 Friendship Tree House is $10 less, and the delightful 41714 Andrea's Theatre School is just $10 more. While this is a very nice set, it's a credit to the fantastic line up of Friends sets this year that this set feels like it's in the middle of the pack this year.
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23 comments on this article
Is it 5 animals included in the set rather than just 2? There's the horse, cat, chicken, butterfly and ladybird.
Great review for a really interesting set though. The Friends range this year really has the most interesting sets with a lot of different settings and building types.
Thank you for including the sticker page.
Its a nice set, a little pricy but I think I can work with that.
Decent set, but not at the same level as other recent Friends sets indeed. To be fair, there's more depth to the build than I expected after seeing the first picture, but still most other Friends sets seem better value.
I understand why they did the roof cutaway in the bedroom but it does look a bit weird from the side. A lift off roof section would have been better.
Again, notable absence of bathroom facilities. Perhaps they are taking the Bob Flowerdew approach to peeing.
They’re gonna farm the cat for meat.
This set would be a great match for this year's Towns agriculture-themed low-age sets, sort of the next level. If only it came with minifigs instead of minidolls :/
I think the friends buildings were better if they got a proper, detachable roof. This looks as if lightning has struck and nobody got around to mend it!
No bathroom??!!??
@shedjed said:
"No bathroom??!!??"
I guess since the animals don't use a bathroom, so do the minidolls?
This can make a nice counterpart to the City Farm sets.
Good review! This is definitely a very charming set. One slight nitpick is that you didn't include the usual hyperlink to the set's page in the database, but that should hopefully be an easy fix!
The color palette of the farmhouse and chicken coop is very subdued and rustic, with just enough bright accent colors like Bright Reddish Violet, Bright Bluish Green, and Lavender to make it pop. The stable doors are very nicely constructed as well!
The farmhouse interior is admittedly a little sparser than most Friends houses at this sort of price point. As @Paperdaisy points out, there's no bathroom, and as evocative as the exposed rafters up above the garage/kitchen are, I can't help feeling like there's enough room up there for an attic/storage loft of sorts. I also wish the stable had some sort of dedicated spot to hang the horse's bridle when no one's out riding.
Of course, the builds and accessories that ARE included provide all sorts of play potential! The ladder can be used either for picking apples or for roof work like replacing wooden boards, installing the solar panel, and stringing the fairy lights. The kitchen is likewise well-equipped for preparing foods either to sell at the market or to enjoy at the picnic table, and it also boasts a handy first aid kit in case of injuries like Marcel's. The tractor and trailer are perfect for transporting fresh eggs, fruits, and veggies to the kitchen for preparation, and then taking the prepared foods out to the market stall by the road. This interplay between the various smaller builds really helps to ensure they come together as parts of a larger whole that conveys a well-rounded snapshot of rural life.
Marcel's bedroom is small, but the cozy bedspread and fireplace seem like they'll plenty of comfort for him after his injury (or even just after a hard day's work). The stair access is appreciated, though at his age I feel like he'd appreciate if some railings were installed to help prevent yet another fall! Maybe that can be a project for Mia during her next visit.
I figure that the tractor's exhaust pipe may be a sign that it's an older tractor that has been converted from gas to electric. Certainly its shape seems fairly old-fashioned in spite of its flashy paint job!
For that matter, the farmhouse itself has very few electrical appliances — no visible air conditioner, TV, or even radio — leading me to think that the house may not have been wired for electricity to begin with until it was retrofitted with rooftop solar panels! I figure Mia and her friends may have played a big part in helping Marcel to install all these modern upgrades. As old-fashioned as he might seem, I'm sure he welcomes all the help the younger generation has to offer!
Thanks again for the review @MeganL! Your Friends reviews are always a treat!
This set reminds me of Elves, and not just because of the minidolls or animals. Dark blue, browns, greens, and a touch of lavender all make for a nature-meets-fantasy vibe that I still miss. Elves started out in this mold but leaned heavily on the adventure-action over time; I'd like to imagine it could've settled down to a farm if it had continued -- but a fantasy farm, with earth dragons pulling the tiller. Hmm, maybe time for another MOC...
As for this set, the ramshackle roof is the standout. It's a good solution for the problem of "samey" roofs; it seemed the alternative was starting to be to minimize or eliminate the roof altogether -- a cheaper option, to be sure, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way given that set prices are really headed up.
Nicely comprehensive review! There looks to be some good eatin' on those sloths...
"Organic" doesn't mean "arable"; it's perfectly possible to have a livestock farm that is organic. (Now, whether or not livestock farming is necessary in these supposedly enlightened times, and whether or not organic farming is an efficient use of land, are cans o' worms I shall leave well alone!)
I agree with the review. The US price is too high. $90 plus typical sales tax of 5-10% and this set is at $97. That's €94.50 or £79.75. I think those prices already include tax so the US price is $5-10 too high.
@guachi said:
"I agree with the review. The US price is too high. $90 plus typical sales tax of 5-10% and this set is at $97. That's €94.50 or £79.75. I think those prices already include tax so the US price is $5-10 too high."
Ha. I'll take the U.S.price over the $119.99 CDN plus 11% taxes. Gotta love 'free' health care and what-not.
We're getting (insert bad words) with price increases here. Sadly, my purchases of new sets will be very limited from here on out. Luckily, I have lots of parts for MOCing to keep me satisfied.
Not a bad set, I like the design and roof colors,, just the lack of a floor below the roof makes it limited, even for a open back dollhouse.
I know it's LEGO and things can be modified, it just feels a bit empty on the back roof side.
Price just seems too high for a bit limited set in terms of building.
You can get a €10 chicken coop right now, and a €15 picnic tree+bench set as well in the City minifig world.
And this building does not stand out enough for me to value it at €60, when a €70 set like 41711 : Emma's Art School exists.
Of course that doesn't take into account factors like only collecting friends, collecting this for the horse/minidolls, or finding this on a discount or something.
I love that light string and the welcome mat sticker. That is a really tall ladder. Compare to the one in 10270, and that set's tree was much taller!
@Aanchir: I was thinking the same thing about the tractor having been converted.
That looks EXACTLY like my tractor. All of the local farmers and ranchers in my Montana community are so jealous of it.
It's like the first ever building in Heartlake City without a toilet.
@Zordboy: That depends on how you define "building," doesn't it?
I’m a huge fan of this set. It has the vibe of old friends sets with new building styles, really something I’ve been missing lately with friends sets, some have become overly colourful which is hurting my eyes… The price is such a shame though, it has no reason to be this expensive. I feel that 70/80 would be fairer
Preety looking set but I must admit I was dissapointed when I noticed barn has no space over roof.
Just one chicken is also sad. When we will get friendsified one? This one looks out of place.
Missed opportunity to include an outhouse.
And if this is supposed to be an organic farm, where's the compost pile?