Nice set to play
Minifigs has two hairsets, horses has two two carriages.
Accessories are nice.
Horses are easily playable with other sets.
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Amazing
This set is extremely fun to build and is very fun to play with. All the different things really makes it a lot of fun. I give it a 10/10
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Luxury Riding Retreat
Firstly I'm afraid I'm not the target audience for this theme and bought it for a particular build and the wonderful array of building pieces. Despite this I will give as broad a review as I can given the target audience is in close family and I can see what would be admired and what has been promoted in this set. It would be really great if a parent or KFOL put up a review that will have more in depth understanding than I can offer.
Minidolls:
[··][··][··]- Emma: Black hair, pink top, blue skirt, purple sandals.
- Theresa: Red hair, mint top, white pants, black boots.
- Ella: Black hair, magenta top, white shorts, pink sandals.
- Stephanie: Blonde hair, white top, green shorts, purple sandals.
Their hair is styled differently for each and TLG have put in effort with prints for clothing patterns, eyes and general detail. As an initially dismissive AFOL, I eventually was impressed by this among a few surprises. The interchangeable wigs with regular MFs was shown on Brickset with amusing results:
http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=2209
And on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72487440@N08/6538157473/
Should I admit that I prefer any one of them? Interestingly Theresa also happens to be the only one with riding garb on so maybe its her thing as it is for many girls. They get a lot of gear: helmets (with melded hair tied back) and bridles so they can all ride which are the same strong rubber the wigs are made from. I like rubber pieces for the scratch proof tough quality and matt finish but can imagine they are understandably not so popular with some collectors. They also get a handbag, camera, mugs, cups, bucket, pitchfork, whip, saddles and wheelbarrow. Fairly impressive and not forgetting food: a croissant, apple and the everlasting hotdog that even made it in to Middle Earth.
Animals
It seems beasts are an important part of the Friends range with cuddly fauna of various types inhabiting sets as pets or as local critters. The three ponies are brown, dark brown and white and a bit too eyelashed for my hobby but perfectly styles as a bashful 'my little pony' style attraction for KFOL girls. I bet they still bite. Worryingly I hope they all remain 'Friends' when only up to three can ride out at a time leaving one to stay and muck out the stables alone? The cutesy hedgehog is again ok with a good print but really not for anyone who wants to build their beasts. Otherwise its great for the set, roaming the stable area by eating larvae, beetles, berries and small carcasses (according to a quick web search).Road Trip
This is the main reason I bought this set; to customise what I think is a potentially brilliant VW Camper along with the array of colours and pieces in general for other building uses. I failed. Strangely it comes with a brown treasure chest full of pink bows unless its candy? I can not pretend to understand this, sorry! The vehicle is not bad, good in fact. Its open top and happy but that's me thinking like a standard MF user. The Friends Minidolls of course dwarf MFs so anything they sit under or in has to accommodate this factor. The six stud van design has wheel arches and a brilliant medium blue and white colour scheme with some yellow. This final contrast is made by four seats in a well built up interior and these make great standard MF seats or beds. The superb footplate also holds any MF in place, very useful. Described as a minibus it has a lot of 'glass' around it though a well encompassed vehicle is nice to see. It also has wing mirrors, great curves front and back where the rare thought of a spare tyre is most welcome. A magenta badge finishes the front of the bus.The trailer is a lesser seen attachment that is very suitable for old vehicles and here is well made, connecting on to the bus' rear, just for towing that treasure chest! License plates don't have to be purple but in Friends it probably helps.
Pony Trek Central
As someone who moans about 'pink princess' culture I was after initial repulsion at the presentation of Friends put squarely in my place finding three sets of interest but why? Because for many collectors the sheer abundance and range of colours was enough to turn some of us green with envy. Worth mentioning in this set are: brick yellow, bright purple, brick yellowish green, dark orange, light purple, medium azure, medium blue (a favourite), medium lavender, dark red, sand yellow and a tiny cool silver. Those profile bricks feature in the main buildings and get those rustic colours put to great architectural use if potentially less traditional for some builders..Enter
The front gates are almost grand but short enough for a pony to jump over. The posts carry the red slanted bricks and beige and ear wax type shades as throughout the set which seems to work fine.
Kumbaya
A small build includes this decent little campfire, benches and marshmallows on toasting sticks and four (of course) mugs lined up. A pinky purple magazine of some sort just sits there with the camera but this whole model was a good idea and my preferred part of the set's designs.Mucking Out
The stables are a thin affair with one wall and... that's it! Its one of the best looking walls in the set and sort of hides all the well stowed equipment such as horse reigns. At least the ponies get a drinking trough and an apple. A small pony trap is a natural addition and fits well with the pony and its fill-in section, the part where a saddle otherwise goes. Some technic pieces make a kind of pen for the ponies and makes space for some riding practice no doubt. Its ok as a fence but not necessarily typical considering the available brick inventory for fence building.Wash
What I thought would be stables as a separate build turned out to be a toilet block with shower and green swing doors (window shutters). It includes surprisingly a ...really good toilet even with a cavity when you lift the lid. A toilet roll is also present on the wall which is of course essential. There is also a sink, mirror and tap. The front is signed with sticker clad tiles, ok for kids, not often for young fingers, fat fingers or collectors but at least the brick is then plain if you want just the brick and not the Friends images. The single line of 'roof' is somewhat disappointing.Eat
A small cafeteria with drinks machine and food cabinet starts displaying some really decent design ideas with arches, medium blue diamond framed windows and alternating brick effects. Stools are arranged with purple tops and this makes the ground floor of one of the main buildings. The hedgehog gets food in a bowl out on the lawn.Learn
The next ground floor is a classroom with blackboard and ward trophy display. Benches are lined for the gang to sit on while again an arched and signed entrance with cylinders and brick variation makes a higher quality building. This joins the other ground floor, both getting unique orange flower beds that are attractive. Consistently purple are the benches and entrance top.Sleep
This upstairs section gets a pink plate carpet and two large purple beds. A balcony has smart railings and plant pots, its all rather grand. The name camp suggests tents but this is sort of a faux Italian or luxury retreat in style. The single brick line roof is back on this build with a picture held high in the room. Flags fly on top but the open space just sits there.Bunk
Well its only one bunk bed but its suitable for two of the visitors, which would you chose, bed or bunk? A wash basin and cupboard give it that hostel feel but its still glorified outside with pots of flowers. This thin strip of 'roof' holds the clock instead of flowers and another picture for the room.Summer Redemption Camp
For a girl based play set I was eventually impressed that the predominant colour purple avoided a cliched pink and that genuine effort was made to create a brightly theme coloured yet realistic representation of some popular things girls might do in their holidays. Plus points include the interchangeable roofs and floors to make an array of buildings. Also you keep getting little restrained purple lines or stickers here and there which ties everything in to the theme. Where much could be customised and made to a child's liking are the 'accessory' builds: pot plants, drinks or cosmetics etc. However I think, as a girl aimed theme the average customer like one of any other theme is actually worth a lot more. I'm not happy with the atrocious roofs and levitation system floor access. A real scrimp when the larger minifigures require, and the target customer deserve, a little more for 8p a piece? That's not ideal. I found the yellow bricks in my set were obviously inconsistent, either as bright or lemon. Hopefully this is not a problem in many boxes.With its spick and span feel about everything being in its right place, the whole place does smack a little of OCD but maybe that's how some kids want a camp run?... and so it should also suit many AFOLs perfectly! :) Seeing other Friends sets I would not choose this one at full price when only one real, full roof might be made and for the want of stairs or a ladder at least. Its a pretty good set for some girls but neither best of theme nor great models in general. To help with disconnection the element separator is a great tool and welcome yet again. Which is just as well because past criticisms, the bricks are mostly superb for more varied building, raiding for large plates with all those colours and a worthwhile camper van. Alternative building is to personal taste, not just mine and the toy release stands up because I am probably not the sales target demographic for this set!
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