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LEGO 41702 Friends Canal Houseboat

£9.9£99Clearance
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Yet another notable items is that there are four minidolls in this set, and four different skintones. I love how LEGO is making Friends its pioneering theme for diversity. It looks like 2022 is a bit of a reboot year for Friends - more characters are introduced, more skintones, more characters with glasses, more male minidolls - I love all of these things! Mia is the Friend in this set. Mia has a new hairstyle, where she has hair cascading over one shoulder and she's wearing a blue fedora. I think this looks very hipster, and makes the Friend look a little bit older (similar to Stephanie with her beanie, who we'll see in another set). Mia is dressed appropriately for the houseboat with a halter top with sideknot, paired with her favourite green shorts. Her hat comes in handy to shield her face from the sun.

I'm very fond of canal boats, as I was brought up going on boating holidays and my parents have their own boat now. The colour scheme is not really traditional for a UK style narrowboat (this is more of a wide beam boat...) so I might see eventually if I can change it.The head is found just on the other side of the wall with the TV. For a Friends bathroom, it's very basic, and the shower, as previously noted, is outside. Or, for great play value, one side of the boat swings open to allow access. What a great idea, and looks brilliant. The designer has made maximum use of space by putting some kitchen utensils in compartments in the swing-out door. I didn't mention this above, but of course there's a Friends animal - it looks like a cat is a resident of the boat as well. This looks like Chico, Emma's cat.

The boat looks impressive on the outside - two levels, plus outside areas at the bow and stern. I love the colour scheme - very bright with the orange and yellow. I particularly like that pink is not a major colour in this set. I particularly like how the designer has included large round windows to provide lots of light inside the cabin. The addition of several plants throughout really give the boat a homey feel. Elijah is new to this set, and brings a new skintone to the minidoll world, which is very welcome. Elijah is dressed for a day in the sun with a white and orange t-shirt with bright yellow board shorts. One interesting note - Mia and Elijah arrive in the same bag. In the instruction book, the two of them are surrounded by hearts after assembly. Does this mean that Elijah is Mia's boyfriend? It would be about time, since until now, Emma is the only Friend who had a significant other. However, another new item in 2022 Friends sets is that each completed build is shown with hearts or stars around it, so it may just be coincidence.One of those is 41702 Canal Houseboat. There have been several boats in the Friends world, but this is the first houseboat to my recollection. Previous Friends boats have been very good, so I was very interested to see how this one would compare.

All in all, it's a very busy, functional, and attractive level. It lifts off easily from the main vessel to allow for more play possibilities. The first wave of 2022 Friends sets were revealed last week, and they look fantastic. It looks like Heartlake City is making some very positive changes. There's more diversity, both in gender and skintone, and there are some fresh takes on some subjects. There are four minidolls in this set - and in what's somewhat of a departure from previous years, there's only one Friend. Typically in larger sets that had four minifigures, at least two of them would be Friends. I like this as it allows for more characters to be introduced. Also notable in this set is that two of the minidolls are male coded. There's been a severe deficiency of male minidolls in Heartlake City, so I welcome more gender diversity here. The other area of the room has a set of drawers in which cutlery can be found that's underneath one of the large porthole windows. Next to that is a small wood fired oven, complete with flames. There's even two logs ready to throw on the fire. The fairy lights finish at the mast, which also holds the solar panel. Two small vegetable gardens are found in the front of the boat. The gardens must be healthy as there's a ladybug taking up residence in one of them.

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