My review on Friends Bricks: 41124 Heartlake Puppy Daycare

Although the summer sets have not been released yet in my area, once again I was fortunate enough to be given a few LEGO Friends sets to review.

My first review for the summer wave 2016 is 41124 Heartlake Puppy Daycare.



This set may look small but it's full of potentials!

And what's exciting for a minidollologist is the lovely Andrea mini-doll!
Find out what's so special about her in the review!

Andrea (2014)

There were 4 new Andrea mini-dolls in 2014. Once again, she was the one with the least appearances among the five Friends.





1) 41035 Heartlake Juice Bar
2) 41031 Andrea's Mountain Hut
3) 41038 Jungle Rescue Base
4) 30114 Andrea's Beach Lounge (promo/polybag) 

While it's a sad fact that Andrea is not featured as often as Stephanie, she does not get treated poorly or anything. She got two new tops (#2 and #3), and she even got a second pair of shorts (#3), while Mia, Olivia and Stephanie haven't even gotten their first pair!

#2's lovely blue top was given to Kate in The Adventure Guide book published by DK in 2015. #2's capri pants are also relatively uncommon; they were introduced with Joanna in 2013, and have not been used again since Andrea #2 wore them.

The top Andrea #1 is wearing may seem like a new design, but it's actually what Ella wore at the Summer Riding Camp in 2012. But Ella's looks faded compared to Andrea's. The photo below shows the two mini-dolls with the same face and torso designs, but the color variations make them look quite different from each other.

Big Andrea & Little Andrea

Today I am going to show you something a little different.



Yes, it's the mini-doll keychains!

The two normal mini-dolls on the right are there just for comparison.

The regular-sized keychain released in January 2016 is of course a basic Andrea mini-doll with a key ring attached on top of her head. All her parts seem to be glued on so they won't come apart easily. But her arms, legs and neck can move just like a regular mini-doll.

The big one is a perfect copy of the Andrea mini-doll in a larger size. Unlike the regular-sized mini-doll, she can neither bow nor sit. Only her arms are posable.

Big Andrea has additional print details on the front of her skirt which her smaller counterpart does not have. And how cute it is that the design contains a pink 2x4 brick!


Her back hides the battery. When you press the button on her tummy, the lights on her feet come on.



By the way, if a mini-doll is this big, should it be called a maxi-doll or a mega-doll?

Mmm... neither of them sounds quite right.

Let's just call it a big mini-doll for now.

Andrea (2013)

In 2013 Andrea was back with brighter green eyes than the year before.





1) 30107 Birthday Party (promo/polybag)
2) 41008 Heartlake City Pool
3) 41009 Andrea's Bedroom

Andrea was the first of the five Friends to get a bikini top, as well as the brand new leg piece wearing a pair of shorts. Kate also wore the shorts in blue that year, but the light skinned girls didn't start wearing shorts until Emma got her pink pair in 2014.

Actually, no one else seems to love wearing shorts as much as Andrea does. She owns them in 3 different colors. She has also appeared every year since 2013 wearing shorts at least once.

Andrea got new tops with her signature motif again in 2013, just like Emma, Olivia and Stephanie did.



The bikini top has large and small hibiscus flowers all over, and if you look very closely, you will see a couple of inconspicuous musical notes designs.

The other new top is a simple white sleeveless shirt adorned with a double-strand necklace. The musical note charms accentuates the otherwise plain chain necklace.

Andrea (2012)

In my previous posts, I have presented Olivia, Stephanie, Mia and Emma from 2012.

Today is Andrea's turn, and for a particular reason I didn't feature her until all the other four Friends have been introduced.



Just take a look!






It just doesn't seem fair, does it?

Andrea appeared in the four following sets in 2012:

1) 3061 City Park Cafe
2) 30100 Beach (promo/polybag)
3) 3938 Andrea's Bunny House
4) 3932 Andrea's Stage

Mia, Stephanie and Olivia were in 7 sets, and Emma in 6.

Even if we don't count special sets like DK book with Mia or the promotional Stephanie polybag, Andrea was still in two less sets than her four Friends.

Anyway, both her yellow signature top and her alternate green halter top appeared in two different sets in 2012. Since Andrea is a talented singer, the motif that represents her is the music notes. Her green top also shows a butterfly, which is the Friends' motif as a group, previously seen on Mia's and Emma's tops.

Andrea #1 has her top in a slightly darker shade of yellow than #2. Her signature shirt from later years have the lighter shade like that worn by #2.

The back side looks like this:


Interestingly, Andrea's top was not redesigned in 2015. But the parts painted in white became more enhanced and visible.



You may have also noticed that her eye colors are different in the last photo. Her green eyes got a lighter shade in 2013.