Review: 41426 Heartlake City Park Cafe
Posted by MeganL,Continuing on our Friends saga for the second half of this year.....Stephanie must have gotten tired of the jungle pretty quickly, as she's returned to Heartlake City in 41426 Heartlake City Park Café. I've noticed this set described as Heartlake Waffle House on a European site, which I think is a far more appropriate set name. It looks like Stephanie has set up shop for yet another Heartlake City restaurant, because apparently the Friends cannot get enough to eat. What makes this one different than the rest?
The West Coast outpost of Brickset Towers is in the process of relocating, which means a new temporary photography location set up for which to get the lighting right. And if that wasn't enough change already, I decided to try a new backdrop colour, perhaps more fitting for Friends sets.
Upon opening the box, there are two numbered bags, a 2x16 plate, a 8x16 plate, an instruction booklet, and a rather large sticker sheet for a set of this size. The window stickers take up most of the real estate.
Minidolls and animals
Stephanie and Mia are the minidolls in the set. Having two minidolls is a pleasant surprise considering the price point of this set ($20), That's the second small set this year I've reviewed that's had two minidolls. I hope this is a trend, and hopefully this means minidolls are getting a bit more economical to make, so maybe we will see more of them in sets. The minidoll population does not equal minifig populations in sets of similar size, so hopefully that will be changing.
In any event, Stephanie is in an outfit that is new this year. She's wearing a dark red halter top that goes nicely with the textured pink apron that's worn over top. There's a nice printed detail of a stylized pastry on the front bib of the apron. Getting the maximum use of the apron that we first saw in 41393 Baking Competition, we see Stephanie wear it again here. Mia is also wearing an outfit we've seen before, with a orange sleeveless top with lightning bolts printed on it and a highwaisted belt, plus khaki shorts and orange shoes. Although I didn't take a picture of the back of the minidolls, both have some nice printing on the back, particularly Stephanie's crisscrossing apron ties.
The cute animal included in the set is a squirrel. There's no real explanation provided around its presence, though the set description mentions that Mia can play with the squirrel while waiting for a snack. I’m not sure that's a concept I'd be promoting…..I prefer to think that the squirrel is hanging around just in case it can get a waffle snack itself.
Of course, as Stephanie's the proprietor of the waffle house, Mia as a customer has to get there somehow, so a nifty skateboard is included. One must have the appropriate safety equipment, so a helmet is provided too. However, I can't help feeling that the helmet and skateboard colours really clash with Mia's overall look.
The completed model
There are two smaller builds included - a sign indicating hours of operation for the waffle house, and a table set ready for the Friends to enjoy their waffles. Containers of syrup and jam are on the table, and the area is shaded by an umbrella. I like the addition of some floral pieces here - it ties in well with the floral decoration on the main part of the build.
The main build is the café itself. For those who don't like the open back Friends buildings - you really won't like this building as there's really only the façade. But a lovely façade it is, with large windows giving a glimpse to the counter inside. A brick built sign on top of the windows shows the purpose for the building. There's scrollwork on the windows and some flower boxes, although those details are provided by large stickers. With transparent stickers that large, it's a bit of a challenge to get them placed without getting fingerprints on them. My usual sticker applicators (a brick separator) have all been packed, I hadn't opened one of the larger sets I have with me yet, and I'm not very adept with tweezers.
The windows are French doors, and swing open outward to welcome customers. There are brick built floral details on this side of the door. The bright reddish violet window frames are new to this set.
Looking at the build from the back shows all the details included in the shop.
One side of the shop shows the waffle making station along with the menu for the shop. I love the waffle iron, though I'm a little mystified how the waffle iron made the waffles with the strawberry already on top.
The other side shows a smoothie/shake making machine, with a sticker showing all the possible ingredients. Yes, I know the top of the smoothie is off-centre. I don't know about when you make smoothies, but mine tend to look like this rather than be perfectly centred.
The inside counter has a lot of detail. I particularly wanted to feature the new 1x1 heart tile with a waffle print. It's new to this set and I think makes for a great addition to the LEGO food world.
The back isn't quite as interesting, but provides some detail nonetheless.
Overall thoughts
I firmly believe the European site was correct and this set is much more accurately described as waffle house. The "house" would be a stretch, as there's really only one wall. But I do very much like the French doors and their floral design. Also, the designers would be rather limited in just how much of a structure they could include in a set of this size (224 pieces, $19.99, £17.99, 19.49€). For the price, this set gets the job done.
I just reviewed 41421 Baby Elephant Jungle Rescue, which is at the same price point. While there is play value in 41426 Heartlake Waffle House (aka City Park Café), I think 41421 is a better buy for this price.
Many thanks to LEGO for providing a copy of this set for review. All opinions expressed are mine.
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17 comments on this article
I love the look of this set. It really does feel like a small eatery/food stall located within a park—with the huge french doors feeling like ones that open up at the start of the business day and are shut for security when the business closes for the day. The novelty of the waffle theme only adds to the appeal.
The English name of the set makes sense when you consider that in the U.S., the diner/restaurant chain Waffle House has a trademark on that term that they have sued over in the past. So instead they seem to have opted for a name that calls back to 3061 City Park Café, one of the Friends sets from the theme's very first wave. The structure of this one isn't entirely dissimilar to that older set, albeit smaller—and truth be told, I do prefer the more subdued magenta, white and pink color scheme of this set to the in-your-face bright red roof of the earlier version.
Why does my favorite character Mia keep getting awesome and beautiful outfits? I keep wanting to collect sets with her in it but there's too many!
At least this is a small set with a decent number of those waffle tiles, those new magenta window frames which are also a must-have for me, and at least an 8x16 plate, among other things. So I'll probably get this one at a modest discount, to use as a parts pack.
What a neat little build; of course it would be nicer if it were more complete, but it works well as-is.
Nice review too! How do you think the 'open' shop would look if you popped out the window panes and flipped them so the stickers were visible during opening hours? What with the floral decorations above the French windows, that would seem to make more sense.
Blue background's indeed good for these colours.
Friends building sets are more of an encouraging beginning build, and then you finish the rest.
I’m not really a fan of the Friends sets, but this one looks awesome. Maybe it is because of the cool pieces?
On the whole only want this for the waffle heart pieces, but now seeing this sorta makes me want the whole set.
Cute set.
The image at the top had me thinking this was one of the weakest buildings I'd ever seen in a set, but now that I see that it's a result of (violet) French doors and that it has numerous types of waffle pieces, I love it!
@Lyichir said:
"the diner/restaurant chain Waffle House"
Growing up in Georgia where there's a Waffle House on every other corner, this was the first thing I thought of.
This set first appeared on set lists as Waffle House.
I like the set, but I think the same priced Hair Salon of earlier in the year is a nicer building.
Set certainly has nice details tho.
Also could be integrated in the building from like 41427-1: Emma's Fashion Shop if you got multiple sets.
I bought this set just because I thought it was really sweet, even despite the usual Friends building issues (where the building is more of a facade). I love the French doors, and how they give the cafe a lovely airy, outdoors feeling. Plus, I really liked all the greenery and flowers. You know, it very much feels like an outdoor, garden cafe. The umbrella-and-table mini-build was really cute too.
Of course, when I opened my copy, the sticker sheet was crumpled and crushed. Half the stickers had already peeled off, rendering them worthless. I used to contact Lego about this, to get a replacement sticker sheet ... but this happens so often (particularly with Friends and Ninjago sets) that, these days? I don't even bother.
I hate stickers.
It's a shame the "cafe" doesn't have more for walls.
@Zordboy said:
"I bought this set just because I thought it was really sweet, even despite the usual Friends building issues (where the building is more of a facade). I love the French doors, and how they give the cafe a lovely airy, outdoors feeling. Plus, I really liked all the greenery and flowers. You know, it very much feels like an outdoor, garden cafe. The umbrella-and-table mini-build was really cute too.
Of course, when I opened my copy, the sticker sheet was crumpled and crushed. Half the stickers had already peeled off, rendering them worthless. I used to contact Lego about this, to get a replacement sticker sheet ... but this happens so often (particularly with Friends and Ninjago sets) that, these days? I don't even bother.
I hate stickers."
That happened to me for the first time with 40305, as well as a very yellowed trans-clear 1x6x5 panel. Disappointed to hear it's a frequent occurrence.
Lovely set with unique build!
This looks nice like all the other Friends sets but those heart shaped waffles really need to be on the Pick A Brick wall so we can load up! I love those things.
Trips to the jungle to rescue wildlife don’t pay for themselves you know...
It is a shame about all the stickers used in these sets, but they do put out the surprising printed parts from time to time (like the heart shaped waffles in this case)