Review: 41424 Jungle Rescue Base
Posted by MeganL,The jungle subtheme in the Friends sets this year have included some lovely moving functions and of course, some very cute animals.
The largest of these sets is 41424 Jungle Rescue Base. This is the second set so named; the first (41038) came in the first jungle subtheme in 2014 - it doesn't seem like six years ago! This rescue base has been upgraded in size and parts count, with arguably more interesting animals. Everyone seems excited about the elephants, but I'll make an argument that this set gives you the most adorable animal yet - the sloth.
(Spoiler alert: I like the sloths. Expect many sloth pictures in this review.)
Inside the box to build the jungle rescue base there are five bags numbered 1 through 4, two unnumbered bags (containing larger plates, slides, elephants, and a single piece of purple roller coaster track), an instruction book and booklet, and a medium sized sticker sheet. I call it medium sized - it's about the same size as the sticker sheet from 41426, which was a much smaller set.
Instructions Plus is also offered with this set. However, while I could download the set into my LEGO Life app, when attempting to open it the app continued to tell me the set was supported as my app was not up to date. (It is). Another challenge for the LEGO IT department, I suppose.
Minidolls and Animals
In our previous jungle rescue sets, we've met three of the five Friends - Emma, Andrea, and Stephanie. Now we know where the others have been hiding - here at the rescue base! It makes sense, really, as Mia is the Friend who seems to take care of the animals, and Olivia is the Friend who uses her science knowledge to get things done. We find them both stationed here at the base.
All the Friends are in outfits that are new this year, their 2020 jungle attire. Olivia wears a top that is….quite busy. It appears to be two tops - a red one overlaid with a strappy green shirt. She also has a high waisted double bound red belt with a green satchel attached and a pale green kerchief around her neck. That top has it going on! Her sand green skirt is a good complement to the multi-colour montage on top, as and coral shoes with purple soles. Mia has a Native American inspired print sleeveless vest with zipper over a sand green tank, which pairs perfectly with the sand green shorts and purple shoes. We met Andrea in 41423 Tiger Hot Air Balloon Rescue, and she wears the same outfit here.
All three minidolls have some pretty intricate printing on the back, which I'm happy to see. I think I like the printing on the back of Mia's vest the best.
All three minidolls come with accessories on this set. Olivia has a drone for searching for animals in trouble along with a controller. Is it me or does it look like the drone could be Zobo? Andrea has a walkie talkie, for communicating back to the base, and Mia is outfitted with all the accessories to check out the animals when they arrive. The x-rya image of the elephant is provided by a sticker.
Friends sets always have cute animals, which has gone into overdrive with these National Geographic sets. We have a small menagerie, with a turtle, two elephants (mom and baby), and two sloths. The elephants are adorable, particularly the baby, but I love the sloths.
The completed model
Our adventure starts with two sloths minding their own business in the middle of the jungle. One is overseeing BBQ'ing a rather burnt sausage over a small campfire, while the other is just hanging around.
Sloths really shouldn’t try to cook, as there are unfortunate consequences. The tree catches on fire, thanks to a small moving function. Unfortunately, this is the only moving function in the set.
One sloth manages to get away, but one is still stuck in the tree. However, help is not far away, thanks to a quad bike. The quad bike is rather a mishmash of colour! There are a few supplies on hand for basic care on the go.
Andrea's there quickly to rescue the sloth, who seems to appreciate the ride.
On the way back, the sloths find a suitable alternative to the burnt sausage left behind - who knew they liked pizza?
Eating that much pizza can tire a sloth out, so it's a good thing that Mia and Andrea were able to stop by their sleeping quarters on their way back to the base. There are only three beds here, so apparently the rescue efforts allow for just three Friends on the base at a time. Based on the colours on the beds, I'm guessing Stephanie and Emma come down for day trip rescues.
Finally, the sloths make it back to the base, composed of two towers in trees on opposite sides of a river.
The front is very attractive - the back is much more utilitarian, but has nice details with the foliage and the spider.
The sloths were happy to be rescued, so didn't hesitate bounding up the stairs to the exam area.
At the top of the stairs there's a fully outfitted exam area. There's an exam table and a fully stocked medicine cabinet. The small fridge has a small bottle of medicine inside. There's plenty of lighting in the room, thanks in part to the solar panel located on the roof.
The sloths wasted no time in making themselves at home, especially after being treated.
After treatment, the sloths decided to stay for a while and make themselves at home. They headed across the river to the other tower thanks to the rope bridge. The use of a piece of roller coaster track is some inspired parts usage! The sloths think so too, as they're able to find someplace to hang around even on the bridge.
Upon crossing the bridge, the sloths find a landing platform, that includes a resting spot for Olivia's drone/Zobo. A ladder leads upstairs, and - more importantly and more fun - there's a slide that takes them down to the bottom of the tree.
Leaving fun until later, the sloths go to the next floor up, which is the top of the observation tower.
There's a computer station with the screen showing location of wildlife (provided by a sticker) as well as a telescope, for those times when Olivia wants to confirm what the technology is telling her. This technology is also solar powered, so the Friends have a pretty green operation going on here. Of course, the sloths love to supervise.
But once Olivia's back is turned, the sloths waste no time in taking over themselves.
Climbing - and sliding - all the way to the bottom of the tree, the sloths find a perch on which to rest.
It really wouldn't be a Friends set without a bathroom, so one is provided for the Friends in the back of one of the trees.
Finally, the sloths make their way to the river, where they find their friends the elephants and the turtle. The mother elephant has been busy carrying water. It shouldn’t be surprising that the elephant's ears have a heart shape included in the printing.
Naturally, she's keeping on eye on the baby elephant, portrayed here in a delightful lavender colour. Not exactly a realistic shade, but a charming one nonetheless. I really love the use of a transparent blue feather tile (new this year) to show water spraying from the baby's trunk. There's a brush close by in case Mia wants to give either of the elephants a bath.
Naturally, where there's water, there's a turtle hanging out among the flowers on the river. I particularly like the water lily.
Overall thoughts
I think the sloths highly approve of this rescue base! Not only do they have a place to hang out - literally, but it has pizza, comfy beds, and Friends taking care of them. One could argue it's much better than a burnt sausage in the jungle.
This is a set that offers a number of play opportunities. I was hoping there would be more moving functions in the set - oh how I miss the Elves sets from a few years ago that had multiple moving functions incorporated in them. However, there's enough going on that it offsets that a bit. As with all the sets in this subtheme, there are a number of new colours of parts, and the animals are new. An inventory of this set can be found here.
The premise of 41424 Jungle Rescue Base is almost exactly the same as its predecessor, 41038. The earlier base also had an infirmary, an observation deck with a slide, a rescue vehicle (in that case, a boat), and the all important Friends bathroom. 41424 has almost 200 more pieces and is $20 more expensive (648 pieces, $79.99, £74.99, 77.97€) and has been expanded accordingly. There's more detail provided, more of a story, and while 41038 has several animals, I think the sloths in 41424 are cuter than all of the animals in the earlier set.
I can see this making for a great birthday or Christmas present. Most of the parents I've discussed these sets with love the National Geographic partnership, and having that graphic visible this year on the set boxes has made it that much more attractive to buy for their kids. When I was in a brand store last weekend (for the first time in many months), the staff there told me that the Nat Geo sets are very popular, so much so I haven't been able to get my hands on 41432 Alpaca Mountain Jungle Rescue yet. When I do, there will be a review of that too, but not before I finish the other set in this subtheme, 41422 Panda Jungle Tree House.
Many thanks to LEGO for providing a copy of this set for review. All opinions expressed are mine (and maybe the sloths').
86 likes
31 comments on this article
Excellent review! I am a fan of the sloths as well.
Each new animal mould in Friends range is so adorable. Wether they are see, air or land ones ( and even if colours chosen can be a bit odd sometimes), they are all marvels to look at. Thank you for the review of this beautiful and very playful set.
That was a great review!
Gotta get me some sloths now...
Great set, but I like the Alpaca rescue way more :D
That poor sloth was just trying to help cook but nearly burned down the jungle.
Was hoping for more sloths
The elephants are the main draw for me for this set. Unfortunately, they look very Duplo-ish.
I love this review, it reminds me of the stories I make in the pictures of My Lego City in the Forum. How do the elephants stack up with regular mini figures?
I came to the review ONLY to see if it had a toilet like the previous set.
The review did not disappoint! :)
Didn't look at the set. Just saw the sloths... ;-)
Why doesn't make Lego more animals in the city line? A zoo would be sooooo great!
I love how many animals they are now including in the sets. I hope they keep it up :)
Friends is clearly a girls-theme, right. And me having just 2 sons, ... This theme will hardly ever get on our wishlist, you know... But i just loooove these jungle sets. They're well executed, bright colour schemes, a wonderful range of adorable animals (which we ALL love right?), the builds make you wanna be IN the set and play around ... It all has this happy feel!
If only I had a little baby daughter ... She would be getting this whole range! :)
I wish the big elephant had a mini peg hole on top it's head, then they could've reused it for the transformed Abu from Aladdin
Slothtastic review.
you weren't kidding about loving sloths.. haha! nice set and perhaps it can be combined with the Ewok Village and have some Ewoks roaming around. i think Leia will approve.
new sloth molds are pretty cute and cool.
@lORDoFtHEbOARD said:
"Friends is clearly a girls-theme, right. And me having just 2 sons, ... This theme will hardly ever get on our wishlist, you know... But i just loooove these jungle sets. They're well executed, bright colour schemes, a wonderful range of adorable animals (which we ALL love right?), the builds make you wanna be IN the set and play around ... It all has this happy feel!
If only I had a little baby daughter ... She would be getting this whole range! :)"
Who needs a child for an excuse to buy LEGO : ). Maybe if you bought some Friends sets your boys would enjoy playing with them with you!
P.S. Being an adult male I have bought Friends sets on occasion for myself as well as the whole Elves theme.
So there's a toilet installed in the back of the tree? When nature calls, eh?
Lovely review. You know, for sloths, the two of them were awfully active and adventurous :).
I gotta say, though. The plate on top of the observation tower that wasn't quite pressed down propertly ... that's like the visual equivalent of nails on a chalkboard, heh.
The elephant x-ray sticker is adorable.
Looks like the sloths have been having fun with the big elephant.
Wish the sloths arms were different. Overall this set is a bit of a disappointment.
Ahh humans, blaming the Amazon Rainforest burning on the poor, innocent sloths and their delectable sausage barbecue. We all know the real culprit are the “friends” and their backdoor timber mining operation. Just look at the amount of wood needed to construct that base. Gotta come from somewhere... [two severed tree tops casually roll down the cliffside]
Loving the sloths too. But it's rather unfortunate on the placing of their stud hole though... :-)
Thank you for the long review and the story with the tree helped explain what this part was for. This is a more joined up and larger tree house with longer slide than the previous version so should be popular. The sloths need to be careful on the bridge as the end steps are missing. You have also explained how Andrea was going to fit into a mini-fig buggy which had me stumped?
So happy I added a sloth to my Bricks and Pieces order :) He'll be right at home in Barracude Bay!
@lORDoFtHEbOARD said:
"Friends is clearly a girls-theme, right. And me having just 2 sons, ... This theme will hardly ever get on our wishlist, you know... But i just loooove these jungle sets. They're well executed, bright colour schemes, a wonderful range of adorable animals (which we ALL love right?), the builds make you wanna be IN the set and play around ... It all has this happy feel!
If only I had a little baby daughter ... She would be getting this whole range! :)"
I have 4 boys who all LOVE animals. So we have several Friends sets -- they ignore the mini-dolls completely, and if the build has just *too* much pink, we swap out some pieces for a different colour from our collection.
Amazingly, Ninjago and super hero minifigures battle just as wildly in a vet's office or jungle rescue base as anywhere else...
@TheRightP_art said: "Ahh humans, blaming the Amazon Rainforest burning on the poor, innocent sloths and their delectable sausage barbecue. We all know the real culprit are the “friends” and their backdoor timber mining operation. Just look at the amount of wood needed to construct that base. Gotta come from somewhere... [two severed tree tops casually roll down the cliffside"
I have to admit, the overly-saccharine sweetness of Heartlake City and it's denizens is much more palatable to me, personally, when I imagine that those kids are secretly up to all kinds of trouble when nobody's looking.
I just loved this review. The set looked good too. I was thinking of buying it for my daughter. Now I just have to.
I can’t wait to read the review on the alpaca and panda sets
Just ordered me some sloths, great review!
If you would get rid of all that pink and hearts this could be a good set.
Great review! A great bit of story potential in this set that you didn't mention in your review is that the mother elephant could be carrying the bucket of water to help put out the fire!
All in all, I feel like the design of this base feels a lot more coherent than that of the 2014 one, which felt slightly more piecemeal to me. The trees and river do a lot to establish a thriving jungle environment, and evoke the same sort of harmonious natural details that I loved so much about the Elves theme (which I still miss… ;_;). The rope bridge built using a roller coaster track piece is also extremely clever!
The drone does indeed seem to be this set's version of Zobo! It's a little bulky compared to his drone transformation in the "Girls on a Mission" animated series, but his signature head piece still does a great job communicating his identity.
I love how the last few years of sets have started varying Zobo's design to suit different missions, and it's genuinely really inspiring to think about other Zobo variants to MOC. A Firefighting Zobo with a fire helmet and built-in water cannon? An Astronaut Zobo with a space helmet and rocket boosters instead of wheels? A Mining Zobo with a mining helmet, tracks, and drill arms? A Halloween Zobo with tiny demon horns and a trick-or-treating basket? A Tabletop Role-Playing Zobo with a wizard hat and game manual? There are so many possibilities to explore!
I'm also totally with you in loving how they've finally started rolling out detailed back printing for mini-dolls this year. These outfits feel like some of the most detailed ones yet!
So excited for what else this theme might have to offer in the future!