Review: 41702 Canal Houseboat
Posted by MeganL,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.
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.
It's a new Heartlake City, and that's obviously even from the packaging. The packaging is substantially the same in colour and styling. There is one noticeable difference - typically the upper right corner of the package has an inset where all five Friends are shown. That's no longer there in 2022 sets.
Another change noticed in 2022 sets - in the instruction books, there's a bar chart printed along the bottom of the page. The coloured-in section shows how close the build is to completion.
Inside the box there are seven numbered bags, one unnumbered bag with the boat hull pieces, a bound instruction book, and a sticker sheet, which is largely devoted to stickers that will adorn the hull of the houseboat.
Minidolls
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.
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.
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.
Layla is also introduced in this set. She's dressed typically for the Friends world, with a metallic fuchsia and silver strapless top paired with a blue miniskirt. Her hair is pulled back with a top-knot ponytail. Rounding out the foursome is Sebastian. He has some fabulous blond hair, and is dressed in a yellow t-shirt with a varsity jacket with jeans. Something tells me that Sebastian is the coolest kid in school. Both Layla and Sebastian are wearing glasses, which is also very exciting - there have been very few minidolls wearing glasses, so I'm always happy to see more.
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.
We'll interrupt this conversation on diversity to talk about the accessories - there's a skateboard and a bicycle included in the build. The skateboard is decorated with a sticker, while the bicycle has a nice flowerbox in the front, and a storage spot for a helmet. I'm sure Mia will swap the fedora for the helmet before she starts to ride.
The completed model
There's just one small auxiliary build for the model - a dock. It's easy enough for a minidoll to step off the boat onto the dock (or vice versa). On the dock there's a veggie stand with plenty of fresh produce (rather pricey, from the looks of the sticker on the sign. It's not quite visible in this picture, but the 1x1 tile with bee print makes a recurrence on top of a jar of honey. The 1x4 tiles with the plank design and nails are printed pieces (again). I've never understood why LEGO goes back and forth on making these printed pieces and going to stickers.
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.
The bow of the boat has an outside area perfect for enjoying a beverage and a cupcake. Two stools are also provided. It's here that we see the name of the boat, "Josefine", as well as the number 15, both provided by stickers. I don't know what significance these have; I suspect we'd have to ask the set and graphic designers. The living area is accessed by two doors.
The stern has another open area, this time for an open air shower - not surprising, as there won't be much room in the head on the inside of the boat. There's a flight of stairs leading to the upper deck. This time the plank pieces on the staircase have the benefit of wood grain from stickers. Also to be noted is a pair of paint cans and a paint roller under the stairs, not coincidentally in similar colours as what you see on the boat. A single door gains access to the living quarters. You can see in this picture that the entire upper deck lifts off for greater play - clearly I didn't snug that down before taking this picture!
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.
Taking a look inside the boat, there's a small kitchen with a sink, a food prep area and a stovetop. Based on the food in the area, I'm guessing breakfast is about to be prepared wit the eggs and what looks to be pancake batter in the bowl. Good thing the skillet is handy in one of the nearby compartments! There are two stools close by, which I originally thought was for an eating area for the kitchen, but instead I think they're for watching the TV, which has video game capability, based on the video game controller on the wall. Stickers in Friends sets tend to foreshadow sets coming later in the year. In this case the screen is showing a large treehouse with a beehive. In this case, I think the TV is referencing 41703 Friendship Tree House, which features Olivia as a beekeeper.
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.
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 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.
Finishing off the inside area, there are two beds - a double bed on the bottom level, and a twin on the top. However, there's no means of getting to the upper bunk - maybe a Friend just has to jump on the bottom mattress? This provides sleeping quarters for three, but there are four minidolls in the set. Maybe the fourth sleeps on the couch on the upper deck?
Speaking of which, the upper deck also has a lot of details. There's a tabletop fireplace set in the middle of a brightly coloured seating arrangement.
The setting is perfect for friends to gather around.
Note: sloths not included in this set, though they do complement the colour palette...
At the stern, there's a DJ station, showing Andrea's influence even though she's not in the set. Apparently all the Friends hang out on the houseboat. A tropical drink with a flowery garnish is found on this table. An apple tree finishes off the stern, and provides the post for one of end of the fairy lights strung across the deck. The new green watering can is barely visible in this picture, and there's plant next to it (not in the picture)
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.
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.
Overall thoughts
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!
The main model is great. It's a fun build with lots of fun colours. Critics of the Friends line that have complained about "too much pink" will find nothing to complain about here. This model would fit in with any city. I love the balance the designer has struck between the practical - the kitchen, bathroom, sleeping areas inside - and the whimsical with the fairy lights, the apple tree and all the plants and finishing touches on the model (many of which I neglected to mention). I love the swing-out feature of the main boat and the fact the upper level lifts off, maximising play opportunities.
According to lego.com, this set is 737 pieces and will retail for $79.99 U.S. I'm really looking forward to the Friends line this year.
Many thanks to LEGO for providing a copy of this set for review. All opinions expressed are mine.
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36 comments on this article
I love this set! It's incredibly wholesome, and not something we've seen in Lego form that I can recall, except maybe as a creator set.
Really love this set. I usually am pretty limited in my buying of Friends sets, but this one is definitely going on the list!
I'm beginning to think that none of the designers in LEGO are old enough to have ever seen a record player: the arm is incorrectly positioned on the left, as it is in Vidiyo sets!
Great review, as always, Megan.
I have a question for you... Are the Friends accessories, such as the bicycle in this set, compatible with normal Lego minifigures?
Looks like a couple of features carried over from 31093 Riverside Houseboat, which isn't a bad thing.
As mentioned, a much better colour scheme and I'm liking the diversity of figures. This is the first Friends set I might actual consider buying.
I like the fedora hair piece. I'd like to see how it looks on a regular figure.
is this the new shade of yellow? or is it the old Bright Light Yellow / Cool Yellow?
if the former, it would be interesting to see the available parts
Great model! This will dock permanently in my harbour :). I guess the number ‘15’ is the street number (adress) and ‘Josefine’ is the name of the wessel. It is a boat afterall.
^ As a Star Trek fan, I can't help but assume your dock is in Alameda...
Can't have enough fedoras in the world as far as I'm concerned! Love a good hat.
I'll be a little disappointed if the Girls on a Mission series has wound down in favor of a new canon, which would also explain the possibility of Mia being with someone other than River. But I really, really love Mia's hat in this.
@1992pb said:
"is this the new shade of yellow? or is it the old Bright Light Yellow / Cool Yellow?
if the former, it would be interesting to see the available parts"
It's cool yellow.
Looks great!
I am very very excited for this. I have always thought Friends or City should have a canal boat. I have been jealous that Sylvanian Families fans (Calico Critters to you Americans) have had one for years. My hometown has a canal running through it so I grew up seeing the beautiful boats (in non covid times they have an annual Canal Day festival). A couple of years back I found a childhood notebook from when I had walked the canal path and written down all the names of the boats. I lived in Stratford upon Avon for a while and used to often see the Rosie and Jim boat which always got me excited even though I was age 23 !! (I don't know if that means anything to non UK folks) I regularly turned my Fabuland Paddle Steamer into a Houseboat for Hannah Hippo to live in so this is clearly the set I have been waiting years for.
So excited.
@Huw said:
"I'm beginning to think that none of the designers in LEGO are old enough to have ever seen a record player: the arm is incorrectly positioned on the right, as it is in Vidiyo sets!"
All the record players I've seen in the USA, including the ones my parents have had for years, have the arm on the right.
@iwybs said:
" @Huw said:
"I'm beginning to think that none of the designers in LEGO are old enough to have ever seen a record player: the arm is incorrectly positioned on the right, as it is in Vidiyo sets!"
All the record players I've seen in the USA, including the ones my parents have had for years, have the arm on the right."
I think Huw meant the reverse. Look at the photos here: the turntable has its arm positioned on the left side.
@bookmum said:
"I am very very excited for this. I have always thought Friends or City should have a canal boat. I have been jealous that Sylvanian Families fans (Calico Critters to you Americans) have had one for years. My hometown has a canal running through it so I grew up seeing the beautiful boats (in non covid times they have an annual Canal Day festival). A couple of years back I found a childhood notebook from when I had walked the canal path and written down all the names of the boats. I lived in Stratford upon Avon for a while and used to often see the Rosie and Jim boat which always got me excited even though I was age 23 !! (I don't know if that means anything to non UK folks) I regularly turned my Fabuland Paddle Steamer into a Houseboat for Hannah Hippo to live in so this is clearly the set I have been waiting years for.
So excited."
Yessss I've grown up near the Erie Canal, and I see boats like this all the time! I really hope I can get this! It's the model I never knew I wanted until now!
Friends turned into a great "City" line, while "City" sadly became "4+" and "4+" is now "Mickey and Friends".
The only thing missing are a "Friendship Train" (with optional PU motor compatibility), and "Heart Lake City Main Station".
Maybe FlagsNZ will come on and give us a review of riverboats.
Terrific set! ALmost all big boats from Friends were good!
I completely agree - Friends is the best of the 2022 waves! Love the diversity of characters. Looking forward to the review of the big bonanza apartment building!
This reminds me of a previous Friends set, 41395, the Friendship Bus. All its missing is a slide! Its like its the bus on water. Not saying that's a bad thing, they are both snazzy looking sets. Thanks for the review!
I really want to get this set. I do have some Friends sets but haven't bought any large ones brand new, so this will be a first. Though I really like the treehouse too. I think as a subject it works really well for a set seeins as they're naturally compact living environments which pack a lot of things in a small space.
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 hire boats we went on when I was a child had bunk beds and they never had a ladder - even as a kid I managed just fine. Though there was a railing to keep you in which is lacking here!
Also, I've never heard a canal boat toilet referred to as a head. Would be interested to know if other countries' houseboats use the nautical terminology? Just 'toilet' on board every inland boat I've been on. Also thankfully the shower has always been inside! I would not fancy outdoor showers in the autumn.
@Dare_Wreck said:
" @iwybs said:
" @Huw said:
"I'm beginning to think that none of the designers in LEGO are old enough to have ever seen a record player: the arm is incorrectly positioned on the right, as it is in Vidiyo sets!"
All the record players I've seen in the USA, including the ones my parents have had for years, have the arm on the right."
I think Huw meant the reverse. Look at the photos here: the turntable has its arm positioned on the left side."
Probably the range that was made for the christian folks who wanted the ease of checking the backmwards masked records at the right speed.
@Dare_Wreck said:
" @iwybs said:
" @Huw said:
"I'm beginning to think that none of the designers in LEGO are old enough to have ever seen a record player: the arm is incorrectly positioned on the right, as it is in Vidiyo sets!"
All the record players I've seen in the USA, including the ones my parents have had for years, have the arm on the right."
I think Huw meant the reverse. Look at the photos here: the turntable has its arm positioned on the left side."
Doh! I don't know my left from my right! The arm is always on the right. In LEGO sets it seems to be on the left, and in Vidiyo sets it was positioned in such a way that the record would need to turn anticlockwise for it to work!
I love how this looks, but it is a tad expensive, it think I would still pick the treehouse over this but friends is as good as always with these new sets
Actually super hyped for this!!
Actually I believe this set actually isn't that good. Just a boxy house with flat roof on top of large hull pieces.
@The_Sly_Fox: The bike is a standard minifig bike.
It would be nice to see Mia's head piece on regular minifigures. How big would it be over them?
The part usage and overall design might be good, but the colour combination is hideous even without the usual pink. And I always thought designers know their colour harmony charts. Well, I guess it's normal for Friends.
@R0Sch said:
"The part usage and overall design might be good, but the colour combination is hideous even without the usual pink. And I always thought designers know their colour harmony charts. Well, I guess it's normal for Friends."
I personally fine the colours lovely and cute, but everyone can have their own opinion
@Norikins said:
"Actually I believe this set actually isn't that good. Just a boxy house with flat roof on top of large hull pieces. "
It's not the most exciting structure (it doesn't "wow" me the way previous Friends boats like the Dolphin Cruiser or Sunshine Catamaran did), but with a spacious, easily accessed interior with plenty of furnishings, it looks like it'd be great for playing with. And that's really more of the objective for most of these sorts of sets—they're for kids, after all.
Friends sets have been steadily improving over the past few years, but 2022 wave looks like it's the best ever! Amazing builds, great diversity, so many beautiful new hair pieces. I hope the line manages to maintain this level of quality, because it is fantastic.
@Huw said:
"I'm beginning to think that none of the designers in LEGO are old enough to have ever seen a record player: the arm is incorrectly positioned on the left, as it is in Vidiyo sets!"
Maybe the designers think that Lego people prefer to listen to the Satanic messages instead of the music on Led Zeppelin and Beatles albums?
I really like this set--more old-fashioned than most of the Friends' vessels up to now, thus a better fit with my collection of Lego ships. Excellent combination of display and play properties, and I'm delighted with the extended range of skin colors too!
No steering wheel?
The sets truly impressed me, the details and the thoughts from the designer put into it are incredible! Ya, I would say this set has soul - makes me put this on my to-buy list ha.
And is exactly for set like this, a good review could show/promote the good stuffs that one wouldn't know (unless you bought it), good job also Megan!