Review: 41135 Livi's Pop Star House
Posted by MeganL,I have a particular fondness for LEGO dwellings, and so when I saw that pop-star Livi had a house to join Emma and Olivia, I had to pick it up. Is this worth getting on its own, or is it just another house?
The package features some attractive box art on the front showing the house in the foreground, with a long winding driveway and the skyline of a large city in the background. Clearly Livi is living in the hills in an exclusive area, perhaps something similar to the Hollywood Hills. The back of the box shows several mini scenes that are found throughout the set. Similar to the Grand Hotel, the floors and areas can be arranged in the different ways.
Inside we find five numbered bags, three baseplates, three instruction booklets and a small sticker sheet. Included in the one of the bags is the accessory nobody can have too many of: the brick separator.
First up are Livi and Andrea, both with new torsos to this set, Livi in a tank top with metallic detailing with a necklace and Andrea in a shirt with a vest also with metallic detailing. It's not shown on the box art, both mini dolls come with skirts, a purple with metallic design for Livi and a white with gold metallic design for Andrea. All skirts are new to this set. It's unclear whether the skirts are to be worn with the pattern facing in or out, as the box art and the instructions show contrasting ways. I've shown pictures both ways throughout this review.
In keeping with the hills of a sunny climate, both mini dolls have their shades. An extra skirt is included in fuchsia, than out would go with either mini doll. Livi is accompanied by her faithful Dalmatian pup that we previously saw in the Pop Star Dressing Room.
The first bag starts with building a chaise lounge and a dog bed. Next is the construction of the pool, which includes a rather nice representation of a small waterfall complete with bubbles and a floaty circle for the pool. A small deck with table and umbrella and some paving stones finish the first bag.
Second bag starts construction of the main house, starting with the kitchen. An apple and carrot go in the fridge - props to the Friends for being healthy! - and a Popsicle in the freezer (let's say they're healthy and it's frozen juice). There's a very novel use of parts for a lighting fixture in the lounge area, and the sliding door is quite nifty. There's a three sided fireplace that enables the open floor plan of the first floor. This bag finishes with completing the steps between the pool and the second floor that has some nice highlight bricks.
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The third bag furnishes the first floor, starting with details on the outside and more paving stones. Furniture for the inside follows, including a sectional sofa, TV and the rest of the kitchen accessories, complete with snacks. I rather like the use of an island in the kitchen, something I don't think I've seen in other Friends sets. There's also a food element that's new to this set - it looks like it's got meat, starch and veg on it - and it's much closer to being mini doll sized than some of the other food we find in LEGO sets.
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The fourth bag starts the second floor, which is Livi's bedroom with ensuite bathroom. There's a nice closet door attachment, with Livi's guitar hung over the bed - rather an unusual location, but as space is a premium there's not many other places to put it. In the closet is where the extra skirt goes, with a shoe box and a pair of roller skates. Not sure why the roller skates are there, unless the Skate Park that was issued last year is close by.
The final bag finishes off the second floor. I haven't talked much about the stickers; while some of them are necessary to the set, many others are gratuitous - for example, the ones that are used to simulate upholstery on chairs or beds. I know that the designers are in a difficult place - if you need one sticker, you have a whole sheet, so you may as well fill it up - but it seems in the last couple waves there have been a disproportionate number of upholstery type stickers.
There is a double side TV for this space, one side showing dog programming, and the other the footage from the security camera installed just outside. The balcony finishes off the living space. The final part of the build is the small rooftop.
The pool area is hinged to the first floor, which means that you can arrange the house a couple different ways. I like this flexibility and the way the set is designed it is still playable no matter whether the house is closed together or spread apart.
Overall thoughts
I found this to be quite a delightful build, probably because I really liked the floor layout of the house. I wouldn't mind living in a place like this myself! I love the design, the open spaces, and all the windows. I like the pool outside and the steps leading to the second floor. The detailing in the kitchen is great.
However, I wish the box art emphasized some other activities other than cooking. That seems very prevalent in many Friends sets - really, don't the Friends do anything else? Livi is a pop star. I would have liked to have seen a songwriting studio or a music library as one of the rooms, or maybe even an office. As it is, the only indications about this being a pop star house is a gold record on the wall in the living area and the guitar that's on the wall in the bedroom.
Like several other sets in this wave, the piece count for the price isn't bad (532 pieces, $49.99), and there are several pieces that are newer in this set. If you're fond of houses, like I am, this is one that I would recommend. I just wish there was more diversity in the types of rooms used. Of course, that's the beauty of LEGO - if you don’t like it, you can change it.
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8 comments on this article
I don't feel really inclined to get this set, but I do think that it's definitely more than just another house! In fact, I don't know if there are any Friends sets I'd consider "just another house" — they all seem to have their own signature style of architecture and interior decoration. I wonder when we might get houses for some of the other Friends and what they'll be like.
Besides the handful of musical accessories, I think Livi's status as a pop star is reflected by the general luxuriousness of this set. Emma's house felt very modern but still a somewhat typical family home. By contrast, this one just exudes a sense of fame and affluence, from the security camera for keeping out the paparazzi, to the expensive taste in food (sushi rolls, etc), to the furnishings (three flat-screen TVs, a heater/fireplace that could have come from a Sharper Image catalog, and a glass-walled above ground pool), to the glitzy colors that are shared with the other Pop Star sets. I'm kind of glad that it doesn't have too much emphasizing the professional side of Livi's pop star status as it seems to me like this is the kind of place she would go to get away from that. I think the guitar and record are enough in this case.
I actually tend to like stickers for cushions and upholstery. Not only do they add a bit of personality to the furnishings, but they also tend to be fairly easy to reuse in MOCs (because after all, there's usually nothing theme-specific or set-specific about cushions). I wouldn't mind these if they were printed either, but by using stickers we get more variety rather than having to see the same style of cushions and upholstery in every set from a given wave. There are also times when you can get away with just using tile patterns for a quilt or cushion, but that wouldn't feel quite as glitzy and fashionable as some of the patterns in this set.
Is it bad if this set makes me sort of want to ship Livi and Andrea? I haven't seen the TV episodes featuring them but I feel like they'd have a lot of chemistry, given their shared affinity for music.
Good review overall! I was kind of surprised to see more Pop Star sets this year but I think LEGO did a good job making these new ones stand out.
I believe those "new food elements" are supposed to be sushi-a very welcome addition to the printed tiles!
Great review! This type of set seems extremely rare nowadays. A LEGO house that has a kitchen, living room, bedroom, AND a bathroom?!? Almost unheard of, especially at this price point.
Thanks for the review, I really like this set, definitely on my buy list.
As well as the sushi part, I got all excited by the black container. Sad I know, but I like to see furnishings in new colours :-)
pretty small i think but cool
I like the modernist architecture and the overall sense of restrained luxury. I haven't bought any of the other Friends houses but this one is definitely on my short list! (And the sushi is a wonderful touch!)
^^That's one of the neatest things about the Friends line. The designers have found ways to include so many details and play features in limited amounts of space. The campers and tour bus were phenomenal at this.
I know it would have been an eyesore in *all* black, but I do wish this set would have more black to fit it into Livi's theme. Maybe that's it though. It's short on music items and black because this is her escape from her music world.
Neither my wife nor I really liked this set, but our two very different daughters both thought it was great when they saw it in stores. My brother is getting the set for the girls for Valentine's Day. The review made the set look better, but I still can't way to see it for real; I tend to thing Friends sets don't photograph well and are always better in real life.
I too have a thing for Lego houses as I typically buy all the Creator houses. Livi's house is a welcome addition although I'll have to buy 2 or add on the necessary bricks to make it a complete house. I wish the Tony Stark Malibu "mansion" was more like Livi's house