This year, LEGO redesigned and refreshed their entire Friends line and, thus far, I'd say they've knocked the ball out of the park with the set. I've previously reviewed LEGO 41728: Heartlake Downtown Diner, a lovely looking set that I gave a solid 7/10 rating. Today, we turn our attention to another new Friends set, LEGO 41729: Organic Grocery Store.
Does the Organic Grocery Store have what it takes to earn a higher score than the Downtown Diner or are the new Friends sets destined to earn middling scores from me? Read on to find out!
The Organic Grocery Store comes with 830 pieces and a whopping five minidolls (four adults plus one child). The set carries a suggested retail price of $89.99 USD (however, I was able to get my set for a bit of a discount which obviously made the price-per-part ratio much better)!
While I'm a firm proponent of the LEGO Friends line in general (I love the variety of buildings and how different many of them are compared to other LEGO lines such as City), I'm not such a fan of the minidolls. As someone who grew up playing with the classic LEGO minifigure, I think I'll always prefer that to the minidolls. That said, I do recognize that LEGO is able to be much more inclusive with their minidoll offerings in part due to the larger size of the dolls (and thus, more room for customization). A perfect example of that is with the collecting of minidolls included in the Organic Grocery Store.
Here, we have Jordin, Autumn, Leo, Isaac, and Alba (a minidoll) along with the cat Churro. Jordin is one of the main characters in the LEGO Friends reboot and you can see she has vitiligo while Autumn has only one hand. On this count, I'm all in favor in LEGO being as inclusive as possible. I can easily imagine a child finding a minidoll that shares a characteristic with them and instantly loving that particular figure. In the end, LEGO bricks are nothing but toys and toys should make people happy. In this case, being more inclusive can only make more kids happy and that's a great thing.
Moving on from the minidolls, the first part of the actual build itself is for a grocery delivery truck.
Based on the stickers used for the truck, this is an electric vehicle which goes with the very modern look of the truck (that's the first time I've seen that wraparound windshield used on a small road vehicle). The truck can hold a pair of minidolls which is nice along with some produce in the back of the truck. Truth be told, I like the bottom half of the truck but the large windshield look doesn't work for me. I do appreciate the fact that two minidolls fit inside, however. The only other "transportation" in this set is a pair of single-piece molded shopping carts (the wheels are separate pieces). I do like the shopping carts and I especially like that LEGO included two carts in the set rather than only one.
Speaking of carts, the grocery store has a cart return area off on the righthand side.
I particularly like the tall, narrow tree behind the cart return. The only complaint I have here is that you can really only fit one of the two carts in the cart return area.
Now, for the main event - the Organic Grocery Store itself!
The front of the store features a large sign above the sliding glass doors as well as some flowers and a small recycling center off to the left (as you face the building). The store's sign used three stickers but I will say that it looks quite good from a distance but for me the real highlight here has to be the sliding glass doors - they actually work! When you slide one of the doors, the other door will also slide open. It's a genius little build that makes use of a gear and a few other pieces to great effect.
The small recycling center is attached to the grocery store but it has its own door to get the recyclables out. I like that the center "works" in that you can actually slide a bottle through the front opening and have it end up in the bin inside the recycling center.
Flipping the build around, we find an open back which is great for optimal play value.
The grocery store has a nice mix of goods to shop for. There are baked goods, fruit, vegetables, and even a section of cold drinks inside the store. There are also a couple of shopping baskets and a small (but great) cash register and conveyor belt build near the front doors.
For me, the highlight of the inside is probably the cooler along with this "splat" piece indicating a spill (and the corresponding Wet Floor sign to go with it).
With a full cooler plus a full fruit and vegetable section, the grocery store feels well-stocked. It was a nice surprise to see two of every fruit and vegetable included in the set - I fully expected a lone apple, a lone banana, etc.
Even having just two copies of each item makes the store look and feel more realistic. Also, I haven't mentioned it yet but I love the tile floor - and the fact that LEGO included a number of jumper plates so that you can attach minidolls to them while they "shop."
Overall, this is a great build with a number of fun smaller builds that all combine into one satisfying final product. My main complaint would be the included truck, I think this set could have been $10-$15 cheaper if the truck weren't included and still have maintained the charm and overall aesthetic at a cheaper price point. That said, if you can find this set on sale it's an easy one for me to recommend!
The Bottom Line (out of 10):
Fun: 7
Play Value: 7
Kid Value: 6
Adult Value: 9
Overall: 8
Overall, with five minidolls, a truck, two shopping carts, plus a fairly large (and well-stocked) grocery store, this set packs quite a good punch. There's a number of fun features including the working sliding doors, the recycling center, and yes, even the truck. The set does feel a bit overpriced at about $90 for only 830 pieces but if you can get it closer to $75-80 it's a much easier set to recommend without hesitation.
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