Emma's Photo Studio & Mia's Beach Scooter

This month's post is about 2 of the smaller LEGO Friends sets. Let's start with Emma's Photo Studio (41305). It was $9.99 and comes with 96 pieces and a sheet of stickers. It took about 20 minutes to put it together and take pictures.

Here are some pictures of the pieces and a close-up of the sticker sheet:

Besides a figure of Emma, the set also comes with a cat:

The instructions show how to build a box of cat food, photography equipment, an accessory table, a photo printer, and the backdrop area:

Now to put them all together:

There is also a purple LEGO heart made from two special plate pieces (it's next to Emma in the previous photo). Here are the extra pieces I had:

This is a cute little set. I love the backdrop area and the printer. I do wish that the "photos" were just of the animals since I don't use the Friends figures in my builds, but they're still a nice touch. Overall, it is a good set for the money and I can definitely see using it to build a little photo studio for my town.

Now, let's move on to the second Friends set, Mia's Beach Scooter (41306). It was $9.99 and comes with 79 pieces. Like the photo studio, it also took about 20 minutes to put together and take pictures.

Here are some pictures of the pieces:

The figure of Mia comes with a pet pug:

The pieces are used for two main builds, a lifeguard stand on a slice of beach and a scooter with a doggy sidecar:

Let's put everything together:

Like Emma, Mia also has one of those LEGO hearts, but this one is green (see photo above). There was also a small group of extra pieces:

Another nice little set. I've been planning on building a beach scene, so any beach themed LEGO sets are great to have. The little dog treat compartment on the scooter is a cute detail. I think this set was also worth the money and I will definitely be using these pieces in the future. I may do another review for beach house later this month. In October I'll be posting about one of the 3-in-1 sets.Thanks for reading!

People Pack - Fun at the Beach

I have a bonus post for this month since I just bought the beach themed minifigure set. People pack - Fun at the beach (60153) comes with 15 minifigures plus some mini builds and accessories. It has 169 pieces. It is $39.99.

It took about 35 minutes to put everything together and take pictures. There are 2 instruction booklets, one covers 7 of the minifigures and the second has instructions for the other 8. The instructions show 1 to 2 minifigures at a time, along with whatever accessory or mini build goes with them. With the exception of the kayak and sails, all of the minifigure pieces are divided into 2 bags to go along with the booklets.

Here are all the pieces needed for booklet 1:

For this first part, you are shown instruction for the man with the kayak, the windsurfer, the volleyball players, the girl with the sandcastle, the man with the metal detector, and the sunbather:

Now let's move on to booklet 2. Here are all the pieces from its corresponding bag:

These pieces are used to build the scuba diver, the worker who is sweeping up bananas, the grandma and granddaughter getting ice cream from the vendor, the lifeguard, the boy with the boombox, and the boy in the hammock:

Here is everything put together:

Here is a picture of the leftover pieces:

I love minifigures and I am so happy that LEGO is producing these people packs. I also have the park themed people pack. My favorite part of these sets is the new torsos. I have tried to buy pieces online to make new minifigures, but a lot of sellers have the same torsos. It is great to get some variety. I also like the accessories. There is a nice collection of them in this set. The mini builds are also fun. Of course a lifeguard needs a tower to better watch the water and the hammock set up is cute. The volleyball net is a nice touch. Overall, I love this set. I'm always happy to get more people and I like the variety this set comes with. I have seen reviews where people complain the price is too high, but I think it is a good deal. The minifigures in the blind bag series are $3.99 each, so 15 would be about $60. Yes, the people in this pack aren't as unique as the ones in the series, but for 15 minifigures, 4 animals, the accessories, and the mini builds, it seems to me that $40 is a good price. Next week I'll be posting about a couple of the smaller LEGO Friends sets. Thanks for reading!

LEGO Friends Heartlake Pizzeria

Hello again! This month I'll be sharing photos of the LEGO Friends Heartlake Pizzeria (set 41311). 

It took me about an hour and ten minutes to put everything together and take pictures. The set comes with 289 pieces and a small sheet of stickers. Excluding the two purple plates, the pieces were divided into two bags. Here are the instruction booklet, the plates, the stickers, and the contents of bag #1:

The set also came with two figures, Emma & Oliver: 

The pieces from the first bag are used to make the front walls of the pizzeria, a small salad bar, a register area, and a pizza delivery vehicle. The bag also includes dishes and silverware, but they are not used until the next step.

Now let's move on to bag #2:

These pieces are used to make a kitchen prep area and pizza oven to complete the downstairs, as well as an upstairs dining area:

Now let's put it all together! In addition to the two whole pizzas in the oven, there is also a sliced pizza to serve to the customers in the dining area:

This was a fun set to build. I especially liked that it came with a little delivery vehicle. I also liked some of the details they included, like the bricks used to represent a grater and cheese in the kitchen area. One of the provided stickers goes in the frying pan to make it look like they are cooking some toppings for the pizza, which is a nice touch. Personally, I prefer regular minifigures over the Friends figures, but I like the Friends sets. I was going to include some photos of the Friends figures interacting with the set, but unfortunately I forgot to take them before I sold the figures on eBay. I hope this review has been useful! I'll try to write a new post each month around the first Friday or Saturday. If I don't have a new set to review, then I'll write something about my minifigures or something else in my collection. Please feel free to ask me any questions you have about this set or any of the others that I post.

It's been five years since my last post?? Oops!

It's been five years since my last post?? Oops! Let's see if I can finally post things on a regular basis...

I've decided that each time I buy a new set, I will take pictures as I put it together and write a post about it. Hopefully this will help people to see what comes with the set and what everything looks like before they decide to buy it. My first review will be of a Easter egg hunt set. I bought it about a week after Easter and somehow forgot that I had it. This set was $9.99 originally, but it may have been on sale when I got it. It comes with 145 pieces, including 2 minifigures and a chicken. Here is a photo of the box:

There is a sneak peek at the Halloween set on the back:

Before building, I took the time to lay out all of the pieces to give everyone a better idea of what is included:

Here is a look at the minifigures:

The mother has a two-sided head, here is her other face:

Her sunglasses and tank top seem like a better fit for a summer set compared to the son's long sleeve flannel shirt, but I like them both. There are four "mini builds" for this set. First, there is a wheelbarrow with a carrot:

Second, there is a little garden plot with more carrots:

The third mini build is a little front gate scene with a mailbox, walkway, flowers, and lights:

The last build is a tiny chicken coop with a little nest and egg next to it, as well as a chicken sitting on the fence:

Here is a picture of everything together, including a little group of leftover pieces:

It took me about 20 minutes to put everything together, including the time to lay out all the pieces and take pictures. For some extra fun, I took some photos of the boy looking for the eggs. I don't think he needs that magnifying glass to see them!

Overall, I think this is a cute and fun set. I like the minifigures and the chicken. The fencing is really nice and a little more fancy than the other fence pieces in my collection. The eggs seemed a little too big at first, but their size makes it a lot easier to find them when you drop one in your living room and have to go on your own egg hunt. I think this little set was worth the money and am looking forward to the next seasonal set. I will be posting these reviews at least once a month. I will also be writing other posts about my minifigure collection and builds that I am working on. Thanks for reading!