Review: 41097 Heartlake Hot Air Balloon

Like Huw I have prepared a review for today and here it is, ready for some light reading after Christmas lunch:

Of all the 2015 sets 41097 Heartlake Hot Air Balloon caught my eye more than any other when looking at the images. I would usually just skim through the Friends sets but the fact that this is the first hot air balloon model we have seen since 2003 drew me straight to it. The enormous bright pink pieces probably helped in that regard too!

The last model on this subject, 7415 Aero Nomad, is dramatically different in style to this recreational balloon, which makes this set even more appealing to me. I rarely purchase Friends sets except for the parts but this one looked too good to miss, particularly for only £24.99 in the UK.

The box for this set is fairly square and features the standard curved edges seen on most Friends packaging. The artwork shows Andrea and Noah soaring over the countryside with Heartlake City far away in the distance and an inset image of the pair enjoying a picnic. On the back there is an image of the hot air balloon landed with various features of the two models shown off as well as a shot of the accessories included.

Inside there are two numbered bags, one for the hot air balloon and the other for the area of countryside where the friends have their picnic and, by the looks of it, a camp out in the evening. There is only one instruction manual as anticipated and no stickers as all the decorated pieces are printed!

Two minidolls are included, the first of which is Andrea. This character has appeared in many sets before on the beach, up in the mountains, at the juice bar, just about everywhere around town! Andrea's hairpiece is the same as ever but for the addition of a pink flower, which is a new piece this year I believe. Her head is also the same as usual and her torso has appeared before in 30107 Birthday Party among others. She also wears some lime green shorts which are new in this colour and feature some nice moulded details including pockets and cuffed ends. Andrea is equipped with a rare golden binocular piece and a camera. I may be overthinking this but the fact that this camera has a long lens suggests that she is photographing something distant, as one might expect if you were in a hot air balloon. This is a nice detail, but could just as easily be coincidental.

Noah on the other hand is a new character. Male minidolls are always welcome additions to a collection as they are, unsurprisingly, vastly outnumbered! Noah's hair has appeared only twice before in the Ninjago theme, and is somewhat similar to the spiked hair of the Sleepyhead Collectable Minifigure albeit with a slightly more angular style. His torso features a new stripy print while his legs, featuring a pair of dark blue three-quarter length trousers and lace-up shoes, have appeared before. Noah carries a map of Heartlake City which is new for this year, although it also appears in 41094 Heartlake Lighthouse (a review of which is coming soon). This is a lovely piece featuring a couple of Heartlake's most notable features including the lighthouse and of course, the heart shaped lake!

I bought this set purely for the hot air balloon and am delighted with the end result. Although the relative sizes of the balloon and basket are far from realistic I think it works quite nicely and the eye is deceived by the bright colours of the balloon into believing it is larger. These large curved pieces are new and the alternating colour scheme looks fantastic. I am pleased to see that these pieces appear to have been designed with more than one use in mind as they would probably make good wheel arches or mudguards on a large scale car for example. In fact I challenge caperberry to come up with some further uses for them on The New Elementary!

The basket contains a seat, gas bottle and jumper plates so you can easily place the minidolls inside. There is a bag of ballast on each side and even a door which is rather fancy for a hot air balloon in my limited experience. The balloon itself is formed using two octagonal pieces to which the eight curved parts are clipped. This is a simple method of forming the challenging shape but it works brilliantly.

On the ground is a small area of countryside which features a stream, little waterfall and a tree. This is only a very simple little model but it serves its purpose, providing Andrea and Noah with a nice picnic spot. There is a 2x2 jumper plate on the upper level where one can place the rug included and there are various food and drink accessories as well as a basket. A few rocks, lime green tiles and flowers break up the grass quite nicely and suggest an idyllic setting.

At the bottom of the mound is a campfire with two seats and some marshmallows for toasting. These can be clipped to the rock face for storage which looks fine to me, despite seeming a little odd. The only real 'play feature' of the set is included just behind here where a leaf conceals a book hidden among the rocks. Inside the book is a 1x1 round tile printed with a rather large gem, which is presumably a gift for Andrea given the scene on the back of the box.

I waded into unknown territory by purchasing this set and do not regret it for a second. The hot air balloon is just as good as I had hoped, if not even better, and the little patch of countryside looks rather nice despite not being the focus of the set for me.

Even if you are not a Friends fan this set has value as the balloon could easily be incorporated into any LEGO city. The bright colours suit this type of vehicle perfectly and are far more realistic than many of the pastel shades often used in Friends sets. The area around the stream is also pretty impressive as it contains some superb parts and the model itself actually looks great too! No matter what your opinions are on Friends as a theme, this set is well worth adding to your collection for the selection of pieces if nothing else.

I hope you have enjoyed Christmas day thus far. No doubt some feverish building is already going on!

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