Review: 41745 Autumn's Horse Stable
Posted by MeganL,
It's a tradition every year - you can count on Friends sets including some type of restaurants, and horses. This year is no exception, and this year's horse-themed entry is 41745 Autumn's Horse Stable. Autumn appears to have inherited a love of animals from her mom, Mia. Autumn's BFF, Aliya, is also along for the ride, so good thing there are two horses in the set!
Summary
41745 Autumn's Horse Stable, 545 pieces.
£57.99 / $59.99 / €62.99 | 10.6p/11.0c/11.6c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
An appropriate entry for the latest Friends horse-themed sets
- Pretty newer horses
- Lovely autumn features
- Horses don't have articulated rear legs
- Expensive
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Inside the box there are six numbered bags, two instruction books, and a small sticker sheet. Apparently the horses' names are Spring and Cloud.
Minidolls and animals
Autumn and Aliya are on their own on this adventure, and dressed appropriate for riding. Autumn is wearing a blue t-shirt with a teal vest with diamond patterns on top. She has brown jodhpurs tucked into light brown riding boots. Aliya has a very bright pink shirt with striking yellow accents on the shoulders and collar. Her blue jodhpurs are tucked into black riding boots.
Only Aliya has back printing, but I rather like the detail shown here.
Of course, safety first - both girls are equipped with riding helmets, which match their outfits.
The stickers show that the horses are named Cloud and Spring. Making their first appearance in a set is Cloud, the white horse with some striking dappling on the neck, shoulder and hindquarters, and a blond mane. Spring, on the other hand, is just one solid colour, but seems to be the horse of choice to pull a carriage intended for two Friends.
Cloud's dappling is different on each side, while Spring has to remain content with being one colour. I'm disappointed that these horses don't have articulated rear legs.
The completed model
There are two small builds to go with the stable - an obstacle for the horses to jump, and a maintenance shack that's used for various horse grooming activities.
The stable structure is divided in two; on the ground floor there are stables for the two horses and a spot to store the carriage.
Some stairs on the side lead to the upper level. Clearly it's autumn at Autumn's stable, with an apple tree just starting to change colour.
The horses aren't the only creatures at the stable; the rafters show a cute little mouse dining on some cheese. We'll leave aside how the cheese found its way up there, but at least the mouse is enjoying it.
Right above the carriage house is a dining area, with a bedroom in the other area, with a wood stove in the space in between. In the stable area, there are two saddles for the horses.
There's some really nice detailing on the roof. The wood planks are printed tiles. It's still a mystery to me why there are some sets that have printed tiles for wood planks and others where that detail is provided by stickers. Also, the Cloud's and Spring's bridles are hung on the side of the building, and there is some hay for them as well.
The front of the stable evokes a log cabin feel. I like seeing the birdhouse on the front, though I have to admit the bird on the window sill looks a little too large to fit.
Taking a closer look at the upper level, there's quite a spread on the dining table. An enormous sandwich and a pot of tea (and two cups) are at the ready for the Friends to fortify themselves after a long day of riding.
When the Friends get tired, there are beds close by. Note how they're built on hay bales!
The Friends aren't the only ones who find the beds comfortable.
(Note: bed hogging sloths not included in this set.)
Overall thoughts
This set checks all the boxes for a horse-themed Friends set - there are two minidolls, two horses. Play value is offered with the horse-drawn carriage, the saddles, and the grooming station. There's plenty for the Friends to do, and the living quarters upstairs is a nice touch.
Clearly, the Friends team has a charter to create a horse-themed set every year, and this is a serviceable set in that range. Kids who love horses will love this set, and Cloud is a striking addition to the Friends horse population. It's a shame that the horses don't have articulated rear legs.
The price ($59.99 for 545 pieces) feels a little on the high side, particularly since this is a very straightforward build. While this is a perfectly fine set, I think I'm spoiled by some of the other excellent Friends sets in this wave.
For those interested in seeing how this set looks with 41730, I happened to have it still built, so here it is. Apologies for the cramped setting, both sets together are a little wider than my photo set-up.
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23 comments on this article
It's a great match for 41730, which is still one of my favourite Lego-houses. I was going to suggest that Mia must be loaded, but - no, both those sets are named after Autumn; it's she who's rolling in the dough, I guess?
I just hope she earned that money legitimately. Mayor Stephanie has a hard-handed approach to dealing with the criminal element.
Long, slanted roofs are featured a lot in FRIENDS as of late. Is Heartlake City in a Nordic country?
So, it is a successor to 3144 Horse Stable (... or Stable horse?)
'News Category Preferences' filtering by theme would be a great addition. Just saying....
"Horses don't have articulated rear legs"
Phew. Thought that said "rear ends" for a split second.
This set is certainly cute, even if sets like horse stables have never been my area of interest. I'd love to see what this set looks like next to Autumn's House from earlier this year, since the two sets seem designed to complement one another.
@sjr60 said:
"'News Category Preferences' filtering by theme would be a great addition. Just saying...."
Yeah, It'd be nice to filter out all the non-Friends reviews
It feels a little odd to see a Friends set in such grounded colours. There's almost no pastel!
@Binary_Code said:
" @sjr60 said:
"'News Category Preferences' filtering by theme would be a great addition. Just saying...."
Yeah, It'd be nice to filter out all the non-Friends reviews
"
IKR, like, I don't even know what STAR WARS is! Every time I see Lego Star Wars I say "This isn't Lego Friends!" and I write an angry email to Huw.
I expect to be banned any day now.
While I do understand the Minidoll horses not being able to rear as a negative compared to minifig horses, they have improved, as recently as 2020 , those horses were just a static piece, with no moving necks:
https://brickset.com/parts/6297427/horse-w-4-knobs-w-hole-dia-1-5-no-15
https://brickset.com/parts/6252972/horse-w-4-knobs-w-hole-dia-1-5-no-13
Such horses were used from 2012 to 2020.
@MeganL said:
"Horses don't have articulated rear legs"
That's why they are stable horses. If they had articulated rear legs, they might be more unstable.
Bursts into song...
"Das sind Bibi und Tina
auf Amadeus und Sabrina..."
Oh wait, wrong franchise
... yet apparently so similar :-)
https://youtu.be/br3RdqYQegw?si=QAYla9tCcfhuXpd_
@ridgeheart @lyichir Picture of both sets added!
@MeganL said:
" @ridgeheart @lyichir Picture of both sets added!"
Thank you for the picture! The two look quite nice together—the aqua walls and lime-green shutters unify them, but the dark orange barn roof contrasts wonderfully with the farmhouse's teal and establishes them as separate buildings in the same farm complex.
I wonder why Friends sets do so terribly on the aftermarket
@Sandinista said:
"I wonder why Friends sets do so terribly on the aftermarket "
Probably because minifigures make up a disproportionate percentage of the value of most Lego sets - and AFOLs who buy expensive retired sets on the secondary market are mostly dudes who don't like minidolls.
Regardless, this is yet another great-looking Friends set. Nicely done Lego!
@Sandinista said:
"I wonder why Friends sets do so terribly on the aftermarket "
I guess @tmtomh is right. Those people who are responsible for the often crazy aftermarket prices are typically the ones who are either
a) looking for those highly sought after minifigs or
b) want the sets for certain ultra-rare parts otherwise only used in retired UCS or Modular sets
Friends sets tend to contain neither a) nor b), so prices on the aftermarket are much more reasonable.
I for one am very happy about this since it means it's easy to get great retired Friends sets at great prices.
@MeganL said:
" @ridgeheart @lyichir Picture of both sets added!"
Hey, that's awesome. Thank you, @MeganL!
could have been horse..
A miss for a prosthetic arm. Woulda been a cool part. Barbie even has a doll with a prosthetic leg and it looks neat.
Given it has two horses and lots of equipment for them, I don't think the price is all that bad. I particularly like the way the riders have plenty of living space above the stalls and storage areas; as a child I would have given the house a pass in favor of playing entirely with this set! Plenty of horsey girls probably still feel the same way.
I love how it looks with the house. Except for the scale. But I guess someone who's the kid of Mia probably would have a horse stable nearly the size of her own house.
The seasonal colors on this just look so nice.
@quincy said:
"A miss for a prosthetic arm. Woulda been a cool part. Barbie even has a doll with a prosthetic leg and it looks neat. "
Maybe Autumn doesn't want to use a prosthetic?