Review: 41717 Mia's Wildlife Rescue
Posted by MeganL,
When the second wave of Friends sets was first announced, there was much excitement about the new giraffe piece. So, when looking for the first set to review for the second half of the year, I went with the set with the giraffe, otherwise known as 41717 Mia's Wildlife Rescue. All five Friends seem to be going to school this year, so this is Mia's internship, which fits with her animal themed interests.
Summary
41717 Mia's Wildlife Rescue, 430 pieces.
£44.99 / $49.99 / €49.99 | 10.5p/11.6c/11.6c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A charming African set featuring Mia's affinity for animals
- New giraffe
- Coral is the new pink!
- Plenty of play value
- Did I mention the giraffe?
- Somewhat expensive
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Inside the box there are four numbered bags, a sticker sheet, an instruction book, a narrow orange tube, and the all important giraffe. As with the sets earlier in the year, there's no inset of the five main Friends on the front of the box. The instruction book is also in the new style - predominantly white with a cleaner look. I like the change, though I've heard some don't like it, mostly because the cover art is not reproduced on the book.
The sticker sheet is moderately sized, and I like the artwork involved. I particularly like the sticker indicating the x-ray of a zebra!
Minidolls and animals
There are three minidolls in this set, and I love that the Friends team is continuing with diversity of skin tones. Dr. Makena makes her first appearance in this set, and is dressed for her work in the savanna. She's wearing a jean jacket over an orange tank top, with khaki shorts. Joaquim similarly also makes his first appearance in a Friends set. He's also dressed for the location with a jaunty bandanna, a vest with plenty of pockets, and some longer blue shorts. I particularly love his hairpiece. Both Dr. Makena and Joaquim are new to this set. Mia is dressed in a similar vest as Joaquim, a yellow bandanna and striped tank. She's wearing the same pair of khaki shorts as we've seen before, even though the legs are listed as being new to this set.
There's not much in the way of back printing on these minidolls but the back view of the hairpieces for Dr. Makena and Joaquim are worth a look.
In all the school sets in this wave, each Friend is seen communicating with another Friend on their tablets. For this set, we see Mia talking with Andrea. Andrea looks like she's at the Theatre School (review forthcoming).
The two animals in the set are the aforementioned giraffe and a baby zebra. The printing on the giraffe is pretty realistic, and I'm encouraged that none of the markings are heart-shaped. The baby zebra is suitably adorable, as you would expect a Friends animal to be.
The completed model
It wouldn't be a wildlife centre without a vehicle with which to transport plants and other critical tools for the centre. It's a very colourful jeep type vehicle, with lots of yellow and orange hues. You certainly wouldn't miss this in the bush! There are 5 or 6 yellow/orange colours used in this jeep, and no pink. For the rescue mission series in 2019, I made a conjecture that coral was the new pink, as it seemed to be directly substituted. It looks like that might be the case for this set, too.
While the vehicle does fit a minidoll comfortably, there's no steering wheel. Perhaps the jeep only needs to go into a straight line? The back of the vehicle is used for storing some tools as well as a collection box for plants (presumably food for the giraffe).
An acacia tree provides some landscaping for the area (as well as more food for the giraffe). There's a small waterfall included in the scene. The base of the tree is the hiding place for a scorpion, which can be pushed out of its lair thanks for a moving function located in the back of the tree.
The primary build is of course, the centre itself. The main area of the ground floor is an intake centre, where there's room for the vehicle, a scale, and sticker-provided details of various supplies. The Friends tool pack of medical tools is put to good use here.
Apparently there's good connectivity in the savanna, as we can see the devices used to communicate with Andrea as well as charting the zebra's progress.
The other part of the first floor is a wash station. This looks like it would work well for the zebra, but I'm guessing they don't get many giraffes in there!
The top floor is an examination area that is quite high tech! There's a microscope for analysing samples, and an x-ray machine with the sticker I noted earlier. The front of the x-ray swings open to allow the patient to be placed on the examination table. In the centre is a computer workstation, and a map of the surrounding savanna on the wall. On the roof is a satellite dish, which explains why the wildlife centre is so well connected.
There's a balcony just off the side of the examination room. Inside a comfy looking bench are some leaves, ideally situated to feed the friendly giraffe that may be walking by.
The orange tube serves as a railing around the balcony, and also provides an excellent location for some visitors to hang around (they've travelled a long way from South America).
(Note: sloths are not included in this set, I'm guessing because it would be the wrong continent!)
Taking a look at the front of the centre shows off the artwork on the front pillar. I really love the African wildlife art; my only quibble is that it seems a bit too muted for the set and doesn't stand out much.
The back shows the detail provided in the set, including some foliage.
Overall thoughts
There's an animal care set included just about every year, and I like the twist that's been used this time in placing it in the African savannah. There are plenty of details and play value in this set, and I'm glad that the designer included the acacia tree and jeep to add to the story telling. The graphic artist on this set has done a great job with the African themed art. Critics of Friends sets who say "they always use pink" will be disappointed with this set, and there's not a pink element in sight - however, coral is liberally used throughout.
It's great that the Friends team is continuing the increased diversity of minidolls that was started earlier in the year. I'm looking forward to taking a look at some of the rest of the sets in this wave.
The stars of this set, of course, are the animals. The giraffe and the zebra are both great. I really like that the giraffe has not been overly "Friend-ified", and I think that this set could almost be seen in a City set. The zebra is adorable, and I'm happy that there are no hearts on either one of them!
However, for the price (430 pieces, $49.99, £44.99) it feels a little expensive at first, but for the money you get a vehicle, the acacia tree, the centre itself, and two new animals. This set does have a number of newer parts, a complete inventory can be found here.
What other sets are you looking forward to in the Friends world? Let us know in the comments.
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29 comments on this article
lol I thought this said Wildfire at first, thought Friends had taken a more... interesting turn
Unfortunately the building is too much CITY'zed. Squared and not many details on the outside. Giraffe is beautiful
I could quite like some of the Friends sets if it wasn't for the gangly minifreaks that come with them!
Even in the most remote parts of the world, we see that some maniac has applied mascara to the eyes of innocent creatures.
Mia, this is an intervention. This needs to stop. We're all Friends here, we just want you to get better.
I'm debating on whether or not to get this set... I like the building itself, the dolls would go to my cousin or my neighbor's kid. But I can't get over the fact that the giraffe looks almost like DUPLO to me... I can only hope LEGO will have something similar in the City line come out next year with a giraffe mold with some slight changes. I might have to get this set on a discount later on.
It's really neat to see a whole new biome like this in the Friends theme! The color choices (for things like the ground, tree, and vehicle) are great and really help this to stand out from previous Friends sets while still being as colorful and lively as we've come to expect!
Hope Mia has plenty of SPF 100 sunblock!
So, just in the recent 2 year, City, Friends and creator 3-in-1 have had African savannah themes, neat.
@Ridgeheart said:
"Even in the most remote parts of the world, we see that some maniac has applied mascara to the eyes of innocent creatures.
Mia, this is an intervention. This needs to stop. We're all Friends here, we just want you to get better."
I'm actually okay with it on the giraffe. I mean, have you seen a giraffe's face up close? They have long beautiful lashes!
Does no one else think "Duplo" when they see the giraffe?
Perversely, was expecting some kind of visual joke with the x-ray of a Lego Zebra. Would it show the cavity of an antistud? What actually is inside a minifig?
The classic tree branch piece in sand green is a pretty exciting recolor.
Imagine being so energetic and full of compassion that you simultaneously engage in every charitable act possible. I assume they fixed all the recycling, clean energy, and accessibility issues in their hometown, so the only logical next step is to save every single animal around the world!
That's hardcore.
@Quinnly said:
"Does no one else think "Duplo" when they see the giraffe?"
I actually get a bigger Duplo vibe from the zebra foal than from the giraffe...
Also, the price doesn't feel too bad, compared to the price hikes that many other themes have to endure in 2022.
Great review! I am REALLY into this assortment of sets that focus on the five LEGO Friends spending some time apart to pursue their individual passions — as well as the tablets each of these sets include for video calls, to show that even while apart, they are still keeping connected.
The play features of the building itself are unfortunately not really much different than what we've come to expect from other vet clinic and animal rescue center sets — e.g. a scale, X-ray, washing station, and miscellaneous veterinary accessories. The main features that feel like a real departure from the norm are the parking garage for the jeep, the upstairs feeding station for the giraffe, and the digital map of the wildlife refuge. Fortunately, the bright, sunny colors and the folk art inspired wildlife graphics help give it more of a sense of novelty (as do some of the other stickered details like the ant farm)!
By comparison, the savannah scene and accompanying accessories are packed with novelty! Ordinarily when picking out a ground color for a MOC, Cool Yellow wouldn't even occur to me as an option — but here it does a surprisingly good job setting a very different scene than past wildlife-focused Friends sets, and contrasts well with the more subdued browns and greens of the hill and acacia tree.
The scorpion, despite being a common animal mold in a common color, also helps convey how dangerous a wilderness setting like this can be, especially with the function to make it leap out of its burrow. It's a good thing the jeep is equipped with a pole that can be used to handle it from a safe distance! For that matter, the jeep itself stands out nicely from past Friends sets thanks to both its rugged, utilitarian shaping and its fiery color palette.
The giraffe and zebra are of course great new animals for the Friends theme, even if the latter is just a recolor of one of the existing foal/pony molds. I can't help but hope that maybe in a future wave there might be a baby giraffe mold to accompany this adult one!
The biggest drawback of this set, IMO, is that there aren't really any other Friends sets that would accompanty it well in a layout (well, aside from 41048 from the final series of animal packs). Most other sets this year stick to more generic urban, rural, or beach settings. I think a set like this would be more enticing as part of a larger series of wildlife rescue sets, much like the previous Jungle Rescue or Sea Life Rescue series.
That said, an African savannah setting was honestly a good choice for Mia's "independent study" from this wave. An animal clinic or rescue center in a typical Heartlake City setting would feel like a kind of mundane and repetitive experience for her compared to the space academy, theater school, art school, and sailing adventure that her friends are devoting this time apart to. Perhaps a zookeeping job might've worked as a less far-flung alternative, but I think a zoo set would've required a much higher price point than this to allow for an appropriate variety of animals and exhibits.
All in all, this set isn't going to be on my own wish list — the art school, theater school, and space academy all appeal to me a lot more due to their gorgeous signage/architecture and their many unique, varied play features. But honestly, there are a LOT more Friends sets competing for a spot on my wanted list this year than there ever have been in years past, so I don't mind that a few sets like this one aren't speaking to me as directly.
Thanks again for this review, and I'm definitely excitedly looking forward to your reviews of other Friends sets from this wave!
Amazing set, even if its just reskin of the "animal center" xD
Giraffe looks very nice shame zebra is nota new mold as it has wrong tail :P
wow, that's funny, I saw some giraffe and zebra just the other day!
Something is missing with it imo but I like the colour scheme and it's definitely not terrible
Price to Volume isn't that terrible for this set.
@Zander: Especially considering that she's a freckled redhead.
@Aanchir said:
"The giraffe and zebra are of course great new animals for the Friends theme, even if the latter is just a recolor of one of the existing foal/pony molds. I can't help but hope that maybe in a future wave there might be a baby giraffe mold to accompany this adult one!"
In a way, it already is. Friends are made cutesy not just from their prints but also their proportions that are inspired by juveniles of the species. That’s true of this giraffe as well. Its leg-to-neck length ratio is that of a young giraffe, not an adult. A full grown giraffe has a neck that’s longer than its legs.
@TheOtherMike , That was my point! :~D She has sunburn victim written all over her (figuratively of course). If the ‘burn doesn’t get her, the malaria will. Ah, Friends! Such a happy place :~P
I don't know, though. Coral still seems pretty pink, as far as colours go.
"I'm encouraged that none of the markings are heart-shaped."
Yeah, but you just know the Friends design team was thinking about it.
The building almost feels *too* sparse, you know? Like, we've gone from cramped tiny interiors in City, to buildings in the Friends line where there's *too* much space. It's jarring.
Sand green leaves. Sold!
I guess giraffe is ok for Friends but I think it looks too Duplo for regular City set.
Can I please request that the photos would be free of the sloths? I can certainly understand/read that they are not part of the set but my kids browse the pictures and since they cannot understand english I have to explain that they are not part of the set. Thanks
@Ridgeheart said:
"Even in the most remote parts of the world, we see that some maniac has applied mascara to the eyes of innocent creatures.
Mia, this is an intervention. This needs to stop. We're all Friends here, we just want you to get better."
You've made my day, hilarious... I also wanted to agree with a few Giraffe "looks like Duplo" to start with comments and I know they have artistic licence and it adds play value but if you don't need a steering wheel in a buggy why would you need steps to a first floor Xray machine...…..maybe all the animals climb up via the giraffes back while its eating.....
I still may buy this at a discount.
I think that giraffe may look like duplo but only until you see it in person. Then it has obvious friends quality but with a bit less round style making it suitable for regular minifigs situations. I really like the colour scheme for this set. Coral is my favorite lego colour right now and i don't mind pink in friends sets, but i dislike purple and thankfully there is none of this colour here!
Sadly the giraffe and zebra are just too large for the facilities available, whereas the previous Lighthouse rescue 41380 featured seals and turtles which allowed more nursing and observation, plus the build looked more Friends scale whereas this reminds me of a Lego City clinic. Looking forward to the Art/Theatre school review as this is the main summer set!
I personally dislike all larger Lego animal molds, not just Friends, that have been made recently. Just enormous lumps of plastic, that, yes, look like Duplo animals. Compare the new City elephant to the old adventurers one. The older one is superior in every way. I also feel like the printing on newer animals to give them eyes is unnecessary. Molded detail worked well on the older animals. I think printing animal pieces is more expensive. It might not be a significant cost though, as specialized pieces could be printed in the molding machine for all I know.
I also dislike the new horse from 2012 onwards for being incompatible with the many accessories the old horse had. Since it was introduced, it must have been so expensive to produce it hardly ever appears, and when it does adds a lot more to the price of a set than the old ones did. Some old castles came with 4 horses, the max number of new horses that have appeared in the same set is 2, and if there are 2, they will be exactly the same, no different colors.