Heartlake Pet Salon

Of course my daughter loves it. She built this LEGO set and another one on Christmas morning all by herself. But, the actual size of the set is smaller than it appears on the box. There are a “ton" of pieces. And you may feel like you got less than what you paid for. LEGO sets are fantastic and fantasticly expensive, so be prepared to open a big box containing hundreds of brick pieces that connect to form a smaller-than-expected version of whatever is pictured on the side of the box. more less

The shop looks mostly great, although I have some reservations about the roof structure, but the windows are truly lovely, and there's tons of stuff to build and play with. With the advent of all the collectible Friends animals, sets that integrate animals more will also help integrate these small satellite sets. This is a charming little shop, and a really lovely addition to Heartlake City. more less

I have to admit to feeling rather lukewarm about this set, though I am finding it hard to put my finger on why exactly. Visually, I find the colour scheme a little jarring; the mix of aqua, magenta, dark blue and bright pink is just one colour too many for me, so I may well replace the aqua parts with white instead. Also, the set seems to lack a well-defined function. As a pet salon, I expected the grooming area to be larger and more detailed (maybe my expectations were wrong – I've never been in this kind of establishment!) and yet half the interior was more along the lines of a pet shop. I also think the inclusion of another animal would help to improve the playability, so that each character could take care of an animal. more less