LEGO Friends Amusement Park Hot Dog Van 41129

LEGO Friends Amusement Park Hot Dog Van (41129)

This Hot Dog van is our first LEGO Friends set. In the past I’ve not been the biggest fan of this LEGO sub-brand, widely interpreted as ‘LEGO for girls’, as I think all LEGO is for girls (and boys).

But in recent years they have been introducing more active themes into the Friends line. This set is from the Amusement Park collection, which also includes the likes of dodgems and roller coaster sets.

One of the first things I noticed about this is the colour of the pieces. We seem to have a lot of grey pieces in our collection (a legacy of too many Star Wars sets perhaps?), so it’s great to have so many bright colours here.

The design of the set is really fun, with the van looking like a giant hot dog. Within that are some nice elements. There is seating up top, a little Photo Booth set up, and inside there is a simple but effectively designed grill area. I also like the little accessories such as hot dogs, drinks, and even condiments.

 LEGO Friends Amusement Park Hot Dog Van 41129 packshot

While the minifigures are of the taller & thinner Friends variety, the fact that this set has a boy and a girl helps this set appear more unisex. Like the increasing way the CITY line is featuring female figures in most sets, it removes the subtext that this is a set for girls. It isn’t, and I don’t think any boy would (or should) be disappointed to get this.

The stated age is 6-12, but my 4-year-old made this with ease in an hour or two.

Another issue I potentially have with Friends vs other LEGO is compatibility. While the bricks, etc. are interchangeable, the minifgures are of a slightly different configuration.

One of the first things my daughter did in completion of the set was get Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman to be part of the set, which worked fine. She also found that the taller Friends figures still actually did fit inside many of our existing standard LEGO vehicles such as the Batwing (from the Sky High Battle set).

The Hotdog outfit also fit the normal minifigures, which is a lot of fun 🙂

I asked my daughter if she thought this Hot Dog set was for girls or boys, and she stated –  quite firmly – that ‘LEGO is for girls AND boys.’

Which it is of course. As well as women AND men of course 😉

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The LEGO Friends Amusement Park Hot Dog Van (41129) has an RRP of £24.99. We were sent a set free of charge for the purposes of this review.

4 thoughts on “LEGO Friends Amusement Park Hot Dog Van (41129)”

  1. I love the LEGO Friends collections as the playability is fantastic. Similar to you though I must confess I’m not a fan of the Friends mini figures, they just don’t feel LEGO to me but that aside its great the hot dog outfit fits the original LEGO Mini figures.

    I have my eye on the amusement park as a set I’d like us to add but I first need a plan… 🙂

    Great well balanced post Simon

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