41075 The Elves Treetop Hideaway
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 1:52 pm
I started building 41075 The Elves Treetop Hideaway last night. I did bag 1 which completed the bottom half of the tree on the right.
It's built on a green Plate 16x16 rather than a baseplate. This is a great part that I had not seen before, but it has been around since 2011. It also includes Plate 8x16 in green and medium azure where the other half will be built. Also new to me, but around since 2012. The majority of these new plates have gone into Friends/Princess/Elves sets or large LEGO exclusives like Palace Cinema. I wonder if TLG is phasing out the smaller baseplate sizes in favor of these more versatile plates?
The base of the tree is a nice looking root system using dark red bricks, slopes, and inverted arches. It's very solid with many overlapping bricks. There is a hidden compartment built into the back of the roots containing an envelope tile. The back of the tree looks like it is meant to be accessed by passing through the swirling air which is hinged on ball joints. For story purposes, perhaps the girl Emily is supposed to collect the Air Key from another set before passing through the whirlwind read to the letter hidden in the tree.
Above the roots, the color switches to brown and branches begin spreading outward. There is a window, but it is just for looks. This part of the tree is hollow, but there is no way to access the interior. The back has a hinged cover that folds down to hide the envelope compartment in the roots. The roots and branches both have angle plates on the sides, allowing brown 2x8 plates to provide bracing. This is a really strong tree!
Additional details include a table, two goblets filled with different drinks, two seats, a small stream/spring flowing from a rock, a bucket of water, a mushroom, two pink small limbs with gems, and pearl gold grass which also has a gem inside.
Despite the figures not being useful to me, I like it so far. I appreciate the strength of the structure and the hidden compartment in the roots. The pink and purple foliage is great. I grew up with games and movies like Secret of Mana and The Last Unicorn, so I feel like brightly colored forest scenes belong in fantasy. Things are darker and grittier today, so perhaps younger males won't appreciate these new foliage colors.
I look forward to finishing this build. I can post more impressions if anybody is interested.
It's built on a green Plate 16x16 rather than a baseplate. This is a great part that I had not seen before, but it has been around since 2011. It also includes Plate 8x16 in green and medium azure where the other half will be built. Also new to me, but around since 2012. The majority of these new plates have gone into Friends/Princess/Elves sets or large LEGO exclusives like Palace Cinema. I wonder if TLG is phasing out the smaller baseplate sizes in favor of these more versatile plates?
The base of the tree is a nice looking root system using dark red bricks, slopes, and inverted arches. It's very solid with many overlapping bricks. There is a hidden compartment built into the back of the roots containing an envelope tile. The back of the tree looks like it is meant to be accessed by passing through the swirling air which is hinged on ball joints. For story purposes, perhaps the girl Emily is supposed to collect the Air Key from another set before passing through the whirlwind read to the letter hidden in the tree.
Above the roots, the color switches to brown and branches begin spreading outward. There is a window, but it is just for looks. This part of the tree is hollow, but there is no way to access the interior. The back has a hinged cover that folds down to hide the envelope compartment in the roots. The roots and branches both have angle plates on the sides, allowing brown 2x8 plates to provide bracing. This is a really strong tree!
Additional details include a table, two goblets filled with different drinks, two seats, a small stream/spring flowing from a rock, a bucket of water, a mushroom, two pink small limbs with gems, and pearl gold grass which also has a gem inside.
Despite the figures not being useful to me, I like it so far. I appreciate the strength of the structure and the hidden compartment in the roots. The pink and purple foliage is great. I grew up with games and movies like Secret of Mana and The Last Unicorn, so I feel like brightly colored forest scenes belong in fantasy. Things are darker and grittier today, so perhaps younger males won't appreciate these new foliage colors.
I look forward to finishing this build. I can post more impressions if anybody is interested.