Olivia's Tree House, Set #3065, a LEGO Friends Set Review

Jan 28, 2012
William Reed

Olivia’s Tree House, Set #3065, a LEGO Friends Set - Sarah Reed

Olivia's Tree House is one of the new Friends sets that LEGO has made especially for girls. Read this review so you can decide whether this set is for you.

It seems whenever LEGO attempts to create sets specifically targeted at girls there is some sort of uproar. This is probably due to the fact that everyone seems to have an idea what LEGO should be and if anyone tries to change that people will complain.

So instead of arguing about the set, this article will do its best to report on the set. In other words, it will present what is there and only offer an opinion in the ratings section.

Building Olivia’s Tree House, a LEGO Friends Set

The idea LEGO had was to make each bag in a set its own creation. This would give the set a very modular approach when it came to building. Unfortunately, the tree house is a bit more than what one bag can handle so this set is built in the traditional method. You will have the tree house built alongside a few other smaller creations.

The smaller creations include a cat bed and a bird house. Either of these can be set separate from the main structure or be fixed to the back side of the main structure. The plate that serves as a base for the tree house is big enough to accommodate this setup.

The tree house has a core tree design with a platform inserted half way up. This design is actually more solid than many of LEGO’s past tree hybrid creations. There are plenty of pieces that serve as supports while maintaining an attractive design.

The entire model has a very open quality to it that creates an environment conducive to play. Put simply, this model is well built.

Playing with Olivia’s Tree House, a LEGO Friends Set

First off you have a number of characters to play with. The most obvious of these is Olivia. But you will also get her cat, a bird, four lady bugs, and four butterflies. The insects are used as decoration, but there’s nothing stopping you from adding them as little friends to play with.

As for elements to interact with, you have a bench, the cat bed, the bird house, the telescope, the fold-out ladder to get to the very top of the tree house, the hiding spot where Olivia keeps some gems, and the different levels of the tree house.

This may not have missiles launchers or catapults that can be fired, but it is more important to have the small interactions that it does have. In this way, the play elements in this set outnumber many other LEGO sets in other lines.

Interesting Parts of Olivia’s Tree House, a LEGO Friends Set

Whether you are looking for new elements or useful basic parts, this set has you covered. You get a variety of pink and lavender elements that are impossible to get in any other line. There are new molds including the cat, the bird, and all the bugs and flowers in this set.

You get a good supply of the curved brick half-arches in brown and the tall pillar bricks that just don’t appear elsewhere in large quantities like they do in this set. You’ll even get a host of leaves that make perfect options for an outdoor theme.

And when you think that is it, there’s even more great pieces including a one-by-one brick with a milk carton design, a ladder in a bright light blue, a large half barrel the same color as the ladder, a pink dish, and even a couple of gems. This set is worth its weight in awesome parts.

MiniDolls in Olivia’s Tree House, a LEGO Friends Set

The only minidoll in this set is Olivia. Her legs are combined with the hips. This creates a dark blue skirt that can hinge around the waist. Her legs are painted a bright pink and she has white boots. The legs do not separate. Her torso has a light flesh base. Her top is a dark pink vest with hearts pattern. Her arms are in light flesh. Her hands do not turn like a minifigure. Her head is light flesh colored and rounded to better match the shape of a human head. It has thin eyebrows, brown eyes, and pink lips that are closed. Her hair piece is reddish brown and is a long wavy style. It can fit a normal minifigure. The hair also has holes to accommodate small accents like bows.

Ratings for Olivia’s Tree House, a LEGO Friends Set

Originality: 5 out of 5 Studs. Tree houses have been made, but none have been made into their own play set.

Play Value: 5 out of 5 Studs. The elements are well thought out and have a wide variation from one another.

Design: 5 out of 5 Studs. The design is stable, highly functional, and looks good all at the same time.

Unique Parts: 5 out of 5 Studs. This set is loaded with wonderful parts that are hard to find anywhere else. And it is at an affordable price.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Studs. This set has some of the highest standards of creation while maintaining classic LEGO ideas.

Recommendations

This set makes a perfect example of how important it is to form your own opinions on things. This set can easily appeal to boys, girls, and adults. The best thing to do is to use this set as a test to see if you or your family would like the LEGO Friends line. After all, it is all LEGO no matter how it is marketed.

List of LEGO Friends Sets

The following list is ordered by set number and includes the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP). This does not reflect the chronological order of their release.