Rumours of a fantasy based theme, even one using minidolls instead of minifigures, had my attention long before we saw any sets. When images emerged, this was my favourite by a long shot.

Box/Instructions

The box looks as you'd expect against any other Elves sets, I feel the dark blue tones set the magic theme nicely and it's very refreshing that the branding for a theme aimed at girls isn't overtly draped in pinks and pastles. The image of the set on the box is a fair representation of what to expect and shows nicely the adventure based story that so far avoids themes of conflict.

The instructions come as a single, stapled book. There were no obvious errors, and every step was easy to follow, can't really ask for much else of a set this size.

Parts

I am an absolute sucker for the Earth colours in the LEGO palette, so seeing swathes of Earth Blue across the ship, I knew I'd be happy with the parts if nothing else.

Even if you don't like minidolls, the Elves theme has been fantastic for introducing parts that will be useful for anyone who likes building anything mythological/fantasy based. The large clam shells (design number 18970 - which appear in this set in gold and white) could translate really well for a lot of Greek mythology. I'm also a big fan of the new fencing piece (design number 19121 - appearing in this set in gold) although I do feel this set could have benefited from at least one more of these to close the lower rear of the ship.

As well as these theme specific parts this is a great potential parts pack if you want to boost your blues, as well as a lot of Earth Blue there are a lot of medium azure parts, I might have preferred sand blue to make it a little less cartoony, but I think the brighter, bolder colours will likely be more appealing to children.

Minidolls

I know that this is a point that puts a lot of people off. Minidolls instead of minifigures - While I really didn't like minidolls at first, I am not not opposed to them, although my preference would always be for minifigures over minidolls. That aside, you get two minidolls with this set;

Naida Riverheart - The water Elf character, unsurprisingly the designers went with a blue colour theme to link to her water powers. I think that her two tone hair is a great touch, almost mimicking cascading water, although being made of the more rubbery material that LEGO use (like all the Elves hair pieces) is a bit of a minus. This is one of two appearances of Naida in the first wave, the other in the spa (set 41072) which only differs by the use of a flower hair acessory. She is also included with a cloak in the second wave set Skyra's Mysterious Sky Castle (set 41078)

Aira Windwhistler - The air/wind elf chatacter. I don't think there was an obvious colour for them to attach to this power, so the choice of purple, although not obvious is absolutely fine. The style of her dress is almost greek/roman looking in design, and does seem appropriate to the magical theme. Much like Naida this is one of two appearances for the first wave, the other being identical, with a third appearance (featuring a cloak) included in wave two's Aira's Pegasus Sleigh (set 41077) - a set that I am personally really looking forward to getting.

The build

If you think any set that is aimed at the female audience will be lacking in complex or interesting building techniques, think again! Initially this set feels far more like a build from a space theme like Galaxy Squad than anything you'll build for Heartlake City. Starting with some basic, shaping before moving on to the full structure really shows that this is a well thought out design. The front of the ship is an absolute joy that involves some great SNOT (studs not on top) building and very satisfyingly combines some sub builds. Even the mast was a surprise to me, it uses some fairly basic technic style building to attach it to a wheel allowing an obvious, but very useful play feature so 'steering' the ship.

In all honesty, I bought two of these, and I had as much fun putting the second together as the first - in fact if I see them at a good price I will happily buy more to build a fleet, I even hope to make some in different colours!

The completed model

While this is not a massive set, it is very cleverly designed and frankly the fact that a boat as beautiful as this can be produced at this price point really begs the question, why has a boat of this size not been included in the recent Pirates theme?

It looks fantastic as a smaller display piece, but is equally a super fun play set that I'm sure kids will love 'sailing' around a bedroom floor!

Overall opinion

Fantastic set, really good value - the only thing keeping it off that 5/5 rating is that perhaps a little more interactive play features could be added, and as ever the price always feels a little more than I'd like, but that's me being really harsh. Replace the oven and hair accessories for parts to make the shells move and knock £2 off the price and we're talking 5/5!