Friends

Heartlake City Airport and Airplane

The little airport that turns out to be a whole travel day in a box.

Brick Rated Score

4.3/5

Set 42656 · 2025

Pieces958

Minifigs8

Year2025

Set number42656

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The verdict

The thing that got me is how much actual airport LEGO crammed in here, because the box art really undersells it.

You get a working check-in, bag scanners, a baggage claim, a waiting lounge, plus a full buildable plane with spinning propellers and four passenger seats. It won me over slowly, mostly because every time I thought I understood the footprint, another section appeared. If you love play-first sets with a hundred little roleplay moments, this one delivers.

Best for: Friends fans who want a big play-first playset with real airport theater

The full review

There's a version of this LEGO® set in your head from the box photo, and then there's the real thing, which is noticeably bigger and busier. Heartlake City has done an airport roughly every five years (2015, then 2020, now this one in 2025), and each time the piece count and the detail creep up. This is the biggest of the three at 958 pieces, and it shows. The airport terminal packs in a ticketing booth, individual security scanners, a bag scanner, a baggage claim belt and a waiting lounge, which is more of the actual airport experience than I expected to fit on a shelf.

The color work is a big part of the charm. Everything gets framed in whites and blues with soft gradients and a few transparent accents, so it reads clean and bright instead of cluttered, which is a real trick when a set has this many little functional zones. You also get a proper buildable passenger plane with a pilot's cockpit, four passenger seats, luggage storage and propellers that actually spin, plus a taxi and two luggage carts to shuttle everyone around. The Technic bits under the play features give it that satisfying push-and-it-works quality kids want.

It isn't flawless, though, and you should know where it gives. At $99.99 for 958 pieces you're paying around ten cents a part, which is fine but not thrilling, and the handful of brand-new molds nudge the price up rather than the value. The taxi is the weak link, with no opening doors and no trunk you can actually use, so it feels more like a placeholder than a proper vehicle. And the plane, while fun, leans on big pre-formed fuselage pieces, so it comes together quickly and ends up looking a little generic next to the beautifully detailed terminal.

If you or the builder in your life loves Friends and wants a big, play-first world with a dozen roleplay setups baked in, this is an easy yes, and the interior alone justifies a lot of the price. If you're chasing dense, clever engineering or the best dollar-per-brick deal on the shelf, you'll feel the standard airplane and the so-so taxi more than a Friends fan will. For a playset though, this is one of the stronger ones LEGO has put out lately, and it carries the airport legacy well.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build breaks into clear chunks, which makes it a lovely one to do in sittings. You start with the plane, which honestly goes fastest because it rides on those big fuselage pieces, then move into the terminal, and that's where the time goes. The terminal is where all the personality lives, section by section: the check-in desk, the scanner lanes, the baggage belt and the lounge each build up as their own little scene with their own play function. It never gets fiddly enough to frustrate a younger builder, but there's enough Technic hidden in the play features to keep it interesting for an adult sitting alongside.

On the parts front, the headline is three brand-new curved brick molds making their debut here: a Brick Arch 1x3x1 2/3 with a curved top, a Brick Curved 1x2x1 with a curved top, and a Brick Arch 1x5x3 1/3 with a curved top. They're shortened takes on existing arches, and they give you more flexibility for smooth rooflines and edges, so parts-focused builders will want a note of them. The set is heavy on whites, blues and those transparent accents, which are handy palette fillers. Just know the value story is middling: at roughly ten cents a piece, if you only want the new elements, it's worth pricing them on Pick a Brick or BrickLink before buying the whole box.

Fun facts

01Heartlake City has gotten a new airport roughly every five years (2015, 2020, and now 2025), and this 958-piece version is the biggest of the trio.
02Ryan's minifigure wears a lanyard printed with the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower symbol, a real-world quiet signal for non-visible disabilities.
03The set debuts three brand-new curved brick molds, shortened versions of existing arch pieces that add flexibility for smooth edges.
04Alongside seven mini-dolls it includes baby Emilia and Dango the dog, so the full arrivals lounge comes with a family and a pet.