Friends

Heartlake City Candy Store

A pastel little sugar rush of a build that knows exactly what it is.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 42649 · 2025

Pieces376

Minifigsn/a

Year2025

Set number42649

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The verdict

I love how unapologetically sweet this set is, right down to the little swirl details on the shopfront that make it read as a candy store from across the room, not just a generic corner shop with pink walls.

It builds fast and cheerful, which is the point, this is a set for someone who wants a satisfying afternoon build and a display piece that makes them smile every time they walk past it, not a weekend engineering project. If you want mechanisms, hidden play features, and part count for your money, look elsewhere in the Friends lineup first, this one is spending its budget on color and charm rather than complexity.

Best for: Friends collectors and younger builders who want a quick, colorful Heartlake City display piece rather than a mechanically complex build

The full review

What it is

The Heartlake City Candy Store is one of those Friends sets that leads with personality. The moment the shopfront comes together, with its candy-cane colors and sweet little signage, you know exactly what kind of building you're looking at, and that clarity of concept is honestly the best thing about it. It's not trying to be a mini-mall or a complicated multi-story build, it's a candy shop, and it commits to that idea completely.

The catch

Where I'll be straight with you is on scope. At 376 pieces this sits toward the smaller end of the current Heartlake City wave, so if you're expecting the layered detail of the bigger sets in the line, this isn't that. The interior is charming but not deep, and once it's built there isn't a lot of interactive play beyond arranging the minifigs and rearranging the candy props. For the price point that's a fair trade, but it's worth knowing going in.

Who it's for

This one is for the collector who wants Heartlake City street presence without committing a big chunk of a weekend, or for a younger builder who wants something colorful and achievable that still looks good finished. If you want a set with more going on mechanically, or you're chasing part count value, I'd point you toward one of the larger Friends sets instead and treat this one as the sweet, easy addition to the row rather than the centerpiece.

The parts story

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

The build itself moves quickly and pleasantly, this is a set you can finish in one relaxed sitting rather than something that demands multiple sessions. The shopfront goes together first and gives you that immediate payoff moment, then the interior and the candy display details fill in the rest. It's a good rhythm for anyone who wants steady, visible progress rather than a long slow foundation phase before anything looks like a building.

The real draw here is the color palette rather than any single rare piece, LEGO leans into pinks, mint, and candy-stripe accents to sell the theme, and the small printed and specialty elements around the counter and signage are what give the build its charm. It's not a set chasing new mold pieces or exclusive parts, it's a set chasing a mood, and on that measure it delivers.

Fun facts

01Heartlake City Candy Store is part of LEGO's ongoing Heartlake City street wave for Friends, which reimagines the classic Heartlake location as a collectible row of storefronts.
02The set continues the Friends theme's long-running pattern of pairing small neighborhood shops with its bigger flagship builds each wave.
03Pastel and candy-stripe color blocking has become a signature look across the Heartlake City sub-line, making sets like this one easy to spot on a shelf even before you read the box.