Heartlake City Hospital Ambulance
A small, sweet slice of Heartlake life that plays bigger than its box.
Brick Rated Score
Set 42613 · 2024
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This one won me over with the little things, the skateboard and stunt ramp tucked next to the ambulance made me smile before I'd even clicked the doors shut.
It is a small set doing a specific job, giving a young builder an ambulance, a tree-lined bit of street, and three friends to run a whole afternoon of stories. I would not call it a showpiece for a shelf of adult builds, and the modest reception it has gotten from more serious collectors tells you that too. But judged as what it actually is, an accessible Friends Traffic set for a kid who wants a hospital rescue story, it does its job well.
Best for: younger Friends fans who want an ambulance play set with a story built in, not display-shelf collectors
What it is
I want to be upfront about what this set is before I tell you why I still like it. Heartlake City Hospital Ambulance is a small Friends Traffic set, an ambulance, a bit of street furniture, and three minifigures, and it is not trying to be a display piece. What got me was how much personality LEGO packed into that small footprint. Ben, Liann, and Luiz each have their own look, and the accessories around the ambulance, a brick built tree, a cart, a skateboard, and a stunt ramp, turn a single vehicle into an actual scene where something has clearly just happened. That is the kind of design choice that makes a small set feel like a story instead of a filler box.
The catch
Here is the honest part. Three hundred and forty four pieces goes by quickly, and the ambulance itself is a compact little thing, about five and a half inches long. If you are coming from bigger Friends builds or you want a vehicle you can spend a long evening on, this will not fill that need. The price per piece runs higher than you get on the flagship sets too, which is normal for a smaller build but worth knowing before you buy. And I will not pretend the reception has been rapturous, Brickset users have it sitting at a fairly modest 3.2 out of 5, which tells you this is not the set collectors are fighting over.
Who it's for
Where I would point this is squarely at a younger builder who wants an ambulance with a rescue story attached, or a Friends completist who wants Ben, Liann, and Luiz in their minifigure lineup. If you are shopping for a serious, detailed vehicle build or a set that is going to impress on a shelf, I would skip this one and look at a bigger Friends release instead.
The parts story
What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.
Building this one is quick and friendly, the kind of session where a younger builder can go start to finish without losing steam. The ambulance body goes together first, then the little street elements, the tree, the cart, and the skateboard ramp, layer on around it, so by the end you have a small scene rather than just a parked vehicle. It is not a set that will test your patience with repetition, and that is by design.
The real value here is in the minifigures rather than any single rare piece. Getting Ben, Liann, and Luiz together, with two of them new to this exact set, is the thing Friends collectors will actually care about. The brick built tree and the cart and skateboard accessories add nice texture to the play value, even if none of it amounts to a headline new mold or a printed part worth hunting down on its own.
Fun facts
- 01The set sits in the Friends Traffic subtheme, LEGO's line of everyday vehicle sets built around the Heartlake City cast rather than big set piece locations
- 02It launched with a recommended retail price of 34.99 US dollars and 29.99 British pounds, positioning it as an entry level Friends pickup rather than a flagship
- 03Two of the three minifigures, Liann and Luiz, were new to this particular set, giving Friends collectors fresh faces alongside the more familiar Ben
- 04The finished model measures roughly 5.5 by 3.5 by 3.1 inches, small enough to fit easily on a shared shelf with other Heartlake City sets
What other builders say
This write-up is grounded in real reviews and builder discussion, not just one opinion. A few worth reading:
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