Friends

Sports Centre

A rotating rock wall and a field that plays four sports, wrapped in the friendliest Friends set of 2023.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 41744 · 2023

Pieces832

Minifigs4

Year2023

Set number41744

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The verdict

The thing that got me here is the rock climbing wall.

It runs two storeys tall, it is loaded with handholds and a rope, and the whole panel spins so a mini-doll can 'climb' on either face. That one idea carries a set that is already packed with play features. I love it for a Friends fan who actually plays, though I will be straight with you, at the old RRP it asked a lot for 832 pieces.

Best for: Friends fans who want a play set with real moving features, not a shelf model

The full review

What it is

Sports Centre is a two-part complex: a multi-level gym building and an open sports field that sits beside it. The building holds a locker room with showers, a treadmill, an exercise bike with a little monitor, dumbbells and a punching bag upstairs, and then that rock climbing wall running up through it all. The first time I spun the wall and realised the handholds were arranged so a mini-doll could scale either face, I actually grinned. It is such a simple mechanic and it makes the whole thing feel alive rather than static. For a set aimed squarely at play, that is exactly the kind of feature I want to find.

The catch

I will not pretend the price was kind. At $94.99 for 832 pieces this landed around 11.4 cents a piece, which is on the steep side even before you factor in that there are no new molds in the box. That was far and away the loudest complaint from reviewers, and it is fair. There is also a slight imbalance in the build itself: the ground floor and the field are busy and clever, while the upper gym floor feels comparatively sparse once you have placed the equipment. It is not a dealbreaker, but if you are chasing pure parts value or dense engineering, this is not the set that wins that argument.

Who it's for

So who should get it? A Friends fan who actually plays with their sets, hands down. The convertible field is the real trick here, one open pitch that becomes a soccer ground, then a tennis court with a net, then a basketball or target setup depending on what you clip on. That is a huge amount of scenario play from a single footprint. The four mini-dolls, Niko, Leo, Ivana and Hanna, are all exclusive to this set, and Hanna in particular is a lovely inclusion. If you are a display-first builder or a parts hunter, though, I would tell you to skip it and put the money toward something with a bit more structural ambition. This one earns its keep on the carpet, not the shelf.

The parts story

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

Building it is a comfortable, varied afternoon rather than a marathon. You move through distinct zones, the field, the locker room, the climbing wall, the upstairs gym, so it never settles into a repetitive grind. The treadmill uses a genuinely nice little technique to fake the running belt, and the rotating rock wall assembly is the most satisfying section to put together because you can see the mechanism come good as you build it. Nothing here is difficult, which suits the audience, but there is enough cleverness sprinkled through to keep an adult builder engaged.

There are no new molds, so the story is really about color. The set carries some exclusive Dark Azure elements, including four Wedge 4x4 Fractured Polygon Top and three Brick Curved 4x6 with the 2x4 cut-out, both handy pieces to have in that shade if you like an unusual palette on the parts shelf. Beyond those, it is a colourful grab-bag of lesser-seen elements that put all 832 pieces to good use. The printed pieces are the emotional highlight for me: Hanna's arm print showing a continuous glucose sensor, paired with her handheld monitor, is a small, accurate detail that means a lot to the kids who see themselves in it.

Fun facts

01Hanna is one of the first LEGO Friends characters to visibly live with type 1 diabetes, wearing a printed continuous glucose sensor on her arm and carrying a monitor accessory.
02All four mini-dolls in the set, Niko, Leo, Ivana and Hanna, are exclusive to this box and appear in no other set.
03The two-storey rock climbing wall rotates on its axis, so a single wall face can be used from both sides during play.
04The set released in 2023 as part of the rebooted LEGO Friends line and retired in December 2024.