22 replies to this topic

[Hapori Tohu]

BZP correspondent Gatanui contends that "Even if you are not in the target group... a look [at] the website should do no harm." However, BZPower can not guarantee this. That's right, the full <a href="http://friends.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx">Lego Friends site</a> is now up, lacking only the promised game. It now has girly animations, girly bios, and girly quizzes, for all your girly Lego needs.

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[Alyska]

It actually looks a bit sparse at the moment, compared to their other story driven themes...

Lego said there was a $40 million dollar marketing campaign behind this. Did they spend it all on making those girls giggle and hug each other?

[Gatanui]

Lol, the report made me realize that I wrote "a look on the website" instead of "a look at the website" as it should be. Shame on me, but now I won´t forget to double-check my reports before submitting them, something I have been neglecting lately.

~Gata.

[Cave-Shinobi]

I checked the site. Then I noticed that LEGO tree in a weird angle and closed the tab :0

[Toa Nidhiki05]

I still don't see the need to for a girls LEGO line. Wouldn't it be more efficient to make LEGO lines that everyone can like rather than those that only appeal to a new base (young girls) and possibly the collector's market? I'm not an expert in marketing, but that seems like an easier route to me.

-Toa Nidhiki05

Edited by Toa Nidhiki05, Dec 30 2011 - 10:24 AM.

[GeluNumber1]

This looks like it could fail just as easily as the last girl's lines. Again, it seems to be about hugging and other stereotypical girl stuff. What it should be about, imo, is other intrests, like getting a job and other real-life scenarios. Then again, it is for young girls. Still, Lego could at least stray away from stereotypical girl stuff. Eh...

Edited by GeluNumber1, Dec 30 2011 - 11:55 AM.

[~Shockwave~]

I still don't see the need to for a girls LEGO line. Wouldn't it be more efficient to make LEGO lines that everyone can like rather than those that only appeal to a new base (young girls) and possibly the collector's market? I'm not an expert in marketing, but that seems like an easier route to me.

-Toa Nidhiki05

You just hit the nail on the head.
Maybe, oh I don't know, make the female sets look like it. That would help

[Bambi]

I'll be sure to check this out!

Okay, maybe not. But I'll still try.

[Aanchir: Rachira of Time]

I still don't see the need to for a girls LEGO line. Wouldn't it be more efficient to make LEGO lines that everyone can like rather than those that only appeal to a new base (young girls) and possibly the collector's market? I'm not an expert in marketing, but that seems like an easier route to me.

-Toa Nidhiki05

Doing that is harder than you might think. A lot of people feel the LEGO themes out currently are fairly unisex, but in fact girls are an exceedingly tiny minority in terms of general LEGO sales. And this has been the case for years.

Additionally, remember the old adage, "Try to please everybody and you please nobody." Just as many of TLG's current themes draw their success by specifically targeting boys within a particular age range, so they're hoping this theme will be successful by targeting girls within a particular age range. There is always a periphery demographic-- girls who liked BIONICLE, for instance, or adults who liked BIONICLE. These fans were often just as avid as their 7-16-year-old male counterparts, but the fact remains that both groups were overwhelmingly outnumbered by male fans within the target age range, who were in fact the intended audience for the theme.

Haven't made time to check this website myself, but I hope to do so soon. I'm very impressed with the quality of the Friends sets and the amount of effort that went into researching and planning for the theme. I hope the marketing of the theme is just as well-planned, and I hope all the work that goes into this theme ends up being effective in once again recognizing that girls can enjoy building toys just as well as boys.

[GSR]

Yeah, though it seems contradictory, unisex sets don't necessarily do as well across genders. If I may be a horrible debater here and provide anecdotal evidence, at Christmas I went over to my aunt and uncle's house, who have three kids - two boys about 7 and 9, and a girl about 4. The boys love Lego and have tons of pieces for it - some Star Wars, but also a lot of plain Lego pieces. While they were going nuts over those and their gifts were almost entirely comprised of Lego, the girl mostly ignored the Lego blocks (even the ordinary ones) and was ecstatic to receive a dollhouse and toy teaset/table for Christmas. I mentioned Lego Friends to her parents, and they said they'd give it a look - I'm curious to see if she'd enjoy it if her parents bought it for her at some point.

Part of this could be attributable to age, of course, but I doubt that's the whole story.

Edited by GSR, Dec 30 2011 - 01:29 PM.

[Gatanui]

Yeah, though it seems contradictory, unisex sets don't necessarily do as well across genders. If I may be a horrible debater here and provide anecdotal evidence, at Christmas I went over to my aunt and uncle's house, who have three kids - two boys about 7 and 9, and a girl about 4. The boys love Lego and have tons of pieces for it - some Star Wars, but also a lot of plain Lego pieces. While they were going nuts over those and their gifts were almost entirely comprised of Lego, the girl mostly ignored the Lego blocks (even the ordinary ones) and was ecstatic to receive a dollhouse and toy teaset/table for Christmas. I mentioned Lego Friends to her parents, and they said they'd give it a look - I'm curious to see if she'd enjoy it if her parents bought it for her at some point.

Part of this could be attributable to age, of course, but I doubt that's the whole story.

Could be that they have already been 'educated' to like dollhouse and similar toys while the boys were educated to like construction toys. Really, it´s hard to say with matters like these how much is congenital and how much has been acquired later.

~Gata.

[Aanchir: Rachira of Time]

Yeah, though it seems contradictory, unisex sets don't necessarily do as well across genders. If I may be a horrible debater here and provide anecdotal evidence, at Christmas I went over to my aunt and uncle's house, who have three kids - two boys about 7 and 9, and a girl about 4. The boys love Lego and have tons of pieces for it - some Star Wars, but also a lot of plain Lego pieces. While they were going nuts over those and their gifts were almost entirely comprised of Lego, the girl mostly ignored the Lego blocks (even the ordinary ones) and was ecstatic to receive a dollhouse and toy teaset/table for Christmas. I mentioned Lego Friends to her parents, and they said they'd give it a look - I'm curious to see if she'd enjoy it if her parents bought it for her at some point.

Part of this could be attributable to age, of course, but I doubt that's the whole story.

Could be that they have already been 'educated' to like dollhouse and similar toys while the boys were educated to like construction toys. Really, it´s hard to say with matters like these how much is congenital and how much has been acquired later.

~Gata.

In this case, of course, one wonders how much of this matters from LEGO's perspective. They already know that girls can enjoy building toys, because girls within the Duplo age range buy sets with about the same frequency as boys. But after that point, getting into school, they become influenced by outside pressures which are outside LEGO's control, including the influences of their peers.

Whether or not the girls' interests at this point are congenital or acquired doesn't change whether the interests are genuine. You can't go up to a girl playing with dolls and tell her "play with less gender-defined toys instead so you don't develop an unhealthy gender identity". Instead, a focus has to be made on creating toys that fulfill their interests without stifling creativity, imagination, or ambition.

On a side note, I'm surprised I see so much uncertainty about this theme on this site and yet My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has been welcomed so much here. That, too, is a franchise aimed at girls within a similar age range, and has things that some people would consider "stereotypically girly"-- for instance, Rarity is a fashion designer, Pinkie Pie works at a bakery, and Fluttershy cares for animals.

If MLP:FiM hadn't been so recent and the research for LEGO Friends hadn't been going on for so long in advance, I would almost certainly expect the theme to have been inspired by the success of that TV show. The foundation of the story for both is a set of close friends with diverse interests and talents. Although on a side note, I feel many aspects of the LEGO Friends sets are far less stereotypically girly than the MLP toyline which the TV show exists to promote. No brushable hair on these girls!

[Bfahome]

I doubt that's what the full site is or will be. Looks more like a teaser site, which isn't anything new for LEGO.

A few clicks around and I see an ad for a game, so yeah there's content that isn't up yet.

[Waffles]

Aanchir, the MLP toyline is a lot "girlier" than this theme, or the MLP show. However, MLP's popularity has been because of the show, not the toys.

In general, the overall gender stereotypes are a lot more "stricter" for girls than boys, and for that reason it is more difficult to make unisex LEGO themes that appeal to girls. Toys for girls are more "girly", while toys for boys aren't necessarily violent and "manly". I think that while unisex themes may be the best solution, we should applaud LEGO's work on this theme, which is a significant improvement from the previous "girly "themes.

[Alyska]

Aanchir- I think the reasons MLP makes it work is because:
1) The show sends the message that there are many different ways to be a girl. The fashion designer, the baker and the vet (?) are balanced out by the scholar, the athlete, and the farmer.
2) The characters' personalities are shown to be much deeper and more complex than just their interests. It takes the girly stereotypes, runs around with them, drags them through the dirt, hits them a few times with a hammer, and then fixes them up to be better than they were before. It's girly, but it's redefined and reconstructed "girly" into something more substantial and interesting.

Lego Friends seems to be attempting to recreate the first point, given the character of Olivia, who likes inventing robots. However, there is only one of her, so it's not a perfect balance. It will be interesting to see whether the characters' personalities are given more depth when the story material comes out.

[Waffles]

Animal Lover - Original!
Fashion Designer - Shocking!
Singing and Dancing - New! Also racially diverse!
Partyin', partyin', yeah! - Never seen this before!
ROBOTS - WHOA THERE

I say they should pick random girls from around the world and make characters from their amalgamated personalities to make them more realistic.

Edited by Waffles, Dec 31 2011 - 01:39 AM.

[WORT WORT WORT]

cool!!! my sister was telling me about these earlier this week!

[Obsessionist]

Wow. They went alot more in-depth with the character bios and stories than I thought they would. Not amazingly detailed or anything, but I was expecting that they would say "she likes animals" and leave the rest up to creativity. Still, I hope it works out for Lego. It needs a good "girl" line.

[Takua Nui of GoAnimate]

I have to agree that most Lego themes seem to be aimed at boys, but Friends looks very stereotypical. I would actually prefer if they would add more Female characters to Hero Factory, and other themes.

[Aanchir: Rachira of Time]

Aanchir- I think the reasons MLP makes it work is because:
1) The show sends the message that there are many different ways to be a girl. The fashion designer, the baker and the vet (?) are balanced out by the scholar, the athlete, and the farmer.
2) The characters' personalities are shown to be much deeper and more complex than just their interests. It takes the girly stereotypes, runs around with them, drags them through the dirt, hits them a few times with a hammer, and then fixes them up to be better than they were before. It's girly, but it's redefined and reconstructed "girly" into something more substantial and interesting.

Lego Friends seems to be attempting to recreate the first point, given the character of Olivia, who likes inventing robots. However, there is only one of her, so it's not a perfect balance. It will be interesting to see whether the characters' personalities are given more depth when the story material comes out.

Agreed. MLP:FiM is pretty phenomenal among girl-oriented media for all of these reasons. I wouldn't expect a LEGO theme for girls to be up to its level of quality any more than I would expect a theme like Ninjago to be up to the same level of quality as Avatar: The Last Airbender. Both are in the fantasy martial arts genre, with a bit of technological anachronism thrown in, but Ninjago is a much simpler and less sophisticated story.

And I agree, one thing A:TLA and MLP:FiM have in common besides being amazingly-creative and entertaining is that their toylines are nothing compared to the TV series. This is more of a surprise in the case of MLP, since it is owned by a dedicated toy company, Hasbro. It makes me wonder if one day TLG might one day entrust a creative property to an experienced creator and see their "story media" become a higher quality compared to their products, as opposed to the other way around (as is sadly more often the case). Ninjago is taking steps in that direction by being the first full TV series LEGO has attempted, and it has a lot of LEGO-related talent behind it (the animators have worked on LEGO projects for years, and Greg Farshtey has a strong influence on the story). But it's not a phenomenal work of art by any means, even though I have no trouble enjoying it.

Friends truly is aiming for the diverse interests and personalities angle MLP:FiM mastered, according to the website. But you're right that MLP:FiM definitely outdid it in this regard. TLG seems to be "playing it safe" by keeping close to somewhat traditional female interests, and I hope that if the theme lasts they will start to push the envelope a bit further. I certainly hope that the reverse doesn't happen, and they end up making it girlier over time, although that's a very legitimate concern considering that LEGO Friends, even more so than MLP:FiM, will probably see its design driven by the toyline more than by the story. And MLP's toyline does not offer as much hope for the future of girl-oriented media as the show does, with product designs still driven by traditional gender stereotypes.

[Alyska]

The thing is- we should be able to expect great quality entertainment from Lego. After all, their motto is "Only the best is good enough"- shouldn't that extend to their entertainment media as well as their toys? Hasbro has got the art of story-driven toylines downpat, so I think Lego needs to start heading in that direction by hiring experienced creators and scriptwriters.

I was thinking last night of how good the Hero Factory podcasts were, and that Friends should do something similar. As a light-hearted line, there should be plenty of room for comedy. Just give one of the characters an additional interest in being a radio announcer/commedienne, and she can create her own podcasts featuring herself and her friends (A homemade radio studio would also make an interesting set). The fact that one of the girls is a singer could also provide additional material, as they could have some of her music on the podcasts.

[Aanchir: Rachira of Time]

The thing is- we should be able to expect great quality entertainment from Lego. After all, their motto is "Only the best is good enough"- shouldn't that extend to their entertainment media as well as their toys? Hasbro has got the art of story-driven toylines downpat, so I think Lego needs to start heading in that direction by hiring experienced creators and scriptwriters.

I was thinking last night of how good the Hero Factory podcasts were, and that Friends should do something similar. As a light-hearted line, there should be plenty of room for comedy. Just give one of the characters an additional interest in being a radio announcer/commedienne, and she can create her own podcasts featuring herself and her friends (A homemade radio studio would also make an interesting set). The fact that one of the girls is a singer could also provide additional material, as they could have some of her music on the podcasts.

I think LEGO has some significant disadvantages over Hasbro when it comes to story/entertainment media. For one, BIONICLE was their first huge multimedia endeavor (besides a few computer games previously), and that was just over a decade ago, whereas Hasbro has been creating books and TV shows to go with their toys for over two and a half decades. Regarding Friends in particular, that's a girl-oriented theme following several girl-oriented themes whose success was usually mediocre compared to other themes. Hasbro, on the other hand, has several successful girl-oriented toy franchises and, again, has been doing it for decades. So naturally my expectations for it from a story perspective are not exceedingly high.

The Hero Factory podcasts were good, but I'm not totally sure how popular they were. I, for one, enjoyed them, but it took me a long time to listen to them since they're not the sort of story media I'm used to enjoying, and the same might have been true for many kids within the target age range. Incidentally, those came to us through the creative efforts of the ADVANCE agency in Denmark, which handles a lot of LEGO's advertising and marketing and contributed very greatly to BIONICLE as well. I'm not sure what hand they might have in the Friends theme, but if they turn out to be involved then that could be a good sign.

[Damaracx 7.0]

LEGO needs more girl themes