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LEGO Friends Are Coming


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LEGO has put up a <a href="http://friends.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx" target="offsite">teaser page</a> for another new toy line. LEGO Friends will be targeted at young girls in an attempt to be the compliment to LEGO City, which is targeted more at boys. The sets will be fully System compatible, but instead of minifigs, there will be "minidolls," slightly larger and more detailed figures. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this line soon and seeing it at ToyFair.

 

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The hairpieces work for standard figs. And yes, those purple and light azure pieces look yummy. But I won't be picking these up.

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Why are orange and black such a good color Combination ? Purple is pretty, and so is blue. Pink hurts your eyes, green is quite mellowing, black is very threatning, red is cool, orange is SO awesome, yellow's hard to read... But you can't see white at all! Oh, wait. I forgot brown.

 

Here's my thoughts: If a person tells the truth and says, " I always lie," Is he lying? Or is he telling the truth? And what has a mouth, but no head, and a body, but no torso? Do caterpillars like to tend to supporting colum of stone's every need? Or is that name misleading by nature? Speaking of nature, why are the children of animals called offspring? don't many young beasts come alive in spring, and thus, should be called onspring? Heeeeeeyy..... I got the first post on a page for the first time. Who knows; it may happen again. What the... It did happen again... and again...

 

YEAH! I'M ENCOUNTERING PROTODERMIS!

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The hairpieces work for standard figs. And yes, those purple and light azure pieces look yummy. But I won't be picking these up.

How do you know this? I would like some more (non-leaked)details or images, if you have them.I'm surprised Lego is trying a "girl" theme again. Should bring some cool parts, though.

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Both official, CGI pictures of all sets (for all themes!) complete with box art have been flooding the internet (mainly brickshelf) for QUITE a while now, and out of box pictures were posted a few days ago... on brickshelf.Thing is, brickshelf isn't functioning correctly as of now. So pictures can't be posted. :/-Mesonak

Edited by Mesonak

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High-resolution pictures have been on Brickset.com for a while now:http://brickset.com/browse/themes/?theme=FriendsI am actually very optimistic for this line. Many of the pieces in these sets can easily be integrated with typical System parts and aren't the overly juniorized elements that have plagued lines such as Belville. Furthermore, I really appreciate the number of pastel colored pieces that we'll be getting from this line. I'm sure these will have their applications in MOC building.Although I was initially disappointed with how the figures turned out, I do have to remember that this is a line designed for young girls, and not for your typical male TFOL or AFOL. I actually like these a lot better than the Belville figures, as the Friends figures are indeed much closer to minifigure scale. Consequently, the models are closer to minifigure scale too - a definite plus.We'll see how the sales go, but from this first impression, I think this has been LEGO's best attempt yet.

Rahkshi8000

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Like OMG. I'm gonna like text Danielle like right now.Seriously, this looks semi interesting. (not the theme, but more the idea) I wonder why Lego thinks this'll be successful when Belville and Clikits failed miserably.About what people are saying about MOC parts, I doubt any of us (teenage guys mostly) are gonna buy even one set. I feel dumb enough going to the store and buying Hero Factory. :P

Edited by Zarohum
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Those themes failed in the eyes of many because of the large, over simplified parts. This theme, the only thing that isn't "standard Lego" are the characters themselves.And yeah, you're likely right. Though I personally won't be buying them not because of any sort of embarrassment, but because the theme just doesn't catch my eye. Not even for the colors. That, and I'm not too terribly interested in System anyways.-Mesonak

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The hairpieces work for standard figs. And yes, those purple and light azure pieces look yummy. But I won't be picking these up.

How do you know this? I would like some more (non-leaked)details or images, if you have them.I'm surprised Lego is trying a "girl" theme again. Should bring some cool parts, though.
I read it on brickset, on the news page. It was from a reliable source... but IDK how to link to it.

jimistringer.png

Why are orange and black such a good color Combination ? Purple is pretty, and so is blue. Pink hurts your eyes, green is quite mellowing, black is very threatning, red is cool, orange is SO awesome, yellow's hard to read... But you can't see white at all! Oh, wait. I forgot brown.

 

Here's my thoughts: If a person tells the truth and says, " I always lie," Is he lying? Or is he telling the truth? And what has a mouth, but no head, and a body, but no torso? Do caterpillars like to tend to supporting colum of stone's every need? Or is that name misleading by nature? Speaking of nature, why are the children of animals called offspring? don't many young beasts come alive in spring, and thus, should be called onspring? Heeeeeeyy..... I got the first post on a page for the first time. Who knows; it may happen again. What the... It did happen again... and again...

 

YEAH! I'M ENCOUNTERING PROTODERMIS!

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I think LEGO is looking at this the wrong way. Themes such as town and city are the most popular among young girls, or so I´ve heard.The oversimplification and lack of interesting contruction stuff is a really big downside.

Edited by Waffles
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So seeing this article finally inspired me to take a good look at these Friends sets. I say these are some really good sets, with some (such as a cafe or a large treehouse) needing to be incorporated into the actual City sets, mainly because I am not apart of the strong-willed who will purchase these from a store. Though I imagine some people could do it, such as Bronies who have purchased MLP toys from a store in front of the viewing public. They are the true men among us.I will also say that out of the "girl-orientated" lines that LEGO has introduced, I say Paradisa is my favorite. It gave us tons of female minifigs, pink pieces, and Town-based stuff besides the same-old Emergency stuff that we get every year. I want LEGO to bring back a Paradisa-like theme. With more purple to combat the pink. I'd have no issues buying that in public.

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Seriously, this looks semi interesting. (not the theme, but more the idea) I wonder why Lego thinks this'll be successful when Belville and Clikits failed miserably.

Because these sets aren't ridiculously oversimplified and don't insult girls' intelligence?I think it's a step in the right direction, although it seems to be aimed squarely at the under-9s. I'm curious as to whether this line is going to have any story behind it at all... I'm kind of torn on stuff like this because in an ideal world, it should be possible to develop gender-neutral toys that have an even split between male and female characters, but at least this is a sign that Lego is acknowledging the potential for a female fanbase. Other companies, such as Mattel and Hasbro, cater to both genders equally (in terms of quantity,at least, if not in quality), so it's about time Lego started trying to catch up.

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Alyska, you speak truth.I´m not sure if it really is that way, but it seems that many of LEGO´s girl-oriented lines have been failures, perhaps for this reason.Perhaps this is taking it too far, but it seems to have simply stereotypes of young girls.I´ve heard from many female AFOLs that the sets they like the most are the Modular Buildings, so I think that´s a good way to do things.

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I think this line will do okay. I will definately purchase the smaller sets for my niece, who is getting a bunch of town sets for christmas, having been introduced to Lego through Duplos and then the Pink Brick box. What is interesting is the line of sets themselves. A number of these bare uncanny resemblence to Barbie accessories. IE: the vet clinic is a popular Barbie theme, with Barbie caring for cats and dogs in the "I Can Be..." line, and having numerous tiny puppies over the years ( i know because I bought some), including a pooper scooper. Here's hoping TLC doesn't have the new minifigs picking up brown 1x1x1/3 round studs...Also worth noting is that some of the popular city and Belville sets have merged into this line. The girly car and the horse stables being examples. For the girl who has everything, this line can also be merged with standard bricks. This is really something that is exceptional about this line, as TLC has always been praised for its universal compatability.In the future, I would like to see this line venture into Creator with dollhouse-type sets, similar to Fischer-Price's "Loving Family" line. Modular rooms and a large dollhouse set would be appropriate for the target market, with light and sound bricks for the deluxe model, a la Apple Tree Hous's working doorbell. Additionally, caring for baby and other family-based sets would be popular with girls, as modeling the family is a common role-playing experience for girls.Looking forward to my niece--the target market's--responce.

Verily, I say unto you, these words which you will never find on a Lego box: "No Assembly Required".

 

Play well, friends.

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Seriously, this looks semi interesting. (not the theme, but more the idea) I wonder why Lego thinks this'll be successful when Belville and Clikits failed miserably.

Because these sets aren't ridiculously oversimplified and don't insult girls' intelligence?I think it's a step in the right direction, although it seems to be aimed squarely at the under-9s. I'm curious as to whether this line is going to have any story behind it at all...I'm kind of torn on stuff like this because in an ideal world, it should be possible to develop gender-neutral toys that have an even split between male and female characters, but at least this is a sign that Lego is acknowledging the potential for a female fanbase. Other companies, such as Mattel and Hasbro, cater to both genders equally (in terms of quantity,at least, if not in quality), so it's about time Lego started trying to catch up.
True, though I think the older sets were simple because they figured boys play with Lego Bricks more, and can build more complicated things if they build more. Kind of became a self-fulfilling prophecy though. The more complicated sets made boys better at building stuff than girls.I don't think there's gonna be much of a story. Probably as much of a story as Polly Pockets, if that.And you realize girls can play with City and stuff like that. My sister used to have Harry Potter and Star Wars sets.
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If lego could get a TV show or good line of books to go with it I could see this lasting.

At some point you realize that you are but a speck in the Universe.


That you time in this worlds is but a blink.


You see the whole of reality as it unfolds before you.


You try to see how far you can reach, and it’s not that far past your face.


But then you come back from the brink.


You hold them in your arms again.


And you know that you are where their world begins.


You are their rock.

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After reading the article, I think that Lego Friends could be Lego's best attempt on appealing to girls since the Paradisa theme from the 1990s. I still own the sets today, despite the number of pink bricks the set contains. The scale of the "ladyfigs" being similar to the minifigs from 1978 (as well as the design of the ladyfigs) convinced me enough to get at least one of the new sets, and I'm looking forward to getting some new brick colors for MOC-ing! :sigh: Now if only Lego could get a mini-comic book and a TV series just like Hero Factory or Ninjago, then it would be more successful and more people would buy the sets. Hey, why not give them (and the girls) their own social media accounts on the web, too! (HeroBook or HeroFeed, anyone?)~:haunu: VM4.0 :haunu:

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This and previous "Lego Bricks for girls" lines are blatantly sexist and are what make girls overly self-concious and lose their self-esteem, and exclude other girls who don't fit the desirable criteria for friendship; or the lines would, if they were actually successful. I support Lego for girls, but definitely not ones that are all beauty-oriented like this. That being said, in terms of mocing, this is going to be great. The more purple the better.

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I've got some... ah... strong oppinions on stuff like this.I don't really like the fact that toys a re gender based.For one, if a girl in the Target age group liked hf, would she be made fun of? Maybe, but not as much as a 5-10 year old boy would for liking this. But why? Personally, I think its because that's what society encourages, fit in a stupid little mold, and if you don't, you become an outcast... somebody everyone picks on.And I know what that feels like. (Not that I like "girl" toys, but I certainly don't fit in that stupid mold.)

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I've got some... ah... strong oppinions on stuff like this.I don't really like the fact that toys a re gender based.For one, if a girl in the Target age group liked hf, would she be made fun of? Maybe, but not as much as a 5-10 year old boy would for liking this. But why? Personally, I think its because that's what society encourages, fit in a stupid little mold, and if you don't, you become an outcast... somebody everyone picks on.And I know what that feels like. (Not that I like "girl" toys, but I certainly don't fit in that stupid mold.)

I do agree somewhat. It would be nice if more toys were percieved as gender neutral, but, in the world we currently live in, boys' and girls' toys are heavily segregated, and Lego's gotta do what they gotta do in order to make money. I remember that last year I suggested here that Lego could make Bionicle more gender-neutral by adding more female characters, and the response was overwhelmingly negative- and that was just the older fanbase talking! One thing that may help solve the problem of boys being ridiculed for liking something "girly", is an improvement in the quality of products aimed at girls, so that "feminine" is no longer synonomous with "lame". Maybe then, after a few years, it will be possible to make toys that appeal to both genders, when boys are no longer deterred by girls liking it, and vice versa.If you look at the friends sets, many of the girls are shown doing stereotypical things, such as cooking or horse riding, but there is one character who apparently likes to build robots in her spare time. I think the message that toys for girls need to start conveying is that there are many different ways to be a girl, all of them equally valid, and that you don't need to fit into the "shopping and makeup" mold.Incidentally, I'm now trying to pitch an idea for a Bionicle-equivalent for girls on Lego Cuusoo. I'd be interested to know what you guys thought of it.

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I've got some... ah... strong oppinions on stuff like this.I don't really like the fact that toys a re gender based.For one, if a girl in the Target age group liked hf, would she be made fun of? Maybe, but not as much as a 5-10 year old boy would for liking this. But why? Personally, I think its because that's what society encourages, fit in a stupid little mold, and if you don't, you become an outcast... somebody everyone picks on.And I know what that feels like. (Not that I like "girl" toys, but I certainly don't fit in that stupid mold.)

I do agree somewhat. It would be nice if more toys were percieved as gender neutral, but, in the world we currently live in, boys' and girls' toys are heavily segregated, and Lego's gotta do what they gotta do in order to make money. I remember that last year I suggested here that Lego could make Bionicle more gender-neutral by adding more female characters, and the response was overwhelmingly negative- and that was just the older fanbase talking! One thing that may help solve the problem of boys being ridiculed for liking something "girly", is an improvement in the quality of products aimed at girls, so that "feminine" is no longer synonomous with "lame". Maybe then, after a few years, it will be possible to make toys that appeal to both genders, when boys are no longer deterred by girls liking it, and vice versa.If you look at the friends sets, many of the girls are shown doing stereotypical things, such as cooking or horse riding, but there is one character who apparently likes to build robots in her spare time. I think the message that toys for girls need to start conveying is that there are many different ways to be a girl, all of them equally valid, and that you don't need to fit into the "shopping and makeup" mold.Incidentally, I'm now trying to pitch an idea for a Bionicle-equivalent for girls on Lego Cuusoo. I'd be interested to know what you guys thought of it.
I get the marketing standpoint, If you want your bussiness to thrive you need to appeal to as many groups as possible (by bringing the age range down... yeah....) but its what has to be done to accomplish that.i think you have a good idea, making more female charecters would make it appeal to a bigger crowed without making it girly.For the record back in 01 gali was my favorite

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