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So, what's your opinion on the various girl-oriented sets released over the years? Paradisa, Clikits, Belville, and the new line, Lego Friends?Is there anything you would really like to see in a "girls' line" (Boys, this includes you, too- perhaps there's a specific part you would like in a colour that tends to be used only in products aimed at girls?)I for one would really like to see a story-driven constraction line (buildable figures) aimed at girls, with a more streamlined, feminine design than Bionicle or Hero Factory. I think it has the potential to include a wide range of styles and colour schemes.

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This new Lego "Friends" line and previous Lego lines for girls are blatantly sexist and are (or would be, if they actually were successful) part of the reason why young girls become overly self-concious about their physical appearances, lose their self-esteem, and form cliques that exclude other girls that don't fit their criteria for friendship. I do support Lego Bricks made for a girl and/or gender neutral audience, but definitely not if they're going to be all beauty-oriented like this. That being said, this new line sure brings up a heck of a lot of new opportunities as far as mocing is concerned.

Thank you, BZPower staff. In the past, I wish I showed more appreciation for all that you do. From one Bionicle fan to another, thank you.

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This new Lego "Friends" line and previous Lego lines for girls are blatantly sexist and are (or would be, if they actually were successful) part of the reason why young girls become overly self-concious about their physical appearances, lose their self-esteem, and form cliques that exclude other girls that don't fit their criteria for friendship. I do support Lego Bricks made for a girl and/or gender neutral audience, but definitely not if they're going to be all beauty-oriented like this. That being said, this new line sure brings up a heck of a lot of new opportunities as far as mocing is concerned.

Couldn't have said it better myself, Toa Zaz. Bionicle has always been my favorite toy, and most likely will always be. But when I'm 40, I'll probably just set them up like other people display model cars. :)

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I haven´t really had a high opinion of them due to thier general simplicity, whether it be in the theme of the sets or the parts. I stand adamandtly by my opinion that girls aren´t just pink-loving little automatons. They pretty much fit in with the whole self-conscious image that is part of consumerist culture, instead of doing anything new.And please, LEGO, if you´re going to introduce new colors, use them in all your themes.

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I don't think its sexist to make feminine things. People like Mattel and Hasbro have been doing it for decades, and it has worked out pretty well so far. Many girls on BZPower have been asking for something like this, and they're finally going to get it. Great. There's no crime in getting girl things, ladies.

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Well, there's obviously a market for this sort of thing, so I don't bame Lego for wanting to appeal to girls by doing "girly" sets. On the other hand, I think that diversity is just as important for girls as it is for boys, and so there should be a wide range of products and styles available to them. Lego has attempted this by giving the Friends characters different personalities, but I think it's really only scratched the surface. Everything is still uniformly pastel-pretty.I hope Lego branches into different genres for girls, too. I'd like to see them do a fantasy line (preferably one in which the main characters are not princesses).I was coming up with a pitch for Lego Cuusoo the other day, which involved a toyline for girls, and I found myself stressing over whether I was being too stereotypical or not. Eventually, I just came to the conclusion that each character would have a completely different design and personality, so I could have a shamelessly girly character balanced out by more neutral or tomboyish characters. Having multiple characters allows you to that.

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It would be nice to have more feminine-looking parts. Almost all of the female characters in Bionicle (and now Hero Factory) looked identical to their male counter-parts. If I didn't know they were supposed to be female, I would have thought they were guys. -don't touch my pocket protector

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Somehow constraction doesn´t seem like the way to go, I think scenarios and houses will be more interesting, along with better parts.

Well, I think it's important to have variety. Some girls may repond to fantasy-style buildable dolls, while other may prefer the more realistic scenarios and buildings. But I think some of the principles behind Friends could be applied to a constraction line, such as the more streamlined character designs and the emphasis on character and story, which, Lego has decided, appeals to girls.

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Somehow constraction doesn´t seem like the way to go, I think scenarios and houses will be more interesting, along with better parts.

Well, I think it's important to have variety. Some girls may repond to fantasy-style buildable dolls, while other may prefer the more realistic scenarios and buildings. But I think some of the principles behind Friends could be applied to a constraction line, such as the more streamlined character designs and the emphasis on character and story, which, Lego has decided, appeals to girls.
With constraction, you end up with BIONICLE-like parts that may seem too robotic, or with something like Galidor that kinda sucks.Buildable is the way to go. Not necessarilly fantasy themed, but houses, and dollhouse scenarios seem like more interesting.But then again, that´s just me, Waffles the boy, speaking, and I don´t think I really know anything about what Lego Bricks a girl would like. I guess nobody does, since a few individuals is a far too small sample size. Edited by Waffles
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Somehow constraction doesn´t seem like the way to go, I think scenarios and houses will be more interesting, along with better parts.

Well, I think it's important to have variety. Some girls may repond to fantasy-style buildable dolls, while other may prefer the more realistic scenarios and buildings. But I think some of the principles behind Friends could be applied to a constraction line, such as the more streamlined character designs and the emphasis on character and story, which, Lego has decided, appeals to girls.
Who said that Lego thought that character and story appeals to girls? I don't see much story behind Lego Friends - the "girl appeal" was supposed to be in the more realistic minifigs and the girly colors.
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Yeah, they said in the "Lego is for Girls" article that girls like characters whose personalities they can relate to, and I'm not going to disagree with that. It will be interesting to see whether there is much in the way of story, though.Waffles, I agree that it's hard to make feminine-looking things out of existing constraction parts, but I think that if Lego developed some more steamlined custom parts that still used the ball joint system, they could create something that was fun and poseable that was still easy on the eyes for girls. You'd just have to start calling them "dolls" instead of "action figures". :PAfter all, "action figure" is just a term they use to get boys to buy dolls.

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I can't see why a line can't encompass both System sets and constraction figures. Knight's Kingdom pulled it off. It was a different theme and target group, but it can be done, and I don't see why it couldn't. I, for one, would welcome pink Hero Factory parts.

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I think one or two pink sets are probably logical, but if they're balanced out by other colours, I don't see that as stereotyping. Denying little girls pink stuff is not the way to go about it; you just need to give them plenty of other options along with the pink.Pink is not inherently evil on its own. It's just when we get inundated with it that it becomes problematic.

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This new Lego "Friends" line and previous Lego lines for girls are blatantly sexist and are (or would be, if they actually were successful) part of the reason why young girls become overly self-concious about their physical appearances, lose their self-esteem, and form cliques that exclude other girls that don't fit their criteria for friendship. I do support Lego Bricks made for a girl and/or gender neutral audience, but definitely not if they're going to be all beauty-oriented like this. That being said, this new line sure brings up a heck of a lot of new opportunities as far as mocing is concerned.

Ummm, what? How does LEGO Friends promote any of these things? The "beauty" aspect discussed in press releases and articles about the theme refers to the design considerations and visual harmony of the sets and figures, not some absurd standard of beauty that promotes a negative body image or clique formation. The only set with "beauty" as a main theme is a single "Beauty Shop" set. The other sets range from a convertible to a robot lab, from a cafe to a veterinary clinic, from a pet show to a swimming pool. None of those things seem to promote any of the societal problems you mentioned-- rather, they create a theme about as diverse as the more typically boy-oriented themes, except focused on diverse characters girls can identify with on a personal level, rather than on larger-than-life "heroes" (at least, as little boys tend to see them) like firefighters, police, deep sea divers, and ninjas.

Somehow constraction doesn´t seem like the way to go, I think scenarios and houses will be more interesting, along with better parts.

Well, I think it's important to have variety. Some girls may repond to fantasy-style buildable dolls, while other may prefer the more realistic scenarios and buildings. But I think some of the principles behind Friends could be applied to a constraction line, such as the more streamlined character designs and the emphasis on character and story, which, Lego has decided, appeals to girls.
Who said that Lego thought that character and story appeals to girls? I don't see much story behind Lego Friends - the "girl appeal" was supposed to be in the more realistic minifigs and the girly colors.
Read the lower part of the sidebar here. Each of the five "friends" will have detailed personality traits and interests. Additionally, there will be books, mini-movies, and "story extensions" (I honestly have no idea what that means). Overall, story will be a somewhat significant part of the Friends theme, although from what I've read the emphasis will still be on encouraging girls to play creatively and make up their own stories with the figures and playsets.
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Somehow constraction doesn´t seem like the way to go, I think scenarios and houses will be more interesting, along with better parts.

Well, I think it's important to have variety. Some girls may repond to fantasy-style buildable dolls, while other may prefer the more realistic scenarios and buildings. But I think some of the principles behind Friends could be applied to a constraction line, such as the more streamlined character designs and the emphasis on character and story, which, Lego has decided, appeals to girls.
Who said that Lego thought that character and story appeals to girls? I don't see much story behind Lego Friends - the "girl appeal" was supposed to be in the more realistic minifigs and the girly colors.
Read the lower part of the sidebar here. Each of the five "friends" will have detailed personality traits and interests. Additionally, there will be books, mini-movies, and "story extensions" (I honestly have no idea what that means). Overall, story will be a somewhat significant part of the Friends theme, although from what I've read the emphasis will still be on encouraging girls to play creatively and make up their own stories with the figures and playsets.
I stand corrected.
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This new Lego "Friends" line and previous Lego lines for girls are blatantly sexist and are (or would be, if they actually were successful) part of the reason why young girls become overly self-concious about their physical appearances, lose their self-esteem, and form cliques that exclude other girls that don't fit their criteria for friendship. I do support Lego Bricks made for a girl and/or gender neutral audience, but definitely not if they're going to be all beauty-oriented like this. That being said, this new line sure brings up a heck of a lot of new opportunities as far as mocing is concerned.

Ummm, what? How does LEGO Friends promote any of these things? The "beauty" aspect discussed in press releases and articles about the theme refers to the design considerations and visual harmony of the sets and figures, not some absurd standard of beauty that promotes a negative body image or clique formation. The only set with "beauty" as a main theme is a single "Beauty Shop" set. The other sets range from a convertible to a robot lab, from a cafe to a veterinary clinic, from a pet show to a swimming pool. None of those things seem to promote any of the societal problems you mentioned-- rather, they create a theme about as diverse as the more typically boy-oriented themes, except focused on diverse characters girls can identify with on a personal level, rather than on larger-than-life "heroes" (at least, as little boys tend to see them) like firefighters, police, deep sea divers, and ninjas.

Somehow constraction doesn´t seem like the way to go, I think scenarios and houses will be more interesting, along with better parts.

Well, I think it's important to have variety. Some girls may repond to fantasy-style buildable dolls, while other may prefer the more realistic scenarios and buildings. But I think some of the principles behind Friends could be applied to a constraction line, such as the more streamlined character designs and the emphasis on character and story, which, Lego has decided, appeals to girls.
Who said that Lego thought that character and story appeals to girls? I don't see much story behind Lego Friends - the "girl appeal" was supposed to be in the more realistic minifigs and the girly colors.
Read the lower part of the sidebar here. Each of the five "friends" will have detailed personality traits and interests. Additionally, there will be books, mini-movies, and "story extensions" (I honestly have no idea what that means). Overall, story will be a somewhat significant part of the Friends theme, although from what I've read the emphasis will still be on encouraging girls to play creatively and make up their own stories with the figures and playsets.
All right. I (may) stand corrected for Lego Friends. However, I'm still sore about the sexism in Clickit, etc, so I naturally figured it'd be (and it still might) like that.

Thank you, BZPower staff. In the past, I wish I showed more appreciation for all that you do. From one Bionicle fan to another, thank you.

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Pink, to add to the gender stereotyping?

And pink is, in and of itself, a stereotype of females in color form? (It was considered a color for boys up until the 1920s. Most people don't know that.) Anything female-oriented will have pink. Whether one likes it or not, pink will be included in anything that is centered around the feminine. How much pink is up to them.Personally, I find color-gender stereotypes to be puerile. It's just a color. How much pink - or purple, or light blue - is totally irrelevant - other factors are much more stereotyping. I happen to think that pink Hero Factory parts would be nice to have.

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Personally, I find color-gender stereotypes to be puerile. It's just a color. How much pink - or purple, or light blue - is totally irrelevant - other factors are much more stereotyping. I happen to think that pink Hero Factory parts would be nice to have.

There actually are pink parts in the Hero Recon Team. They are transparent, however, and haven't been used in any sets, as far as I know.
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Personally, I find color-gender stereotypes to be puerile. It's just a color. How much pink - or purple, or light blue - is totally irrelevant - other factors are much more stereotyping. I happen to think that pink Hero Factory parts would be nice to have.

There actually are pink parts in the Hero Recon Team. They are transparent, however, and haven't been used in any sets, as far as I know.
I'm talking solid pink here, though I might have to get my hands on some trans-pink. I take it they're a slightly different hue than the (I think) discontinued color from Tahu Mata's eye-brain?

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Personally, I find color-gender stereotypes to be puerile. It's just a color. How much pink - or purple, or light blue - is totally irrelevant - other factors are much more stereotyping. I happen to think that pink Hero Factory parts would be nice to have.

There actually are pink parts in the Hero Recon Team. They are transparent, however, and haven't been used in any sets, as far as I know.
I'm talking solid pink here, though I might have to get my hands on some trans-pink. I take it they're a slightly different hue than the (I think) discontinued color from Tahu Mata's eye-brain?
Those pink-looking parts in HRT are actually Transparent Fluorescent Reddish Orange, the same transparent color that was so common in the Fire Villains (and present in BIONICLE since 2001, when it was Pohatu's eye color). So nope, there are still no pink Hero Factory parts of any kind available for purchase.I would appreciate some more pink in Hero Factory, as well as more types of purple. One color I'd really appreciate is Bright Reddish Violet (which Bricklink calls Magenta), a color that has been around for many, many years and sort of straddles the line between pink, purple, and red. The purple villain figure in the Breakout videos has some parts that might be this color, but I'm pretty sure they're just red and the darkness of that scene obscures them. I'd love to be proven wrong, though!
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^ Well, that had me fooled, and probably wasn't a wise move on TLG's part to make those parts look pink. I can hear the yells of "I ordered pink, what?" coming from some young and now dissatisfied costumer. I would like to see more purple in HF, and possibly some tan or brown to go with some of the blue. If purple appears, I want white and silver and/or gold with it, not pink.

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^ Well, that had me fooled, and probably wasn't a wise move on TLG's part to make those parts look pink. I can hear the yells of "I ordered pink, what?" coming from some young and now dissatisfied costumer.I would like to see more purple in HF, and possibly some tan or brown to go with some of the blue. If purple appears, I want white and silver and/or gold with it, not pink.

They don't look that pink, really. They're more of a salmon color, which pretty much reflects how they appear in real life, even though like all transparent colors the real-life versions are more vibrant.Anyway, this conversation's getting a wee bit off-topic. I personally don't feel that Hero Factory would benefit too much from consciously appealing to girls, and anyway TLG knows better than to think painting a non-girl-oriented set pastel shades like pink or purple is enough to make it appeal better to that demographic. The current Friends theme demonstrates this quite well. None of the sets in the theme strongly resemble City sets, instead having unique designs and subject matter that might not appeal as strongly to boys within the same age range even if they used more traditional LEGO colors.
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  • 2 weeks later...

I've just seen another Cuusoo project I would like to recommend- "Friends In Space" by builder42. The use of the modified Friends minidolls is just amazing.If Lego starts making figures like those, I'm sure it will convert many of the minidoll's critics.

While I'm not totally sure about this proposal, I definitely think those designs are ingenious-- especially having been created in the less-than-two-months'-time the Friends sets have been available!In general though I feel that your "Constraction for Girls" proposal is more thought-out. It has to be remembered that the Friends figs are the most controversial aspect of the theme even internally at LEGO, and transitioning them into a wider range of themes would upset traditional minifigure aficionados both inside and outside LEGO. Meanwhile, the proposal says nothing about this being a girl-oriented proposal, so people might have mixed expectations.In the meantime, it does make me wonder something: what would the Exo-Force theme have been like with these types of character designs? After all, Exo-Force's comics and media didn't tend to emphasize the minifigures, and they instead were "stand-ins" for Manga- or Anime-style human characters. The Friends figs would definitely have been a closer approximation! The similarities in concept to that theme definitely pique my interest!
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I remember a Christmas morning several, several years ago. I was around six, and was SO EXCITED because when I shook one of my unopened presents, it made the very distinct LEGO sound. My little girl face shone as I ripped open the wrapping paper. What would it be? Star Wars? A battle ship? A castle? Oh please, please, let it be an awesome old castle with a dungeon and skeletons and knights and horses!It was a pink house. With "unique" molding that wouldn't really work with any of my brother's sets.I was a rather disappointed little Novu. It took about five years to finally convince my family that I wanted the "boy" versions of LEGO.

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I don't think its sexist to make feminine things. People like Mattel and Hasbro have been doing it for decades, and it has worked out pretty well so far. Many girls on BZPower have been asking for something like this, and they're finally going to get it. Great. There's no crime in getting girl things, ladies.

I completely agree. Many companies make themes like this, and young girls love them.

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I tend to agree that anything aimed at girls is automatically subject to far more scrutiny and criticism than anything aimed at boys. There are certainly some valid complaints you can make about Friends, but one of the most irritating ones I saw being thrown around the blogosphere was that the new figures were... wait for it..."Bratz-ified".I don't see how these characters have anything in common with Bratz. They dress modestly, have little to no makeup on, and do not appear to be obsessed with fashion and boys. They are more realistic than the standard minifigures, and have the slightest hint of a bust, but that just fits into the overall theme of more realistic scenarios. If my little neice expressed an interest in these sets, I would happily buy her one for Christmas. (Note that "if she expressed an interest" is the operative term- I'm not going to assume she would want these just because she's a girl. Heck, if my nephew wanted them, I'd buy some for him.)No, I actually think the problem with Friends is that they go too far in the opposite direction- they're too afraid of offending someone, afraid of not being liked, afraid to challenge anything. They want to fit in with the other cool toys, so they don't do anything unique or unexpected. They're good little girls who like things that little girls should like, and they never do the wrong thing. In short, they're rather boring.You can see it on the front page of the website- they all have the same face, same expression and they just stand there smiling serenely and giving each other hugs. I don't get a sense that these are characters with individual personalities beyond their respective hobbies.Maybe it's just the animator/web designer being lazy, but I want to be able to tell that the characters have personalities the moment I meet them. There could have been one character who suddenly turns to look at the audience and starts waving and grinning enthusiastically, while the girl next to her rolls her eyes in a "What is she doing now?" look. What about a timid girl who suddenly notices the fourth wall and tries to hide behind her friend? A clumsy one who keeps dropping whatever she's holding? A prissy one who freaks out when a butterfly lands on her head?See? Now I'm over scutinising, just like everyone else. Of course, this is Lego's first attempt in appealing to girls in a while, so it is a bit of a milestone and deserves some attention, but I hope that Lego will eventually get to the point where products that appeal to girls are no longer an anomaly for them.

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