Toy Fair 2017: Elves, Friends, and Disney Princess

[Hapori Tohu]

We already covered the DC Superhero Girls minidoll-based playtheme earlier, and now it's time to go over that theme's companions: Elves, Friends, and Disney Princess. All three ranges have some awesome sets in 2017, with a variety of new parts and colors. There's a lot to see, so read on to check it all out!

 

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[Aanchir]

I sort of feel like it was a mistake to lump coverage of all of these themes together, particuarly since Friends is such a massive theme just on its own! It makes it tough to respond to all of the amazing stuff on display here. Not helped when you're partway through an already massive post and you accidentally click the "home" button on your web browser and lose everything… though I know that's nobody's fault but mine.

 

Anyway, Elves continues to be one of the most outstanding LEGO themes. The Capture of Sophie Jones set actually does take place in Elvendale after Sophie follows Emily through the portal, though it's interesting that here they show the portal forming in a rock face rather than in a tree as it's typically been shown in the past. I love the little grocery store run by Mr. Spry the squirrel!

 

The Goblin King's name is Cronan and his dragon's name is Ashwing. I love the dragon's more wyvern-like design, sickly color scheme, and sharp black claws and spines. It really does make it look much more evil and aggressive than the previous dragons. The bears Blubeary and Lil' Blu are cute, and while the adult and baby bear molds here are usually used for bear cubs and mice/hamsters, I'm tickled pink by the idea that full-grown bears in Elvendale are teddy bear sized!

 

The Airship is brilliant, and it's a bit of a shame that a lot of people's first impression was that it was just a palette-swapped Raid Zeppelin, since I think this one has a much more interesting design and play features. The "flying safe" is actually an ornithopter for Dukelin, the goblin captain. The storage compartment is normally on the back of it, and it has handles and flick-fire evil seeds on the front.

 

The Goblin Village is incredibly nice! I love that it has beds for all the goblins and even a little goblin-sized toilet. The architecture and foliage alike contrast nicely from what we're used to from Elvendale to create a spookier look. This set also has some great animals. I love the Elves' new costumes but Azari's (which now has boots rather than sandals) is especially distinctive.

 

It's great that Azari finally gets an iconic vehicle in the Goblin Forest Escape set, even though getting a pegasus in a set so small results in a pretty high price per piece. The recolored flame piece is interesting, particularly since the jagged look is quite unlike what I'm used to seeing in Elves sets. But it does work well to create a sense of speed!

 

The Healing Hideout is a great addition to Elvendale, since no fantasy adventure is complete without a place to heal up during a dangerous journey. The snapping functions on both the carnivorous plant in this set and the ones in the Goblin King's Fortress set are pretty neat. The hideout itself is artfully built into a hollowed-out tree, and there seems to be a function to move the branches to better conceal the hideout's location. And getting some more dragons is always a nice bonus!

 

Despite being smaller than other LEGO Elves castles, the Goblin King's Fortress is still brilliant! I love the spooky colors and architecture as well as the plants that cling to the walls and integrate with the thorny throne. Emily's clearly not messing around with that sword, and the Goblin King seems to be trying to create his own portal like the one on the Sky Castle!

 

As far as Friends goes, I'm not a fan of the puppy show sets, but I love the new character spotlight sets! It's great that Olivia's robot Zobo now has a family of his own, and I like the continuity between the Stephanie's House and Friendship Cakes sets, which have similar architecture and both feature the pet bunnies she's been established to have in previous years!

 

The Heartlake Pizzeria is probably the best pizzeria set there's ever been! I love the colors, architecture, and the incredible detail of the pizza kitchen! It would fit very well in the same neighborhood as Heartlake Food Market. The one thing it needs that it currently lacks is a staircase, but it would be easy enough to add one like the one in that set.

 

The Sports Center is awesome! I love the swooshy modern architecture and the colors (which remind me of the colors for Planet Fitness). It's great that there's plenty of high-intensity workout equipment and that the set focuses on fun rather than body image. The biggest flaw of this set, in my eyes, is that the glass window behind the basketball hoop disappears into the space above it. It really needs a wall over top to finish framing it, even something as simple as a pair of 4x4 macaroni bricks.

 

When I first heard about the summer pool I was worried it'd feel like a rehash of Heartlake City Pool, but thankfully it doesn't (and in fact, far exceeds that one). I love the heart-shaped hot tub, aquarium tank, and awesome waterslides! The new slide pieces will be fun to assemble into different layouts, especially because the 90-degree curved slide turns in the opposite direction of the older 180-degree curved slide.

 

The new beach sets are all really fun and colorful looking, but my favorite has to be the catamaran! It's definitely a worthy successor to the Dolphin Cruiser, but arguably even more distinctive with its double-hulled shape, sliding glass door, and giant sail! The banana boat is just the icing on the cake! I am definitely VERY tempted to add it to my collection!

 

The hospital is maybe the best LEGO hospital set ever! Not only are the colors and architecture very striking, but the interior is impeccably detailed! I like the stylish ambulance and helicopter as well as creative brick-built accessories like the water cooler, coffee machine, stretcher, and baby carriage. The baby in this set is a reprint of the one from the Tribal Woman minifigure, and I'm impressed at how well that works. If there's one fault to the set, it's that the wheelchair feels a bit clunky compared to its LEGO City counterpart.

 

The snow resort series is delightfully novel, and I love all the varying winter sports represented. My favorite of the sets, however, might be the least sports-oriented of all of them: the chalet! The ski lift is pretty charming in its own right and has very clever functionality, although I wish the ski slope were bigger.

 

The new Disney Princess sets are cute and well-constructed. They feature some great details from the movies, and the Ice Palace and Enchanted Evening sets both greatly improve on previous depictions of their respective scenes. It is kind of a shame we keep seeing so much focus on princesses who have already gotten multiple sets and none on Disney characters who would add more to the theme's diversity like Tiana, Mulan, Pocahontas, etc. At the same time, I wouldn't complain one bit if we started to see more Moana sets in future years!

[Bfahome]

I'm really enjoying all the little details and techniques that go into the Elves sets.  Things like the log-patterned round tiles and the end of the dragon's tail.  Also happy to see the continued use of the smaller wing piece, and in more colors.