Review: 3939 Mia's Bedroom

[Erdbeereis]

A new wave of LEGO Friends sets is upon us! Adventures at the horse stables or beach are all exciting and fun, but after a long day of action in Heartlake City, a girl needs some time to relax! So, having a serene bedroom with everything you need is the perfect solution. So where does Mia go once the adventure has worn her out? 3939 Mia's Bedroom of course! Read on to take a look at this exciting new set that is full of fun pieces, plus a fun-filled scale analysis.

Set Information:

Theme: Friends

Set Number: 3939

Set Name: Mia's Bedroom

Release Date: 2012

Minifigs: 1

Pieces: 85

Price: $9.99

Links:

Bricklink

Brickset

LEGO S@H (Not yet available)

The Box

The cheerful Friends box returns with its subtle bevels and bright colors. When you see these sets on the shelves your eyes are immediately drawn to look at them. This can create an awkward situation for men, especially at places like my local Target where the Friends sets are in the Barbie aisle...

The front

I really like this box art, as it helps to visualize how this set works as a bedroom, since the actual set has no walls.

The back

The back shows Mia using each of the 3 components that make up this set. The bed + dresser, the drum set, and the desk with radio and flowers. I'm not quite sure what the letter is doing in the book. Perhaps it is Mia's spot for hiding the letters from her secret admirer. In addition, the back of the box has a large picture of Mia in her "real life" form, along with the four other Friends characters with their new sets.

The top

The Pieces and Instructions

Box contents

In the box are two bags and the instruction manual.

The instructions

The first page shows the 5 friends and how to build Mia.

Each page has piece call outs along with some butterflies and a swirly pattern in the corners.

The pieces

A lovely selection of colors and pieces. This is my first Friends set, and I was pleasantly surprised by both the fun color palette and the good variety of bricks. The aqua blue and dark pink colors are especially nice in my opinion. Another bonus are the lovely printed pieces. Mia's legs and torso are both separately packaged.

Some pieces of interest. The printed pieces are fantastic; I especially like the sheet music. However, it would have been nice if the music was not Friends-themed, meaning regular black and white. I feel that that would have made it more useful in other scenarios without affecting the overall feel of the set. At any rate, it's still a great piece. The orange basket is another fun piece, as is the dark gray clip piece that is used for the note stand. I'm not sure if this is a new piece, but it certainly is new for me.

Minifig

Here is Mia, the set's lone minifig/minidoll in her pink skirt, light blue shirt with paw prints, and pink shoes. Before acquiring this set, I had never come across a Friends minifigure, and I was surprised at how skinny the arms and legs were. Now, I'm one that would have preferred to see regular minifigs in the Friends sets, but I think that TLG at least did a good job with these. The hair is still compatible with regular minifigures, and the Friends figures still have that "LEGO" feel to them.

From the side.

And from the back. The printing on the backs of Mia's legs is a nice touch.

Interesting Build Section and Extra Pieces

Most of the build is relatively straightforward, but this was one technique that I thought was clever. The black barrel-shaped piece snaps onto the pin to form the bass drum.

Finished bass drum.

The extras.

Finished Models

Everything is now built! Let's look at each individual component, and then look at it all together.

The Drum Set

First we have Mia's drum set. The drums were very well designed; the colors pop out and the printed "Mia" piece looks great. Of course, the proportions are a bit off, but one can't really expect the model to be perfectly scaled.

From the other side. Here we can see the drum set from the view of the player, along with Mia's drum sticks. The only thing I would have maybe changed with this section is to change the color of the seat of the drum throne so that it does not look like an actual drum. Something like brown or tan might have worked a bit better.

Mia's Bed and Desk/Side Table

Another two models with eye-catching colors! On the left is Mia's bed and dresser. For the most part. this looks fantastic. The bed has a nice smooth look, and the dresser is well-integrated with the rest of the model. I also like the little basket on her bed. However, there are a few minor problems as well. First, I don't understand the purpose of having only one drawer in the dresser. It would have been much better to have two in order to avoid that gaping hole, unless I'm missing the latest trends in dresser design... Second, the bed is so nice and seamless, but for some reason there are two studs showing near the pillow on each side. Lowering the level by one stud and adding a tile would have been a better choice in my opinion, but that's a very minor problem and an easy fix if you so choose. Finally, the lamp on top of the dresser is a bit strange. It looks more like a lantern than a proper light, but maybe that is what the designers were going for.

As for the desk/side table, I am very fond of the shape. It would have been easy to go with a standard table shape, but instead TLG went for shape with nice rounded edges. This gives the model a very nice smooth look that meshes excellently with the rest of the set's components, all of which have smooth lines. The radio and flower vase add some character to the desk, and are both smart designs. I particularly like the use of the clear minifig head as the vase. My only gripe with this portion is the fact that the pink book is just kind of thrown under the table and sticks far out. In my life, I have never seen a book that is so big that it is almost as big as the table it sits on (or in this case, under). I think TLG should consider making a new book mold, preferably one that minifigs can actually hold, perhaps even as part of the Collectable Minifigures line. I'm sure it would be a useful piece to have.

Alternate angle.

The desk/side table by itself.

The Completed Set

Mia is thrilled that you built her such a nice bedroom! Now she can have a nice peaceful place to rest.

But sometimes a girl just wants to rock!

Real-Life Comparisons

Now, I mentioned that the LEGO book mold is a bit too large for its purpose. Another part in this set that seems to defy the logic of size is Mia's drum sticks. Now, I did some rough, non-scientific calculations, and if my estimations are correct, if Mia's "drum sticks" were to exist in real life, they would be taller than the average man's waist.

Or, to put a picture to it, about the size of this shovel (with a real drum stick for comparison).

Now that is one super sized drum stick!

This doesn't really bother me that much, but I can't help but wish for a real drum stick mold in the future. After all, in the collectable minifigs, we have already seen a new guitar and microphone, so give the drummers something that they can actually lift!

Like Mia, I enjoy playing the drums. So, I thought I would take a picture of Mia and her drum set on top of my drum set.

And here is a comparison between Mia's sheet music and mine. Hers is sure more colorful (and a whole lot simpler)! Maybe I should get some butterfly stickers and sparkles for my music as well... Also, I can't say that I have ever seen an F-sharp being played on the drums. Those Heartlake City girls sure have some interesting music!

The Scores

Design: 8/10

For the most part, Mia's bedroom is designed very well. All of the furniture pieces have great shape and color, and Mia's drum set looks just as it should. The only weaknesses in my mind are the odd spot for the book and the studs on the bed.

Parts: 10/10

I am thrilled with the parts selection in this set. Tons of exciting new colors, and a wide variety of useful pieces, not to mention the printed parts.

Build: 8/10

Compared with the builds of typical $10 sets, this one is actually quite good. Each model has a slightly different style which keeps things interesting.

Minifig: 7/10

Nothing too interesting or surprising here. Mia is nice, but nothing brand-new.

Playability: 6/10

This is the sort of set that playability depends on the user's personality. The set has no flick-fire missiles, or vehicles to roll around, but some people will be able to use it similarly to a doll house type set, which should appeal to girls (who are after all the set's primary audience).

Price: 10/10

I don't think one can expect much more from a $10 set. The set really has some great pieces, and when you compare what you get here to what you get in a Star Wars set for $12, the value is definitely good.

Overall: 49/60

This is a set that I really enjoyed. Useful pieces for new MOCs, well-designed models, and just that fun Friends feel that is so appealing. I would certainly recommend this set to anyone, especially those (like me) who have not yet built a Friends set and want to try it out.

Heartlake City's best bedroom band, The Heartlakers! (Get it, heartlakers, heartbreakers?) Thanks, I'm here all week...

Thanks for reading!

[Aanchir]

Thanks for this review! I really like it. I agree though that the drum sticks would have been better if they were smaller-- even the 3M bar pieces from the Collectible Minifigures would have been preferable to full-length 4M lightsaber blades.

A smaller LEGO book piece would definitely be nice, but unfortunately I don't think they could make it too much smaller before it becomes infeasible to have it open and close. The briefcase and laptop molds show that TLG could make at least a slight improvement, though, even if it means sacrificing the ability to stash things inside the book as can be done with this mold.

In general, working at such a small scale, and with the inherently unrealistic proportions of any type of LEGO minifigure, means that sacrifices always have to be made when basing something on reality. "Minifigure scale" always has to be somewhat flexible, as I've learned when trying to build things from real life. But at the same time, it's nice that TLG continues to challenge themselves to furnish buildings for minifigures of any style.

Overall, though, this is a set which along with the rest of the LEGO Friends line shows the amount of variety that can be found even in a theme based on everyday life. I certainly hope that someday we see TLG introduce girl-oriented themes that stretch further into science fiction, history, or fantasy, but I think TLG did a good job keeping this introductory product range simple in scope without cutting down on quality or variety.

[simonjedi]

Does the sheet music tile actually have a tune printed on it or is it just jibberish?

[Multiverse]

Does the sheet music tile actually have a tune printed on it or is it just jibberish?

It's a tune (and I love that detail, and I agree very much with Erdbeerieis about wanting a non-friendified version of it; very much the same thing about the long ruler in the Fashion Design Studio), though a very simple one. Ironically, there's a mark to tell that all Fs must be played in Sharp, while the notes don't actually contain any Fs.

EDIT: Oh, I recognise it! It's Frere Jaques! That settles it, I'm getting this set (also, that explains the lack of Fs; this is only the first page)! =D

Edited June 10, 2012 by Multiverse

[LegoMyMamma]

Pretty cool that a drummer reviews a set with drums -- just another sweet thing about EB, right?

The drum piece does look interesting! You may be interested to know the history of the Friends band; they had practices, meetings in the Cafe and gigs -- their band was called "Tuff Stuff"

Here are pics from the original Friends concept:

Also, some other sets also leave one drawer off -- it's meant to be an "open shelf" like some nightstand have -- so there's a shelf to put a book or something for easy access.

Thanks for the review Erdbeereis

[jonwil]

Interesting to see that the notes on the music tile actually form a proper tune (unlike the notes on the music tile from that one Spongebob set)

[dr_spock]

Excellent review. This will be on my to buy list. Maybe the CMF artist paint brush could work for shorter sticks.

Sheet music seems to say: G A B G G A B G B C

Can a poll be added to this review?

Edited June 10, 2012 by dr_spock

[Rick]

Thanks for the great review Erdy. The drum sticks are huuuge indeed. I hope we'll see a drummer boy with proper drumsticks soon in the CMF series. The design of the drum kit is great though. And the printed tiles are really nice.

Can a poll be added to this review?

Done.

[Multiverse]

Sheet music seems to say: G A B G G A B G B C

Frè-re-Ja-ques, Frè-re-Ja-ques, Dor-mez... (...Vous, Dormez vous?). ;)

Google tells me it's called Brother John in English. =)

[just2good]

Fantastic review, 'Erdbeereis'!

I think this review has sold me on this set! The assortment of rare and unique pieces is great, and I don't have a Mia figure yet, so this is a great way to get her.

[lightningtiger]

Great review 'Erdbeereis', I'm not as thrilled with this set as I was with the speedboat set 'Big Cam' reviewed.

In my opinion the kick bass drum is too small and yellow not pearl gold cymbals ?

The bed is nice, though is that a clock radio or ipod docking station....no, clock radio.

I guess not all the Friend's sets can look 100% wonderful, this one is nice but not on of Friend's best sets.

Brick On with your Friend's everyone !

[SpiderSpaceman]

Frè-re-Ja-ques, Frè-re-Ja-ques, Dor-mez... (...Vous, Dormez vous?). ;)

Google tells me it's called Brother John in English. =)

Literally it is, and I think I've heard a translation that swaps the first part with the second (are you sleeping, are you sleeping, brother john?) However not a single english speaking soul likes the song and the only occurrence of hearing it is in elementary school french, where it is about a tenth of the french that lazy monoglots learn in their whole lives.

Oh wait no. And Barney

[Miss Kyle]

Thanks for the review. I recently bought this one - only for the bassdrum, I have to admit - and I'm really happy with it!

[Legogal]

Another cool Friends set and a very cool review! Good to hear a drummer's view of this set!

There are few female drummers in reality, so this does break some ground as to what girls can do. (But I do feel sorry for their parents and neighbors hearing all this racket!)

The parts are wonderful with the pastel colors and curves. Does look like we need smaller drumsticks or Mia will suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists...ouch!!!

And a smaller book would be very useful as these Belleville sized ones never did much for HP sets either.

The lamp looks a bit weird to me....wouldn't most girls have a neat, jazzy shade on a lamp? Maybe it is a relative of a lava lamp.

Thanks for the well crafted review....these sets are definitely addressing their target market's desire to have more things for girls, and that is a blessing!

Cheers from

Another adult who loves Friends!

[Miss Kyle]

Ah, of course, I forgot to mention how AMAZING it is they put a female drummer into the Friends theme! (Thanks Legogal for reminding me :D) That's really fantastic, so thumbsup for the Friends designers. I am very pleased :)

[Redhead1982]

Thanks for this great review. This is definitely ma favourite set of the so far released summer sets, and I already go two of them! The great details, the bedroom design, the drums, and sheet notes with an actual tune, and then there's the radio, and the oversized book (I remember having a coloring book in about the same size when I was little). In addition to all these details, having a musician - a drum player is fantastic.

[Gryphon Ink]

Nice review. I like this set a lot, except for the "pillow" piece which just looks silly. Useful pieces here and a great design. The drum set is awesome. I do wish they'd used the shorter bars for the drumsticks. I could really use some more of those short bars.

[Siegfried]

Cool review! I especially love the music print.

I'm not sure if this is a new piece, but it certainly is new for me.

It's a Dementor leg.

[Leela]

This is one of my favorite sets of the summer wave of Friends. It's a bedroom so I don't mind girlish colors which look just so cute here and I love it that they gave Mia a drum set. Really nice furniture, cute colors, and Frere Jaques

I agree about the sheet music, it'd be great if it didn't have the butterflies etc.

Thanks for a great review and excellent pictures. Love The Heartlakers