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Halloween is traditionally a time of spooky witches, glow-in-the-dark ghosts, scariness, and bright pink lovey-dovey goodness. That's why Target was selling this lovely little polybag in its Halloween section!
Set Name: Ambiguous Stuff Stand (the internet calls it mailbox, but really, you and I both know that's a boring name)
Set #: 30105
Theme: Friends
Pieces: 41
Mini-dolls: 1
Year of Release: 2012
Price at Release: USD 4
Buy it? Inventory? Bricklink Brickset
Just browse the pictures? Flickr set
INTRODUCTION
I went to three Targets to get the Monster Fighters ghost polybag. No, I'm not barking mad; the first two didn't have a Halloween section yet when I went. The third one had it, though. Lo and behold, Target decided that it would be unfair to only sell a LEGO bag for boys (since 9.3 out of 10 girls say they don't like ghosts and grandfather clocks), so they were selling this Friends offering as well (albeit low to the ground and hard to spot). Not having any Friends sets yet, I thought this would be a perfect (and most cost-effective) way to check out what this theme is all about! Let's see how I like it…
BAG
The bag is ridiculously large. I threw the figure into the picture to show you just how excessive the size is. This seems to be the standard size for polybags these days, and it does provide lots of room for artwork, but still. The artwork portrays Stephanie putting on forced happiness for the photo. Ok fine, I guess she could be happy about mailing a letter.
LEGO wanted to let you know how big the figure is, so they slapped a 1x1 picture on the package (absent on the ghost bag). It's actually useful, since I really didn't know how big the Friends figure would be, it being a new thing and all.
INSTRUCTIONS
All folded up, the instructions seem a nice size and not excessively humongous like the bag. The lavender warning box ruins the nice art. Is it really necessary anyway? Does anybody say hmm, let me give this to my two year old, opening the bag now, looks good, OH SNAP! I DIDN'T NOTICE THE WARNING ON THE BAG, GOOD THING THERE'S ANOTHER ONE ON THE INSTRUCTIONS! Yeah, I didn't think so.
Looks can be deceiving. All folded up these instructions were tiny, but unfolded they're HUGE (comparatively). This is the size of sheet LEGO would use for a 30 buck set back in the day; we really need this for a polybag? You need THREE steps to build the mailbox, really?
These instructions are so large that LEGO managed to fit an ad for the entire first wave of non-10-and-below sets on here. Shaking…my…head…………
MINIDOLL
Meet Stephanie, the resident Heartlake blonde. This is a regular look of hers; she wears it to drive her car (illegally, since she's clearly under the legal driving age) and pilot her plane (recklessly, without a helmet; seriously, is there no adult supervising this girl?). She's got a pleasing color scheme, although it's almost too matchy. Even her lipstick is the same pink color! Ah well, it's good to have at least one hyper-color-coordinated Friend.
Her hair is quite long, as are all the Friends' dos, as I understand. That's not unrealistic, though. Regular minifigure hair tends to not be this long on the whole, so it's good variety.
I'd seen the pictures and read the reviews, but the size of the minidolls still surprised me in person. They're really tiny (for dolls)! It's great that LEGO went this direction, but those arms look so skinny and fragile. Can't argue with that, though, since in real life all women have no muscle and must be protected by big strong men #outrageoussexism. I don't think they really will break, but I don't want to test it by stepping on her.
AMBIGUOUS STUFF
Here's the proverbial meat of the set: two things I'm calling ambiguous. The thing on the left is a mailbox I suppose, so that's not overly ambiguous. The thing on the right, though… it seems like a kiosk for flowers and pastries, but the only sign is a cleverly constructed heart and there's nobody here to sell the stuff. Is it one of those stands that researchers place in cities to test how honest the population is? Hmm… While I love the color scheme on the mailbox, the stand is less than stellar; the base is too white, and I'm not convinced that pearl gold works that well with the other colors.
The stand gets worse on the back, where you can see the hinge brick and the empty studs behind it. Another piece of a different color would work nicely there. Overall, superb mailbox; lame ambiguous stuff stand (I can't deny that there are some nice parts in it, though, like the 2x2 red jumper holding the treats).
EXTRA PARTS
LEGO pleasantly gives you a bunch of extras, all useful for detailing. Thanks, LEGO!
WHOLE SET
Well here it is. Our Friend™ Stephanie has come to mail a letter to some stud five years older than herself and make the moral decision of her life: to steal a 1x1 pink stud representing something ambiguous, or not to steal said thing.
FUN
BBC America recently aired a special on mid-size American cities, naming stands of ambiguous stuff the #1 spot for courting between youth. That's why CloneyO thought he might be able to find a pretty skinny minidoll lady to court and, if his luck is up, do other things with in the evening.
CloneyO's significant other was less than happy about these devious actions. Glad she had hired a private eye to keep tabs on CloneyO at all times, Ginny swooped in and had to drag him away kicking and screaming. Literally.
CONCLUSION
Ratings on a set this size are useless. Here's the down-low: if you're looking to build up your minidoll army, want some little bits in bright colors and a few dime-a-dozen other pieces, or have an appropriate occasion to gift a small happy set to someone, this is a nice buy. If none of the above apply to you, forget this set. No matter what, I wouldn't expect anybody to keep the models built for long.
This set looks okay I guess. It's a nice polybag to get if you're new to Friends, but the stand and the mailbox don't look that special.
