Friends 2021 - Rumours & Discussion

[tafkatb]

The stickers on the bus door also indicate that it accommodates strollers, yet there isn't a stroller included in the set. Does this make it pointless?

There is a bike rack on the side of the bus station and clips on the back of the bus to hold the bikes. Does this send the message that cyclists are not normal, and need a special LEGO set designed around them?

There wouldn't be a bus at all if there weren't people that, for any number of reasons - affordability, accessibility, environmental concerns - use public transit rather than owning a motor vehicle. Clearly, TLG was forcing some kind of hamfisted agenda by acknowledging that such people exist, right?

[Soupperson1]

The fun at the park set also had a person in a wheelchair, but I totally get the point you’re trying to make. I think it is indeed nice for kids to see people from different walks of life in their toys and I just love Savannah’s inclusion. :) 

Also I forgot to mention this before but Andrea’s House has a lot of call backs to the Friends theme pre reboot. There’s a poster of Livi in her bedroom, a record signed by Livi and a picture of the girls in their current designs in their old default outfits. I hope these hint at Livi’s return (the 2015 hairdresser had a magazine of Livi hinting the pop star wave, the 2016 supermarket had an advertisement on its wall hinting at the amusement park wave and the 2017 Friendship house had a tv screen showing go karting which turned out to be that year’s sub theme) and the old outfits for the girls returning. At the very least it be nice to get Olivia’s. :)

[Gobias1234]

1 hour ago, Soupperson1 said:

The fun at the park set also had a person in a wheelchair, but I totally get the point you’re trying to make. I think it is indeed nice for kids to see people from different walks of life in their toys and I just love Savannah’s inclusion. :) 

Also I forgot to mention this before but Andrea’s House has a lot of call backs to the Friends theme pre reboot. There’s a poster of Livi in her bedroom, a record signed by Livi and a picture of the girls in their current designs in their old default outfits. I hope these hint at Livi’s return (the 2015 hairdresser had a magazine of Livi hinting the pop star wave, the 2016 supermarket had an advertisement on its wall hinting at the amusement park wave and the 2017 Friendship house had a tv screen showing go karting which turned out to be that year’s sub theme) and the old outfits for the girls returning. At the very least it be nice to get Olivia’s. :)

Would make sense with the Vidiyo wave coming in the spring- maybe what ever tech/app that goes with that could be utilized as a play feature with a Livi wave. This year seems like the year of Andrea!

 

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Gobias1234

[Soupperson1]

A new Friends flower cart polybag with Stephanie and Liz can be found here: https://www.promobricks.de/lego-polybags-2021/113341/ The colours of the flower cart are really nice and the design is neat too. I really like how Liz is included as it’s nice she comes in a set that’s cheaper than Andrea’s House. I wish Stephanie had a different outfit to the one she wears in the house as repeating both figures from the same set makes this polybag feel like it’s a worse value than it actually is. 

I hope this is one of those polybags that can be bought in European shops too as I’d love to get one. :) 

[LegoMyMamma]

Review of Andrea's Family House shows a clue on the TV @Soupperson1  ;-)

[Soupperson1]

I actually can’t tell what’s on the TV. :P It looks like a big top circus tent? @LegoMyMamma

[thekeeperofthereaper]

is the shopping mall out in january or march

 

[Pisces no Aphrodite]

17 hours ago, thekeeperofthereaper said:

is the shopping mall out in january or march 

 

In march.

[ToysUnlocked]

I’m planning to film a review for Olivia’s Electric Car, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what the brown piece in front of the pink chair is supposed to be. Any ideas?

(Also, I love how the box emphasizes that the set comes with a croissant. SO WEIRD.) 

[JCherry]

The brown clip? In the lego website the first pic shows the clip holding the bone for the doggie :)

[ToysUnlocked]

Yes! I can’t believe I missed that. Must’ve been distracted by the croissant.

Thanks for the help!

Edited January 9, 2021 by ToysUnlocked

[Fenghuang0296]

So why is there no 2021 Friends topic?

Especially because sets are starting to pop up. I just got the Heartlake City Park. It’s cute!

[ToysUnlocked]

Great question! I avoided the Friends sets for a long time because I was worried that the builds would be simplified, but now they’re pretty much all I buy! The sets are actually remarkably clever. It’s fun to get new colors, and I love the focus on unique buildings, accessories, and narrative building. Plus, I’m a sucker for animals! I’m hunting down all of the old play cubes on Ebay and the like because I want the mystery animals, and I’m not ashamed.

[Rick]

9 hours ago, Fenghuang0296 said:

So why is there no 2021 Friends topic?

Here you go.

[Soupperson1]

If anyone is able to scan instructions we’d probably get better quality pictures of the March sets bar the mall, which isn’t in the back of any. I assume that the March sets were intended to be January releases (which would explain why the vet helicopter is out now) and the mall was supposed to be a summer one.

[ToysUnlocked]

There’s a picture in the back of the Doggy Day Care instructions of some sets that didn’t come out in January—I’m guessing they’re the March sets? I can try to figure out how to get a picture on here.

[LegoMyMamma]

@Soupperson1 There are better images than scans of instruction pages via the online catalog https://catalogs.lego.com/BrandCatalog/1hy2021/reemea/bc-1hy-2021-enmea/?page=32  pages 32-35, as you can zoom in quite far for details.

Also the possible circus theme has a few more clues, as in this from show episodes -- looks like a fortune teller and the "hat" buckets of a ferris wheel are the same as the movie theater's screen sticker.

[Soupperson1]

 

4 hours ago, LegoMyMamma said:

@Soupperson1 There are better images than scans of instruction pages via the online catalog https://catalogs.lego.com/BrandCatalog/1hy2021/reemea/bc-1hy-2021-enmea/?page=32  pages 32-35, as you can zoom in quite far for details.

Also the possible circus theme has a few more clues, as in this from show episodes -- looks like a fortune teller and the "hat" buckets of a ferris wheel are the same as the movie theater's screen sticker.

Ooh thanks so much! There was a fortune teller and circus in the 2013 LEGO Friends Videogame too. I doubt they’ll be any nods to that as everyone has seemed to forget that game. :( 

I wonder what we’ll get bar the big top and Ferris wheel? I imagine they’ll steer clear of animals such as elephants because of the controversies, but they did include white tigers in the jungle. XP I hope we get some more special mini dolls other than the fortune teller, a clown would be hilarious!

 

[Gobias1234]

1 hour ago, Soupperson1 said:

 

Ooh thanks so much! There was a fortune teller and circus in the 2013 LEGO Friends Videogame too. I doubt they’ll be any nods to that as everyone has seemed to forget that game. :( 

I wonder what we’ll get bar the big top and Ferris wheel? I imagine they’ll steer clear of animals such as elephants because of the controversies, but they did include white tigers in the jungle. XP I hope we get some more special mini dolls other than the fortune teller, a clown would be hilarious!

 

Perhaps the animals will be "rescued," and instead of performing they are meant to be viewed and learned about?  IDK, if a Narwhal can be in the temperate location Heartlake City is without too much analysis perhaps a Friends circus aims gloss over the problematic nature of circuses in the name of saving animals.  Or that is their hope, anyway.   The elephant is such a quintessential circus animal that it almost feels strange that TLG wouldn't use the mold they had used the year before if there was to be a circus theme.

We are a strict no circus family for obvious reasons however I can't help but be excited to see how a circus theme would be done.  Aesthetically, the circus has many fun avenues to travel. Hopefully it is more of a carnival and less of an animal performance showcase. 

Edited January 11, 2021 by Gobias1234

[Gobias1234]

List of summer sets has leaked- forest theme is exciting! I wonder if this is a continuation of the Nat Geo partnership!  City has a wild life rescue line coming too.  Would make sense!  Hoping for a fawn in one of them with the dark eyes from the last Sleeping Beauty set.   

[Klaus-Dieter]

Thanks for the information, @Gobias1234!

Although they seem to be only re-designs, 41679 Forest House, 41682 HLC School and 41684 HLC Grand Hotel could be interesting. I hope that TLG will design them in a completely different way, e. g. the Forest House as a big hut and the HLC School and Grand Hotel as modern buildings with flat roofs. Well, we'll see ...

[DragonElves]

Wow, that’s a very exciting list. We seem to be getting a lot of big sets this year. I’m surprised they’re doing more cubes (especially since the winter ones don’t seem to be on the horizon) but happy the piece counts are the highest so far for the cubes. Looking forward to the horseback center, hopefully we get some more colors in the new horse design. I’ll be interested to see how they go about doing the magical sets, very different to what they have done before. 

[Robert8]

Finally microdolls reused as kids! 

[Gobias1234]

20 hours ago, Klaus-Dieter said:

Thanks for the information, @Gobias1234!

Although they seem to be only re-designs, 41679 Forest House, 41682 HLC School and 41684 HLC Grand Hotel could be interesting. I hope that TLG will design them in a completely different way, e. g. the Forest House as a big hut and the HLC School and Grand Hotel as modern buildings with flat roofs. Well, we'll see ...

I think this last batch of redesigns have been really neat so I think there is a lot of potential.  For example, the doggy daycare this time around is so different aesthetically from the previous version. My kiddo basically got heart eyes when she saw it despite having the previous version.  The details and clever designs have been really exceptional these last few waves!  

I agree with you, a modern hotel would be really exciting! Especially because our little city mixes City and Friends- the modern house needs a friend!

With the inclusion of micro dolls, I wonder if the school will be an elementary school where the older girls work or volunteer.  That could be so fun!

 

19 hours ago, DragonElves said:

Wow, that’s a very exciting list. We seem to be getting a lot of big sets this year. I’m surprised they’re doing more cubes (especially since the winter ones don’t seem to be on the horizon) but happy the piece counts are the highest so far for the cubes. Looking forward to the horseback center, hopefully we get some more colors in the new horse design. I’ll be interested to see how they go about doing the magical sets, very different to what they have done before. 

I'm sad about the winter cubes- was really hoping for a cube with a deer!  I read somewhere that they were lost/ delayed in shipping... No idea if that is true but would make sense as they were advertised in the Oceania region.  Wasn't there a giant transport ship with a lot of consumer goods on board that had issues last year? I'm not sure but I swear I read something and saw pictures of giant shipping containers falling from a ship. Maybe the cubes are at the bottom ocean.

They sell really fast here despite what I have read here about them sitting on shelves for ages.  I think some of that sentiment has to do with people's predisposition to be anti - Friends.  Anyway, I really like the cubes! Was hoping to find them in time for Valentine's day but I can wait.

 

[thekeeperofthereaper]

i loved the last wave of funfair rides including the amusement pier that is incredibally under-rated so i cant wait to see what the summer ones will look like