REVIEW: Friends 41002 – Emma’s Karate Class

[XimenaPaulina]

When the 2013 Friends product line-up were made public the first set that really got my attention is 41002 Emma’s Karate Class. I thought the concept behind a female doing a predominantly male-dominated activity is an interesting and refreshing take on the girl-oriented Friend’s theme (the same can be said of 41011 Stephanie’s Soccer Practice and 41001 Mia’s Magic Tricks). So how does this set compare to other Friends sets of the past year? Let’s take a closer look in this review.

Name: Emma’s Karate Class

Number: 41002

Theme: Friends

Year: 2013

Pieces: 93

Minidolls: 1

Price: $9.99 | £9.99

Links: Brickset | Bricklink | Peeron (not yet inventoried) | Shop@Home

---

The Box

The presentation of the set elements are nicely executed, with proper spacing and even varying depths of perspective for the different builds. The light tranquil colors of the background give a Zen-like atmosphere highlighted by the oriental tree print behind. By now we’ve all been accustomed to the standard purple LEGO Friends boxart, it looks like nothing much has changed much since last year. Or has it?

Upon closer look the Friends characters image in the upper right of the box is now more of a cartoon-anime illustration unlike the CGI image last year. Here is a comparison pic:

Pandora touched on this in her Heartlake Pet Salon review, and I agree the cartoon depiction makes the Friends girls look like they’re somewhat ‘unsure of themselves’, compared to the more confident aura the characters have in last year’s CGI image. I honestly don’t know why those in charge of Friends decided on this change since last year’s image already looked good. Maybe they want to try to give a fresh take on the characters’ look? (but after only a year?). This is one of the cases where sometimes, things are better left unchanged IMO.

The back follows the tried-and-tested formula of showing the playability features of the set. Once again we are greeted by the cartoon images of Emma (bust shot) and the whole gang at the bottom.

The top is rather plain and simply shows the purple basket in the 1:1 panel. The usual LEGO manufacturing facilities are detailed at the bottom along with the other usual info that people ignore (barcode, recycle symbol, LEGO websites). Also interesting to note the difference in shades of purple of the top and bottom of the box.

Both the sides of the box are almost identical, stating the Warning: Choking Hazard for small parts safety reminder in 29 different languages (yeah, I did bother to count ‘em all ). The “cleavage curve” print could also be seen on the both sides as part of the illusion to give the otherwise standard rectangular box a distinct “sexy” shape like the curved boxes of the larger Friends sets.

The Contents

Two unnumbered bags of LEGO goodness are what we get in this little set, along with the instruction booklet which unfortunately (but understandably) came folded. And hey what a surprise, no loose piece!

The Instruction Booklet

To avoid the redundancy of showing the instruction booklet simply having the same coverart as the boxart, I’d rather show some sample pages of the instruction booklet:

Left: I noticed a small misprint in one of the piece callout boxes, not really a biggie but probably the only time I’ve experienced seeing this insignificant minor issue.

Right: Nice touches of several faint “Friends symbols” prints at the bottom corner of pages break the monotony of the plain purple backdrop.

Click the image for hi-res version

At the last pages is a beautiful spread showing the 2013 Friends product line-up, with the right page showing each Friend character getting a set dedicated only for them; and the left page showcasing the whole line-up including the two large sets of this wave.

The LEGO parts

As what we’ve come to expect from Friends sets, the parts selection is peppered with the (society-dictated) feminine colors of pink, purple, yellow, with some azure on the side. Thrown in the usual blacks, whites, browns, etc. and you have a parts selection composed of 19 different colors!

(1) The most noticeable (and only) interesting part for me is the trans-glass window with the oriental Japanese characters design. This piece, which can only be found in four sets, is not new but it’s the first time it’s been used outside of NinjaGo sets. With the help of EB’s resident Japanese culture consultant and fellow Fellow def, I found out that the Japanese characters actually mean “ninja”.

(2) Despite the out-of-the-‘girly’-box concept of this set, there are still a couple of Friends-centric pieces: a purple basket and two hair ribbons (one is actually an extra).

(3) As has always been the case, the mini-doll’s torso and leg pieces came in separately packaged, most likely since they’re produced in other manufacturing facility.

The Mini-Doll

In this set we get the ‘Karate Girl’ rendition of Emma, donning a full white Karate uniform (more properly called Karate gi) with purple linings and a floral logo. However, it seems the leg part is not as white as her torso. I don’t know if this is normal or there is a QC issue behind this. By virtue of having a black belt, it seems our dear Emma is already an expert in this particular style of martial arts! (Thou shall not mess with Emma! ). Though one questionable part of her outfit is her footwear, considering most karate practitioners are bare-footed when doing their karate training. But come to think of it, since the mold of the mini-doll feet are the same (only differing in footwear prints), it would be impractical for TLG to create a new single-use ‘bare-feet’ mold just for this small set, so from that POV I could forgive Emma wearing shoes while doing Karate.

Here is a comparison pic of Karate Girl Emma and the regular garden variant Emma. It is only through this side-by-side comparison that I realized that the floral emblem on her karate uniform is actually the same flower on the print of her regular outfit! That’s a well thought-of personalized detail I must say! And before anyone points it out, yes, by my haste I wrongfully switched Stephanie’s pink skirt with Emma’s purple one (looks like somebody’s playing with LEGO Friends in his spare time… )

The Build Elements

Bonsai

A simple build yet perfect for the oriental theme of this set! This 11-piece set really works for me as it captures the overall look of a real-life bonsai. Needless to say, this definitely looks much much better than the 3-piece masterpiece of a tree in 60001 Fire Chief Car.

Karate Chopping Block/Tile

Karate practitioners practice their famous karate chops (or more technically known as the Knife-hand strike http://en.wikipedia....nifehand_strike), with the use of chopping boards/tiles/bricks. This brickbuilt rendition is a quite a nice representation, cleverly using the rail pieces to provide a two-level chopping challenge.

Rest / Meditation Area

This build probably gives the best oriental element on the set due to the Asian-style printing of the glass panel. The slope combination at the top corners imparts an overall shape reminiscent of Oriental Arches.This is also supposedly the resting area where Emma could take a break after training and sip some refreshments in her water bottle (trans-blue with white cap), but I’d like to think this could also be a meditation area, where Emma could practice Zen as part of her Karate training.

Trophy Display Case

As testament of her expertise in Karate, Emma has a display case for her top achievements, and looks like she has two – a gold goblet trophy and a gold medal (without straps). While the choice of the minifig trophy piece or the standard medal piece would’ve been obvious, it’s a nice to see the designers going the alternative route for the unusual picks of the goblet and 1x1 gold round tile. This build also serves as storage for the Kendo Helmet, Kendo Stick/Sword, and a tabletop for the basket. We’ll see more of these elements in the next section.

Playability Features

And we begin with the Trophy Display case, which interestingly has three modes of orientation owing to the simple yet effective use of the swivel bricks:

(1) Straight Set-up – for spacious interiors and for maximum showcase of the trophy achievements!

(2) Corner Set-up – as the name implies, this can be oriented on a 90-degree angle to fit corners of rooms.

(3) Compact Set-up – this one is perfect for small interiors, and even the way the Kendo helmet and stick/sword is aligned together in this position is proof of how effectively-designed this part is.

Here is Emma doing her “Karate-Chop exercise”. The unstable build of the 3-piece chopping block provides a clever way to recreate an actual block-chopping experience!

Left: As mentioned earlier, the rest area could also be used as a meditation area. Too bad mini-dolls, or even minifigs for that matter, cannot assume the meditating sitting position.

Right: Emma could also practice Kendo sword fight, as both the Kendo helmet and stick are compatible with Friends mini-dolls (she just has to remove her wig haha )

Here a couple of things Emma could do when she’s bored (or right before/after Karate training):

(1) She could reminisce all her past glory by staring at her trophy and medal.

(2) Or if she’s really that bored, she could just talk to the bonsai.

The Completed Set

---

The Scores:

Design – 9/10 The reason I bought this set is primarily because of the individual build elements which I found to be interesting. I must say even if they are relatively simple builds they registered to me as well-conceptualized and nicely-executed. From the swivelling trophy display case to the cute little bonsai I think this set deserves a 9 in terms of design factoring in its relative size.

Build – 7/10 Nothing exciting that you’d really expect from a small set, though nothing too difficult for kids to follow too.

Parts – 7/10 I was impressed by the 19-color parts selection, even happy with the pretty neat Asian-style glass panel. Though I still have to find use for those brightly-colored pieces.

Mini-doll – 8/10 It’s always nice to get different variations of minifigs, in this case minidoll, and the Karate outfit is certainly a welcome addition to the Friends line of outfits. The way Emma’s signature flower print is incorporated in her karate uniform also garners plus points for me!

Playability – 7/10 Well of course as an AFOL it would be unfair to judge playability since I don’t play with these sets (or do I?), but putting myself once again in kids shoes I’d think I’d have a decent role-playing time with this set. I assume it may not be as exciting (for girls) as the usual cooking/dressing role-playing offered by other Friends sets, but the Karate playability in this set is a nice break from the usual girl-based activities.

Price – 8/10 $10 for this set is actually not bad, just on the average 10 cents price/piece ratio.

Overall: 77%

---

Parting Shot

I've created a comic to demonstrate this particular set in action! Pls. do take the time to check it out.

Click the image to see the comic at the Brick Flicks & Comics section!

[Maya]

I look forward to your Friends reviews/comics because of the romance between your character Kiel and the Friends girls!

Kiel should be happy Emma wants to be with him, though! He may have to beg her not to leave him when the new boy characters come out this summer!

[Redhead1982]

Thanks for a nice review. It's nice to see Friends 'experimenting' in other areas, and karate seems to be a nice challenge - judging by her trophies, Emma is very successful at this hobby. Set wise, it's a nice little treat with some interesting bricks - my favourite are the girly tiles and lavender basket.

[lightningtiger]

Thanks 'Kiel' for this review....number two for the day....popular set eh ?

Like I wrote in my comment on 'LuxorV's review.....that girl is one you don't mess with...you know sword-girl !

Neat little display section - three ways to show it, clever....oh, yeah the reason might be that girl's or in fact all women change their minds....all the time.....all the time....hey, I can say that I've being married for over 15 years ! (only joking I my wife.....sometimes )

Nice to see also that the clothing options are increasing with the series progressing.

Brick On Review On with your Friend's 'Kiel' !

[XimenaPaulina]

I look forward to your Friends reviews/comics because of the romance between your character Kiel and the Friends girls!

Kiel should be happy Emma wants to be with him, though! He may have to beg her not to leave him when the new boy characters come out this summer!

Thanks! Glad you liked the review and the comics as well. I too am looking forward for some competition with the upcoming Justin Bieber-type Boy-'Friends'.

Thanks for a nice review. It's nice to see Friends 'experimenting' in other areas, and karate seems to be a nice challenge

Indeed it was a good strategy to diversify the Friend's character's interest - and the Karate male-component actually did work on me as I ended up getting this set!

Thanks 'Kiel' for this review....number two for the day....popular set eh ?

Like I wrote in my comment on 'LuxorV's review.....that girl is one you don't mess with...you know sword-girl !

Haha yeah I know right? I actually didn't know LuxorV was also doing a review so I guess this set is quite popular (even among men like us ).

And sword-girl? This Karate Emma mini-doll reminded me a lot of a

and that actually inspired me to create the comics.

[DraikNova]

Seems like a nice step up from the stereotypically girly Friends sets we've had so far.

Edited February 1, 2013 by DraikNova

[Golem25]

Excellent review, definitely the better of the two on this set.

[Aanchir]

Great review. Your reviews are nothing if not thorough!

This set is indeed awesome and it's really great to see LEGO Friends exploring subject matter different from the typical "pink aisle" fare-- but maintaining the stylish pastel aesthetic typical of the theme. It's also nice what a diversity of outfits there is in this year's Friends theme-- other than the riding outfits, most of last year's Friends sets featured typical casual clothes, but this year we've got swimsuits, gis, and tuxedos! Overall, LEGO Friends is really demonstrating its potential this year, and showing it's not just another "dollhouse theme" like Belville or Scala.

[XimenaPaulina]

Seems like a nice step up from the stereotypically girly Friends sets we've had so far.

Yep that seems to be the general consensus so in that aspect the Friends design team succeeded in re-inventing the theme with fresh concepts and ideas.

Excellent review, definitely the better of the two on this set.

Thanks but let's just say both reviews are complementary of each other.

Great review. Your reviews are nothing if not thorough!

....It's also nice what a diversity of outfits there is in this year's Friends theme-- other than the riding outfits, most of last year's Friends sets featured typical casual clothes, but this year we've got swimsuits, gis, and tuxedos!

Thanks! And with the second wave of sets this year, we'll be getting even more variety in mini-doll outfit with the introduction of more male torso and even the baker's outfit, teacher's uniform, etc.

[Studebricker]

Dude, if I were a girl I would be so into these sets, but as a casual observer, I can admire Lego for trying to tap into the little girl demographic. Thanks for the review, it looks like a winner with the target audience. One thing about the logo graphic thing, I think they actually improved the look from the 2012 version because side by side, the 2013 one looks more natural whereas the previous graphic looks robotic and stiff by comparison.

[Aanchir]

Dude, if I were a girl I would be so into these sets, but as a casual observer, I can admire Lego for trying to tap into the little girl demographic. Thanks for the review, it looks like a winner with the target audience. One thing about the logo graphic thing, I think they actually improved the look from the 2012 version because side by side, the 2013 one looks more natural whereas the previous graphic looks robotic and stiff by comparison.

I agree on this note-- I much prefer the new logo graphic, which has a little more emotion to it. The girls to me don't look "unsure of themselves" so much as "confident in each other", which in a theme called Friends is very important. The rigidity of the previous pose made it feel somewhat artificial to me. In this, Mia's clingy pose is a bit over-the-top, but the characters don't have that same sense of detachment.

However, if we really want to know about why the logo was changed, it might be worthwhile to ask Ewa Delgado, a senior designer for LEGO Friends who has been heavily involved in its art direction. Previously she had some involvement in the art direction of Exo-Force, Duplo, and Ninjago.