The position and future of Friends and minidolls in Lego?

[El Garfio]

I have some Friends sets and I find them easy to build. Few Technic pins and some hinges but nothing that I haven't found early in under 12€ creator sets or city sets.

When I was a child I used to play with building sets like this:

Due to it, for me, hinges are not a problem but Technic pieces are a nightmare.

Did you ever build a Friends set? I think you'll find that the difficulty of the build is comparable to City sets. Have a look at the Friends review index to read some of the reviewers' thoughts on the building process.

Friends Sets has a reasonable difficulty, but the difficulty of new bunch of sets labeled as "for young builders" is ridiculous. I find all the Friends sets under $20 very easy to assemble, and the "shops" and the rest of under $30 sets have medium difficulty. All the big sets of every series have some hard to assemble steps.

If you or your kids find Friends sets very difficult I recommend you not to try to assemble SW or SuperHeroes sets.

[Aanchir]

I have some Friends sets and I find them easy to build. Few Technic pins and some hinges but nothing that I haven't found early in under 12€ creator sets or city sets.

When I was a child I used to play with building sets like this:

Due to it, for me, hinges are not a problem but Technic pieces are a nightmare.

Friends Sets has a reasonable difficulty, but the difficulty of new bunch of sets labeled as "for young builders" is ridiculous. I find all the Friends sets under $20 very easy to assemble, and the "shops" and the rest of under $30 sets have medium difficulty. All the big sets of every series have some hard to assemble steps.

If you or your kids find Friends sets very difficult I recommend you not to try to assemble SW or SuperHeroes sets.

The new "For Young Builders" sets are intended to be transitional between Duplo and System, same as previous series like 4+, Jack Stone, and of course the beloved classic Fabuland. Of course, they are set apart from those in that they use standard minifigures and aren't as heavily stylized as Fabuland (which had a cutesy cartoon aesthetic) or Jack Stone (which went in an exaggeratedly streamlined, almost sci-fi direction).

And some LEGO Friends sets DO skew younger than a lot of Star Wars and Super Heroes sets, but the same can be said of City. The simplest City and Friends sets tend to be recommended for ages 5–12, while the simplest Star Wars sets tend to be recommended for ages 6–12.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Aanchir

[Rick]

I find all the Friends sets under $20 very easy to assemble, and the "shops" and the rest of under $30 sets have medium difficulty. All the big sets of every series have some hard to assemble steps.

Friends sets should be compared to sets from other themes intended for the same age groups. I was explicitly comparing them to similarly-sized City sets targeted at the same age group. I don't think Friends sets are any more or less difficult to build than comparable City sets.

[Dorayaki]

While this might be true, what is the problem here? Why should LEGO try to integrate Friends and City?

I see no problem in modding City or Friends buildings into modulars; similarly, one could easily mod Friends buildings to be part of LEGO city.

So that's the topic. Modding or intergration isn't that difficult if kids just put these sets together without expert MOC techniques. The problem lies in TLC more than consumers or kids.

Friends was something City needed, but TLC decided to make it a seperate theme with a new figure. If TLC don't serve as a model themselves, like the OP showed, City would remain "imcomplete" and Friends would remain "isolated". Or what TLC can do is to make the City theme more comprehensive while still not related to any Friends set (solution 1).

Edited December 2, 2013 by Dorayaki

[Dorayaki]

How long is going to be until a Police man or woman appears into a Friend set? or maybe, a medical set with an Ambulance? They both work to protect and serve citizens.

I know that a Friend set of a 800 pieces Police station is not on TLG mind and is not in the wishlist of any KFOL girl. But a little one, is going to be easy to see in the near future, the same with a Doctor office.

And then the Friendlyzation of City will start, because, like now, maybe only few girls will be interested in having a big police station, but if there is some male minidolls, or an attractive vehicle or building, the number of boys interested in a Friend set with a mini Police station or a Doctor Office could be high.

And IMHO I think that if the competitors are working in launching every year more realistic figures, in some years TLG is going to improve minidolls (independent legs, mobile hands, 2 studs wide,...) and starting to replace minifigs with redesigned minidolls in all the series including SW. And the actual minifig will be a symbolic item of the brand but only for bricks and more, promotional bags or anniversary sets.

Sorry, but I don't agree with you on this.

Let's not think about minidolls and minifigures, in my mind Friends is more about "lifestyle", and City is about "public" and "career", while both are parts of a modern city life. There is an advantage to seperate the two themes because Friends won't be like some of the subthemes of City (Farm, Construction.... etc) who ended without a sound, until the theme ends by itself. It proves that the lifestyle side of City is a musthave for many AFOL/KFOLs and we won't see Friends stop in a short while. Also, while Friends targets at girls, it can provide a independent line of feminine building styles and light brick colors.

It would be confusing when a police station or a public building appears under the brand of Friends. I think City can add some lifestyle things, but it would be more for boys' tastes or realistic world style like the Marina or Town Plan.

A simple conclusion: every theme that features a distinctive style can give us more choices. If a Winter village police station is nothing different from a City police station, nobody wants it, definitely.

Coming to the figures, as I mentioned in the OP, the problem we have now should be that TLC still focus on minifigures and leave little room for minidolls and its themes. Saying that minidolls would replace minidolls is just thinking too much. Lego's minidolls are nice, but don't forget that other competitors can design different types of small figures while minifigures are classic and exclusive to Lego, and they're still very popular for now. I've never heard that Ninjago is so popluar that the Ninjago fans begin to ask for Ninjago minidolls (interesting, but not in demand).

Edited December 4, 2013 by Dorayaki

[El Garfio]

Well, LEGO design minidolls because they made a Marketing research and arrived to the conclusion that girls don't like minifigs (specially female minifigs). Girls don't find minifigs realistic, they don't feel identified with minifigs and, in big terms, girls find minifigs ugly.

Playmobil has a complete city life offer, yes some sets are more liked for boys and other are more liked for girls, but they try to include male and female figures and roles that allows boys and girls play together (most times into a single set). Last year, due to the Friends effect, they designed some series that made the catalog a bit more differentiate/segregated than other years. Now, the market requirements are driving Playmobil to fix it offering some extra figures/roles, via direct sales, blisters and figure packs, to compensate the lack of female or male figures/roles in the main sets of some series. Playmobil 2014 novelties catalog is again full of both genders sets/series.

Due to Girls "hate" minifigs, TLG only have to options, maintain shopping, free time, having fun and teen lifestyle separated of public services like now (in Friends and City), or integrate them. Peter, Andrew, Mathew and Robert are the first male minidolls and they deserve to be more than the relatives of the friends girls (maybe in future Friends sets, maybe working, maybe doing boy things with other buddies,...) <-- Is this as impossible as some people think? Think about if the female minifigs were only the wife, the daughter, the sister or the girl of one male minifig? How would some mothers react? How would Internet and social networks become on fire?

Kids integrate all, without looking at forms, scales and colors, and minifigs and minidolls share daily playing in a lot of homes. But I can't imagine to see a LEGO set with 2 minifigs and 2 minidolls in the same set. It's for that, and for market requirements and competitors pressure, that in IMHO I think that TLG has not option that create an upgraded minidoll (with mobile hands, independent legs, 2 studs wide,...) and gradually introduce it on city, on new licenses,... and, why not?, on a galaxy far, far away.

[finnbricker]

Friends was something City needed, but TLC decided to make it a seperate theme with a new figure. If TLC don't serve as a model themselves, like the OP showed, City would remain "imcomplete" and Friends would remain "isolated". Or what TLC can do is to make the City theme more comprehensive while still not related to any Friends set (solution 1).

I'm sorry but I still don't see your point.

You obviously don't like the minidolls, but the Friends target group does, since Friends is a success.

I don't like the minidolls either, but I won't let that bother me. I happily buy the sets and MOD them to be a part of my modular city.

[El Garfio]

Farm was always live at duplo and due to it was a theme with a huge acceptation into girls they transfer it to Friends (I think that LEGO never had so many differents animals, well more than a farm Friends are collecting a zoo, another theme that only worked in duplo because LEGO was not able to giving it the styling that girls wanted).

Construction is a cyclic theme in LEGO and in other toys like Playmobil, There is years that have less presence, but it never was out/ended (when construction has not a whole serie for it, there is always a crane, a loader or some construction workers into a set . And for not being repetitive, TLG sometimes transform construction into digging, or mining or create a movie as excuse for continuing offering construction minifigs and sets ).

[Dorayaki]

I'm sorry but I still don't see your point.

You obviously don't like the minidolls, but the Friends target group does, since Friends is a success.

I don't like the minidolls either, but I won't let that bother me. I happily buy the sets and MOD them to be a part of my modular city.

I've said in the OP: "I like Friends and minidolls as independent products, but they would..... " The problem isn't about whether the own designs of minidolls/Friends are good or not. As said, the problem lies in TLC more than consumers or targeted group. MOD techniques aren't doing with this problem.

[finnbricker]

As said, the problem lies in TLC more than consumers or targeted group. MOD techniques aren't doing with this problem.

TLC as in the LEGO Group?

Would you please explain very birefly and simply what exactly you see as a problem?

[gazumpty]

I think the minifigure is one of the greatest pieces of design in modern culture. It's up there with the Mini, the angle poise lamp and the London Underground map.

I totally agree with this point. I feel they can mix from their own brand of Lego but should not be mixed into other themes. If people wish to have the 'dolls' and the wide variety of coloured brick options that 'Friends' sets offer then you can just buy the kits on offer.

aurly gets at the fourth solution: put minidolls in non-Friends sets instead of minifigures. Would AFOLs and EB members buy a Town set, or a space set, or an action theme, if the characters were minidolls (of all genders, with theme-appropriate gear and apparel) and not minifigures?

All be it, TLG should start broadening the 'Friends' range with more options than pretty colours and sunshine and rainbows. But not try and interject them into already established themes. I am one of these AFOL that buys the kits and sorts them out for MOC/MOD and random build use. I have on occasion purchased a good 'Friends' set and I have found that the dolls work well once mixed in and designed for.

Edited December 11, 2013 by gazumpty

[Gryphon Ink]

This is a bit of a tangent, but seemed like the best place to mention it...

I'm never really sure about the market research that TLG says led to the conclusion that girls don't like minifigs. I can readily agree that the minidoll looks much more like what we ("we" meaning society in general) think of as a "girls' toy", and am not disputing the success of Friends. The sets are evidently selling, and I know my girls like the minidolls, so the proof is in the pudding, so to speak.

But going back to my own girls and personal experience, the fact is they also really like minifigs. Those same girls went absolutely nuts when they discovered the Gingerbread Man CMF, and they have plenty of minifigs that they are every bit as fond of as they are of Olivia and Co. My five-year-old is traditionally in charge of putting together all the minifigs in every new set that I buy. She covets this job and oohs and aahs over every new accessory. When I was putting Dol Guldur Ambush together last weekend, she put the minifigs together and immediately started to play with the set. She loves those hammer-and-axe-blade booby traps! It ended with me having to drag out every single LOTR minifig and all the sets that I still have assembled, and for over an hour she sat and played out grand battles in the realm of Middle-Earth. This is a 5YO girly-girl Disney junkie who is scared of Gollum and has never seen any of the movies - they are way too violent and scary for her. But she wanted to play.

The only thing she needed for complete satisfaction was a female hero to play with. After we started assembling the hordes, she asked me, "isn't there a princess in the Lord of the Rings?" I said, "well, there's Arwen, she's kind of like a princess." So she demanded I find Arwen, and as soon as she had her the story kicked into high gear. Arwen was fighting Orcs here, busting prisoners out of jail there, switching her skirts for pants so she could ride a horse, teleporting to safety when the Nazgul approached...

I introduced her to Tauriel, and she played with her plenty, but not as much as with Arwen. Was it because I told her Arwen was a princess? Maybe. But I also think it was partly because Tauriel is not identifiably feminine. She looks almost exactly like any other Elf warrior. My kid wanted someone that you could tell was a girl. Arwen was perfect. Tauriel was definitely in the sidekick role.

She never complained that the minifigs were too blocky or not cute enough. She never suggested that we get out the minidolls. She was perfectly content to play out her five year old version of Lord of the Rings with the standard Elf, Dwarf and Orc minifigs. All she needed was one or two women in the cast. I can only imagine where this would have gone if Eowyn and Galadriel had been around in minifig form.

I know that I have raised my girls a little differently from most, encouraging them to do whatever they want regardless of gender stereotypes, explaining that people can be whatever they want to be and introducing them to epic fantasy fiction. But it's not like I've brainwashed them into complete gender neutrality. This kid wears pink and purple and glittery sparkly frilly EVERYTHING. She wears skirts all the time, even in sub-zero weather. She has at least a dozen Barbies, a massive herd of MLPs, and enough baubles and hair accessories to fill the treasure vaults of Erebor. She LOVES being a girly girl. And, she loves Lego. Minifigs, minidolls, Pirates, Orcs or Friends. She just likes it all.

I know TLG did the market research. They aren't stupid, these Lego guys. And I can't say they went wrong with the minidolls. Personally, I like the minidolls. But I'm wondering if they really needed them. Market research is not infallible, and major companies make poor decisions all the time. Remember New Coke?

People will say look how well Friends is selling, there's your proof. But the fact is, we'll never know what factors were responsible for the success of Friends. Let's not forget that Friends wasn't just a new product, it was also a massive marketing campaign, with TV spots, sticker albums, all the accessories and everything else that goes with any new product launch these days. All that, plus some very well-constructed and attractive Lego sets.

Would the theme have done as well with standard minifigs? I don't know. And I don't think anyone else knows, either.

[El Garfio]

The facts are these:

-The market and the competitors are following the way of realistic dolls.

-Keep minidolls isolated increase the risk of being discontinued, because all the LEGO themes has passed by bad sales years, lack of ideas or set saturation and TLG has non option than take a break with them. If there isn't other themes with minidolls, they could disappear from the catalog and never come back like paradisa, bellville, scala,... or the LEGO Technic figures.

-Peter deserves more than passing their whole life making barbecues, and the worst, could the LEGO of the XXI century afford keeping Robert in his actual role of tanned boy going around the riding stables with a wheelbarrow serving a blonde girl and her Friends? Or TLG should design Friends sets where male minidolls has a relevant role, or at least equitable?

TLG will do what they want (or what their professionals think that is the best for the company), but at least, an approach/merge of Friends and City seems unavoidable.

[Aanchir]

This is a bit of a tangent, but seemed like the best place to mention it...

I'm never really sure about the market research that TLG says led to the conclusion that girls don't like minifigs. I can readily agree that the minidoll looks much more like what we ("we" meaning society in general) think of as a "girls' toy", and am not disputing the success of Friends. The sets are evidently selling, and I know my girls like the minidolls, so the proof is in the pudding, so to speak.

But going back to my own girls and personal experience, the fact is they also really like minifigs. Those same girls went absolutely nuts when they discovered the Gingerbread Man CMF, and they have plenty of minifigs that they are every bit as fond of as they are of Olivia and Co. My five-year-old is traditionally in charge of putting together all the minifigs in every new set that I buy. She covets this job and oohs and aahs over every new accessory. When I was putting Dol Guldur Ambush together last weekend, she put the minifigs together and immediately started to play with the set. She loves those hammer-and-axe-blade booby traps! It ended with me having to drag out every single LOTR minifig and all the sets that I still have assembled, and for over an hour she sat and played out grand battles in the realm of Middle-Earth. This is a 5YO girly-girl Disney junkie who is scared of Gollum and has never seen any of the movies - they are way too violent and scary for her. But she wanted to play.

The only thing she needed for complete satisfaction was a female hero to play with. After we started assembling the hordes, she asked me, "isn't there a princess in the Lord of the Rings?" I said, "well, there's Arwen, she's kind of like a princess." So she demanded I find Arwen, and as soon as she had her the story kicked into high gear. Arwen was fighting Orcs here, busting prisoners out of jail there, switching her skirts for pants so she could ride a horse, teleporting to safety when the Nazgul approached...

I introduced her to Tauriel, and she played with her plenty, but not as much as with Arwen. Was it because I told her Arwen was a princess? Maybe. But I also think it was partly because Tauriel is not identifiably feminine. She looks almost exactly like any other Elf warrior. My kid wanted someone that you could tell was a girl. Arwen was perfect. Tauriel was definitely in the sidekick role.

She never complained that the minifigs were too blocky or not cute enough. She never suggested that we get out the minidolls. She was perfectly content to play out her five year old version of Lord of the Rings with the standard Elf, Dwarf and Orc minifigs. All she needed was one or two women in the cast. I can only imagine where this would have gone if Eowyn and Galadriel had been around in minifig form.

I know that I have raised my girls a little differently from most, encouraging them to do whatever they want regardless of gender stereotypes, explaining that people can be whatever they want to be and introducing them to epic fantasy fiction. But it's not like I've brainwashed them into complete gender neutrality. This kid wears pink and purple and glittery sparkly frilly EVERYTHING. She wears skirts all the time, even in sub-zero weather. She has at least a dozen Barbies, a massive herd of MLPs, and enough baubles and hair accessories to fill the treasure vaults of Erebor. She LOVES being a girly girl. And, she loves Lego. Minifigs, minidolls, Pirates, Orcs or Friends. She just likes it all.

I know TLG did the market research. They aren't stupid, these Lego guys. And I can't say they went wrong with the minidolls. Personally, I like the minidolls. But I'm wondering if they really needed them. Market research is not infallible, and major companies make poor decisions all the time. Remember New Coke?

People will say look how well Friends is selling, there's your proof. But the fact is, we'll never know what factors were responsible for the success of Friends. Let's not forget that Friends wasn't just a new product, it was also a massive marketing campaign, with TV spots, sticker albums, all the accessories and everything else that goes with any new product launch these days. All that, plus some very well-constructed and attractive Lego sets.

Would the theme have done as well with standard minifigs? I don't know. And I don't think anyone else knows, either.

Given that using traditional minifigures would be by far the cheapest option for any new theme that has any kind of minifigures, I have no doubt that the LEGO Group explored the possibility quite thoroughly. The talk Astrid Graabaek and Fenella Holden gave at Brickfair seemed to suggest that was the case, at any rate. They also talked about how some of the girls in focus testing responded to different mini-doll designs. They considered having traditional minifigure hands that could rotate, for instance, but a lot of girls thought the thick, tube-like wrists that would result looked awkward for any designs that weren't supposed to have long sleeves.

It's not like the LEGO Group hadn't tried marketing the minifigure to girls, either. Some sets and themes were aimed at a more gender-neutral audience than others, particularly certain sets from City, licensed themes like Harry Potter and Spongebob Squarepants (Harry Potter has always been a "dollhouse theme" in a certain capacity), and the Collectible Minifigures. These efforts presumably made SOME difference in sales with that demographic, but not a huge difference — boys still made up an overwhelming majority of the buying audience.

Mark Stafford (Nabii) also mentions <a href="http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/comment/35494/#Comment_35494">here</a> that there was another, smaller consideration — the notion that if girls started playing with the same minifigure as boys in huge numbers, boys might start to think of it as a doll. So a huge marketing effort to convince girls to think of the classic minifigure more favorably might have had an equal and opposite effect with boys.

Regarding your daughter in particular... I have a feeling that certain kids of any gender are more likely to be bit with the "LEGO bug" than others, ESPECIALLY if they grow up with other LEGO builders in their household or peer group. Even a number of the female BIONICLE and Ninjago fans I've encountered online were introduced to these series when playing or watching TV with a male friend or sibling. Kids also vary in the amount of visual-spatial aptitude they exhibit, which plays a big role in how naturally LEGO building comes to them, and I think both nature AND nurture can influence this kind of thing. But a kid who DOESN'T play with LEGO, and whose family doesn't own any LEGO, and whose same-gender peers don't play with LEGO, is going to take a lot more convincing to invest in and identify with the LEGO brand than a kid who grew up learning from their friends and family that LEGO is a fun and meaningful toy. And that's especially true when there are lots of other types of toy trying to compete for their attention.

[Faefrost]

Also remember that the preferences are not simply "gender" or sex specific, but age factors into it very highly as well. One of the major break points seems to be around 7. So a 5 year old girl probably loves any form of little people, just as a 5 year old boy loves playing with a Friends set, but somewhere around 7 they start getting pickier. TLG in their market research is looking at a broad enough spread of childrens ages to seek to maximize the lines. For minifig loving 5 year old's they have the new Juniors sets.

[Haltiamieli]

And it was easier for Lego to market the new theme when it is "really something new" instead of just a bit tweaked City. Thus previously uninterested girls take notice and get interested but boys don't feel alienated. As a side effect this scheme had the potential to alienate those girls who already were Lego fans, and to some extent we can see it did, but mostly they too have probably either embraced or ignored Friends in their spending habits.

Long term consequences of the introduction of the minidoll are an interesting question: Does Lego have a plan, and for how many years? It is, however, rather impossible to answer with our knowledge.

[Lordofdragonss]

The problems I see now when I am working in the toy store is that:

-the boys are afraid of friends sets. But there is a minority that loves them (the school is a big hit and boys and girlsbuy it)

-many Girls started to buy Lego because of Friends series but they treat in not like a buildig toy.

- many people like ONLY Friends. And they don't asimilate it with other Lego themes. -a lot of people I stumbled upon have no idea that Creator houses (and many other lego sets) are Friends-compatibile and vice versa. Many people seem to be shocked when they learned all the sets are in the same "minifig scale".

I personaly know some girls that hate the minidolls and they buy Friends sets and the sell the dolls to get a colectable minifigs instead.

[Aanchir]

-many Girls started to buy Lego because of Friends series but they treat in not like a buildig toy.

I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean. It's not that I doubt there are girls who play with the sets "as-is" and don't take them apart. But I think there's a lot of that in all LEGO themes. There are always going to be LEGO Star Wars or Ninjago fans who are more interested in completing a collection than in building starships and dragons of their own design. I haven't taken apart any of my family's modular buildings or Taj Mahal. This is part of what separates LEGO collectors from MOCists, but there's nothing inherently wrong with either way of enjoying the LEGO brand. It comes down to preference.

I personaly know some girls that hate the minidolls and they buy Friends sets and the sell the dolls to get a colectable minifigs instead.

The counterpoint to this, then, is that there must be people who are willing to pay for those mini-dolls.

[Dorayaki]

EVERY series Lego puts out is risky. There are not infinite set options. Period. But if City can tolerate their interminable Fire and Police repeats, I think Friends can tolerate a few repeats as well (especially of set ideas that have gone out of print but girls may still want for themselves -- do we really think NO girl will want a Laboratory set now that Olivia's Workshop has gone out of stock?)

Police and Fire series repeat just too many times. The stations and cars are diferent but after all their functions are still the same. In Friends, even that TLG do rehashing, they can nominally endow each individual character with one bedroom, one family house and one villa. Also it should be more weird to have multiple police stations in one town than have multiple restaurants or households.

The reason why other subthemes of City like Farm and Railway isn't renewed as frequent as Police and Fire is mostly that they have more potential (in other words, profitable). For now I believe Friends have more choosable elements than City, until that City can make something innovative, and I'm happy to see that Friends can introduce some extraordinary interests to the target customers.

^ I had to hunt Olivia's Workshop down on an ebay style site, so you're right there. And I agree, while the sets may seem 'the same' to us - to kids tiny changes make it completely different. I also think that the Friends theme has a massive scope for sets - the only thing separating this theme from the others is that it is targeted to girls. That's it. And, as a girl and mother of a girl, I know first hand that our interests are many and varied. While it's unlikely a crime-fighting set will appear in Friends- Emma's karate studio could well lead on to a self-defence style set - or the beach sets could easily become coast guard orientated etc etc.

I have never thought that Friends will intrude on or take over ideas from City. I don't even think that the City sets becoming less violent and more 'Friendly' has anything to do with Friends - it's more likely that Lego have heard the reactions of hundreds of thousands of parents like myself who are sick of toys pushing boys towards aggressive, violent play. I read an article somewhere about the faces of Lego minifigs which TLG had responded to and said they were working on; that male minifig faces (to become more detailed) had become overwhelmingly angrier, while female figs remained lipsticked and smiling. City's 60003 Fire set is a prime example (which I bought for the female fire-fighter and was immensely disappointed by), and while this: http://shop.lego.com...sory-Set-850618 shows that you can be hard-working man fig without looking intensely agro, you may note the female never sweats, struggles or concentrates too hard (perhaps it might smudge that dashing shade of rouge lippy).

So where the idea Friends is messing with City comes from, I don't know - but if City is changing it's tune, then it's all for the better in my book.

Agree. Neither do I think Friends have to invade or replace City. I would be very wonderful if they're able to compensate each other.

For faces, I don't think the minidolls characters have shown variable and vivid expressions. In the cartoon story, Lacy often shows mean face and Jacob sometimes looks toil, but these don't show in any Lego Friends set. Both minidolls and female minifigures should try to create more expressions, ages and personality.

Those female minifigures from collectible bags have done a really good job. There are grandmothers, hardworking ladies and fierce warriors who can shout at guys.

Edited December 16, 2013 by Dorayaki

[Mooch]

For faces, I don't think the minidolls characters have shown variable and vivid expressions. In the cartoon story, Lacy often shows mean face and Jacob sometimes looks toil, but these don't show in any Lego Friends set. Both minidolls and female minifigures should try to create more expressions, ages and personality.

Those female minifigures from collectible bags have done a really good job. There are grandmothers, hardworking ladies and fierce warriors who can shout at guys.

I think a Friends-syle CMF series would be pretty cool, it would be interesting to see what they would come up with.

I also thing Chima would have been interesting if it was based around the minidoll-style.

[Dorayaki]

I think a Friends-syle CMF series would be pretty cool, it would be interesting to see what they would come up with.

I also thing Chima would have been interesting if it was based around the minidoll-style.

I'm glad you support my idea. For Chima, though they don't share appearances with traditional minifigures, I'm not sure they would also look good as minidolls if they don't get new body desgins (that are more masculine for guys).

The new theme of Disney Princesses is a test for measuring the acceptation of minidolls out of Friends. And a precedent for introducing minidolls or more realistic figures into future Licensed series (for the risks of kids would prefer the action figures toys instead of the LEGO version, and for having an alternative serie with minidolls if there are a saturation of Friends sets and TLG has to take a break).

Disney Princess is still a question mark in my mind. I believe that Disney classics is able target at a wider range or customers rather than simply young girls (whom minidolls were made for), and we're not sure how this license them would progress.

[Sarah]

Is anyone noticing that Lego Friends is completely cleared out in the stores around you?

I even went to Lego Shop at Home and all of the sets are Out of Stock!

[SweetiePie88]

a few sets at a couple targets but I think that's mostly a result of the bogo50 sales but the regular lego stuff was really cleared out at one target. About half an aisle's worth gone.

[Sarah]

a few sets at a couple targets but I think that's mostly a result of the bogo50 sales but the regular lego stuff was really cleared out at one target. About half an aisle's worth gone.

Lego City was ALSO on bogo50 off and is not cleared out in the same way Friends is.

[LukeWarmTea]

It's crazy in NZ right now - TLC must be pleased with themselves - Lego has been named 'Must Have' toy of the year - and the headlining act? The Dolphin Cruiser. The media around it has been pretty cool, instead of being all "The girls Lego Friends' theme Dolphin Cruiser ... bla bla" it's just been "Lego Dolphin Cruiser..." which is kinda nice.

I'd love a CMF Minidoll series - more adults! More clothing! It would be great to market as a 'fashion' line - heck, they wouldn't even need to include a head! We have so so many of the same minidoll - mostly because the 'interests' of the doll align with my daughter's - so we have four Olivia's, for example, and 3 of the exact same Stephanie (plus two in other outfits).