Help with next BIG Friends purchase (plus photos of cute KFOL MOCs)

[LukeWarmTea]

Hi all! I was hoping I could get some advice from Friends followers on which big set I should be purchasing this Christmas - for my 5 1/2yo girl. I do most of my own Lego construction through LDD as we don't have a lot of money for me to spend on actual Lego - but LDD doesn't cut it for youngsters, and she's asked for a 'big big big' Lego set this year. (And a Lightening McQueen car bed, but we're going to ignore that one - it's way too heavy for Santa's sleigh!). I've already hidden away the campervan. Personally I'd like to explore those delightful tan bricks, but they come in several large Friends sets, so I'm stumped. I've read all of Pandora's reviews and she makes them all sound so good, I'm still stuck!

I know the obvious answer is the Summer Riding camp, but it's unlikely we can afford that this year, even if I find it on special or secondhand. If you all think it's the best, and with a little help she could build it, then I may revisit it as it's got the grown ups, home life and school life I know she'd love. We've currently got a whole bunch of small sets, the largest probably being Emma's Horse Trailer or Olivia's Treehouse, and she loved building Emma's car (she's a bit vehicle mad) so while I know this will be a big jump build wise, I think she's ready. The alternative might be to buy her a couple of medium builds (pet salon, cafe etc), which would be cool too - but won't be the 'big big big' set every little kid desires. Her play is mostly role-play, with the occasional stop to build a bit she needs for that play, so from observation I know she'd love more grown ups, and another horse would help. And if you're thinking the Vet, I did too - but it's completely sold out. Will Olivia's House be retired soon? You can still buy it here, but it'd be awful to miss out (I just overpaid for Olivia's Workshop as I couldn't not have such an iconic set!).

I've included some poor quality (sorry) phone-cam pics below of what she's currently building/playing with, as you can see it's pretty family-centered stuff (if they had a daycare or preschool set on the shelves I would not need to start this thread!) but I also hope you just enjoy the photos. (And yes, I know we need a bigger Lego table!) The MOCs on EuroBricks are so amazingly intricate (The Monde! OMG, the Monde!) and well thought out it's easy to forget Lego was and is a kids toy, and this is how a 5yo girl plays with Basic bits, City bits and Friends. (Minifigs and minidolls get along fine - figs are boys and 'old people' and dolls are Mums and Sisters. No joke.) I love her attention to detail - check out the pink, blue and green pram, last photo, bottom left. The wheels had to be different to car wheels, clear bricks were required for a viewing window to 'check on baby' and no modern buggy would be complete without a roof! Also the handles were changed multiple times till we found a way both figs (that's Nana pushing 'baby' - a minifig head on a yellow 1x1 round brick wrapped in a ribbon) and dolls could use the buggy. Too cute, right?

Also, we need a better Lego storage system (you may have noticed we currently use the 'floor' method). Thoughts?

[Freddy Bricker]

Hi, I myself am not a friends collector, but I do keep up wtih the theme (wierd, but I keep up with most themes, except for Hero Factory, which I now just got into). I can assure you that Olivia's house will be retired soon, as it is a set from 2012. Usually (and I bet you knew this already) most sets get discontinued about a year after their release. For instance, all 2010 sets were retired at the end of 2011/beginning of 2012, all 2011 sets were discontinued at the end of 2012/ beginning of 2013. The same can be said about most friends sets. Of course some themes keep 1-2 sets around longer than other sets for that specific theme, for example the Alien mothership from Alien Conquest is still around today, but Alien Conquest itself has been discontinued. Of course you could just hope that Olivia's house will be around next year, but chances are it won't, and that's too big a risk. My suggestion would be to get her the house, I feel bad for you, and all Australians for having to pay so much for sets like that,so Ebay would be a great sollution.

Also, I recommend you get as many sets from 2012 as possible, they will all be discontinued in about a month anyways. Most people buy sets from 2013 because they either have all the ones from 2012 or they want the "newer" stuff. But keep in mind that all (or most) sets get discontinued the December after the year they were released. Since you will be able to get Heartlake High, and Heartlake pet salon next year, I would suggest going for sets like the Summer riding camp (which as you said is out of your reach, but still) and Olivia's house since those will all be gone by the end of next month. But who knows, some stores keep sets for a little longer than others. I found the entire 2012 wave of Harry Potter sets at my local TRU in the middle of January, but that's a little late for a christmas gift now isn't it! Anyways, good luck and I hope this helps, if you need m to clarify anything or if you need help with anything else, just ask.

[Xyver]

I have most of the Friends sets, I think they're great, and my 7 year-old daughter loves playing with them.

I would recommend the Summer Riding Camp, especially if she loves horses. But if the budget doesn't stretch that far, go for the Heartlake Stables. It still gives you a couple of horses and has plenty of play features in it for her. It is very open, so should be an easy build for you both.

Pick up Olivia's House if you can, that one is very rare her in Aus, I'm assuming it is in NZ too. I'd buy a second one if they didn't keep releasing other good quality sets to buy instead.

I would also recommend Heartlake High, especially if she likes role playing, the pool is fantastic as well. And for sheer jaw-dropping power, you can't go past the Dolphin Cruiser. That gets a lot of attention at the shows I have done lately. These are all 2013 sets, so they should be out for a while yet.

So for Christmas, I would recommend the Riding Camp, Heartlake Stables or Olivia's House, depending on your budget, they will also be most welcome and provide many, many hours of role-playing fun, I promise.

[LukeWarmTea]

Thanks guys! Freddy Bricker - NZ and OZ are similar, but not quite the same place! Easy mistake, no worries ;) Your info on retiring sets was super useful and not surprising - S@H already prevents me from buying a large number of 2012 sets and TradeMe (our version of Ebay) has started putting up their '12 prices already! I'm going to work my B off and try and get both Olivia's House and the Stables as they seem to be selling out here-I should be able to pick up Summer Riding Camp in Jan, fingers crossed, for my own birthday! What wave was the Vet in? It's very hard to find affordably here - overpriced stores still have some in stock I think.

And I agree Xyver - the Cruiser looks amazing and I know it'd be a huge hit - but with the retiring set issue, it's gotta be OH. One worry - have you heard rumours they are pulling Friends from Aus/NZ? One of the larger local chains we frequent recently told me there was 'not enough demand' and they are 'unlikely to be stocked next year'. Which is a major poo.

[Xyver]

... One worry - have you heard rumours they are pulling Friends from Aus/NZ? One of the larger local chains we frequent recently told me there was 'not enough demand' and they are 'unlikely to be stocked next year'. Which is a major poo.

Please don't tell me that, Friends is really popular at our shows, but I guess that may not translate into sales. I do know that some of them this year were one drop only to the retailers, which accounted for our lack of supply for some sets.

With the new wave of sets coming out next year, Friends is obviously popular overseas. I'd be surprised if that didn't translate into popularity here, but who knows what young girls think. I know my daughter loves them, but she'd rather play with the figures in the sets than build them herself (which is a shame because that means I have to build them) She does still insist that my Friends layout is hers though.

[Freddy Bricker]

Haha oops, I'm usually good with geography! Also, the vet was part of wave one, so that should also be a priority. Here a link to Brickset which has all of the friends sets (and almost all Lego sets ever released) listed on it, under each Friends set, will be a year. The year under the name of the set is the year in which it was released, and remember to try to get the 2012 sets before they're out, anything 2013 should stick around for a while (but if your little one prefers the 2013 sets, then they're definitely the way to go!

http://brickset.com/browse/themes/?Theme=Friends

[Gryphon Ink]

Definitely buy Olivia's House. It's a nice build, a sweet dollhouse and a future collector's item. Your daughter will be thrilled with it.