LukeWarmTea

I dig this. Building with/for kids is the best. Did you use two Juice bars or just one? It's impressive!

I find this whole topic really interesting from a parents perspective, because (like many other parents I know) I first heard about Friends through Anita Sarkeesian's very anti-Friends blog. (I love her, btw.) At the time, I was outraged, because like many others I assumed TLC had stepped backwards into a world of Bellville, which was inflicted on me as a girl. I remember 'building' the Horse Trekking set in 7 easy steps. 7! But after searching high and low, I came across a blog (which I can't find now - gay canadian blogger who makes bricks films? Brilliant writer?) supporting the new line and comparing it to the truly dreadful Mega Bloks Barbie range and I realised the crucial mistake almost everyone was making: The toy and the marketing are not the same thing. Sarkesian was up in arms at the insipid voice over telling girls they can 'hang out by the pool' and so on; those ads that barely showed any building required and expounded upon the 'play features' of being able to well, not do anything really. Chat with Friends? Get a makeover? While defenders of the line showed off the instruction booklets (how thick! how detailed! how similar to City!) and the actual, real toy - which was Lego. Sure, it was Lego with a new doll thingee and in new colours, but really - it's just Lego. And it's also a failing of the above poll. I love the Friends line, and so does my daughter, because it shows the world we know and love and the world she wants to know (as a 5yo desperate to be a 'big girl') and that's something not many other lines can do in such an exciting way - but I hate the ads. I despise the way we are told 'how' to play with Lego - something I am aware runs across lines - but I'd really love to see an ad showing girls build the actual sets, maybe with a male friend, and get creative with them! Also, the new Jungle theme is exciting as.

Forgot the inside! Obviously unfinished (barely started!) but already played with. You can see the lamp/cistern clip better here too, and the floor layout that only uses supplied plates (which was tough!).

Great idea, but I haven't needed to! I built this out of 3185 because it was 'my own' Lego, a set I bought for my birthday. Most of Bella's Friends sets are complete(ish) and are played with often, so picking bits is a bit tricky. In the end I used tan from about 5 sets - 3185, Heartlake Vet, Stephanie's Soccer Practise, Emma's Karate Studio and parts from Mia's Lemonade stand (which I also bought for myself - a Vespa!). So here it is, almost complete: I'm not 100% sure about the roof, as it adds yet another colour, and I could use the same shaped parts from the Pet Salon and make it magenta (pink!) but I was hoping to tone down the Friends colours. It's funny how it ended up looking way girlier than I'd expected. Closed view (it's very easy to pick up): The rear: Is a bit of a mess. The 'clip' to hold the set together works surprisingly well but I think it looks a bit messy (supposedly disguised as a cistern type doodad, and a lamp when open) and the bathroom/upstairs windows are thumb-holes so you can pull it open again easily. The balcony will hold 2/3 play features depending on my patience (a fire escape ladder, hence the pink gate; ladder to 'garden' and possible rubbish chute) but I think the above 'garden' is too small and messy. Fixing it soon. I'm pretty pleased though, as I only had to use the 'stable' section of the vet, which can be rebuilt in another colour so nothing is lost from Bella's Neighbourhood.

Slightly off topic, but does anyone think the release of the new Loader will increase interest in the old sets, like 8828 and such?

I think I understand where you're coming from - and in an ideal world we would value the traits and gifts of either gender, for who and what they represent, but we don't. We simply don't, and for the past few hundred years women have repeatedly been considered second class citizens and so gender equality, more so now than ever, is incredibly important. Just think about the term "woman's' work". Does it conjure up images of well paid, exciting and interesting career prospects? No? Well there you are. In fact I find some of what you say a bit hurtful (as a woman) because I do think I am as equally capable as say, you are. Also, our brains are our own. My brain is far more mathematical than say, the 'average' woman, but who's to say why that is? Perhaps if more women had access to Lego and construction toys at a young age, they would end up with more technically skilled brains like my own. But further to this discussion, is Lego good for maths? By crikey it is! And is it important for girls to be in STEM fields? Yes! Are people keen on this idea? Of course! Otherwise projects like Girls Who Code and toys like Goldie Blox literally wouldn't have a market. And they do. And it's large. One person once said (it was either on this thread or this thread, gender and Lego is not a new concept!) "Is it TLC's responsibility to try and address equality?" Which is a bloody good question. If we take into consideration the aims, ideals and overall mission of TLC, then I would say yes. TLC has always been a 'socially responsible' company (as well as a clever business) and I think they are well aware of the fact that for a long time, a decade in fact, Lego sets were designed for and catered to the interests of boys. ^ up there seems to think Lego is for boys, so that decade did a lot of damage. The facts are that Lego was designed for children, and for most of Lego history was marketed to boys and girls equally. This 'gender shift' is a relatively new thing, and while I wasn't sure about Friends when it was first launched, I'm pleased now, because I realised TLC wasn't going to stop making 'boy' targeted sets. What I do wish though (like many others) is for Heartlake to increase it's male mini-doll population, and City it's female - it'd be a great step forwards.

Love 'em! I visited Amsterdam as a kid and remember seeing a piano being lifted into a building like this - that's how they got that drafting board in right? :D Such an amazing amount of detail, great work! Will we be seeing a canal boat to go alongside?

I agree - and it's not just expert sets that have more detailing in them these days (Friends are famed for it) and this set looks like a great 'girl friendly' one so I'm betting on plenty of accessories!

My daughter would be smitten - seriously, you should be very proud.

Oh wailey wailey, you're right! How did I not think o that? Oh bum! How dull. I've just ordered Merida and will hunt down a brown bear to be her Mum, but still. It's not the same.

Money money money! Thanks for your suggestion TheLazyChicken, but something like the GE is more than 2 weeks wages here in NZ - and it'd give me too many parts - I'd end up going overboard. Kind of in reply to you both of y'all I've quoted myself above from my 'challenge' list - and it's a major reason I won't Bricklink TrippyBrownEyes, but another reason (and one I have just realised I haven't mentioned anywhere) is that this MOC will be the star of a blog/resource I want to set up for parents of KFOL's who are just getting back into Lego themselves, people who probably won't be confident on Bricklink. I want to use this to say to folks "Hey, you don't have to put up with little mini builds lying all over the house. You don't have to worry about tiny bits getting lost, or breaking a set when you pick it up to put it away, and you don't need a lot of money to build something substantial. All you need to do is join in the fun. Build with your kids, for your kids and maybe even just for you."

Part of the Disney Princess range, I'm not sure if that tail will be making it's way into the Friends line - too fantastical would be my guess. But Olivia at 3.36, far left - is that a new green?! It's kind of sage coloured, and some clothing seems to be tan/sand coloured, sort of khaki-ness going on too, Jungle Clothes yay!!! And her neck scarf is just the best. I'm really really hoping for some more clothes for the darker skinned Friends though - getting exactly the same Kate in Stephanie's Beach House was a huge disappointment.

Oh come now, why oh why is this not an official set?! This is brilliant! I would argue that the 'back' (far left wall in the 1st pic) would have to be open for playability, and probably no roof, but the colours and details are spot on TLG standard. :D Excellent! But, where are the cars?!

That ATM is awesome, and ^ is right, the corner build was a great choice. I love the camera inside also, and the clever printed tile.

Pretty much! Although I just realised we don't have a single police car (not one!) having gone with Fire, Coastguard and Airport for our City, which works well as it's what we see and know, living in Wellington as we do. I'm not sure how the Arctic sets will go down with kids who may not have any way of relating to them - the huskies work surprisingly well for this, cause who doesn't love dogs?! Also, I kind of see "City" as meaning "Modern Westernised Lifestyle", including everything from pizza to space travel.

That'd be my guess too. It's a shame though, it would have been nice to have a 'girl-friendly' licensed set/theme (that isn't super girly like Princesses). Yup, the only way you can by Cuusoo in NZ. Me too! I think it's pretty popular in NZ, although our market size is so tiny it probably doesn't even beep the TLC radar.

Help! The inevitable has happened and I have run out of tan bricks! I used Emma's Karate studio and Mia's Lemonade Stand as well as 3185, but so far that's been about it. (Also I think I finally figured out a floor plan that only uses 3185 plates and is reasonably durable.) This is as far as I have gotten: Which has included rebuilds to release some more tan bricks from the stairs. It's currently not very strong due to the high use of 1x2 bricks, and I'd rebuild it better if I got more bricks. And now my question to you is, do I use another large-ish Friends set for parts (such as the Heartlake stables or Vet) and 'fail' my challenge or do I try and make it work with more small sets/polybags? I need 1x3 and 1x4 tan bricks which is the toughy, and I can't Bricklink them or it would defeat the purpose of the whole project. We (by which I mean my daughter) does have the Heartlake Vet which I was considering cannibalising for the roof, and the tan would be perfect, but it's such a cool set and I feel a bit mean destroying it, although I could always rebuild it with the dark-reddy-brown (I have no idea of colour names) roof slopes from 3185. We don't have the stables and the only one I've found is twice the retail price, so while it's unlikely we'd get it if we did it'd be all mine, and it does have the perfect bricks. I still need to build the front right wall, that whole side and the rear which will probably just be an open arch to the balcony, as well as some Friends style 'roof' type wall at the front and the garden terrace! Help?

Pretty much! I'd go smaller though, a Four Square, some private tea-room cake shop, a pub, maybe Plunket rooms/nurses office. Small town, Wanganui's flash!

Oh I love the new look site! But what's a DDoS? It sounds worrying.

Oh that gets me in the feels! I'm pretty excited about the purple slide in a Junior set, and my partner was like "It's Lego, can't you just build a slide?" !!! Build a PURPLE slide? NO. No I can't. My reaction might have been a bit worse as I am currently a bit grump at the lack of purple.

I can now pre-order them here in NZ, with an expected delivery date of 16th of March. Expect to see them hit shelves around then, or knowing NZ, probably before. Off topic - we already have the Junior sets for sale here. Anyone else?

Thanks! We checked him out and they're a vast improvement - I couldn't handle any more 'Uh, um yeah' and 'stuff like that'. Write a script maybe? Sorry if that's a bit harsh, I'm just used to picture reviews.

Nice! I knew you'd get there!

I've already seen Junior sets in stores, is that normal? Most of the sites I've visited state them as 'Not released yet'

Anyone from NZ use BrickLink and have some advice for a n00b? Like others posting here I've been confused about shipping but think after reading some Q&A here I can work it out now, but it'd be nice if other kiwis could suggest countries/stores that they have found shipping to be decent at. I'm looking at Friends sets, minidolls and Friend-coloured bricks so most NZ based stores are out.