SilentMode

Well done to the winners, and a big thank you to the one person who voted for me.

It's been a while... I should still have most if not all of the items shown in this thread, and the contents of my Bricklink store are fair game too, but this update's basically about my search for minidolls (from the Friends theme). I'm after some more figures for custom work (or to add to my collection if I don't already have them). I'll take any, but I'm particularly after Andrea figures. If you have any minidolls you want to trade or sell, especially more than one, hit me up.

I've certainly never heard of this event before, but you've captured the story very well in this MOC. I also wondered about the clown; I thought, "hey" he ain't female!"

I haven't tried that, I will have to report on my findings. Only one of the hairpieces that I know of (Emma's) has a hole at the back. Awesome! Seriously, it's given me an idea... I don't think anyone's had a go at doing minifigure versions of the Friends characters, so it might be something to look into. Imagine the possibilities! Anyway, thank you guys again for your comments, it's good to know that people are still reading these things.

I'll accept that the box art is a computer-enhanced photo at the most. My main point of contention was with the outside mirror and the reflection it gives; I applied one of those mirror stickers just now as carefully as I could, but it was nowhere near as reflective or as smooth as in the photo. Adding to that a slightly moot point: I've positioned a minidoll in roughly the same spot in relation to the mirror, and it doesn't give the same reflection. Anyway, it is what it is.

Owing to the info in this thread, I've put an order in for the big Alien Conquest set from Tesco Direct.

"Get primped and pretty at the Butterfly Beauty Shop!" Previous reviews 3065 Olivia's Tree House - 8/10 3188 Heartlake Vet - 7/10 3931 Emma's Splash Pool - 8/10 3932 Andrea's Stage - 6/10 3935 Stephanie's Pet Patrol - 5/10 3934 Mia's Puppy House - 5/10 Since I'm going to be starting work tomorrow for the next three months, I decided to do an encore review of the one other set I have that wasn't opened. After this, the stage will be left open for everyone else! Butterfly Beauty Shop Set 3187 Release year: 2012 RRP: GBP 24.99 / USD 24.99 # of parts: 221 # of figures: 2 Links: Brickset Lego S@H More pictures in my Brickshelf folder. Promotional image (render) Before I begin: please read the intro carefully. Your minidolls will not be getting pimped as a result of going to the Beauty Shop... at least not under normal circumstances. In my last Friends review for the time being, I will be investigating the Beauty Shop: its main talking points from the outset being the available accessories (which is a given, given that it's a beauty parlour), and of course the second of two dark-skinned characters. Especially at this price point, I'm hoping the set will fare better than some of my previous outings - but we'll see, won't we? The Box The back of the box The back of the box pretty much ruins any suspense we have about this set: all the play features and accessories are exposed for the world to see, most notably the included accessories. Way to go, LEGO. Also pictured on the back are the equivalent sets for the other main characters, in descending price order: rich girl Olivia's house on the left, all the way to equally rich girl Stephanie's car. Emma is the featured character in this set, who (along with Olivia) has not been in a poor set so far. To scale Something a little different this time: Emma is shown to scale, except horizontally. Being one of the pricier sets, this box is curved. The Contents Two bags again, but as a sight for sore eyes they are both numbered. It's been a while since I've reviewed Heartlake Vet, so I'm not used to seeing this much inside a box. Immediately noticeable are two 8x16 plates in Bright Pink, and a DSS (dreaded sticker sheet). But what's this? This DSS has a metallic backing, so some of the stickers on this sheet will act as mirrors, and the others each have a metallic element to them. I haven't used any of these in the build that follows. Emma and Sarah The dismembered parts of homegirl Emma, and the supporting character Sarah. Note there are three hairpieces: one of them is the black version of Mia's hairstyle, and goes in the Beauty Shop. Emma and Sarah assembled. From left to right: Emma from Emma's Splash Pool (3931), Emma's Fashion Design Studio (3936) and in this set. While it's not a real problem as you can switch torsos with many other minidolls, it would have been nice to see Emma with a more glamorous top half. Then again, it appears as if Emma is meant to be the "wallflower" of the main five. Sarah (keep calling her Sophie for some reason) has the same skin colour as Andrea, as was confirmed elsewhere. We can see this when we compare her to the Andrea from the City Park Café (3061) and the Andrea's Stage (3932) sets. Heck, they even use the same head. Sarah's hairpiece is the same as Stephanie's and Sophie's (from Heartlake Vet). If you're looking up the different leg parts on Bricklink, bear in mind that the colour of the clothes (in these cases, Light Aqua and White) dictates the part colour - everything else is paint. Pink! There's no shortage of pink in this set, for anyone who likes pink. I did a double-take because I'd only spotted one drawer (which usually comes in twos) - however there is only one drawer in this set. Cheapskates? Not necessarily. "Glass" parts Where my trans fans at? This is where things really begin to jump off - we have two 1x6x5 Trans Clear panels and two panes of glass, as well as a couple of transparent curved panels I haven't seen in a set since Paradisa. Although the box art depicts the coloured transparent parts as being some kind of new bluish-green colour, they are all actually Trans Light Blue. This is why I have an issue with rendered images, although I can understand why they're used. Dark Purple There's a small selection of Dark Purple parts as well: most useful you'll probably find are the six 1x2 tiles. New colours I'm still not sure what the six "new" colours introduced by the Friends theme are, even after reviewing six sets. It's apparently two blues, two greens and two purples, but this would include colours already in existence (namely Bright Green, Dark Purple and Medium Blue). The other colours seen (Bright Light Orange, Bright Light Yellow and Magenta) were resurrected. Either way, a number of parts in the new colours can be found in this set. The Medium Azure 1x1x5 bricks, and the Medium Lavender brackets, are currently exclusive to this set. One particular thing I like about these new colours is that they really make Yellow parts look different. Accessories One of the focal points of the Beauty Shop is that it's home to a number of unique accessories; possibly the most accessories currently available in a Friends set. First up we have the accessories in Bright Light Orange, which are mainly hair accessories. If you're tired of using bows from Mia's Puppy House, you have plenty of alternatives here - including cutesy "heart" shapes and stars. The two pairs of sunglasses were something that was definitely missing, but it's a shame we can't have minidolls wearing them over their eyes. It would also be cool to see some of these accessories in other colours. We also have not just one but two packs of lipstick accessories: these are made of a rubbery material and come in four different colours. I've yet to see a minidoll with purple lips, but that would be interesting - perhaps an emo/goth character is in the works? (Maybe not, otherwise we'd have black lipstick.) Finally we have a handbag accessory in Dark Purple. This can be carried in a minidoll's hand, but can also sit on a single stud. If you're into accessorising your minidolls it's a very nice-to-have. Other parts of note Truth be told: I'm not going to put a "Stars of the show" section in this review, because there are just so many awesome parts in this set it would have been time-consuming to show them all. Instead, here are some of the other noteworthy parts: a plain white minifigure head, a money tile, a Flat Silver handle tile, and most interestingly a Dark Bluish Grey printed keyboard tile. The Build Q: How many minidolls does it take to build a Beauty Shop? A: One to show up and wait for it to be built around her. Here's Emma with her $50,000 Vil Loutton handbag. From out of nowhere a small fountain with gushing water - using only eight pieces - appears. Emma then decides to go and sit on the bench, which also appeared from out of nowhere and didn't faze her at all. She has no problems sitting on the smooth surface, unlike those minifigures. Sensing absolutely nothing unusual about this scenario, she sits and waits for the Beauty Shop to be constructed entirely out of parts coming from nowhere. *sped up* Seeing that the exterior has been completed, Emma decides it's time to go get her hair did. "Hiiii! Welcome to Butterfly Beauty Parlour! Have you come to get your hair done?" "Air kiss! Mwah, mwah!" The completed set Here's the Beauty Shop from the outside, and you'll see there's a couple of other things out front. On the right is Lego's design of a notice board, which has appeared in a few other sets - but this one's unusual because it's got a transparent sign. It's meant to have a sticker on it advertising the beauty shop. On the left is some kind of booth where makeup can be applied. It's apparent what it's real function is once the stickers are applied, but it could easily be misinterpreted (or even adapted to be) a cash machine. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, Sarah has a crush on Emma. Leftovers Eight leftover parts, including two duplicates (given that these appear in both bags). Stoked to have two flower plates, and the Light Bluish Grey studs will come in useful also. The back of the instructions comes with the Heartlake City map. And here's Gewinne!th with some beauty tips. Fun with the set It's another day in Heartlake City, and the Friends are doing what normal people usually do: standing directly in front of the entrance of somewhere they have no intention of going inside, blocking paying customers from entering. Meanwhile Emma is having a hair makeover, seen to personally by Sarah. Sarah: "When I'm done with you, you're gonna look so hot!" Emma: "I can't wait to see what you'll do with my hair..." Emma: "Agh! What are you doing?" Sarah: "Oh... nothing! Excuse me, something just slipped out of my hand." Sarah; "Let me just get the blow dryer, and..." Minutes later... "OMG, wow!" Emma: "How do I look?" "That's totally, like, so hot!" "It's like, amazing! Check out that scrunchie!" Sarah: "(God, I could just eat you up!)" "I wanna get my hair done exactly like that!" "I want the same exact hairstyle!" "No, I wanna get it done first!" The Verdict Quite simply, this set is nice. For people who are into the Friends theme: this is probably a must-have set as part of your town, if for no other reason than for the accessories to add to your minidolls. You don't just have the hair accessories, but also the lipstick parts (and the set really benefits from having two packs instead of just one) and the hair utensils, as well as the extra hairpiece (which looks particularly good on Emma). Any one of the other Friends characters would be right at home in the shop, but you get two figures to play with in case you don't have any of them. It wouldn't make much sense to have any less. For people who buy sets just for parts: particularly for the new colours, you can't really get much better than this set without looking at the doll's house (I mean, Olivia's House). Just about everything in this set is potentially reusable, and there are even a few uncommon and hard to come by parts - especially if you like tiles and transparent pieces. As with the smaller sets, the Beauty Shop set is very well designed, with nothing seeming to be out of place or tacked on as an extra. One small gripe I had would be with the instructions: at a few points after the accessories are introduced, parts are added to the model where they could have been more easily added beforehand - the hairbrush and comb are good examples. The shop itself is open to expansion possibilities. Why not add more salon chairs and units? How about one of those manicure/pedicure tables? The waitress from City Park Café provides an ideal uniform for other members of staff. Design: 9/10 I can't think of many ways to improve upon the set's design. Build: 8/10 Besides similar instruction issues to Olivia's Tree House, there were no problems or challenges with the build at all. Parts: 9/10 A very high nine for the numerous accessories, the extra hairpiece and parts in the new colours; if Emma had been given a different torso to the one in Emma's Splash Pool, I'd have probably given a ten. Playability: 8/10 There's plenty to do with the set on its own, if you're into the whole beauty/makeover thing. So far the best set to purchase if you're after accessories for minidolls' hair. Would have to be expanded if you're planning on making over more than one character. Price: 8/10 While the price appears to be high given the number of parts, consider the kinds of parts you'd be getting, as well as the two minidolls. Definitely worth purchasing if it's discounted. Based on these scores, the Butterfly Beauty Shop gets an 8/10. It also gets to wear one of my exclusive accessories... Well, that's it from me for some time. Hope you've enjoyed reading my reviews of these sets - and I should note that my masculinity is still intact. Silly geese. Photo opportunity Emma and friends after their hair makeovers. My collection of (unique) minidolls.

Nice! Excellent use of the shield for a tray, I'd never have thought of that.

Clapham Junction's ASDA still has some Alien Motherships (7065) for £29.

Different perspectives are good! Make sure you do post it at some point.

"Primp Mia’s puppy and win first place!" Previous reviews 3065 Olivia's Tree House - 8/10 3188 Heartlake Vet - 7/10 3931 Emma's Splash Pool - 8/10 3932 Andrea's Stage - 6/10 3935 Stephanie's Pet Patrol - 5/10 I think it's a sign of my level of humour that Lego's own intro to this set sounds dodgy... but the same thing for a kitten house would have been even more dodgy. This is your boy SilentMode with his sixth and possibly final Friends review, as promised from the outset. It's been delayed because of the recent Brickshelf down time, but Mia the redhead makes a comeback in her own GBP/USD 9.99 set. Will it turn out to be the redheaded stepchild of the collection? Mia's Puppy House Set 3934 Release year: 2012 RRP: GBP 9.99 / USD 9.99 # of parts: 64 # of figures: 1 Links: Brickset Lego S@H More pictures in my Brickshelf folder. Promotional image (render) So according to Shop@Lego's description, this puppy is actually Mia's pet, and the one in the Heartlake Vet set is one she's taking care of. That solves that particular mystery. The Box The back of the box Once again Mia's the featured freckled glory, and we can see how some of the included accessories are being put to use. Like with Emma's Splash Pool we'll have to rely on our imagination when it comes to water in the tub, although I don't think there was any viable alternative. To scale Mia is literally all dolled up in this set as she's shown to scale. IMO this outfit is an improvement over her appearance in Heartlake Vet, although I'm not sure about the top. The Contents A quick look at the contents of this set shows there are just as many pieces as in the other same-priced sets for the other characters, with the standard two bags and the instructions. However, the inclusion of the 6x8 plate and the bag of accessories gives this set an early advantage over Stephanie's Pet Patrol. Mia (again) All the body parts for Mia, including the famous red ponytail hairstyle. Of the main characters, I think I like that hairpiece the most. We've seen Mia's hairpiece on a minifigure in the Heartlake Vet review, but here's the assembled figure in this set. She's much more glamorous than her counterpart in the Vet set, but I'm not sure if being dressed up like this is appropriate when grooming puppies; the vet outfit was more suited for active work. It's up for debate, I guess. Pink! Mia's Puppy House has a mish-mash of colours, unfortunately none of them being the new ones. These are the Dark Pink elements in the set, and while you might find the slopes useful, the flower pieces are the most prized, I think. Greenery I like my greens, and although there are fewer Lime parts than Green in this set, the Lime parts - as you'll see with the completed set - stand out a lot more. The printed dog paw rounded tile from the Vet set makes another appearance here, which could mean that this puppy house is an offshoot of the Vet. Accessories This is one of the few inexpensive sets - and probably the least expensive set - where you can obtain Friends accessories. These are all in Dark Pink, and they include: eight bows (four in two different styles); two big scrubbing brushes; one small scrubbing brush; a spray bottle; a comb; two rosettes (numbered 1 and 2); a lozenge, which appears to be a bar of soap. So at long last you can add bows and things to your animals and minidolls. Mia and her puppy wearing the bows from the set. You might be pleased to know you can also use Belville bows on the minidolls, which are a different style to the ones in this set. Speaking of the puppy... The puppy's name is Charlie. Although opposed to the feminisation of shortened male names, I would assume that the name Charlie indicates that the puppy is male - yet it's pictured on the box (and above) wearing a bow. As it's referred to as an "it" in the above description from Shop@Lego, I'm left somewhat confused. Anyway... Charlie is a different mould to the dog in the Heartlake Vet set, one clue being that all its paws are on the ground, while the Vet's dog has one paw raised. I prefer the dog in the Vet set personally, as this one looks like it belongs in a comic book. Stars of the show Surprisingly I would keep most of the parts found in this set, although there's nothing that really really stands out. The spray bottle and brushes would be very useful for minifigures in Town and maybe even Castle environments, with the only problem being that they're pink. If you really want that Medium Blue tub, here's one way to obtain it without having to buy Olivia's Tree House - although I have no idea why you wouldn't want to, other than the price. The Build Separated into three builds, this set comprises of: The puppy house Unlike the other sets, with this one we go straight into one of the biggest builds: a very simple yet effective "house" for the puppy, adorned with the two rosettes. It's not quite a kennel because the puppy wouldn't fit completely inside. The rosettes are attached to the house using 1x1 White SNOT bricks and two of the flower plates: the pins on the rosettes insert into the flower plates, but to attach them isn't as easy as we'd think. A shot of the back, to show how simple this build is. Grooming table This build, on the other hand, is a little too simple - although it's practical. It makes use of the supplied Lime basket-thing, which is also available in this colour in three Belville sets (if anyone cares). The apple tree I suppose it's understandable for this size set, but this looks almost like something that's built from an advent calendar. Nevertheless, it's an okay design of a basic tree, and it gives us those four Green plant parts as well as a Reddish Brown arc. The completed set The remaining elements - the tub, the accessories and a plate with a bone for the puppy - are added to the scene at the user's discretion, but here's roughly what was shown in the instructions. Given that the tub is meant to be full of imaginary water, I'm not sure if it was intentional for the accessories to be placed in there - but they had to go somewhere, I guess. Charlie trembles in fear as Mia stands behind the grooming table, menacingly brandishing a scrubbing brush. Leftovers Including the flower parts, there's five - rather than the usual four - different parts remaining. An extra flower plate is always useful, as usual, but other than that there's nothing remarkable. "We sooooo don't want you to, like, buy this super-expensive doll's house..." Fun with the set Stephanie comes to visit Mia at her grooming centre. Stephanie: "Mia, could you, like groom Daisy for me?" Mia: "For the last time Stephanie, Iike, don't you know Daisy isn't, like, real?" Stephanie: "OMG! Like, what about your imaginary dog?" Mia: "My Charlie's real! I'm, like, busy grooming him right now!" Stephanie: "What are you talking about? There's, like, nothing there!" EvilMode: "Both of you are out your frickin' minds." The Verdict There's not really much I can add from here; it's another underwhelming set from my perspective. Probably the most fitting way to describe this set is a term I used earlier: mish-mash. There's a lot of very useful parts in the set, including the various accessories (and if you like it, the puppy), but generally I don't think the whole thing comes together as a complete set after being built. The biggest indicator of this was the very last page of the instructions: we have the three builds in a scenario, but what to do with the remaining parts is pretty much left up to us. "What now," summed up how I felt after the building, although that's not necessarily a bad thing. The only real reason to purchase this set is for specific parts: whether for Mia and/or an extra hairpiece, the puppy or the accessories. There isn't anything anyone couldn't do a better job of building, including the puppy house which is the most impressive of the three builds by far - why not turn it into a kennel? Design: 4/10 The puppy house is the best part, but there's nothing in this set that anyone couldn't improve on or do better. The grooming table was almost insulting. Build: 6/10 Only the apple tree posed any real challenge or required any effort to build. Everything else was very simple. Parts: 6/10 Some useful parts in the set, with the accessories (and maybe the puppy) being the only reason to purchase this set above anything else for the other parts. Currently the least expensive way to obtain Mia. Playability: 3/10 One point each for the minidoll, puppy and accessories - the only things one can really play with. Price: 4/10 This over Stephanie's Pet Patrol (where the animal also appears to be the premium), only because of the bag of accessories. Definitely not something I'd buy more than once at RRP. Based on these scores, Mia's Puppy House gets a very low 5/10, saved from getting a 4 only by - you've guessed it - the accessories. A fitting punishment Mia: "Ow, like, don't do it so hard!" EvilMode: "Take this scrubbing, ya' dirty girl!" Stephanie: "Can I get out now? I'm, like, soaking wet!" EvilMode: "Shut up! Wait yo' turn!" *tssssssssssst* Stephanie: "Aaaaaaaagh!" Charlie: "Yeah, give it to her! Scrub her good! See how you like getting a shiny coat!" Daisy: "Charlie, you're so bad!"

You should see the pictures again.

I haven't seen most of the other entries, but it's about time someone included a grotto. Very nice work on the main building, it looks very 80s Town!

Looks like an awesome assortment of parts, and I just have to get hold of that minifigure! It looks like a Dark Purple torso but I can't tell. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

The free gift is usually a polybag or small set of some kind, but there are absolutely no clues as to what they could be.

I call shenanigans.

In case anyone's missed it: According to the latest calendar, on February 14th and 15th there's going to be a promo at Westfield Stratford's Lego store: a £25+ spend will earn a free gift. I don't know what the freebies are, and unfortunately it looks like I won't be able to make it there on either date.

Thank you folks!

I've made a few changes to the main building; have a look at the first post.

That is awesome. The whole thing looks great, but my favourite bit has to be the outside bicycle shelter (on the right).

John Lewis (Oxford Circus) has the Ninjago game for £9.

Will have to start doing those surveys, wouldn't mind at least one Gewinne! Yesterday I bought three grab bags from Westfield London's Lego store, of the few remaining, and two more large PAB cups (forgot my Christmas box) - came close to purchasing the Car and Camper set but I only really wanted the torsos. Today I bought the outdoor bakery Friends set and Emma's Splash Pool (again), for spare figures to mod and some useful parts.

The wall at Westfield London has improved somewhat - I've come back from there and they have 1x8 tiles in white, as well as 1x4s in black and LBG, and (finally) some 1x10s in white. Stratford isn't bad either, just try not to be distracted by the female staff members.

You want to see the feminists coming to get me?! Anyway I do appreciate the feedback. and feel free to post your own reviews, even if the set's been done already - it's good to get different viewpoints and opinions about things, because there may be things I or someone else have missed. If anything, taking the photos is the hardest and most time-consuming part; not only the different shots and making sure things are in focus, but correcting them if something's gone wrong. If I had my way I'd hire a photographer.

Now this should be an official set..! I like how you've used the part from the different official sets to create something big, particularly in the café section. The modding on the piano isn't bad either.