slovakiasteph

I don't want to takeover this thread, but I do have a question about the GG I bricklinked. The set of lights in the doorway won't stay in the technic brick like they're meant to... they're very loose and have no connection at all. Any ideas what I might be doing wrong?

I would LOVE it if LEGO included more houses, etc. in their cities! Nope, I mean Greek Catholic... there's even a Greek Catholic Union. I just looked it up and it's apparently another name for Eastern Catholic.

B-OV-21A I think I just have a few more buildings to share, although I keep forgetting which ones I've posted here. There's a church in every town square in Slovakia... the city I visit, Lucenec, has a Catholic church and a Reformed church building too. I took the rooster from MVR and put it on the top of the steeple because the Reformed church in town has a rooster weathervane. The side view. You can also see that I didn't have the correct roof piece for the end... And, the interior. The altar has a cross and candles. The only Catholic church I've been in is my grandparents' Greek Catholic church (they still use Slovak in parts of the service), and it's quite elaborate, but I couldn't quite pull that off. This is just a simple little church.

Wow, that edit did not work properly. Anyway, I was going to add poor Stephanie-- since her name doesn't end with an A.

Random fact: four of the five Friends' names end with A. Three end with an ee-a sound. I can't help it, my brain just picks up these patterns on its own. I don't spend obsessive amounts of time thinking about LEGO. DO NOT.

For people who are asking "where should Friends go next?" to encourage girls to build more, a Creator-type set would be nice. Those always show me the many options available within one set, and have enough pieces to really let me play around a bit. The next big "house" could be a house, apartment, outdoor rec hall, etc.

Hmm.. not really much to this set, is there? I certainly have enough wheels, anyway! Thanks for letting me know I can pass. I'd rather get Stephanie's kitchen.

I agree exactly. The puppy set looks like it would be fun to build, so it's probably tied for #3, but I like this piano. Apparently no one likes the rescue set because I don't think it's been reviewed. You'd think EBers hate animals or something. Thanks, Silent Mode!

Thanks for the review! I think with some work, LEGO could add a lot more to the interiors as they all seem pretty bland and same-y. I got this for my sister for Christmas, and while it was the only City set I was looking to get this year, am not sure if I will. Since I have the other campers, this one seems too repetitive. I do like the color scheme! Whew, no more blue, red, and white! The Waltons are pretty nice minifigs too.

B-OV-20C & B-OV-20D I wanted to post this before I forgot what I wanted to say... Note, I've never seen a Slovak campground and aren't quite sure what they look like... I do read a blog about folks who own a Slovak campground, but it's a more rustic one. So, I've modeled this after American campgrounds. The first campground block/plate. Yellow car can't pull in straight. This is the little teardrop trailer I made (I also don't know if they have those in SK). The back opens... I used some sort of submarine wall/hatch for the door. I like the LEGO trailers. Second block... even more trailers. The football guy is sitting on a folding chair-- it folds flat into a bed, which goes inside the camper. I modded most of the older ones with these so there's more playability. Time to grill! I also modded the inside of this camper... put the table and chairs on the left wall and a bed on the right, with the kitchen in the middle. Where did he come from? I don't think I trust him with that pan... (seriously, I opened the camper and the blacksmith was sitting there... think one of my family members put him there while I was home at the holidays) Third block, the tent wing. I consider everything other than tenting to be "cheater camping." One time I was camping and there were two owls flying between my campsite and the next, calling occasionally. This, however, is not me. I am not a police officer.

Well, LEGO is trying to make money, and if that's what sells, that's what their marketing will tell them to create, however "stereotypical" that might seem to us. I'm pretty sure most 6-year-olds aren't trying to buck the trend.

Thank you, everyone! It's been a lot of fun! I do have a few more close-ups to post here, but I think I'm done building. Plus, I don't have enough bricks to build an entire building. Eventually I'll have to take these apart... I want to build a few modulars and need the bricks!

Yes please, another review! When I looked at the Friends list, there were quite a few sets that hadn't been reviewed; two or three of the $10 sets didn't have one, actually.

Layouts Well, not to drag up an old post or anything, but figured I'd better just keep adding on to the thread I already had! Several had asked for shots of the whole town... well, guess what I got for Christmas? A table! Bet there aren't many people who were so excited to get a table. My dad even said I could use it for LEGO, so I did! And my town fits perfectly (as long as I don't build anything else)! You've seen most of these buildings already, but there are still about five I haven't shown you that I'll take pictures of later. Birds-eye view in the back: police station, bookshop, panelak (apartment building), tan house middle: bus stop, church, school, weaving shop front: blue house, modern house, and other city houses A few more houses, plus a flower shop (in the front) and a field of sunflowers in the middle, indicating that we're driving outside of the city... The "country" side of town, with houses, a farm, sunflower field, castle ruins, and a campground.

Definitely MOC... I'll typically get a LEGO set, build it... and then "steal" a piece or two I need for a MOC, and pretty soon the whole thing's in shambles and it's time to disassemble and sort. Happens to the best of them.

I agree with some of the others-- looks a bit too much like FB. One will be modded, I guess! I do like the color, but am beginning to wish LEGO could use a color other than grey for the trim... I think all the modulars blend together somewhat because of that (and I only have 2, FB and GG).

Have you reached your PM limit yet? I expect your inbox to be flooded soon... We need to come up with other things to do with bald dolls.

Congrats! and good luck!

Wow, this is nice! Thanks! I was looking for something like this (we have one for board games).

Yay, new review! It's been a little slow here lately. :) One thing I like about Friends is that there are several inexpensive sets I like; while I can pick up a $10 set while I'm grocery shopping, I can't do that with a $30 set. So, most fall within my price range.

Well, Mia's (is that the right one?) already saved a puppy, so I suppose the starving children are next in line...

I like them more than I expected, I guess. I do think they're cute in a way I don't think of for minifigs. Rather charming and a bit more personable than the minifig. However, I do have to say that because of them, the one set I have doesn't feel like LEGO. I'm so used to minifigs at this point. I'm unsure if I'll combine the Friends sets with my regular LEGO. If I were a kid, I don't think I'd care as much-- kids can incorporate almost any kind of toy together. I do think they look much nicer than Barbie or Bratz, though, as I don't find those cute at all!

As far as age goes, I'd say the girls are 10-12 years old... look at their clothing. Much too juvenile for anyone older-- my friends who are 12 and 13 both dress more glam and hip-hop than that! And don't wear cute little tiered skirts. :) That makes them too young to do things, but that's seems to be typical in toys; you can pretend you're doing adult things even if you're not an adult. For an example from a book, Nancy Drew was out running around by herself solving mysteries at 16...