2012 LEGO Friends (January)

[Toys N Bricks]

LEGO Friends 2012 January Rumor Sets Thread
Keep checking this topic for news with upcoming LEGO Friends January 2012 sets! Please note that prices are based on our estimates only.

New LEGO Friends Sets

LEGO 3061 Park Cafe $29.99


LEGO 3065 Olivia’s Treehouse $19.99


LEGO 3183 Stephanie’s Cool Convertible $14.99


LEGO 3187 Butterfly Beauty Shop $24.99


LEGO 3188 Heartlake Vet $39.99


LEGO 3315 Dream House (Olivia's House) $69.99


LEGO 3930 Stephanie’s Outdoor Bakery $5.99


LEGO 3931 Emma’s Splash Pool $6.99


LEGO 3932 Andrea’s Stage $9.99


LEGO 3933 Olivia’s Inventor’s Workshop $9.99


LEGO 3934 Mia’s Puppy House $9.99


LEGO 3935 Stephanie’s Pet Patrol $9.99


LEGO 3936 Emma’s Design Studio $9.99


LEGO 3942 Heartlake Dog Show $19.99


Mini Promotional Sets

[BrickWild]

That's just like The Sims in LEGO!

[r1chard]

Hope BN will carry these sets without coupon exclusion..

[beethead]

Definately a huge improvement over the Belville line. Kind of reminds me of Polly Pockets but with studs. Finally a reason to get my daughter to go look at the Lego aisles in the toy department.

[ncbarrett]

Looks very nice.
My daughter will be happy to see these.

[sadowsk1]

These look pretty nice.

[ncbarrett]

Here are some translations via google translate

3061 - Cafe
3065 - Tree House
3315 - Olivia's House
3183 - Stephanie's convertible
3187 - Beauty Salon
3188 - Vet
3930 - Stephanie's small kitchen
3931 - Emmy ?by the? Pool
3932 - ?? concert hall
3933 - Olivias Laboratory
3934 - Dog House
3936 - Emmy Design Studio
3942 - Dog Show in ?Heartlake?

[ncbarrett]

some other text translation

girls play lego style!
- obvious alternative to existing toys
- construction toy for girls - building and decorating modify
- series, which stirs the imagination of girls
- girls and parents are familiar with the LEGO brand - more than 60% of girls aged 5-9 ?? LEGO fun
based on the theme of friendship a new series of LEGO

on sale from April

[PjB]

(I've seen countless depressed little girls at Legoland and LEGO stores when they realize there's nothing cool for them to get)

Poor girls, standing in a world of cool and not being able to see it. When I was LEGO's target age, almost all LEGO was the height of cool. Don't get me wrong, I liked My Little Pony, Barbie, and Littlest Pet Shop with the rest of them, but LEGO has always been tops on my list (obviously since I'm here). I loved Dragon Knights, whatever version of aliens was out in the mid-nineties (in my mind you couldn't get much cooler than trans neon elements), and Race. I thought Bellville was just wrong. The only "girl LEGO" I remember liking was Paradisa, and that was probably more because of the exclusive elements than the girly-ness of it. I've always been something of a tomboy/tomgeek though so what do I know?

[Relhak]

This may be Lego's best direct attempt at attracting girls. It's great that the sets are sized (and I'm assuming priced) for entry to somewhat experienced builders. It's great that everything appears to be scaled to the same size as regular Lego figs (unlike Belville). It's great that they've used natural skin tones. I think they've kept the colors from looking too gaudy.

But I think it's still fatally flawed. What they've failed to do, is make the figs stylistically compatible with the existing Lego lines. This means that even if a girl has bought every one of these sets, they're much less likely to bridge the gap into other Lego sets. My seven year old daughter loves many of the Cafe Corner buildings (especially the Pet Shop). They feature girl figs and shopping (!), though too many boy figs. She loves the Castle/Kingdoms sets that either have princesses or animals (MVR, MMV), and even the King's Carriage once she has a princess to ride in it. She especially likes the Fairytale and Historic Minifig set (mermaids, king&queen, bride&groom, princess), of which I may have to buy a second one soon. The Christmas sets have been a huge hit (Bakery, Train, Toy Shop). She likes a lot of the creator houses (essentially doll houses that you have to build), though they unfortunately come without any figs at all. She likes the Burrow and Hogwarts Express (great figs and the blue car) from the HP lineup, and I overheard her friend (female) excitedly asking if she has Hogwart's Castle (not yet). She loves most of the SW:CW sets that come with either Ahsoka or some of the other female characters. Absolutely NO interest in Belville.

Unfortunately, the common theme wrong here is that aside from a few SW sets, it's nearly impossible to get a girl friendly set (with actual girl figs) without spending $50-150 (or especially the ~$250 Carousel). And you really still have to augment them by buying even more girl minifig parts from the meager selection offered by S@H, which very few parents even know about.

What I fear will happen here is that girls and parents will look at these sets, not really recognize them as Lego, and write them off as a being some crappy knockoff of Polly Pockets or one of the other half dozen similar toy lines. By not making them look like Lego, they've completely discarded their most valuable selling point, which is that they're made by Lego. And they've also completely discarded the second most valuable selling point, which is that there is an entire aisle in the toy store dedicated to selling more. Why do they seem to think that they have to reinvent the wheel in order to appeal to girls? Seriously, how have they been in business for like half a century and never even *tried* to market sets that prominently feature girl minifigs using the same basic shape as the ones they market to boys?

They're just... *so* close..... yet *so* far.... from finally crossing over the gender barrier here. It makes me wonder if one of the employment requirements to work at Lego is to *not* have a daughter.

[ncbarrett]

Wow, that was alot to absorb.

...
Unfortunately, the common theme wrong here is that aside from a few SW sets, it's nearly impossible to get a girl friendly set (with actual girl figs) without spending $50-150 (or especially the ~$250 Carousel). And you really still have to augment them by buying even more girl minifig parts from the meager selection offered by S@H, which very few parents even know about....

I very much agree with this, why not make a polybag or $5 set with a girl police officer or firefighter.
The jet ski 30015 did come with a girl, but was very disappointed it was exact same as in Marina.

On the S&H note i very much like part 1443, we just got it and it has great front/back printing. Have always liked metallic paint. Of course they could have offered a bottom half to match.

[Brick & Blue]

Why does "Friends" have better buildings in one wave than City has had in the last 5 years?

LEGO couldn't make a City Cafe set?

[PjB]

Gah, Relhak, I totally agree with you! I don't have a daughter, but as a female AFoL I just don't understand why girl LEGO has to equal dolls instead of minifigs. I'm sure there are girls out there who like to keep their Barbie/Polly Pocket and LEGO separate like I did as a child. At least this time they're properly scaled. However,

Seriously, how have they been in business for like half a century and never even *tried* to market sets that prominently feature girl minifigs using the same basic shape as the ones they market to boys?

They have tried. Like I said in my earlier post, Paradisa was aimed at girls, but with regular minifigs. That was in the early to mid nineties though, so I definitely agree with you that they should try updating that instead of the forever weird/ugly Belville. They also tried a few seemingly girl aimed sets with Harry Potter in 2001 (4721 Hogwarts Classroom, 4722 Gryffindor, and 4723 Diagon Alley Shops, there may have been more but these are the ones that stand out). Maybe neither of these approaches were successful? The HP girl sets were not very well designed and crazily gaudy color wise, but Paradisa made it from '92 to '97 so it can't have failed that badly. Who knows?

[bryceejones]

My 8 year old daughter loves legos and really enjoys the mini-figs just wishes there were more girl mini-figs. I showed her some pictures and while she liked the sets she didn't like the figures included with them.

[legoeggo]

They have tried. Like I said in my earlier post, Paradisa was aimed at girls, but with regular minifigs. That was in the early to mid nineties though, so I definitely agree with you that they should try updating that instead of the forever weird/ugly Belville. They also tried a few seemingly girl aimed sets with Harry Potter in 2001 (4721 Hogwarts Classroom, 4722 Gryffindor, and 4723 Diagon Alley Shops, there may have been more but these are the ones that stand out). Maybe neither of these approaches were successful? The HP girl sets were not very well designed and crazily gaudy color wise, but Paradisa made it from '92 to '97 so it can't have failed that badly. Who knows?

Yah could be based on Paradisa and female friendly Harry Potter not doing well that they didn't want to go with minifigs. But maybe most girls don't love Harry Potter (my sisters don't) and comparing the build quality of Paradisa to the sets in this new one is like light and day, Paradisa was ugggly! Awful pastel colours like lime and pink, small builds, bland set up. These sets have a lot of stuff in them (accessory and decoration heavy) and a much more pleasing color palette, nothing here screams PINK! If they had put these with minifigs who knows, maybe it would do just as good, maybe better, but I'm biased. I do think these figures despite being less articulate, not customizable and not fitting with the rest of Lego are more accessible to girls who are not into Lego and never would be, which is what Lego was going for, right?

Will this theme work? Time will tell, I'll have to ask my sisters what they think. Considering there aren't many affordable girl-friendly Lego sets, they'll probably have no choice but to like them. They already love collectible mini-figures which is kinda sad cause these sets don't work with them, unless they throw out the friend-figs or keep em separate.

[PjB]

I'm not saying Paradisa wasn't ugly, just the pointing out fact that it lasted a while (so maybe it was popular?). I just re-looked at the pictures of this new line and agree that the actual set design and color scheme is really pretty nice. Though I also imagined them with regular minifigs and animals, and made myself sad because it would have been so much better. I suppose I'm biased, but the figures just look weird and out of place being so rounded in a blocky world. It seems like they're trying to bring in girls who've never bought/played with LEGO sets instead of focusing on the ones who already love them and just want more girl-centric ones. It still doesn't make sense to me how they think they're going to get these new girls to like/buy other themes since these ones aren't interchangeable with sets that have minifigs.

[koromo]

This may be Lego's best direct attempt at attracting girls. It's great that the sets are sized (and I'm assuming priced) for entry to somewhat experienced builders. It's great that everything appears to be scaled to the same size as regular Lego figs (unlike Belville). It's great that they've used natural skin tones. I think they've kept the colors from looking too gaudy.

But I think it's still fatally flawed. What they've failed to do, is make the figs stylistically compatible with the existing Lego lines. This means that even if a girl has bought every one of these sets, they're much less likely to bridge the gap into other Lego sets. My seven year old daughter loves many of the Cafe Corner buildings (especially the Pet Shop). They feature girl figs and shopping (!), though too many boy figs. She loves the Castle/Kingdoms sets that either have princesses or animals (MVR, MMV), and even the King's Carriage once she has a princess to ride in it. She especially likes the Fairytale and Historic Minifig set (mermaids, king&queen, bride&groom, princess), of which I may have to buy a second one soon. The Christmas sets have been a huge hit (Bakery, Train, Toy Shop). She likes a lot of the creator houses (essentially doll houses that you have to build), though they unfortunately come without any figs at all. She likes the Burrow and Hogwarts Express (great figs and the blue car) from the HP lineup, and I overheard her friend (female) excitedly asking if she has Hogwart's Castle (not yet). She loves most of the SW:CW sets that come with either Ahsoka or some of the other female characters. Absolutely NO interest in Belville.

Unfortunately, the common theme wrong here is that aside from a few SW sets, it's nearly impossible to get a girl friendly set (with actual girl figs) without spending $50-150 (or especially the ~$250 Carousel). And you really still have to augment them by buying even more girl minifig parts from the meager selection offered by S@H, which very few parents even know about.

What I fear will happen here is that girls and parents will look at these sets, not really recognize them as Lego, and write them off as a being some crappy knockoff of Polly Pockets or one of the other half dozen similar toy lines. By not making them look like Lego, they've completely discarded their most valuable selling point, which is that they're made by Lego. And they've also completely discarded the second most valuable selling point, which is that there is an entire aisle in the toy store dedicated to selling more. Why do they seem to think that they have to reinvent the wheel in order to appeal to girls? Seriously, how have they been in business for like half a century and never even *tried* to market sets that prominently feature girl minifigs using the same basic shape as the ones they market to boys?

They're just... *so* close..... yet *so* far.... from finally crossing over the gender barrier here. It makes me wonder if one of the employment requirements to work at Lego is to *not* have a daughter.

Solution: Female battle pack!

[r1chard]

These look great.. I hope they are not too pricey.

[SpaceViking]

I can certainly appreciate the negatives raised for this line. My daughter is almost 5, and plays with duplo still half the time (the zoo animals and dinosaurs are a big draw). With System bricks, the most fun she has is swapping mini-fig parts to make up new figs---like a pink space villain from the CMF pop star, space man, and female snowboarder. So this line will be right up her alley: larger figs to role play with, but interchangeable hair/torsos/heads/legs like System mini-figs. The sets are listed as ages 6-12, but maybe they will prove to popular with girls a bit younger than that? Of course, actually building sets like the Creator houses is still a bit difficult for my daughter on her own. The larger sets shown here may be a challenge---but by April, who knows.

Off topic, but related, there is a contest going on right now where the challenge is to build a MOC (or MOCs) under similar constraints that LEGO designers do. It's called "Put your bricks where your mouth is 2", http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan_rubin/5970711517/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, and will be judged by LEGO designers. The theme is 'sci-fi', but building a couple of cool girl/space sets may be the winning ticket. Deadline is Oct 1, if you are inspired to enter.

Update: the contest is actually being run on classic-space, http://www.classic-space.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=380" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, not flicker. Some entries are already posted.

[Relhak]

I took a moment to actually show the Friends (and Paradisa) sets to my daughter and she seemed to like them a lot. The beauty shop and pet show sets got high marks for the excellent accessories like lipstick, dog bones and grooming items. She didn't think the Friends figures were any better than regular Lego minifigs, but the cartoon girls at the top of the boxes scored very high.

I very much agree with this, why not make a polybag or $5 set with a girl police officer or firefighter.
The jet ski 30015 did come with a girl, but was very disappointed it was exact same as in Marina.

On the S&H note i very much like part 1443, we just got it and it has great front/back printing. Have always liked metallic paint. Of course they could have offered a bottom half to match.

I picked up a few of these and white legs to sort of match. Her collection of minifigs has a *lot* of duplication. The most effective thing I get on S@H is lots of each hair piece, in as many colors as possible.

I thought Lego made a huge mistake not putting the collectible minifigs in transparent bags. The girl figs could have been a huge draw, but instead they end up as more of a 'you lose' lottery ticket for the boys. Nearly every display I've seen has been fingered or even opened outright, so the randomness isn't really working.

Paradisa was aimed at girls, but with regular minifigs. ... They also tried a few seemingly girl aimed sets with Harry Potter in 2001 (4721 Hogwarts Classroom, 4722 Gryffindor, and 4723 Diagon Alley Shops, there may have been more but these are the ones that stand out). Maybe neither of these approaches were successful? The HP girl sets were not very well designed and crazily gaudy color wise, but Paradisa made it from '92 to '97 so it can't have failed that badly. Who knows?

I had never seen any of those, especially the Paradisa. Those sets have mostly shot up in price, so there certainly seems to be some demand. I noticed that there were only 18 Paradisa sets over 5 years compared to these 15 Friends sets coming out next year alone. Maybe Lego has noticed that you need a solid selection all at once rather than just releasing sets sporadically. Now let's see how much actually ends up in the aisles of TRU, WMT and TGT.

With System bricks, the most fun she has is swapping mini-fig parts to make up new figs---like a pink space villain from the CMF pop star, space man, and female snowboarder. So this line will be right up her alley: larger figs to role play with, but interchangeable hair/torsos/heads/legs like System mini-figs.

It looks like the skin tone palette has 3 shades of caucasian, 1 shade of asian and one shade of african. Since every fig has exposed legs, arms and neck, it might be tough to mix and match much besides the hair.

On a different note, I think the Cafe set is begging to be converted to a modular city building. Perhaps a corner....