- For the video game, see 5707 LEGO Friends.
Friends is a theme that was introduced in early 2012, although some sets were available in late 2011. It replaced Belville as the "girl" theme. Twenty-three sets have been confirmed so far. The theme is more story-based then most, and follows the activities of five girls; Andrea, Emma, Mia, Olivia, and Stephanie. The theme also introduced the Mini-doll figure and over two dozen new moulds not seen elsewhere.
A television show named, LEGO Friends of Heartlake City based on the theme is currently available in at least three different languages.
Description
The Friends theme is mainly targeted towards girls between the ages of five and twelve. Rather than having minifigures, the theme has introduced a new Mini-doll figure. The Mini-doll is much closer in scale to classic minifigures than the figures from previous "girl" themes, such as Scala and Belville. The Mini-Dolls are made out of four parts, like most regular minifigures, legs, torso, head and hair. In 2012 29 mini-dolls were introduced, not counting second variations. In 2013 3 new mini-dolls were introduced.
Unlike most other current themes, Friends uses brighter, pastel colours. The colour palette used for Friends is much broader than retired "girl" themes which mainly used pink. While pink is not absent from the Friends line, purples and azures are more dominant than before. In fact, according to press releases and catalogues, Friends has introduced a total of six new brick colours, Medium Lavender, Lavender, Yellowish green, Dark Azur, Medium Azur, and Aqua. In reality, many of these colours were seen on the 2011 Colour Palette and even used in other themes in 2011, such as dark azure in Alien Conquest and Aqua in Cars. Friends is still one of the first times these colours were used regularly rather than parts for characters. The first time would be in the SpongeBob SquarePants theme where one of the azures appeared in 2011's 3815 Heroic Heroes of The Deep.
Friends follows five friends with different interests, Olivia, Mia, Andrea, Emma, and Stephanie, and their lives in Heartlake City. The different interests of the girls reflect on the sets they are included in and are meant to help a girl find a character whose interests identify with her own. Even though their personalities are different, the friends seem to have some common interests. For example, even though Mia is the animal lover and volunteers at the Heartlake Vet. However, Stephanie, the social butterfly, has also been seen rescuing animals in 3935 Stephanie’s Pet Patrol.
Friends has introduced over two dozen new moulds such as new bowls, kitchen untensils, pens, new butterflies and bugs, newer, more cartoony animals, several new flowers, and unique rubber hairpieces introduced for the five friends and Olivia's mother, Anna. Friends also reintroduced a few parts from Minifigures, such as the Small Clown's pie, the Crazy Scientist's beaker, and the Pop Star's microphone.
While previous "girl" themes gave into juniorization, Friends generally has as much building as other City-styled sets and themes. Friends still has a unique architecture with brightly coloured, modern structures.
Friends has introduced many new animal moulds including a rabbit, a hedgehog, a bird, two cats, four dogs, horses in three different colours, and a foal. In 2013 a Friends collectable figures will be released, which Series 1 introduces animals, including a Squirell, a new cat and a Turtle, Series 2 includes animals that where released before but in large sets, these include a hedgehog and poodle, this series also includes the rabbit in a new colour. All of these animals are named.
While the winter wave follows the adventures of the girls in a suburban setting, the summer wave also focuses on a more rural setting with Emma and Stephanie going to a horse-back riding camp outside of Heartlake city and Olivia taking a camping trip, The 2013 winter wave goes back to the suburban setting, it also has two water themed sets, which go outside Heartlake City to the beach and ocean.
Mini-dolls
Main article Mini-doll figure
The Mini-dolls are exclusive to the line, Friends theres 32 in total, 31 female and 1 male, the girls mainly wear skirts and sleevless tops, altough long sleeves and pants are not absent from the line, Mia's normal variation is seen in green pants. Mini-dolls are around 5 millimetres taller than a standard minifigure , and are less blocky and stylized.
Background
The theme takes place in the fictional Heartlake City, and centres around the lives of five girls, Olivia, Mia, Andrea, Emma, and Stephanie, and their adventures in and around the city. In the winter wave of 2012, the sets were mostly based the girl's intrests or their hangouts. In the summer wave of 2012 it had more of a summer sub theme having Summer camp for Emma and Stephanie, there was also a bonus Christmas set to have Olivia and Christina celebrate Christmas. In 2013, the girls look at new interests such as going to the pool, grooming dogs and karate.
Characters
- Andrea is one of the five main friends, she is the music lover of the group.
- Andrew likes exploring the seas.
- Anna is Olivia's mom and Peter's wife. She likes cooking and mowing the lawn.
- Chloe loves telling stories and going on adventures with Mia.
- Christina is big into Christmas.
- Danielle likes fresh home baked cakes, cupcakes and bread.
- Ella likes horse riding.
- Emma is one of the five main friends, she is the beautician of the group.
- Isabella is big into swimming and going to the pool.
- Joanna works at the pet salon.
- Lacy is Mia's arch rival and a horse rider.
- Kate loves the ocean and exploring it.
- Katharina is a expert horse rider.
- Matthew likes painting pictures.
- Maya likes water skiing and exploring the seas.
- Mia is one of the five main friends, she is the animal lover of the group.
- Ms. Stevens is a teacher at Heartlake High.
- Nicole likes camping and cooking.
- Olivia is one of the five main friends, she is the smart one of the group.
- Peter is Olivia's dad and Anna's husband. He likes cooking and watching t.v.
- Sarah works at the beauty shop and loves style.
- Sophie is Olivia's aunt and Peter's sister. She's also the vet.
- Stephanie is one of the five main friends, she is the soical girl of the group.
- Theresa is the horse riding instructor.
Notes
- There are several online games including Dress up Game, Cafe Game, and Beauty Salon Game.
- Several parts from the Minifigures theme are used; the Crazy Scientist's beaker, the Pop Star's microphone, Small Clown's pie, the Surfer Girl's surfboard, and the Artist's paintbrush.
- A mini LEGO Friends of Heartlake City TV Series was created and airs occasionally on the Disney Channel.
- In 2012 it was the 4th most popular theme, Behind City (No. 1), Star Wars (No. 2) and Ninjago (No. 3).
- Three of the five main characters such as Andrea, Emma and Olivia are named after those characters from Scala.
Descriptions from LEGO.com
Sets
Other releases
Image | # | Set | Number of pieces | Minifigures | Price | Release |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
40501717 | Friends Blue Lunchbox | |||||
40551716 | Friends Green Water Bottle | |||||
40551717 | Friends Blue Water Bottle | 2012 | ||||
4659599 | Friends Sticker Sheet | |||||
6006139 | Friends Promotional Bricks | 2 | February 4, 2012 | |||
6013406 | Friends Poster | |||||
6024305 | Best Friends Bricks | 2 | 2012 | |||
853390 | Friends Handbag | |||||
853393 | Friends Picture Frame | 49 | $14.99 | 2012 | ||
Friends | Willkommen Tote Bag | |||||
LEGO | Friendship Bracelets | 2012 | ||||
40080 | Pencil Holder | 138 | $14.99 / €12.99 | 2013 | ||
850581 | Brick Calendar | 140 | €12.99 | 2013 | ||
850591 | Friends Name Sign | 29 | 2013 | |||
850596 | Heartlake City Playmat | 1 | €12.99 | 2012 | ||
850781 | Friends Carry Case House | 1 | $12.99 | June 27 2013 | ||
850789 | Friends Horse Bag Charm | 1 | $4.99 | 2013 |
Mini-dolls
Animals
Bella | Cat (Friends) | Charlie | Coco | Daisy | Dolphin | Fawn | Foal | Goldie | Jacky | Kitty | Lady | Maxie | Niki | Oscar | Parrot | Puppy | Robin (Friends) | Scarlett | Squirrel | Turtle |
Gallery
T.V. Commercials
See Also
External Links
Sources
view · talk · editFriends sets | ||||
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