Friends minidolls into minifigs?

[Civic Bossman]

Hi everyone

Just wondering has anyone seen anybody making custom minifig versions of the Friends mini dolls from each set for integration into a System Town?

Thanks in advance

[Dorayaki]

Though I made a project for that, so far I haven't seen such custom figures.

[ShadowWolfHount]

Though I made a project for that, so far I haven't seen such custom figures.

Okay, your have just killed those minidoll in one punch. I mean really yours look a lot better then the Friends Minidolls.

[Dorayaki]

Okay, your have just killed those minidoll in one punch. I mean really yours look a lot better then the Friends Minidolls.

That's overpraise. Minidolls are cute too, just IMO.

Recently I've been working on how to make MOC minifigure based on Friends characters. I know nothing about decals and prints, so for the first step I simply found someone who print car stickers and order some to try. Though some of the colors didn't meet expectations this time, we can still see a physical sample.

Decal Picture:

http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/

Edited January 22, 2014 by Dorayaki

[Dorayaki]

Today I got some time to finish the rest of experimental stickers, and here is the result of Friends minifigure prototypes.

Olivia

Andrea

Unfortunately Andrea's face sticker didn't match her skin color. And for now there is no dark tanned skin color in minifigure lines, so this Andrea looks darker.

Emma

Mia

Stephanie

Some AFOLs might already know that Stephanie's hairpiece has long fringe that doesn't look good on minifigures. Here is the best I can do. Also I can't find magenta leg for minifigures.

Joanna

Ms Stevens

IMO Ms Stevens is one of the most successful MOC.

Andrea: Hooray! Finally we can team up for my own band!

Ms Stevens: Today we're very honored to invite Professor Hagrid for a special owl training lecture.

Ms Stevens: And by the way, girls, let's welcome our new principal of Heartlake High, Ms Umbridge!

Edited January 5, 2014 by Dorayaki

[CM4Sci]

Those are awesome! Olivia is the best of the bunch.

Great work! I think it'd be possible for me to make these in LDD, too.

-Sci

[Dorayaki]

Those are awesome! Olivia is the best of the bunch.

Great work! I think it'd be possible for me to make these in LDD, too.

Thanx! I have't tried LDD, I'd find some time to try. Your works look nice.

[KingPixels]

Unfortunately Andrea's face sticker didn't match her skin color. And for now there is no dark tanned skin color in minifigure lines, so this Andrea looks darker.

Have you tried 'dark flesh' or 'dark orange'?

[Dorayaki]

Have you tried 'dark flesh' or 'dark orange'?

I don't have enough minifigures on hand (what I've got are the tribal people from IJ and PotC) so I couldn't compare which color is the closest to Andrea, but thanks for reminding me !

In Bricklink, it defined Andrea's skin color as "Medium Dark Flesh". There weren't minifigures using this color, but in last year the tribal people from Lone Rangers do use this color, and there is Furty. Maybe I'd try to make an update of Andrea and Joanna if I have some time.

I'd wonder why Andrea herself wasn't given a normal African skin color if TLG meant to design an African representive (though Lego characters don't have specific blood origins). Or she's actually an Indian?

Edited January 20, 2014 by Dorayaki

[Dorayaki]

Okay, though not perfect, it now looks closer to their original alteregos. Not sure if I'll be able to make another improvement, maybe when I have time to deal with the Disney characters.

[Floundie]

Nice work! I'm not into Friends but these are looking great. Keep it up!

[Dorayaki]

Great work! I think it'd be possible for me to make these in LDD, too.

Just tried LDD (I'm still rookie in this), but it turns out----

.... Failed. Stephanie hairpiece can't be put on heads, for unknown reason. The current version hasn't added Joanna's hairpiece.

Edited March 1, 2014 by Dorayaki

[TheBrickPal]

This are great! If these were in the Friends sets, then maybe I would have different feelings about getting them. They are perfect minifig representations of the minidolls.

[Dorayaki]

This are great! If these were in the Friends sets, then maybe I would have different feelings about getting them. They are perfect minifig representations of the minidolls.

Thanx! I really hope it can be officially considered. Once and for all.

[Klikstyle]

I would love to see this happen. I have recently come around to the Friends sets, but I'm still really bothered by the minidolls. They add an unnecessary, and unfortunate layer of separation between those sets and the rest of the Lego universe.

[Brotherroach]

I love the minidolls but these are super cute! I'd love to have these in my collection as well as my minidolls. Honestly, as much as I love the prints on the Friends heads, I've always preferred the regular mini figure head. It's so cute, and it's conducive to so many faces and expressions! You pulled these off really well, especially with the different eyes, it makes for great variability between the figs.

[SithMageHenry]

Wow, very nice. I would buy the Friends set if they had your minifig versions in them, but I despise the minidolls because of the immovability.

[Hypernova888]

I love your designs! If these were included in the Friends sets, I'd definitely actually buy some. The minidolls were the only thing that I don't like about Friends, and I'm glad that someone has thought of an alternative.

[Dorayaki]

Thank all of your praises and supports above sincerely. Now here is a small but different update. I recieved the print ordered from Minifiglabs, which was referred in Whitefang article about their recent World Cup 2014 series. Whitefang already well explained what technology Minifiglabs used for their prints.

Here are what I got from the order: five light flesh heads.

... oops, sorry for my bad camera. What I can tell you is, the prints aren't as perfect as official LEGO products, that's for sure. The prints are generally close to what they were as the original electronic artworks. But somehow there are some uneven roughness on the surface, which feels abit like being carved. There are also some very tiny bubbles that you may not notice at farsight.

Their look after putting on minifigures with hairpieces.

Here is the question: are the Minifiglabs prints worthy? I don't have other custom prints at hand to compare, but generally they're not as good as the World Cup figs directly designed and produced by the team. This might depend on the resolution of your actual artworks.

Currently, as far as we know, there are very few companies willing to provide small account of custom minifigures for single end-users. MINIFIGS.ME, for example, is one of the custom print provider. They have a more complete servic but with higher price. This situation would dissapoint some non-FOLs who just watched LEGO cartoons and wanted to begin their own custom journey.

If you're able to afford their price, Minifiglabs is still a very feasible choice for you to realize your dream. The current problem is their lack of provided colors of parts (as you can see there's no update for Andrea). I hope that they can solve their own technology issues and get more color/part choices (and most important, lower prices ) in the future. This would be a good news to Asian and worldwide customizers.

Edited July 18, 2014 by Dorayaki

[WhiteFang]

Dorayaki, awesome rendition of these prints of yours through Minifig Labs.com. It is wonderful to be able to see you utilise their printing services to aid in your project. I agree with your observations made, based on the quality of their output even though I not sure what could be their recommended pixel size for the image given to be able to print with a decent quality. I fully agreed with you that not many custom vendors out there are willing to commission a project for an individual with limited quantities for their own usage. Thank you for sharing.

[KCMatze]

To my knowledge, not only the resolution, but the dpi (dots per inch) is also key to quality. For printing 300dpi should be used. I am no designer or something like that, but I know some people working with stuff like that.

Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong!

[WhiteFang]

To my knowledge, not only the resolution, but the dpi (dots per inch) is also key to quality. For printing 300dpi should be used. I am no designer or something like that, but I know some people working with stuff like that.

Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong!

You are correct! DPI is also another critical factor.

[Dorayaki]

Dorayaki, awesome rendition of these prints of yours through Minifig Labs.com. It is wonderful to be able to see you utilise their printing services to aid in your project. I agree with your observations made, based on the quality of their output even though I not sure what could be their recommended pixel size for the image given to be able to print with a decent quality. I fully agreed with you that not many custom vendors out there are willing to commission a project for an individual with limited quantities for their own usage. Thank you for sharing.

It's very pleasant to have your reply. I simply used the original pic in my flickr, so I'm sure it's not the best resolution I can provide. If they update their color selections (mainly the dark tan skin) and prices in the future, I'd spare some time to improve my other arts and order again. I guess pad printing is still the winner currently, but much like DarkKnight7 said you have to find local companies and print a certain amount.

Oh, and I ordered ten heads in total. The rest are currently preserved for other projects.

Edited July 21, 2014 by Dorayaki

[SuchBricksWow]

Great job!

I like the Olivia the most

[WhiteFang]

Hi Dorayaki,

Many thanks for everything. I will like to share that Dorayaki as a budding customiser, he is doing his best to apply basic customisation techniques on this printing Friends mini-dolls designs into customised LEGO Friends customised minifigures scale. Earlier ago, I have kindly extend a wish that I could like to have these designs. My intention was to have such unique customised minifigures to present as a gift to a very close friend of mine, whom is very fond of LEGO Friends. I felt this could be the perfect special gift. Dorayaki has kindly agreed to this commissioned project and after a few months, the long wait is over! I have finally received these LEGO Friends customised minifigures design in minifigure scale. I am delighted even though he could be working hard on applying paint job. Nonetheless, I am pleased with it.

Despite being a request for this commissioned project which I have asked, I sincerely thank you for your efforts to make this a reality for me.

WhiteFang