2022 Friends Rumours, Leaks, Information And Discussion

[Maple]

15 minutes ago, Agent 86 said:

I wonder if they’ll be compromised of mini “modules” so you can easily combine them to make one big school? 

Here is the one DragonElves posted: https://www.instagram.com/p/CYmYo-Qp6WR/?hl=en

 

I would bet on it as it looks like all the Friends buildings this year have this same, rather ugly, color blocking design going on. It works for the main street, doesn't work for me in the beach set or the vet rehab or whatever.

An 800+ plus set and a 1100+ both being schools released at the same time is really surprising to me. Unless one is a June release and one is an August release and the dates are wrong. 

[El Garfio]

Lego Friends is the new Creator (and also city building provider)

[lifeinplastic]

On 12/15/2021 at 1:15 AM, Maple said:

I find the beach cottage 41709 thing to be odd. I'm sure it's made to mix and match with the apartments but I don't like that style at the beach. I really like 41693 style that we got this year. I think it's the pink/purple color mixed with orange and random shapes. It's not working for me.

Yes, the other beach set is much better.

I also hope future sets will include some cutlery knives in Flat Silver (it seems every set has forks and spoons)!

[Mr No]

I think this year's sets are great. I hope Lego will make the boxes more unisex friendly in 2023, though I wonder what color would fit that better. 

[Maple]

On 2/6/2022 at 4:07 AM, Mr No said:

I think this year's sets are great. I hope Lego will make the boxes more unisex friendly in 2023, though I wonder what color would fit that better. 

LEGO already said they made the 2022 boxes more unisex. They removed the female only friends from the logo, got rid of the stupid shape boxes. Colors don't have genders or sexes. 

[El Garfio]

5 hours ago, Maple said:

LEGO already said they made the 2022 boxes more unisex. They removed the female only friends from the logo, got rid of the stupid shape boxes. Colors don't have genders or sexes. 

LEGO is adding more male minidolls in sets. And they are adding boys playing with girls in the promo pics

https://images.brickset.com/sets/AdditionalImages/41699-1/41699_lifestyle_cons.jpg

https://images.brickset.com/sets/AdditionalImages/41709-1/41709_alt10.jpg

[Aanchir]

11 hours ago, Maple said:

Colors don't have genders or sexes. 

This, this, this! To put it into perspective, how many of us remember what the first "LEGO System" theme to have purple boxes was? Believe it or not, it was the Pirates theme! I myself had forgotten about this for many years until I saw some folks displaying their LEGO Pirates collections (with boxes) at a LEGO convention a few years back. Some examples from the BrickLink reference catalog:

Pirates sets began using purple boxes in 1991 when the parent category for "play themes" like Town, Castle, Space, and Pirates was rebranded from LEGOLAND to LEGO SYSTEM, and the purple boxes remained the standard through the final 1997 wave of the theme's original run.

Moreover, even if we accept that a lot of aspects of the Friends theme's design and box art still have girly or feminine connotations, such as pastel colors or heart motifs… I don't see any reason to think that should change, necessarily. I mean, how often do you see anybody calling for LEGO to make the Technic theme's box art less masculine?

I'm not saying that girls can't like roughing it in the outdoors — or the color black, for that matter. But I am saying that from a marketing standpoint, this sort of packaging is just a few steps away from what you'd expect to see on a stick of men's deodorant. It's certainly at least as flagrant an example of "gendered marketing" as most LEGO Friends or Elves boxes, but I hardly ever see that mentioned, let alone criticized. Whereas feminine elements of themes like Friends, Elves, and Dots are routinely criticized as drawbacks or biases that LEGO ought to try and tone down to broaden the sets' appeal.

And in many cases, it's not because of any sort of conscious prejudice! It's just that for those of us who grew up with older LEGO themes (which often skewed more masculine in one way or another), we become so numb to a lot of their norms that they barely even seem noteworthy to us. For better or for worse, it's much easier for long-time LEGO fans to notice and question the ways that newer sets or themes vary from those familiar norms than to notice and question the norms themselves.

Nothing to do about that, really, besides making a continuous effort to look inward and question our own frame of reference as we encounter stuff that falls outside of it.

Edited February 8, 2022 by Aanchir

[jonwil]

Snagged the Friends food truck set today, as someone who builds mostly City its great. So many pieces in colors I like and almost none in the not-so-useful colors I don't like such as lavender or pink shades. Ignoring the 3 minidolls and the one cat, everything in the set is potentially useful which is great. If I had the money I would snag more sets like the big building with all the shops.

Friends has come a long way since it started in 2012 in terms of the range of parts and colors you can find in there. And the variety of neat sets (although there do seem to be quite a lot of sets that are themed to dogs for some reason)

 

[Maple]

On 3/17/2022 at 5:50 AM, jonwil said:

Snagged the Friends food truck set today, as someone who builds mostly City its great. So many pieces in colors I like and almost none in the not-so-useful colors I don't like such as lavender or pink shades. Ignoring the 3 minidolls and the one cat, everything in the set is potentially useful which is great. If I had the money I would snag more sets like the big building with all the shops.

Friends has come a long way since it started in 2012 in terms of the range of parts and colors you can find in there. And the variety of neat sets (although there do seem to be quite a lot of sets that are themed to dogs for some reason)

 

You don't like lavender?! I love that LEGO color and so happy LEGO used it in the modular Police Station.

[DragonElves]

Olivias space academy is up, very nice in my opinion. I especially like the orbit detail on the station.

[icm]

https://www.lego.com/en-us/kids/sets/friends/olivias-space-academy-2a80b47d3d641c0f44c58047d03b81fc

Omigosh, that is legit amazing.  I wish it had a release date, price, parts count posted.  That multi-axis trainer is like nothing ever seen in City Space.  That space shuttle is actually better than anything in City or Creator.  Wow.  Now that we've finally got a Friends Space set it's really Ninjago's turn to get on the ball and pump out a space shuttle ....

Edit, parts count is 757.  To be "Spaceship Specific" why is it better than other space shuttles?  Simple gray leading edge with rounded wingtips.  Smart use of the 2x6 wedge plates for the trailing edge.  Seats two side by side in the cockpit (albeit minidolls) without sacrificing rear wall of cockpit.  Smartly built OMS pods.  Nice use of the windscreen and 3x3 round corner parts introduced for the UCS space shuttle last year.  Presence of a foot restraint work platform for the astronaut at the end of the Canadarm - that's a feature no other Lego space shuttle has had.  All-black bottom.

Edited April 1, 2022 by icm

[TeriXeri]

That friends Space Shuttle is indeed very good, like a smaller, rounder, yet similar version of the 3-in-1 shuttle but with focus on a building , minidolls and still retain the play value/details.

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by TeriXeri

[Maple]

My only complaint about that wonderful set is one of the minidolls is going to space with glasses on.  That's literally the worst thing about the set. haha

[TeriXeri]

Shuttle Set is €70, that's half the price of the City Launch set, which is €140.

Even compared to the Creator Shuttle which is €50, this isn't a bad value at all.

Edited April 1, 2022 by TeriXeri

[Aanchir]

1 hour ago, TeriXeri said:

Shuttle Set is €70, that's half the price of the City Launch set, which is €140.

Even compared to the Creator Shuttle which is €50, this isn't a bad value at all.

Admittedly, the Space Academy's main weakness in my eyes is the lack of an external fuel tank and rocket boosters, which would probably have raised its cost quite a bit (between their parts and the need for a larger crawler transporter to carry the full shuttle assembly). But even then it probably would've still been quite a bit lower than the City launch center, considering the usual differences in price between these two themes.

I'm also slightly miffed that this set doesn't include either a mini-doll of Olivia's dad Lucas (who works as an astronaut in the animated series) or any version of Zobo, who'd be a natural fit for the set's subject matter. So far, Zobo hasn't been in ANY new Friends sets of the past two years, which worries me a bit since he's always been such a fun part of the theme and I'd hate for him to disappear for good.

And I kind of wish that the shuttle itself had a Tr. Bright Bluish Violet tinted windscreen, both because it'd match the upper floors of the space center and because fun bright colors are very traditional for both LEGO Friends and LEGO Space.

Other than those drawbacks, this set is really everything I could have hoped for from a LEGO Friends "space camp" set! It's got training equipment, an observatory, an orrery, a model rocket, a satellite, and plenty of computers for mission simulations and monitoring, as well as multiple types of spacesuit. The aesthetics are also gorgeous, with an exciting color scheme, fancy holographic foil stickers, and some amazing "space age" architecture and signage.

One charming detail I wouldn't have anticipated is the wall of space telescope photographs, all captioned with the name or ID number that astronomers use to identify those objects! That's a very nice touch with some genuine educational value. The little packets of space food are also a great new accessory. And I am amused to see that one of the computer screens on the top floor is displaying an image of the Lunar Space Station from this year's City sets! Fun cross-theme reference there.

All in all, this is really outstanding work by the LEGO Friends design team, and it makes me very eager to learn what else is in store for this summer. Hopefully any sets inspired by the other friends' respective interests/hobbies will exhibit just as much creativity, detail, and care as this one.

[jonwil]

On 2/8/2022 at 2:40 AM, Maple said:

got rid of the stupid shape boxes

Not everywhere by the look of it, my copy of the street food market still had the funky side indents on the boxes.

 

[Maple]

19 hours ago, jonwil said:

Not everywhere by the look of it, my copy of the street food market still had the funky side indents on the boxes.

 

No!!!! I thought LEGO said they were done with that too, that Friends would just be a normal LEGO theme.

Not that important but I just want regular boxes.

On 4/1/2022 at 5:31 PM, Aanchir said:

I'm also slightly miffed that this set doesn't include either a mini-doll of Olivia's dad Lucas (who works as an astronaut in the animated series) or any version of Zobo, who'd be a natural fit for the set's subject matter. So far, Zobo hasn't been in ANY new Friends sets of the past two years, which worries me a bit since he's always been such a fun part of the theme and I'd hate for him to disappear for good.

He hasn't?! That's weird. LEGO just make his new 'head' piece too and then get rid of him?

[Aanchir]

21 hours ago, Maple said:

No!!!! I thought LEGO said they were done with that too, that Friends would just be a normal LEGO theme.

Why are different boxes such a problem? It's not like other themes have never done weird stuff with their boxes. A lot of smaller Ninjago sets like the Airjitzu fliers or last year's Epic Battle Sets have come in boxes with funky angles or layered character cutouts or other stuff. The boxes for most of the 2015 and 2016 Bionicle sets had sort of a hexagonal cross section and a resealable flap at the top. Going back even further, the Exo-Force Deep Jungle sets in 2008 had a sort of cutout in the front of the box showing just the box border and the set, with an inset cardboard jungle backdrop a little further behind. Even the Super Mario starter set boxes are folded in a weird way that I can barely describe in writing without having one of them in front of me to refer to.

And honestly, I kind of prefer the beveled edges of the boxes for a lot of Friends and Elves sets to some of those other examples, since it doesn't involve wasting any extra packing material, can be pretty easily flattened out for recycling or storage just like an ordinary rectangular cardboard box without the beveled edges, and still stack reasonably well if you have multiple unopened sets that you need to keep tidy until you're ready to build them.

I get that it'd be weird if ONLY the Friends theme uses non-standard boxes. and that the beveled edges can be a little frustrating if you want to try and store assembled or semi-assembled sets in the boxes they came in… but I don't think having different cardboard box styles between sets or themes is implicitly a bad thing, especially since LEGO's shifted away from a lot of the other techniques they used to use to help certain sets stand out on shelves (plastic blister packs, lift-up flaps, transparent front windows, reusable plastic storage canisters with a screw-on lid, zippered foil pouches, etc).

So if they DO move away from the beveled edges entirely at any point, I hope it wouldn't mean they intend to give up on more experimental or unconventional cardboard packaging techniques like that for good.

[Maple]

50 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

I get that it'd be weird if ONLY the Friends theme uses non-standard boxes.

Because that is the case. Besides the $10 NinjaGo cases only Friends had the stupid boxes. LEGO talked about how Friends was no longer going to be a 'girl theme' and be a normal theme. That's not the case if they continue the silly boxes.

[TeriXeri]

Saw the review of the City Lunar Space Station, and looks like they might've already had this Friends minidoll space set in mind when adding those footrests to the beds so a minidoll can fit on it.

There's a tile with HLC in the bigger space base, so certainly City and Friends are on the same universe/planet (beside the other references before in Airport/Train sets)

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by TeriXeri

[CodFather1]

Olivia's Space Academy is online on Lego Shop at home.

[Lyichir]

First picture of Andrea's Theater School (via Lego's instruction manual page). Smallish pic but it looks great!

[The Brick Rat]

Andrea's Theater School does look like a great set. I'm going to have to get one just to MOD it into a Muppets Theater to hold the new CMF figures.

[Maple]

21 hours ago, The Brick Rat said:

Andrea's Theater School does look like a great set. I'm going to have to get one just to MOD it into a Muppets Theater to hold the new CMF figures.

Yes! I can't remember do we know the price?

[The Brick Rat]

3 hours ago, Maple said:

Yes! I can't remember do we know the price?

According to Promobricks it's 99.99 euros, which means it should be the same in US dollars. They are also listing a June 1 release.