LEGO Friends - the best theme there is?

[Hive]

First off, let me start by saying that I absolutely hate the minidolls, the big eyed animals and the often too crazy color palette used in the Friends theme. And when it was introduced, I ranted towards it in such a fashion that a Eurobricks admin, to mock me, gave me the fine rank I have now (Friendsified!).

But, and I know this will be controversial, I think the Friends theme has been the most consistently interesting (full) theme (not counting Icons as a proper theme) for several years now, and a far better "City" theme than, well, the City theme itself and, usually, the Creator theme as well.

Yes, the minidolls are useless and the colors often needs a bit tweaking... but the variety within the theme is nothing short of amazing! And the creativity in the buildings, added some interesting and innovative techniques, are usually much better than what we see in most other themes. And the attention to detail is very impressive as well.

Look at fantastic sets like these, to (hopefully) show what I'm talking about:

 

All the above can either go into my setups with some modifications or serve as inspirations and parts fodder to eg. modular buildings.

Apart from big releases in Castle, Pirates, Modulars, Winter Village, LoTR and such, Friends is what excites me the most in LEGO these days.

Anyone else feel the same way?

[Murdoch17]

So you've saying you've recently been converted to liking the Friends theme... So in essence, you've been Friendsified, is that it @Hive? 

But to answer your question:

In short: Yes, Friends is fantastic.

In long form: Yes, Friends is fantastic, and City is playing catch-up to a degree. And yes, the Friends sets are good MOC / modular fodder: I took the basic idea / look of the Castle B&B and made it modular,for example. But some CITY sets, like 60363 - Ice Cream Shop are good MOC material too. I think CITY is doing more modern or near-future architecture (as in sets 60414, 60365, and 60380, among others) while Friends scratches older building itch. (42620, 41748, 42638, etc.) As someone who likes older structures, these Friends sets make me REALLY happy, but someone who like ultra-modern buildings might like city more.

Edited October 16, 2024 by Murdoch17

[Lemerbrix]

You know, I’m a big Lego friends fan, I love the sets, but one thing that some people overlook is the characters. I can understand not caring for minidolls, but If you look past that, you’ll see a lot of heart put into these characters! The diversity is amazing, a few years ago, i would have never thought we would get disability representation such as diabetes, modern day prosthetics, ADHD, Etc in Lego, but lego friends has managed to do all of that and more! The animated series, Lego friends: the next chapter, has been really good, showing friendship more realistically than its predecessors. Overall, lego friends is probably the most underrated lego theme out there! Now only if we could get an autistic character in Lego friends…

Edited October 20, 2024 by Lemerbrix
Watch Lego friends the next chapter!

[hikouki]

I HATE minidolls.

I do agree that the Friends theme has come a long way and can often look better than the regular City theme.

I still do not buy Friends (except the botanical garden to MOC). I think Lego is getting the idea that minidolls sell well, only because Friends is doing well, despite the fact that some who buy it actually dislike the minidolls.

There was a designer interview (can't remember the set), who said that Lego is hoping that the Friends supporters of today will one day be the majority of AFOLs clamoring for more Friends sets. Are they trying to make the minifigs extinct?

I HATE minidolls.

[Feuer Zug]

Not a fan of minidolls. The Friends theme has expanded quite well over the years while City appears stuck in the Police/Fire/Construction rut. The Friends options allow me to flesh out my town with more building options than City or the Modulars provide. The colors are a welcome change from red, blue, and yellow as well.

[Lyichir]

Lego Friends may be one of the best current themes... but only because Elves isn't around anymore.

I jest a little, but as a fan of fantasy/sci-fi themes over more realistic ones, I'm still sad that the Elves theme didn't continue and make the same leaps and bounds design-wise as Friends has been able to. Every time we get new innovations in the mini-doll space (like the "micro-dolls" used for child characters or the new buildable dolls in themes like Wicked and Wednesday), I feel a little twinge of regret that the Elves theme isn't around to take advantage of it anymore.

[NewTown]

Minidolls suck but the sets are great. I have modded 3 into main floors of MOC modulars :)