2012 Friends Discussion Thread

[peterab]

I have been told that in Oz, there are no more large sets, no more cafes, vet clinics and houses.....plus they were not getting any more in the country, why is a good question ?

Probably because by the time they get here the new wave will be out. Retailers would probably rather have the new stuff than restocking older sets.

[Bfenz]

I was in Berlin earlier today (the long way back from the Eurobricks event in Billund) and was delighted to come across some of the summer wave of Friends sets. The following sets were on the shelves and it looked like the staff had just unpacked them. The sets purchased were 3186 (SUV with Horse Trailer), 3189 (Heartlake Stables), 3938 (Andrea's Rabbit Hutch) and 3939 (Mia's Music Room). This wasn't all we found - Dfenz will be posting in the Star Wars Forum.

[xtremegoogler]

Just came across this German tv ad for the horse stable, so yeah, it seems the summer wave is already out over there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkkbVcQ9jyA

[xtremegoogler]

Today, my sister asked me to build the 3185 set, she bought it at her local toy shop, so I guess the Friends summer wave sets are available in Holland now as well.

Edited May 19, 2012 by xtremegoogler

[Bricksan]

Friends Advent Calendar Content:

Daily Brick

[lightningtiger]

Now that's a great looking parts pack for sure, all those pastel tiles and accessories too !

Oh, on a side bar....Kmarts in Oz have suddenly restocked the house and all the smaller sets....odd, I thought they would be getting ready for the second half releases ?

[Lordofdragonss]

I'm disapointed there is no cooking stuff. Oh well I will get it anyway... :)

[just2good]

Friends Advent Calendar Content:

{pic}

Daily Brick

Man, only 2 figures!

There are some nice pieces though. I like the extra hairpiece especially.

Edited May 25, 2012 by just2good

[Zeya]

I would recommend putting the contents in a spoiler tag for that post, just to be safe. (No hard feelings though.)

[The Cobra]

Amazon.it has a few more pics, and two of them make me think of false advertising. Link to the item. Questions hidden by spoiler button.

Where does that horse come from? And, where do all those girls come from? (not to mention two ski sets)

[Zeya]

Amazon.it has a few more pics, and two of them make me think of false advertising. Link to the item. Questions hidden by spoiler button.

Where does that horse come from? And, where do all those girls come from? (not to mention two ski sets)

The horse is from a regular Friends set. I got one for my fiancee, it's the pet hospital one. Unless the printing is slightly different, but the mold is the same.

As for the mini-doll characters, I'm not going to attempt (bother) to tell them apart, but they definitely have unique shirt/chest prints for this advent calendar at least. They're wearing sweaters and whatnot here. Most of the Friends sets have the girls wearing different clothes (printing).

The skis I think are just regular skis, right? As best I can tell from that photo's angle. I think they're just a re-color of the same parts used in the CMF series skier:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=col02-12

[Dannylonglegs]

The horse is from a regular Friends set. I got one for my fiancee, it's the pet hospital one. Unless the printing is slightly different, but the mold is the same.

As for the mini-doll characters, I'm not going to attempt (bother) to tell them apart, but they definitely have unique shirt/chest prints for this advent calendar at least. They're wearing sweaters and whatnot here. Most of the Friends sets have the girls wearing different clothes (printing).

The skis I think are just regular skis, right? As best I can tell from that photo's angle. I think they're just a re-color of the same parts used in the CMF series skier:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=col02-12

I think he means something else. I thought that's what he meant at first too, but then I looked at the pic and...

Well, look at this pic.

full inventory of the set.

Then these.

Sir Does Not Appear in This Set, the Horse, and Ms. Does Not Appear in This Set, and her little dog too.

An extra set of skis and poles.

~Insectoid Aristocrat

[Ricecracker]

Please stop with the spoilers, as they can get annoying for members to read. Thanks.

[phanstasm]

For US Eurobricks members, Barnes & Noble will be holding a Lego building event in June. Stores are getting two small sets for kids to choose from, build, and then take home. One is the Lab Harry Potter polybag and the other is the Friends Ice Cream Stand.

Although not shown in the Brickset image, the Ice Cream Stand set at B&N includes the rare orange cat from the Friends Lemonade Stand and most recent Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle.

Here are the Online and print ads for the Princeton, New Jersey store's Lego Event. Sorry, I don't know why the ad writer chose to use the phrase "Lego micro bricks." They are the regular bricks and regular Lab and Ice Cream Stand sets:

*Online ad: http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/3387219

*Print ad:

Edited May 26, 2012 by phanstasm

[SheepEater]

I was browsing at Brickshelf and found some pics of Lego clone brands.

In an alternate reality, this is how Friends might have turned out if Lego stuck with minifigs and went for a more Princess-ey Belville design. Those designs must be original since they don't look like any Paradisa or Belville sets I have seen.

Edited May 27, 2012 by SheepEater

[Pandora]

I was browsing at Brickshelf and found some pics of Lego clone brands.

In an alternate reality, this is how Friends might have turned out if Lego stuck with minifigs and went for a more Princess-ey Belville design. Those designs must be original since they don't look like any Paradisa or Belville sets I have seen.

Those really aren't a girl's dream, at least not this girl.

Interestingly they are exactly what so many people have become upset about, and exactly what TLG didn't do with Friends (or Paradisa for that matter, maybe less so with Belville and DUPLO Princesses) i.e. make them entirely pink/purple/white and right at the extreme end of the 'girly' stereotype; there aren't any workshops or cars or planes in these clone brands from what I can see.

Interesting to see them, nonetheless, so thank you.

EDIT - I see there's a fast-food van, so there is at least one vehicle, but it's really ugly.

[SheepEater]

Interesting to see them, nonetheless, so thank you.

You're welcome.

EDIT - I see there's a fast-food van, so there is at least one vehicle, but it's really ugly.

Yeah, no kidding. Especially when compared to...

http://www.thedailybrick.co.uk/wp/gallery/lego-friends-summer-2012-sets/lego-friends-3184-adventure-rv.jpg

Edited May 28, 2012 by Rick
Please keep embedded images to a maximum of 800 x 600 pixels

[Ardelon]

I was browsing at Brickshelf and found some pics of Lego clone brands.

In an alternate reality, this is how Friends might have turned out if Lego stuck with minifigs and went for a more Princess-ey Belville design. Those designs must be original since they don't look like any Paradisa or Belville sets I have seen.

...

Gaaah! Way ... too ... much ... pink! ^{(and purple)} Someone alert the SPARK gals!

Compared to this, LEGO is a generation ahead...

[Laura Beinbrech]

Well, considering that Sluban is typically one of the more egregious knockoff brands out there (along with Enlighten), I'd be willing to bet good money that they are knockoffs of Oxford Block products (Sluban has also been known to make direct ripoffs of Oxford military sets as well)...

EDIT: I guarantee that the Sluban set in the first pic is an Oxford knockoff, because that style of minifig dress body is a definite Oxford part. For more info, see this thread in the Community section.

As for the pinkness, meh... In my own opinion, I think the Friends camper is ugly because there is no way in heck that lime green goes with pink, lavender and white! If I do end up getting that set, I'll have to replace all the lime parts with either red or white (or maybe even pink) to de-uglify it.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Hikaro Takayama

[Artanis I]

As for the pinkness, meh... In my own opinion, I think the Friends camper is ugly because there is no way in heck that lime green goes with pink, lavender and white! If I do end up getting that set, I'll have to replace all the lime parts with either red or white (or maybe even pink) to de-uglify it.

I think you're right on that one. I'm looking at this set, but mostly for the exclusive minidoll...

[Aanchir]

I think the pink, lime, and white go together quite nicely on the RV, actually. It's nice to have a vibrant accent color to offset all those pastels.

It's the build of the RV that really fails to impress me. Its asymmetry, awkwardly-designed trailer, and somewhat boring interior don't really seem to match up in terms of quality with this year's Car & Caravan from the City theme.

[The Cobra]

Seeing those pics made me remind I had another lot to upload, and I finally did (folder has been moderated). All these pics were taken from ebay auctions. The main purpose was to show how some sets were exact/close copies while other sets looked nice and/or a bit original.

Link to huge pic <- the Reading girl would have made a good impulse set. I like both the torso and the printed tile. And what about the leaves?

While I agree with most of what I read (especially the excessive pinkness of those female-oriented clones) I still think I would have liked an upgraded Paradisa more than I dig Friends. While I thought the RV came with great add-ons (the blue bycicle!), the color scheme didn't look any good to me (and still doesn't).

[Callwork]

My 5 yr old daughter is in love with thes sluban girls dream!!

[CM4Sci]

The Advent Calender may not be released.

-Sci

[just2good]

Well, now we can add the advent calender to the list of great sets that have been cancelled!

Good Cancelled Sets

-Wrestling Scene

-Skeleton Chariot

-{Sea Theme}

-{Prohibition Theme}

-Mayan Mystica

-Friends Advent Calender

I'm running out of material.

Edited May 30, 2012 by just2good