Friends - general discussion

[JimBean4]

Hi everyone, I'm just wondering if it would be smart to pick up some of the new line of Lego bricks for girls, the 'Friends' theme? With all the hub-bub about it being sexist, maybe there is a chance that Lego drops the line and the sets become more valuable? Thoughts?

[Ed Mack]

I have a feeling with all the publicity about this theme, it will be a very popular one. As a father, I love the idea. I think that promoting building sets for girls is a great idea and these feminists need to find something else to bitch about and leave Lego alone. I wish Lego well...

[force392]

Saw a new Friends display in Target today. Friggin sweet. Well done Lego.

[legotrader]

Saw a new Friends display in Target today. Friggin sweet. Well done Lego.

I also saw the Target display and was impressed with the new colors and mini figs. The publicity will only help Lego because people with half a brain can see these feminist idiots just have nothing better to complain about. They should be thanking Lego for developing a building set for little girls.

[duckyruiz]

I just bought a set for my daughter for her birthday and she loves it. She always plays with her brother's Legos and now he is jealous because he likes the colors of the Friends bricks and his sets don't have them.

[M4x18]

I've been reading a lot of complaints about the Friends theme being sexist as the product, obviously directed at girls, is composed of sets that present the skinny figures in beauty shops and other scenarios that irk the feminists out there. There even is a petition online and 55.000+ have already signed it.

IMO this was a good attempt to lure more girls to Lego and as the Lego Group figures speak, they succeeded at it. From what I read somewhere, they were pulling some sets to calm the tension among the part of the public that felt aggravated.

Thoughts?

[madaboutsesame]

I think that LEGO is right on the money with the sub-themes in the sets catering to girls perfectly. Vets, stables, shops, houses - all very appealing as little girls and little boys play differently - girls play with social story lines based on relationships, boys tend to want to race, blow up and bash stuff ... BUT the delivery annoys me ... why all the cutesy pinks and pastels and the different sized figs that don't integrate with standard sized figs- grrrr ! As a little girl LEGO addict I would have loved the vets, house and shops but not in the pinks etc. I wonder if LEGO could have appealed to girls AND kept people calm about the sexist argument by using standard colours in the same sub themes. I for one, am over hospitals, police stations and fire stations being the only city staples released ... and re-released in the city range- how about a school or some shops, some more houses, a vet surgery, doctors office etc etc.

[Ed Mack]

I enjoy the sets and my wife actually has started collecting LEGO Friends as a way to get involved in the hobby. I love the colors and minifigures and to be quite honest, if a person thinks they are sexist, then they really need to get a life. I guess Barbie Dolls are sexist too. The sales of the Friends theme is more than double than what LEGO expected, so I have to say the majority of people agree with me.

[TheOrcKing]

If a person thinks they are sexist, then they really need to get a life. I guess Barbie Dolls are sexist too.

Thank....you.

Jeeze louis, that is my biggest gripe about this whole thing. What the heck makes the Friends line so sexist yet not all the other stuff on the shelf? We all have seen the 'pink' aisle in the toy department (wow is it pink) among the various lines sitting on the shelves. There's the annoying Bratz, the creepy Lalaloopsy with buttons for eyes like the 'other mother' from the movie Coraline, the Disney 'Princess' line, Barbie, My Little Pony, and so on, and they are all very pink (with some purple and odd bits of....red & blue, I guess?).

Here's something, did everyone suddenly forget about the Belville series from LEGO that came before? It ran from 1994 to 2008 (15 full years) and nobody got flustered about that line and it was more pink than Friends if you can imagine that.

I can understand when looking at the overall picture Lego has never truly made sets specifically catering to one gender or the other exactly while they have made sets in regard to fields of interest. Racers, Trains, City, Adventurers, Divers, Hydronauts, Dino Attack, Vikings, Ninja, to name a few out of a very long list. Therefore when a company like LEGO releases something that is made towards one-half of the population, it can seem rather off.

A few times when I have gone to the store (after hearing about the petition) I stopped to ask some of the mothers there shopping or women who work there what they thought about the Friends line. When asked "Do you think the LEGO Friends toy line is sexist?" each lady pretty much gave me the same "...say what?" look & response, followed by a "No".

In my own opinion, I do not see the Friends sets or line as being sexist. It's actually not quite that pink (they are more white & purple actually).

I think the activists are looking at the series as though LEGO made them in the narrow-minded aspect of "Girls should only play with these because their pink & pretty!" instead of them being an alternative for girls (perhaps some boys even) who do not wish to play with city miners or race cars or big robotic heroes.

On a side note, I would not mind if they included more female characters in their other series. Look at Dino, there is only one woman in the whole thing and the set is the most expensive one from the theme (Dino Defense HQ - 5887). The Collectable Minifigures series seem to be the only real way to get plenty of cool female characters. (Series 6 - Skater Girl is one of my personal favorites!)

[paulstenson]

^^This.

[Lateral-G]

My 6 y/o daughter loves the Friends sets. She picks out the sets she wants....no one is doing it for her. She can't wait to build each set she gets. It's expanding her motor skills, her creativity and her play. I can't see anything bad with them. Those feminists need to get a life.

[TheOrcKing]

My 6 y/o daughter loves the Friends sets. She picks out the sets she wants....no one is doing it for her. She can't wait to build each set she gets.

Good for her. I can't wait to see the amazing things she'll come up with.

I can't see anything bad with them. Those feminists need to get a life.

Or focus on the issues that actually are sexist. Like 'equal pay and opportunity' in the workforce. It's how many years later, and this STILL is an issue? Really?!

We can't just agree on whether it's a man or woman with roughly the same amount of experience, that both should receive equal payment for doing the same job?! Seriously?!

[CelesAurivern]

Or focus on the issues that actually are sexist. Like 'equal pay and opportunity' in the workforce. It's how many years later, and this STILL is an issue? Really?!

We can't just agree on whether it's a man or woman with roughly the same amount of experience, that both should receive equal payment for doing the same job?! Seriously?!

We can't just agree on whether it's a man or woman with roughly the same amount of experience, that both should receive equal payment for doing the same job?! Seriously?!

In Tennis, men play best 3 of 5, while women play best 2 of 3.

Should the prize money be equal?

On a more relevant point, the same set is sold in both the US and Australia.

Should Australians be paying twice as much?

Discrimination based on country is as bad as sexism and racism. Boo to LEGO!

[TheOrcKing]

On a more relevant point, the same set is sold in both the US and Australia.

Should Australians be paying twice as much?

Discrimination based on country is as bad as sexism and racism. Boo to LEGO!

Yeah, BOOOOOO!!!!

I can not believe that citizens in certain places (like Australia or Canada) has to pay THAT MUCH!

It's f'ing ridiculous!

In Tennis, men play best 3 of 5, while women play best 2 of 3.

Should the prize money be equal?

I didn't know that about Tennis. Then again, I don't watch Tennis (or sports in general, sorry). I know the basic rules.

Hmm... I'm not sure how to answer that question. I think the prize money should be based more on the kind of event that is being played (and leave gender out of the equation). Like if the game is a local or regional tournament.

Like I said, I really have no idea how professional Tennis is setup. I've played Tennis just for fun, but never professional.

[BuckeyeFanDan]

I was searching for sets on LEGO LEGO Shop at Home and noticed that several of the Friends sets are now listed as retired. Seems a bit odd since they are not quite a year old. Maybe sales for these particular sets weren't that great? I have bought quite a few sets out of the Friends line for my daughter to play with so I thought I would post this info for anyone with an interest in this theme. The sets listed as retired are: 3187 Butterfly Beauty Shop 3316 Friends Advent Calendar 3932 Andrea's Stage 3933 Olivia's Invention Workshop 3934 Mia's Puppy House 3935 Stephanie's Pet Patrol 3936 Emma's Fashion Design Studio 3942 Heartlake Dog Show Most of these are small sets although I would classify 3187 and 3942 as medium-sized (at least for the Friends line).

[kutaone]

Olivia's speed boat is retiring soon. I've grabbed a few of these as well and resold them with no problems when the deal is right. If you ask the people to stock the shelves they say this is one of the fastest of not the fastest moving themes / and ninjago this holiday season. (According to the stockers near me anyways.)

[Ed Mack]

I know I will shoot myself later about not picking up more Friends sets, but they were rarely discounted. This theme will do very well when it goes EOL. Buy more. LOL

[kutaone]

The retired sets are mostly the small ones. The large sets can still be found in the stores. I have been watching them and the hard ones to find are the Tree house and the Vet. (At least in my neck of the woods.) I sold a bunch of Mia's bunny house too but only b/c I found a great deal on them.

[Flyfisher]

Any fellow ebay/amazon/bricklink sellers bought these sets for resell? how many international buyers compared to domestic? My wife wants to give this theme a try and i'm thinking about plunking down the cash for a few sets to give it a shot..... Travis

[Tommahas8012]

I think the long term value in these sets is going to be the hard to find colors. In a few years MOCers will be trying to find them like crazy. That is if LEGO never prints them in other sets.

[Ed Mack]

Friends is a great investment. Why? It's UBER-popular and male investors don't want to buy them, so there will be a lack of them in the secondary market. Also, Friends sets are not discounted as much, so many resellers stay away.

[TheOrcKing]

Friends is a great investment. Why? It's UBER-popular and male investors don't want to buy them, so there will be a lack of them in the secondary market. Also, Friends sets are not discounted as much, so many resellers stay away.

Exactly.

[emes]

I'm bullish on Friends right now. I have a ton of it at the moment and I just picked up a 2nd 3183 Stephanie's Cool Convertible, 3x41011 Stephanie's Soccer Practice, and 3x41003 Olivia's Newborn Foal. Little girls love little horses! I've also managed to score one of the 3063 Heartlake Flying Club sets at a discount. I've found some nicely discounted Friend's sets, mainly at WalMart. I really want 3185 Summer Riding Camp and 3186 Emma's Horse Trailer, but I can't find them anywhere at a reasonable price.

[littlenicky]

There are a few cheap Friends sets that are discontinued.. Probably would be wise to pick those up and hold till next Christmas...

[bassbin]

I got several Lego Friends sets for my daughter as Christmas presents and she loved them. I also sold quite a few Lego Friends sets in the run up to Christmas. In the UK stocks of many of the sets dried up in December so there were good profits to take simply by flipping stock. I plan to reinvest in them ready for next Christmas, provided I can buy more at a discount. My target sets are the Treehouse, Beauty Shop and the Cafe but I'll buy ant of the others if they are well priced. Not so keen on the 2013 sets (the pet grooming shop being an exception), but I'll be guided by what my daughter thinks of them when she has had a chance to build more of her sets.