Are you impatiently and curiously waiting to see what 2012 will bring in the world of LEGO? In this series of posts I will give you a glimpse of some of the upcoming 2012 LEGO sets.
You might first want to check out 2012 LEGO Sets – See What’s Coming! That post will give you an overall picture of the 2012 LEGO sets. From there you can link to the particular themes you are interested in.
In this post I will list all of the sets in the LEGO Friends theme, and you can check out large and detailed images for the upcoming LEGO Friends sets here: 2012 LEGO Catalog Pictures (removed by the request of TLG) 😥
Please note that these are leaked images that will probably be taken down soon due to the fact that they are still considered confidential – thus the public isn’t supposed to see them just yet. So if you want to check them out, do so while you can! 
In case you can no longer see the images, I will also describe them here as much as I can, so at least you get a sense of what 2012 LEGO sets look like. Now back to the new LEGO for girls line called ‘Friends”! 🙂
Through the years LEGO has been making some effort to appeal to little girls with lines like LEGO Scala, LEGO Belville, and LEGO Paradisa. In 2012 they are trying a new angle yet again with redesigned figures and a new story-line.
This new LEGO for girls theme is called “Friends”, and is following the story of five girls in their daily lives. The girls have different likes and hobbies; there is an animal-lover, a smart-girl, a beautician, a singer and a social-girl. (The LEGO Friends theme is in fact not new; in 1999 LEGO released a video game with the same name and also five girl characters.)
The new LEGO Friends figures are not regular LEGO minifigs, but are specially designed to appeal to girls. At least that is the idea. They appear to be the same size, or perhaps slightly taller than regular minifigures, but with very different proportions and no resemblance to regular LEGO minifigs. 🙁
The sets come with lots of minifig accessories, lovely colors, new animals and some other new elements that should be exciting to LEGO fans!
2012 LEGO Friends Sets: (UPDATE! NEW Friends pictures here!)
- LEGO Friends Set #3061: Cafe House with a white-pink-red color sceme, lots of food accessories and two girls.
- LEGO Friends Set #3065: Tree House with one girl, bird-house and cute animals.
- LEGO Friends Set #3183: smaller set with blue & purple convertible car, one blonde girl (named Stephanie) and lots of accessories.
- LEGO Friends Set #3187: Beauty Shop with two girls and lots of accessories, including LEGO lipstick!
- LEGO Friends Set #3188: Vet’s Clinic with cute new animal molds, two girls and lovely light-yellow, white and blue buildings.
- LEGO Friends Set # 3315: Family Home with mom, dad and daughter. The house is particularly nice with a doll-house like open back. This appears to be the largest set in the series.
- LEGO Friends Set #3930: Outdoor Kitchen with one girl, picnic table, food items, etc.
- LEGO Friends Set #3931: small Pool/Jacuzzi set with one girl and poolside accessories.
- LEGO Friends Set #3932: Stage with piano, microphone, lights and the girl named Andrea, who obviously loves to sing.
- LEGO Friends Set #3933: smart-girl in what looks like a garage with tools to tinker with and build stuff. She is shown building a remote-controlled robot.
- LEGO Friends Set #3934: Dog House set with girl, dog and accessories.
- LEGO Friends Set #3935: Tractor set with the animal-lover girl bringing a carrot to a bunny sitting in a small house. 😕
- LEGO Friends Set #3936: Design Studio with the girl named Emmy and accessories for clothes-design.
- LEGO Friends Set #3942: Dog Show set with dogs, one girl, toys and grooming accessories, trophy, etc.
So what do you think? Are you excited about the new LEGO for girls sets? Do you think it will be popular? Or did LEGO miss the mark? Share your thoughts below! 😉
UPDATE: Since the first time I reported on LEGO Friends, lots have happened. Here are the updates on LEGO Friends:
- 2012 LEGO Sets: LEGO Friends Pictures! (first set pictures)
- 2012 LEGO Sets: LEGO Friends More Pictures! (first mini-doll pictures)
- LEGO Friends vs. Regular LEGO Minifigs Comparison
- LEGO Friends – LEGO’s Billion Dollar Girl (Bloomberg article)
- Dear LEGO… My Opinion on LEGO Friends
- LEGO Friends Press Release, Video & More!
- LEGO Friends Available Now! (yes, they are on the shelves!)
I like the buildings. I do not like the figures. I would love to see more female minifigs; more torsos, more faces, more hair styles.
Sharon, from what I have read yours seems to be the common response; the buildings are lovely, the figs are a disappointment. So, lets see how little girls respond. 😉
I’m totally in love with these sets! Lovely colors!
The veterinarian fig is kinda hot. 🙂 Just sayin’. No, in all seriousness, the sets look cool for parts, as were Belville and Scala..but the figs are a disappointment. I see people buying these or parts, but not necessarily for the theme itself. It may have appeal to some younger girls, but I don’t see it having mass appeal.
Mike, we will see how popular these sets will become. If they don’t go well, we will win by getting awesome minifig accessories and other parts on the cheap. If they do become popular a whole new world of LEGO opens up. So we will win either way. 😉
UPDATE: I just uploaded a new post with comparison and compatibility pictures of the Friends figures with regular minifigs. I know many of you have been waiting for this: LEGO Friends vs. Regular Minifigs Comparison 😉
I agree, new pieces and colours all good, but the figs themselves, no thanks. I agree with Sharon, maybe more combos like normal minifigs. I’d buy the animal patrol one for YS as he likes rabbits, as he’d love a lego one, but that would be the only reason other than new colours of exisiting bricks
Saw a report on bloombergnews today that said girls don’t like the minifigs, so Lego made the Friends figs slightly taller and gave them stuff like hair(for brushes to run through ) and handbags to carry, etc….they also named the figures….girls are interested in the backstory, they say, whereas boys just want to build a kit to what the picture on the box shows…
Mike, yes, I have been contacted by Bloomberg today to publish their editorial. I will have it ready by tomorrow morning. It is very interesting! 🙂
I have a 6 year old girl who loves playing with her older brother’s Legos. She and her 13 year old brother create elaborate scenes and play together. I just heard on NPR today about Lego Friends. My daughter loves Legos and loves to build. I have been frustrated that I can not get “girl” themed Legos. We have the pink bucket, but would love more. Although she love to play with blocks, puzzles, Legos… she is a girly girl in that she is interested in Fairies, Princesses and pink and purple, and not as interested in police, guns and Star Wars. When will Lego Friends become available? She is getting several Lego City sets for Christmas, but I would love to get her a Lego Friends. If you are still in the testing stage, we would love to help.
Thanks,
Kimberly
Kimberly, the official release supposed to be in January, but according to my resources LEGO Friends has been trickling in at some Toys’R’Us stores around the USA, and toys stores in Europe. I would suggest to call your local toy stores. I think your little girl will love them. 😉
UPDATE: Check out Bloomberg Businessweek’s front-page and editorial; all about LEGO Friends! It will shed some light on how the LEGO Friends figures were born: LEGO Friends: LEGO’s Billion Dollar Girl 🙂
UPDATE: New post on LEGO Friends! Share your thoughts & opinions!: Dear LEGO…
ok, so I built Olivia’s Invention Workshop (#3933) last night…the blackboard with her ‘equations’ is cool, sorta reminiscent of Sheldon Cooper’s board in his apartment on “The Big Bang Theory”…and it’s printed, which is a plus (yay!!!). The Olivia ‘mini-doll'(as Lego (R) calls these things) is nice enough, taller than the average minifig, but with one other noticeable difference: she is pencil thin….and we wonder why girls obsess about weight. As for the rest of the set, pretty standard stuff: a 2-drawer unit (white with pink drawers) ;work-station like tabletops in a “new”(?) light aqua color (looks suspiciously like the light aqua that was in Scala awhile back) in 2×6 plates and 2×2 bricks in a darker aqua shade but definitely NOT the same shade as the aqua bricks I have already, and one 2×2 aqua brick set aside for Olivia to “stand” on to peer into her microscope (nicely brick-built, BTW)…it should be noted that Olivia cannot SIT; I tried posing her in a sitting position and she toppled over; her behind is not big enough to have a hole/holes in to be able to attach her to a stud or studs; yet her feet are able to stand on studs and be held in place…Also curious: she is able to bend over forwards but not backwards; in fact, the piece that makes up her pelvis sticks out slightly when she is bent over, which may account for why she cannot be placed in a sitting position. the purple tools present a nice variation on the standard acessories in a new and different color, although I have already lost the screwdriver destined for one of the pink drawers…dropped it and could not find it. then there’s the robot which Olivia presumably “invented”….looks a lot like Wall-E. Overall, it’s a nice set for 10 bucks. And the pinks and aquas are a nice little touch. Now I need to buiold a room for this set to go in….perhaps something like the corner of that big house set where Miss O presumably lives with “Mom” and “Dad”….I’m curious to know how “Dad” will survive in a world where he seems (so far) to be the lone male.
Mike, excellent review! Thanks for sharing! It seems like LEGO could have put a bit more effort into designing those mini dolls; if going different, might as well make it perfect! They could have been more articulated and more compatible with LEGO elements. The long, non-bendable legs, and the inability to sit are big drawbacks. 🙁
Parents in this series seems to be nothing but props in the perfect home to do the housekeeping and pay the bills. I’m not going to get into what kind of message that leaves to children – plenty of people are talking about that already. From a LEGO-fan’s perspective, I will just enjoy the new colors. Are you planning to get any of the other sets after your first impression with Olivia’s Workshop? 🙂
I got the cafe set but have not built it yet. After consulting with the husband of a Lego store employee and checking out what’s in each set, we determined the cafe set had better accessories than the house, I believe it was. We’ll see about the other sets….I will probably cave eventually and get all or most of them, despite the ‘dolls’ being a disappointment. I’m curious to know how Emma sits, since she is depicted in a lounge chair poolside. Might go all Huw Millington and do vignettes with the girls, assigning their hair pieces to various droids and other figs. 🙂
Mike, yes, I have been seeing the Friends figs in some really “interesting” creations. LEGO fans are definitely experimenting with them! 😈
Really, my first impression was to build a cage of some sort to put all the dolls in…but that discussion is probably not appropriate for this forum…at least I’m not trying to burn them a la my experience with Max and Tina….
UPDATE: LEGO Friends are now available! See here: LEGO Friends Available Now! Enjoy! 😉
I just bought my first set last night (Emma’s fashion design studio)and I had the best time buliding it!It would be really cool if they had a beach side and something with surf boards,since I love surfing!(even though I can’t!)I am only 11 years old and would love too see stuff like that!
Meghan, I’m glad you enjoyed your set! Please note that Friends in beach-settings will come later this year. 😉
Cool!I can’t wait!
Good review, I will visit your you again after here.