LEGO Friends has been out now for a couple of years, and it has established itself as one of the most popular LEGO themes. And not just with little girls but adult LEGO fans as well. LEGO Friends introduced a lot of pretty new colors, unique accessories, and the somewhat controversial but still very cute mini-dolls. 🙂
If you like to build your own custom LEGO models the new colors and accessories provide a lot of possibilities, and in fact many LEGO fans use them in their own creations. However there is also a new breed of LEGO fans emerging; these creative people are not just incorporating LEGO Friends elements into their own creations, but fully focus on LEGO Friends and greatly expanding on the theme. They are wholly embracing what LEGO Friends has to offer and effectively bringing the line into the big boys/big girls club. Today I will show you the creations of two such members of the LEGO community.
➡ LEGO FRIENDS RAINBOW HOLIDAY CENTER: This lovely LEGO diorama was built by Anne Mette Vestergård from Denmark. It was built as an exhibit for Friends Days at the LEGOLAND Park in Billund, Denmark. She tried to use as many LEGO colors as possible, which you can especially see at the arrangement of the houses. She used over 60 different LEGO colors!
What is interesting to see is not just the rainbow of colors, but also how well the LEGO Friends characters and their favorite activities (picnics, water-sports, horseback riding, etc.) all fit in a fully developed LEGO diorama. Here I share a few pictures with you, and you can see a lot more at Anne’s flickr gallery here: LEGO FRIENDS RAINBOW HOLIDAY CENTER
➡ LEGO FRIENDS MODULAR STREET: This charming street-scene is built in the style of the LEGO Modular Buildings, but with the vibrant colors and mini-dolls of LEGO Friends. It was created by Kristel from Australia, who built the street for her daughter.
Kristel has been experimenting with and reviewing LEGO Friends sets from the time they were first released. In fact, she also provides step-by-step building instructions for all of the LEGO Friends Modular Buildings as well as other LEGO Modular Houses at ModularsByKristel.com. And you can also visit Kristel’s flickr gallery for more pictures of both the exterior and the interior of the houses as well as other lovely LEGO Friends creations: LEGO FRIENDS MODULAR STREET & MORE
➡ MORE LEGO FRIENDS CREATIONS: There are many more LEGO Friends creations that fans of the theme have been building. As I mentioned, some people build LEGO Friends part-time and some have embraced the theme as their full-time hobby. In fact I know several adult LEGO fans who declare the theme as their most favorite, and I expect that there will be a lot more, as a whole new generation grows up with LEGO Friends as their favorite childhood pastime. If you would like to see some other wonderful LEGO Friends creations, check out this article I wrote previously: LEGO Friends in the Neighborhood…
If you are interested to explore LEGO Friends, there is a huge range of sets available. The most recently introduced sub-theme is the LEGO Friends Jungle sets, with lots of cute animals, tree-houses and forest scenes. You can check them out all at the LEGO Friends section of the Online LEGO Shop.
So what do you think? How do you like the LEGO Friends theme? Have you considered building fully in this style? Or have you incorporated LEGO Friends colors, accessories and characters in your other LEGO creations? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
And you might also like to check out the LEGO Friends section for more news, reviews and discussions, or select from the following related posts:
- LEGO Friends in the Neighborhood…
- LEGO Friends Jungle Sets & More!
- LEGO Friends Summer Sets Reviews
- LEGO Friends: Dolphin Cruise TV Show
- LEGO Friends Video-Game Available Now!
- LEGO Friends Mini-Dolls to Minifigs Conversion
- LEGO Friends Undergo Plastic Surgery…
- LEGO Friends – Looking Good with Any Style!
They look cool. I see those modulars are themed from buildings in the sets, just enlarged.
I myself have no Friends, but I’m considering getting a few for the great pieces they come with. Especially that Jungle Bridge Rescue, for the Strap 12M. But the Mini dolls are gonna need a prison cell with the Imposters, if my brothers can ever get their train system. 😕
Also, how many clones are in that holiday town? Or are the figures mis-matched? 😐
By clones you mean other brands? There isn’t any as far as I know. Those are all LEGO Friends figures (plus a few hidden regular minifigs). And yes, you can mix up Friends figures just like regular minifigs by changing up the torsos, legs, heads, hair pieces, etc. Plus there is a very large variety of LEGO Friends mini-dolls that have been released. BrickLink lists something like 90. Sorry to hear that you have no Friends. 😉
No, Clones = Identical LEGO Minifigs/minidolls. Just the same minifigure, either from different sets or two of the same. I use the term “Imposter” for other brands. 😀 I use “Clone” since SW Clone minifigs are identical to each other. 😉
Very funny remark about Friends, though unfortunately it is literally true. 😕 But regarding sets, if I ever have enough money, I want to get Mia’s Lemonade Stand, Heartlake Juice Bar, and Jungle Bridge Rescue. 🙂
Those are very cool looking I might do something like the rainbow holiday center but with minifig instead of minidolls
I love the water in the middle of the first MOC! Any idea on the colors used on the top and underneath to achieve this effect? Very nice.
Andy, it is a pretty commonly used effect for water. Here is a closer picture of the lake: https://www.flickr.com/photos/74909731@N02/14774903173/sizes/o/in/photostream/. It appears that the top layer and the bubbles are trans-light-blue, and the colors to create the layers beneath it is dark-blue in the center of the lake, regular blue as you get closer, and white under the closest layer near the banks. Quad wrote an extensive article on LEGO water techniques where he also mentions various layering options: http://thebrickblogger.com/2011/11/lego-building-technique-lego-water/
60 colors. That’s pretty impressive. Are all these colors currently in production?
That’s a good question. I’m not sure, but we could probably figure it out by studying the pictures. I would first start with the houses then go from there. I don’t have time right now, but I may do it later as it sounds like a fun thing to check. Most LEGO MOC-ers though treat BrickLink as their personal LEGO stash and don’t really care if a color is out of production or not. They just use whatever fits their MOC. 😉
I find it complicated to cross-reference BrickLink to Lego’s official palettes, but it seems to be very few useful pieces in reddish-orange. Seems like most of the other mid-primaries are in production. Teal/ turqoise/ cyan might have been phased out, though…
Seems like Red, Yellow and Blue are primary colors, Orange, Green and Purple are secondary colors, and the six “mid-primaries” are tertiary colors…
http://www.l3go.bugge.com/articles/design/colour/coloursA4.php
Hakan, the issue with LEGO’s official color-palette is that they ignore discontinued colors and re-use the color names. Therefore it is impossible for a site like BrickLink to stick with only the official names as sellers sell both old and new colors – there is a huge demand for colors like old dark-gray, old light-gray, old brown, teal, those beautiful sand colors no longer in production as well as many other colors that have been retired. It is worth studying the BrickLink color-chart as you can find many wonderful trasures: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogColors.asp. BTW, it was Mark Stafford who killed teal. 😉
Mark Stafford, yeah, poor guy… I heard about it…
Anyway, I thought about building some rainbowish houses, and it would be nice to have some more tertiaries for gradients and added highlights… I saw some mention of a “reddish orange” color, but I couldn’t understand what BL color it corresponded to… Maybe salmon, but salmon has next to no useful parts… =/
Yeah, salmon is one of my favorite LEGO colors, but it is discontinued and, as you said, not much is available in that color. Reddish-orange… is that parhaps what BL calls dark-orange? It is a very nice, terracotta-type color. The LEGO Modular Town Hall is basically built of it. Is that what you are thinking of?
I think the Reddish Orange color was mentioned on Brickipedia or Lego Digital Designer, but I didn’t understand what it corresponded to.
http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/Colour_Palette
I have an interest for colors, particularly rare ones…
Bright girl colors are nice.
I also collect colors, both for my own reference and for my BL shop (to make sure I have the parts listed right.) You might want to talk with Maxx, as he is an expert on the subject and he has the largest selection of rare and very unusual LEGO colors.
I’m not sure about the LDD color’s correspondence with BL colors. When I use LDD I tend to just use the color that looks closest to what I want my MOC to look like. Since it is not possible to order elements through LDD any more it doesn’t really matter what they call the colors. But I did check out the link you mentioned and I see that they list a Bright-Reddish-Orange, and a Flame-Reddish-Orange. I wonder if they are actually referring to those transparent oranges flame pieces come in.
Off-topic, but this is pretty funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW9EER4agjU . Any thoughts, anyone? 🙂
The ending was the best and I wonder if loyd wasn’t originally the green ninja
Yeah, I watched it a few days ago. In fact I’m planning ot post it this upcoming week here as well so we can discuss. It is funny. 🙂
But is it as funny as this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZrJPiq9QGM So well reasoned. 😀
Yes, Kevin told me about the video a couple of days ago. He always alerts me when he has a new video posted. Poor eagles! 😕
I like the builds and the colors. I might do something similar at some point like someone else said but use regular Lego minifigures. It could be the re-emergence of Paradisa but on steroids. BTW, I picked up some of the “girl” colors and brighter colors at The Lego Store in Santa Clara after the con. Also finally picked up the Ghostbusters set so I’m excited about that. Don’t know when I’ll post about the con and all my my pictures on the blog but it should be some time this week I assume. Next: gunning for the Fairground Mixer next paycheck after seeing some carnival rides at BBTB and having gone to Great America. I earned a $5 with my purchase today. Is it best to use those as soon as you get them or stockpile until you can get something pretty much for free?
You earned $5 from VIP points? I would recommend saving those up until you can get $20+ off a larger set. 😉
Kim, sounds like you got a nice PAB-wall haul, and yes, the Ghostbusters set is really fun. Just drop a note there when you have your con report ready. Would love to read it. As far as VIP points, it doesn’t really matter when you use them as it is not like you will get more points if you save them up or anything, nor do you earn interest on them. Just keep in mind that all VIP Points expire on December 31st two years after the year in which they were earned, other than that you can save them up for a big purchase, or use them every time you got them. 😉
Bright girl colors are nice. Any cool or useful parts?
James wrote an article about the updated PAB Wall with pictures and a list of all the new items in the girly colors. Now PAB Walls all have the same selection, so you might want to check that out: http://thebrickblogger.com/2014/07/lego-pick-a-brick-wall-updated-selection/
Cool! Will pin this.