The LEGO Ideas team announced back in February that the Central Perk Coffee of Friends project was approved, and will be made into an official LEGO set (see: Latest LEGO Ideas Review Results & More!). The project was originally submitted to the LEGO Ideas platform by French LEGO fan Aymeric Fievet (a.k.a. Mric76) back in the fall of 2016. It achieved the required 10,000 supporters two years later, and since its approval early this year, LEGO’s own designers have been working on refining the model. Today, we can finally see what the official set will look like! You can find the press-release, set description, pictures, and other details below. Check them out and let’s discuss!
Celebrating its 25th anniversary since its debut in 1994, Friends remains one of television’s most beloved series. One of the highest-rated shows on television in its original network run, the series still remains a perennial go-to in syndication and on streaming services, where it continues to be a smash hit worldwide. A favorite among critics and fans alike throughout its 10-season run, Friends not only won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy series, but also garnered Emmy Awards for series stars Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow. From Warner Bros. Television, Friends follows the lives and loves of a close-knit group of friends living in New York City: siblings Ross (David Schwimmer) and Monica Geller (Courteney Cox), along with friends Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) and Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston). Friends was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, who executive produced the series with Kevin Bright through Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.
For any LEGO fans who may feel their building is always stuck in second gear… there is something new coming that’s perfect for you – as famous TV show Friends arrives for fans with the new LEGO Ideas Central Perk set. Celebrate the 25th anniversary of Friends, the legendary American TV sitcom, with this highly collectible LEGO Ideas set! This wonderful LEGO recreation of the café TV studio set is packed with authentic details, making it a must-have Friends memorabilia item for fans. The iconic seating area with a couch, armchair and two chairs for the friends is removable for easy play. And check out the stage where Phoebe performed her songs on guitar (and where Ross once played his keyboard and everyone except Phoebe thought he was terrible). The 7 new-for-September-2019 LEGO toy minifigures of Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey, Phoebe and Central Perk’s long-suffering manager Gunther each come with accessories to role-play famously hilarious scenes. An ideal Friends-themed gift for your own friends and family who love the TV show, this hot toy is great for play and will grab attention when displayed in any room.
The LEGO Ideas fan designer for Central Perk was Aymeric Fievet from Normandy, France, who is passionate about TV series, movies and cartoons, as well as LEGO products. When designing the Central Perk set, Aymeric said, “The challenge was to visualize passages of the series to allow me to recreate the furniture and the characters in as much detail as possible. The assembly of this model took me about a week after finding the necessary references. During the voting period, the set was changed several times!” LEGO Ideas offers fans the opportunity to submit their own brick creations with the chance to have their concept brought to life with the help of LEGO master designers and a share of the profits.
- This LEGO Ideas set includes 7 new-for-September-2019 minifigures: Ross Geller, Rachel Green, Chandler Bing, Monica Geller, Joey Tribbiani, Phoebe Buffay and Gunther.
- The Central Perk café construction toy features the iconic main seating area including a sofa, armchair, two chairs, and a table. The service area features a brick-built coffee machine, service counter, cash register, cookie jar with two cookie elements, menu board element, and other authentic items. A stage for musical performances with a sofa is also included, as well as extra seats and tables. The 3 pillar (lamppost) elements are in a new-for-September-2019 dark-green color. There is also an umbrella stand with two umbrella elements, window with ‘CENTRAL PERK’ logo decoration, entrance doors, and two brick-built TV studio light rigs with translucent light-style elements.
- The seating area for the show’s star characters is removable for easy play.
- The minifigures each have their own items inspired by the TV series, including Ross’s brick-built keyboard, Rachel’s tray and coffee cup, Monica’s muffin, Joey’s pizza box, pizza slice and ‘man bag’, Chandler’s laptop, Phoebe’s guitar, and Gunther’s broom.
- Other accessory elements in this café playset include a newspaper, 15 coffee cups, a ‘Reserved’ sign, and 3 vases and buildable flowers.
- Set comes with a booklet with building instructions and information about the fan creator and LEGO designer.
- Measures over 4” (11cm) high, 11” (29cm) wide and 8” (22cm) deep.
- Recommended for ages 16+.
- Includes 1,070 pieces.
Below are a few more pictures of the set, showing you some additional details of both the interior and the exterior. I assume that the decorated pieces are printed, as usual in LEGO Ideas sets, although we won’t know for sure until the set is released.
The #21319 LEGO Ideas Central Perk set will be available directly from LEGO from September 1st, 2019. Prices are as follows: US $59.99 – CA $89.99 – DE €69.99 – UK £64.99 – FR €59.99 – DK 649DKK (Euro pricing varies by country). For more pictures, details, and to purchase the set, visit the LEGO Ideas section of the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? How do you like the #21319 LEGO Ideas Central Perk set? Is this a project you voted for? Do you like the details, minifigures, and accessories? Are you planning to purchase the set? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below!
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Suddenly I have this image of a ‘companion model’ of sorts based on Seinfeld. Little Lego minifigs of Jerry, Kramer, George and Elaine in Jerry’s apartment… in this case literally doing nothing! 🙂
They did a great job with what otherwise could have been a boring set. I see some great colors and building techniques. And the minifigs are spot on. And am I reading that right? $60 for a 1070-piece set? That’s an incredible price!
It’s better than I expected. I have zero interest in the sitcom, but the set has some good parts and the minifigs are generic enough to use in mocs. I’m still surprised because as far as I know the very similar Big Bang Theory set didn’t do very well.
Not bad at all! I don’t care for the show, but like others, I like the pieces and minifigs. I could use those dark green lamposts for sure!
This is far better than Big Bang Theory. I like it! And the price is crazy good. I’m curious if they used any stickers at all or if the decorated pieces are all printed.
The minifigs are awesome. I look at this set as a giant parts-pack. So many great pieces here!
Not bad at all. The dark green window and door frames are especially welcome. Great set for parts for sure. I’m amazed by the price.
Don’t know anything about the show but there are some really nice building techniques in this set – notably the rugs and that angled platform. This must be one of the most thorough-going interior LEGO sets ever; it really does look like a movie set!
I agree that the interior and the techniques are really good. Far better than the Big Bang Theory. That one had some nice techniques for the furniture and accessories, but the walls were very plain.
I have so many sets lined up on my ” things to buy list” that this is getting a bit overwhelming. I like this set but, I’m going to wait on this one. Oh, I did managed to get the ideas treehouse set. It’s an early birthday gift. 😁
Oh, you got the treehouse?! Nice! I have to set up a whole separate shelf for it as it is so big! 😀
I have zero interest in the show, but the set is good! So many great parts and techniques.
Lego Pop Trivia of the Week.
Before the Lego F·R·I·E·N·D·S set, and the Lego Friends theme, there was the Lego Friends game (CD-ROM produced by the Russian Company Ivanoff in 1999).
This game was based on the Scala theme, and featured the teenager band Tuff Stuff trying to break through in small town Sunnyville. However, the CD-ROM also included clips with the real British band Loose Chippins, who thought that it could be a good career move. Loose Chippins also released a single (that failed to chart) with a cover of the song “I’ll Be There For You”, originally performed by The Rembrandts, best known as the… theme song for the popular American sitcom F·R·I·E·N·D·S.
(And I feel like we’ve gone full circle.)
Ahhh, thank you! I love trivia like this! 😀
That’s so cool! You should write an article about it. I want to see pictures.
Mind blown!
It might be easier writing something, when you could just sprinkle a bunch of YouTube videos throughout, though…
Off topic, I’ve heard stories about how difficult it is to build the treehouse. Is really that difficult? I mean it can’t be as difficult as building both of the ninjago movie city sets. Is it?
There is some interesting stuff going on when building the trunk. Things are going in all kinds of directions, so you do have to pay attention. I wrote about this in my review. But it’s not as difficult as building a large Technic set. And the instructions are very good with color coding to make sure you see what goes where. It’s a very interesting build.
Thanks, I read the article about building the tree and the steps it takes. I also went on YouTube and watch they Speed Build of the treehouse. It seems very self-explanatory and if I pay close attention to what I’m doing I’m sure it will go well. ( technically don’t have it yet it’s in the house but it’s a birthday present that I won’t get it until next week. But, I knew what I was getting .)