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LEGO Friends catamaran, hospital & more!

Four new LEGO Friends sets were released at the beginning of the month; three focusing on summer activities and watersports, and the largest is a full size and fully equipped hospital – a very rare subject matter in standard LEGO sets. We will look at each of the sets in more detail, so you know what to expect in case you plan to get them. 🙂

#41315 LEGO FRIENDS HEARTLAKE SURF SHOP: This is the smallest of the 2017 summer sets, however it still comes with some nice pieces and details. Number one is the new kayak mould in dark-purple, the very rare baby seal in a new color, Mia in a new outfit, and a couple of nicely decorated surfboards (unfortunately they are stickered, not printed). Here is the official description of the set: The LEGO Friends Heartlake Surf Shop includes a cash register and all kinds of holiday supplies. Hire a range of watersports equipment, from surfboards, a kayak and paddle to flippers and a waterproof camera. Outside there’s a beach area with sun lounger and shower, a jetty with buoys and a rock, which is home to a seal figure. Includes a Mia mini-doll figure in a wetsuit, plus a Velvet the seal figure. 186 pieces. Price: $19.99 – BUY HERE

#41316 LEGO ANDREA’S SPEEDBOAT TRANSPORTER: This set is also focused on watersports, and comes with a great array of nice accessories. Andrea and Emma both wear new outfits (really lovely ones!), there are a couple of hotdogs, a printed acoustic guitar that previously only came in two other sets, and the fairly rare turtle. The color-combination on the beach car is pretty bold for my taste, but the speedboat and the rest of the set is reasonable. Here is the official description: LEGO Friends Andrea’s Speedboat Transporter is the coolest way to cruise the Heartlake coastline by land or sea. The sporty beach car has a trailer and rope for towing, and the speedboat has steering controls and a turning propeller. Enjoy the party scene with a juice bar, beach area, sun loungers and a barbecue. Includes Andrea and Emma mini-doll figures, plus a Bubbles the turtle figure. 309 pieces. Price: $29.99 – BUY HERE

#41317 LEGO FRIENDS SUNSHINE CATAMARAN: This set is similar in size and color-scheme as the #41015 LEGO Friends Dolphin Cruiser from 2013. While the previous ship was definitely very impressive, in some ways the catamaran is even better. It’s amazing how well the space is used both on the outside and inside, which is not an easy feat with a split hull. There is a lot to see here, so make sure you watch the video-review below by JANGBRiCKS to see all the excellent features. Here is the official description: Take a luxury cruise on the LEGO Friends Sunshine Catamaran, with a sun deck, pool, bridge, slide, spiral stairs, garage and sliding doors into the living quarters. Lift the top off the boat for easy access to the kitchen, bedrooms and lounge with a clear bottom. Use the personal water scooter to pull the banana boat or inflatable ring, and play with the friendly dolphin all day long. Includes 3 mini-doll figures: Olivia, Stephanie and Liam, plus Sheen and Sapphire the dolphin figures. Catamaran with sail measures over 12” (32cm) high, 11” (29cm) long and 6” (17cm) wide. 603 pieces. Price: $69.99 – BUY HERE

#41318 LEGO FRIENDS HEARTLAKE HOSPITAL: I always found it puzzling that LEGO released so few sets related to hospitals and health-care. There has been plenty of fire station and police stations, but only a couple of hospitals in the 1970s and a couple of more in the 1990s. In fact, in the past ten years we only got LEGO DUPLO hospitals meant for very young children (they are super nice though, if you don’t mind playing with bigger bricks). Because of this, the LEGO Friends Hospital has been a big deal for LEGO fans, so much so that the has been on backorder from pretty much the time it was released at the beginning of the month. While the color-scheme is in the typical LEGO Friends style (blues, purples, and pinks), and will need some changes to add to a regular LEGO City diorama, the layout and interior features include everything a proper hospital would need; emergency room, waiting room, examination room, nursery, and even a helicopter landing pad. It’s also worth noting that the hospital is modular, and the different sections could be swapped around. Watch the video-review below to see all the different areas in detail. Here is the official description of the set: The LEGO Friends Heartlake Hospital has 3 floors of medical rooms and equipment to help care for patients. There’s a nursery with crib and weighing scales, an x-ray suite with scanner and lightbox, and an examination room with a bed and microscope for checking samples. The downstairs waiting room has a reception desk and vending machine as well as an emergency entrance for those arriving by ambulance or helicopter. Includes 3 mini-doll figures: Olivia in a nurse’s uniform, Henry and Dr. Patel, plus a newborn baby Ola figure. Hospital measures over 10” (27cm) high, 11” (30cm) wide and 2” (7cm) deep. 871 pieces. Price: $99.99 – BUY HERE

In summary, I would say that all four sets in this wave are really well designed. The first three sets have plenty of play-features and building pieces to work on their own, and they could also be combined with each other, and with previous watersports sets, for a larger layout. And the hospital is an amazing set all on its own. You can find all the new sets under the LEGO Friends section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? How do you like the new LEGO Friends sets? Do you have any of them already? Or are you planning to get them? Feel free to share your thoughts and own review in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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How fan films shaped The LEGO Movie…

Last week Vox Media released a very interesting documentary about how fan-created stop-motion films shaped The LEGO Movie and other official LEGO animations. The LEGO Movie was not just an amazing animation feat, but it was also built on the legacy of homemade fan movies. Throughout The LEGO Movie, there are many subtle and not-so-subtle references to the sometimes-inspiring, sometimes-confusing relationship between the LEGO company and their fans. 🙂

When you watch installments of the Warner Bros. line of LEGO movies (The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie, and the upcoming LEGO Ninjago Movie), it’s hard not to be struck by how realistic the animation is. It isn’t quite traditional stop-motion, but it sure looks as if it could be. In fact, there was quite a bit of debate amongst fans when The LEGO Movie trailers came out. Some people thought the movie was going to be all stop-motion, some people said it was all CGI, while others believed it was a mixture of both.

According to Grant Freckelton, production designer at Animal Logic, a Sydney-based visual effects studio that worked on all three of the movies, the films are almost completely CGI. However, while previous official LEGO films fought against the characteristics of the physical toy itself and it was obvious that CGI was used, animators at Animal Logic respected these perceived limitations and embraced the rules of stop-motion animation.

Animal Logic animators working on The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie, and The LEGO Ninjago Movie spent a lot of time studying fan created stop-motion films to discover what made them so charming. It turns out that they are so good because they are so simple. Since the early 1970s, kids have made home movies with their own LEGO sets, some very basic equipment, and stop-motion animation techniques that they discovered along the way. The documentary references many of these early brickfilms, as you will see below (just hit the play button to watch).

Because of the CGI animation that faithfully mimics stop-motion films, you can freeze-frame pretty much any part of The LEGO Movie, look at the scene and build it at home from real LEGO bricks. That’s very impressive! I really like this quote from the documentary: “We were always trying to echo and hark back to how a child might make a film. So we would alternate between thinking like responsible filmmakers working on a large-budget Warner Brothers animated film, and then we would suddenly approach a scene as if we were like a kid animating in their basement.”

It was also interesting to hear about the two young Danish cousins who shot a short film called Journey to the Moon for the 50th wedding anniversary of their grandparents. This film is still widely considered to be the first time anyone made a motion picture with LEGO bricks. As this was in 1973, they didn’t even have minifigs to work with! When the two boys sent their movie to the managing director of the LEGO Group, they were rewarded with a tour of the LEGO factory and sent home with large LEGO sets. There are a number of references to Journey to the Moon in The LEGO Movie, including the playful non-stop motion interludes (i.e. levitation via fishing line), which were part of Journey to the Moon long before they appeared in The LEGO Movie.

However, as explained in the documentary, LEGO didn’t always have the most positive reaction to homemade fan films. Between 1985 and 1989, a teenage animator named Lindsay Fleay worked on a 16-minute short called The Magic Portal. He used borrowed equipment to shoot it in his parents’ basement. Before entering festivals and competitions, Fleay sent the film to LEGO to see if they were interested in doing something with it. At first, LEGO responded with a letter of approval, but soon, the company started expressing legal concerns and issued a letter demanding Fleay to surrender all copies of the film within seven days. LEGO ultimately backed down, but Fleay had already missed out on most major film festivals by then. Fleay actually went on to work at Animal Logic, but left before production on LEGO projects began. However, his movie had a huge influence on the world of brickfilms. As stated in the documentary, “If you look at the live-action portion of The LEGO Movie, you’ll see Finn, the little kid, holds up a sort of cardboard tube and across the side is written Magic Portal.” Even the final break from the LEGO world into the real world to meet a human creator parallels The Magic Portal really closely.

The last part of the documentary is also very touching, when Emmet from The LEGO Movie is quoted saying “Look at all these things that people built!” with four fan-created clips and shorts. Even though it’s easy to miss this scene on-screen, it is a wonderful tribute to fan films. And, as it said in the documentary, The LEGO Movie embraced the idea that amateur creators matter, and sometimes the way they handle source material is far better than the way major studios are used to doing it. That’s so true!

It’s hard to imagine what The LEGO Movie would be if it weren’t for the legacy, dedication and experiments of LEGO fans and brickfilmers. This documentary can make you appreciate The LEGO Movie even more, and it’s fun to look for all the hidden Easter eggs that reference fan films. In case you are interested to check them out, here is a list of some of the brickfilms referred to in the documentary:

What do you think? How did you like this look at how fan films shaped The LEGO Movie? Did you learn any interesting details that you weren’t aware of before? Are there any other Easter eggs you have noticed in the film? Feel free to share your own findings in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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