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2013 LEGO Sets: LEGO Friends – more coming!

by Thita (admin) on October 24, 2012

Below I will show you the upcoming 2013 LEGO Friends sets, but I also wanted to give you a little bit of update on LEGO Friends. Remember all the controversy, doubt and even outrage about the new LEGO theme for girls? Yeah, it seems like a long time ago. LEGO Friends in fact blew away the naysayers with their sweet smiles and pretty colors. Go girls! 🙂

LEGO recently published a press-release with their 2012 half-year results. Even the title is telling: “Successful launch of LEGO Friends. New products targeting girls have sold twice as well as expected, and contribute to an exceptional interim report for the LEGO Group.” You can read the whole press-release here, but here is the section related to LEGO Friends:

The year’s big launch – LEGO Friends, a product line targeted for girls – has done amazingly well since its launch in January. The Group sold twice as many LEGO Friends sets as expected during the first six months of the year. It has therefore increased production to meet the demand for LEGO Friends in the important Christmas period. Reflecting on the launch of LEGO Friends, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp says: “LEGO Friends is a result of four years’ development, and it has been amazing to experience the enthusiastic welcome that consumers have given the new range. Sales have been quite astonishing. With LEGO Friends we’ve managed to make creative construction toys more relevant for girls – and we look forward to developing the product line further in the years ahead.”

And now let’s see what to expect in 2013 for LEGO Friends. There are 8 new LEGO Friends sets scheduled to be released in January. There is no really large set in this wave, but more small to medium affordable sets with one or two Friends enjoying various hobbies. As usual each set comes with lots of lovely accessories. There is also a new line of small LEGO Friends Collectible packets that include even more accessories, but no Friend minifigures. Basically this is a great way to get extra parts, cute animals, etc.

➡ #41000 LEGO Friends Watercrafting Fun – small set with a jet-ski and a girl whom I believe is Andrea.

➡ #41001 LEGO Friends Mia’s Magic Tricks – small set with Mia dressed as a magician and a little magic stage. I believe the stars on the stage are new parts and will be very useful for making starry skies!

➡ #41002 LEGO Friends Emma’s Karate Class – small set with Emma in a karate uniform breaking boards. Girl power! I’m not sure what the little tree is for… maybe a bonsai? Also, adding the Ninjago kendo helmet is interesting to say the least – although it could fit on Emma’s head if her hair-piece is removed, she would look absolutely terrible. It is really not a helmet meant for the Friends line. 😕

➡ #41003 LEGO Friends Olivia’s Newborn Foal – small set with Olivia, her pony and a barrelful of purple accessory goodness.

➡ #41004 LEGO Friends Rehearsal Stage – a bit larger set with Stephanie doing dance-rehearsals. There is also a small make-up table, and notice the new guitar at the back!

➡ #41007 LEGO Friends Heartlake Pet Salon – one of the bit larger sets with Emma taking her puppy to the pet salon. The other minifigure is Joanna who works at the pet salon. She comes with a new hair-piece! Yay!

➡ #41008 LEGO Friends Heartlake City Pool – this is the largest of the January LEGO Friends sets. It includes a public pool with a slide, a Jacuzzi, basketball hoop, a shower, and lots of other fun things for Andrea and Isabella (the two minifigs included). Oh, and it appears there is a new ice-cream cone!

➡ #41011 LEGO Friends Stephanie’s Soccer Practice – another small set with Stephanie, her puppy, and some soccer practice accessories.

➡ #41017 LEGO Friends Squirrels Tree House – small set with a squirrel and a cute tree-house. (The squirrels in my back-yard are getting jealous! They don’t have houses like this!)

➡ #41018 LEGO Friends Cat’s Playground – cute little kitty and giant fish at a playground. I wonder how this is going to turn out…

➡ #41019 LEGO Friends Turtle’s Little Oasis – that turtle is just adorable! Also, it is nice to see that old LEGO clam-shell again!

➡ #41022 LEGO Friends Bunny’s Hutch – bunny, carrot, little bunny house – can’t go wrong with that!

There are a few more sets with pictures not yet released: #41013 LEGO Friends Car, and #41020 LEGO Friends Collectibles Hedgehog’s Hideaway and #41021 LEGO Friends Collectibles Poodle’s Little Palace. All in all this is shaping up to be another nice wave of LEGO Friends sets. And none of these seems to be a wallet-breaker – which is appreciated in the current state of the economy.

If you would like to check out the currently available LEGO Friends sets, you can visit the Online LEGO Shop. Both the first and second wave of LEGO Friends sets are still available (23 sets in total), and with free shipping and double VIP points this month, it is the perfect time to pick them up for the holidays for your kiddies or yourself!

What do you think? How do you like the 2013 LEGO Friends sets? Are you planning to get any of them? Which one is your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comment section below! 😉

You may also like to visit the LEGO Friends section for more news, reviews and discussions, or select from the following related posts:

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Build a LEGO Halloween Pumpkin!

by Thita (admin) on October 23, 2012

in Building Techniques

Here is a fun LEGO Halloween project that you might want to try! A LEGO Halloween pumpkin! The LEGO pumpkin only requires basic bricks and slopes, so if you have a decent LEGO collection you should have no problem building one. Mine turned out to be a bit rainbow colored as I didn’t have that many orange bricks, but building the LEGO pumpkin was still a fun challenge.

Here is a list of elements you will need to build your LEGO pumpkin, but please keep in mind that you can substitute many of them (for example instead of using a 2×8 brick you can use two 2×4 bricks or two 1×8 bricks). And again; don’t worry about the colors if you don’t have all the orange bricks needed – there is nothing wrong with an all red pumpkin or even a rainbow pumpkin! But if you do want to make your LEGO pumpkin all orange, you can pick up most of the required elements at the Online LEGO Pick-A-Brick section or at your local LEGO store’s Pick-A-Brick wall.

➡ STEP ONE – Building a LEGO Halloween Pumpkin: Although the picture doesn’t show that, I highly recommend building your pumpkin on a LEGO plate. It will be a lot easier to put it together, and if you want you can remove the plate at the end. All you need is a 10×10 plate or larger.

➡ STEP TWO – Building a LEGO Halloween Pumpkin: Now you start stacking up some standard 2×2, 2×3 and 2×4 bricks to start building up your pumpkin. Easy enough so far, right?

➡ STEP THREE – Building a LEGO Halloween Pumpkin: Now you start the next layer or bricks – please note that if you don’t have a 2×8 brick, you will do just fine with two 2×4 bricks, or some other combination.

➡ STEP FOUR – Building a LEGO Halloween Pumpkin: Here is where you will have to start paying close attention as from now on several steps will be included in each step. Notice how the side to your right has been built up before adding the next layer all around.

➡ STEP FIVE – Building a LEGO Halloween Pumpkin: More stacking of LEGO bricks. Again; pay close attention to all sides as there are several steps included here. If you make a mistake, just take it apart to the last step and start again. Hint: the left and ride sides are identical.

➡ STEP SIX – Building a LEGO Halloween Pumpkin: I’m not sure why black is used for the 1×2 bricks as they don’t server any special purpose, nor are they going to be visible at the end. So if you want you can go ahead and use any color. Also, if you don’t have any more of the 2×3 inverted slopes, you can also use some regular 2×3 bricks.

➡ STEP SEVEN – Building a LEGO Halloween Pumpkin: Now you are starting to build up the top of the pumpkin, and also start shaping the face. Again; if you don’t have any 2×8 bricks, two 2×4 bricks, or two 1×8 bricks will work just fine.

➡ STEP EIGHT – Building a LEGO Halloween Pumpkin: Here you finish the nose and eyes and start building up the top. If you don’t have enough 2×2 inverted slopes, 1×2 inverted slopes work just as well. Notice that at the top you are starting to add the finishing slopes. Although you can’t see it clearly because the slopes are facing the back, the one in the middle is a 2×3 slope, and the other two are 2×2 slopes. Also notice that there is a gap at the top that will be covered in the next step.

➡ STEP NINE – Building a LEGO Halloween Pumpkin: And there you have it! A LEGO pumpkin with a big grin! You can top it off with a green, tan, or other color stem, and if you have a LEGO light-brick you can place it inside for some great effect! Now how about building another one?

So what do you think? How did your LEGO pumpkin turn out? How about building an even bigger one? Or a tiny one? There is also an official LEGO Halloween set with a pumpkin, a bat and a ghost. It is currently sold out on LEGO’s website, but you should have no difficulty building the characters just from the picture.

You might also like to check out the LEGO Monster Fighters theme for a whole selection of Halloween-ish sets, including an awesome Haunted House. Or select from these post for some more Halloween fun:

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2013 LEGO Sets: LEGO Friends – more coming!

Build a LEGO Halloween Pumpkin!

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