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LEGO Friends undergo plastic surgery…

by on January 20, 2012
in LEGO Customization

The new LEGO Friends theme certainly gathered plenty of attention not just from the target audience of little girls, but also from parents, feminists, the media, and adult LEGO fans. It seems like LEGO Friends has been successful so far with both children and parents, feminists quieted down, and adult LEGO fans appreciate the new line for the unique colors and accessories. 🙂

But what to do with those unconventional skinny-curvy-non-LEGO-ish Friends figurines? Just give the problem to some of the most skilled and fearless LEGO customizers and you will see LEGO Friends in a completely new light! WARNING! if you likely faint at the sight of severed body-parts (even if they are only plastic) skip this post! It is not going to be pretty! 😈

➡ ANATOMY OF THE LEGO FRIENDS FIGURES

The LEGO Friends figures come in four parts, similar to regular LEGO minifigures: leg-assembly, torso-assembly, head and headgear.  The head is similar in size to regular LEGO minifigure head, but with a pointy chin. The connection post on the torso is much smaller than on a regular LEGO minifigures (it is the same size as a LEGO lightsaber-blade).  Other differences are that on LEGO Friends the legs cannot move freely from each other, and the hands are not movable separately from the arms. The hair pieces are interchangeable with regular LEGO minifigure headgear.

Experimenting with LEGO Friends by Brandon Bannerman

➡ WORKING ON THE IMMOVABLE HANDS ISSUE

The LEGO Friends figures’ hands are not movable separately from their arms, therefore they can only hold tools and accessories in just one way. Quite limiting from a LEGO fan’s perspective. Flickr member Brandon Bannerman (Catsy) solved this problem with a beautiful and seamless design. He says: “I glued a paper-clip into a regular LEGO minifig hand, parallel to how the peg usually sticks out so that the angle of the wrist would be preserved. They’re inside the Friends figure’s arms by friction. I’m very pleased with both the length of the arm and the gaps between the hands and the arms (which are only slightly larger than the usual seams). Once the arms are painted, the gaps largely disappear in the illusion of being sleeve-cuffs.”

LEGO Friends arms customization by Brandon Bannerman

➡ WORKING ON THE IMMOVABLE LEGS ISSUE

One other major issue with the LEGO Friends figures is that the legs cannot move separately – thereby severely limiting the poseability of the figures. Below you can see Flickr member Lisa (DarkDragon) trying to work around this problem. She says: “I split up the Friends figure’s legs and modified them to fit on standard minifig hips. Obviously I needed to majorly modified the hips too (the top only, not where the legs connect). It needs a little more refinement to be perfect, but I think this works well and honestly I can’t understand why LEGO didn’t create them this way in the first place.”

LEGO Friends legs customization by DarkDragon

➡ WORKING ON THE LEGO FRIENDS FASHION ISSUE

Why only girly outfits? Our LEGO Friends not only feel home at the suburbs of Heartlake City in flowery dresses, but also on the front-lines of any tough occupation. Below you will find Andrea meeting up with her old friends. The creator of these excellently painted LEGO Friends figures is Mike the Builder. You have to agree with me; his painting skills are astonishing! (Especially if you remember how tiny these figures actually are!)

Custom painted LEGO Friends by Mike the Builder

Here is a close-up of one of Mike’s custom painted LEGO Friends figures:

Custom painted LEGO Friends close-up by Mike the Builder

Now, watch out with these girls! After all they have been going through at the hands of LEGO customizers to make them more LEGO-ish, they may do their own experiment on LEGO minifigures to get them into better shape!

LEGO Friends science lab by Rob Bender

If you are a LEGO customizer and would like to share your own ideas and experiments with LEGO Friends, let us know in the comment section below. And if you want to learn more about LEGO Friends, check here:

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New from BrickForge: more printed Centaurs

by on January 19, 2012
in LEGO Customizers

A few months back I shared with you my custom LEGO Centaur with a beautifully printed and fully LEGO-compatible Centaur body from BrickForge, and armor pieces from BrickWarriors. You can check out my Centaur here: Custom LEGO Centaur.

When I bought the Centaur body from BrickForge, there was only one printed variety, and several non-printed ones. Since then BrickForge released a greater variety of Centaurs with stunningly beautiful and detailed prints. The print on the Centaurs are on both sides, and the same quality as printing done by LEGO – including metallic gold and silver colors.

The BrickForge Centaur piece lets you add any LEGO minifigure torso to create your own ancient folk-hero, who would seamlessly blend in to your LEGO world. Additional connection-points on the BrickForge Centaur body allows for equipment storage or seating for a bold equestrian.

Centaurs, according to Greek mythology, were a composite race of creatures – part human and part horse. These strange creatures had the head arms and chest of a man but the legs and lower half of a horse. Some were noble and wise, many were savage and ruthless bringing shame upon their kind. Below is a line-up of the currently available Centaur bodies from BrickForge:

THE BRICKFORGE CENTAUR COURSER: “The Courser is best known for its agility and fleet-of-foot on the battlefield. Covered in light armor the Courser swiftly sweeps in and out of the advancing lines – effectively thinning out the enemy ranks with each cut.” – This was the first BrickForge printed Centaur piece – the body is the same as the LEGO tan color and the print is beautiful with a little bit of gold detailing.

THE BRICKFORGE CENTAUR DESTRIDER: “Destriders are the accomplished champions of the tribe. Boasting brute strength and unmatched tenacity, their extensive skills with close-combat weapons make them quite the force on the battlefield.” – The body of this Centaur is black with light-armor printing on both sides. The sheath for the little dagger is really sweet, so is the leg decoration.

THE BRICKFORGE CENTAUR CHARGER: “Chargers belong to the heavily armored melee class. Their knowledge of tactics and composed discipline make them great field-captains and dedicated soldiers. Their famous ‘stampede’ formation will crush any counter-assault and press a fleeing army with hoof prints.” – The beautiful silver-armor printing on this Centaur is available on 3 body-colors: tan, dark-tan and reddish brown. If you want to build a Centaur army with a nice variety, these are the parts for you! (Click on the images for larger view.)

THE BRICKFORGE CENTAUR STORMER: “The Stormer represents the tribe’s spiritual fortitude and well-being. At times of peace their council is crucial for keeping balance between the tribes. At times of war they are often seen on the battlefield conjuring protective incantations or offensive nature-spells.” – I absolutely love this Centaur from BrickForge! The color of the printing is close to LEGO’s sand-red, and the little pouch, blue feathers, and silver & gold dagger are just super sweet! Personally I use this torso for my female Centaur. 😉

If you are a fan of the LEGO castle, or LEGO fantasy themes, I would highly recommend adding at least one of BrickForge’s Centaurs. They are beautiful, solidly designed pieces, fully compatible with LEGO in every way. All of the above Centaur pieces are available at BrickForge’s Online Shop. The un-printed Centaur bodies are $4, and the printed ones are $5. Totally worth it in my opinion. 🙂

If you would like to learn more about BrickForge, check here:

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