With all the exciting new releases since the beginning of the year, we haven’t yet had the time to discuss the new LEGO Friends sets in detail. However, there are some great sets in the collection worth checking out. So, let’s take a closer look. 🙂
Last year, the LEGO Friends design team rebooted the LEGO Friends characters with new features, graphics, and colors for each of the original five friends: Andrea, Emma, Mia, Olivia, Stephanie (we discussed these changes in detail here: Response from LEGO About 2018 LEGO Friends). One of the other changes that happened at that time is that now the sets consistently match the color-scheme/favorite color of each of the girls. So, even when you look at a set from a distance, you can tell which of the friends it’s related to. This might sound unnecessary to adult LEGO fans, but children do like to pick their favorite characters and be able to identify them by color. LEGO Ninjago also has consistent colors for all the main ninjas and they are often referred to by their color instead of their name.
Some of the most obviously color-coded new sets are the LEGO Friends Heart Boxes. These are basically brick-built jewelry/trinket/treasure boxes with a removable lid. They each come with one of the five friends, some accessories, and a printed nameplate. Andrea’s box is bright-light-orange, dark-turquoise, and magenta. Emma’s box is medium-lavender, dark-purple, and light-aqua. Mia’s box is lime-green, dark-purple, and dark-azure. Olivia box is dark-pink, bright-light-yellow, and dark Azure. And Stephanie’s box is medium-azure, dark-blue and bright-pink. The heart boxes are only $7.99 each, and if you like to play around with beautiful colors, they are a great resource! You can even stakc them up! Besides the five LEGO Heart Boxes, there is also the larger #41359 LEGO Heart Box Friendship Pack with a large and small heart box (different sizes than in the other sets), lots of accessories, and two mini-dolls (Olivia and Vicki). This set is $19.99. You can find the whole collection at the LEGO Friends section of the Online LEGO Shop.
The friends also get some small sets based on their favorite activities. The #41360 LEGO Friends Emma’s Mobile Veterinary Clinic includes a small vehicle and veterinary accessories. Mia gets two sets; the #41361 LEGO Friends Mia’s Foal Stable, and the #41363 LEGO Friends Mia’s Forest Adventures. The #41364 LEGO Friends Stephanie’s Buggy & Trailer includes many accessories for outdoor adventures. And the #41383 LEGO Friends Olivia’s Hamster Playground is a fun little set including three adorable hamsters in three different colors! All of these sets are also available at the LEGO Friends section of the Online LEGO Shop.
Although there are no real large sets in the early 2019 LEGO Friends collection, there are some nice medium-size sets. One of my favorites is the two-story #41365 LEGO Friends Emma’s Art Studio featuring an art shop downstairs (with art pieces and creative supplies to buy), an upstairs studio (with a mini easel stand, paint pots and turning sculptor’s wheel), and a roof terrace café with a table and umbrella. The decorative stickers are also very pretty in this set and could potentially be used in other creations.
My other favorite set in this wave is the #41369 LEGO Friends Mia’s House. The set features a two-story cabin-style house including Mia’s bedroom (with bunk bed, desk, and chair), living room, bathroom (with sink and toilet, but no shower), and a well-equipped kitchen. There’s also a climbing wall with a hidden entrance to Mia’s bedroom, and a well outside with a bucket. The three mini-dolls are Mia, her mom Ann, and her dad Angus. A bunny and a LEGO Friends style horse are also included.
Three other medium-size sets are the #41366 LEGO Friends Olivia’s Cupcake Café, the #41367 LEGO Friends Stephanie’s Obstacle Course (for horses, not people), and the #41368 LEGO Friend’s Andrea’s Talent Show. We have seen previous versions of these sets, so they don’t stand out as that interesting, but they are still great sets – especially if you missed out on the previous ones. You can find them all at the LEGO Friends section of the Online LEGO Shop.
While none of the new LEGO Friends sets are large or super unique, they continue to offer great play-value to young children, and adult LEGO fans who enjoy the unique colors and accessories. The only thing I’m sad about is that LEGO Elves, the fantasy off-shoot of LEGO Friends, is now discontinued. That was another great collection with beautiful colors, animals, and accessories. Hopefully, it will be replaced with something equally magical…
What do you think? How do you like the new LEGO Friends sets? Do you have some of them already? Which one is your favorite? Feel free to share your thoughts and own reviews in the comment section below! 😉
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