Support NeoGAF

[BentBricks]

I hate to agree with an article on Huffington Post, but the marketing of the Friends set does gross me out. The ad from the early 80s is significantly better and more progressive.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/lego-ad-1981_n_4617704.html

I definitely like that ad. But my business side understands Friends. If LEGO sets were flying off the shelves by girls, I'm sure LEGO would have continued with this message and not have a need to customize sets by gender. It is a bit sad LEGO gave up on some of their ideals, but I do believe they tried their best. Just as LEGO has compromised on their quality, business side often will win.

There is a feminist video slamming LEGO on Friends and their move away from ads and ideal such as above. The question is with the success of Friends, did LEGO shape girls minds or did it give what girls really want? IMO, LEGO just is going with the flow (sure you can call it selling out). Great business move; not a great move for society. What I say is, gimme more LEGO!

Found the videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrmRxGLn0Bk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe65EGkB9kA

 

[Vyer]

You know i'm a big LoTR fan and just to show how much the first trailers got me hyped I was short on money around christmas to see Hobbit and I got a gift card from my aunt for Regal Cinemas and I saved it instead saying "No, i'm going to use this for Lego Movie"

Admittedly my friends telling me how disappointed they were in Hobbit Smaug helped with that decison, but still.

If you watch the trailers closely you can see some of the unreleased sets. The 2nd trailer I believe theres a part where Emmett is talking about how he can't be the special and if you look at the background you can tell they are on the Sea Cow. The newest ones has him in his mech smashing things.

Your friends were disappointed in Smaug? I thought he was awesome. Unless that's one of those 'not like the book' things I guess.


And yeah, I expect lots of sell outs when the Lego Movie opens.

 

[flyingpig]

LEGO finally got the formula right with Friends. Fabuland and Bellevue were first steps, but Friends sells like hotcakes and is a license to print money. Financially, it is hard to fault LEGO for following up with more Friends and Princess stuff.


Licenses and television tie-ins have clearly won out over buckets of generic blocks. That ad is constantly cited as some sort of ideal of LEGO creativity, but it just doesn't sell. Look at how hard it is to buy generic wooden blocks at toy stores these days, and how expensive they are.

 

[antiquegamer]

I know we have this discussion before on here, but I really do not see why is it outrageous that toys company like LEGO finally cater to girls. Only thing outrageous to me is it taking so long for company like LEGO to finally do make sets just for girls. My daughter would have love to have set like Friends or Disney Princess when she was younger.

I went to LEGO store today and it was amazing to see just as many girls in the store as there are boys. And the girls are not just buying Friends (they do) but they also check out Creator set, if it take set like Friends and Princess to get them into enjoying LEGO then why not.

 

[Rootbeer]

I do think it's great. I do have some quibbles over the exact execution of it but it's definitely a positive thing and yes, girls do seem to love them

Also I want to see the return of Fabuland. Please! The head style still holds up very very well, would like to see some modernized bodies though.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Friends obviously struck a chord with everyone, both good and bad. Girls are flocking to it, but now I want men to accept it and realize just how wonderful and creative it is.
Some girls could not bring themselves to buy something that is a "boys toy" like most LEGO sets come across, and now some boys and men cannot accept a "girls toy" like the Friends series. Both sides are missing out on wonderful stuff, and the Friends line continues to impress me and shows just what the City line has been missing for so long.

 

[Draxal]

I know we have this discussion before on here, but I really do not see why is it outrageous that toys company like LEGO finally cater to girls. Only thing outrageous to me is it taking so long for company like LEGO to finally do make sets just for girls. My daughter would have love to have set like Friends or Disney Princess when she was younger.

I went to LEGO store today and it was amazing to see just as many girls in the store as there are boys. And the girls are not just buying Friends (they do) but they also check out Creator set, if it take set like Friends and Princess to get them into enjoying LEGO then why not.

Pretty much friends is a bridge for girls to play other themes of lego. I don't see what's wrong it with myself, all my coworkers daughters go apeshit for friends and disney princess.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Pretty much friends is a bridge for girls to play other themes of lego. I don't see what's wrong it with myself, all my coworkers daughters go apeshit for friends and disney princess.

Yup. It does seem to be a great bridge to other sets. Many girls I see at stores that flock to the Friends sets also love looking at Creator and other themes, so Friends seems like a great gateway theme for them, and God bless it for that.

But, as I stated before, the real battle with Friends is getting boys and men to take it seriously. Be comfortable enough in your masculinity to get the set with bright pastel colors and realize just how wonderful and creative they are.

 

[neonglow]

I picked up this Mega Bloks Halo Mantis set on clearance and I think the finished set came out looking great. A lot of it's looks comes from the use of a plate with studs on both sides. It came out sleek and somewhat close to the model in Halo 4. I hope MB can get the Metal Gear license so they can make Metal Gear Rex.

However, building the mech was a pain in the ass. The instructions are very condensed and I wasn't used to the piece selection. There were so many unique pieces that look very similar to each other. There were 2 different cheese slopes that had different heights. It took me about 3 hours to finish this 400 piece set.

I added a LEGO minifigure so you can see how tall it is. Jang has also reviewed this set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z48rbXP0yE

 

[Draxal]

Yup. It does seem to be a great bridge to other sets. Many girls I see at stores that flock to the Friends sets also love looking at Creator and other themes, so Friends seems like a great gateway theme for them, and God bless it for that.

But, as I stated before, the real battle with Friends is getting boys and men to take it seriously. Be comfortable enough in your masculinity to get the set with bright pastel colors and realize just how wonderful and creative they are.

Iunno, I honestly can't expect boys to go after friends, as they're so many themes that specifically target them, and they do have a budget.

As for the AFOLs, I don't know there's so much stuff, that I'd want over friends personally (although I really do want the Tiger Temple for the Tiger).

I don't think it's so much of a masculinity thing in more that, the lego market is incredibly saturated already.

 

[tiggerkiddo]

Who cares about the colors? I find the sets are too well designed to mind the colors of the sets. Felt the same way with Paradisa as well.

 

[neonglow]

I like Friends sets since there's tons of buildings that aren't found in the City theme like the ranch for this year. There's so many new animal molds so hopefully they make a zoo set someday.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Who cares about the colors? I find the sets are too well designed to mind the colors of the sets. Felt the same way with Paradisa as well.

Although, I have to admit the colors do play a part in my purchases of them. Getting pieces in very unique colors does affect my purchasing. But design takes precedent over everything, and with that many Friends sets deliver big time.
Just look at Dolphin Cruiser. I wanted it because I got white ship hull parts with it. But it won me over by being a damn fine set with wonderful design, as evident by how good it looked with simple color swaps.

 

[zou]

That video is all over the place. There's a few points that I can agree with, such as the rather limited occupations offered in the friends sets or the overuse of pink/pastel colors. But the majority of her observations, complaints and suggestions are weird or downright ridiculous. Like claiming that the death star (and let's ignore the small price difference) or hogwarts is just as detailed as a friends set. Or focusing entirely on the (crappy) new actions sets (ninjango and whatever else they have) and dismissing the creator line entirely because that's not where the focus is. Or like the licensed sets that are based on movies and feature a lot of male characters. Should they drop those lines? Should they ask for a gender neutral darth vader? Female cowboys? Yet she also complains about female mini figs that "display" curves.

Towards the end she offers up her suggestion of merging friends and city, dropping the larger mini figs, dropping weapons/violence and bringing the emphasis of the friends set over to lego city (cooperation, relationships etc over building). I guess her ideal lego set looks gender neutral but emphasizes girls interests

 

[ghostmind]

I've bought six Friends sets for 2014, and one CITY set so far.

Unique set choices, colors, prints and animals are a few reasons why this theme rates highly for me.

 

[Draxal]

When does the tiger temple come out anyway. I kinda want multiple versions of that one.

 

[ghostmind]

When does the tiger temple come out anyway. I kinda want multiple versions of that one.

Seems to be out everywhere but in the USA at this point. I picked one up a couple weeks ago.

 

[mrkgoo]

There's nothing stopping girls from purchasing other sets is there?

Friends sets look neat, but I'm just more into vehicles and buildings than I am actual play sets with various multiple components.

And I'm all for pastel colours and stuff. I recently went home and dig out my childhood box of Lego. It was all yellow, black, blue, red, grey and white.

Looking at the sets today is awesome. Orange, lime green, navy, sky blue, pink, magenta. It's awesome.

 

[rataven]

As a female, I have some mixed feelings on Friends. I won't deny they appeal to me, but it's not simply because of the colors. The sets are lively, fun, creative, and very playable! And most of the sets have refreshingly very little to do with beauty or other horribly stereotypical girl themes. The friends have jobs, compete in sports, design their own creations, care for animals, fly planes, drive speedboats, etc.

Conversely, the message Lego is sending that these are the sets for girls is a little troubling. I don't know if it's on Lego or the stores, but separating the lines into the Girl aisle and Everything Else aisle in stores like Target seems to do a disservice to girls. They might be interested in other lines, but how will they see them? Some of that's on the parents too, of course, but Lego gave them the distinction.

And then there's the minidolls. Not having as many points of articulation as a regular minifig is stupid. Wrist movement should be there at the very least, but it seems they opted to make the doll's arms super thin rather than design in that joint. I don't think the minidolls are the devil like some seem to, but they aren't very inspiring either.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

As a female, I have some mixed feelings on Friends. I won't deny they appeal to me, but it's not simply because of the colors. The sets are lively, fun, creative, and very playable! And most of the sets have refreshingly very little to do with beauty or other horribly stereotypical girl themes. The friends have jobs, compete in sports, design their own creations, care for animals, fly planes, drive speedboats, etc.

Conversely, the message Lego is sending that these are the sets for girls is a little troubling. I don't know if it's on Lego or the stores, but separating the lines into the Girl aisle and Everything Else aisle in stores like Target seems to do a disservice to girls. They might be interested in other lines, but how will they see them? Some of that's on the parents too, of course, but Lego gave them the distinction.

And then there's the minidolls. Not having as many points of articulation as a regular minifig is stupid. Wrist movement should be there at the very least, but it seems they opted to make the doll's arms super thin rather than design in that joint. I don't think the minidolls are the devil like some seem to, but they aren't very inspiring either.

First off, it is nice to know there is some female representation in LEGO GAF. Second, I agree with many of your points, and hope that soon stores integrate the Friends and regular LEGO sections for some more cross pollination. It is the natural order of things that it all gets integrated eventually. At least at TRU the Friends stuff is with the rest of the LEGO stuff. Same with the LEGO Store. Only Wal Mart and Target seem to segregate them so harshly. BN stores have a small bit of segregation, but not as bad.

I do appreciate that the Friends seem to have adventures and jobs. I love the fact that there is an invention lab too. It shows that science and whatnot is cool for girls. I loved the fact that the CMF for the scientist was a woman. I joke with my wife that they sell a mini fig of her with this one:

 

[antiquegamer]

Obligatory pictures of the loots from LEGO store today. I have to cash out my VIP points to stay on budget (sure, I said that so I can sleep better at night).


The Simpsons House LEGO Set by antiquegamer, on Flickr

I asked the clerk about Benny poster and she went in the back and got me the entire set. ":> I love LEGO store.


The LEGO Movie Posters by antiquegamer, on Flickr

I help mom and kid with feeling for the LEGO Movie figures, her son was looking for the Bard and she was trying to feel for Taco Tuesday Guy. I was able to find both for them. She told me she used to just blind buy the packs and got so many duplicates and didn't realize that you can try to feel for the figures.

I was in a hurry so didn't have a chance to check out PAB wall and the store was pack with people. I also discovered today that if I take a freeway south from my work, I can get to LEGO store in less than 30 mins. I don't know if that's good or bad ... probably bad for my wallet.

 

[Jables Swan]

There is a feminist video slamming LEGO on Friends and their move away from ads and ideal such as above. The question is with the success of Friends, did LEGO shape girls minds or did it give what girls really want? IMO, LEGO just is going with the flow (sure you can call it selling out). Great business move; not a great move for society. What I say is, gimme more LEGO!

Found the videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrmRxGLn0Bk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe65EGkB9kA

Should should be slamming society instead. I agree with you, LEGO are just going with everyone else. While it would have been ballsy for them not to do it and just incorporate those sorts of building into the City theme, it probably wouldn't have been as good a business move. Everywhere in society has these types of stereotypes for boys and girls. From the colours to what activities they like.

For example:

Girls:

Boys:

I'll probably buy my daughter some Friends LEGO when she is old enough. The buildings are cool the colours are different. But I'll also be buying her City, Star Wars, Creator etc. I have no issue with it.

I do however hate the minifigs.

And those videos didn't do anything for me.

 

[mrkgoo]

First off, it is nice to know there is some female representation in LEGO GAF. Second, I agree with many of your points, and hope that soon stores integrate the Friends and regular LEGO sections for some more cross pollination. It is the natural order of things that it all gets integrated eventually. At least at TRU the Friends stuff is with the rest of the LEGO stuff. Same with the LEGO Store. Only Wal Mart and Target seem to segregate them so harshly. BN stores have a small bit of segregation, but not as bad.

I do appreciate that the Friends seem to have adventures and jobs. I love the fact that there is an invention lab too. It shows that science and whatnot is cool for girls. I loved the fact that the CMF for the scientist was a woman. I joke with my wife that they sell a mini fig of her with this one:

My wife is a scientist and that minifig is so close to her that I purchased one for her.

Appropriately, she even also worked with blue / green solutions for her thesis.


As for friends, in my local you store all the Lego themes are all separate, be it city, creator, friends, duplo, Star Wars.

Also it surprised me that the friends figures hair pieces fit on regular Lego mini figs. On the box they look bigger but they're a similar size if I recall.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

My wife is a scientist and that minifig is so close to her that I purchased one for her.

Appropriately, she even also worked with blue / green solutions for her thesis.

As I sit here and type this, my wife is busy filling out applications for jobs for when she gets her PhD in a couple of months. I am fine with having a wife that is smarter and more successful than me. I look forward to my future as a stay at home dad. (Whenever we have kids)

 

[mrkgoo]

As I sit here and type this, my wife is busy filling out applications for jobs for when she gets her PhD in a couple of months. I am fine with having a wife that is smarter and more successful than me. I look forward to my future as a stay at home dad. (Whenever we have kids)

Waitaminute....My wife has a PhD and works ... While I stay home and look after our daughter.

 

[rataven]

First off, it is nice to know there is some female representation in LEGO GAF. Second, I agree with many of your points, and hope that soon stores integrate the Friends and regular LEGO sections for some more cross pollination. It is the natural order of things that it all gets integrated eventually. At least at TRU the Friends stuff is with the rest of the LEGO stuff. Same with the LEGO Store. Only Wal Mart and Target seem to segregate them so harshly. BN stores have a small bit of segregation, but not as bad.

I do appreciate that the Friends seem to have adventures and jobs. I love the fact that there is an invention lab too. It shows that science and whatnot is cool for girls. I loved the fact that the CMF for the scientist was a woman. I joke with my wife that they sell a mini fig of her with this one:

Haha, thanks! Yeah, I've been here since OT1, it's just my posting and Lego hobby-ing is sporadic given my hectic work deadlines. And I've probably also never mentioned I was female before anyway. I'd love to know if there are any other lady-Lego GAFfers though!

And I do agree with you that stores will integrate eventually. I can only imagine it would help sales. I did notice recently that my local Target shifted the Friends and Princesses display to the next aisle over as the rest of the Lego, so that's an improvement. I don't know if it's permanent since the store is remodeling, but I do hope it is.

Yeah, the CMF Scientist was a big hit with my friends and I. We work in research (although I write about it rather than conduct it) so we gleefully grabbed a bunch of bags looking for her.

 

[RelentlessRolento]

I'll be honest, every time I see a girl looking at Friends sets at the store, minutes later I usually find them looking at the Lego City sets.

Heck, my girlfriends daughter has a few Friends sets that she got and ones I've gotten for her but her favorites are still City sets.

 

[Rootbeer]

Seems to be out everywhere but in the USA at this point. I picked one up a couple weeks ago.

really? i haven't seen series 4 anywhere I have all of series 1, 2, 3 though.

Hope those mixels sets aren't as hard to track down when those hit.

 

[TerryLee81]

Wuold somebody please open a Simpsons House box, start building and post pictures!

 

[Fxp]

Wuold somebody please open a Simpsons House box, start building and post pictures!

Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Children poor LEGO fans without access to LEGO S@H!

 

[Rootbeer]

Wuold somebody please open a Simpsons House box, start building and post pictures!

There are videos on youtube already

 

[RelentlessRolento]

Oooh! This made me so happy to watch

Kawaii crazy MOC artist!

 

[Rootbeer]

Ahh I love these little short docs on their channel

Let's not forget that the theatrical length documentary is coming eventually...

http://www.deadline.com/2013/09/lego-brickumentary-first-official-lego-documentary/

*edit*

The Brick Show has a 34min video review of The Simpsons House
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM483KyNap8

Anyway, I have not received my Simpsons house yet, but after seeing this review of the figures close up, i'm disappointed at the paint apps on the heads. especially the eyes. No, not the squinting... it's that the eyes are not painted to look perfectly round, they look sloppy on some areas.

 

[Krilekk]

Oooh! This made me so happy to watch

Kawaii crazy MOC artist!

Somebody won the internet.

 

[anonymous_abc]

Oh dear,
I just bought the SSD for 323€ ...
my s.o. must never know, how to get it into the flat unnoticed? xP

 

[BomberMouse]

Waitaminute....My wife has a PhD and works ... While I stay home and look after our daughter.

My wife is also a grad student who works on a lab (Chemist) and I'm looking forward to my future as a stay home dad...

There seems to be a correlation between this and lego.

 

[Krilekk]

The Brick Show has a 34min video review of The Simpsons House
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM483KyNap8

Anyway, I have not received my Simpsons house yet, but after seeing this review of the figures close up, i'm disappointed at the paint apps on the heads. especially the eyes. No, not the squinting... it's that the eyes are not painted to look perfectly round, they look sloppy on some areas.

There's some amazing detail in that house. Love the bathroom, the chairs, Lisa's and Bart's rooms. The living room and the master bedroom are somewhat boring. As is the house itself from the outside but that's not their fault. Still don't know if it would be worth 200€ for me. Maybe 150.

 

[BomberMouse]

Oooh! This made me so happy to watch

Kawaii crazy MOC artist!

Amazing.

So what is the verdict on the Simpsons house? Is it worth the money? Looks really ugly from outside.

 

[wetflame]

For some reason I woke up this morning with a buning desire to get hold of a Hazmat Suit guy CMF. I have a couple of the later CMFs but didn't know about them at the time he came out. No rational reason behind it. But now I have to hit eBay and Bricklink, I guess!

 

[nny]

Speaking of Friends, my girlfriend bought Olivia's House (3315) the other day for 27.5€...quite the deal. The details on the inside of the house are great.

Oh dear,
I just bought the SSD for 323€ ...
my s.o. must never know, how to get it into the flat unnoticed? xP

I think you should rent another flat to keep them all ;P

 

[tiggerkiddo]

For some reason I woke up this morning with a buning desire to get hold of a Hazmat Suit guy CMF. I have a couple of the later CMFs but didn't know about them at the time he came out. No rational reason behind it. But now I have to hit eBay and Bricklink, I guess!

I may have an extra of those. Will have to check later today.

 

[wetflame]

I may have an extra of those. Will have to check later today.

Awesome, I'm in the UK so I don't know if that makes things awkward, hopefully we can sort something out though. Send me a PM or something if you find one!

 

[anonymous_abc]

Speaking of Friends, my girlfriend bought Olivia's House (3315) the other day for 27.5€...quite the deal. The details on the inside of the house are great.



I think you should rent another flat to keep them all ;P

indeed.

 

[gerg]

I definitely like that ad. But my business side understands Friends. If LEGO sets were flying off the shelves by girls, I'm sure LEGO would have continued with this message and not have a need to customize sets by gender. It is a bit sad LEGO gave up on some of their ideals, but I do believe they tried their best. Just as LEGO has compromised on their quality, business side often will win.

I think you're being too kind to the Lego Group. Their current predicament is at least in part a result of their marketing almost being exclusively marketed towards boys, which - you guessed it! - will mean that boys will almost exclusively buy it.

There is a feminist video slamming LEGO on Friends and their move away from ads and ideal such as above. The question is with the success of Friends, did LEGO shape girls minds or did it give what girls really want? IMO, LEGO just is going with the flow (sure you can call it selling out). Great business move; not a great move for society. What I say is, gimme more LEGO!

Found the videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrmRxGLn0Bk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe65EGkB9kA

IMO, the videos are great, and I don't find anything particularly disagreeable in them.

There's nothing stopping girls from purchasing other sets is there?

I think the major dearth of female minifigures - the video posited a ratio of 18:1 for male- and female-identified characters in Lego's sets, for example - will be a huge stumbling block right from the get-go, and one that is (with the exception of those sets based on external properties) incredibly easy to solve.

 

[antiquegamer]

So we are upset because they finally market to girl? I am not sure why the outrage about set cater for girls or special line tailor for girls.

 

[ChaChaChaChia]

Haha, thanks! Yeah, I've been here since OT1, it's just my posting and Lego hobby-ing is sporadic given my hectic work deadlines. And I've probably also never mentioned I was female before anyway. I'd love to know if there are any other lady-Lego GAFfers though!

And I do agree with you that stores will integrate eventually. I can only imagine it would help sales. I did notice recently that my local Target shifted the Friends and Princesses display to the next aisle over as the rest of the Lego, so that's an improvement. I don't know if it's permanent since the store is remodeling, but I do hope it is.

Yeah, the CMF Scientist was a big hit with my friends and I. We work in research (although I write about it rather than conduct it) so we gleefully grabbed a bunch of bags looking for her.

Lady Lego GAFfer here, I just don't post alot here or on GAF in general. I do read this thread every day though! As far as Lego friends goes I'm fine with it. I would have loved it as a kid since I remember being excited about paradisa sets. Honestly when I was a kid playing Lego was playing house with my sisters. We would build our houses on a baseboard and have our minifigs do stuff like drive to the grocery store. We had sets like space and castle and loved those and built them but mostly it was just house and we loved it. The best was coming up with new ways to make furniture for your house. And we had all sorts of dumb names for the pieces. Maybe I'll make a post with pics of pieces with our names of them when I'm not on mobile. Did anyone else have their own naming convention for their Lego pieces?

 

[antiquegamer]

Dat simpsons box... I thought the parisian restaurant would be the biggest LEGO box in my build area for some time to come. Nope. Wonder how Sea Cow will compare

Watching the latest Brick Show review of 75040-1: General Grievous' Wheel Bike and decided to compare it to the first version from 2005... wow, LEGO has come a long way in a short time. The builds, minifigures, everything even the box designs are significantly better these days. Can you guys think of many instances where they released a new version of a set and the new version was inferior? I"m sure there are some, but overall they seem to just get better and better, especially in aesthetics.

Noteworthy because I really feel most toys are worse quality than in years past on the whole. For example, TMNT. I also collect the Playmates toys for that line. While some of the Nickelodeon TMNT figures have been really great, most of the secondary characters are very poorly painted, and when you look at the late 80s/early 90s stuff from them, the quality difference is pretty obvious. See that with so many toy lines these days.

I find the older sets really lacking when I went back to build them, but some do still looks great. I still like the old X-Wing and Y-Wing, plus those R2 droids don't have to go in side way. I have the original Wheel bike, actually it's on my desk along with that lizard thing. I think what make LEGO great is that they do retain their quality. I used to collect Japanese toys and Transformers along with some Star Wars figures, the figures on the shelf now a day are terrible ... I am sure glad I switch hobby.

 

[DrForester]

I think you're being too kind to the Lego Group. Their current predicament is at least in part a result of their marketing almost being exclusively marketed towards boys, which - you guessed it! - will mean that boys will almost exclusively buy it.

The city line has stuck with what I would consider a fairly gender neutral tone. Usually a mix of male and female minifigs in the sets.

LEGO went to licensed sets and they went with mostly boy targeted franchises. They are now going with some girl targeted franchises with the Disney line.

Can we really hold LEGO to account when the franchises out there are pretty much male or female with few gender neutral franchises they could license. Now granted, It would be nice if they had more licensed sets for girls, and maybe Friends will lead to that.

Only issue I have with the Friends line is I wish they had been confident enough to stick with normal mini-figs, rather than the little dolls. But the sets themselves, I see no problem. Like any set they can be torn down and rebuilt into whatever someone can think of.

 

[Draxal]

The city line has stuck with what I would consider a fairly gender neutral tone. Usually a mix of male and female minifigs in the sets.

LEGO went to licensed sets and they went with mostly boy targeted franchises. They are now going with some girl targeted franchises with the Disney line.

Can we really hold LEGO to account when the franchises out there are pretty much male or female with few gender neutral franchises they could license. Now granted, It would be nice if they had more licensed sets for girls, and maybe Friends will lead to that.

Only issue I have with the Friends line is I wish they had been confident enough to stick with normal mini-figs, rather than the little dolls. But the sets themselves, I see no problem. Like any set they can be torn down and rebuilt into whatever someone can think of.

I'll be frank here, if Lego with the friends type minifigs in the beginning I would have probably preferred it over regular minifigs, I do kinda wish they gave normal minifig chars of the Friends chars so they are more compatible with standard lego.

 

[zou]

I think the major dearth of female minifigures - the video posited a ratio of 18:1 for male- and female-identified characters in Lego's sets, for example - will be a huge stumbling block right from the get-go, and one that is (with the exception of those sets based on external properties) incredibly easy to solve.

Just FYI, but she lumped together gender neutral minifigs with male identifiable ones to come up with that claim. Looking at the most recent sets I've been building, it's a lot more balanced. Too bad she dismisses creator sets and tends to focus on licensed properties where it's really outside of their control.