LEGO Friends: 2012 Best Seller

I came across this article about the LEGO Friends series awhile back and thought it would be nice to share with our kind readers who have all been so supportive of our growing little blog.  According to the article, LEGO Friends far exceeded sales expectations in 2012 by selling twice as much and has even continued to gain greater momentum despite all the initial controversy surrounding issues of gender specificity.  The article provides a great recap about the controversial issues including responses from LEGO headquarters and the protesting group SPARK (Sexualization Protest: Action Resistance Knowledge).  The ongoing dialog between the two sides has seen positive results thus far, as evident in the growing variety of Friends characters and their accompanying sets.

Continue reading

Animal Polybags Retiring Soon

LEGO Shop@Home has a page on their site called Retiring Soon where they highlight some sets that are just that, retiring soon. Not surprisingly, series 1 animal polybags are on that list and if you haven’t gotten them yet, now is as good of a time as any:

They’re all priced $4.99 and come with about 30+ pieces or so. Our daughter’s favorite is the Squirrel’s Tree House set.

Series 2 is right around the corner with a projected street date of May.

Amazon Discounts Some Friends Sets

I was browsing Amazon earlier and noticed that they put a few LEGO Friends sets on sale. Some of the discounts were the same as we’ve seen before and are pretty good; some are new and are still worth a look ’cause a sale’s a sale, right? Take a look at the list below:

A pretty good list if you ask me. Remember, Amazon ships for free with orders of $25 or more and charges no sales tax to most states.

Downtown Bakery and Heartlake High Posts Fixed

I got an email earlier today letting me know that the photos for 41005 Heartlake High weren’t linking correctly to the higher res pictures, but I’ve fixed that. I also noticed that 41006 Downtown Bakery pictures weren’t linking to anything at all. I fixed those too so feel free to browse through those posts.

Thanks go to Heartlake Friends superfan Don Solo for emailing me.

LEGO Friends Toy Fair 2013: 41016 LEGO Friends Advent Calendar

This is my last post for the Friends Toy Fair coverage and for my last post, I’ll be covering the Advent Calendar for 2013. At first glance this year’s calendar feels a bit more robust than last year. There aren’t any single element days like last year’s day 19 handbag or day 12’s puppy that I can see, so it’s already a step up from before. I’ve put the pictures past the click in case you want to remain spoiler-free. But if you’re curious, there are 14 pictures detailing what you can look forward to.

Thanks for reading our Toy Fair coverage! I hope you enjoy what you see. We’ll be getting back on track with our reviews as soon as I get back home and recover. For now, you can browse all the new sets and budget for August.

Continue reading

LEGO Friends Toy Fair 2013: 41015 Dolphin Cruiser

This. Boat. Is. AWESOME! You get not just one, but TWO dolphins, each with their own unique color, a new mini-doll character Maya, and the other boy mini-doll to debut this year, Andrew. You also get ever-present Mia and a jet ski. The Cruiser is impressive with how much room and play features it packs in. There’s a slide in the back allowing your mini-dolls slide down to the water. There’s the captain’s chair to steer the boat, some lounge chairs on the fore deck, and the entire top lifts off to expose several rooms and cabins in the interior of the boat. It would have been great to include some scuba gear and maybe have one of the mini-dolls dressed in a wetsuit, but hey, I’m really not complaining. Maybe there’ll be some underwater/swimming/watersport themed sets in the future. But for now, this boat looks to be plenty fun. I’ve uploaded 36 additional images to the post, so click through to see the rest.

41015 Dolphin Cruiser

$69.99 USD / $89.99 CAD
612 pieces
Available in August

41015 Dolphin Cruiser 1

View the gallery

LEGO Friends Toy Fair 2013: 41013 Emma’s Sports Car

This is the last of the inexpensive Friends sets that debuted today at Toy Fair. Including the sets announced today, there are a total of 18 sets that are $20 or less, making Friends one of LEGO’s most affordable themes. A lot of people complain about how expensive LEGO can be, but you can build quite a play environment without breaking the bank.

41013 Emma’s Sports Car

$14.99 USD / $19.99 CAD
159 pieces
Available in August

41013 Emma's Sports Car 1 See more pictures