FBTB - From Bricks To Bothans

by **volumex** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:53 pm

I agree with Andi, wahts wrong with normal mini figures? Why is TLC treating girls so differently? If so then lets ask for scaled up Driods!

by **Draykov** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 1:12 pm

volumex wrote:I agree with Andi, wahts wrong with normal mini figures?

I'm guessing there's some market research that claims dolled-up psuedo-figs play-tested better. Personally, I'd much rather they produced a girl theme based on the traditional minifigure. Then they could spend all of the time/money/effort on designing elaborate hair pieces and fancy hats and other minifig accessories rather than completely new figs.

Essentially, I'd like to see a continuation of Paradisa. That line was the illegitimate child of Pirates and the color pink.

by **Morgan19** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 7:21 pm

Draykov wrote:Then they could spend all of the time/money/effort on designing elaborate hair pieces and fancy hats and other minifig accessorie...

Speaking of... Any word on if the Friends' hairpieces are 1) removeable and 2) compatible with regular minifigures? One can hope!

m19

by **MrCRskater** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 7:52 pm

Hard to tell on the hairpieces from the photos that have surfaced. Looks like they may be interchangeable, but maybe not compatible with standard figs.

I'm in Draykov's camp on this one, another line like Paradisa would've been a great addition for figs, accessories, and parts. It would be nice to have a wider variety of parts in pink and purple. But this Friends line looks almost like a pseudo-duplo experience where most of the elements are basic bricks and plates, bolstered by lots of specialty elements (fences and such).

by **Draykov** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:48 pm

My daughter has a few Belville sets. They were heavy on the BURPs and added weird colors and the occasional unique piece to the mix. This theme doesn't seem too different...just focuses on girl "friends" characters instead of family or fantasy characters.

by **sparkart** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:04 pm

Is it just me, or did the first thought after seeing the girl figures that crossed your mind was "Brickarms"?

by **pharmjod** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:04 pm

One of the Funniest things I have read lately. Thanks!

Draykov wrote:That line was the illegitimate child of Pirates and the color pink.

by **volumex** » Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:18 am

Lego need to decide on scale first, followed by theme, Belville looks good, not sure what kind of sales it generates, but breaking the female barrier is a new cause @ TLC.

by **turtle** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 7:45 pm

The most recent HP sets turned my wife into an AFOL. Now she's parting out a 10187 VW Beetle, and intends to buy the T1 camper. She also has about half of the architecture sets.

We've talked about th problems TLG has when it comes to reaching girls.

There have been a number of other sets that have caught her eye.

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=30015-1 (town jet ski)
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=3177-1 (little car - she drives a smart)
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=7566-1 (farmer - her old man is a farmer)
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=7684-1 (pig farm w/ tractor -again the old man is a farmer)
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=7634-1 (red tractor - beginning to see a trend here)
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=7636-1 (combine - this looks like a trend)
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=7637-1 (silo & hay barn - it's probably a trend)
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=7189-1 (castle - mill village raid - So Totally a theme here)

Okay - so she digs anything with a farm type theme

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=7747-1 (wind turbine - WIND FARM- Duh)
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=7639-1 (camper - ???)
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=7635-1 (4wd with horse trailer - she's so so on this one)

Most of these sets have a common thread. And that is that they depict normal human beings or animals working together in a social setting. They are either having fun, or being productive.

She universally goes, "Meh" at anything that is fire or police. Anything SW - GASP !! Bionicle or sportscars. But she gets hacked off at the sets that TLG markets directly to girls. For the same reason that she gets hacked off at a lot of the stuff in the "pink zone" of the toy isles. Which is, (and this is to quote her) that a lot of toys marketed to girls encourage them to develop a helpless outlook on life, where all they have to do is be pretty in order to be successful. And that it encourages them to believe that all they should do is be pretty.

Some other things that she says, "Why do they think everthing has to be pink in order to be interesting to a girl? You know, girls just like bright colors - and Lego's got all sorts of bright colors. "

At the same time though, she's super excited about the pink astronaught with the Farah Fawcet hair. And now she wants a pink spaceship to go along with it.

by **JamesBenjamin** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:12 am

Interesting read on this new theme, and why they went with the new figs:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/le ... highlights

by **estrella** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:34 am

Draykov wrote:

Oh yeah ! It reminds me a lot ...

by **sparkart** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:25 pm

Nice article, JamesBenjamin, thanks for the link. I like what Joe Meno says, “Oh, we’re going to buy Lego Friends, but we’re going to buy it for all the wrong reasons.”

I can't wait to use these new figures to pilot giant killer robots.

by **JamesBenjamin** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:37 am

Oh, good call!

I think this should be our next site contest: build an out-of-context MOC using one of these sets as a base (giant pink mecha, etc).

by **MrCRskater** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 8:00 am

Seconded, nice find, JB. That article was a good read. I'm in the same AFOL camp described there, looking forward to picking up at least one or two of these sets just to expand my parts palette.

by **buriedbybricks** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 8:25 am

You guys realize this IS a site for Licensed themes, right?

by **cas** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 8:40 am

When I first saw the name for this theme the first thing that popped into my head was, "Lego's making sets based on the 90s sitcom?" Then my mind immediately jumped to "What if they made Seinfeld sets, too!" :shock:

But, hey, I like the fact the hair from this theme is interchangeable with regular figs. If I pick any up or just buy some hair on bricklink, it should give my Lego ladies some much needed variety.

by **Mofo Jones** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:50 am

Oh that's just great - it's the unholy illegitimate* child of LEGO and anything in the "Polly Pocket" genre of toys for girls, along with (surprise) a similar variety to Disney Princesses. Those "minifigs" don't even look like they come apart, probably cheap Chinese plastic, too.

Yeah, LEGO might have a winner with this for a while, but in my experience, that's not gonna fly in my house. My 3 1/2 year old daughter already loves to play with my 7754 Home One set (fuels up the A-Wing, and always wants to put the pilot in Ackbar's chair! :lol:

) and my midi-Falcon. She shares a big tub of Duplo with her little brother as well. I didn't read the article that was posted, but I'll assume it was the same one that Meat posted over on Rebelscum yesterday, with a quote from some author talking about the "pink ghetto" in the corner of the LEGO store. :roll:

I don't think that LEGO is being particularly innovative here. They're chasing a market that's already flooded with toys containing a similar "pocket-size" figure and a crapload of accessories. I have to agree with turtle, my wife doesn't care for the pink aisle in the toy store and is extremely pleased that our daughter has shown little to no interest in it. She doesn't seem to know or care about Barbie or Disney Princesses and that's just fine with my wife. Also, I think that they're generalizing that girls aren't interested in the LEGO themes that are out there. Back in 2009, I helped out at a build sponsored by the LEGO store in Sacramento. I remember seeing a girl there that couldn't have been over 8, and she was nuts for Power Miners...even had the t-shirt! We'll see how this theme does, but I'll bet it's gonna be big on Bricklink, if only for the new colors!

*I substituted this instead of a more offensive word that starts with "b"

by **Draykov** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 1:05 pm

From the Brad Wieners article:

Mads Nipper wrote:“Let’s be honest: Girls hate [the standard minifigure]”

I only have one 9-year-old girl as evidence, but in my experience, this is dead wrong. The issue is not with the minfigure, it's with the proportion of male to female minifigures available in themes like City.

I may have imparted my own biases on to my daughter, and she seems to like her Belville figures just fine, but hate? For the minifig? Not in my house. Quite the opposite.