I’ve been sitting on these Friends LEGO set of Central Perk images for almost a week and after the initial “Oh my god I can’t believe they’re making a Friends set” reaction (yes, I forgot that it was based off of an Ideas project), it really hasn’t moved the needle much.
I don’t know if it’s because it’s late, I’m hungry, or tired, or what, but I can’t even pretend to like this set. I loved the show Friends. Grew up on it, watched it during my college days and then some. But seeing it turned into a LEGO set wasn’t exactly on my bucket list. I’m not exactly sure what this set has to offer in terms of play value and it is 100% banking on nostalgia to generate sales. I want to like this set, I really do. But there really isn’t much there. Non-fans will skip it. Fans will probably want it. And I’d like to think it would at least do better than the Big Bang Theory set. But I’m probably going to pass. Would rather put the money towards The Upside Down set if anything.
This. The Big Bang Theory set. Maybe LEGO should do a TV Series spinoff sub-theme and stop polluting the LEGO Ideas catalog. It feels like it’s cheapening the brand in a way.
The official on-sale date for 21319 Central Perk is September 1st, 2019 at LEGO Shop@Home and Brand Retail locations. The price is $59.99 USD / $89.99 CAD and for that you’ll get 1,070 pieces and minifigs of Ross, Rachel, Monica, Ms. Chanandler Bong, Joey, Phoebe, and Gunther. Their prints and designs are based off the first season of the show.
And the embargo lifting on a Thursday is no coincidence.
Official Images of 21319 Central Perk
21319 Central Perk Product Info
21319 Central Perk
Ages 16+. 1070 pieces
US $59.99 – CA $89.99 – DE €69.99 – UK £64.99 – FR €59.99 – DK 649DKK
*Euro pricing varies by country. Please visit shop.LEGO.com for regional pricing.
Nostalgic, collectible LEGO® Ideas set to delight fans of the classic TV sitcom Friends!
Celebrate the 25th anniversary of Friends, the legendary American TV sitcom, with this highly collectible LEGO® Ideas 21319 CENTRAL PERK set! This wonderful LEGO recreation of the cafeÌ TV studio set is packed with authentic details, making it a must-have Friends memorabilia item for fans. The iconic seating area with a couch, armchair and 2 chairs for the friends is removable for easy play. And check out the stage where Phoebe performed her songs on guitar (and where Ross once played his keyboard and everyone except Phoebe thought he was terrible). The 7 new-for-September-2019 LEGO toy minifigures of Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey, Phoebe and CENTRAL PERK’s long-suffering manager Gunther each come with accessories to role-play famously hilarious scenes. An ideal Friends-themed gift for your own friends and family who love the TV show, this hot toy is great for play and will grab attention when displayed in any room.
- This LEGO® Ideas set includes 7 new-for-September-2019 minifigures: Ross Geller, Rachel Green, Chandler Bing, Monica Geller, Joey Tribbiani, Phoebe Buffay and Gunther.
- The CENTRAL PERK cafeÌ construction toy features the iconic main seating area including a sofa, armchair, 2 chairs and a table; service area with a brick-built coffee machine, service counter, cash register, cookie jar with 2 cookie elements, menu board element and other authentic items; a stage for musical performances with a sofa; extra seats and tables; 3 pillar elements in a new- for-September-2019 green color; umbrella stand with 2 umbrella elements; window with ‘CENTRAL PERK’ logo decoration; entrance doors; and 2 brick-built TV studio light rigs with translucent light-style elements.
- The seating area for the show’s star characters is removable for easy play.
- The minifigures each have their own items inspired by the TV series, including Ross’s brick-built keyboard and the following accessory elements: Rachel’s tray and coffee cup, Monica’s muffin, Joey’s pizza box, pizza slice and ‘man bag’, Chandler’s laptop, Phoebe’s guitar and Gunther’s broom.
- Other accessory elements in this cafeÌ playset include a newspaper, 15 coffee cups and a
‘Reserved’ sign, plus 3 vases and buildable flowers.
- This Friends memorabilia LEGO® building toy includes 1,070 pieces.
- This LEGO® Ideas set comes with a booklet with building instructions and information about thisawesome set’s fan creator and LEGO designer.
- Build and display this Friends collectible construction toy or recreate your favorite scenes from the classic American sitcom.
• This Friends-themed gift toy measures over 4†(11cm) high, 11†(29cm) wide and 8†(22cm) deep and will make an eye-catching centerpiece in any room.
I love the show, but it has not aged particularly well. I really loved (and reviewed for here), the Big Bang Theory set, despite not liking the show at all… and will probably end up getting this one too.
That being said, my biggest beef with it is that they used the Season 1 designs for the characters, and it would have made a lot more sense to do a later season design (5 or 6), because that’s when the show was at its height.
I binged it somewhat recently, and I think it holds up just fine. And the great thing about binging it, is you can see, as a whole, character developments and inconsistencies. Much like how we talked about The Office after you binged that one. Anyways, I still like Friends.
This actually looks like a fun build, though. Lots of detail and some interesting techniques, and a thousand times better than the Ideas set it’s based on.
I agree with the review, though, that these TV sitcom sets would probably feel more at home in their own theme. There’s something about them being branded IDEAS sets that drags the concept of IDEAS down, more so than I feel sets inspired by movies do.
The one thing that I disagree with you on is that no one would want this set who isn’t a fan of the show. For $60 it’s one helluva parts pack with three dark green lamp posts to boot.
[…] sets like this that don’t really fit into any category and are just ‘cool’. The Friends set is cool, but not like pop-up book […]
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