My review on Friends Bricks: 41134 Heartlake Performance School

My newest Friends set review is up: 41134 Heartlake Performance School!



It's the largest set I have reviewed for Friends Bricks!

This is the 2nd school in Heartlake City, but it looks quite different from Heartlake High!



From what I understand, this is one of the retailer exclusive sets, so I believe not all stores carrying LEGO Friends will get this set.

Usually, mini-dolls found in such sets contain no exclusive parts, but this set comes with the brand new character Iva with her very special wig!



This rare wig features a lovely crown braid and a bun, and so far, there have been only two mini-dolls with this hair style: Anna in her Dark Orange hair and Iva in her Black hair.

It is a really pretty hairstyle! I won't be surprised if it gets used again in blonde or other colors.

My review on Friends Bricks: 41126 Heartlake Riding Club

I recently finished writing my second review for the season: 41126 Heartlake Riding Club!




See Mia in her new red riding jacket!



I was particularly excited about the new horses!



This is one of the sets I really wanted to get when I first saw some images of it earlier this year, so I was really excited to get to do a review of it!

Horseback riding is an activity that seems to get featured in Friends rather frequently, but as long as there are new elements to surprise us, I'll be happy!

My review on Friends Bricks: 41124 Heartlake Puppy Daycare

Although the summer sets have not been released yet in my area, once again I was fortunate enough to be given a few LEGO Friends sets to review.

My first review for the summer wave 2016 is 41124 Heartlake Puppy Daycare.



This set may look small but it's full of potentials!

And what's exciting for a minidollologist is the lovely Andrea mini-doll!
Find out what's so special about her in the review!

Ariel (2014 - 2016)

Four princess characters debuted in 2014, and I find Ariel more interesting than the other three as far as the mini-doll design is concerned.

Today I'm going to show you all the Ariel mini-dolls that have been released to date.

1) 41050 Ariel's Amazing Treasures (2014) 
2) 41063 Ariel's Undersea Palace (2015) 
3) 10723 Ariel's Dolphin Carriage (2016) 
4) 41052 Ariel's Magical Kiss (2014) 

My Ariel mini-dolls from 2014 (#1 & #4) have thicker black lines on the brows, the eye lashes and the lips. They make the face print stand out more than the other two (#2 & #3).

One of the first things you notice about her is the mermaid tail.  Only Ariel and her sister Alana got this specialized piece which has an opening on the bottom for a single stud instead of two like ordinary mini-doll legs. She has also appeared in a fully human form wearing the pink princess gown (#4).

Personally, what I really like about her is her pretty face! See how it is different from Stephanie's print. Ariel shows a wider smile on the mouth, and her lipstick is red. Mia's cousin Liza decided to drop Stephanie's face she initially had, and switched to Ariel's print in 2015!



Another thing that makes Ariel really unique is her red hair. It is not the ordinary kind of red like Mia's auburn hair; it is red like a ripe tomato!

It is not just the color of the hair that was new; the hairstyle was also specially designed for Ariel. This timeless style features long flowing hair with large curls, and it has a versatile look that works for a fairy tale character as well as for a modern character like Livi!



Ariel was probably a rather expensive mini-doll to produce, requiring new parts and new print designs. But they turned out to be great additions to the mini-doll parts and they have been used quite frequently. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some parts of Ariel again next year.

Mini-doll legs 4: capris

Female, Hip W/ Shorts 1 is the mold used for Mia's basic legs.

2012



Olivia and Stephanie have also borrowed Mia's favorite pants. The white pair for dark-skinned girls has been worn by Andrea, Ella, Joanna and Kate in 2012, 2014 and 2015.

2013






The white pair on the left is exclusive to Emma's karate outfit.

The magenta pair was first used by Joanna in Heartlake Pet Salon. Andrea borrowed it in 2014 when she visited her mountain hut.

The navy blue pair shown in the middle was designed for Stephanie's soccer practice, but because of its unisex appearance, it gained popularity among boys as well as girls. Stephanie, Olivia and Mia have been seen in it before, and the boys who have worn it are Andrew, Julian, and Noah. Later this year, Ben will make his first appearance in it as well.

No new design was made for 2014, but four of the above five are found in some of the sets from that year.

2015




In 2015, Farran from the new Elves theme came with dark green pants and brown shoes. I find the color combination perfect for the earth elf. Since it is a versatile design, hopefully it will also be used by Friends characters in the future.

In the first half year of 2016, three new designs were added for Joy, Farran and Tidus. The official piece images are not currently available.

Here is a photo I took of all the mini-dolls with this type of legs.



As I pointed out in my post on the long pants, the older version of the capri legs was also molded in the color of the pants alone, and then the part below the pants were painted afterwards.

On the other hand, the newer version has been molded in two different colors: the top 2/3 in the color of the pants and the bottom 1/3 in the color of the calves/boots.



Later this year, we are getting Beast in new black capris in 41067 Belle's Enchanted Castle. It will be the first time this mold will get used in the Disney Princess theme.

Kate & Joanna (2014)

I was very happy to see these two girls return in 2014.




Kate: 41037 Stephanie's Beach House
Joanna: 41034 Summer Caravan




During the first two years of LEGO Friends, no single secondary character appeared twice.

But in 2014, a few familiar faces started to return to new sets. As I have said before, Kate and Matthew have appeared every year since they became part of Friends in 2013.

Of course, like many other Friends mini-dolls from 2014, Kate and Joanna did not get anything new to wear. Kate is wearing her own bikini top from 2013, and the other body parts shown here all once belonged to Andrea.

 

Kate's return was actually not that surprising, as she had been previously introduced as a rare secondary character worthy of appearing in a set all by herself.



But this time, Kate came back as Stephanie's guest at her beach house. Interestingly, they would be paired again at the lighthouse a year later. They must enjoy each other's company at the beach!

On the other hand, Joanna appeared as Olivia's friend on her camping trip.

Did you know that there were some contradicting statements about Joanna?

As I showed you before, she had first appeared in 41007 Heartlake Pet Salon in 2013.

Soon after that she made a brief appearance in the second mini-movie/ TV episode as the worker at the pet salon. Naturally, many of us assumed she was working there.

LEGO's official set description says, however, Emma is the one who works at the pet salon while Joanna is the customer with the dog (who is actually Emma's dog named Lady)!

That also contradicts the small image at the bottom the box; It shows Emma paying money to Joanna at the checkout counter.



And what does DK's Character Encyclopedia say?

It says those two girls work at the pet salon together!!

I imagine the author just didn't know what to do...

So does Joanna work at the pet salon, or does she not?

I think she does, but either way, Joanna must be seen at the pet salon quite often.

My guess is Olivia must have brought her dog Scarlett there, and that's how those two girls met and became close enough to go camping together.

Mini-dolls with Emma's face design (2014)

Christina appeared in 2012.

Then Isabella joined in 2013.

Those are the mini-dolls with Emma's face.

In 2014, two mini-dolls were added to that group, but they are simply two identical mini-dolls.





1) 41054 Rapunzel's Creativity Tower 
2) 30116 Rapunzel's Market Visit (promo/polybag) 

Rapunzel was from the new Disney Princess theme, and she was given a lovely new dress in Medium Lavender. Rapunzel #2 wears the exact same dress as #1, as mini-dolls from promo sets never get any new parts.

Rapunzel's hairpiece was specially created for her. Although the hair is not nearly as long as it should be for the character, it is the longest we have seen in the mini-doll wig department.

Unlike most other wigs for female mini-dolls, this one can be decorated with up to three hair accessories instead of two.



The only other character who uses Rapunzel's wig is Joy from 2016 Friends, in Dark Red.



Later this year, Rapunzel will be returning in the new set: 41065 Rapunzel's Best Day Ever. She is getting a brand new face print designed especially for her; her open mouth and raised eyebrows give an impression of a spunky personality.



The new face print is probably better suited for her role in the modern Disney adaptation, though I have mixed feelings about the existing mini-doll character getting unrecognizably drastic makeovers.

Emma's face print was exclusive to herself in 2015. And so far in 2016, we haven't had any characters borrowing it, either. It has not been used all that much on additional characters, so I wouldn't mind seeing it on someone new.

Or will it eventually become exclusive to Emma herself?

Big Mia & Little Mia

The third keychain pair to appear here is Big Mia and Little Mia, placed next to two regular Mia mini-dolls.



Big Mia has the original shirt design from 2012, with the paw and two butterflies in pink and purple. Little Emma was made from a newer version of the basic Mia mini-doll; see the updated look of her shirt.

Big Mia's eyes and freckles look more orange than regular Mia mini-dolls.

There's special print details added to Big Mia's pants, but only on the front side.



When the basic Mia mini-doll got the updated shirt design in 2015, design change also occurred with her legs.

The earlier version of Mia's basic legs was made entirely in the color of the pants. The skin part was then painted, which occasionally resulted in an uneven appearance.

But the current version (in which Little Mia is made) seems to be molded in two colors, giving her skin a more uniform color.

Mini-dolls with Stephanie's face design (2014)

I have previously mentioned the frequent appearance of Stephanie mini-dolls. So it's not surprising that in 2014 her face print was found on two additional Friends side characters.

But that's not all!


Stephanie's face was also used on two of the princesses from the brand new LEGO Disney Princess theme!





Liza: 41039 Sunshine Ranch
Ewa: 41040 Advent Calendar
Merida: 41051 Merida's Highland Games
Cinderella 1: 41053 Cinderella's Dream Carriage
Cinderella 2: 41055 Cinderella's Romantic Castle

I have been complaining about many of the Friends mini-dolls from 2014 being made of previously seen parts, but I actually understand there was a good reason for that.

That was the year 1 for the Disney Princess theme, and with the launch came various new parts: 4 new face prints, 3 new wigs, 1 princess dress skirt mold and 1 mermaid leg mold, not to mention all the brand new torso and leg prints... No wonder many of the Friends mini-dolls had to settle for old clothes.

When Liza came with Sunshine Ranch, I was sure she was one of the characters who would never come back, but surprisingly, she did, and more than once! When she returned in 2015, she got a new face which was Ariel's print with a big smile. In the future I will probably just feature Liza mini-dolls and talk about the details.

Another Friends character who got Stephanie's face in 2014 was Ewa. Personally, I had not seen or heard that name before, so I wondered why they had come up with a name that doesn't seem that common in English-speaking countries (unlike many other Friends character names). My guess is this mini-doll was named after Ms. Ewa Delgado, an art director or a design manager for LEGO Friends.

Ewa mini-doll got an exclusive torso design created for the advent calendar, but her legs were not new. Her wig is the overused Olivia's hairstyle in blonde.

The Disney Princess theme has brought some fascinating mini-doll part designs. The brand new floor-length skirt has a slit in the back so that princesses can be snugly seated in a carriage.

Merida mini-doll was exclusive to one set. She has Andrea's wig in a new color, more orange than Mia's auburn hair. That was the only time Andrea's hairstyle was adopted by someone else.

Cinderella's wig is a brand new design with a cute bun. It has not been used on any other characters yet. I was pleasantly surprised to find the two Cinderella mini-dolls in two different dresses!

The princesses' dresses are tastefully simple, and yet they have gorgeous details like silver or gold sparkles to make them look fancy enough.

Although I was not particularly interested in the Disney Princess franchise itself, Disney Princess mini-dolls were a great new addition. They added a classic fairy tale flavor and many new parts to my collection, which the Friends theme alone could not have provided.

Mini-dolls with Mia's & Olivia's face design (2014)

I usually present two or more mini-dolls that share the same face print, but today I will be doing something a little different.

Initially, I was going to talk about one of the few additional characters who got Mia's face print: Naya.

But as some of you may know, there's something confusing about her; she was given more than one type of face print. Of course, she is not the only one who got either temporary or permanent makeovers, but in her case it seems rather unintentional (which means someone may have made a mistake).





1) Naya: 41035 Heartlake Juice Bar
2) (no name): 850967 Jungle Accessory Set
3) Naya: LEGO Friends Character Encyclopedia

As you see in the above photo, Naya from the Juice Bar (#1) and the unnamed girl from the Jungle Accessory Set (#2) have Mia's face print with freckles. On the other hand, Naya that accompanies DK's Character Encyclopedia book (#3) has Olivia's face print with no freckles.

When you look at Naya without freckles, you may think of another character.

That's right!

Danielle from Downtown Bakery from 2013 had the exact same face and wig combination!



You can say that Naya sometimes wears makeup that hides her freckles. Of course, that can explain her different looks.

But do I really think Naya from the Encyclopedia was designed with such intention?

No.

What I think happened is this: they just made a little mistake that many fans won't probably worry about. Only a minidollologist would be irritated by this inconsistency.

Other than what's been discussed, there's not much worth mentioning about the three mini-dolls featured today. They are wearing all items that have been worn by other characters at least once.

Recycling of clothing is encouraged in real life, but it is highly frowned upon in minidollology.

Boys (2014)

2013 saw the introduction of Heartlake City boys: Andrew and Matthew. In 2014, the boy population doubled with the addition of the two new faces, Robert and Julian!

Well, actually, they are not exactly two new faces.

They are just two familiar faces with new identities.





Andrew: 41056 Heartlake City Van
Julian: 41058 Heartlake Shopping Mall
Matthew: 41036 Jungle Bridge Rescue
Robert: 41057 Heartlake Horse Show

Andrew and Robert were from the first wave of 2014 while Julian and Matthew appeared in the second wave.

The guys from the first wave were utterly disappointing to me, since I already owned the two boy mini-dolls from the previous year.

Andrew wears the same outfit from the Dolphin Cruiser, but instead of his wig, he has his blue baseball cap on. I never like it when mini-dolls are simply given minifig hats with no hair showing; it just feels like lack of effort.

The brand new character Robert is not that great, either. He is simply Matthew from 2013 with a different wig and a different name. And there's nothing special about his hairpiece; it's the same one as Peter's. Poor Robert appears to be made of readily available parts.

Somehow it feels like these two boys were added as an after-thought.

The two guys from the second wave were better treated with at least one new element. Matthew got a cool khaki shirt, and the new character Julian got a hoodie torso with long sleeves as well as the wig in Dark Orange.

By the way, I have a sneaking suspicion that when they designed Julian, they had Jacob in mind, but somehow they got his name wrong. If you have watched LEGO Friends mini-movies and webisodes, you know that Jacob is a recurring character, and he is especially close to Olivia. Webisode #17 from Season 1 is called "Two Jacobs", and the plot revolves around the fact that Julian looks exactly like Jacob. But it just seems like a lame excuse for having Julian mini-doll instead of Jacob...

An official music video featuring Friends mini-dolls

Have you seen the latest LEGO Friends music video?

This is a must-see clip for mini-doll fans even if they are not interested in LEGO Friends songs!

There have been several official LEGO Friends music videos, but this is the first one to feature mini-dolls! 

The song was briefly used in the LEGO Friends Movie "Girlz 4 Life". It's supposed to be Livi's song, and it is performed by Chloe Moore. 

By the way, there are a few things I noticed about the five mini-dolls used in the video:

1) While Andrea, Emma, Olivia and Stephanie are wearing their signature style outfits, Mia isn't. She does have her basic top on, but the pants she is wearing are in Dark Blue. I wonder if this is because the Lime color won't work well against the background grass in the same color that's frequently used in the video. Mia's outfit combination seen here has never occurred in any actual sets.

2) Andrea, Emma and Mia appear to be wearing the newer version of their tops updated for 2015, but Olivia and Stephanie seem to be wearing their original shirts from 2012. 

3) Stephanie in this video has Ariel's face with the wider smile instead of her own!

4) At around 1:27, we see Stephanie riding her scooter while thinking of Olivia, who then smiles with her mouth open (for the first time ever)! The open-mouth print has never been used with Olivia's brown eyes on any actual mini-doll before. 

If you have also noticed the same things, you might as well start calling yourself a minidollologist, too.

Mini-doll legs 3: long pants

It's been a while since I talked about the mini-doll legs. Today I will show you the long pants.

This mold first appeared as Peter's legs in 2012, and since then we have seen it used in several different designs. I have noticed that the official part names are different depending on the pant length, but it appears to me that all the designs have the exact same shape. The back side of this mold has pockets with lids.

Hip W/ Pants 1

This one has the longest pant length of all the three styles. Although it is named "Hip W/ Pants 1", its initial appearance was later than "Hip W/Pants 2".

2013




This design was exclusively used by Mia in 2013. She wore these long black pants when she did her magic tricks as well as when she worked at the bakery.

Hip W/ Pants 2


2012




Peter's blue jeans are the most popular fashion item among Heartlake City's male population, and have appeared every year. The two dads (Peter and Luis) wear them, many of the boys like to wear them, and even Mia has worn them!

2014



This pair was first introduced as part of Prince Charming's outfit in Cinderella's Romantic Castle. Nate the bell boy from the Grand Hotel borrowed it in the following year.


2015



This black pair was used in the second wave of 2015, and worn by Matthew as well as David the pilot. Matthew had previously been seen in the same blue jeans two years in a row, so this new pair was much appreciated by him and me alike.


Hip W/ Pants 3

The third style features tight pants tucked in long boots.

2012



The white riding breeches combined with the black boots have been the standard choice for many of the girls going horseback riding. This pair has appeared every year except 2013. Mia, who is known to be an expert horseback rider, will be wearing this for the first time in the second wave of 2016.

2014




These two styles were designed for the LEGO Disney Princess line. The blue one on the left belongs to Prince Eric from Little Mermaid, and the brown one on the right to Flynn Rider from Tangled (Rapunzel).

2016



Kristoff from Frozen got gray pants and black boots. The official part image is not currently available.

The second wave of 2016 LEGO Friends will also bring an additional design; the breeches in Brick Yellow and the brown boots will be found in two of the upcoming horse-themed sets as well as in the Advent Calendar. In addition, there will be three LEGO Juniors sets featuring Friends characters this year, and Stephanie appears to have legs with Sand Green pants and black boots. I'm pleasantly surprised that the smallest Juniors/Friends set comes with an exclusive riding breeches in a new color!

Please see the photo of all the mini-dolls wearing long pants featured today. The duplicate of the same mini-doll (i.e. Prince Charming) is not included.



What strikes me as interesting about these pant legs is that some of them seem molded from two colors of plastic.

As you see below, the earlier versions of the white riding breeches and blue jeans had boots or shoes that were simply painted.

But the more recent version of them do not show any signs of paint; the pants are molded in one color and the shoes are in another. The newer version definitely looks better in my opinion.



That is another one of the great details of mini-dolls that many people may not have noticed.