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-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?

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.

Mini-doll heads 2: males (2012-2015)

Since I talked about the female face print designs recently, I will continue with this topic today by looking at some of the male face designs.

Interestingly, there are two very distinct head molds for male mini-dolls, while there is only one for females.

As I showed you in the post about the Peter mini-doll, we have the head mold with a strong jawline and a triangular nose, as well as the other mold with features shared with the female head mold.

The face designs I have gathered below are the former type; those printed on heads that are shaped like Peter's. Each one has the part name starting with 'Head, Male1, Dec.' followed by its individual number.

This head mold appeared with the launch of the Friends theme.


Above: Dec. 1 (Peter)

A couple more male mini-dolls appeared in 2013, but they had the other male head mold.

So, it was not until 2014 that more mini-dolls came out with this adult male head mold.


Left: Dec. 2 (Eric)     Center: Dec. 3 (Flynn Ryder)     Right: Dec. 4 (Prince Charming)


Those with the above three new face prints were introduced with the launch of the Disney Princess theme. Each of the three is uniquely designed and shows a distinct expression.

Those "prince" mini-dolls are interesting in that they have the adult male head but the younger male's smaller torso.

I don't know what happened to Dec. 5, as that number is missing from the available head design collection.

In 2015, another father character was introduced to Heartlake City who shares the head mold with Peter.

That was also the year the Elves theme was launched, and with it came two male mini-dolls with the same head mold.


Left: Dec. 6 (Luis)     Center: Dec. 7 (Farran)     Right: Dec. 8 (Johnny Baker)


Luis has the same larger torso as Peter. But Farran and Johnny Baker have the younger male torso.

What you have seen above are the male mini-doll face designs on the Peter-type head, and they were introduced between 2012 and 2015.

I'm going to update this post as more designs get added to the collection from 2016.

Mini-doll heads 1: females (2012-2015)

Today I feel like doing something a little different.

I will present here the face print designs of all the female mini-dolls produced between 2012 and 2015. As additional designs become available, I will try to update this post.

Each of the designs below has the part name starting with 'Head, Female 1, Dec.' followed by its individual number.

From what I can tell, all the heads below have the same mold.

Some print designs may look similar, but no two are identical.

Left: Dec. 1 (Andrea)     Center: Dec. 2 (Stephanie)     Right: Dec. 3 (Olivia)

Left: Dec. 4 (Anna)     Center: Dec. 5 (Emma)     Right: Dec. 6 (Mia)


The above six designs were all that were available in 2012.
All female mini-dolls from the first year of Friends had one of the above styles.

Then in 2013, a few more female face designs were introduced.


Left: Dec. 9 (Kate)     Center: Dec. 11 (Maya)     Right: Dec. 12 (Ms. Stevens)


There are a few numbers that should be there but missing: Dec. 7, Dec. 8 and Dec.10. My guess is that those numbers were assigned to the designs which did not somehow make it to production.

Early in 2014, with the launch of the Disney Princess theme came the brand new face design for Ariel with a wider smile.

Later that year, Sophie made a second appearance with an exclusive face design with a mud mask.


Left: Dec. 13 (Ariel)     Right: Dec. 14 (Sophie w/ mask)


2015 brought many new faces. Three were designed for the Disney Princess theme:


Left: Dec. 15 (Aurora)     Center: Dec. 16 (Jasmine)     Right: Dec. 17 (Anna)

The new Elves theme introduced five brand new female face designs, and Friends got a new pop star character.


Left: Dec. 18 (Aira)     Center: Dec. 19 (Naida)     Right: Dec. 20 (Azari)



Left: Dec. 21 (Emily)     Center: Dec. 22 (Livi)     Right: Dec. 23 (Skyra)