Mia (2012)

Just like Stephanie and Olivia, Mia also appeared in 7 different sets in 2012.



1) 3188 Heartlake Vet
2) 3189 Heartlake Stables
3) 30101 Skateboarder (promo/polybag)
4) DK Brickmaster: Treasure Hunt in Heartlake City
5) 3942 Heartlake Dog Show
6) 3934 Mia's Puppy House
7) 3939 Mia's Bedroom

Unfortunately, two of the Mia mini-dolls above didn't get the facial print in the right place.

Or should I say they are cute in their own way?

Mia is known as the biggest animal lover of the five Friends, so the motif associated with her is the paw print. Both of her halter tops from 2012 have a design featuring a paw print or two.

Her go-to outfit consists of the light blue top and the lime cropped pants. Both of them show pretty butterflies. The butterfly is the motif that seems to represent all the five Friends as a group, and not just Mia.

Mias #6 and #7 in the first picture are wearing the lovely halter top which was only available in those two $10 sets from 2012.

The backs of her two tops have the same simple look.



Just like Olivia and Stephanie, Mia's signature top was slightly redesigned later; the newer version has three butterflies instead of two, the pink details are gone, and the butterflies are now outlined in white. Even the main blue color appears to have changed to a lighter shade.

Stephanie (2012)

Today let's look at the Stephanie mini-dolls introduced in 2012.



1) 3063 Heartlake Flying Club
2) 3183 Stephanie's Cool Convertible
3) 30105 Mailbox (promo/polybag)
4) 5000245 Stephanie (promo/polybag)
5) 3930 Stephanie's Outdoor Bakery
6) 3185 Summer Riding Camp
7) 3935 Stephanie's Pet Patrol

Stephanie appears four times that year in her signature outfit: her favorite white tank top with pink details, her magenta skirt and matching tennis shoes.

Stephanie was assigned with the star motif, so the two tops designed especially for her that year show stars or at least part of a star.

Her long-sleeved shirt is painted in Aqua and very lovely with an asymmetrical neckline. It's too bad it has been worn only once; it's such a cute shirt with silver and pink details.

Just like Olivia, Stephanie's signature top was updated in 2015. The elements in the design stayed the same, but the two shades of pink are more clearly distinguished in the new version.



When you look at the Stephanie mini-dolls from 2012, you get the impression that she wears this same old tank top all the time! Maybe she was embarrassed by it, so during the next two years that followed, she made sure not to be seen in a new set wearing it again.

New Friends characters for January 2016

I have written about the Olivia mini-dolls from 2012 and 2013 so far, and you might have thought my next entry would be about Olivia from 2014.

Or perhaps about Stephanie, Mia, Andrea or Emma from 2012.

But that would be too predictable and boring, wouldn't it? 

So today, while they are still considered brand new, I will introduce you to the new Friends characters!

Meet the new faces for the first half year of 2016:

Joy, the camp leader: 41122 Adventure Camp Tree House

Naomi, the waitress: 41119 Heartlake Cupcake Cafe

Daniel, the employee: 41118 Heartlake Supermarket

I always get very excited when new characters get introduced, especially when they have new parts!

Joy has the Maya face print with dark brown eyes with a closed mouth. 

She has the Rapunzel wig, long loosely braided hair in auburn. It is the same as Mia's hair color, officially called (New) Dark Red by LEGO. 

Both her torso and legs feature new print designs. Currently this Joy mini-doll is the only way to get any part of that cool outfit!

Naomi has blue eyes, freckles and closed mouth; this face print was first used on the Anna mini-doll in 41062 Elsa's Sparkling Ice Castle. 

At the moment, Naomi is the only other character who has this face print. 

Her apron top goes perfectly with the familiar leg part most typically seen on the Stephanie mini-dolls. 

Her hair is Mia's ponytail wig in dark brown (just like Andrea's hair color). 

Daniel is the 10th male character appearing in the mini-doll form in Heartlake City. 

His face looks familiar, because he shares the same print as a few of the previously seen male characters: Andrew, Julian and David. 

While this leg piece is probably one of the most common mini-doll parts, his work shirt is exclusive to the supermarket at the moment. 

His wig is a minifig wig used for the first time on a mini-doll.

So, how do you like them? They look quite special, don't they?

I know, I know. You must be saying, "What a joy to have finally met Joy and the other two new characters!"

  

Olivia (2013)

In my previous post, I talked about the Olivia mini-dolls from 2012.

And today I'm going to continue with the same character Olivia, but let's see what happened to her in 2013.





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You are probably saying, "Only two new Olivia mini-dolls from the whole year of 2013?!"

That's right.

Many sets from 2012 were still available (except the $10 sets & the advent calendar), so there were still plenty of sets featuring Olivia on the store shelves in 2013.


Now, let me introduce you to the two Olivia mini-dolls from the second year of LEGO Friends:

1) 41003 Olivia's Newborn Foal
2) 41010 Olivia's Beach Buggy

Olivia #1 is wearing a new magenta top with white and navy details depicting some kind of plant and hearts. She is also wearing a new skirt in light blue (which LEGO calls Light Royal Blue) and simple white flat shoes.

Olivia #2 has a new pink halter top on. The design is perfect for her beach ride, with the picture of a palm tree, a big wave and flowers (one of them appears to be a hibiscus). There is a tiny shape of a heart which is somewhat hard to notice. The back of the halter top shows the tied strings.





In my previous posts about Olivia mini-dolls from 2012, I talked about her eye color being slightly lighter than that from later years. Here is a comparison photo:

Comparison: Olivia's eye colors

Her eye color from 2012 is the kind of brown that is close to orange, which somewhat blends in with her skin tone. The newer eye color is a darker shade of brown, and makes her eyes stand out more. It may also give her a warmer and friendlier look, but I think both versions are nice.

Olivia (2012)

So, when I decided to talk about the mini-dolls, I wondered which of the five Friends I should choose first.

Well, it has to be Olivia, I thought, since she was "the New Girl in Town" in 2012 when LEGO Friends started.



1) 30102 Desk (promo/polybag)
2) 3184 Adventure Camper
3) 3315 Olivia's House
4) 3065 Olivia's Tree House
5) 3933 Olivia's Invention Workshop
6) 3937 Olivia's Speedboat
7) 3316 Advent Calendar

Three tops were designed exclusively for Olivia for 2012. Her signature motif is the heart, so all the three designs feature at least one heart shape.

The sweater Olivia #7 is wearing is exclusive to 2012 Advent Calendar at the moment. The yellow tank top worn by #5 & #6 appeared only in 2012. Surprisingly and interestingly, Olivia in her signature outfit (#1-#3) was available only in those sets from 2012.

Of course, you may remember seeing Olivia in her pink tank top with hearts in 41101 Heartlake Grand Hotel from 2015. But all the five girls' signature tops were slightly redesigned in 2015 with a bit more details.

  

Another thing I noticed about Olivia mini-dolls from 2012 is that her light brown/hazel eyes were painted in a lighter or more yellowish shade than her eyes from 2013 and later. Her eye color was clearly lighter than Mia's in 2012, but now they seem to have the same eye color.

What is minidollology?

Hi, I'm Maya, a self-proclaimed minidollologist.

You may be wondering, "What is minidollology, anyway?"

Well, of course, it is the "study" of LEGO mini-dolls!!

Before I became a minidollologist, I was just a LEGO fan. In fact, I had been a LEGO fan since the time when all the LEGO mini-figures wore that classic smile on their faces.

When I first saw the mini-dolls in the Friends sets in 2012, I became fascinated with them immediately.

So I started collecting and enjoying anything and everything that came with a mini-doll.

Soon the world of mini-dolls expanded to include some new characters from the LEGO Disney Princess and LEGO Elves themes. So I had to welcome them, too.

My collection can allow only one copy of each set; I do not own any duplicate sets. And yet, my mini-doll population has grown large quickly. So large that I started to feel the need of proper classifications or some kind of organization to my collection.

And that's how I started this blog.