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?