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.

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.

A new leg mold: cropped pants for boys

When you first saw this year's Toy Fair photos, you got excited about all the new stuff, didn't you?

How about those fun new pieces like the water melon slices and hot dog buns?

We love new pieces. New molds and new designs are always welcome.

But there is one new mold that no one seems to care about...

So that got me thinking: maybe some people haven't even realized it's a new piece!

Have you looked closely at Nate and Matthew in those Amusement Park sets?

Do you see them?

That's right!

They are wearing shorts that we have never seen before!

This new leg mold may have been overlooked, as we haven't gotten very good close-up images showing it yet. And it may look like Mia's basic leg mold if you are not really interested in mini-dolls.

So how are the new boys' pants different from Mia's basic legs?

Mia's pants are calf-length capris that appear to have rolled-up cuffs secured with a buttoned tab.

This is the camp leader Joy wearing her Sand Green capris made from Mia's basic leg mold.



The boys' new cropped pants have a large pocket on either side, and seem to have a baggy silhouette around the knees.

Other than their torso, this is the first time Friends boys are getting any new mold designed for them.

Am I the only one who is looking forward to getting these new legs?

Mini-doll legs 2: A-line mini-skirts

Female, Hip w/ Skirt 2 is the mold used for Olivia's basic purple skirt.


2012



The pink skirt piece in the middle appeared only in sets from 2012, and sadly, it is no longer produced. The red one on the right has been included only in three of the advent calendars.

2013




These two designs have been used quite regularly, appearing four years in a row between 2013 and 2016.

2014



These two have also been frequently used. The gray skirt on the left has been present between 2014 and 2016. The Sand Green skirt has not been found so far in the 2016 collection.

2015



Here is another piece designed for an advent calendar.

2016

Although not available yet, there will be two more designs to be added in the second half year.

Below you will see a collection of all the mini-dolls with "Hip W/ Skirt 2" leg mold. Duplicates of the same mini-doll are not included.



There is only one Andrea mini-doll here while there are multiple versions of the other four Friends. It is because this mold has not been used yet on a design specifically for dark-skinned legs.

That will change later this year. Andrea will be getting a skirt in Medium Azure which she will wear in 41130  Amusement Park Roller Coaster as well as in 41124 Heartlake Puppy Daycare.

Mini-doll legs 1: layered mini-skirts

Female, Hip with Skirt 1 was used on three of the five Friends girls' signature outfit: Andrea's, Emma's and Stephanie's. It is one of the leg parts with the most color & print variations.


2012











2013

The ones on the left and in the center below have appeared only once so far.




No new color & print for this mold was seen in 2014.


2015

The Pop Star sub-theme brought us the rare silver and gold skirts!





2016

The medium azure skirt with matching shoes was added to the collection in January.

Here's a photo of all the mini-dolls with this leg mold in my collection. Duplicates of the same mini-doll are not included.



Stephanie's basic magenta skirt is the most common piece. While it is very cute, it's been used a little too frequently in my opinion.

Introduction to the minidoll legs

When I discuss the mini-dolls, my focus is often on what their face prints are or what they have on the torsos, and I may even forget to mention the legs.

But actually, it is quite fascinating to see how many different kinds of leg molds mini-dolls have!

As you may have noticed, every official mini-doll character is basically stuck with one type of torso.

It may look like there is a wide variety of upper body options for young female mini-dolls, but they are all made from the one and only girl torso mold.

What makes these torsos look different is just the colors and the prints, and not the variety in torso molds.



By contrast, the leg parts do not rely on the colors and print details alone.

It's amazing how many different shapes there are!



In some of my future posts, I will talk about some of these individual leg mold.