Try the roller coaster! Come try the arcade! Join us at the hot dog van! Try the space ride! Try the drop tower! Go to the concert! Try the Ferris wheel! Our community, 824 want it Our community, 643 want it Our community, 778 want it Our community, 530 want it Our community, 877 want it Our community, 973 want it Our community, 749 want it Our community, 791 want it Our community, 830 want it Our community, 818 want it Our community, 879 want it Our community, 544 want it Our community, 376 want it Our community, 481 want itOur community, 339 want it Our community, 338 want it Our community, 372 want it Our community, 359 want it Our community, 343 want it Our community, 298 want it Our community, 268 want it Our community, 254 want itLEGO Friends Sunshine Ranch (41039) Parts Not Complete, Plus Pieces From Other S watchingTwo years ago, in 2011, 90 percent of Lego's consumers were boys.
A tough statistic to swallow for those of us who grew up playing with Lego's gender-neutral buckets of bricks. But the statistic came straight from Lego, which was then focused on boys with franchised sets based on properties like Star Wars and The Avengers after weathering a disastrous period in the 1990s that left the company on the brink of collapse. "Construction had never worked for girls, for whatever reason," says Garrick Johnson, a toy analyst for BMO Capitol Markets. "It took [Lego] four years of research to figure out how to address the girls' market, how to attack it the right way." Lego Friends turned out to be one of the biggest successes in Lego's history. They're five adorable little dolls with distinctive names and storylines and sets that encourage girls to build karate studios, beauty parlors and veterinary offices. The line doubled sales expectations in 2012, the year it launched. Sales to girls tripled in just that year. Johnson says the company carefully studied differences between how girls and boys play.
"When boys build a construction set, they'll build a castle, let's say, and they'll play with the finished product on the outside. When girls build construction sets, they tend to play on the inside." And research showed that girls loved little details, says Lego brand relations manager Amanda Santoro. "When we were testing this, we asked girls what would you like to see in a Lego school?" she said, as she showed off the line at Toy Fair, the massive industry event held each year in New York City. "Of course, they said an art studio. So we see a lot of detail here with the different paint canisters and the canvas here [a Friend] is creating." David Pickett blogs about Legos at Thinking Brickly, where he's criticized the Lego Friends' gender implications. "Their legs can't move independently, so they move as one big block," he points out. That's not the case with "minifigs" — the classic Lego minifigures with stocky little torsos, snap-off heads, and feet designed to click onto Lego blocks.
Additionally, Lego Friends cannot turn their wrists. "That sort of sends a message about what we expect women being able to do physically," Pickett notes. Lego Friends triggered the ire of Joy Pochatila, a scientist and mother of two small girls. Her first reaction to the line was dismissive. "Why can't they just play with regular Legos? Why does it have to be girl-driven?" she wondered. But Pochatila also was dismayed by how many of the regular sets revolve around male superheroes. "You don't see a Wonder Woman set," she points out. Her husband, Davis Evans, is a staunch Lego defender. When presented with the minifigs' skewed gender numbers, he argued that the androgynous figures could be read as female. Pochatila said she'd prefer a few more specifically female figures, ones that reflect a real-life ratio. And it's hard, she admitted, to argue with Lego Friends' appeal, the complexity of their sets and their overall message of empowerment. The success of the girl-centric Lego Friends has led to little girl dolls popping up in construction sets all over the place, including pink ones from Mega Blocks and Mattel's Barbie.
That's great, say fans, for developing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills for girls. But critics wonder, would it be so hard for Lego to develop — even market — toys for girls and boys to enjoy together? Lego Friends (stylized LEGO Friends) is a product range of the Lego construction toy designed primarily for girls. Introduced in 2012, the theme includes unique "mini-doll" figures, which are about the same size as the traditional minifigures but are more detailed and realistic. The sets include pieces in pink and purple color schemes and depict scenes from suburban life set in the fictional town of Heartlake City. The Friends product range replaces Lego's previous female-oriented theme Lego Belville, which had been in production since 1994, and featured dolls that were much larger than both the mini-dolls and minifigures. Other related product ranges have included Homemaker (1971–1982), Paradisa (1991–1997) and Scala (1997–2001). Launched January 1, 2012 in North America (and December 15, 2011, in France), the line includes 23 sets[1] and features five core characters—named Andrea, Emma, Mia, Olivia and Stephanie—in various suburban settings.
In the initial wave of sets, the larger sets include bricks that can build a veterinary clinic, a malt-style café, a beauty salon and a suburban house; smaller sets included a "cool convertible," a design studio, an inventor's workshop and a swimming pool. A description from Lego website stated: "The Lego Friends story centers on the everyday lives and personalities of five girls in a fictional hometown called Heartlake City. Each of the friends ... has a distinct personality and interests, such as animals, performing arts, invention and design, that are reflected in the models. Building sets reflect different parts of town where the girls' adventures take place—downtown, suburbs, beach, camping grounds and mountains." The launch of Lego Friends came after a $40 million global marketing push, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. "This is the most significant strategic launch we've done in a decade," said Lego Group chief executive officer Jørgen Vig Knudstorp. "We want to reach the other 50 percent of the world's children."
[1] According to the company, boys comprised 90% of Lego's customers in 2011 before the launch of the Friends line. According to NPR, Lego Friends are "one of the biggest successes in Lego's history ... Sales to girls tripled in just that year." The success has caused other construction-set companies such as Mega Bloks to introduce girl dolls. The first wave was released in January 2012 with 14 sets being released. The largest of the sets was "Olivia's House" which included 695 pieces and three mini-doll figures. In addition to the first sets six polypag sets have been released as promotions. In February Toys 'R' Us in the United States released an exclusive in-store build set called "Lemonade Stand" and in March Lego brand stores released an exclusive in-store build set called "Ice Cream Stand". Lego announced a further nine sets that would be released later in 2012. Subsequent waves were released in future years, expanding on various interests of the characters and their friends.
Specific themes have ranged from various vocational, recreational and academic interests to agriculture, equestrianism, wildlife animal rescue and rehabilitation, and pop stardom, all complementing suburbia-themed sets. The largest sets since the original wave have included Summer Riding Camp, Heartlake Shopping Mall and Heartlake Grand Hotel. Lego has also released accompanying products branded under the Friends theme. These include a picture frame which includes 49 Lego elements which is available from Lego brand stores and a display stand which includes 17 elements that was released as a promotional polybag. In June 2012, two books are set for release based on the Friends theme. Lego Friends: Welcome to Heartlake City and Lego Friends: Perfect Pet Show are set for release on June 18, 2012 by DK Publishing. Both books consist of 48 pages and are being published in paperback.[37] DK Publishing have also announced that they will release a Lego Brickmaster book based on the Friends theme on September 17, 2012.