LEGO Friends, and the mini-dolls that were introduced with it, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Now the characters have been around for 10 years, can they peacefully coexist with minifigures?
This year marks the 10 year anniversary of LEGO Friends, as well as the mini-doll. Controversial upon release, the mini-doll has proven itself, appearing in LEGO themes other than LEGO Friends. LEGO Elves, Disney and DC Superhero Girls are the other themes that only use mini-dolls. But LEGO mini-dolls and minifigures were kept separate from each other, never appearing in the same set. That is, until The LEGO Movie 2.
Sets from the LEGO Movie 2 answer the question that has fueled countless debates between LEGO fans – can the minifigure and the mini-doll coexist? The short answer is of course they can! But how successful were these sets?
The concept of using mini-dolls and minifigures together sounds interesting on paper, but how do the different scaled figures function in a set? Even though The LEGO Movie 2 featured both mini-dolls and minifigures, there are a total of only seven that include both. Four of the seven solely include the movie’s antagonist, Sweet Mayhem, other than the minifigures. She appears in 70830 Sweet Mayhem’s Systar Starship, 70842 Emmet’s Triple Decker Couch, 70849 Wyld-Mayhem Star Fighter and 70834 Metalbeard’s Heavy Metal Motor Trike.
As shown here in 70834 Metalbeard’s Heavy Metal Motor Trike, the Sweet Mayhem mini-doll serves as more of a figure that is put to the side to accompany the main build and other minifigure characters. She is not meant to interact with the main build in any way, so there is no problem with scaling. Sweet Mayhem’s inclusion in 70842 Emmet’s Triple Decker Couch functions the same way. She is meant to be an antagonist, though if someone tried to sit her on the minifigure compatible couch, it wouldn’t work.
Blocks celebrates 10 years of Friends with an exclusive interview in the next issue. To get the LEGO magazine for fans every month – at a discount and earlier than the shops – order a 12-month or 24-month subscription. Direct debit payment options are available too; to find out more get in touch via subs@silverbackpublishing.rocks.
On the other hand, 70830 Sweet Mayhem’s Systar Starship and 70849 Wyld-Mayhem Star Fighter are sets in which the main builds are designed to accommodate a mini-doll. Even though these vehicles were designed to fit mini-dolls, there would be no problem fitting a minifigure into the cockpit of one of these spaceship builds. Because of this, both 70830 and 70849 rank higher in terms of mini-doll and minifigure compatibility.
Sets 70824 featuring Queen Whatevra Wa’Nabi, 70837 Shimmer & Shine Sparkle Spa and 70838 Queen Whatevra’s ‘So-Not-Evil’ Space Palace are overall better at incorporating both mini-dolls and minifigures. The play features in the spa portion of 70837 and the different areas around 70838 can be used with mini-dolls and minifigures, while 70824 is more of a character pack.
While LEGO Friends continues to be successful, it is no secret that sets from The LEGO Movie 2 theme posted disappointing sales. LEGO Friends was included among the top themes of 2019, the year The LEGO Movie 2 sets were released. If a theme that exclusively includes mini-dolls is as popular as ever, why were The LEGO Movie 2 sets not as popular with LEGO fans? The film’s reception could have had a part to play, but does that mean the idea of selling mini-dolls and minifigures together backfired? Do LEGO fans like to keep their different types of figures separated?
While LEGO fans may never see these two types of LEGO figures together again in an official set, there is nothing stopping them from doing it themselves. You could take the new and colourful 41702 Canal Houseboat and place it into your LEGO City, filling it with tons of mini-dolls and minifigures. In the end, it doesn’t matter what sells well and doesn’t, or what comes in the box. LEGO is about creativity. Can mini-dolls and minifigures coexist in your own LEGO world? You decide! Regardless of what some LEGO fans might have thought of them, mini-dolls are here to stay.
Here’s to ten more years of LEGO Friends! Click here to find out about the best elements from LEGO Friends, and here to discover the LEGO themes that paved the way for LEGO Friends.
Sources
https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news/2020/march/annual-results/