The first I heard of the new Friends Lego was via facebook and American based bloggers, in uproar because of the way this product was being marketed. I read a few posts and I had to agree, without having seen the product, the idea that this was ‘just for girls’ and that Lego had to make a whole new and different range specially for girls, left a bad taste in my mouth.
We have the Lego love big time in this house. It’s practically genetic, being passed down from both myself and my husband.
We have an enormous box of well used duplo and, last year we delved into the world of ‘little lego’. In twelve short months we acquired a huge amount of Lego of all varieties. We have Star Wars Lego, Harry Potter Lego, Castle Lego, Lego City, Creator, Belleville, Atlantis Lego and lots of just random blocks and accessories. And now Friends Lego was on their wish list.
I must confess I have not seen or heard any of the friends marketing here in Australia, and my children knew nothing about it until they saw it in a catalouge, and they wanted it, bad!
I was skeptical…
The whole idea that any toy is specifically for girls or boys grates against everything I believe in. The idea that girls would only like to play with Lego because these new sets include a Beauty Parlor makes me want to ban it from my house. But I’ve learned the hard way that banning things doesn’t teach anyone anything, and my big kids didn’t know about any of the advertising hype, they just saw cool new lego and wanted it.
I talked to the big kids about what bothered me about this Lego…
“But you don’t like Barbie but you let us have them and we know no one really looks like her.”
“This Lego is like Polly Pocket… you let us have Polly Pocket, why not this?”
“It doesn’t matter that the people are a different size. Everyone is different you know.”
But it was my boy who won me over in the end…
“I want the inventors set” he told me “because it has a robot and computers and science stuff! And I want the tree house, and the singing stage, and the hairdressers…”
I don’t like the way this Lego has been marketed, but my kids were not exposed to that. My kids were not judging it on some adult’s preconceived idea of what would make it sell, they were judging it by their own standards… does it look cool? Is it different to the lego they already have? What could they build with it? How could they use it in dramatic play?
So when the opportunity arose to review some Friends Lego, I let go of my adult biases and said yes.
They came home from school and kinder one afternoon to find three new sets of Lego waiting for them, and I was ‘the best mum everrrrr!!!’.
I watched them ooh and ahh over the beauty palour, get excited by the stage and agree to build the inventer’s workshop first. Then they did what they usually do with new Lego, they set about building it. The three of them worked together, reading instructions and searching for pieces. They helped each other and negotiated and were patient and kind… that almost never happens when you two eight year olds and a four year old share an activity. They built steadily for almost two hours, till I made them stop for dinner.
As I carefully lifted their half built creations to somewhere high enough to be safe from Godzilla (aka Noah) I decided that this new Lego wasn’t so bad after all. Sure, I wish the people were the same size as other Lego mini figures, and I really, really, wish there were some boy figures, and I wish the world would stop labeling toys as ‘for girls’ or ‘for boys’… but the bottom line is this Lego was cool. There were lots of cool accessories as well as lots of regular bricks and the kids loved it.
It is the same Lego that we’ve loved for the last year and the same Lego I loved as a kid (well ok not quite the same, but similar, in a much cooler kinda way). After they built each set once the Friends Lego has joined the rest of our bricks and now become part of pirate ships and other creations and the girls often have tea with the ewoks… and no one seems to mind one bit whether it is one of the girls or one of the boys who plays with it.
Win Andrea’s Stage and Butterfly Beauty Shop!
This competition is now closed, winners have been notified and will posted here soon.
I have three Lego Friends prize packs to give away. Each pack includes Andrea’s Stage and the Butterfly Beauty Shop.
To enter, just leave a comment on this post and tell us what your kids would do to get some new Lego! The three funniest, most interesting, or most different comment, as judged by me and my big kids will win!
To enter you must be an Australian resident and provide a valid email address. Entries are limited to one per household.
Entries close 6pm AEST Saturday May 5th 2012, the winner will be contacted by email and announced on this post. The winner must contact me within 5 days or the prize will be re-drawn. The winner’s contact details will be passed on to One Green Bean PR who mail prize directly to the winner.
Check out the Friends Lego online for product details as well as some cool games!
{disclosure: My children were given three sets of Lego Friends. I was not compensated in any other way for this post. The ideas and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and those of my children.}
Annette says
well my boys are 27 and 29 but my grandson loves playing with their lego, I also have the neighbours children a total of 6 over to play with toys and they love coming to get the lego out and play, would love something different to go with all those wheels, planes and motor bikes….thanks…
Theresa says
My 14mo son would love some lego but would probably eat it but my niece would absolutely adore this lego!!!
Kate @ UpsideBackwards says
Not an entry, because I’m not an Australian resident! But I wanted to tell you what my 5yo son will do for (more) Lego:
– set the table for dinner every night, always willingly
– eat a piece of broccoli most nights (this is HUGE for my food-issues boy)
– help dry and put away the dishes
These are all things he does for ticks on his job sheet, he gets $2 a week for completing it and he is counting the weeks until he will have enough to buy himself another Lego set :-)
He has just discovered Ninjago Lego. He “ninja-spins” everywhere. Sigh…
Brenda says
My own kids are too old for this now, but my child care kids 3-5 would love this – they are really into ‘little people’ at the moment and love to role play using the figurines. Lego is such a wonderful resource – can never have too much of it!
Oscar's Mum says
My little boy would empty his money box for some more lego. It’s filled with coins that he has worked very had to get – by somehow cajoling people into giving their change to him.
Travey says
My kids would do just about anything for some Lego. My 5yo always go straight to the Lego section at the shops whenever we go. She always picks Lego for her friends birthdays and gets very excited when she sees anything Lego.
I think the question is what wouldn’t my kids do for Lego :)
Nicole says
My son said – if it was Lego for him…..he would threaten to pick his nose and wipe it on my till I got him some.
Charming. LOL
Kathryn says
I’d like to say my kids would stop bickering with each other to win this Friends LEGO but that would just be a lie. So I’m hoping as a minimum they will do their responsibilities (aka chores) without having to be asked more than twice. Here’s hoping! :-)
Danielle Carpenter says
“I’d get all my toys I didn’t want anymore and have a garage sale, with your help Mum, and then I might have enough money to buy some more Lego”, from my very sensible 6 year old when asked the question. My 3 year old, however said “Pretty pretty please, Mum” with the sweetest smile ever.
Kate says
My girls said they would do anything for new Friends lego. We gave them some for their birthday (I had similar reservations to you) but they love it!
Jodie Van Der Zwan says
Hi, my name is Jodie, I’m a mum, wife and teacher and I love Lego! My little boy is only 16 months old, and I really hope he loves Lego too, as I have already started collecting duplo sets for him. So I would like to win the Lego friends pack, to start our little Lego collection (and secretly so I can play with it too!).
Terri says
“I will share my Duplo with my sister.”
Janelle says
Lol, ok, when I first started reading this post I thought you meant “Friends” as in the TV show. Friends Lego?! AWESOOOMMMMME!!
Now that I’ve realised they don’t actually resemble any of the Friends gang, I still think these sets look pretty awesome. What would my daughter do to get them? Pffft…I want to play with them, how about what would I do to get them?! I tell you what, I might just sell my real-life friends. Who needs them when you have Lego ones! ;)
Trish says
My boys love the Friends too , we just got a little set from Kids Business day :) they want me to buy it . I think they need boys too though the mini figures are highly prized and fought over. They offered to rub my back and clean the bath when I asked.
Chantel Merrett says
Totally agree with everything you’ve said. I had read all the same things about this lego but was pleased to see it alongside all the other lego at the toy store rather than being separately displayed with the more traditional ‘girls’ toys. My daughter has all sorts of trucks/cars etc as well as her ‘babies’ and barbies and I’m sure most children have no idea what is a ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ toy aside from that imposed on them by their carers.
What would my 4 year old do for this lego??? I couldn’t begin to guess. When I asked her she promised me “ten or twenty kisses”. This is a big deal for a little girl who is reluctant (and often “too busy”) for a kiss from Mum. Please get me these kisses!
embracingitall says
We are only just getting into lego here. I’ve seen the lego friends in the shops and I kind of like them. Our daughter got a small set for her birthday and it has the cutest little bunny. I think the Ewok looks happy with his new lego friend, so that has to be good, right? Jacinta
Mandy says
Chances are the?’ll probably fight over it and wrestle, call each other names, you know, all that.
But fingers crossed, given there is two sets, they’ll pick one each to play with and soon interact in an orderly fashion.
Hey, I live in hope, don’t all mothers?
E. says
Ooh, Girl Child would love some Lego Friends. She got a brochure about it somewhere and seems very impressed.
For some Lego Friends I’m sure she would promise to tidy her room every weekend for a year! For an 8 year old (well my 8 year old) that’s huge!
Hespera's Garden (Kristie) says
My child is deprived. We don’t have barbie, we don’t have disney princesses and we don’t have lego. *gaspshockhorrorflail*
Something tells me your girls would think me a super bad horrible parent. Perhaps they could don wings and become Lego Fairies for Tara?
Vanessa says
My girls, 4 & 7 love looking through toy catalogues over and over again! They make sure that any potential present buyers are shown their favourite items in the catalogue. So look out nan & pa when you visit!!!!!
Jane says
Miss 5 thought very hard and said she would make me a super chocolate birthday cake with raspberries and banana and kiwi fruit on the top and then give me a glass of orange juice! She loves Lego and this is her best ever idea for a meal!!!
Ingrid says
Last week I heard a loud banging noise coming from our hallway in the middle of the night. I gathered up my courage and went to investigate. What I found was my 4 year old daughter, eyes wide open, repeatedly banging into our linen cupboard door. When I asked her what she was doing she replied ” I need to get into the rumpus room. I need to finish my castle”. She was sleep walking and sleep talking and on a mission to complete the Lego castle she had been making before bed time! Luckily after I told her she was in the wrong corner of the house and it was 1 o’clock in the middle of the night, she let me lead her back to her bed. In the morning she had no recollection of her night time adventure at all (but I did make sure she finished her castle well and truly before bed time that night)!
Jodie Moss says
I have two girls who love their larger blocks and we are about to introduce them to smaller sets (these look perfect becasue they are theat slightly bigger (we have a mixture of girl/ boy stuff at moment) LOL my daughters favourite is the “man barbie” one of my hubbies old superhero toys
Caroline says
As in babyhood, I can have them eating out of the palm of my hand. :)
Laura says
I asked my 7 year old stepson what he would do for more Lego and my ears are still recovering from the screaming!
He said he would invent something really cool with new Lego and add it to his “old” stuff. He wants to invent something he can use in real life to sell to people and make lots of money so he can live in a Lego house! (don’t we all,)
Without wanting to discourage his enthusiasm for creativity I asked what else he would do that we could see straight away and he said he could do a handstand……
I’m sure he meant he do whatever he was asked and share with his 2 year old brother who loves his big brothers Lego and his own duplo.
Nic says
I had similar reservations about buying this Lego. We have one small set that Freya bought with her own pocket money, and she loves it. My 8yo boy is super annoyed that its marketed at girls, one of his favourite arguments is “theres no such thing as boy toys and girl toys, they are all just toys mum!”. But when I saw them sit down together and share both their sets of lego, I didn’t think it was so bad. Using your imagination is the main thing after all.
D says
They’re telling me that for one whole month, they will pick up all the dog pooh from the back lawn and never ever complain! Yeah, I’d like to see this!
DIANA says
Eat Brussel Sprouts FOREVER and not complain, even if I give them a big bowl full of them for dinner, nope, not one complaint…..so my little faces are telling me, covered in enormous cheeky grins and smiles :)
kerry says
my little girl would sell her brothers lego or his penny skateboard to get her own GIRL lego she loves the new friends lego and has it circled in every catalogue that come to the house
Chris says
My son has been given the Lego in our house and recently my 3 year old daughter has been asking to join in. She loves singing so can imagine her enjoying the Lego, humming along and imagining it’s her! Thanks for the give away.
Karina W says
They would share their toys..with everyone and behave!
kerry santillo says
They would do almost anything and making cupcakes to sell to the neighbours would be at the top of their list!!!! They wouldnt make much money but the effort would be there !
tweeti says
My kids (8, 5, 3 and bub)
Would love to win this for their Lego club!
All four are mostly always sweet and kind ;)
And have promised to pack up their Lego on time!
Belinda - The Lattimore Acre says
Seriously my five year old lives Lego. His day often revolves around playing with Lego. I love to watch his mind work as Superheros, Ninjas, ‘The girls’ (as he calls the Friends Lego), Yoda and a Leprechaun live harmoniously in his Lego world. He saves his pocket money, asks me if I have any of those ‘magic’ loose gold coins in the bottom of my bag, hunts down the stray coins in the laundry and smiles nicely at Grandma who who is a soft touch to buy Lego. I think the question for him is ‘What wouldn’t he do for a box of Lego?’
Sonya Cheng says
Miss 3 1/2 would definitely start telling me all the toys she can give away in order to have this lego (it has been a regular line she sprouts since we gave away a bunch of toys before Christmas).
Kelly Arndt says
My kids wouldn’t refuse to do much for new Lego, either! I’m so glad there are more Lego sets geared for girls now! Girls love Lego, too and that includes me! I have four children, 3 under 6 who LOVE to build and play with Lego. We all just put together a Harry Potter set to decorate my 2 year old son’s ‘Hogwarts’ birthday cake(Mummy needed help working it out, but the kids were a lot faster at it!). We were very careful not to let Master Two near the Lego pieces, though, because my answer to your question is an actual example of something he did. We were at a friend’s house, and about to leave, and all the children had been happily playing with Lego. As I strapped my son in his car seat, I noticed his breathing was very snuffly. On looking up his nose, I could just make out something blue… Back inside my friend’s house, we tried to encourage him to blow into a tissue, but a 16 month old can be a bit uncooperative about nose-blowing! A visit to the Doctor ensued, and he was unable to reach it, so a trip up to casualty followed. Four hours later, after a lot of tears, the ‘smuggled’ Lego piece was finally extracted from his left nostril! So, that was how far he would go to get new Lego! He has learnt his lesson since, at just over two, but we are still careful that he plays with the larger pieces of Lego that are geared for Toddlers(Thanks for that great idea, Mr Lego!).
Holly says
My daughter is celebrating her 8th birthday today and amongst her wish list (a Ken doll and an alarm clock) is finally some lego. She loved her duplo but was never interested in lego as she got older. I think that the Lego friends might be a great stepping stone toward normal lego. I loved Lego as a child and have been trying to get her interested in this as creative play. She loves to create with art and crafts – think tiny bits of paper cut up and pasted on everything to make collages – so hopefully this will spark and inspire the architect in her to create with blocks!
Bron66 says
My kids would probably do anything for new lego. I should use that advantage! Maybe I could get the dishes done, the clothes put away, the floor swept! Yes, they would do chores for lego but I know that my son would definitely not eat more vegetables for anything, even lego. We have some of this friends Lego. My daughter loves it. She has been wanting some more girlish lego for ages. She finds most of the other lego sets too masculine. She is not into pirates or ninjas or star wars. I think she is right. Look at the shelves in store, the lego is very boy oriented. My kids mix it up though. The pirates and knights are always popping into the cafe for a skinny latte after they have battled with the aliens.
Cate says
What would they do? What would they do?
They would ride on a lama or eat a shoe.
They would walk backwards all day, lasoo a kangaroo,
They would even wear pyjamas to the zoo.
What would they do? What would they do?
They would dare to scare Pa, ‘Boo!’
They would clean their bedrooms or the loo!
They would even eat frog stew.
What would they do? What would they do?
They would imitate a cockatoo,
They would dance in front of the school to Justice Crew
They would even eat elephant doo- ooooo!
TheEMM says
I can’t wait to get some of this for my little 4 year old girl. But she’s just had her birthday (where she got a little lego starter pack which she LOVES!) so we’ll have to wait until christmas.. :(
But she’s already spied them in the catalogue and asked if she can spend her ‘piggies’ (well the money goes in a piggy bank so it must be a piggy :-)) on it, and when we said maybe she should save them she said.. “ok then .. I’ll ask nana and poppie, poppie always buys me presents!” Cheeky little mite!
del says
Well it isn’t about what the kids would do to earn more lego, it is a given that they would be little angels who didn’t run around yelling and screaming like the smelly, dirty, wild banshees they often are, this is about me and what I would do. I love lego and come from a lego loving family. In fact I love lego so much it was my favourite wedding gift (surely everyone has lego and power tools on their wish list! I don’t think I could get married again just to get more lego but perhaps it could be an anniversary present? Actually, the hubby is next on the birthday calendar, perhaps if I game him some lego friends I would get to play with it too.
[email protected] says
My 10yo daughter says she won’t scream for a month or she’ll try to keep her room tidy.
My 6yo son says he won’t fight with his brother for a week.
My 5yo says he’ll help the 6yo to not fight with him…
*sigh*
And I would agree to “not” play with it whilst they are at school for at least a day… ok, I’ll agree to try. ;)
WK says
My 7 yr old daughter says she will do 100 cartwheels for any new lego sets!
p.s. she also promised not to bug any adults to buy lego for her for an entire year!
jacque stone says
My three year old BOY is desperate for this Lego as his favourite colour is Purple and he wants to add the girls to his other collections too cute. In his excitement after seeing it in the shops his response to what he would do is “eat all his vegetables on his plate even his beans which taste slimy and slippery like little snakes!” as you can see vegetables are not his favourite but has promised to do it 3 days in a row… the power of Lego.
Renee says
My 1yr old would walk and talk (he can’t do either yet) and my 4yr old would play nicely with his brother for 1 whole day (ha!), I probably have more chance of winning this comp!
Cathy says
Lego is timeless and ageless and I’m so pleased there is now a range specifically for girls!! So I asked Miss 8 what she would do for some more Lego and she replied “I would climb snow topped mountains, scale the highest tree, kayak a raging river and hike through the densest forest until I reached Legoland!”
teresa hogg says
my kids would say if i done 1 thing right could i get lego
Mick says
Little Cooper loves his Lego so much I bet he’d agree to anything – and I bet he’d try to get me to do it ;)
delfa says
I asked my girls what would they do and they both agreed that they would give up their canteen money, polish their school shoes weekly and they promised not to scratch another chicken pox again (they are currently infected) but this prize has lifted their spirits and they have stopped scratching already :)
daisy says
L – lots of hugs, kisses, and pleeeease!
E – eat up ALL our broccoli, beans, and peas!
G – go to bed without a fight!
O – our rooms will be a tidy sight!
Lyndal Griffiths says
my kids would give up tv for a year to get new lego, they LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE lego!!!
melanie w says
My little girl would adore these shes such a girly girl the pink will really get her involved!
Sarah says
My boy (3.5) Would do a one legged handstand and a sideways rolly polly as he can’t do forwards for lego.
Once received there would be shouts of tank you, tank you and he would shower me with kisses :)