Friends Lego Magazine, Grumble...

monkey_roo

Ok, this is a bit of a rant, but also a genuine question. Why has there not been a mini-doll as the 'giveaway' with the friends magazine so far?

I don't have an exact count but the Chima one must have dished out 3 or 4 figures to date, the Nijia Magazine 1, so that is 5 figures for the boys to play with and 0 for the girls... Doesn't seem fair somehow.

I know the lego on the front of the magazines is pitched as a free item, but given the cost of the magazine it really isn't free, it's all part of the price. So come one, maybe the girls can forgo another bit of furnature one month and actually get a figure that can use the many desks and dressers we have had so far.

monkey_roo

I am now rephrasing my grumble and upgrading it to a moan.. This week the 'boys' get to enjoy, not one nice minifigure, but two with the Chima mag (and very nice they are too) but what do the girls get.... A small cake and a music box.... Come on, what do people think? That in the world of friends the furniture is self-fullfilling, that people aren't part of a girls 'play mode'? come on... Just once put a figure in there, just once. I dare you...

LostInTranslation

It is a problem with Friends and Disney Princess sets too that there are never really enough figures for the size of set.

Maybe @DrDaveWatford could raise this through the Ambassador forum to find out why this is

monkey_roo

That would be nice, my grumble is only part serious but I really do think more figures should be included in the magazines for girls, well even one would be nice.

As for the sets I do agree, I found it odd that we got Jasmin without Aladin or Genie or that the underwater palace had no King Triton or Ursula. I do understand that the production cost of mini dolls might be heigher than standard figures but I can't imagine it is by much.

i would love a Snow White and dwarfs etc. etc. (big disney fans here).

monkey_roo

While I think about it Hans, Sven and Kristoff are big omissions, Marshmellow as well. Wow, I can take my own thread off topic :)

EvilTwin

At the risk of opening up a huge debate... girls are allowed to play with Chima and Ninjago, too...

monkey_roo

Not a debate, totally agree, kids can play with whatever they like, I am merely pointing out imbalance between the magazine offerings, which are clearly gender targeted, which again, is fine. In my families case it is also correct, my daughter loves friends lego, princess and now elves, my son love ninjas and chima (the both love super heros and Star Wars, but that's another topic), so the magazines are spot on for them and they both enjoy reading what is on offer, but my daughter is always a little disapointed that a figure is never present in her magazine.

Aanchir

It could be that mini-dolls are more expensive to produce individually than minifigures. Wouldn't entirely surprise me. Minifigures not only have simpler molds and decorations a lot of the time, but LEGO has been producing minifigures for decades so needlesss to say I'm sure they have that down to a science.

Alternatively, it could be that LEGO is trying to overcome the stereotype that Friends is "dumbed down" by focusing more on actual buildable models in the Friends magazines than in the Chima and Ninjago magazines.

tamamahm

I do not think it is about trying to counteract the dumbed down rumor.
Most Friends/Princess/Elves sets suffer from far fewer minidolls compared to comparable minifig sets. 

My assumption has been the first item mentioned... The issue is cost. Who knows if it is cost of molds, more complex figures, or research costs. 

Poisso3

I buy my daughter the Friends Mag every month and she's never complained of not getting a mini-doll. We have groaned at a set being very lacking/not much thought put into the parts or construction, but generally she will take whatever the build is and put it into her Friends story when she plays.  When she's bored the parts go into the parts bucket.

Just a thought on the lack of a mini-doll, unlike Chima and Ninjago, LEGO only has a small number of characters released for the Friends line they do a good enough job at having the same characters included in numerous sets with just slightly different outfits. If my daughter does have a complaint about the Friends sets, it is the lack of new characters. She makes her own by changing the hair around but gets a little frustrated when some of the painted torsos and legs are identical thanks to their inclusion in different sets with just different heads/hair.