Summer Wave 2013 sets

LEGO Friends Summer wave of sets are almost here:  They'll be available starting May 2013.  Enjoy some images of the sets while you decide which ones you can't wait to build!

 Heartlake High

 

 Downtown Bakery

Dolphin Cruiser

Andrea's Bedroom

 Emma's Sports Car

 Olivia's Beach Buggy

LEGO Friends 2013 Advent Calendar

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New Series 3 Animals:

Fawn's Forest

Parrot's Perch 

Puppy's Playhouse

   The new sets continue to offer a nice variety of interesting activities for the citizens of Heartlake City.  Some new sets (the school & yacht) include new boy Mini-Dolls.

   See more about Friends sets & other fun at: FriendsBricks

New LEGO Friends iPad App

by LFX

Normally, I wouldn't really care that there is yet another LEGO app for the iPad, given the rash of subpar iPad games LEGO has shot out in recent years, including the original LEGO Friends Dress Up game ...
Yet, the latest installment by LEGO (or should I say DK) called LEGO® Friends Ultimate Stickers App is without a doubt the best officially licensed LEGO app so far, regardless of theme.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves but in summary, LEGO has hit the nail on the head with finally offering us a user friendly, intuitive and interactive app.  I'm really big on usability and this app is so easy to use, my 7-year-old figured it out in 1 minute.  The colors are vibrant and the stickers are similar to the ones found in the DK LEGO Friends Ultimate Sticker Book that came out in February.  There's even two game modes, my favorite being the Free Play mode which encourages creativity from your child and also allows them to capture their creation into their photo library.

Unfortunately, this app is not free and not available for Android users.  Cost is $3.99 Canadian Dollars, but well worth it IMO.  A must have for those who own the sticker book, because it takes the sticker book experience to a whole new level of interactivity and fun.  You can tell LEGO put some effort into this app, but now that I think of it, it's probably more DK's influence than LEGO.  The file size is just over 500MB for those who are interested.

Here is what the dk.co.uk site says:
DK LEGO® Friends Ultimate Stickers App

With more than 85 virtual stickers, DK's LEGO® Friends Ultimate Stickers app lets kids use their imagination and create fun scenes from 8 amazing backdrops based on the LEGO Friends universe.  They can match stickers to their shapes in 8 exciting sticker challenges and learn fun facts about the mini-dolls along the way.  Once all the challenges have been completed, an exclusive LEGO Friends prize will be revealed. Children can also save photos of their scenes or print them out to share with friends and family.

Designed for creative minds of all ages, the LEGO® Friends Ultimate Stickers app offers hours of LEGO fun. 

 The Stickers

• More than 85 amazing stickers
• Tapping on an empty sticker slot provides a clue to the mini-doll's identity
• A successful sticker match reveals a unique sound and fact about each mini-doll

 
The Challenges

• 2 game modes to choose from: Sticker Challenge and Freeplay
• Sticker Challenge lets players choose from 8 topics so children can learn all about the Friends and what they are up to in Heartlake City
• Adjust difficulty level to reduce or increase the amount of stickers in the carousel for the sticker challenges
• Completing all the challenges unlocks a special LEGO Friends reward

 The Scenes

• 8 Freeplay scenes include: Heartlake Stables, the Flying School, Andrea s stage, and the Riding Camp App which includes unique backgrounds, sounds, and music
• App includes unique backgrounds, sounds, and music
• Photo function allows you to save photos of your scenes to iPad s Photos app, to share or print

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 Check it our for your Friends fan!

LEGO Friends Books from Ladybird and Other Publishers

Hello, Friends fans! It’s Maya again! This week I received two LEGO Friends books from UK, and I thought I should talk about the books published by the UK publisher Ladybird as well as those similar books in other languages.

The books I recently purchased are the two books published by Ladybird that were released in March: “Olivia’s Rainbow” and “Showtime!”

As I discussed in my previous book article, “Olivia’s Rainbow” has been and will be published in other languages as well: German, Dutch, UK English, US English and Polish. The Polish version appears to come with stickers instead of the mini-set with the cat.  Our forum member LFX has written an excellent review of “Olivia’s Rainbow” with lots of photos from the actual pages, so please join our forum and check it out if you haven’t done so already!

 UK version (Ladybird)

German version (Friendz)

US version (Scholastic)

Dutch version (Juniorpress)

Polish version (Ameet)

I didn’t know anything about the other Ladybird book “Showtime!” and I was quite curious about it; it has the same cover art as the Scholastic book called “Lights, Camera, Girl Power!”  I wanted to find out whether the two books contained the same story.  The books themselves are somewhat similar in size, with the Ladybird book being slightly bigger with extra 20 pages.  

 UK version (Ladybird)

US version (Scholastic)

German version (Nelson Verlag)

Dutch version (Juniorpress)

I was surprised to see that there were four separate stories in the “Showtime!” book.  What’s interesting is that a lot of the pictures that appear in two of those stories are also used in the US book “Lights, Camera, Girl Power,” and yet they are different stories which feature unique events and characters!  It appears to me that these publishers as well as a few other European publishers (including the Dutch publisher Juniorpress and the German Nelson Verlag) obtained the rights to use the illustrated materials prepared by Ameet, the Polish publisher.  They were all probably given the same set of LEGO Friends images to use in their books, and each of the publishers could come up with their own stories to match the illustrations if they wanted to.  Of course, some of the pictures show specific details, so there are similarities in what happens in the two books, but they are still different stories despite all those pictures they share.

“Showtime!” also contains a story about Mia’s magic show, which probably shares the same illustrated images with the German book “Zauberhafte Abenteuer.”

German book (Nelson Verlag)

The next book to be released is a book with a mini-set called “A Treat for Goldie.” I expect the size and the format of the book will probably be the same as “Olivia’s Rainbow.”  The German version has been out since March.

UK version (Ladybird)

 German version (Friendz)

Due out in May is “Friends Forever" Sticker Activity Book.  The German publisher Friendz is also releasing a sticker book. They have different cover arts as well as different page numbers, but I won’t be surprised of those two sticker books share the same sticker designs by Ameet. 

 UK sticker book (Ladybird)

 German sticker book (Friendz)

In July Ladybird will release a novel called “The Superstar Concert.”  I’m quite impressed that it will be 144 pages long!   

Then “Lego Friends Official Annual 2014” will come out in August. I am not familiar with these UK books called annuals, but it appears that the modern official annuals often feature pop stars, popular TV shows and kids’ favorite characters and they are sold in time for the holiday gift season in UK. It will be a 64-page hardcover book.

It is not a book, but in April, a LEGO Friends calendar for 2014 will be released in Germany.  It may be ordered from places like amazon.de.

Well, thanks for reading my book articles on LEGO Friends!  This is all I know about the current LEGO Friends books and those scheduled to come out in the next few months.  I’ll let you know when new titles are announced. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy your time with LEGO Friends!

Another LEGO Friends build-area at a Discovery Center opening

   Westchester, New York, USA, is the next LEGOLAND Discovery Center opening March 27, 2013, which will also include a LEGO Friends build area.

   Friends fans can build, play, sing -- all in a Friend-ly environment including a life-size Olivia's Treehouse and real Andrea's Stage!
   "Welcome to Heartlake City! Build your own microphone and perform on our karaoke stage. Meet the five LEGO friends, Stephanie, Andrea, Olivia, Mia, Emma – could you be their new best friend?"

   Location:
LEGOLAND^® Discovery Center Westchester
Legoland Discovery Center
39 Fitzgerald Street
Yonkers, NY 10710

   Visit their web site for more information on the opening, hours and other build areas, as well as cafe and events:  http://www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/westchester/our-attractions/attraction/219/lego-friends.aspx

LEGO Friends TRU building event in USA!

Saturday, March 23 Noon to 2:00 p.m. Bring your friends and build a LEGO Friends 
Wishing Well!

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Thanks to Friends Bricks member LFX for the scoop!

LEGO Friends Books from Scholastic

Hi, It's Maya again, and today I'm going to talk about the books published by Scholastic. 

Unlike the DK Readers books I discussed in my first book review, the two books by Scholastic currently available are aimed at a higher reading level; each of these books consists of several chapters and contains more advanced vocabulary as well as a storyline. 

The first book "New Girl in Town" written by Marilyn Easton was released in mid-December 2012. The story is based on the mini-movie in which the five friends get together for the very first time. 

($4.99 US)

The second book was released in mid-February, and this time it is an original story with new illustrations in a cartoon style. The title is "Lights, Camera, Girl Power!" and the author is Cathy Hapka.

($4.99 US)

While DK Readers books tend to go closely with the actual LEGO Friends products, the Scholastic chapter readers don't always stick to what is available as products; there are new characters as well as new aspects of stories. I think DK books and Scholastic books complement each other and both are enjoyable for the fans.

Scholastic is scheduled to publish several more books in the next few months. 

Next in line is "Olivia's Great Idea" and the release date is May 1, 2013. This one comes with a cute gray tubby cat and a few LEGO elements. 

($8.99 US)

By the way, similar books have been published in UK as well as in mainland Europe. The British version is called "Olivia's Rainbow" and the German and Dutch versions have the same title in their language ("Olivias Regenbogen" and "Olivia's Regenboog"). I will discuss these European books in my future book review.

In June, chapter book #3 called "Emma's Big Splash" will be released by Scholastic. Also released in June will be "Meet the Friends". The cover of this book says "Fun facts, quizzes and more!", so perhaps it is more like an activity book than a story book.

($3.99 US)

In August, the comic reader called "A Puppy Tale" will be available as well as the sticker book called "A Day in Heartlake City". Finally, "Andrea Takes the Stage" and "Mystery in Whispering Woods" are scheduled for a September release.

($3.99 US)

It's amazing how quickly Scholastic is releasing several different books. That shows how popular and successful the LEGO Friends line is!

In my future book review, I will discuss Ladybird books from UK and other books available in Europe!

New Items for March 2013

Spring is almost here and it's been nearly three months since the December release. If you are like me and have already acquired every single LEGO Friends set available, you must be waiting to get something new, preferably some official LEGO Friends sets to build!

Lego seems to know that today's children, fans and collectors want something new rather often. So, here they are, the four new LEGO Friends items released today! They are available exclusively at the LEGO stores and at LEGO.com.

#850591 LEGO Friends Name Sign ($12.99 US)
Other than Olivia's house, this is the only set with the white cat! And the LEGO Friends logo tile is also something nice to have!




#850597 LEGO Friends Carry Case ($14.99 US)
This is a perfect case for your ever-growing mini-dolls and animals! It comes with 32 LEGO pieces to build a podium (mini-doll display stand).



#40080 LEGO Friends Pencil Holder & #850581 LEGO Friends Brick Calendar ($14.99 US each)
Photos of these two items were first found back in January, so we have been waiting for them to come out! They will go perfectly with the Picture Frame released in March 2012. Add some spare mini-dolls and polybag sets, and your desk will look even more Friends-y!





Hopefully, these four new sets along with the others will keep us busy and satisfied until the second wave of animal packs comes out in May. Happy building!