Category: Lego For Girls

Princess Lego Feature

Princess Lego – Duplo Disney Princess Set Guide

Princess Lego FeatureThe new line of Duplo Disney Princess Lego sets are aimed at young children (ages 18 months to five years).

While I was never a “Princess” girl myself (I think I preferred dressing up as Batman’s sidekick Robin) I am a big fan of Disney animation and I have to admit some of these sets look very cool.

I’m sure they would appeal to kids who like the Disney Princess Franchise of toys, films and books.

And if Lego ever brings out sets based on the film Tangled – count me in!  I can’t say enough how much I love that film  – I cry my eyes out every time I watch it- in a good way :0)

Princess Lego  – Disney Duplo

The Disney Princess theme is based on the popular franchise which brings together the most popular “princesses” of the Disney films.

This includes Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Belle from Beauty and The Beast, Snow White from (you guessed it) Snow White as well as Aurora from Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

In 2012 Lego decided to produce a number of sets based on the Disney Princess line to complement their existing Disney Duplo lines which are based on Disney Pixar’s Cars and Toy Story films.

The first wave of Princess Duplo sets feature three of the Princesses, arguably the most “classical” members of the team – Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. As time goes on hopefully Lego will expand the line to include the more modern interpretations of the Princess mythology. You can purchase the Lego Princess sets at Amazon.

Disney Princess Lego Duplo Sets 2012

  • Sleeping Beauty’s Room (6151)
  • Snow White’s Cottage (6152)
  • Cinderella’s Carriage (6153)
  • Sleeping Beauty’s Castle (6154)

Princess Lego – Sleeping Beauty’s Room (6151)

Lego Princess Sleeping Beauty's Chamber 6151Wake Sleeping Beauty from her slumber in the castle tower!

High in the castle tower surrounded by pretty roses, Sleeping Beauty rests in her soft blue bed. She knows only a handsome prince can break the magic spell and wake her from her slumber.

  • Includes Sleeping Beauty figure with detachable skirt for dress-up play
  • Features bed with blanket, tower window, DUPLO bricks and flowers
  • Also includes Fairy Godmother decorated DUPLO brick
  • Sleeping Beauty’s Room measures over 6” (16cm) wide, 1” (3cm) deep and 5” (14cm) tall

Princess Lego – Snow White’s Cottage (6152)

Lego Princess Snow White's Cottage 6152Spend the day in the forest at Snow White’s cottage!

Snow White is spending the day at the little forest cottage. She loves listening to the bird singing in the tree and watching the rabbit hop by. Includes rabbit and Snow White LEGO DUPLO figures.

  • Includes Snow White figure with detachable skirt for dress-up play
  • Features cottage frontage with window, table, chair, tree and flower
  • Also includes decorated DUPLO bricks: bird and plate with apples
  • Snow White’s Cottage measures over 5” (12cm) wide, 1” (3cm) deep and 4” (11cm) tall

Princess Lego – Cinderella’s Carriage (6153)

Lego Princess Cinderella's Carriage 6153Take Cinderella to the castle ball in the pumpkin carriage!

Cinderella is riding in the pumpkin carriage to the castle ball. She’ll be the belle of the ball with her beautiful dress and pretty glass slippers. Includes Cinderella LEGO DUPLO figure.

  • Includes Cinderella figure with detachable skirt for dress-up play
  • Features castle portal, gold decorated pumpkin carriage and horse
  • Castle portal features tower and clock
  • Also includes decorated DUPLO bricks: glass slipper and clock
  • Cinderella’s Carriage measures over 6” (15cm) long, 3” (9cm) wide and 4” (11cm) tall
  • Castle gate measures over 5” (12cm) wide, 2” (6cm) deep and 8” (20cm) tall

Princess Lego – Sleeping Beauty’s Castle (6154)

Lego Princess Cinderella's Castle 6154Build the castle where Cinderella and Prince Charming will live happily ever after!

Cinderella and her Prince Charming are enjoying life in their big castle. This castle has 2 stories, big doors, tall towers, a fireplace, chandeliers, staircase, cute beds and much more.

Build them everything they need to live happily ever after. Includes Cinderella and Prince Charming LEGO DUPLO figures.

  • Includes Cinderella figure with detachable skirt for dress-up play
  • Features castle with towers, staircase, portal and doors, table, 2 chairs, chest, mirror, bed and 2 blankets
  • Also includes decorated DUPLO bricks: fireplace, plate with biscuits, chandelier and portal
  • Cinderella’s Castle measures over 10” (25cm) tall, 5” (12cm) deep and 15” (38cm) wide

Disney Princess Duplo

Lego Princess Sleeping Beauty's Room 6151 SetAs far as Duplo sets go these are pretty cool – I especially like the Cottage, Carriage and Castle.

While the Sleeping Beauty bedroom set doesn’t really ignite my imagination I can see why Lego have chosen it. After all it fits well with the story of Sleeping Beauty. She’s a princess, who sleeps.

Nevertheless it seems a strange choice for a play set; “High in the castle tower surrounded by pretty roses, Sleeping Beauty rests in her soft blue bed. She knows only a handsome prince can break the magic spell and wake her from her slumber.” With a marketing pitch like that it makes you wonder why Lego Friends has attracted all the controversy over there in the regular Lego line.

If I take off my political hat though, I can see the point of the set. Having watched my daughter put her toys to bed over and over again, I know Lego have done their homework here.

Still, I love the film Sleeping Beauty (Mary Blair + Eyvind Earle=beautiful art) and I know there are slightly more “active” roles that Aurora took on and it would be nice to see them reflected in the set. I’m not saying we need Maleficent as a Dragon…but then maybe that would be a nice addition to allow the opportunity for the sets appeal to different interests/genders.

Slight niggles aside I like the sets and as a mother I am very happy to see some quality toys in the Disney Princess franchise as I have seen some horrible, cheap-and-nasty ones over the last five years or so.

Like all Lego Duplo theses sets are made of superb quality plastic that will last for years and probably pass through the hands of many children.

And the wonderful thing is that, since Lego lasts a long time and fits with all other Lego, children will no doubt integrate these sets with other themes. So the “princesses” of this theme can go visit Cars, Toy Story or fly a helicopter and hang out on the farm.

To me, that is the real beauty of these sets.

Lego Princess Duplo Video

Princess Lego Duplo Gallery

The Princess Lego line of Disney Duplo toys can be used by kids from ages 18 months and over and is compatible with other Duplo sets/blocks as well as regular Lego – currently you can purchase the sets at Amazon.

Lego Friends Olivia's House Display

Lego Friends – A Success Story For Lego?

Lego Friends Olivia's House DisplayAlthough I don’t have solid proof yet, I’m beginning to get the feeling that the Lego Friends theme is one of the year’s most successful toys.

As I said, this is just a guess and not to be quoted as fact in any way, but I’m noticing a general mood that kids and parents are embracing Lego Friends in both mind and money terms.

Lego Friends

As someone who spends an unnatural amount of time thinking about Lego, visiting Lego stores (both online and off) and stealthily over-hearing people’s conversations when they talk about Lego, I’m picking up that the sets are selling very well and both kids and parents are very happy with the quality and overall feel of the designs.

Over the last six months since their release, whenever I visit the Amazon Lego bestseller list, at least one (and often more than one) Lego Friends set is in the top 10 selling sets. And that is not just in the US but also in France and the UK. That adds up to a significant amount of sales.

I’ve already written a post about growing to love the theme but after building one and seeing others up close I can say that I have fallen head over heels, at least for a few of them (the beauty parlor remains out of my sphere of interest).

On the holidays I went to a department store with my kids and we ended up in the toy section – I must be one of the few mothers in the world who avoids the clothes section and drags their children to the toy department.

Me -“Please kids can we go see this one?”
Kids – “Come on mum we just went to two others – they all have the same sets!”
Me – “It’ll be the last…I promise?”

Lego Olivia's House InsideThe store had a very large Lego Friends display that included a light-up rotating model of Olivia’s House (set 3315).

I had looked at this set before and thought it was pretty cute but when I saw the model in it’s full 360 degree glory I was instantly hooked. I swear I rarely get this excited about a non movie-related Lego set. It was beautiful.

And I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

Both my son and daughter couldn’t take their eyes off the house and wanted to keep rotating it round and round, to see all the features inside and out.

My son, an architect in training whose idea of a great time is to sit and watch Grand Designs on TV, loved all the effort the designers had put into the interior; he especially liked the mixer in the kitchen.

My daughter went for the colors and the details in each room – the shower, the beds, the fridge, etc. It really is a wonderful design and for a set that can also be considered minifig scale – it’s one of the best houses I’ve seen for Lego figures to date. I don’t have Olivia’s House yet but it is absolutely on my must-get list (which admittedly is a long list- but this is right near the top).

After we returned home I did some more “research” (voyeuristic web-surfing) – Check out this official Lego video made with set designer Fenella. There is something so wonderful about seeing women designing and making Lego for girls.

LEGO Friends FigureIt’s true that not everyone shares my enthusiasm.

The larger Friends figures can be a turn off for many people and it is a shame really as they are missing out on some incredible sets. One answer is to buy the sets, turf the figures and simply use regular minifigures with the rest of the set. All the accessories can be held by the normal Lego figures anyway.

Others have been turned off by the way the sets were originally marketed and while I think they have a point (to a degree) I am hoping that this aspect of the theme will balance out over time.

Lego Friends – The Future

Lego have obviously put many hundreds of hours of thought into Lego Friends, both into the theme as a concept and the sets themselves.

It is clear that Lego Friends is not simply a mini version of Belville which alienated many in the Lego community, and I think did more harm than good with the female market.

There are more Lego Friends sets coming out mid 2012 and, if the early images are anything to go by the quality of the theme will continue to be very high.

Personally I am hoping that Lego Friends is as successful as it seems to be and that we can look forward to many years of these wonderful sets. I know that I will be adding more than a few Lego Friends to my collection and that both my kids will enjoy the thought and care that Lego have put into this controversial theme .