Lego Friends is the highly successful theme (albeit, initially somewhat controversial) that introduced the Lego universe to the “feminised” minifigure alternative – the mini-doll. In short, the mini-doll, and the character driven sets they inhabited, were designed to encourage girls to embrace the iconic construction toy in greater numbers to (increase profit) and reach a more gender-equitable audience. Whatever issues the product may have raised (e.g. not least of all around gender stereotypes), the overall success and evolution of Friends has ensured it is a theme to be reckoned with.

Currently (as of June 1^st) Brickset.com (which is known as “the primary reference on LEGO sets on the internet”), identifies 550 existing Lego Friends sets – compared with the juggernaut that is Lego City at 849 sets, and surpassing the popular Ninjago (495), Technic (482), Disney (162), and Superheroes (DC & Marvel combined at 430) themes. Even the beloved classic themes of Space and Castle only notch up 324 and 281 sets respectively. Whilst Star Wars hits a whopping 896 sets, Harry Potter only comes in with 149 sets. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings themes combined have just 40 sets. Other big hitters, including Classic (87), Icons (54), Ideas (59), Architecture (59), and Seasonal (206) are still fewer each in number than the Friends catalogue. Creator & Creator Expert combined are a little higher though, at 569 sets.

The comparative number of new sets released so far this year in 2023 also presents Lego Friends in a favourable light. With 43 new set releases so far this year, Friends is outshone (numerically) only by City with its 51 sets. Looking at the last whole year of data (i.e. 2022), the Friends theme released 41 new sets; City released 64 sets, Ninjago and Star Wars released 46 and 43 sets each, and Marvel & DC (i.e. superheroes combined) released 50 sets. However, all other themes’ releases were fewer in number than the Friends theme, including Creator and Icons at 34 and 20 sets respectively, Technic and Disney each at 17 sets, and Harry Potter at just 16 new sets. So whilst the mini-doll universe is overall much smaller than the minifigure universe, its pioneering and M.V.P. theme – Friends – is not only holding its own, but is indeed growing competitively alongside the minifigure paradigm.

Notably, Friends celebrated its 10^th Year Anniversary last year, a satisfying tribute to its success within the Lego universe. This year (i.e. in 2023) a brand-new refresh of the Lego Friends theme was launched to bring the decade-old theme in line with current trends and sentiments. For example, the refreshed theme noticeably brought with it an updated colour palette, sensational new parts and design styles, a modern character cast in a reimagined Heartlake City (along with nostalgic nods to the original main characters), and a renewed focus on diversity and inclusion. The results have been phenomenal, with some fans expressing that, due to the outstanding quality of the latest Friends products, this year may be the tipping point for bringing many more traditional City builders on board the Friends train at long last.

Correspondingly, earlier this year members of the Brickset.com AFOL community expressed opinions that recognised a seeming maturation and potential ascendancy of Friends, including the following excerpts:

• “Friends has been consistently one of, if not the best theme over the last few years.” – (vizzitor, Germany)
• “LEGO Friends just keeps coming out with insanely awesome builds!” – (GoldenNinja3000, United States)
• “Friends has really grown up in the past year […] I think Friends is showing how City should be done!” – (Galaktek, United States)
• “LEGO City: Hey gang, this wave we are going to finally catch up to FRIENDS quality! LEGO Friends: It’s cute how you try…” – (TheAuk, Canada)
• “LEGO Friends is absolutely phenomenal this year. These sets better stay on shelves for at least the next three years if anyone hopes to get all the ones they want.” – (HandPositions, United States)

The growing appreciation and recognition of Lego Friends in 2023 perhaps heralds the beginning of a mini-doll Golden Age – a dedicated, intentional (and exciting!) evolution and expansion of the mini-doll world within the greater Lego universe. An emerging cross-infusion of already observable design inspiration between Friends and City (and other themes) may serve to increasingly enrich the quality and experience of Lego-based play in future. Such a phenomenon needn’t detract from the uniqueness of any one distinctive theme, but rather be used to embrace the best lessons learned across the board and apply that insight to the universal good. The mini-doll world, by virtue of its origins, design variance and primary audience, confers a different point of view to construction and storytelling from that of its minifigure counterpart, and the cross-pollination of ideas that is possible from these multiple perspectives is genuinely awesome.