Lego Friends
The theme was relaunched in January 2023 to focus on a more diverse cast of characters: Aliya, Nova, Zac, Liann, Paisley, Leo, Autumn, and Olly.Despite receiving initial criticism relating to its representation of girls and their interests, the line has consistently performed well and has been regularly listed as one of The Lego Group's best-selling themes.Lego Friends focuses on eight characters named Aliya, Nova, Zac, Liann, Paisley, Leo, Autumn and Olly who live in Heartlake City.[3] Prior to January 2023, Lego Friends focused on five teenage girls who live in the fictional town of Heartlake City.In 1994, the Belville product line was introduced for girls, which focused on a fairytale theme and did not include minifigures or buildable toys.A Lego spokesman, Michael McNally reported, "Seeing that the play pattern was really skewing so heavily toward boys, we wanted to understand why.Mauricio Affonso, Friends model designer commented, "One of the main things was they couldn't really relate to the minifigure, it's too blocky.[33] The Lego Friends toy line was launched in January 2012 in North America (December 2011 in France), with the release of 14 sets.[36] In the initial release the larger sets included the Heartlake Vet, City Park Cafe, and Butterfly Beauty Shop.Smaller sets included Stephanie's Cool Convertible, Andrea's Stage, Olivia's Invention Workshop and Emma's Splash Pool.Abi Moore of UK campaign group, Pinkstinks remarked, "We want toys that offer all sorts of opportunities to all children.In the US a petition launched by the Spark movement achieved 50,000 signatures with the aim of pressuring The Lego Group to change its marketing strategy.McNally defended the Lego Friends product line against its critics by stating, "I think there's been a lot of momentum around this idea that everything should be gender neutral.In the first six months of 2012, The Lego Group's net profit rose 35% to 2bn kroner (£213m) partially driven by the success of the Friends line.Three years after the launch, Lego achieved sixth place in the list of gifts that girls wanted most for Christmas, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.[46] In October 2022, The Lego Group announced the relaunch of the brand, which introduced eight new characters in January 2023 named Aliya, Autumn, Leo, Zac, Liann, Olly, Paisley and Nova.The new characters were created to offer greater representation by featuring a variety of skin tones, disabilities, cultures and neurodiversity.These have included various vocational, recreational and academic interests, such as agriculture, equestrianism, wildlife animal rescue and rehabilitation, and pop stardom.[79] In 2022, four TV specials for Friends: Heartlake Stories were released on YouTube, including Fitting In,[80] Plight of the Bumblebee,[81] Wet Wallop[82] and The Final Countdown.Reviewer, Emily Ashby for Common Sense Media gave the series a two star rating, commenting that, "The characters are five strong, big-hearted teen girls who are good examples of the value of friendship.Social rivalry and other troubles arise in each story, but the girls overcome them in ways that celebrate cooperation, responsibility, and individuality."[96] In the same year, a themed land was opened at Legoland Windsor Resort, featuring a live show and Heartlake City Express Train.The Friends characters are forced to devise a plan when Livi's manager steals their hit song called Girlz.[108] In 2019, Rescue Mission Boat was awarded "DreamToys" in the Trains, Planes and Automobiles category by the Toy Retailers Association.
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