Help a Lego newbie!

[pigleychez]

DD is 4 and just getting into Lego.
She likes the girly 'Friends' range and has a box of bricks to start with.

Want to get her the Stables for xmas.
www.argos.co.uk/static/Search/searchTerms/LEGO+STABLES.htm

But ive also seen these stables
www.amazon.co.uk/LEGO-Belville-7585-Horse-Stable/dp/B000T735SS/ref=sr_1_2?s=kids&ie=UTF8&qid=1350422792&sr=1-2&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

Im guessing the two are compatible? Are they just different ranges? Is any better than the other?

[bumpybecky]

Belville is the older style girls range whereas Friends is newer. I'm not sure if the people are the same size though.

If you think you're going to be buying more then I'd stick to the Friends range as then you'll know it's all compatible. The Friends characters have extra bits to add bows and other accessories I think. dd3 would be able to tell you for sure but she's asleep!

[Valpollicella]

All Lego is compatible with each other. In fact Duplo fits onto normal Lego build plates.


To be honest I wouldn't buy the Lego Belville/Friends crap and just get her some normal lego starter packs. Or buy her a mix of the two. As as far as I can tell the Friends stuff is WAY more over priced that you would pay for the same set of Lego (ie number of pieces etc) in a standard set

[Valpollicella]

I think Friends mini people are bigger than standard lego mini figs from memory

[bumpybecky]

not sure I'd agree on the overpriced bit, based on current prices at Amazon...

dd1's camper van from lego city range £28.82

dd3's camper van from lego friends range £29.99

I think there's more bits in dd3's set :) Don't let DH hear me, but I think all lego is overpriced if you buy it at full price. We tend to wait for Argos 3 for 2, Tesco buy toys with clubcard points or similar promotions.

[bumpybecky]

Friends figures are a bit bigger than normal minifigures. I'm not sure if the Belville ones are the same as Friends ones or the normal ones or something else entirely!

[Valpollicella]

Oooh. Interesting Bumpy. Thanks for that....from what I had seen in shops Friends stuff was more expensive.

[maxmillie]

it's all compatible, my boys (yes boys!) have a couple of the pointless and unecessary attempt at gender stereotyping friends sets and it all fits with all their (millions) of bots of lego from Star wars, Batman, Harry Potter etc sets.

As a newbie I offer you 2 pieces of hard-learned advice:

1. Keep all the instructions in one place. Lego sets are NOT possible to rebuild from memory, unlike Duplo.
   

1. Get your storage system in place. Now. Lego self-replicates at night.

[maxmillie]

I don't think the Friends stuff is any more expensive than the other expensive sets?

My other top tip - get a Lego Shop loyalty card - it is quite good and if you buy a few sets a year you generally get a £5 or £10 voucher.

Sainsburys often do below RRP offers.

If you have a Merlin pass you get 10% off in the Lego Shop at Legoland.

The Sun do great promotions once or twice a year when you get little sets for the price of a 20p paper.

Otherwise, prepare to pay.

[neverquitesure]

Glad to hear your DSs have these maxmillie as I am Father Christmas is buying getting his elves to handcraft my 4 year old DS some Lego Friends sets for Christmas to go with all the cars and planes he was bought for his birthday.

Looking at all the Lego sets you'd think that in real life it's only women who live in houses and keep horses and only men who drive cars and fly in planes.

[maxmillie]

yes exactly!! Why did they have to make the boxes pink and no boy characters!! So stupid, especially as some of the sets are quite interesting - eg pets/vets, music studio (my boys love this one)

Glad to hear other people are resisting the rigid boy/girl thing - Lego is for kids!

I think the Harry Potter stuff is, fairly uniquely, not marketed to one gender or the other and work well for girly girls as well as boy. I know plenty of girls with SuperHeroes sets too - quite a lot of female characters.

For young ones and first siblings I think the Lego City stuff like the Camper Van etc is a great place to start, no overt gender stereotyping (generally)

[neverquitesure]

I live for the day that my youngest 2 are old enough for Harry Potter

My 9 year old stepson has loads of the Harry Potter Lego, but it lives at his Mum's so I can't play with it. He has promised to bring it all over one day though

[maxmillie]

you. must. have. Hogwarts Castle.

[daisydoodoo]

dd1 (6) has been asking for this for christmas. Does anyone know how the legoland prices compare with say amazon? We have Merlin passes and get the discount, I was going o ask my mum to take the children back o the car or for a drink while i buy a couple of sets and hide them in the boot. but if they can be found with better discounts elsewhere, i rather buy elsewhere.
She already has lot of hand me down lego from her brothers, so we are after the girly pink bits.

Also for 6 yr old would you say lego or playmobil as shes also asked for playmobil, i dont want to start buying both ranges as at 6 (and 9 months at xmas) im not sure about the longeviy of it.

[beingginger]

Both. My 33yr old dh still plays with lego!
Playmobil is more playset/make believe and lego is about the building

[maxmillie]

We've got both somehow - overall I'd say the lego probably slightly pips Playmobil at the post for lastability, though Playmobil is great as well, because it has the contruction element as well as the playing element which comes into play more as they get older I think.

Legoland shop and Lego shops are RRP so it is 10% off that - I think you may find supermarket can be cheaper sometimes, you need to look around.

Last year when we got our Merlin passes they came with a £25 voucher for Lego sets - may be worth looking out for offers like that too.

[LadyMargolotta]

Lego Belville is a bit rubbish, and even though the bricks are compatible with Lego Friends, the dolls and horses are a completely different size. Also Lego Belleville isn't made any more, and the dolls break very easily.

Lego friends is better. Lego City is great as well, and cheaper, and less pink.

[LadyMargolotta]

Belville dolls and horses are about two or three times the size of Lego Friends dolls and horses.

[Parrish]

I used this site yesterday to buy lego from Spanish Amazon. The set was £20 cheaper than uk Amazon. Waiting for delivery now!
Lego comparison

[bumpybecky]

thanks Parrish - that looks really useful :)

[daisydoodoo]

Thanks maxmillie.

[maxmillie]

Got some Lego friends sets in Tesco this weekend for birthday presents, seemed competitively priced, best amazon on some sets.

[ChiefOwl]

My dd loves the Lego friends. We have lots of non girly Lego too but she loves that stuff much more. I don't see why people are so bothered by it. Much better than the belville stuff too

[pigleychez]

Well Dd saw an advert this morning for the friends stables and showed great interest so my thought to get this for Xmas were right! . Same last year when I bought her a dolls house and a week before Xmas she announces that what she wants. I know her too well!
Been keeping an eye on the prices around and the cheapest so far is Amazon at £48. I'll keep looking as got time before Xmas. Also tracking the amazon on price through CamelCamelCamel website. It notifies you when the price drops. Can't link on my phone though sorry!

[3bunnies]

Oh Lego experts! Thinking of getting ds one of the monster range for christmas (he won't know it's not halloween), it is 25 percent off at the moment in some shops, do you think it will go down further?

[3bunnies]

Should say he is only 3 hence his lack of awareness, we will have to build it, but he got the lego knight and dragon set for birthday and loves that. He loves the monster stuff in their magazine.