To want to ban Friends Lego?

[chippednailvarnish]

I know it's been done before, but I'm just looking at Lego for DD's upcoming birthday and I'm most put off.
Why are most of the Friends sets which appear to be marketed at girls just so crap? There's a popstar dressing room set, a recording studio, a popstar limo, a shopping mall, a food market and the all important hair salon.
Why do Lego produce such dross aimed at girls, but the sets marketed at boys are so much more inclusive of a wider range of interests?

[chippednailvarnish]

the problem is that plenty of parents buy into the "boy stuff" "girl stuff" and pass these stupid ignorant attitudes onto their kids, who then pass it on to other children and so on

I couldn't agree more. Why not just have unisex Lego that has exactly the same sets as they have now, but not just marketed at girls or boys?

[Tamar86]

I have the opposite problem to the OP.

I much prefer the iconic yellow lego minifigures to the weird skinny Friends ones, but I find my DD is generally a lot more attracted to the subject matter of the Friends sets.

At the moment, she really likes the look of the cruise ship, the lighthouse, the hot air balloon, the new airport and planes (I am quite excited about the airport myself), the riding stable, all the jungle sets...
She already has the caravan and car, which she loves.

Of the other standard Lego sets, she likes the look of the beach hut in the creator range, and the ice cream van looked good from the Lego Movie range, but has been discontinued, I think.
She quite likes pirates, police and fireman, and coastguards too, but if she had to choose, I think the beach and animal themes of the Friends sets would win for her, even if they weren't pastel coloured and containing Friends figures.

I think it's a shame it has to be so polarised. There's not much for boys who might also be into vets and jungle adventures. Surely it's worse for boys, who are less likely to want to buy a very girly looking set with Friends written on it, than it is for girls, for whom it is much more socially acceptable to play with both.

I'd be much happier to buy the Friends sets for DD if they had normal yellow minifigures. (But I still will buy them for her, because those are the sets that will capture her imagination the most.)

[bikeandrun]

I wouldn't have a problem with Lego friends if it integrated with other Lego, ie normal Lego people, I think it can give the notion that all other Lego is for boys and just friends for girls, if shops stocked a wider range of the more ( of which there are many)gender neutral sets this would help.

[SunsofAlanKey]

My two love Lego my DS is 11 and my DD is 9, between them they have set up, in my spare room, an entire Lego town, incorporating all sorts of Lego, including Lego Friends. Neither of them seem remotely concerned that it is pinker etc, it just adds to their town. They play there for hours (and I can't have anyone to stay .......) and I like anything that fuels imaginative play.

[SomewhereIBelong]

We have lots of Lego Belville - princesses, witches, pony riders, desert island castaways, hospitals, playgrounds etc - proper pose-able doll type figures - but still very girly - from the 90s

girl focussed lego sets have been around for some time - "ordinary" lego can be and is used to - they are not mutually exclusive.

[ApeMan]

I don't see other people's parenting choices re toys as a problem to be fixed, that sounds a bit authoritarian to me.

I can see the point though - it would be sad for a little girl to go without the stuff she thought was cool.

We don't buy into limiting our kids in this way, and our kids seem quite happy to choose whichever stuff they want and mix it all up - nothing lego does limits their choice.

[TheWitTank]

Because some kids do actually want pink lego themed around hairdressing etc? Do you think lego don't do their market research and find out what children want? I don't see the problem to be honest. There are endless sets of lego in all colours and themes available for all to buy, boy or girl. You are not forbidden to buy "boy" themed sets. My daughter has some friends sets, mixed with minecraft, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. She mixes the sets up anyway. I know mumsnet has this stick up their arse about girls liking pink, but it's only another colour. It doesn't mean they are going to turn into some 50s husband obeying housewife with no ambition because they have some pop star themed pink lego.

[formerbabe]

I know mumsnet has this stick up their arse about girls liking pink, but it's only another colour.

This! The only time pink is acceptable is if your ds likes it...then you simply must tell everyone that he loves pink and princess dresses. If your dd likes pink and princess dresses you must whisper it in hushed tones and let everyone know she also enjoys climbing trees!

[Only1scoop]

Former sadly yes.

[morelikeguidelines]

My main lego related worry is making sure dd can play with it without ds (1) getting hold of it! What kind of lego it is pales into insignificance.

[morelikeguidelines]

formerbabe has it.

Although in fact my ds does like pink (or any bright colour).

[LadyPenny]

I don't see the problem at all.

We visited Legoland last week. I have two boys and three girls. They all took some savings with them to buy Lego. The boys chose Starwars the girls chose Lego friends.

They came home and built it all together, and for the past 5 days the sets have all merged together to become part of whatever imaginary game they are playing at the time.

I don't give a hoot what they choose. Lego is the one toy that gets my dc, who range in age from 8 to 15, playing and learning together.

[BathshebaDarkstone]

YABU. DD plays with Lego Friends and the "boys' " sets. And there's still Lego Classic, which is just marketed at children.

[GerbilsAteMyCat]

Another vote here for the Creator sets. They are great fun. My DS2 loves Lego Friends. He has the jungle rescue set and the lab and had the lego friends advent calendar. He turned the sled into a jet pack. Lego friends is just a different style of lego, go with what your kids like.

[SomewhereIBelong]

yep - my DD14 had Belville galore - pink abounds, and pale aqua for the mermaid set of course...

now she is tutoring neighbours kids in keyboards/piano and guitar, making money from it - a right little businesswoman - she even got in touch with the taxman herself to check the rules etc...

but of course just THINK how much more advanced she would be if she had ONLY had "ordinary" lego.

[LadyPenny]

formerbabe has it spot on.

[GerbilsAteMyCat]

We also have the lego friends lego fusion, it has a resort app where uou can see dolphins, surf and ride a horse. Oh and build a resort.

[BathshebaDarkstone]

I don't think Lego Friends will influence my DD's career choices, she wants to work for the RSPB!

[PinkPearlClutcher]

Because that's what SOME kids want. Some kids love pink and purple and pretty things and animals and shopping malls.

Some girls like playing with the Lego Star Wars, some boys like playing with Lego friends shopping mall.

There is a choice, nobody said you HAVE to buy Lego friends for girls and regular Lego for boys. It's just in addition to what they already have.

For the record my 3 year old nephew MUCH prefers Lego friends to regular Lego, and that's cool with us.

[bostonbaby]

The poster further up has it spot on. Pink is only acceptable for boys on mn.

Imagine: I went to buy my son a Lego police set but he wanted the pink nail salon AIBU not letting him have it because it was pink?

MN: YABU YABU YABU

[bostonbaby]

And to answer your op:

YABVVVU you are not the lego police

[sanquhar]

I don't have a problem with Lego friends. 5 yo dd loves Lego, she is also going through the 'everything pink' phase so really loves the pink/purple Lego.

We bought her the jungle rescue one for Christmas and we are going to get her the car/caravan one for her birthday.

7yo ds also loves Lego friends and there was some colossal bickering over it at christmas.

Turns out pink is just a colour. Who'd a thunk it?

[PoppyFleur]

Lego is for children?

[19lottie82]

This is cool!
shop.lego.com/en-GB/Research-Institute-21110

[chippednailvarnish]

The Lego Research Institute is a result of an on going campaign.

Shame it took so long.