Review: Friends Play Cubes
Posted by benbacardi,Huw recently reviewed 41403 Mia’s Play Cube - Veterinarian, in which he took an in depth look at the new packaging, parts, and concept introduced with the new Play Cube sub theme. Today, we’re opening two more - 41402 Olivia’s Play Cube - Researcher, and 41404 Emma’s Play Cube - Photographer. If you haven’t already, go ahead and read Huw’s previous review, as the concept is interesting and covered in more detail there.
The five sets currently released each focus on one of the Friends, although, strangely, their names are not mentioned anywhere on the external packaging; unlike the usual Friends branding, which feature which mini-dolls are included prominently on each box. The play cubes highlight a potential career for each Friend that suits their personality - in the two sets I have, Olivia (with a passion for science) is engaged in some scientific research, while Emma’s creativity is being put to use as a pet photographer.
The Packaging and Contents
As noted previously, the packaging for these sets is unusual. An irregular-shaped box holds the cube in place, which is visible at the bottom through a cut out. A banner at the top declares that there is a surprise pet included, and the “Series #1” tag indicates that there’s more to come (in fact, the set names for Series #2 have been released and can be found in the database). The intention is clearly for you to collect them all! With four different surprise pets in each cube (the animal remains the same for each cube - the surprise is simply the colour), that’s a total of 20 unique cubes for each series. As the main build for the cube is the same, I can’t see many people attempting to collect them all.
The rear of the packaging shows the five available cubes in the series. It’s interesting that only the back of each cube varies in colour between the five sets, but it is the front of the cube that is visible through the packaging. Perhaps this is to reinforce the idea that this is Series 1 - the next series will have pink instead of purple cubes, so this will help differentiate the packaging further.
Once opened (from the bottom), the box contains the cube, a small bag of parts, the instruction booklet, and a sticker sheet. The stickers are somewhat interesting - there is one large sticker to be applied to the inside rear of the cube, and a handful of other stickers with designated positions (two for Emma, three for Olivia). The rest are intended to be placed as you wish to decorate the outside of the cube.
Inside the cube is another bag of parts, a small leaflet similar to those found in CMFs, and a shaped cardboard box containing the surprise animal. If you look closely at the pictures above, you can see the mystery design of the animal’s box through the translucent cube. I wonder if those in Series 2 will be pink, to match the new cube fronts, instead of the matching purple here?
The Mini-dolls and Surprise Pets
Each cube contains one mini-doll, and one surprise pet. Interestingly, there are no instructions for assembling the mini-doll, which are often found at the start of the instruction manual. The manual for these sets is little more than a double-sided leaflet, reminiscent of those found in a polybag.
Olivia’s torso is unique to this set, and features some ruffles down the side with three pink heart-shaped buttons. The yellow skirt matches the top, and is new to this year, appearing in three sets so far. I couldn’t find Emma’s torso or legs with a ruffled skirt in either our database, or on BrickLink, so they may well be new too; let me know in the comments if you recognise them! She’s wearing an off-the-shoulder top in a blue and white pattern, with a picture of two pink flamingos forming a heart with their necks.
Olivia’s surprise animal was a dark azure hamster, and Emma’s a lavender cat; disappointing, as I was hoping for the pearl gold versions! However, the fact that they matched the colours of each girl’s shoes was a nice coincidence.
Both girls’ torsos are also printed on the rear. Olivia’s continues the ruffles with an additional two pink heart-shaped buttons, and Emma’s is simply the wavy blue and white pattern.
The Completed Cubes
The builds for the inside of the cubes are, by necessity, small, and come together very quickly. The instructions each contain only a handful of steps, and as per usual polybag-style directions, they dispense with the parts box for each step. As mentioned above, Olivia and Emma simply appear in the instructions fully-assembled, accessory in hand.
The trickiest sticker to apply was the large decal forming the backdrop of the cube. I think I had a decent attempt with both, but perhaps it is a good job they are mostly hidden by the build!
As detailed in Huw’s review, there is a stud in each of the top corners of the cube halves, and an anti-stud in the bottom corners. The anti-studs allow the new 2x6 bracket to attach and form the base of the cube, and the studs allow for smaller builds to be attached to the walls at the top.
In the front of Olivia’s cube, a blackboard hangs on the wall (the second largest sticker in the set), and a clip holds a pen. I had never come across this dual-moulded part before, and I think it’s great, even if I am a little late to the party! Apparently, it has now appeared in seven sets since 2018.
Beneath the blackboard, there is space for Olivia to stand, and the hamster sits at a small table reading what is presumably a research book, depicted by a sticker on a 1x2 tile. I wasn’t aware that hamsters could read, but perhaps in the Friends universe many things are possible that aren’t in ours!
The rear of the cube is taken up entirely by a large science table and stool (where the final sticker is used). On the table is a Bunsen burner, above which a flask containing a green substance is suspended. A bowl filled with a similar green substance is positioned beneath a whisk, and the stand holding the whisk and flask also holds Olivia’s instructions for whatever experiment she is currently undertaking.
Emma’s cube is a little less busy. This time, the space for her to stand is in the rear of the cube, next to a camera on a tripod, and a table for the pet being photographed to sit on.
In the front of the cube, a mirror is provided for the pet to get ready to be photographed (represented by a sticker), with some accessories to help: a bow, a party hat, a brush and a pair of scissors. Emma’s laptop for processing the photos sits on top of a small desk (the screen is shown by the final sticker), and what is presumably one of her photos hangs on the wall above. The laptop is not secured in any way, which means it tumbles around inside the cube when closed, making a rather irritating rattling sound. In Olivia’s cube, thankfully, everything is able to be secured nicely.
Conclusion
The new play cube range is clearly LEGO’s latest attempt at targeting the portable or travel toy market, which currently includes toys such as Polly Pockets (despite what you may think, they are still very much in vogue, as I can attest to as the father of a young girl!) These have a very similar vibe, but are much more appealing to me due to the fact that they are LEGO.
The collectible aspect is fun, and perhaps a shrewd move on LEGO’s part, as it will entice children to encourage their parents to buy them all. The surprise pet just adds another layer of fun, and it’s interesting to see LEGO releasing sets where the inventory is not fixed for a given set number (CMFs aside). Collectors will find it frustrating to attempt to collect all 20 available, and indeed it is seemingly not possible to tell which you have without opening the packaging, something many collectors are particularly adverse to!
As for the target market, my daughter loved these. The small dioramas inside each cube provided enough accessories for her creative play, and her and my son spent a while playing with one each while I was preparing their dinner. I would worry about taking them outside the house, however, for fear of losing any of the small parts inside. As they are part of the Friends range, they are clearly aimed at girls, so it would be nice to see a similar concept released in another theme, although they would not be so easy to tie in with any characters such as the five that have been well established in the Friends line for many years.
The new parts are interesting, and I will be fascinated to see what creative uses for them the LEGO MOC community will come up with (as they undoubtedly will).
The RRP of £7.99 / $9.99 is a little higher than a similarly-sized Polly Pocket, but as these are LEGO it is not unreasonable. As the intention is for you to collect them all, it would perhaps have been better to be a bit more competitively priced. However, there is no doubt that my little girl loved these, and if we visit the LEGO store in the near future she could easily be asking us to add to her small collection.
Thanks for LEGO for providing the set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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28 comments on this article
Lego, if you are reading this, give us Minecraft play cubes!
Torso appears in this 2020 set. https://rebrickable.com/sets/41391-1/heartlake-city-hair-salon/ info
Looks like the same legs too but can’t be sure. EDIT not the same legs. They have dark blue shoes not magenta.
I wonder if it would be easier to align the large stickers by putting 6x1 tiles on the studs in the back as a reference frame?
I rather like the concept of these cubes. I'm only a little disappointed that my favorite one - the scientist - is the pink one, my least favorite color. Think I'll buy a second one to get a different color cube.
TIL Polly Pocket is still around. My sister had some of those long ago. These are a cute idea, I may get my daughter one to see what she thinks. I love the concept, boys would go for something like this, too. A self-contained little "secret" play set that you could carry in a pocket. Very cool.
I already bought 3 of them, as they were on something I call "starting sale". Really fun to make small environments for fav figures!
@Alatariel - I believe Olivia’s cube is the dark pink as that is her theme colour in the Friends world. It looks like the back of all these cubes correspond with that Friend’s colour, as we’ve seen with the bright yellowish green in Mia’s cube and the medium lilac for Emma.
Interesting that these minidoll torsos are printed - that’s not especially common for Friends minidolls.
Another wonderful and very detailed review by benbacardi. I plan to pick up some of these as soon as Walmart or Target lower their selling price from rrp. I'm a sucker for these small sets because they usually have some interesting accessories and extra pieces. I will definitely be seeking out Olivia's because I must buy any set that includes those awesome flasks with color. It wasn't mentioned if there were actually any spare parts in either of these sets, not that I really need anymore spares of those tiny scissors or hair bows.
@karrit said:
"It wasn't mentioned if there were actually any spare parts in either of these sets, not that I really need anymore spares of those tiny scissors or hair bows."
Apologies, I did mean to include that info! Olivia had spares of the pen, the bar, the whisk, one of each of the arms/clips, and three studs in trans green, trans yellow and trans orange; so not bad, really! Emma had two studs, trans clear and trans yellow, scissors, a bow and a party hat.
It seems the cube molds would be quite suitable for making a City space station set/sets with different functional areas... alas for the Friends' color scheme, these are currently useless for other themes.
Thanks for these reviews, I would love if LEGO made a similar line for SW figures because they already had a limited Darth Vader cube once.
Hi,
Can you attach (let's say a 2x6) plate on the top and bottom thus keeping the box permanently open. I'm trying to see if these parts (provided they come in non-flashy colours) can be used in mocs - I can see them used on a conveyor belt or space mining barge - or any other barge really!
I found the Ninjago arcade sets similarly puzzling. They're a really nice idea, but I think the execution lets them down a little.
@Veyniac That's one of the best ideas of heard on this site!
@karrit said
”.... It wasn't mentioned if there were actually any spare parts in either of these sets, not that I really need anymore spares of those tiny scissors or hair bows."
These are the extras from all the Play Cubes:
https://tinyurl.com/rlbkeyg
@holdre007 said:
"Ialas for the Friends' color scheme, these are currently useless for other themes."
I never seen someone being so wrong. It's pure bricks. You can use them for everything.
You can use it in city as part of the building, in space as space pod or part of the base or even a body of a huge alien! In technic - as buoys (them seem to be airtight). ANd as I said before you can use them just to make small habitats for other figs!
@lordofdragonss said:
"them seem to be airtight"
Can anyone with access to these cube confirm or deny?
@HOBBES - you can fix them open, yes. There's a three-stud gap between the two halves when clipped together (as opposed to the four stud gap between the two studs on a single half)
@lordofdragons @SirZed - they are not air or water tight by any means. They do float, though.
Quote: … my daughter loved these. The small dioramas inside each cube provided enough accessories for her creative play, and her and my son spent a while playing with one each..."
Your daughter and you have a son?... I hope you forgot a word there...
@BeaR_the_Builder said:
"Quote: … my daughter loved these. The small dioramas inside each cube provided enough accessories for her creative play, and her and my son spent a while playing with one each..."
Your daughter and you have a son?... I hope you forgot a word there... "
I don't think so, the phrasing makes perfect sense to me. I'm not sure what word you're expecting to see.
Great review, Ben!
Whilst I have great respect for Olivia & her scientific endeavours —be they chemistry, astronomy, or robotics— I also worry about her lab practices if there's that much green goo spread on the walls...
@benbacardi: English is not my native language so I misunderstood, sorry.
The US versions of these have names on the packaging
These are not Lego minifigs, wtf??? TLG is getting lost...
@Altair1970 said:
"These are not Lego minifigs, wtf??? TLG is getting lost..."
Huh? Lego has been producing Friends minidolls in the Friends range since 2012.
@Altair1970 said:
"These are not Lego minifigs, wtf??? TLG is getting lost..."
Where have you been?! Lego has been making and selling these “mini dolls” in the Friends line for 8 years.
Don't forget the Elves line of sets as well.
And Disney.
@BeaR_the_Builder said:
"English is not my native language so I misunderstood, sorry."
Don't worry, you're not entirely incorrect! It should say: "...SHE and my son spent a while playing..."
This kind of thing happens a lot in English; people always use 'and I' when often it should be 'and me', and increasingly, inexplicably, they use 'and myself' which is just bonkers...
Again, don't worry, because even native English-speakers aren't sure of the rules!