Summer LEGO Friends sets revealed!

Great sets.

So this is where Olly's been, the last six months? Staying in a fancy hotel?

That cabin looks amazing.

Friends continues to nail it!

Hotel and the cabin looks good others feel like sugar rush...

The Dollhouse Suitcase is a great idea. Price seems reasonable for having those two huge parts.

Anyone know what the story is with Autumn's prosthetic hand piece not showing up anymore? I dont follow the story at all, but I really like the piece and I'll miss it if its gone

The hotel is a letdown for me. I don’t like the colour scheme and open elevators on both sides.
The autumn forest cabin however looks incredible!

All great. Besides that awful unprinted ducks

I was a bit meh on the friends first half of the year sets (except for the axolotls) but the Summer sets are all great. I always love the funfair sets and these ones look great. The grand hotel looks impressive, I also like the creative case, good for making little scenes and storing them. Also on lego builder I've seen the Koala sanctuary with 4 koalas which will need to get!

@TheOtherMike said:
"So is 42705 Cozy Autumn Cabin named after the season, the character, or both?"

Yes.

@lordofdragonss said:
"All great. Besides that awful unprinted ducks"

I think Lego might have established a mostly-followed rule in the last couple years where inanimate animals are represented by unprinted elements. It's more prominent in Minidoll sets, but has especially been popping up with these rubber ducks lol

Some examples off the top off my head: 42630 Hermit crab, 76781 Rabbit and Hamster, and the Rubber Duck which has appeared in like six sets

@Zordboy said:
"So this is where Olly's been, the last six months? Staying in a fancy hotel? "

It has an amusement park. Must be the Island of Misfit Boys.

@magmafrost said:
"Anyone know what the story is with Autumn's prosthetic hand piece not showing up anymore? I dont follow the story at all, but I really like the piece and I'll miss it if its gone"

I don't know that it really made any sense storywise. She was born without one hand, rather than losing it later in life. When a limb is surgically amputated, they don't just sew the stump shut, but have to layer the remaining tissue over the end. Without this, I'm not sure a prosthetic is possible, or even comfortable. This would be especially true for a missing leg, since the stump will need to be able to bear your full weight, but storywise I could see her either finding the sensation of the prosthetic on her arm to be really irritating, or having grown up without it, decide she's more capable the way she was born.

@Nuclearxpotato said:
" @lordofdragonss said:
"All great. Besides that awful unprinted ducks"

I think Lego might have established a mostly-followed rule in the last couple years where inanimate animals are represented by unprinted elements. It's more prominent in Minidoll sets, but has especially been popping up with these rubber ducks lol

Some examples off the top off my head: 42630 Hermit crab, 76781 Rabbit and Hamster, and the Rubber Duck which has appeared in like six sets"

It looks weird with the molded duck bills and blank faces. And the plush prizes all have printing right above the ducks. And the printed version has appeared consistently every year since 2019, except 2023, including in a CMF this year, Bluey and Star Wars sets last year, and an HP set the year before that. Now, the roller coaster set does have a bunch of unprinted sea life animals (more than are used in the actual model), but that's a pre-packed set of co-molded elements. They've never been printed, and likely can't be due to the way they're combined into a single mold.

@magmafrost said:
"Anyone know what the story is with Autumn's prosthetic hand piece not showing up anymore? I dont follow the story at all, but I really like the piece and I'll miss it if its gone"

Autumn only used it in 42622 and 42626, so apparently, she only uses it for outdoorsy stuff. (It also showed up in 71048-4, and I'm really hoping he isn't the last minifig to use it.)

@PurpleDave said:
" @Nuclearxpotato said:
"
I think Lego might have established a mostly-followed rule in the last couple years where inanimate animals are represented by unprinted elements. It's more prominent in Minidoll sets, but has especially been popping up with these rubber ducks lol

Some examples off the top off my head: 42630 Hermit crab, 76781 Rabbit and Hamster, and the Rubber Duck which has appeared in like six sets
"

It looks weird with the molded duck bills and blank faces. And the plush prizes all have printing right above the ducks. And the printed version has appeared consistently every year since 2019, except 2023, including in a CMF this year, Bluey and Star Wars sets last year, and an HP set the year before that. Now, the roller coaster set does have a bunch of unprinted sea life animals (more than are used in the actual model), but that's a pre-packed set of co-molded elements. They've never been printed, and likely can't be due to the way they're combined into a single mold."

I'm specifically talking about situations that are never intended to represent a living creature but use an *existing animal element*. And as I also stated this is a more prominent practice in Minidoll sets, likely related to the design language of Minidoll animals being softer.

Yes there will be exceptions to this rule but that applies to literally every design philosophy Lego has.

@Nuclearxpotato said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Nuclearxpotato said:
"
I think Lego might have established a mostly-followed rule in the last couple years where inanimate animals are represented by unprinted elements. It's more prominent in Minidoll sets, but has especially been popping up with these rubber ducks lol

Some examples off the top off my head: 42630 Hermit crab, 76781 Rabbit and Hamster, and the Rubber Duck which has appeared in like six sets
"

It looks weird with the molded duck bills and blank faces. And the plush prizes all have printing right above the ducks. And the printed version has appeared consistently every year since 2019, except 2023, including in a CMF this year, Bluey and Star Wars sets last year, and an HP set the year before that. Now, the roller coaster set does have a bunch of unprinted sea life animals (more than are used in the actual model), but that's a pre-packed set of co-molded elements. They've never been printed, and likely can't be due to the way they're combined into a single mold."

I'm specifically talking about situations that are never intended to represent a living creature but use an *existing animal element*. And as I also stated this is a more prominent practice in Minidoll sets, likely related to the design language of Minidoll animals being softer.

Yes there will be exceptions to this rule but that applies to literally every design philosophy Lego has."

It is weird that the never-intended-to-be-alive rubber duck looks more lifelike than any of the dedicated Friends pets. But the plush was originally an alien from the Space crossover, while here it’s a plush toy, and they’re all still decorated. Probably in this case the print was necessary to even convey what they’re supposed to be, where the molded duck is still clearly a duck.

Nice to see the trans-clear dome parts from the Ideas Botanical Garden being recolored into roofs for Parisian-style architecture in Friends. The elevator is nice too. The cabin has a good layout; it looks great from the front and the back is perfectly accessible for play. (The front is good for play too.)

A D&D Gelatinous Cube claims another victim in 42697

@PurpleDave said:
"
It is weird that the never-intended-to-be-alive rubber duck looks more lifelike than any of the dedicated Friends pets. But the plush was originally an alien from the Space crossover, while here it’s a plush toy, and they’re all still decorated. Probably in this case the print was necessary to even convey what they’re supposed to be, where the molded duck is still clearly a duck."

Like I said, different art styles between Minifigure and Minidoll results in different priorities; Minidolls are cutesier and rounder, Minifigures are usually more geometric (though that is being basically abandoned with time) but reflect more accurate albeit stockier animals.

Also the plush element wasn't a living alien since it was being sold as merchandise to a comic and given as a gift in the City advent calender. Friends used the 2x2 Dome element for their aliens during the 2024 Space season (this element was introduced last year so it didn't even exist)
The only time it's been used as a living creature was for those Moana coconut guys... Which make of that what you will lol

42705 is a great-looking set. MeganL's sloths are in for some fun this summer!

@lost_scotsman said:
"A D&D Gelatinous Cube claims another victim in 42697 "

Woohoo! Explains why you don’t see nearly as many elderly minidolls.

@Nuclearxpotato:

Yup, you’re right. It originated in a CMF, not the Space crossover. I misremembered. Except I wasn’t really clear if the aliens in the 2025 CAC were real or toys.

More plushies more plushies more plushies \o/

These look great. I like the theme park ride to plushie matching, the hotel is beautiful, both the building and the scenery in the cabin set are beautiful. Friends always makes really nice kits.

I love the lift at the hotel. The cabin looks like a lot of fun.