Is this new theme meant as an insult to girls in general? Come on Lego, many builds look like they are juniorized. And you try to sell a giant penis with balls as a high school. To girls? This theme will fail at all levels.

Oh dear. These look horrible.

So bad, so very bad. I know they did product reviews, focus groups, etc. But, I'm trying to understand who/how they did all of this with, and still came up with these as a good idea. It's extremely insulting to girls - my daughter looked at these and gave them all the emphatic "thumbs down". That's the vote that counts, and that's kind of telling given that she's probably their perfect demographic (9-year old, loves math and science, loves building LEGOs).

Wow, a bunch of downers here.

I think the sets look fine. Lego has plenty of market research and I'm sure they have an idea of what they're doing. I'm glad to see them branch out the friends style into more areas (as long as it doesn't replace the other areas). The style has drawn significant interest among young girls and given rise to tons of pieces in great colours.

Out of curiosity why can't girls play with the existing super heroes range?

@shirhac: No more of an insult to girls than your post is an insult to all sensible LEGO fans. Nothing about these builds are any more "juniorized" than normal Super Heroes sets, and your idea of what you think the high school looks like is completely absurd. LEGO didn't even come up with the design of Super Hero High; it's based directly on its appearance in Super Hero Girls media: http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/dc-superherogirls/images/6/69/Courtyard.png/revision/latest?cb=20151206015112

Frankly, I'd sooner trust girls with sets like these than with people like you who make insane leaps of logic just to satisfy some perverse desire to find obscenity where there is none.

Anyway, these sets look excellent! The little glowy dudes are super cute, whatever they are, and the figures and builds are very detailed. I hope this paves the way for an in-house sci-fi theme for girls, similar to how the Disney Princess sets paved the way for LEGO Elves.

1. Guys reminder - Its a completly new licence. And Lego couldn't shove it into SH line they have now.
2. All hate for this theme should go to DC not to Lego :) They made this theme to try catch the todays girls audience. (and it's working)
3. I personaly like the look of those sets (and these are not all!) and I can't wait to get tons of those "NIXEL BABIES"!

Whew, never in a million would I have thought that this would exist. Honestly, while I'm not exactly the target demographic, I personally think that they look pretty good. On par or better than the Friends set design, include features more commonly found in "boy's" themes, some great pieces and colors, etc.

Hey, if there's a market for them, go right ahead with it, LEGO. For those complaining, you could make the Super Hero High School completely gender-neutral with the removal of just a few pieces, so I don't see anything to gripe about. :/

@shirhac
If you somehow imagine seeing "a giant penis with balls" when looking at 41232 Super Hero High-school, than that says more about you than about that Lego set. Bravo, what an accomplishment!

I think there will be plenty of girls who will like these sets. Perhaps not the builds themselves from a 'advanced construction difficulty' point of view, but the minidolls themselves, and play-features of the sets most likely will be adored by the target audience. I don't collect these 'type' of sets (Friends, Elves, Disney, SHG), but I can see the appeal of them, and certainly the minidolls in all their variety.

@Huw
"The one pictured features Harley Quinn, who I hardly think is a suitable role model for young girls if Margot Robbie's performance in The Suicide Squad is anything to go by"
But neither is the murderous psychopath 'The Joker', and no one ever wonders if including him as a minifig will have a bad influence on boys (which I don't think it will) playing with all those sets which includes a minifig of him. Maybe I am missing something, but why would this be any different because these sets are designed for girls?
ps.
@Huw, contrary to my responce to the first commenter, no sarcasm here, just curiosity.

Since when do super heroes go to HIGH SCHOOL!

@Matthew_Owens,

Nothing is stopping them . . . and still, nothing is stopping them. If these sell better to young girls that's just the way it is.

"Harley Quinn, who I hardly think is a suitable role model for young girls if Margot Robbie's performance in The Suicide Squad is anything to go by..."

THE Suicide Squad?

What about Harley in the actual DC Superhero Girls cartoon (the thing this is based on?) or the one in Batman the animated series? f every licensed character was judged by just one interpretation then there wouldn't be a Batman, a Deadpool....multiple characters in the collectibe minifig series would be out too.

/grabs popcorn

New re-colours and mini-doll pieces. For that alone these sets should be welcome. Regards Harley Quinn, I'm sure there's a "kid-friendly" version of that character as well as the more familiar one.

All of you 'I can't believe mini-dolls...' folks are clearly ignoring the success of Friends and Elves amongst their target demographics and beyond. Personally I think the Batwing is pretty cute and full of interesting parts and colours.

Matthew_Owens asks:
"Out of curiosity why can't girls play with the existing super heroes range?"

Because it's highly sexist of them not to put them in pink boxes for girls to buy, obviously. Or something. I'm not sure I really understand it myself actually. Apparently 'equality' means different things to different people...

I'm quite happy with the Friends/Elves range and these are no different as sets. What I think jars most is the casting of deadly enemies - many of different ages and maturities - as the rather simpler high-school rivals that DC have done here. Although compared to the twists in Batman's psyche and Catwoman swapping from good to bad and back again over the years this is a fairly minor re-write. Maybe if they just specify which pre/post-52-sub-multi-verse it all takes place in everyone can calm down and move on. But you'll probably have to buy 20 different characters' crossover comics to find out for sure...

Yes, yes and YES! Love these! I resisted collecting the regular Super Hero sets and characters all these years, but I'm definitely getting these. Would love to meet the person who designs these mini-dolls. Their facial features and hair pieces are just oozing with cuteness! The sets are pretty sweet too! Finally I have something Super Hero related to collect! :D

God is dead.

Holy Horrible Controversies Batman, everybody badmouthing these sets must really have it out for LEGO and the designers behind the highly popular LEGO Friends play style.

Also, considering that Super Hero High is designed to resemble the Hall of Justice from regular DC I'm amazed anyone could see anything else from that model. It amazes me how some minds can develop so many dirty thoughts about simple architecture.

I see these as an interesting new Theme that will be highly collectible, and definitely worth checking out. More variety of parts in the Mini-Doll centric lines is always welcome in my book. I shall endeavor to get many of these I'm certain.

Who said this is made for girls? OK, it´s called "Super Hero Girls", but there´s nothing really "girlish" in them (whatever that is). I think the cafe looks good, and it uses some interesting pieces. So do the figs, although I´m not a big fan of them overall because of their limited movement.

However, I´m afraid this wasn´t a good idea by LEGO - it looks like most people don´t like it.

EDIT: I meant most AFOL:s wouldn´t like it because of its cartoonish style.

@The Big Legoski (brilliant name btw)

I think there is a difference. The Joker is very clearly depicted as a villain, Harley Quinn is presumably being marketed as a super 'hero'.

For me the whole concept seems confused and somehow a little distasteful, but I imagine Lego know what they are doing.

They had to make one of these a cafe? Really? Every other Friends set is a cafe.

I guess something in all that Lego market research and focus groups shows that young girls like to imagine stories around the setting of a cafe.

This looks interesting, the target demographic will probably love these. For me personally I don't like mini-dolls, but that's personal preference. Anyway, the tiny little rock monster things look adorable! I also really like the LexCorp vehicle.

This LEGO theme is based on the DC franchise that is aiming to get girls interesting in the female DC super heroes. TLG did not come up with this; DC did. TLG just used its best representation--the minidoll--to capture the likeness of the DC Super Hero Girls series. Again, we see supposed AFOLs attacking something the TLG has done superbly.

Weird that I was building droids last month using the same technique as those little monsters...

@r23sy: Yep, from what I've read Harley is a hero in the Super Hero Girls franchise. That said, many DC comics characters vary in such a way between different media. For example, Caitlyn Snow in the TV show "The Flash" is a friend and ally of The Flash, while in the comics she's the villainous Killer Frost. Honestly, for the past few years, even Harley Quinn's comic series has presented her as more of an anti-hero than a villain.

And not even bothering to Google and find out what it's based on. I think the sets look fun.

Looks interesting but call me when a Hospital comes out.

@woosterlegos

That's Capes and Cowls Cafe from the series so it makes sense that TLG would use it as a kit. The boy minidoll is Steve Trevor who works there.

@ James 'Bucky' Barnes - at least 18 months ago when news of these first broke
Or 1963(?) - Peter Parker. If you want something similar to this, it's akin to the original X-men
If anyone doesn't like the use of minidolls here, they're a perfect fit for the art style of the show

Ya know, my first thought when I saw the photo was - ooh, cool, something to make Heartlake City a bit more interesting!! As an AFOL and father to two KFOL (is that right?) and also husband to a WFOL (W, standing for Wife!) all LEGO has its merits even if it's not a theme we are directly interested in. This theme will, like the others, succeed or fail based on Sales figures. Is there a market for them, are they sexist? Ultimately it's the consumer who will determine that but we need to be practical - there are still girl's toy aisles and boy toy aisles in the shops, products aimed at girls, products aimed at boys - it doesn't matter how much we'd like it to be otherwise (if we ultimately do), we're not there yet but the fact that LEGO have even produced a "Superhero" range designed with their girl market in mind - to give them something that's for them and "not for boys" even - I think that's actually a step in the right direction on a journey that's going to take quite a long time to finish.

Wow. These are amazing!! As a fan of Friends and Elves i really like these. I can understand most men not liking them though!!

These kinds of sets seem appropriate for Lego's intended target audience, but at the same time sets like these do not really address these female superheroes/villains in their original context like how the male superheroes/villains are primarily represented in typical DC Lego sets. I think a good compromise would be to make a more gender-neutral set depicting these popular badass, butt-kicking females for every set like these Super Hero Girls sets. It's fair to show them doing badass, butt-kicking things along the lines of how Batman, Superman, etc. sets have shown those male characters doing, in addition to this more "girly" interpretation. They did it for Harley Quinn already (the recent Gotham City Cycle Chase set vs this new Harley Quinn's Cafe Rescue set), so why not others like Poison Ivy, Wonder Woman or Supergirl?

You can argue that those female characters have been in more serious & gender-neutral sets in the past (e.g. Ivy in Arkham Asylum Breakout, Wonder Woman in Heroes of Justice: Sky High Battle and Supergirl in Braniac Attack), but it would be nice to see new sets featuring those characters in starring roles instead of alongside other (particularly male) DC characters that are implied to 'lead the way' or 'be the hero' as they have been shown. Just to balance out those characters between their original comic book image interpretations and these Super Hero Girls interpretations.

I've always been in two minds about Friends and Elves, having never quite liked the look of minidolls as opposed to minifigs. Putting that aside, though, I do like the more pastel colours they tend to use, and I'm a sucker for characters like Batgirl and Catwoman, so I'll probably end up getting something from this theme at some point :)

as soon as I saw lego post to facebook... I had to come see these here :) I'm mostly just happy about poison ivy and Harley quinn's hair pieces, overall I think these'll go on clearance pretty quick.

I'm loving that Batjet!

I can't believe all the negativity. I do agree that the somewhat limited range is perhaps an issue with the mini dolls however for the most part I just display Lego and for this purpose it is a non issue. I really enjoy the colour palette of the Elves range and here it is no different. I think they may do well but we shall see.

Ewww! These look so worthless and strange. The minidolls don't help either; more so worsen things.

Harley in Suicide Squad is hardly the only representation of the character. The original and most well-known version from the 90s Animated Series is certainly more whimsical despite being a villain. As far as I can tell, too, the Superhero Girls line features versions of ALL these characters in a more kid-friendly format. THIS Harley is basically a class clown.

Harley is also often a great example of "missing the point" vis a vis cosplayers and fans romanticizing her CLEARLY AND EXPLICITLY domestically abusive relationship with the Joker. She's a victim who can't get out: see both the graphic novel and episode "Mad Love." It's TEXTBOOK. But dang if she isn't a wonderful character.

And seriously, Joker is in DC's pre-school toyline. He's a very CUTE fisher-price doll, if you can look past all the murder. ;)

My daughter is 8 and excited by these. I don't think she actually knows much about the characters and really is interested in them due to playground gossip and the cartoon on TV. But you know what... she is a child and these are after all a toy. Yes a toy. If she has some of these sets she will happily build away and use her imagination and have a fun time. Maybe the pretty colours and cute characters are what is sucking her in but you can say that about any product anywhere in the world. I like the look of the Batgirl car best. We have a 'regular' minifig Batgirl so I'm sure the two will live happily together, but maybe fight over Faran our only elf.

Stoke of genius on the part of DC and Lego IMO. Remember the 1980's when toys were tied into cartoons? (He-Man, Turtles, Transformers, GI-Joe, Mask, etc)

Kids are already emotionally involved with the 'Super Hero Girls' television series and web comic, so creating a tie-in toy allows them to transfer their play into tangible results that they can dictate. I remember how excited I was to get my first crappy transformer (the one I had was a cheap one), because the show had already unlocked my imagination.

My daughter is super-excited BECAUSE she has already fallen for the characters in the show.

That school looks like a re-purposed McDonalds topped with a giant thistle. It's awful.

Harley's morphed into more of an anti-hero recently. She's a very popular character with a history, I don't think the latest film is any way to judge the character as a whole. Her base characterization at the lighter end is "insane, but sweet-good heart, bad methods".

What bugs me about this range is that DC Super Hero Girls is clearly targeting girls as an audience, but they're trying to say they're aiming for boys to like it, too. I'm sure many do, and I don't hate the franchise, but the high school setting and the name are devices to attract a female audience. It's not quite as girly as most other brands, but it still isn't neutral like they want to say it is.

So many toys these days are marketed to "everyone," but oftentimes it is only a thinly veiled attempt at selling toys that are designed for boys to girls. Why people are so quick to criticize brands that market to girls is beyond me, because we see girls playing with makeup and wearing pretty clothes and automatically assume that these are negative stereotypes enforced by male corporate overlords. Stop it.

These sets look fine, but if people want an actual example of mediocrity or of what "horrible-" looking sets actually look like, then look no further than the current superhero line of Lego sets, which has pushed inferior models and new figures down the throats of adult collectors for years. And let's not forget that while City was still pushing the same-old crap, a girl-friendly theme like Friends was shattering these low expectations, not only with fresh models, but with new colors and elements (pieces people can ACTUALLY use).

Thankfully a range of sets that I can completely ignore for now.
I guess they will have some appeal.

Maybe I will pick them up at a massive discount, in about a years time?

The Batwing is actually pretty cool, and the school KINDA works... but I really don't care for the figure designs, at all. And the café set is just awful.

I kind of like these. The minidolls I don't really care for, but the Batwing is a decent version of the model, and the Cafe really wouldn't look to out of place in a small city display!

@ Ypres: My point is not that feminine toys/conventions are wrong, it's just that this franchise wrongly pretends to be for everyone while not being truly neutral. On the whole, boys and girls do tend to have different interests, but pretty much everything toy-wise is targeted rather than being for everyone. Girls' and boys' toys, however ridiculous and trite they may get, have their place. I just wish the brands wouldn't weakly pretend to be something else. If they're going to say they're neutral, then they need to try a little harder. Smaller action figures aren't enough to justify the claims of neutrality for a brand whose merchandise consists primarily of dolls and minidoll LEGO.

I see Poison Ivy and Supergirl, bu who is the third minidoll in the school set?

Everyone criticizing the decision to use HQ or to have all these characters go to high school together has to realize that this is a whole sub-brand that DC has launched and it is not FOR YOU. It is for the kids, mostly girls, who have already heard about it and will be seeing it every fifth commercial, on their backpacks, in the toy store, etc. Superhero shows are a dime a dozen, and every superhero property does this - Marvel Hero Super Squad, Teen Titans GO, the Avengers Academy mobile game, X-Men Evolution, hell even Gotham and Smallville are reimaginings of popular characters that rearrange their relationships and reset their ages a great deal. Someday there will be kids who were introduced to Harley Quinn through Super Hero Girls and will be shocked to compare the HQ they know to her origins. HQ has already evolved past being defined as a character by her abusive relationship with the Joker, but as adults who know the character's origins, our views our skewed, and we assume that what was "originally true" is what is "actually true."
Tl;dr: There are 2 new civilian buildings in a superhero theme, and we usually LOVE that, so let's stop complaining that it's for kids.

I spy a new piece on the wing of the bat jet - 1x1 quarter circle tile
Looks like it's in black; four of them would make up a 2x2 round tile. Maybe we'll be getting printed individual pizza slices in the future!

So much White Knight'ing going on here... As usual people on the internet thinking they know everything and speak for everybody. This seems doubly as bad with AFOL.

The company tried a normal line of Lego for girls and they didn't work. Get over it. They did the market research and thus was born the Friends line and the mini-dolls. And guess what, it's working! My two daughters like the Friends line and (along with my wife) LOVE the Elves and Disney lines. We are a pretty geeky family and elves/dragons and Lego are definitely up our alley. I'm pretty certain they are going to LOVE these as well because all three are also super hero fans too!

Frankly, I kind of prefer the mini-dolls to the mini-figures myself. They are more detailed and shaped a little more "realistically" (taken with a large grain of salt) in my opinion. Even though I've always loved Lego, I've never really cared for or about mini-figures, but with the mini-dolls I have no qualms about buying sets for my daughters (and wife) just to get some of them. The only issue I have is that they need some more variety in the Friends line. Seems like every set comes with one or more of the 6 main girls so we have tons of them now... And we've gotten all the Elves sets too, so we have a metric butt-ton of the main elf figures.

I personally don't care much for minidolls, that hasn't changed, but the models look decent, especially Batgirl's Batjet. Also I'm curious to see what role those translucent mini things will play, as I haven't watched the show at all. Good job Lego.

The minidolls look fantastic, especially considering the source material. The vehicles seem pretty meh. As for the buildings, we'll have to wait to see more. The strength of the different minidoll lines generally lies in the interior detail (Elves being the exception that the great detail is everywhere).

@SprinkleOtter

It's Lena Luthor.

I like em and think they are kinda cute. Too bad they are mini dolls though. I might pick up the cafe one for MOC if in fact the Capes and Cowls Cafe window is NOT a decal (yet to decide).

Our little lego builder will be keen for Batgirl and the Batwing. I am sure she is keen for Supergirl, but we won't be buying that set for one minifigure.
Keen to seen what the Wonder Woman set looks like.

my daughters love the friends, elves and disney princess themes however these minidolls look abit silly, personally the poison ivy batgirl harley quinn and supergirl look better in minifig format..

After I read a comment on these being 'juniorized' I stopped reading because I was rolling my eyes too much.

These are a lot of fun. I wish the pink was purple in the Batgirl set. The buildings are very busy but still a lot of fun. I give them the thumps up!

Something to keep in mind. The actual DC superhero girl items ARE junior looking. I am not talking about Lego or the builds, but the other products at big box stores. These are really targeted towards a younger superhero fan and not older ones. Because of that, it really should be no surprise that these may look like they are for younger kids.

Dang, these look bad.....

Knowing nothing about the source material, I can take a baggage-free look at these sets and say: they're very nice, like "Friends" but with more bearable amounts of pink and purple. I hope this range gives kidettes the confidence to expand their versions of Heartlake City into more rounded playscapes.

Whatever you think of the potential for this range, even those against the idea must surely be already in love with the Crystal SNOTS™.

@ darkstonegrey, 21:40: ooh, good spot! a 1×1 quarter circle tile http://brickset.com/parts/design-25269 only released this year and in only one set so far! We're going to have some great headstones in future Halloween graveyards!

In general:

Please stop calling everything "juniorized"! These sets are less juniorized than some other sets from the 'main' Super Heroes line. Because these aren't! "Juniorized" means it consists mostly of large, single purpose parts (say 'building front' instead of windows and wall bricks) to cut down on piece count. Not that it looks kiddish. Juniorization isn't the case here. Belville is juniorized! Jack Stone is! Town Junior is (to a lesser extent, actually). If you don't know what these are because of some dark age or desinterest, just google it.
Stop calling everything you don't like the look of 'juniorized'. It's getting annoying and insulting.

In short: juniorized = detrimentally simplified build. Not kiddish looking

With that said, I would like to add that I think these sets look okay. Buildings in super hero sets! Nice parts! Nice colours! Well executed minidolls! I'm not the target group. But as an AFOL i can still see the merits.

Something to keep in mind....

LEGOs are toys! These are all made for 6-12 year olds. They are ALL made for 'juniors'.

I think these all look--at the least--interesting, with the potential for great MOC potential and a new variation on the minidoll format. AFOLs who don't like them don't have to buy them. Actually, KFOLs who don't like them also don't have to buy them, but I suspect there will be plenty of both who WILL like them, and will buy them. I must agree with @shirhac that the SHHS looks downright bizarre, but it's presumably not a TLG-originated design!

I personally don't care for these sets, but that's most likely because I'm not a Tween girl.
I do think however that these sets will sell just fine among tween/teen girls and that SOME of you aren't giving these sets a chance. in regards to @shirhac's comment, as others have said what you see the school as looking like shows more about you then about the set.

@Huw there are many versions of Harley Quinn and most of them are not nearly as bad as the one in Suicide Squad.

"Frankly, I kind of prefer the mini-dolls to the mini-figures myself. They are more detailed and shaped a little more "realistically" (taken with a large grain of salt) in my opinion."

See, that I don't get at all.

Minidolls can't move their legs independently (so running or kicking poses is out of the question. Thank goodness superheros never do either of those actions, am I right?!). Their hands don't rotate, which limits play-value (and has required Lego to create a range of brand new pieces just so the girls' toys have the same play-value boys' toys. Isn't that a little problematic, if we're playing that card?). They can't sit down on anything, and thusly need models designed a certain way (with one specific piece to jam the feet into) just so they'll sit upright. And they're incredibly top-heavy (just try standing one of the Friends girls who's wearing roller skates on her feet).

I get the idea behind the Friends line, and I quite like the Elves sets, but minidolls have never not been awful to me, and I don't get it at all.

I don't care much for these sets so I won't be buying them, but most superhero sets these days, I just Bricklink the figures and be done with it. And using a TV show means the set designers were stuck with certain things they had to do. I think the colour scheme is the most obnoxious part of these (once you get past the awful minidolls), but Lego's been doing that for *years* now.

Some of these sets look fine. Might even pick up a Batjet and just change some colors to make it fit as a batvehicle. And the minidolls are fine considering who they're targeting.

But yeah, some of the characters are making me raise an eyebrow. Yes, they're meant to represent another continuity, but Harley Quinn is infamous for having more than a few screws loose in the head and Poisen Ivy as a criminal and enemy of Batman.

Imagine trying to explain to your daughter or younger female relative why Batman is fighting this character when they see a Lego DC Superheroes set.

Of course, not Lego's idea, but still...

Cool sets! Just wondering why they would have evil girls in it?!

I will say this: They look much better than the Disney Princess stuff. And some of the character designs are actually pretty sweet. But I don't care for minidolls in general... nor do I care for the Friends school of designing buildings, oftentimes missing most of those pesky architectural details like walls or ceilings.

Honestly, you could do far worse for a line strictly marketed to 10-year-old girls... this is also a very sneaky business strategy: Girls get invested in this stuff -> want to see more of these characters -> learn about mainstream DC stuff -> start buying the normal line -> more money for LEGO. Devious.

why is lego doing this???????????????????????

I predict two things: criticism by commenters who know best and an absolute ton of sales to little girls (also boys, parents, AFOLs, comic fans, people needing those parts etc).

"...nor do I care for the Friends school of designing buildings, oftentimes missing most of those pesky architectural details like walls or ceilings."

I know. From the front, Friends buildings are fantastic, but this drives me up the wall about them ... well, it would drive me up the wall, if there *was* a wall or ceiling there.

Funny people are complaining about mini-doll buildings not having walls or ceilings when these do.... yeah. Awkward....

The sets themselves look pretty good, a little junior ish to me but ok.

Though my primary problems are that half those characters aren't actually heros, and really, why still with the doll figures, they take away from the playability.

But no hate to lego

I like it! Excellent idea!

Well, this is not for me. But that's alright, not everything has to be.

Good grief. Absolute rubbish.

I don't know why I like it. I guess it's because main builds don't look unfinished and sketchy, unlike some of "normal" DC sets:
http://brickset.com/sets/76056-1/Batman-Rescue-from-Ra-s-al-Ghul
http://brickset.com/sets/6857-1/The-Dynamic-Duo-Funhouse-Escape

"By Lordmoral in United States, 03 Oct 2016 19:35
Looks interesting but call me when a Hospital comes out"

God yes please! I'm so waiting for this! And a decent one this time would be lovely.

Lego City has hundreds of criminals and cops but the general population doesn't even get basic health care.

Hmm, then again, it reflects reality frighteningly well...

The sets itself, well I don't care for the minifigs but the café is really cute. ^^

AWFUL!

Awful awful awful awful awful.

And why Minidolls are even a thing, I have no idea.

Interesting! I was wondering if these would be minidoll sets. None of them look to be decent parts packs, sadly, but i might be tempted to pick up some white nets on BL. :) Now, if Lego could only redesign the minidoll so that their legs could move independently.... *sigh*

My little girl (6) loves Friends LEGO sets. She particularly like playing with the mini-dolls. I would be quite happy for her to get some of these - I think she'll love Batgirl.
I think that the people who tend to think of non-Friends-style LEGO as a boy's toy tends to be the children themselves. My daughter often remarks that such-and-such is a boy's toy and such-and-such is a girl's toy. Much as we know that LEGO is gender-neutral, we can't fight the peer-pressures of the playground. The fact that there are now LEGO sets that (some) children cannot say is a boy's toy is a good thing, isn't it?

OK, I've just seen a toy line that's a crossover between Batman and Thomas the Tank Engine.

Just take that in for a moment...

Batman and Thomas the Tank Engine...

Now if that can exist then I'm sure there's room for Super Heroes in the LEGO Friends line.

Having seen the movie trailer for Suicide Squad a while ago and witnessed the audience reaction (the whole room seemed to hate it guts), I don't think this theme will do too well over here. I mean, the "standard" superhero sets do bad enough already over here - with very few exceptions - but this has got to be the largest pile of **** I have seen from Lego in a long time. Our older daughter (almost 9) would be in the target demographic, but she can't see anything appealing with these sets. She says "why do they make superhero stuff for girls?" as in "only boys like such crap". And going by the notion that none of her friends like superhero stuff either, I would wager she is right. Ever more really crappy stuff from Lego lately. Good thing our kids are more into Playmobil lately, so not too much disappointment on the horizon.

Eh, those look pretty bad. Not interested at all. Batjet is kinda decent, but that cafe is UGLY.

This "high schooling" of iconic characters (Disney also has a show that puts the kids of famous Disney characters in high school) reminds me of the trend that makes well known cartoons into babies or to be more childish. ie. Muppit Babies, A Pup named Scobby doo and more recently Teen Titans Go.

Hahaha. So much "hate." I love these. Look forward to more and I guarantee you these will be a success.

I love that AFOLs are confusing playability will pose-ability. It shows just how much they don't get it. (I will never consider myself an AFOL.)

Do you think that children when playing with a toy really move its legs independently to make it walk or throw one leg up to make it kick the ball? In reality, they just hop the toy--action figure, doll, or LEGO--around.

Minidolls are fine for play. True, they may not be best for display, but display is not the TLG's objective. It will always be play and the sales of Friends, Disney Princess, and Elves have proven the minidoll is a winner.

-Eric, LFOL (Lifetime Fan of LEGO)

Personally, I think this new theme is pretty unique. It's very cute and colorful, but I can't say that all girls will find interest in this... That's just how it is.

However, I just want to say that my sister and I purchase the "boy" sets, or Marvel/DC Comics sets. They are actually pretty cool... That's coming from someone like me :)

Interesting. I will be curious to see what my super hero loving son is going to make of these, since they are mini-dolls. Will he pass on them? Pick up a few? Though he hasn't seen the cartoon these are based on, he has read the Study Hall of Justice and liked it a lot, so the high school idea might appeal to him. Anyone else think there might be any crossover potential for boys? I will be curious to see if any of the male figures get the mini-doll treatment. I don't know how they can avoid it forever.

Oh, and Harley sometimes did good even in the old Batman:TAS. Her conscience can strike her from time to time. I like the idea that she would be 'post-rehab' though they won't frame it that way. I think what Huw is pointing out, though, is that the hair that they gave Harley here is best known by the public from Suicide Squad, though it is the same as that in the cartoon (and comic book? idk been a long time).

These look okay. Nothing outstanding, but not too horrible. Likely will depend on price if I pick them up for my daughter. She is on an Elves kick right now. I do worry how the hairpieces will look for normal minifigures considering the forehead area is a bit different.

The Friends line is selling well, these fit in nicely with the aesthetic and complexity. I see nothing wrong here bar a bunch of smug 'AFOL's dumping on a line that is not meant for grown men with receding hairlines.

Its a line for young girls, Lego is wiser than you, get over yourselves, its embarrassing

When I was at the Cincinnati Comic Expo a couple of weeks ago, Harley Quinn was by far the most popular female cosplay. LEGO and DC will no doubt make money on these sets.

This thread is comedy gold, from both sides of the aisle (doom-and-gloom, pessimistic naysayers AND slavering, Lego-can-do-NO-wrong defenders). But I judge Graw's comment to be the winner of the whole thing. Short, simple, and taking no obvious side, but hilarious in its hyperbole: "God is dead". Wow. Discussion over, everybody!

What has been seen in the comments cannot be unseen!

Seriously, what the big controversy about these sets? We've already got Friends and Elves, and we knew TLG had a new DC girls license - what were people expecting them to look like?

People need to understand that these sets are based on an actual, very successful, TV show and not Lego's interpretation of a girl's superhero theme. Any hate for the designs should be directed toward the makers of that show but also, unless you're a girl aged 9, your opinion is worthless. If you accept the friends/elves themes as real lego, then these sets are a great and logical addition. My 26 year old girlfriend already said they are awesome so she'll be getting them to go along side her Disney Princess theme sets. Harley Quinn is indeed HUGE right now and not because of Suicide Squad. These sets will skyrocket when EOL'd btw. Stock up now speculators.

@Zordboy: Taking your argument to its ultimate conclusion, though, someone could argue that the Mega Bloks mini-action-figures from their Halo and Call of Duty ranges are superior to any and all LEGO minifigures due to having more articulation. Obviously, a lot of LEGO fans would disagree there. Articulation isn't the only thing people (regardless of gender) care about in a toy figure. How a figure looks is just as important to its appeal.

At BrickFair Virginia in 2012, Astrid Graabæk and Fenella Holden (two LEGO Creator and Friends designers) gave a presentation on their work developing LEGO Friends, and one of the slides they showed was a prototype of the mini-doll arm that DID have movable wrists. It was tested with girls, and the verdict was that they preferred an arm WITHOUT movable wrists to one that awkwardly doubled in thickness between the end of the hand and the start of the arm, as if the figure were wearing thick-cuffed sleeves at all times.

@SigmundBjorn: If after nearly half a decade you still don't know why mini-dolls are a thing then I can only assume you are remaining ignorant by choice.

@Greendude: as for the target demographic. You are right, these sets seem to be aimed mainly at preteen girls. As I have said, our older daughter is right in the target demographic, as are her friends. The reaction these sets got from them were 100% negative, not a single word of "we like".
Might be because they don't know the TV show (neither do I), or because they simply don't care for superhero stuff per se. But the fact remains that this theme is not interesting to them.
Which doesn't have to be a bad thing by the way. They just prefer Friends, Elves, City and Creator sets.

Not sure who I feel most sorry for: LEGO or DC. :-/