Gabby's Dollhouse theme announced!
Posted by TheBrickPal,
LEGO and Universal have officially unveiled the Gabby's Dollhouse range, with four sets that are now available for preorder on LEGO.com.
The press release follows:
The LEGO Group and Universal Products & Experiences are teaming up to bring DreamWorks Animation’s hit preschool series, Gabby’s Dollhouse to life in LEGO brick form with the launch of its first-ever line based on the popular global series, with four new sets available for pre-order now and launching August 1st.
Gabby’s Dollhouse transports fans into a fantastical world full of adorable cat characters, unboxing surprises and endless adventures, and the all-new LEGO product line inspires limitless possibilities for play, creativity, and imagination.
The series encourages a “growth mindset,” modelling flexible thinking, confidence and celebrating your mistakes, true to Gabby’s catchphrases, “I haven’t figured that out YET,” and “I failed fantastically!”. The LEGO sets offer children a unique role-playing opportunity that encourages imaginative play and creative problem-solving. By facing challenges, Gabby’s can-do spirit models ways for kids to feel empowered, through resilience and finding creative solutions through teamwork, even if things don’t work out at first. The aspirational series shares the LEGO brand values of creativity, fun and imagination as well as the company’s vision to be a global force for learning through play.
“I’m excited that we’re bringing the world of Gabby’s Dollhouse to life in brick form” says James Stephenson, Senior Designer at the LEGO Group. “We are firm believers in learning through play and Gabby embodies that with her unparalleled tenacity and spirit. Every cat-tastic room in Gabby’s Dollhouse tells a story or focuses on a skill or challenge that she and her friends can tackle there. I can’t wait for children to bring this experience to life in their homes, building the sets, solving problems and role-playing.”
“We’re thrilled to extend our partnership with the LEGO Group to include DreamWorks Animation’s Gabby’s Dollhouse,” said Joe Lawandus, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Global Toys & Hardlines, Universal Products & Experiences. “Gabby’s Dollhouse delivers what kids love best—unboxing surprises, miniature worlds, and adorable cat characters-- and the LEGO sets inspire them to play along with the show at home by creating, designing and building from their imagination while encouraging flexible thinking and problem solving, just like Gabby does in the series.”
Fans can explore the fantastical world of Gabby’s Dollhouse with four new LEGO sets including a buildable Gabby’s Dollhouse featuring eight colourful rooms and a sliding cat-a-vator; a Bakey with Cakey Fun playset with a kitchen and giant cupcake; Gabby and MerCat’s Ship and Spa; and Kitty Fairy’s Garden Party with a treehouse, garden with flowers and more!
Sets are available for pre-order now through www.LEGO.com and selected retailers, ready to launch on August 1st, 2023.
10785 Bakey with Cakey Fun
- 58 pieces
- £8.99, $10.99, €9.99
- Gabby, Cakey
Kids join Gabby and Cakey in an activity-packed kitchen. There’s a mixing machine and ingredients such as whipped cream, fruit and chocolate, plus a chef-cat oven. The big tiered cake has a revolving top section that kids can decorate with tasty treats, including swirls of frosting, fruit, chocolate and 2 gold stars. With a cake case Starter Brick, kids soon experience the joy of creative construction. When the day’s play is over, all the accessories stow away inside the big cake until next time.
10786 Gabby & MerCat's Ship & Spa
- 88 pieces
- £18.99, $19.99, €20.99
- Gabby, MerCat
Kids who like toy boats, beauty makeovers and creative play will also be inspired to explore endless imaginative cat adventures with this multifaceted playset.
10787 Kitty Fairy's Garden Party
- 130 pieces
- £24.99, $34.99, €29.99
- Gabby, Pandy Paws, Kitty Fairy
Gabby, Pandy Paws and Kitty Fairy from the popular TV series drink tea in the tree house, where Kitty Fairy has a bed and strawberry snacks. There are flowers for young gardeners to grow, plus a slide, swing and merry-go-round for the friends to play on. Accessories, including apples, a wateringcan, teapot, cups and butterflies, inspire kids to explore imaginative role play.
10788 Gabby's Dollhouse
- 498 pieces
- £69.99, $79.99, €79.99
- Gabby, Pandy Paws, MerCat, Cakey
Gabby’s Dollhouse features 8 colorful rooms connected by a sliding elevator. Each room is filled with activities. For example, kids can bake in the kitchen, use a slide in the playroom, get creative in the art room, play piano in the music room, pamper themselves in the bathroom, take a nap in the bedroom or head to the rooftop for a party on the rotatable dance floor.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
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49 comments on this article
*dramatic sigh*. I'm dissapointed, lego.
Celebrating mistakes? I agree that failure is the best teacher, but I don't know that I would celebrate the fact. I prefer Zerby Derby's "try, try again" approach.
These are kinda cute, not exactly my type but its pretty neat. Can't say much other than the fact those new cat figures could be reused if they do Monster Hunter sets down the line.
Are they seriously making a show where the main character is a furry? What is this world coming to?
Still, the sets look nice for the lil lasses. Good luck Gabby, I wish you the best. Perhaps your show (and this theme) won’t fail fantastically.
Huh? This is related to Universal?
Also, I would argue that success is the best teacher, other people’s failures are second, and our own failures are third. But what do I know?
@ItisNoe said:
"Huh? This is related to Universal?"
DreamWorks, which produces the series, is owned by Universal. :-)
interesting
This does nothing for me, but I had the poor judgement to say this out loud in front of my 4-year-old... and, well, there was A GREAT WANTING.
It does seem to fit very well with Friends--I think you'd be forgiven thinking these were cat-themed Friends sets--but perhaps that's synergy.
These are really cool sets and I love the cute characters! The price for the dollhouse ain’t bad too!
My money isn’t going to this but it looks cute for it’s demographic. I might even check out the show at some point, if I’m particularly bored.
Cute but not something I would purchase. But I doubt I'm the target demographic for this. Guess they didn't learn from the Unikitty failure.
I honestly think the theme looks really cute! Also, for those worried about "failure", this show is on its seventh season, and just today, ended up being ported to the Nick Jr. Channel for reruns, so I'd say it has the synergy for this theme, even disregarding the boatloads of merch it already has.
I’m happy to see more mini-doll content.
I’m always hoping for a more mature aged mini-doll theme (something Elves-esque), but I’m thinking that at least the 10788 Dollhouse and 10787 Garden sets could be re-worked into the Friends Pets subtheme? And, at least the mini-doll wardrobe is extended with Gabby’s outfits, and new micros are always welcome (I see you Merkitty, Kittyfairy, and Pandy-kitty!)
Mostly, I’m waiting for more mini-doll forms of the Disney Villains! They’ve got Maleficent well covered, an Ursula, and even a Lady Tremaine, but where’s our Mother Gothel, Evil Queen, Jafar, Gaston, and Prince Hans? Or a gorgeous Te Ka/Te Fiti duo build? (Please?)
I have the strange urge to make a mech suit for that little cat character.
@Formendacil I think this theme could mix in with Friends Pets well enough, such as with 41718 Pet Daycare Centre. Maybe not all the Gabby sets will, but at least some will - and I'll be focusing on those ones! I'm sure you can work something out for you cute kiddo! :D
I don't get it, but I hope the people that do get it will enjoy it.
These seem well-designed enough, though don't hold any personal interest. Might get the boat if I find it on sale, but that may be unlikely given the targeted demographic seems keenly interested.
I will be holding this news hostage until I’m prepared for the outburst of excitement from my daughter when she sees these.
@ItisNoe said:
"Huh? This is related to Universal?"
Dreamworks produce it.
They seem like good sets for the target audience. I think the dollhouse itself is particularly appealing and would present a fair challenge for a young builder.
I don’t get the adults in the thread sneering at what appears to be a relatively standard cartoon for little girls. It’s probably the usual mishmash of light adventure, education, and positive affirmations that are designed to be enriching to kids.
I swear, a lot of people just LIVE to tell women and girls their shit is dumb.
“I failed fantastically!” Is that real? Is this reality or a strange dream?
That dollhouse must be some kind of record for size, price, and piece count for a 4+ set
I'm sure the target audience will love these, so there's not a lot to get mad about. However, I do have zero interest in these, especially given the minidolls.
I just we could get better Dreamworks films as LEGO sets, namely Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda.
@PicnicBasketSam said:
"That dollhouse must be some kind of record for size, price, and piece count for a 4+ set"
I was just thinking that myself-- it looks like excluding the more free-form bucket / box-o-bricks type sets, this is the largest set by piece count for the 4+ age range. I'm having trouble imagining a 4 year old assembling a nearly 500 piece set! I'll definitely be interested to see how it goes.
DaveE
Will this be a bigger failure than Vidiyo? Place your bets now, folks.
@RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
"I'm sure the target audience will love these, so there's not a lot to get mad about. However, I do have zero interest in these, especially given the minidolls.
I just we could get better Dreamworks films as LEGO sets, namely Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda."
I'm glad somebody else has the same thought. Shrek is already in Ideas, and with DreamWorks collaborating with Lego it may be easier to get licensing. I think How to Train Your Dragon is the most exciting prospect for me.
Looks fun for kids. Love that pastel colour pallet too.
@JtheMonk said:
"“I failed fantastically!” Is that real? Is this reality or a strange dream?"
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality
I'm not understanding the tons of people here saying it is a failure and etc as if Lego just announced Galidor 2. Which are the points that guarantee this is going to be a failure? The theme does not even look very different from Friends.
I'm not going to buy the sets of the theme, but I believe it is aimed for kids and Lego still is a toy, right? Perhaps some Brickset users are getting blinded by the tons and tons of sets with the cringeworthy "+18" label (which itself had massive failures like a certain oversized Marvel mech and bust too) and starting to think Lego is no longer for kids. Y'all are weird.
That said, the sets look very good. Don't even look like +4 at all. I loved the cats.
Im 33 year male and I want bunch of Merkitties on my mermaid diorama.
So yeah.
But Im now sad Doc Mcstuffins never got 4+ sets...
Or Bluey that deserves that.
I've gotta wait until AUGUST !!
Now I am sad.
Ok folks....so Gabby's Dollhouse.
It's popular. Just because you aren't 4 years old so have never heard of it don't dismiss it.
Go in your nearest toy shop - there's already gazillions of Gabby toys available. Little children want them. Little children love them.
These sets are fantastic and adorable.
But..... August ? That's months and months away. I want them now.
"...unboxing surprises"
*Shudders*
@RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
"I just we could get better Dreamworks films as LEGO sets, namely Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda."
There are some Shreck sets up on Lego Ideas, but when I tried making a Toothless MOC, It turned out that Lego does not accept Lego ideas projects on How to train your dragon, which I think is a shame. Just imagine how cool it would be to have 75979 but as Toothless!
Is it just me or do these look like knock-offs?
Is it just me who finds it a little strange the dollhouse has only one fake window and no doors?
"celebrating your mistakes" - Is LEGO shielding themselves here?
"celebrating your mistakes" - Ah. Now I understand why people offer roses when they fail. Is not to apologize for their mistake; is to celebrate it!
@Emersonac ok maybe in Romania it's not as huge but in the UK it's very very popular.
Obviously I can't comment on other countries other than my own but if I type Gabby's Dollhouse into Amazon there are literally 100s of toys, jigsaws, stationary sets, craft sets clothes etc.
@Emersonac it's the number 3 most popular children's show on Netflix in Romania.
Yes I googled that....
Makes me wish my daughter was a little younger so I’d have an excuse to buy some - fun stuff!
My daughters love the show. One is already picking out the sets she wants.
@Jackthenipper my daughter is almost 15. She wasn't overly excited about these sets but she did say "If they make Bluey sets I want them".
We really need more DreamWorks themes. Penguins of Madagascar next!
It’s a good message - as an educator I can say that there are plenty of students far too obsessed with “success”, or what they think is success. Failure, mistakes, plans not working out, are all a fact of life. The sooner kids become comfortable with that reality the sooner they become more flexible/adaptable adults.
Good luck, Gabby!
I know nought of the underlying show-property, but from the sets, I like to imagine it's an isekai in which Gabby, mild-mannered and impressionable human, is transported (probably from Heartlake City) to a world of sentient cats and cat-adjacent creatures (probably bordering Unikitty's kingdom). Fortunately for Gabby's posture and modest sensibilities, the locals like high ceilings and use flush toilets instead of litter-boxes.
My daughter loves Gabbys Dollhouse, especially the crafting aspect. Got her the big Dollhouse and all rooms at Christmas. If I'd have seen these we may have waited.
The show skews very young, and I like that all sets are 4+.
It's not made for grown Lego nerds like myself (there is plenty that is...), it's made for kids.
My biggest takeaway is that the minidoll version of the character is more appealing than her design in the source material.
Honestly I think if this were a Duplo line nobody would care. When it shows up as a System set, even if 4+, AFOLs judge it against the entire System roster, so they only see the theme as sets based on a preschool show they've never heard of taking up space on release calendars.
I don't have any interest in these sets but I do think that broadly Lego needs more minidoll themes, not all based on little girl licenses, but just doing more with this particular style than Friends and Disney Princesses. Elves had a good thing going but I missed out on it.
@JtheMonk said:
"“I failed fantastically!” Is that real? Is this reality or a strange dream?"
It teaches little kids to cope with/laugh off failed attempts and try again--nothing wrong with this, especially for little kids that have a tendency to cry or get infuriated by, say, failed attempts at putting a bunch of Lego parts together.