LEGO fans of every age group are jumping to mini-dolls’ defence
If you thought mini-dolls were only for kids, reactions to the reveals of LEGO Wicked and Wednesday sets have proved otherwise.
Hot on the heels of LEGO Wicked, we got our first official look at LEGO Wednesday yesterday. The similarities between the two new themes are clear: they’re both based on major franchises, they both include buildable figures of the central characters, and, perhaps most controversially, they both feature mini-dolls rather than minifigures.
Some LEGO fans have been quick to criticise the mini-dolls online, labelling them as for children. One redditor wrote: “This joins Wicked as another IP that I was excited about but will not be buying. Would it kill LEGO to give us minifigures for new IP?”
However, perhaps coming as a surprise, the overwhelming reaction to the LEGO Wednesday sets from people of all ages has been a welcoming one to mini-dolls.
“I was hesitant because it was going to have minidolls, but they look great so I’m going to have to make an exception,” wrote one person on reddit. Another agreed: “Yeah people have an irrational [hatred] for minidolls, but I really like them in this set. They look great.”
While the introduction of mini-dolls in the child-centric LEGO Friends theme might have tarred them with a childish brush, it seems that impression is wearing off. Another person joined the discussion, writing, “I’m very much an adult and I really like them, in many cases more than minifigures.”
It’s sparked a whole new discussion post in the LEGO subreddit, with fans of mini-dolls defending the format, citing the expressiveness of the faces, the greater realism, and how it’s easier to hold them if you’re young or have mobility issues. Of course, there are drawbacks as well as positives, specifically the lack of possibility in the hands, but it’s clearly untrue to say that every adult LEGO fan dislikes mini-dolls.
With not one but two highly anticipated IPs now featuring mini-dolls, it seems that the LEGO Group is no longer gearing mini-dolls purely towards younger builders. Especially in the case of LEGO Wicked, they are sure to appeal to older builders as well – and the change might not be as hard for the community to swallow as you might have thought a few months ago.
LEGO Wicked and LEGO Wednesday sets will be available to buy from October 1.
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- I write about all the very best fandoms – and that means LEGO, of course. Spending so much time looking at and talking about LEGO sets is dangerous for my bank balance, but the LEGO shelves are thriving. You win some, you lose some.
I don’t get the hatred of minidolls, they’re just a different “species” of Lego characters.
The problem with mini-dolls is how aesthetically incompatible it makes them with all other Lego- and compatibility is the whole POINT of Lego, so it becomes a bigger deal than just personal preference, unfortunately. It’s nothing against the mini-dolls themselves, but the sexist rift they create between ‘for girls’ Lego sets designed around mini-dolls and all other Lego sets. It’s always only the sets marketed primarily towards girls which get mini-dolls. It’s such a weird segregating divide for such a great, universal toy which prides itself on being for everyone. Tiny little kids already have Duplo, and nobody really complains about it because it serves a physical need for the littlest kids- that’s not the issue here with mini-dolls, it’s that weirdly sexist divide between how the sets are marketed.
nope nope nope and nope maybe if all the other sets I have bought on my life had them instead of minifigs sure but I couldn’t display them without getting annoyed at the difference.
TLG needs to go all-in and start making Star Wars and Ninjago Minidolls. I would love to add them into my collection!