We’ve seen the Friends minidolls show up in all sorts of interesting creations since they were introduced in 2012, including sky-fi airplanes, giant spaceships, tiny spaceships, and mechs. But these anime-inspired hardsuits may just be one of the best uses I’ve seen yet. When paired with the crazy hairpieces from LEGO’s official anime-inspired theme in 2006-2008, Exo-Force, the minidolls look like they’re straight out of an anime. And builder 3D Foundry has done some great work building cool hardsuits for them.
Mostly awesome! But, the fact that their legs appear to be missing is just a bit creepy…
Man, mini-dolls would have been so perfect for a theme like Exo-Force! After all, the manga-inspired face prints already made them inconsistent with classic minifigures, and a more lifelike figure would make them even more accurate to that design language.
Of course, I say that with the knowledge that whether we get a mecha theme with mini-dolls depends entirely on whether girls are actually interested in such a theme. Sure, boys can like mini-dolls too, just as girls can like classic minifigures. But the mini-doll was created with a purpose: to create a figure that girls would love and identify with as much as boys love and identify with the minifigure. Using it for themes regardless of whether girls are interested in those kinds of themes would run counter to that purpose.
I do someday want to see the mini-doll in some kind of sci-fi theme, though, just to create more options for mini-doll fans. Space theme? Mecha theme? Steampunk theme? Something else entirely? I’d be fine with any of those options. Whatever gets more girls interested in building with LEGO is fine by me!
Anyway, regarding the MOCs, they’re quite cool, though I’ve never been a huge fan of hardsuits that can’t fit a complete figure. Still, I definitely respect the builder’s creative talent. Even with the advent of fantastic new joint pieces like the ones from the Mixels, I’m nowhere near this good at making System-based mecha!
“Of course, I say that with the knowledge that whether we get a mecha theme with mini-dolls depends entirely on whether girls are actually interested in such a theme.”
The forthcoming “DC Super Hero Girls” line is likely to be a minidoll line, and could well have mecha (given how common they are in the existing Superhero lines).
Thanks for the comments, folks. Indeed, a minidolls mecha line would do wonders to increase the popularity and adoption rate of the new minidolls figures. We’ll see, JW, if that’s the case; I wouldn’t be overly surprised, and if so, maybe we’ll get some more sci-fi-ish torso prints.