That robot has a trans green round tile on its chest.Looks familiar to me for some reason...
Larger image.
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/seekerofknowledge/Other/3933-zoom.jpg

LEGO friends is only good for three things:

Offending girls; I asked a girl about this,and here's what she said: "Girls who play with dolls aren't going to switch to lego just for lego barbies and pink bricks!" and in addition, girls who like lego don't want dolls, they want girl oriented lego themes with MINIFIGURES, and not dress-up-dollies

Parts: Girl sets are GOLDMINES for rare accessories!

Firework dummies: This year, two of those dolls are shootin' cross the sky (to the tunes of "Firework" and "Dynamite")

But did you ask a girl that is in the target group age range? The only girls that seem offended by it are the ones that are older or influenced to think it was an attack on their gender. I've seen quite a few people that have daughters in the target range saying positive things about the line. The adult female LEGO fans I am friends with like the line well enough.

Yeees, I did!
(In case anyone didn't know, it's 6-12, NOT 1-4!)
And there's a whole crowd of girls that agree where I got that girls opinion.

And shame on anyone who thought it WAS 1-4. It's wrong to make such assumptions based on looks;

....Like with the recent Alvin A.T.C. trilogy! The old cartoon was O.K. for little kids, but the new stuff is more mature, like the music they sing: "Party Rock Anthem" instead of "Christmas Time"! Too many people (mostly parents and mostly in the USA) make so many false assumptions based on "it looks like a little kid thing" or "it's animated"! and they even IGNORE age range labels, both suggestions AND warnings! (I first noticed this in my shopping-addict aunts. once I recognized the problem, I saw it EVERYWHERE.)

I've seen opinions on all sides, from all ages, genders, etc. Overall I think it's a GOOD thing, because it's an OPTION. The idea of trying to make everything "gender neutral" and to try and destroy gender types is just...crazy, to say the least bit. Gender is pretty well ingrained into us at the genetic level. A statistically average girl will enjoy "girl toys" (dolls and such) while a statistically average boy will enjoy "boy toys" (cars and such). It's only a relatively small portion that's either mismatched or ambidextrous so to speak. The option ~should~ be there for girls and boys who ~want~ to have "girly" type sets with DOLLS to play with. Why deprive them of what they like just because you personally find it to be "offensive"? You don't have to play with it, no one is forcing you to. Why do people feel the need to try and INFLICT their personal views and likes onto others?

I think it's AWESOME that Lego is branching out and providing more options for play, in fact I wish they would do some more BOYISH themed sets too, like maybe a G.I. Joe esque military/war toy line (similar to BrickArms). That would be cool.

The best thing about the "girly" sets though is that they ALWAYS have really awesome new parts and pieces, especially this new line...

Those are some 'pretty' sweet 'female' items ... nice, :o)

Sure, and no one cared what I had to say about.........

"And shame on anyone who thought it WAS 1-4. It's wrong to make such assumptions based on looks;

....Like with the recent Alvin A.T.C. trilogy! The old cartoon was O.K. for little kids, but the new stuff is more mature, like the music they sing: "Party Rock Anthem" instead of "Christmas Time"! Too many people (mostly parents and mostly in the USA) make so many false assumptions based on "it looks like a little kid thing" or "it's animated"! and they even IGNORE age range labels, both suggestions AND warnings! (I first noticed this in my shopping-addict aunts. once I recognized the problem, I saw it EVERYWHERE.)" EDIT: my little cousin is 2 now and when my aunts came by with her they wanted her to play with LEGO while they talked- and she's 2!!! They completely ignored the choking hazard, let alone the fact that kids must play with DUPLO from 1.5-5 before getting the more simple LEGO sets. (Yep, I said fact. Want me to verify it? I can.)

This is a real epidemic that turns little kids into brats, depresses older kids, and dulls a parents attention to detail. I'm writing a parenting book about it and with my friend Becky's help they'll sell like hotcakes and I'll have a website to go along with it. (a 9 year old wrote a #1 NYTimes Bestseller, "How to Talk to Girls")

Verify it, mate. First toy I remeber is a big blue bucket of Legos.

First toys I remember were army men, legos (Not duplos, mind you), and toy guns.

Cowboys & Indians, Army Men, Lincoln Logs, LEGO/clone brands, and toy guns. Pretty much the same, IOW, though I played with the Cowboys & Indians most; still have THOUSANDS of the things in my closet. I never remember playing with Duplo, and I have memories from when I was 1-1/2.