Ah, good old Harry Potter sets. I could spot an HP set from a mile away with those classic gray and dirty green coloring. Anyway, when I recently unearthed my old sets in this theme, I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw 4722- Gryffindor House. 

 

 

Honestly, what were they thinking when they made this? It does appear, however, that it is a set directly marketed towards the female crowd. From the cardboard backdrop to those crazy colors (A light purple baseplate!? AWESOME!) this whole set seems to scream "REPLACE YOUR BARBIES WITH ME". Heck, the set even comes with a fuzzy, little, yellow bedspread. 

 

 

I'm pretty sure this set didn't sell well when it was out (back in 2001). I think I had it because it completed my collection. Honestly, I have no freakin' idea why I have it... lol. 

 

I just find it strange how LEGO blatantly uses certain colors to appeal to different demographics. I don't want to start any sexist talk again, but I do find it pretty sexist. Whatever works I guess. It's cool to see where some inspiration for the Friends Theme came from. 

 

I think a family friend's daughter had some of these. Or maybe it was the son. Not only are the colors weird, but the whole set just feels off to me. One of the few sets that didn't have a permanent drool stain on the picture in the Lego catalog when I was a kid.

Harry Potter also introduced many later "Monster Fighters" pieces and elements.  I'm going through a big Potter lot I bought, with Graveyard, and Horntail.  I like most of the sets but you're right this one is a little odd.

Well yes, it is odd (especially the whole cardboard background), but it is also very interesting because it is one of LEGO's earliest attempts to capture a female audience. I mean, even the box has a picture of Hermione on it. I also do love the colors. I just took apart this set to add the bricks to my own collection and the purple, pink, teal, and light orange bricks are fantastic. It's nice to have those crazy colors. Also, the purple witch hat is very unique, and that light blue/purple 8x8 baseplate is seriously awesome. What other sets have pieces in that light blue/purple color (it almost looks white but it is clearly not)?

That set looks very different from other HP sets I have seen.

That set looks very different from other HP sets I have seen.

 

Exactly, most people do not even know this set ever existed. 

I dunno, check these out: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEGO-INSTRUCTIONS-ONLY-6414-DOLPHIN-POINT-manual-directions-PARADISA-RARE-/171091221653?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item27d5d4dc95

 

Lego Paradisa from the mid-90's. I got a CL lot recently that had a bunch of these pieces and a couple of partial sets. Those pink pieces do fade over the years....

Well, if you want to get really technical, then the Scala sets from 1979 take the award of Lego's first obvious stab at the female market:

 

http://www.brickset.com/browse/themes/?theme=Scala&year=1979

 

Since then, we've seen Paradisa, Clickits, Belville, Duplo Princess, Friends etc.

Aargh!

It's annoying.  Lego is for everybody, no matter boys or girls.  The colors are nice and bright, the traditional themes have enough "girly" stuff in them.  Why for the heck Lego decide that girls would like those stupid colors better then normal ones?  All this "cute" nonsense is everywhere.   I hate pink

 

Not Lego, but

I dunno, check these out: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEGO-INSTRUCTIONS-ONLY-6414-DOLPHIN-POINT-manual-directions-PARADISA-RARE-/171091221653?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item27d5d4dc95

 

Lego Paradisa from the mid-90's. I got a CL lot recently that had a bunch of these pieces and a couple of partial sets. Those pink pieces do fade over the years....

 

Dude, Paradisa isn't aimed at girls. It's aimed at 90's!!!!

Aargh!

It's annoying.  Lego is for everybody, no matter boys or girls.  The colors are nice and bright, the traditional themes have enough "girly" stuff in them.  Why for the heck Lego decide that girls would like those stupid colors better then normal ones?  All this "cute" nonsense is everywhere.   I hate pink

 

Not Lego, but

>cool commercial

Dude, Paradisa isn't aimed at girls. It's aimed at 90's!!!!

Ehh, pretty sure it was aimed at girls..

 

"Paradisa was a subtheme of Town, that ran from 1992-1997. It included many pink-coloured bricks, along with other rare pieces, and was mainly marketed towards girls"

 

http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/Paradisa

 

And it wasn't even the first line aimed at girls... This Hogwarts Gryffindor set pictured above is definitely not the "original" Lego set aimed at girls..

Ehh, pretty sure it was aimed at girls..

 

"Paradisa was a subtheme of Town, that ran from 1992-1997. It included many pink-coloured bricks, along with other rare pieces, and was mainly marketed towards girls"

 

http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/Paradisa

 

And it wasn't even the first line aimed at girls... This Hogwarts Gryffindor set pictured above is definitely not the "original" Lego set aimed at girls..

 

It was a joke...

 

EDIT: The minifigure in the set picture is holding a boombox while wearing a pink tank-top and short-shorts. IT DOESN'T GET ANY MORE 90's THAN THAT!

 

EDIT EDIT: I thought "It was aimed at 90's!!!" would be an obvious joke. 

Aargh!

It's annoying.  Lego is for everybody, no matter boys or girls.  The colors are nice and bright, the traditional themes have enough "girly" stuff in them.  Why for the heck Lego decide that girls would like those stupid colors better then normal ones?  All this "cute" nonsense is everywhere.   I hate pink

 

Not Lego, but

>cool commercial

No, no, you're all wrong....

This is one of the first sets aimed at girls......

http://brickset.com/detail/?Set=276-1

No stereo typing there at all

More seriously, they have tried with various different themes over the years, like the ones you have already mentioned. But I think the Friends line is one of the first successful ones.

I think Lego hit it out of the park with Friends.

 

Some girls like pink and frilly, some don't. My oldest is rarely to be seen wearing anything other than black (and then it's only red and gold when she's cheering on the 9ers and obsessively updating her football blog). My youngest is rarely to be seen wearing anything other than pink and other bright flower colors.

 

Outside of what colors they should or shouldn't like, they both like kittens, zombies, cooking shows, gaming, my little ponies, power walking, bunnies, Doctor Who, Disneyland, Game of Thrones... Both are writers - my youngest "pink" girl writes thrillers and dark fantasy, my oldest "tomboy" girl writes light to medium-dark fantasy.

 

Stereotyping only gets you so far. There's nothing wrong with girls or boys who like pink bricks or don't like pink bricks.

No, no, you're all wrong....

This is one of the first sets aimed at girls......

http://brickset.com/detail/?Set=276-1

No stereo typing there at all

More seriously, they have tried with various different themes over the years, like the ones you have already mentioned. But I think the Friends line is one of the first successful ones.

Yeah, that set and others of the time could be considered very gender neutral but it is a set all the same so let's just go with that one as the first set for girls as well as boys. I believe Belleville running as long as it did was successful as a theme specifically aimed towards girls with the current Friends line taking over as the next best thing of which I do hope sticks around for a long time. A long time indeed.

 

Stereotyping only gets you so far. There's nothing wrong with girls or boys who like pink bricks or don't like pink bricks.

Too true. Stereotypes are formed by typically consistent patterns seen in people (and animals) but even then they only hold so much weight or truth reliably. Have you seen one of the videos with a dog and deer playing? Two animals in any other circumstance would be considered enemies yet here they are best of friends. Not a stereotype really, just a little reminder of how out of the ordinary life can be if people are open to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmOMA6CqL68

Well yes, it is odd (especially the whole cardboard background), but it is also very interesting because it is one of LEGO's earliest attempts to capture a female audience.

Ummmm not really. Before this there was Paradiso. And before that there was Lego. Just plain old Lego. Which they marketed to girls and boys, and girls and boys played with.

Just this:

Aargh!

It's annoying. Lego is for everybody, no matter boys or girls. The colors are nice and bright, the traditional themes have enough "girly" stuff in them. Why for the heck Lego decide that girls would like those stupid colors better then normal ones? All this "cute" nonsense is everywhere. I hate pink

Not Lego, but

>cool commercial

I'm only glad for the 'girl' themes because of the variety in colours now available - I always pick up the pinks and purples at PAB.

Great original post though, thanks for sharing!

Aimed at the 90s - that's hilarious. Actually in the 90s EVERYTHING, even boy's clothes, were pink, white and grey with a hint of mint-choc-chip green.