Lego 10292, The Friends Apartment is the second set released from the popular TV Series Friends. This set focuses on the two main apartments used in the series and features 7 unique Minifigures and 2048 pieces in total, with an RRP of £159.99 but is also part of that newer 18+ range Lego has done.
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Lego 10292
This is the second set and we were fortunate to own the first one that focused on the Central Perk, the other main set area for the series. However, this new one was bigger as it focused on two series sets, the main apartments that are opposite each other with a hallway in the middle, something you also get…These two places are iconic for much of the series with every one of the friends living in either one of these for a short amount of time at least.
But being huge Friends fans, this for us was a given to get, the first build was excellent, the figures, the coffee shop, the idea of the cameras, were all great and really set the standard for TV-related sets that Lego is now more comfortable in doing. With this being said there’s pressure on this set to firstly live up to the previous one and warrant the sequel but also to do something different because it’s the same characters again on the whole, in a TV series.
Being one of those Ideas type set with a focus on TV and adult set, the Book has a lot more going on as not only is there plenty of info about the show, characters and designers, but also the pages are littered with references to the show as you go through the build. One thing to note the designer didn’t know Friends…baffling, I was obviously concerned about his passion for doing the set, but at the same time, he was going in with no biase of what they found funny over the years and used research of others to find a more broad range of what was funny.
Chandler Bing
So with this set, the idea is iconic outfits but that’s a lot to choose from, and with Chandler, it shows its tough, he doesn’t look great, his hair is fine though his double-sided head is excellent, the rest is a bit meh, the tie from the episode “the one with the cat” is fine, where the brown jacket and cream trousers look ok, doesn’t really show much about the character.
Joey Tribbiani
However Joey is excellent, he also has a double print but the raised eyebrow version is excellent, but it’s all about the print on the clothes. They are showing when Joey wheres everything that Chandler owns from the episode “the one where know ones ready” it’s easily the best and arguably one of the most visual designs from the whole series, the scarf is odd and I don’t know why it’s there.
Ross Geller
Ross is also an excellent figure, at first you might think why? but the facial print is arguably the close to the real-life character, but the face and the whole design are based on Ross wearing the ultra-tight black Leather pants from the episode “the one with all the resolutions”, the top shows the tightness as does his face, a really great idea.
Monica Geller
She is pretty similar to the central part version with the head and hair, however, the torso prints are unique and focus on an earlier version of Monica with her baking and cooking at home, this design is based on the episode “the one with all the candy”, its apron and colour are also excellent.
Rachel Green
For those who don’t know Rachel (Jennifer Anniston) was a big deal with fashion and looks back in the ’90s thus her outfits changed a lot and were probably more looked at than most, so choosing the right one was also tough. Especially as through the years her character really changes, so this earlier simply version of Rachel, in a white Yop and checked red and white skirt is fine, and normally I would say great, but there’s so much to choose from that perhaps it’s not the best look, there’s plenty of episodes that focuses on her clothes etc.
Phoebe Buffay
Phoebe like Rachel has very distinctive clothes, especially based on her character so with her you can go super unique unlike Rachel, they nail it here, her torso is from the episode “the one where Phoebe runs” as she sports her running tracksuit esc clothes. Her headpiece like the others is fine while her long blonde hair is excellent.
Janice Hosenstein
Central Perk in the first set had the recurring character, Gunther, thankfully in this set we had another recurring character in the form of Janice, one of the most notable characters on the show with her distinctive laugh and look. The look here though is brought forward to the set in excellent fashion (pun), her hair from a Bellatrix Minifigure fits perfect while her outrageous print on the torse from the episode “the one with Ross library book” is brilliant, anyone who has watched friends would straight away know who this is and that’s a big compliment.
Accessories
I’ll be honest there are way too many to mention, the sets are full of unique easter egg-style Friends Accessories that you could swap out for your choice at any time. The ones provided separately out of the box include a whisk for Monica, a Coffee cup for Rachel, a paintbrush and weird 3D paying for Phoebe, but again there are countless hidden in the building, like the Dollhouse being on fire.
Boys Apartment
Let’s go old school and name them like that, it’s essentially ‘the Boys” apartment, again as I mentioned earlier there is so much hidden detail that’s it’s easier to look at the pictures to spot what you can see. However, the design is excellent as you can clearly see the overview of what the apartment looks like and how it resembles the onscreen apartment.
Packed inside is a TV unit, which is fine however if you were going for Iconic moments in the show the overhanging one that Joey built would have been a better choice. However, this is still a memorable design as its sits between the two-bedroom doors
Swinging around is the couch, table, curtains and windows which all look great, the Porcelain dog is also present which was a purchase from Joey when he first gets his big acting career. Around the walls and newspapers are full of little Friends ester eggs also, the remaining door on the back wall is the Bathroom, something that doesn’t get used that often but is still there.
In the middle of the apartment is the recliners, arguably among the more memorable things in the series and the boys, these slightly larger seats are on top of a run, something Lego loves to do in buildings that uses lots of extra pieces and adds colour often etc… I hate these, but they are also removable… but still I dislike these.
The kitchen is pretty good with the mindset it’s a little cramped, but you get a good idea of the boys kitchen and is very recognisable in the place, plus it also has the Fussball table! again something that goes hand in hand with the apartment. The door also had its memorable whiteboard, this is done with stickers as you are provided with three! so you can choose, however, your own provided one flat piece, with is a tad annoying.
As I said there are a lot of little accessories dotted around, the Canoe is a great addition, after the boys have their furniture stolen this is their only chair and it’s great to see here. The Cameras are attached to the sides, something that I think makes these sets different and again look good, because they’re not buildings..they are Sets and scenes so works well.
Girls Apartment
You could argue after Central Perk this is the most memorable place in Friends, the Girls live here for more than half the series, while it’s home to many iconic moments and is often the hang-out place for them all, especially as it larger than any of the other apartments etc.
where as the boys’ apartment is a bit bland in the most part from colour etc…the girls always had purple and wooden parts to there’s, and this works excellent and gives you the difference, not only that but is very distinctive in what this was meant to be.
The Living area again has that pull-up rug…. but is more colourful than the other one, on it sits the couch, chair and table which all well presented, including a telephone stand (important form some scenes) and seating for everyone to hand out, mostly. The Wall area with the TV has a poster that’s been modified for Lego but is similar to the original while the TV sits on a unit much like the Series, like the Boys TV though its not to scale but we can forgive that, this sits between the girls two bedrooms.
Swinging round to the back another quite iconic area is the window, in front sits a small fice like table and chair but the window is one of the showpieces of the set, it’s at an angle and has back black squares to present the show design, it’s all a bit cramped here as it perhaps struggles to fit.
But with this window area it’s an actually outside area! this sees a Cat that interrupts Ross in a scene, while a giant poking stick for the naked man across the way is also there, it’s not a huge area nd a touch bigger would make a better representation but it’s not a huge deal. Seeing this from the back though you are put off by the white panel and flat wall where a cupboard etc should come out..but if you are using the camera angle close up in your mind and just focus on the balcony then it’s fine.
Back in the room we head into the corridor esc place that had the bathroom door and another secret door, like the boys, place there is no bathroom, so don’t open it, however a joke within Friends is that door at the back never gets opened until much later in the series, inside we see Monicas hidden mess, and this is represented by boxes etc…
The kitchen area makes that area in the room and has a wooden beam, which is and isn’t there at times in the series, depending on what they were shooting. The kitchen is excellent, full of little things and clever techniques to cram it all in, like the counter, buts it’s all bright colours with blue fixtures and yellow curtains.
The Dining table makes up the last space but this is a little crammed as well, and is very simple, it’s fine and I like different chair designs. The door though has the most iconic image and the last image of the whole series with the Photo frame around the Peephole, it’s not the same Lavender purple of the sticker than the door which is a little frustrating.
Hallway
Lastly the two rooms with cameras etc and linked by a hallway, which actually on the series is always there, as you will often see shows going through one room to another. However a small snippet of it is visible, but that is right because its a set, however even though you see the hallway it is missing the start of a staircase, it doesn’t need to be a full one but you do visually see the bottom and top step in the back round, this is missing here. However what is here is a spilt cake for Chandler and Rachel to eat up, which is a neat touch.
Overall
Let’s get it out early, Friends fans will love this, there are so many nods to the TV show and for the most part, they do well to represent a lot. You can never have everything and no doubt there will be some stuff here and not here that you would have liked to have seen.
With the designer not really being a Friends fan, I think it comes across a little, on the most part it’s good, some great little uses of techniques and a list of things to add from other people have happened. With that and some photos of the set you can accomplish it, there are a couple of spacing issues, colour design issues, and slight hiccups but as a fan, you might excuse it.
Does it make as good an impact as central perk did? no, but it’s still a solid set, the piece count is high but you could argue there’s a lot in those rugs and several little accessories around. Cost-effective for this then? well licensed sets are expensive and going up, this perhaps should have been cheaper, especially as now it’s not the first set in the TV series and isn’t so special.
But I did like it, there are lot of neat things about the set as I’m a fan of Friends, would I recommend it to people who aren’t? No, is it playable? no, but its a display of scenes and you can make those scenes if you want and have them on display. It is a good set, and for how excited I was something has left me a bit underwhelmed by it all, odd I know but its just my opinion on this one.
