Yet more evidence has emerged to prove LEGO isn’t just for kids, and is definitely, absolutely fine for fully grown adults to play with on a Saturday evening.
LEGO have just announced a brand new Friends collection. And it’s not a bunch of cute bunny buddies or even just a really close-knit group of generic mates.
I’m talking Friends friends: getting off planes, poorly communicated relationship breaks, coffee-fuelled antics, the whole shebang. And although these little brick figures look to be slightly less hyperactive than the six iconic New Yorkers, they certainly look fun.
LEGO unveiled this nostalgic new collection in a mini vid which shows the Central Perk gang squished onto an orange sofa in front of that fountain.
The characters are instantly recognisable to me simply from the back of their LEGO hair cuts; so ingrained are they on our collective pop culture memory. I wouldn’t recognise myself in LEGO form, but Phoebe Buffay? Every time.
LEGO captioned the vid simply yet perfectly, with the sort of cheeky wink Joey would no doubt approve of:
The one with LEGO bricks Coming soon.
Friends fans promptly erupted with more excitement than Monica with a feather duster in her hand.
One person squealed:
What a thing of beauty, that will be on my shelf as soon as physically possible!
While another (of course) couldn’t resist channelling the sarcastic spirit of Chandler to express their mirth:
Could I BE any more excited??
Others have been firing suggestions at LEGO for more grown-up shows to be re-enacted in brick form, pushing for The Office, Scrubs and Seinfeld.
However, Friends – with its comforting, bedtime-and-cuppa nature – just makes the perfect fit for a LEGO set. After all, those palatial apartments have provided us with a surreal sense of escapism for years.
Friends wrapped up in 2004, after ten witty, impossible-to-dislike seasons. Despite nearly continuous rumours of a reunion, cast members and creators have repeatedly said they would like to leave the sitcom in the past where it belongs.
I must say, I would hate to see a Friends reunion cobbled together purely to please fans who still find it too difficult to say a real goodbye. As the ill-fated sequel Joey showed, sometimes it’s best to just leave things on an emotional high.
Whether or not we will ever get to revisit these beloved characters as they grapple with middle age, it’s still quite touching to see how much the ’90s show continues to mean to people in an era of prestige drama and WhatsApp groups.
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via story@unilad.com
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.