Answers.Body: <p>Many adjustments have been made for 2018. The five main characters all still exist, but they have been changed somewhat. This was brought up on the Lego Ambassador Network, and generated enough interest to get an official response from the Friends team in Billund:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Every year we strive to innovate and make our products even better for
    children all over the world. A lot of effort has gone into the
    development of the LEGO characters and universes across our entire
    product range, so it makes us very happy  when changes are noticed.</p>
    
    <p>LEGO Friends in 2018 looks a bit different than what it has in the
    past. To be specific, the 5 main characters have a slightly different
    look but also the city and the citizens of Heartlake City have
    changed.</p>
    
    <p>But what are the reasons for the change?</p>
    
    <p>Firstly, we want to assure you that all 5 friends are still there in
    2018. Andrea, Mia, Emma, Stephanie and Olivia – they all still exist! Also the character’s main interests and personalities remain mainly
    unchanged.</p>
    
    <p>What you will see in 2018 is an evolution of LEGO Friends, a
    progression of the story and characters to make sure children get an
    even greater play experience. Every year more than a million children
    and parents reach out to us and share what they love and what they
    would like to change. In the LEGO Friends range children told us that
    they would like even more differentiated characters and also suggested
    improvements to Heartlake City.</p>
    
    <p>We always take great care to listen to input from children, and the
    LEGO Friends team has worked hard to make even more engaging and
    relevant experiences for children – and also make the LEGO Friends
    universe more true to the actual world children live in.</p>
    
    <p>Taking a starting point in reality, we’ve made the characters more
    diverse in their appearance and have added more depth to their
    personality. And of course, they still live in Heartlake City. But
    just as the characters have changed, Heartlake City has become more
    differentiated and rich. There are different districts and there are
    other citizens that play a more active role in the story.</p>
    
    <p>The changes we have made does not change the fact that previous and
    new LEGO Friends sets will cater for great building and play
    experience in 2018 and beyond, and we hope to inspire even more
    stories and play opportunities for children in the future.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-12-07T19:21:33.537Z
Answers.Text: Hidden in there is "we’ve made the characters more diverse", which sounds reasonable. 4 out of 5 on the first box look caucasian to me, which doesn't seem very representative.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Craig
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-06-29T23:06:35.790Z
Answers.Text: @Craig: So the answer to the question is "Yes, Olivia has been replaced to make the characters more diverse."?
Answers.UserDisplayName: O. R. Mapper
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-03-27T12:57:10.777Z
Answers.Text: Nope, just reskinned - now there are finally more skin and hair options which is only a good thing for variation in Lego.
Answers.UserDisplayName: htmlcoderexe
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-12-07T00:49:30.203Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-12-07T00:49:30.203Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: jncraton
Body: <p>If you've been following the information about the 2018 Lego Friends sets, you may have noticed that some of the characters look a little different. Most characters look fairly similar with minor updates. However, Olivia appears to now be a different race:</p>
  
  <p>Olivia before 2018:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ElKzp.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ElKzp.png" alt="2017"></a></p>
  
  <p>Olivia in 2018:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/svRdP.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/svRdP.png" alt="2018"></a></p>
  
  <p>What is happening here? Has Olivia been replaced?</p>
  
Tags: <minifigures><friends>
Title: What happened to Olivia in the 2018 Lego Friends sets?
UserDisplayName: jncraton
ThreadText: # What happened to Olivia in the 2018 Lego Friends sets?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-07)
  
  If you've been following the information about the 2018 Lego Friends sets, you may have noticed that some of the characters look a little different. Most characters look fairly similar with minor updates. However, Olivia appears to now be a different race:
  
  Olivia before 2018:
  
  [![2017](https://i.sstatic.net/ElKzp.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ElKzp.png)
  
  Olivia in 2018:
  
  [![2018](https://i.sstatic.net/svRdP.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/svRdP.png)
  
  What is happening here? Has Olivia been replaced?
  
  **Tags:** minifigures, friends
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_0 on 2017-12-07. Score: 9 | Accepted answer
  
  Many adjustments have been made for 2018. The five main characters all still exist, but they have been changed somewhat. This was brought up on the Lego Ambassador Network, and generated enough interest to get an official response from the Friends team in Billund:
  
  > Every year we strive to innovate and make our products even better for
  > children all over the world. A lot of effort has gone into the
  > development of the LEGO characters and universes across our entire
  > product range, so it makes us very happy when changes are noticed.
  >
  > LEGO Friends in 2018 looks a bit different than what it has in the
  > past. To be specific, the 5 main characters have a slightly different
  > look but also the city and the citizens of Heartlake City have
  > changed.
  >
  > But what are the reasons for the change?
  >
  > Firstly, we want to assure you that all 5 friends are still there in
  > 2018. Andrea, Mia, Emma, Stephanie and Olivia – they all still exist! Also the character’s main interests and personalities remain mainly
  > unchanged.
  >
  > What you will see in 2018 is an evolution of LEGO Friends, a
  > progression of the story and characters to make sure children get an
  > even greater play experience. Every year more than a million children
  > and parents reach out to us and share what they love and what they
  > would like to change. In the LEGO Friends range children told us that
  > they would like even more differentiated characters and also suggested
  > improvements to Heartlake City.
  >
  > We always take great care to listen to input from children, and the
  > LEGO Friends team has worked hard to make even more engaging and
  > relevant experiences for children – and also make the LEGO Friends
  > universe more true to the actual world children live in.
  >
  > Taking a starting point in reality, we’ve made the characters more
  > diverse in their appearance and have added more depth to their
  > personality. And of course, they still live in Heartlake City. But
  > just as the characters have changed, Heartlake City has become more
  > differentiated and rich. There are different districts and there are
  > other citizens that play a more active role in the story.
  >
  > The changes we have made does not change the fact that previous and
  > new LEGO Friends sets will cater for great building and play
  > experience in 2018 and beyond, and we hope to inspire even more
  > stories and play opportunities for children in the future.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Hidden in there is "we’ve made the characters more diverse", which sounds reasonable. 4 out of 5 on the first box look caucasian to me, which doesn't seem very representative.  
  > **username_2**: @username_1: So the answer to the question is "Yes, Olivia has been replaced to make the characters more diverse."?  
  > **username_3**: Nope, just reskinned - now there are finally more skin and hair options which is only a good thing for variation in Lego.  
  
  ---
  
  