Friends (1994) is an iconic television series. Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Chandler, and Joey, not to mention fan favourites like Gunther, and all of the actors who portrayed them, have been household names for well over two decades. For the show’s 25th anniversary, the LEGO group has announced the arrival of the iconic coffee shop that always brought the ‘friends’ together via the LEGO Ideas Central Perk set.

What makes the brand new set even more incredible, is how it is actually a fan creation. For those who may not know, LEGO has a very special program known as LEGO Ideas. It is a portal whereby LEGO fans may submit their very own creations for the LEGO company to possibly produce. Over the years, the LEGO Ideas program has brought utterly incredible sets to life. Some of those include the Delorean from Back to the Future (1985), Disney’s Wall-E, Voltron from Defenders of the Universe, and even NASA’s Curiosity Rover. The LEGO Ideas Central Perk set is now the latest addition to this wonderful program.

Given the setting the LEGO Ideas Central Perk is based on, it is only fitting how it includes the now iconic seating area made famous by the show. This means that the 1079 piece set includes the couch, armchair and two chairs – all of which are removable. Better still, each of the main characters (Gunther included) have been turned into LEGO Minifigs.

The set also includes the option of building the stage where Phoebe Buffay performed Smelly Cat, as well as a brick built coffee machine, cookie jar, menu board element, and a variety of other authentic items. Making the set even more unique is how LEGO created a ‘Central Perk’ green exclusively for the three pillar elements it includes. Going even further into the realism of the notion of how the set is based on the popular situational comedy, it also includes two brick built television studio light rigs with translucent style elements. You know, just in case any builders out there want to enact their very own version of the show.

The LEGO Ideas Central Perk was initially submitted and created by Aymeric Fievet from Normandy, France. According to Fievet, one of the main challenges of designing the set was ‘visualising’ the series in order to create it as accurately as possible for other builders to enjoy. Personally, I think he has done an outstanding job, especially given how the entire set is only 29 cm long, 22 cm deep, and 11 cm high.

As a fan of the series and LEGO, the LEGO Ideas Central Perk set is now firmly on the radar. If, like me, you are also interested in the set, then you will be happy to know that it releases at all official LEGO Certified Stores in South Africa on 1 September 2019 for only R1249.99.

Owner, founder and editor-in-chief at Vamers, Hans has a vested interest in geek culture and the interactive entertainment industry. With a Masters degree in Communications and Ludology, he is well read and versed in matters relating to video games and communication media, among many other topics of interest.