Twenty-five years after Friends premiered on TV, Central Perk is being recreated in LEGO form.
In honor of the iconic show’s 25th anniversary, LEGO Ideas is launching a Central Perk set with LEGO versions of Ross Geller, Rachel Green, Chandler Bing, Monica Geller, Joey Tribbiani, Phoebe Buffay, and — of course — Gunther.
The set, which goes on sale September 1, includes plenty of familiar details that any Friends fan will go wild for.
The perfect toy! Twenty-five years after Friends premiered on TV, Central Perk is being recreated in LEGO form
Gang’s all here! In honor of the iconic show’s 25th anniversary, LEGO Ideas is launching a Central Perk set with LEGO versions of Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey, and Phoebe
What are they feeding you? Phoebe comes with a guitar so she can perform Smelly Cat, while Ross has a newspaper
Accessories: Rachel is rocking her signature haircut and her Central Perk waitress apron, while Joey has a slice of pizza
The extras: Chandler carries a briefcase and wears a vest, while Monica has what might be her homemade chocolate candy in one hand
Adorable: Gunther is ready to sweep floors
The mini version of Cental Perk is naturally outfitted with the orange couch, coffee mugs, and Gunther behind the bar.
Over by the window is a microphone where the Phoebe figurine — which comes with a guitar — can sit and play Smelly Cat.
Ross has a newspaper, Monica has a sweet treat, Chandler has a briefcase, and Joey has a slice of pizza and a very flirty expression painted on.
Finally, Rachel is portrayed during her waitress days, rocking the ‘Rachel’ haircut and holding a tray with coffee.
Dedication! The Central Perk set is being sold after a fan submitted the design
Amazing: The set, which goes on sale September 1, includes plenty of familiar details that any Friends fan will go wild for
The outside shows the Central Perk signage along a New York street
Watching Rachel? A platinum-haired Gunther can be seen behind the bar making coffee
Get ready! The set has 1,070 pieces and is recommended for people age 16 and up
Friends fanatics have Aymeric Fievet, 34, to thank for the set.
Fievet, aka Mric76, had submitted the Central Perk brick design to the LEGO Review Board as part of their 2018 LEGO Ideas contest.
The French LEGO fan, who works in the computer industry, built the original Central Perk set out of LEGOs, which the company then tweaked for the final version that would be distributed.
‘By building this set, I knew I would touch all generations, because who has never heard of Central Perk,’ he said.
Fievet spent a week building the set, which included about 1,750 pieces.
Redecorate like Rachel! Pottery Barn is launching a Friends collection for the show’s 25th anniversary
You can almost smell the opium! It includes a reissue of the apothecary table featured in the iconic season six episode
Page 72 of the catalog! Though Rachel supposedly paid ‘one and fifty dollars,’ this one is selling for $1,099
‘It’s from yore. Like the days of yore’: According to a former VP for the company, Pottery Barn gets inquiries about the table every time the episode airs
The LEGO set is just one of several ways Friends’ anniversary is being celebrated.
Pottery Barn announced in July that it is launching a Pottery Barn x Friends Collection in honor of the beloved anniversary, which includes Friends-inspired art, Central Perk mugs, and — of course — Rachel and Phoebe’s famous ‘apothecary table’ from the Pottery Barn catalog.
The collection, with pieces starting at $12.50, will be available online at PotteryBarn.com and in stores.
It includes several pieces of wall art, pillows featuring the orange Central Perk couch and Monica’s purple door, and tea towels with the phrase ‘Joey doesn’t share food’ and Rachel’s meat-and-lady-fingers trifle.
There are also a Central Perk-branded mug and tumbler, a ‘Welcome Friends’ doormat and pillow, and a mug with the words ‘You’re my lobster’ and an illustration of the crustacean.
Don’t tell Gunther! The collection also includes Central Perk mugs and tumblers
Home sweet cafe: There’s home decor, including a throw pillow with the orange couch from Central Perk
For the superfan: The collection, which has items starting at $12.50, also includes wall art
Favorite hangout: Elements from Central Perk pop up in the collection, which goes on sale today
But most fittingly, Pottery Barn is reissuing the apothecary table that famously featured in the season six episode The One with the Apothecary Table, which first aired back in January of 2016.
The table — which costs $1,099 — was the centerpiece of the main plot of the iconic episode, in which Rachel brought home the Pottery Barn Apothecary Table for the apartment she shared with Phoebe.
When Monica warns her that Phoebe won’t have it because she hates mass-produced furniture and likes her pieces to have a backstory, Rachel fabricates one — telling her friend that it was from the ‘days of yore’ and she bought it from ‘days of yore’ and she bou at a flea market for ‘one and fifty dollars,’ in ‘old time pricing.’
Rachel then buys even more pieces from the store’s catalog, making up an historical story for each.
Tastes like feet: There are also tea towels featuring the phrase ‘Joey doesn’t share food’ and Rachel’s meat-and-lady-finger trifle
How you doin’? ‘Joey doesn’t share food’ also pops up on a mug with a sandwich
Iconic: For a touch of Monica’s apartment, there’s a throw pillow featuring her purple door
Ross and Rachel forever! There’s also a cute ‘You’re my lobster’ mug
But she runs into trouble when she visits Ross’ apartment and sees that he’s bought the same table. Worried that Phoebe will see it and know she lied, she insists Ross cover it with a sheet — though eventually, the truth comes out.
Pottery Barn was so central to the episode that the brand’s name was mentioned 18 times.
But a spokesperson told BuzzFeed last year that despite the incredible air time for the brand, it was not a paid product placement deal.
‘Pottery Barn did not pay for product placement of the apothecary table in the eleventh episode of the sixth season of Friends. The table was donated and we continue to be grateful for inclusion in this episode,’ said a representative for the brand.
In fact, production designer Greg Grande told Vox this month that the apothecary table was just one of many products that companies would send him to use for free.
Fun fact: According to Pottery Barn, the brand didn’t actually pay for the product placement in the iconic episode
Good advertising: The production designer was allowed to shop one of their stores for free
Pottery Barn was so central to the episode that the brand’s name was mentioned 18 times
Typically in TV shows these days, branded products — like, say, a can of Coca-Cola — will have the names ‘greeked out,’ or covered up or disguised. If a brand name is to be included in the show, it will involved contracts and payments.
But Friends aired decades ago — and it was so popular that brands would regularly send Grande things to use for free, counting on the exposure to make it worth it.
Grande said that Pottery Barn gave him ‘carte blanche’ to ‘outfit Phoebe’s apartment however I chose to.’
Even without payment from Warner Bros., Pottery Barn benefited greatly from the arrangement.
In 2004, then-executive VP of Pottery Barn’s parent company Williams-Sonoma Inc. Patrick Connolly called the episode ‘the gift that keeps on giving’.
‘The phones light up with catalog requests every time it airs,’ he said.
Coming soon: A new Friends pop-up is coming to New York City on September 7, and will remain open through October 6
Meanwhile, a new Friends pop-up is coming to New York City on September 7, and will remain open through October 6.
The pop-up’s website teases that visitors can ‘immerse yourself in your favorite show like never before, complete with set re-creations, photo opps, and of course, Central Perk!’
Tickets have already sold out.