Scissorino

Collectible Minifigures (CMFs) – they have a lot to answer for, don’t they? I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been drawn back into the grips of TLG by these ‘cheap’ Lego sets? ‘Cheap’ in inverted commas because you never buy one, do you? Every man has a part of his brain dedicated to hoarding and collecting and ‘having the full set’ – every kid does too. CMFs are the work of some scheming genius. The Guardian printed an article in 2011 on the success and effect of the CMF series: “Lego said the runaway success of a range of £2 lucky dip figurines aimed at those with pocket money to burn had provided the building blocks for a record year for the Danish toymaker. With a cast of characters that includes an Egyptian queen and an evil dwarf, "Minifigures" have taken UK playgrounds by storm, helping the brand to report growth of more than 10% in the UK for the six months to 30 June. Drew Brazer, UK managing director, said the inexpensive Minifigures were "accessible" toys for children to collect.” According to the free ‘Minifigs Collector’ app (search your app store) and their useful statistics section I know that I have 71 of all 186 Collectible Minifigures (38%) which seems not many, except for the fact I have 71 of the things. Even at retail price (£1.99 here in the UK) I’ve spent £141.29 (some I’ve paid a little more for, although I NEVER pay much more than the original RRP) – in my books that’s a fair bit of cash. So what’s the draw? Well, I know what the draw is for me, and in presenting to you ‘The Best Collectible Minifigures of All Time’ I hope to present my case as to why the CMFs have done so well, and why I (and you) have so many of them. To provide some method, I am going to choose one minifigure per series (a la Silent Mode’s original blog post). Series 1 (2010) Winner: Super Wrestler Why? I’m not even a wrestling fan and never have been but the quirky blue head element with the printed face and mask is highly appealing in its originality. There are plenty of other contenders in this, the original series; a caveman, a zombie, a ninja, a cowboy... The diver and the skater both seem a bit boring considering both have been done before in various themes. Series 2 (2010) Winner: Spartan Warrior 3 years after an interest in Sparta was reignited by the film ‘300’ this figure was bound to be popular with its iconic (and never seen before) Greek helmet element and muscular printed torso. Which movie or comic fan or history buff wouldn’t want a mini replica of King Leonidas on their shelf? I do (and I haven’t got him yet). Again, many contenders in this early series with a green-faced witch, a vampire, a mime (and his 3 different heads and beret) and a mariachi guy (a new sombrero and maracas). There were some pretty weak figures here too: a life guard/Baywatch babe, a weightlifter, a pop star to name the main culprits despite all having new elements (a float, a barbell and a microphone respectively). Series 3 (2011) Winner: Rapper An easy one for me, as a Hip Hop fan. With his color-coordinated new-style baseball cap, microphone and boombox what more could you want? Since Kanye West re-popularized Shutter Shades in 2007 they were everywhere, particularly during the recent-to-series-3 2010 World Cup – to have a Lego head wearing Shutters? That’s cool. The other better figures are the Pilot, the Fisherman, the Elf and the highly original Gorilla Suit Guy. Series 3 does seem to be the weakest series so far – a male ‘Tribal Chief’ (Lego had these way back in the nineties in the Western theme), a female snowboarder (the Sports theme was full of these), a weird ‘Space Villain’ (looks like the result of a 4 year old playing with minifigure parts despite its cool Blacktron reference), a boring sumo wrestler, a female tennis player (yawn) and a race car driver (how many of these has Lego produced before?). Series 4 (2011) Winner: The Monster It was between the HAZMET Guy (even though I can only guess at what one is in real life) and The Monster won for me. I like films and literature so having Shelley’s Frankenstein’s Monster in minifigure form is a very good thing. It must be the case that the success of figures such as this one, the Werewolf (series 4), the Crazy Scientist (also series 4), the Zombie (series 1), the Mummy (series 3) and the Witch and the Vampire (both series 2) prompted the very popular 2012 Monster Fighters Theme as all of these figures reappear in another form in the sets. A fairly strong series all in all with the presence of ANOTHER skateboarder, a footballer and a female surfer being the main let-downs (all re-hashes of previous theme figures, albeit with a little more realism and style). The Artist and Kimono Girl receive honourable mentions here. Series 1-4: A Summary Why did I choose the figures I chose? Two simple reasons it boils down to: 1) the figure connects to my personal interests. 2) the figure contains new or interesting elements. As we go through the next series, we will see if this continues to be the case. Meanwhile, from series 1-4, which are your favorite minifigures and why?