Minifigure

2023 LEGO House Exclusive Set Celebrates 45 years of Minifigure

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This year, we celebrate the 45th anniversary of the debut of the LEGO® Minifigure in 1978. While we have seen some amazing changes since those early days, perhaps some of the biggest changes to the original figures with their simplistic prints, and even simpler smiles were seen in 1989 with the arrival of LEGO Pirates: We got the first named character: Captain Redbeard in some markets, he was full of innovations: a red beard and eyepatch were added to his face; he gained a wooden leg, and a hook for a hand: both seen for the first time. We also saw the first feminine Minifigure released in that theme.

Continuing its theme of celebrating key moments in LEGO History, The LEGO House has just announced that their exclusive set for 2023 celebrates the Minifigure’s 45th birthday with a giant replica of Captain Brickbeard, resplendent in all his Brick Built Glory!

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The Road Goes Ever On: In Search Of Hobbits…

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I might be finding aspects of my LEGO® life a little chaotic at present. Some of this is of recent doing. Some of it relates to things I did over a decade ago.

I am quite excited by the new LEGO of The Rings: Rivendell set. I can’t wait to share my review with you. It will probably be the highest part count set I have ever put together. Before I do that, however, of course, I will have to build it. and I thought I might like to compare the minifigures with those from the initial release, a decade or so ago. And then one thing drove out another, as it were.

As I mentioned in the announcement of the set, Middle Earth has a special place in my LEGO MOC history. I came out of my Dark Ages and started exhibiting at back in 2010, but that was just a simple, somewhat quaint and primitive modular terrace house, built without enough time to get all the right Bricklink orders in before the due date. As such, it is decorated in the style of a student share house, somewhere in the 1970s or early ‘80s, complete with a poor choice in decor.

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2022 Advent Calendar Minifigure Review

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**WARNING: This Post Contains Some Spoilers for the LEGO® Star Wars Advent Calendar. While the Minifigures present are revealed on the box, the box doesn’t show you the faces behind the masks.**

I was a little torn when I was offered the LEGO® Star Wars Advent Calendar to Review back in August. I mean, was I going to hold on to it until December, by which stage the set would be sold out (and so the review would benefit nobody)? Or open it up and spoil it all, months in advance? Not that the images on LEGO.com work to keep the contents a secret.

And so, prompted in part by the existence of this article on Medium.com, bemoaning the relative at the relative absence of female minifigures in the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendars, I was promoted to open mine, to see if there were any surprises to be found inside. I’ll reveal my discovery later.

As it is also the VIP Weekend (2x VIP Points at LEGO.com), and with Black Friday Sales next weekend, it might just be the time to pick up that Calendar you were wondering about, before you need to start opening those doors on a daily basis.

Now, I don’t want to spoil the calendar experience, so I didn’t open up the doors. I just removed the recyclable tray from the box and picked out the bags containing minifigures. I can’t even remember where they came from: I just picked them all out and closed the box again. I’m sure this won’t cause any real problems…

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Collectable Minifigures Series 23: Rambling Review

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The announcement of series 23 of the collectable minifigures at LEGO CON in June surprised me a little. Since 2017, we have been presented with a set of ‘in-house’ figures, a Warner Bros licenced series (DC Super Heroes, Looney Tunes, Harry Potter, LEGO Movie/TLM2/TLMBM/TLNM) and a Disney licenced series (Disney, Marvel, Muppets). And the in-house series number has been the same as the year number. Now my ordinal sensibilities have been challenged, and I am not sure I like it.

That said, when we look at the figures presented in Series 23, it is appropriately timed, with many figures appropriate for the holiday season, including a Turkey costume, along with a snowman, reindeer costume, elf, nutcracker and Sugar Plum Fairy (or is it just the most generic toddler girl ever?).

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Classic Themes Build Challenge: Summary

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If you have been following us on instagram lately you may have encountered the 90th Aniversary Habitat/MOPs Classic Themes challenge that we have been running in conjunction with Jen @brickfambuilds. The challenge closed this week, and I’d encourage you to checkout the submissions over there following the tags #lego90habitats and #rambling90years in closer detail.

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Jumper Plate Minifigures: Classic Town Collection [Hands On Review]

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When Jay from Jumper Plate software reached out to offer me a set of his Nostalgic Monochromatic Minifigures to give away, I bought another set for my own use. Proceeds from the sale of these figures go to help Jumper Plate to further develop their software which is designed to support the administrative needs for people running LEGO User Groups.

But, there is a market for monochromatic minifigures, and when these figures come with a nicely printed nostalgic torso, harking back to the 90s, I suspect that market might be expanded. I don’t run a LUG, but I know plenty of people who do, and I am happy to help support anything that might make their job a little easier. So, I put my order in (this was pre release) and after a few local postal delays – international air travel is still a bit slow for packages – they arrived yesterday. So did my set to give away. you can read more about that here.

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Rambling Brick: Far From Home

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I’m off travelling for a few weeks: After attending the Fan Media Days in Billund, I am heading to a conference via Hamburg and LEGOLAND Germany, before attending the Fan Weekend at Paredes de Coura, in Portugal.

The Fan Media Days are over now, and I will write up more from then soon, but I a feeling a little far from home.

One of the surprising things at LEGOLAND Billund, is that often new release sets hit the shelves a few days early, and it was here that I found some of the new minifigure packs for the second half of the year, which is almost upon us. They don’t take up too much space in my luggage… so I picked a few up.

Today, I’d like to look at set 40343 – Minifigure Pack. Stop now if you don’t want any spoilers from Avengers Endgame.

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Win a set of Disney Minifigures Series 2

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Last week, I published my survey of the new 70124 Disney Minifigures (series 2), and after reviewing the series, I still have a complete set…as well as another without Donalds nephews, as each box only contains 2 sets of Huey, Dewey and Louis. It must be time to give these away, and free up some space at home. Read on to find out what you need to do…

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Collectable Minifigures: We’re not (just) from China Anymore. [Review 71024 Disney Series 2]

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In which I look at the new Disney Collectable Minifigures, and come to the realisation that unlike previous series, this one (and the LEGO® Movie 2 minifigures immediately before it) was not produced solely in the Chinese LEGO® factory. How many figures does it effect? What is the deal with the inner bags? And finally, how many of the TLM2 figures were sourced from Europe? Curious? Read on…

LET ME TELL YOU A STORY. Last week, I teased my 71024 Series 2 Disney Minifigures Review. But there was something I had to go back and look at. Then I realised there was something else I had to go back and look at somewhere else. Now I have…

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The Road to Sydney Brick Show [Disney minifigures preview and tease]

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My life has been a little preoccupied with preparing to exhibit at the Sydney Brick Show this weekend. I have been getting ready to post my review of Series 2 of the Disney Minifigures. But here is a sneak peek…

I thought, like other series that it would be a quick snapshot and go. Then I noticed something really interesting, that I had never seen with Collectable Minifigures in the past (Please note: “really interesting to me” may have limited widespread appeal. But it has significant implications going forward). This means I need to have a second look before I publish my findings.

Anyway… Sydney.

After arriving at Sydney Airport, I caught the train to central, and changed for the eastern suburbs line. Bondi Junction was the last stop. It took about 40 minutes from landing at Sydney airport, to get to this stop. After finding the Oxford St exit, it was a short walk (10 minutes) to the Westfield shopping centre, and the Certified LEGO Shop within.

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