At the recent San Diego Comic-Con LEGO revealed a new line of LEGO Super Heroes sets called BrickHeadz. Each of the four sets that were available at the event included two characters with a blocky body and big head; Batman and The Joker, Doctor Strange and Black Panther, Superman and Wonder Woman, and Captain America and Iron Man. While these sets were exclusive to SDCC, other sets in the same style will be released next year. So let’s talk about these guys. 🙂
This is not the first time LEGO released similar figures. You may remember the very creative LEGO CubeDudes designed by PIXAR animator Angus McLane (see links at the end of this post). However those were limited-release exclusive LEGO sets, only available at a couple of events.
Bigheaded figures with small bodies and cute features are very popular in general. Just think of the Funko Pop collectible characters! So it’s no surprise that LEGO decided to jump on the bandwagon with their own collection.
In addition, Mega Bloks have been very successful with their Kubros figures that were released earlier this summer. Series 1 includes Ezio from Assassin’s Creed, T-800 Gurdian from Terminator, He-Man, Master Chief from Halo, Spock from Star Trek, and Skeletor. Each Mega Bloks Kubros figure is about 150 pieces and costs $17, so we can probably expect the LEGO BrickHeadz figures to be about the same. It is interesting to note that the Kubros figures appear to be more posable that LEGO BrickHeadz. LEGO usually prides themselves in making their sets playable and kid-friendly, but it seems like BrickHeadz is specifically for collectors.
It is also interesting that there is a project on LEGO Ideas called LEGO Avengers Blockheads that it very similar to LEGO BrickHeadz. However the project never got much traction and it is going to expire in a few days.
As I mentioned at the beginning, the BrickHeadz sets pictures above were specifically made for Comic-Con, however there will be a whole series and wider availability in 2017. It is not clear if the same figures will be re-released, or perhaps the characters will come in new packaging and/or with some slight variations.
Initial response to LEGO BrickHeadz varies widely. It seems like that people either love them or hate them. Time will tell if LEGO will be successful with the idea. Even for non-fans of the series, some of the pieces could be interesting. For example Unikitty’s tail in black, all the printed pieces, black eye pieces, and more. However I’m not sure if they would ever become as popular as LEGO Super Heroes Mighty Micros, which are small, cute, collectible, and also come with lots of playability (see below).
What do you think? How do you like LEGO Brickheadz so far? Are you looking forward to their release? Or do you think they are a bad idea? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
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For some reason I kind of like the idea of the Brickheadz. I didn’t bother with the action figure models or the Mighty Micros.
I think it is because this walks a fine line between stylized design and character-based content. For me, the Mighty Micros were too much like regular minifigures and the action figures tried to look real but had odd design choices for my taste.
This has a playful element while being wholey its own thing I might just collect these.
What do you mean with action figures? Constraction / CCBS, as Hero Factory and Bionicle?
There was an earlier attempt of Action Figure-ish sets in 2004-2006 for the Knights Kingdom II theme, but they came across as a half-assed attempt of mixing traditional Lego with action figure, that looked like a bulky mess working as neither… =/
Super Heroes had their own Constraction Figure line. I think that’s what Will is referring to. Here are the DC ones: https://brickset.com/sets/theme-DC-Comics-Super-Heroes/subtheme-Constraction, and here are the Marvel ones: https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Marvel-Super-Heroes/subtheme-Constraction
I love these they really are awesome and do remind me of funko pop 😀
Brilliant!