Sometimes regular LEGO minifigures are just not enough to recreate badguys, especially when they are meant to represent bigger characters. If the badguy is really big, LEGO designers can build them up from smaller pieces, and use LEGO Technic-style elements to keep them sturdy enough for play. However, if the character needs to be just a bit larger than regular minifigs, it makes more sense to use larger moulds to make the figure recognizable and playable. Through the years, LEGO released a number of these large figures, usually referred to as giant minifigures, large minifigs, or simply big-figs. 🙂
While regular LEGO minifigures are four bricks tall, most big-figs are about seven bricks tall, and usually have a hunched over appearance (which probably gives them bad neck pain – a good reason to be so grumpy). Although big-figs are less than twice as tall as regular minifigs, they are much wider – giving them a large and husky look. Most big-figs have torsos that are four studs wide, beefy arms, and feet that are 3-6 studs apart. The torso is a single moulded piece with holes to attach the arms via LEGO Technic pins. The hands have a LEGO Technic pin attachment to snap into the arms. Articulation is usually limited to rotating arms and wrists. Take a look at the picture below by LEGO fan Alex, who lined up a good variety of recently available big-figs.
Overall, LEGO big-figs have the appearance of big brute dudes who may not be so bright, but can wipe out a whole row of minifigs with a single swing of their big arms. They look great in battle scenes, representing the scariest enemies little minifig heroes have to fight. LEGO big-figs are rare, as LEGO only includes them occasionally to represent the biggest badguys, but are highly desirable and collectible. So, I thought that it would be a good idea to take a look at all the big-figs released so far.
Some of the earliest LEGO big-figs looked different than the ones we have today. The first LEGO big-fig was the Rock Monster from the LEGO Rock Raiders line in 1999. This big guy was made of a single mould with no articulation. It doesn’t have much play-value, however it does look great hiding inside a cave in a LEGO display. In 2003, LEGO introduced big-figs with more articulation in the LEGO Adventurers Orient Expedition line. This included a Yeti, and a couple of stone guardian statues.
The #4712 LEGO Harry Potter Troll on the Loose set from 2002 included a very awkward looking troll with a regular minifig head, large body, and skinny arms, and fabric clothing.
In 2008, a large troll figure was introduced in the LEGO Castle Fantasy Era sets. This big-fig pretty much sets the standard for all the large-figures we have today. The entire body is one moulded piece with no movable parts, but the arms and hands can rotate and are connected with LEGO Technic pins. There are a few studs here and there on the body for attaching smaller pieces for customization. The figure has a blocky but slightly rounded appearance, with feet that sit three studs apart.
An updated version of the Rock Monster was released in 2009 in the LEGO Power Miners line. While this figure looks quite different from the LEGO Castle troll due to its unique shape, it does follow the same rules of one-piece body-mould, rotating arms, and studs for attachments. And, there is another noteworthy and highly popular feature of the new Rock Monsters; translucent body parts with somewhat rubbery prints. This paves the way of LEGO using more translucent pieces in minifigures, and overmoulding parts with other colors.
The LEGO Castle troll big-fig was further refined with the introduction of the LEGO Super Heroes large figures. The body is still one moulded piece, but the stance was widened to six studs. This gives the big-figs better balance and more sure footing even when they are not attached to studs. While the body moulds may slightly differ to match the character, they now all have the same basic look; widely set feet with one foot a stud ahead of the other, bulky torso, and the same arms/hands.
Most of the big-figs of the last few years come in the LEGO Super Heroes line, however they also occasionally appear in other themes like LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Lord of the Rings, LEGO Ninjago, LEGO Legends of Chima, and LEGO Disney. The big-fig from the #70642 LEGO Ninjago Killow vs. Samurai X set is particularly noteworthy because it comes with a standard minifig head attached to a standard neck stud, and then wears a regular minifig mask. The big-figs below are Dogshank on the left, and Killow on the right (the one with a regular minifig head), both from LEGO Ninjago.
Amongst the LEGO Super Heroes big-figs so far we got six version of the Hulk, two versions of Killer Croc, Darkseid, the Green Goblin, Gorilla Grodd, Thanos, Cull Obsidian, and Bane. I especially like the Green Goblin and the armored Hulk, because they look super cool, and could be used as badguys in LEGO Castle and fantasy settings as well.
The two versions of Killer Croc are also very interesting, particularly the newer one with movable fingers and jaws, from the #70907 LEGO Batman Movie Killer Croc Tail-Gator set released last year.
Two other important big-figs are the Cave Troll from the #9473 LEGO Lord of the Rings The Mines of Moria set, and the Goblin King from the #79010 LEGO The Hobbit The Goblin King Battle. Note that this two big guys are even larger than regular big-figs.
The LEGO Star Wars line also comes with two big-figs. The very large Rancor from the #75005 LEGO Star Wars Rancor Pit from 2013, and the Wampa from the #8089 LEGO Star Wars Hoth Wampa Cave from 2010. Notice that Rancor has the same movable fingers as Killer Croc.
Two other interesting big-figs are Maui from the #41150 LEGO Disney Moana’s Ocean Voyage released in 2017, and Mungus from the #70144 LEGO Legends of Chima Laval’s Fire Lion set from 2014. Mungus’ headpiece is removable with a regular minifig head underneath.
As you can see, there are plenty of large figures to chose from if you would like to add variety to your LEGO minifigure collection and battle scenes. One issue with big-figs is that LEGO usually only include one of them in a set, so they are harder to find in quantity. However, from my experience, you really only need a few big-figs, as their impressive size makes them stand out amongst regular LEGO minifigs.
Amongst currently available sets, we have Thanos in the #76107 LEGO Super Heroes Thanos: Ultimate Battle, Cull Obsidian in the #76108 LEGO Super Heroes Sanctum Sanctorum Showdown, Killer Croc in the #70907 LEGO Batman Movie Killer Croc Tail-Gator, Bane in the #70914 LEGO Batman Movie Bane Toxic Truck Attack, two versions of the Hulk in the #76078 LEGO Super Heroes Hulk vs. Red Hulk, another Hulk in the #76088 LEGO Super Heroes Thor vs. Hulk: Arena Clash, Killow in the #70642 LEGO Ninjago Killow vs. Samurai X, and Maui in the #41150 LEGO Disney Moana’s Ocean Voyage. So, there are plenty of large figures to choose from if you would like to start your big-fig collection. Find all the above mentioned sets at the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? How do you like the LEGO big-figs? Do you have any of them already? Are you collecting them? Which one is your favorite so far? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
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Seems like there’s a standard bigfig-mold used as base for most of the newer bigfigs. Possibly a way to cut corners.
Yes, that’s what I was trying to get to. LEGO found a good design with the new big-figs that works, and now they are just sticking to it. I don’t think it’s a problem now, as big-figs are still pretty rare, but if they start to make too many, they could get boring. Although regular minifigs also have been the same shape for 40 years, and people still like them. 😀
I like calling them big-figs, but I like calling them megafigures.
Megafigs works too! 😀
There was an interesting post on Reddit just recently of a concept for articulated bigfigs: https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/85ng1q/concept_art_for_better_articulated_big_figs/?st=JFJVASIP&sh=e06b7b09
Oh, interesting! Very cool! Thanks for sharing that. Mega has some really nice fully articulated big-figs as well, so it’s definitely possible.
They would have been probably too expensive to make, and it was just not worth it. Kids don’t really pose their minifigs, Friends figs, or bigfigs anyway. But as an AFOL I like the idea. What bigfigs Mega has?
Mega has some bigfigs in Destiny, and in some of their old lines like World of Warcraft, I think.
Yes, I was thinking of the Destiny ones. There are two Cabal Phalanx big-figs so far, and a Colossus. They look great, and are fully articulated. The only thing is that they are all the same size, when the Colossus should have been even bigger. But otherwise they are very good big-figs with removable armor and full articulation.
Alexandre Boudon (c) 2010
I remember he did a lot of concept work for the collectible minifigs.
But if Lego didn’t go with it, I’d guess they considered it too complicated or expensive, in the end…
Yes, that’s it. I was trying to remember the name of the artist, but you beat me to it! 😀
It’s written out at the very bottom of the image. 😉
Oh! Now I want to collect them all! The Rock monsters are really cool, and I like the shape of the new bigfigs. I hope they will continue to make more.
These old big figs were dreadful, but the new ones look great. Mungus got to be the best. Too bad a lot of people don’t know about this big fig. It came out close to the end of Chima.
I think the only big fig that I think Lego made perfectly was the Rancor for Jabba’s palace. Other than that and like you said it’s the same molds . I think lego could’ve made the Thano’s figure better . Maybe make him bald and make his helmet a separate mold.
Really digging these. I agree that they are worth to collect. But when you want an army of trolls or Hulks, or Killer Crocs they can be hard to get.
I was lucky enough to have both Versions of the trolls( light brown and sand green) . However, my sand green troll doesn’t have a tattoo on his arm. I might have an earlier version of the troll theme. That was an theme dwarves versus trolls.
Bricklink lists three different sand green trolls, from three different sets.
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?M=cas376&name=Fantasy%20Era%20-%20Troll,%20Sand%20Green%20with%202%20White%20Horns%20and%203%20Pearl%20Light%20Gray%20Horns&category=%5BCastle%5D%5BFantasy%20Era%5D#T=P
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?M=cas364&name=Fantasy%20Era%20-%20Troll,%20Sand%20Green%20with%205%20White%20Horns&category=%5BCastle%5D%5BFantasy%20Era%5D#T=P
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?M=cas424&name=Fantasy%20Era%20-%20Troll,%20Sand%20Green%20with%20Black%20Armor%20(7097)&category=%5BCastle%5D%5BFantasy%20Era%5D#T=P
Two of those trolls are actually the same, the only difference between them is the color of the horns attached to the head and back. 🙂
I also have the earlier versions of the trolls with no tattoos. They were the first ones. The tattooed trolls came in the largest set. I forgot the exact name right now, but it was called Troll’s Mountain Fortress, or something like that. It was the last set in the series, and the largest.
Troll’s Mountain Fortress, yeah. (But apparently Medieval Market Village is considered part of Fantasy Era.)
Yeah, it was a long theme, with all kinds of interesting sets that were realistic medieval all the way to fantasy. It is my all-time favorite LEGO Castle sub-theme. 😀
Yeah, I’ve got a few of the troll minifigs and white and black skeletal horses from second hand buys.
I also like it when they give most of a large fig but then you build the rest like with Groot in his first appearance.
I think they’ll handle big figs like they do with dragons. There was a period of refinement and then once they knew what worked they used them to make certain sets pop.
Still it would be nice to have more customizable big figs.
Yes, that’s another type of large figure that many people like. Customizability is certainly a plus.
Maybe , (just like brick heads ) they can have a kit to make your own big fig .It would be nice if the did that with just you’re a basic mini fig. I know you can make one ( or three) at the Lego store. But, it might be fun to have a pack of mini figs to make whatever you want theme set.
Hello, I’m the lead animator for Silleck Family Productions, a small film company that creates LEGO stop motion adaptations of classic American short stories. We’re currently looking for a large minifig to play the role of the heavy in a film noir series based on the writings of Raymond Chandler. So my question is, do you know of anyone who might be willing to mod one of these big figs to be dressed in a 1940s era gangster suit? Obviously, we would compensate the artist for their time. Any ideas you might have would be deeply appreciated.
Thank you!
Sean
Sean, that sounds like a fun project! How big this figure supposed to be? Are you looking for something brick-built, or 3-D printed? Let me know, and I can hook you up with people who can do this for you.
Do the big figs have a different serial number stamped on the foot ?
The Rock Monster from 1999 has “no articulation”?
What about the moveable arm? I know, it’s not much, but it’s not “no articulation” either 😉
Yeah, I guess you’re right, there is a bit of articulation. 🙂
Does lego still make the big figures?
Janae, yes, they still make various oversized characters. Is there a specific one you’re looking for?