Series 20 of the LEGO Collectible Minifigures is scheduled for release on May 1st. This is an especially special series as it celebrates the 10th anniversary of the LEGO Collectible Minifigures that started back in 2010. In those ten years, LEGO released standard LEGO Collectible Minifigures with random characters, as well as branded series. Below, we will briefly recap what was released so far, take a closer look at Series 20, and also talk about the 10 Year Anniversary Tournament that LEGO is running on Twitter.
The LEGO Collectible Minifigures collection started with random minifigs back in 2010. This is when the standard format of sixteen unique minifigs per full box of 60 packets was established. And this was also the beginning of blind collectible bags. LEGO released 19 series of standard LEGO Collectible Minifigures so far, with as many as three full series per year.
LEGO also released licensed LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series through the years, Including The Simpsons Series 1 & 2, The LEGO Movie 1 & 2 Series, The LEGO Batman Movie Series, The LEGO Ninjago Movie Series, The LEGO Unikitty Series, The LEGO Disney Series 1 & 2, the LEGO Harry Potter Series (a second series is coming later this year), and the LEGO DC Super Heroes Series. Some of these collections include more that 16 unique minifigs in a full box of 60.
There were also a couple of special sports series for Team GB and the German soccer team. The LEGO Collectible Unikitty Series is also unique, as it included brick-built characters instead of minifigs. It is also the first series with slightly larger baggies that LEGO started producing in-house.
Fun fact: If you collected all the LEGO Collectible Minifigures packets from all the 33 different series (19 generic and 14 licensed) released so far, plus, you also got the two elusive extras (Mr. Gold from Series 10 and the Classic Policeman from Series 18, you would have 545 unique characters!
While the licensed LEGO Collectible Minifigures mostly appeal to collectors, the non-licensed generic minifigs are great for boosting your LEGO city, or build up an army (and of course, they can be collected too).
The upcoming Series 20 of the LEGO Collectible Minifigures include 16 unique characters. They are in silver packets with the Series 20 logo, and they are in a light-gray box of 60 minifig packets. The included leaflet reminds you of the 10th anniversary, and demonstrates how to assemble some of the trickier minifigs. The other side of the leaflet shows all 16 minifigs with their number and an empty circle for you to checkmark the ones you got.
The Athlete holds a white pole and a printed discus, and also includes a gold medal (and extra is included). Both the front and back of her torso and her legs are printed, and she has a dual-sided head with smile on one side and a determined look on the other. Interestingly, this minifig is in an inner clear baggie for some unknown reason. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 3
The Space Fan is one of my favorite minifigs of all time. LEGO designers knew how to please LEGO Classic Space fans! Her cap and hair-band for her ponytail are choral colored. Her torso is printed with one of the most iconic LEGO Classic Space ships, and her legs are also printed. She has a dual-sided head with a smile on one side, and with goggles on the other side. She holds a 2×3 printed tile with plans to build a rocket. Her other accessories are a dark-gray wrench, and a small brick-built rocket with a printed NASA logo. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 4
The Drone Boy is another one of my favorites from this series. He comes with a printed hoodie, and teal cap. His head is one-sided, and he comes with a 1×3 printed tile as the drone controller. The drone itself is built up of seven pieces; a new drone body, a handle, a 1×1 trans-black round tile and four propellers. (There is a fifth propeller included in the bag, which you can add to the boy’s cap, or just keep it as replacement.) Unfortunately, the propellers are too tight and won’t turn freely. That’s too bad, as this is otherwise an excellent minifig. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 4
The Musician is yet another excellent minifigure with front and back torso printing (TOUR printed at the back), dual-sided head printing, and an awesome red keytar with printed keyboard. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 3
The medium-green costume of the Brick Costume Guy matches the previously released red and blue brick costumed characters. This is a pretty simple figure with no printing, but still very fun, as you can attach accessories both to his front and back. His head is single-printed, and his only accessory is a 2×2 printed tile commemorating the 10th anniversary of the LEGO Collectible Minifigures. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 4
The Llama Costume Girl joins the other animal costumed characters from previous series. To me, she feels a bit too plain. I think the printing could have been done better on the llama’s head. Llamas have such gorgeous eyelashes! Still a fun character. Her only accessory is a carrot. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 3
The Martial Arts Boy has a nicely printed gi, headband, and dual-sided face (smiling and determined). And he got nunchuks! This is a one-piece weapon, instead of the rod and chain combo we have seen used for nunchuks previously. The hairpiece looks nice at the front, but it’s kind of plain at the back. And I don’t like the dull black color that much, but that would be easy to change. I would get several of these guys to build up a whole dojo! Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 4
The Break-Dancer Girl is yet another favorite. Her hair and cap combo is particularly great. Her torso is choral colored and printed at both the front and the back. Her legs are dual-moulded and printed. She has a single-sided face. Her accessory is a teal boom box with gold print, and she also gets a couple of those clear angled rod pieces to pose her at an angle. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 3
The Pea Pod Costume Girl is super cute! She actually has a printed green torso under her costume picturing a bowl of veggies. Her legs and arms are plain dark green. She has dual-sided face with green lipstick on both sides. Her accessory is an apple. She is a great addition of the previously released food costumed minifigs. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 4
The Sea Rescuer wears a similar full wetsuit as the previously released diver minifigs, so she isn’t super special, but she comes with a new turtle! Her packet also includes a plant (plus one extra) and a pair of dark-turquoise flippers. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 5
The Piñata Boy is another cutie, with a colorfully printed piñata, two short rods, a sombrero in a new, dark-tan color, and a poncho. The poncho is made of two identical cloth pieces that you add to his torso, one facing the front, the other facing the back. The torso and legs are plain, and he only gets a single face print. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 3
Yet another cutie, the Pijama Girl comes with printed torso (front, back, and sleeves), a single face print (a sleepy face would have been a nice addition for the other side), and an adorable stuffed bunny. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 3
The Super Warrior is basically a non-licensed superhero minifig. Fully printed on the torso, legs, and arms. The helmet is also printed and dual-moulded. The face is one-sided with a simple smile. His weapon is a translucent-green blade. If you want a non-licensed superhero, this is a good option. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 5
The Tournament Knight should appeal to LEGO Classic Castle fans and is also a great army-builder. The torso and legs are beautifully printed both the front and back, and the legs are dual-moulded. The color-scheme on both the minifig and his shield is black, light-orange, and dark-red. The crow emblem is quite nice. He only gets a single facial-print, but that’s okay because his helmet covers most of his face. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 5
The Viking is another great army-builder minifig, and comes with lots of very useful pieces. His helmet is a very nice new piece, his orange beard works well for both Vikings and dwarves (and you get an extra too!), and his shield is a nice and generic design. The printed and dual-moulded torso and legs would work in lots of different historical and fantasy settings. Interestingly he has two blue capes. One is printed at the front and back of his torso, and the other is a removable cloth cape. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 3
The Pirate Girl is another useful minifig that is worth getting multiples of. The printing on her torso and legs is very nice, while remaining generic enough for different settings. Her hat and hair combo is a single piece. Distribution in a full box of 60 minifigs: 4
In summary, all the minifigs are nicely designed and very useful with a great selection of accessories. Perhaps none of them stand out as super special, but that might not be a bad thing. Collectors were greatly disappointed by the scarcity of Mr. Gold and the Classic Police Officer, so releasing minifigs that can be easily found and generic enough to fit in many different settings is the right decision in my opinion. As I mentioned above, the new series won’t be available until May, but you can check out the currently available series at the LEGO Minifigures section of the Online LEGO Shop.
And now about the tournament. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the LEGO Minifigure Series, LEGO is currently running the first Minifigure Madness Tournament that will last for the next several weeks. LEGO fans can vote for their favorite minifigures from the 64 selected participants representing Series 1 through Series 20. They are grouped in four regions: Getups – crazy fun costumed characters, Sportsball – athletes and sports-themed characters, Time Machine – more realistic characters from history, and Cosmos – sci-fi and space-themed characters. You can download the bracket and play along at home, and/or vote on LEGO’s Twitter page.
What do you think? Which one is your favorite LEGO Collectible Minifigs Series so far? And how do you like Series 20? Are you planning to vote in the tournament? Which minifig do you want to see win? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below!
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