Is it OK to mix dark skinned mini-figures with yellow mini-figures?

[Siegfried]

I don't really care about the political correctness or the actual correctness of dark figs with yellow figs.

Interestingly I see it the other way. I'm happy to see mini-figs as a neutral skin tone and I don't see the need to be politicaly correct and include other skin tones in MOCs. Why should you need to highlight that a minfig is supposed to be dark skinned anyway? But it's all a matter of perspective.

[Mirandir]

Am I the only one who's "afterconstruct-sensor" starts beeping like crazy as soon as I hear talk about LEGO choosed minifigs to be yellow as it is a "neutral" skin color. Come on! They choosed Yellow because at the time when minifigs were created it was the color closest to "white" peaoples skin. The other choice the had was grey or white wich have made the minifig look ill or like they were all albinos. I for one have seariusly hard to see the yellow minifig as a person with a dark skin tone. If they wanted a neutral skin color they would have choosen blue or something like that. Now they stick to this "neutral skin color" story, hoping they won't get sued. Because they would most likely lose such a case. just because Yellow is more white:ish. And to back up the story they came up with the fleshies to use with licensed themes as there it's likely to turn up at least some dark skinned characters.

And to the actual vote question: I voted "it depends". Because in reality I actually could'nt care less about this. I say that If you wan't and care about racial diversity go ahead and use the dark fleshies in your MOCs. Your not gonna hear me complaint about mixing blacks and "yellowheads".

As for official sets I guess it's okay to keep to all yellow for non-license sets as long as LEGO feels that it keeps them from being sued. But it kind of suprises me that they haven't been already...

[Shoc]

Am I the only one who's "afterconstruct-sensor" starts beeping like crazy as soon as I hear talk about LEGO choosed minifigs to be yellow as it is a "neutral" skin color. Come on! They choosed Yellow because at the time when minifigs were created it was the color closest to "white" peaoples skin.

The yellow colour as neautral was voted by a load of Danish kids, as I had read even before the fleshies came in. Sure, the Danish population is predominately white, so they would probably have chosen it because it's closer to their skin colour. It can still be neutral though.

I for one have seariusly hard to see the yellow minifig as a person with a dark skin tone.

Yeah, but it's a neutral tone so it is meant to be seen as anyone's skin colour. Remember TLC's old motto: Just Imagine...

Now they stick to this "neutral skin color" story, hoping they won't get sued. Because they would most likely lose such a case...

As for official sets I guess it's okay to keep to all yellow for non-license sets as long as LEGO feels that it keeps them from being sued. But it kind of suprises me that they haven't been already...

Why would they get sued?

:skull:

[Mirandir]

Why would they get sued?

:skull:

Because there arent that many coloured minifigs out there, is it? I've seen companies be called racists or having nazistic sympathies over less than that...

[Shoc]

Because there arent that many coloured minifigs out there, is it? I've seen companies be called racists or having nazistic sympathies over less than that...

That's only because the majority of minifigs used in the Licensed themes are white.

I think TLC did have problems being called racist with their yellow figs though, I'm not sure. I don't think you can sue someone if you think they are racist, only if they are. Meh, I dunno...

:skull:

[Sandy]

I think TLC did have problems being called racist with their yellow figs though, I'm not sure. I don't think you can sue someone if you think they are racist, only if they are. Meh, I dunno...

Gladly we live in Europe, where people don't just sue each other over everything.

Our system of justice still has hope.

[Shoc]

Gladly we live in Europe, where people don't just sue each other over everything.

Our system of justice still has hope.

Seeing parts of Judge Judy has made me realise how ridiculous some people are with suing each other (in America). I don't see how TLC can get sued because they chose a neutral colour for their figures, which they use in most of their non-licensed minifig scale sets. Obviously (human) minifigs are all just born yellow.

:skull:

[Mirandir]

Seeing parts of Judge Judy has made me realise how ridiculous some people are with suing each other (in America). I don't see how TLC can get sued because they chose a neutral colour for their figures, which they use in most of their non-licensed minifig scale sets. Obviously (human) minifigs are all just born yellow.

:skull:

Don't say that. In sweden the hunt for racism seems to be on. Just yesterday on of the larger newspapers had a story where upset readers had complained to the newspaper that one of the larger men's clothes store chains in sweden had stands for shirts that looks like swastikas when looked at frome above...

And there's probably not a single swede who doesn't remember the "nogger black incident".

So I've stopped being suprised as this just seems to be increasing all the time. People seems to be looking for any and all excuses to be upset about something. So I wouldn't be suprised if there were a lawsuit or some media debate against LEGO...

[Zarkan]

Yes. Honestly, why are people making such a big fuss about having a few black minifigs in your town or not? This is a kids toy, for crying out loud! No need to turn it into such a heavy issue.

I also don't see why people think that TLC made a big mistake by introducing black minifigs with the Cloud City. They did it because making a yellow Lando would just be silly:

[Shoc]

I also don't see why people think that TLC made a big mistake by introducing black minifigs with the Cloud City. They did it because making a yellow Lando would just be silly:

Making a yellow Han, Luke and Leia would be silly too - they're not yellow either, in real life!

:skull:

Edited July 20, 2008 by Shoc

[Adam]

Gladly we live in Europe, where people don't just sue each other over everything.

Our system of justice still has hope.

Well, we do most of the time, especially in Italy . Let me tell you, no current system of justice has hope the way we've been screwing things up! But a light shines somewhere...

[the enigma that is badger]

My personal favorite take on European race relations:

.

In regards to the question at hand, frankly, you can do with your figs whatever you want. I might have an opinion, but then that would make them my MOCs, not yours. Frankly, I stick entirely to old school yellow, sending my fleshies to a friend who I know will use them, but then that's me. I've seen other builders mix every shade of minifig there is together in one large MOC. While it's never something I would do in my work, I completely and utterly respect that's the artistic decision of the builder.

Do what thou wilt with your own figs!

badger

[Siegfried]

Making a yellow Han, Luke and Leia would be silly too - they're not yellow either, in real life!

:skull:

Exactly. I don't understand why people are seeing this as an accuracy issue; LEGO men are just LEGO men. They are very unrealistic in almost all ways (except that 2 arms, 2 legs and a head thing) so why is it so important that the "skin" colour is accurate? Having yellow and only yellow was great as when "skin" was shown in a torso it could be used on any fig.

[Mofo Jones]

I say throw them all together. They're small plastic figures - the color doesn't really matter. I even throw my yellow SW and fleshie SW together.

Licensed sets are a bit different - regular LEGO folks aren't usually supposed to be any specific character, unless you are talking about KK2. Licensed sets have specific characters, which is why Greedo, Jabba, Kit Fisto and the Gamorreans are green, Gungans are a light tan, and Ewoks, Jawas, Lando, Mace, and the Bespin Guard are brown. Still, the instances of different color is more of an accuracy to the original source issue, not a race issue.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I consider my LEGO to be in about 4-5 different "universes".* My Castle, Vikings, and Ninja are in the same "universe" and they're all yellow, even though Castle is probably assumed to be Anglo-Saxon, Vikings would be Norse, and Ninja would be Japanese. In reality, there would be at least 3 dominant skin tones, but they're the same in LEGO.

*City Universe includes Batman, and probably IJ, even though there are "yellow v. fleshie" issues. MM is its own universe, but it's also tied in with Classic Space, it's just "later". And we all know that SW is in a galaxy far, far away.

So really, I don't think that color in the LEGO sets is supposed to be a reflection or an endorsement of any real-world skin types.

Crew the boats with whatever LEGO folk you have on hand. The key is to have fun, build, and learn (yes, even AFOLs).

[indyj11]

I think it's ok to mix dark skinned mini-figs with yellow, the only thing is that, if you're going to do that, I think you should add flesh colored too, because the way I see it, the yellow can be interpreted as any thing you'd like, especially due to the fact that the islanders were yellow as well as the "english" imperial guards, "french" imperial soldiers, "spanish" imperial armada, and all the varieties of pirates. Yellow can be whatever you want it to be, but if you want a specific dark skinned character, the dark minifigure should definately be used, just as if you wanted a specific white character, the flesh should be used. Yellow is simply the "whatever you want it to be" minifigure.

[Captain Green Hair]

Hello? Where have you been living? Duplo figures had different skin colors back when I was a kid, and that's a long time ago. I still remember that they had a caucasian family, an asian family and a black family, and I always wondered why System couldn't do the same.

Because like it or not, a white-skinned kide like I was affiliates yellow minifigs to his or her own skin color. I'm not saying that asian or dark-skinned people don't do the same (how should I know?), but to me as a kid it seemed like there were no other skin colors in Legoland. And that was sad.

So I'm rejoicing for the new diversity, and like sir dano, I'm looking forward to a dark-skinned female's head.

Hmmzz, it must not be so long ago you were a kid, i can't remember having diversity amongst my Duplo population

But i agree with you, the diversity is cool, and with the way things are going we'll see it more and more over the coming years i think

[El Bucanero]

Ofcourse it is OK!

Especially on ship crews it would at least look nice.

Havin only yellow crew-men on a big Caribbean pirate ship seems unrealistic to me.

And as mentioned before, they have been doing it with Duplo from the start. Did TLC get sued for that?

Did Playmobil get sued for having racial diversity?

As for Asian minifigs, you could always use the heads from the Orient Expedition and Ninja sets. Who cares about them being yellow? Not all Asian people have a skin that much darker than Caucasian poeple..

Besides, like Sandy mentioned earlier, we're not TLC, If we want racial diversity in our MOCs, who's gonna stop us?

And the fleshie heads, well.. you could always use those for zombies, sea-people etc....

[NewRight]

I voted yes because I don't see a problem with that and I don't really mind combining flesh and yellow as well.

Edited July 22, 2008 by NewRight

[Sandy]

Hmmzz, it must not be so long ago you were a kid, i can't remember having diversity amongst my Duplo population

Hah, don't believe me? I checked, and the families were released in 1996 (when I was in the sixth grade, still a kid).

Caucasian family

Dark-skinned family

Asian family

And even a Hispanic family

How cool are they, huh?

[Siegfried]

How cool are they, huh?

Very! I think these sets were sold more as education products. Even so, there is a big difference between multiple skin colours in duplo and normal LEGO; you can't customise Duplo figures anyway so the lack of colour compatability doesn't matter!

[Captain Green Hair]

Hah, don't believe me? I checked, and the families were released in 1996 (when I was in the sixth grade, still a kid).

How cool are they, huh?

Very cool indeed! By that time i had system sets though....and my memory from my duplo age isn't that clear anymore..

I do remember i had a lot of blue / red / yellow trains, those were cool

[Shoc]

How cool are they, huh?

Hehe, they all have the same accessories!

Havin only yellow crew-men on a big Caribbean pirate ship seems unrealistic to me.

Yeah, but the whole point is that all human Lego minifigs are yellow, so it would only be unrealistic if there were often unhuman crew members...

And the fleshie heads, well.. you could always use those for zombies, sea-people etc....

You said you thought it was fine that fleshies and yellow guys went together, so what's that about?

:skull:

[Adam]

How cool are they, huh?

Quite ! As Shoc wondered with me, it's quite the coincidence that they all have the same items and dog in their possesion !

Ofcourse it is OK!

Especially on ship crews it would at least look nice.

Havin only yellow crew-men on a big Caribbean pirate ship seems unrealistic to me.

And as mentioned before, they have been doing it with Duplo from the start. Did TLC get sued for that?

Did Playmobil get sued for having racial diversity?

As for Asian minifigs, you could always use the heads from the Orient Expedition and Ninja sets. Who cares about them being yellow? Not all Asian people have a skin that much darker than Caucasian poeple..

Besides, like Sandy mentioned earlier, we're not TLC, If we want racial diversity in our MOCs, who's gonna stop us?

And the fleshie heads, well.. you could always use those for zombies, sea-people etc....

Why, thank you for that brilliant exposé on what different colored minifigures could be used for in the Pirates theme ! TLC didn't make 'big Caribbean pirate ships', they made tiny 8 man pirate ships, so don't expect to have racial diversity on every one of them (). Why would they get sued for racial diversity? I expect they're more likely to get sued for not having racial diversity ! This topic isn't about adding racial diversity to MOCs, per say, but more to our pirate MOCs when we have a yellow crew. So, who is going to stop us? It's not the point. The first post even says "when adding racial diversity to your crew?" It's not a question of MOCs, it's a question of adding a dark-skinned minifigure to a crew of yellow minifigures on a small 8-12 man pirate ship. If you have a larger ship (I do! ), than it's a different story, but you have to think in context of the question... that's why it was posted in the Pirates forum .

[filefolders]

I say it's fine to mix all three! Oh, wait, there's four now with those Indiana Jones natives and the NBA figures. When I go out I don't see just one or two groups of people with two skin colors. There are millions of skin colors and mixing flesh colors with yellow just adds to the diversity in your LEGO town or army or pirate ship or moon base.

Diversity ON!

[Zarkan]

Making a yellow Han, Luke and Leia would be silly too - they're not yellow either, in real life!

No, I honestly don't think that the yellow Han, Luke, and Leia look silly at all - because you still can recognize them very well. However, a yellow Lando would honestly be hard to recognize, as that comic I posted showed. It's not a matter of skin color as much as it is trying to make the figures easy to relate to their movie counterparts.