Article on minifigs

[Off the wall]

I'm really not into them, but I did enjoy this article. Not knowing much history about the subject, I can't comment on its accuracy. Hope you enjoy.

http://mashable.com/2013/11/15/lego-minifigures/

[fred67]

Pretty neat article... seems fairly accurate, except the first minifigures didn't have articulated arms and legs like the one shown in that picture.

I also don't get how the hollow stud helps prevent choking. That makes no sense to me, so if someone knows, please explain it.

They also missed some interesting facts, like when and why they started using "fleshies."

EDIT: for anyone that cares, the first figures, according to brickset, were released in 1975, interesting page here.

Edited November 15, 2013 by fred67

[autorazr]

I heard that the hole is not for choking purposes but just a way to save on materials, who knows though, i mean what could that little bit of platic possibly cost? I would guess a very small fraction of a cent.

[TheLegoDr]

I would assume the hole in the stud would still allow air to pass through, so if it was lodged in your throat, small amounts of air could still make it through. Now I don't think there would be enough air to actually survive something like that, but maybe you could choke longer on it?

But if that is the reason and it was designed to prevent death, how come not all heads have that feature. Most of my more recent figures don't even have the hole in the stud. Now, I don't think I own any that have a solid stud on the head. All have the recessed stud, but that wouldn't prevent choking. But I do have some heads with the Mercedes logo with the hole.

Anyway, if you look at the Boba Fett figure, it is the more updated 2010 version, not the Cloud City variant.

I think someone needs to do some more research about the LEGO minifigure. I'd assume they aren't an AFOL.

[Ralph]

Pretty neat article... seems fairly accurate, except the first minifigures didn't have articulated arms and legs like the one shown in that picture.

I also don't get how the hollow stud helps prevent choking. That makes no sense to me, so if someone knows, please explain it.

They also missed some interesting facts, like when and why they started using "fleshies."

EDIT: for anyone that cares, the first figures, according to brickset, were released in 1975, interesting page here.

As I understand it the hollow stud (hole through the top of the part) allows air to pass through if the part gets stuck in air way or throat. Thus preventing or limiting the choking...

Ralph

Edited November 15, 2013 by Ralph

[Faefrost]

I would assume the hole in the stud would still allow air to pass through, so if it was lodged in your throat, small amounts of air could still make it through. Now I don't think there would be enough air to actually survive something like that, but maybe you could choke longer on it?

It probably is large enough to breath through, especially since it would really only impact a small child. But I'm not sure that that is the actual reason for it to be hollow?

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

I once hid from a crooked dock worker disguised as a ghost in a bog by submerging myself completely underwater except for one minifig head, which I used as a snorkel. True story.

Or wait, did I see that on Scooby-Doo?!

[TWP]

The article seems right on all points, just most of the images are wrong.

[AndyC]

It probably is large enough to breath through, especially since it would really only impact a small child. But I'm not sure that that is the actual reason for it to be hollow?

My understanding is that breathing holes like that were introduced into various products that children might swallow in an effort to prevent choking. However it was later determined that not only did it have a minimal effect on airflow, but that it potentially made it harder for the natural gag reflex to force it back out, thus many manufacturers phased such things back out again.

[naf]

I swear this hole in the minifig head stud to prevent choking is one big Lego urban legend. I highly doubt this was the reason Lego did this. If that were the case, wouldn't they make the studs like this for all the bricks?

[Captain Settle]

I find it funny how they made the minifigures yellow to show all ethnicities, then threw it all out the window when they got then Star Wars license, and created a brown minifigure head.

[fred67]

They didn't, though, they started licenses with yellow, and it became problematic when represent ing real people. The first Star Wars and HP were all yellows.

[Captain Settle]

They didn't, though, they started licenses with yellow, and it became problematic when represent ing real people. The first Star Wars and HP were all yellows.

No, I mean that in sets like 10123 Cloud City, all the Caucasian actors had yellow figures, while Billy Dee Williams, an African-American, had a brown figure. This makes it seem that yellow figures portray Caucasians.

[TheLegoDr]

^True, that was the problem originally. It does seem weird that yellow can be used for all races, yet they create one brown minifigure amongst a sea of yellow and still claim it was all races. I think the interesting thing is Duplo figures have been a "flesh" colored since the 70s at least (per the pictures in Brickset) and a set in 1999 when the Star Wars license came to be had darker skinned Duplo figures, yet System didn't have anything like that. And in 1998 Duplo had a set Native American Family that showed darker skinned figures, yet the Wild West theme that had Native Americans still used yellow, just with the more controversial noses/eyes. It's odd that really small children can be exposed to the idea that there are more than one color individual in the world, yet standard LEGO fans had to accept yellow. (Keep in mind, I love licensed figures and regular System figures).

Just an interesting observation (at least to me).

[badbob001]

It's odd that really small children can be exposed to the idea that there are more than one color individual in the world, yet standard LEGO fans had to accept yellow.

I think the DUPLO target audience is less likely to cry bloody murder to changes to their beloved collectible toy. The DUPLO figure itself has gone through lots of changes while the System minifigure has stayed very much the same in overall design. The first DUPLO figures had white skin.

[iradd]

i enjoy reading the article as well. Thanks for sharing. NBA players my fav.