REVIEW: 5005233 Hamleys Royal Guard

[WhiteFang]

Hello everyone,

I am generally feeling very happy when I received this belated birthday gift from my wife's friend whom happened to be in London for holidays. It just so happened that they are able to pass by Hamleys - London and gotten this very exclusive LEGO polybag to Hamleys. It also does not require any form of additional purchase in order to get it. This is indeed a pleasant surprise for me and it could be an ideal opportunity to grab it for GBP 6. Hamleys is not exactly a place to hunt for LEGO bargains. Their prices are normally higher than SRP and it is generally for tourists. I had visited there previously and love the fun enjoyable atmosphere. Unfortunately, I left with nil purchase as the prices are rather on the steep side. Without further ado, let me share with you on this simple review. 

Name: 5005233 Hamleys Royal Guard
Theme: LEGO System / Promotional / Minifigure
Year: 2018
Pieces: 5
Minifigs: 1 minifigure
Price: USD NA, GBP 6.00, EURO NA, SGD NA
Resources: Brickset, BrickLink

An original polybag image of the 5005233 Hamleys Royal Guard



Back view of the original polybag image of the 5005233 Hamleys Royal Guard


 

This is a very special in store purchase in Hamleys, London

To be able to acquire this exclusive promotional minifigure is truly a pleasant surprise. At one glance, many would assume this is a re-hash of minifigure similar to Series 5 - Grenadier Guard. However, in actual fact both of them are very different in some degree and it would taken you a few moments to examine them side-by-side. Well, the answers would be the Hamleys guard minifigure's head with a different calm straight expression versus a slightly frowned serious appearance. Their uniforms are also different as the exclusive Hamleys guard's torso accompanied with two medals and slight difference in colour shades for the collars and belts. Their hands are also different colour with the exclusive Hamelys guard to be given a pair of white gloves. The polybag is accompanied with a standard CMFs baseplate and it does not contain any additional printing from the side and back. 


The LEGO building content

The polybag contains five building parts to form the Hamleys Royal Guard minifigure. 
 

The completed built of the Hamleys Royal Guard

This is a pretty nice minifigure which stayed true to the original design. Though is unnecessary to rehash a design which was released before, the Grenadier Guard design is an iconic culture icon in London, which many could easily associate it with the Buckingham Palace. It's no wonder why this minifigure is a must-get minifigure for LEGO minifigures collectors. Well, when TLG decide to slam a polybag with exclusivity in it. Prices will generally go up and we are very lucky that this polybag is well stocked in Hamleys and for the price which we are paying for GBP 6. I personally find it very expensive to buy easily a few unlike the CMFs packet. It's quite a nice feeling to see something familiar and it would give others a chance to get this similar Grenadier Guard minifigure again if they happened to miss it in 2011. Even so, the original minifigure design is still easily available in the secondary market at a reasonable price as well. For me, having just one of the Hamleys Royal Guard will suffice for me to appoint as the Captain of the rest of my Grenadier Guards. In my personal opinion, how I wish TLG gave the minifigure a rifle or an useful accessory. 

Prepare for the coming parade

Standing guard at the front of Buckingham Palace

To conclude, this is an average polybag and it became rather receptive and popular to look out for because of the exclusivity for Hamleys. Furthermore, without the need to buy additional purchases to acquire this polybag certainly helps a lot. This is a very nice polybag and a great gift for friends and loved ones who don't visit to London and happen to be there to grab it for your souvenirs. Do get it at their SRP and don't overpay for this polybag if possible. 

Summary review
Playability: 7/10 (Able to integrate with my minifigures collection well and good)
Design: 6/10 (Minifigure design slightly above average but good efforts to make it a little different.)
Price: 5/10 (This is quite an expensive polybag, even taking exclusivity into consideration.)
Overall: 6/10 (Average polybag but lovely gift to get for LEGO fans.)

I gave it a "3" based on my Review Score Card. What about yours?

I hope every one of you enjoyed reading this simple review of mine. Comments and Criticisms are strongly welcomed.

Pictures can be found in My Flickr.

[Trekkie99]

Make way for the Queen's guards!!! 

I must say though, he's not all that different from the series five royal guard.

Edited March 8, 2018 by LegoMonorailFan

[LucyCol]

The original figure (Series 5) has the tunic buttons placed singly which would indicate that the guardsman was a member of the Grenadier Guards, whist the new 'Hamleys' figure has buttons in pairs which indicates that the guardsman is in the Coldstream Guards.

For both though the collar badge is incorrect.

 

[MAB]

I prefer the original. This one, even though it has medals, loses detail around the collar and especially at the bottom of the jacket. The straight white line is not as good as the original detailing. Similarly, the lack of detailing on the belt. And the change of regiment is annoying too. And no accessory. So below average for me, it is not a patch on the original. And at £6 each, that's another negative which makes it poor.

Edited March 8, 2018 by MAB

[Lucarex]

This polybag sums up Hamleys itself.  Almost no differentiation whatsoever yet always reliably overpriced 

Their "finest toy shop in the world" tag is a joke. The original London store is a place to be avoided at all costs and the Dublin store (where stock turnover was so low, you used to be able to find some really nice retired sets) is worse...now an empty depressing soul-sucking experience.

Wouldn't give them a penny for this "exclusive", better to save your £6 and spend it on the far superior minifig of Lester in the Leics Sq Lego Store.

 

Edited March 9, 2018 by Lucarex

[WhiteFang]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts for this polybag. 

On 3/8/2018 at 11:31 PM, LucyCol said:

The original figure (Series 5) has the tunic buttons placed singly which would indicate that the guardsman was a member of the Grenadier Guards, whist the new 'Hamleys' figure has buttons in pairs which indicates that the guardsman is in the Coldstream Guards.

For both though the collar badge is incorrect.

Thanks for sharing this interesting piece of information. 

On 3/9/2018 at 10:58 AM, Lucarex said:

Wouldn't give them a penny for this "exclusive", better to save your £6 and spend it on the far superior minifig of Lester in the Leics Sq Lego Store.

On the bright side, these are one of the two available polybags which is unique to London. Though I have to agree that the price is indeed very pricey. 

[koalayummies]

The grass is always greener and thus this is very desirable. But... what the heck is that purple blob thing in your picture with the Buckingham Palace set?

Excellent photos and review as always, even if its showing something many of us can't have .

[Tom Jurassic]

I caved in and ordered four...