REVIEW: 71021 LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series 18

[Robert8]

From the series LEGO has released so far, this one looks like the most childish of them all. It does look more aimed for little kids. And most kids wouldn't even know Bricklink exists

[koalayummies]

It seems mostly aimed at costume-figure lovers regardless of age or maturity. Costumed figures are reportedly among the most popular figures in each series and even if S18 is aimed at kids then they hit the target demographic of Lego.

Pretty confident we'll get a 'regular' series again so the sky isn't falling. Personally don't mind seeing uninteresting series as its a nice break from driving around, looking foolish feeling blind bags and spending on non-buildable Lego. Simpsons/Simpsons2/Disney/Batman/Batman2 were all welcomed breaks with no complaints; MOC time.

[MAB]

10 hours ago, Robert8 said:

From the series LEGO has released so far, this one looks like the most childish of them all. It does look more aimed for little kids. And most kids wouldn't even know Bricklink exists

I doubt many little kids are buying it for the retro feel though. In fact, I doubt many kids want the policeman at all unless they are collecting the whole series.

[3797]

I'd buy some of those, if they weren't 4€ blind bags.

However, that Fireworks guy has to be amongst the worst CMF ever. Could have easily left that one out and included a few more police officers instead.

[MAB]

The kids would have loved that. Get rid of the fun ones and put in very plain retro ones instead.

[3797]

On 19.4.2018 at 11:35 AM, MAB said:

I doubt many little kids are buying it for the retro feel though.

I doubt many little kids have enough money to really care about any of those figures. Whenever I'm in the toy isle of one of our larger stores I pay attention to what the little kids gravitate to. It's not the blind bags, that's for sure. Most kids seem to prefer the way Playmobil are selling the two packs of their special figures on blister cards. Two figures for 4.99€, btw. And with those you know exactly what you're buying. LEGO blind bags are 3.99€ each.

The more I think about it the more I feel that those blind bags are just as bad as "loot boxes" in modern video games. You don't know what you're getting and they want you to keep buying those bags until you may get what you want. Wasn't quite as bad when they were 1.99€ each and you could scan the code on the bag instead of completely ruining it by trying to feel what's in it. Why can't they sell the complete set in a box similar to 60134 ?

14 minutes ago, MAB said:

The kids would have loved that. Get rid of the fun ones and put in very plain retro ones instead.

What makes the fireworks guy more "fun" than a police officer? The prints on the fireworks guy are bad. The colours aren't anything special and the design is much simpler than the older rocket guy. He's not on the same level as the elephant girl, the girl in the flower pot, the cowboy, the brick figures or the cake guy. Not even close.

[julesvincent]

On 17.4.2018 at 7:06 PM, koalayummies said:

Well it is higher quality than the 1978 version.

For all of you, a little comparison :D

I'm calling it "The Old, the New and the Tiny"

The Old, the New and the Tiny

1978 vs. 2018

Edited April 20, 2018 by julesvincent

[x105Black]

3 hours ago, 3797 said:

completely ruining it by trying to feel what's in it

That, and having a bunch of kids feeling bags (especially in the spring) means a good chance of picking up some germs.  It would be nice if stores would put hand sanitizer next to the CMF displays.

[koalayummies]

4 hours ago, 3797 said:

What makes the fireworks guy more "fun" than a police officer? The prints on the fireworks guy are bad. The colours aren't anything special and the design is much simpler than the older rocket guy. He's not on the same level as the elephant girl, the girl in the flower pot, the cowboy, the brick figures or the cake guy. Not even close.

Yeah the firework guy is not very strong especially next to the previous series retro-rocket boy. That was one numbered series ago so that comparison is unavoidable. Also the firework guy's crotch is exploding.

3 hours ago, julesvincent said:

For all of you, a little comparison :D

I'm calling it "The Old, the New and the Tiny"

Excellent comparison, that is awesome. Who doesn't like stickers? All Lego fans love stickers.

1 hour ago, x105Black said:

That, and having a bunch of kids feeling bags (especially in the spring) means a good chance of picking up some germs.  It would be nice if stores would put hand sanitizer next to the CMF displays.

I've always thought about that but never wanted to bring up that subject. I always keep isopropyl alcohol swabs in my car for gross encounters but that's still a gross thought especially considering some adults have contagions... other than flu and strep.

On that subject just the other day I gave my neighbors kid a Batman CMF1 figure (TRU still getting new boxes) and he thanked me by blowing the large snot blob (as in mucus not the building technique) off of his finger and onto my shoe.

[MAB]

6 hours ago, 3797 said:

I doubt many little kids have enough money to really care about any of those figures.

 

I see quite a few kids buying them, or having them bought for them. Whether they go for the whole series, I don't know. But one offs, definitely. They are £2.99 / £3.00 here, and often a (LEGO) magazine with a figure or small build costs £4.50, so they are in line with those in terms of value. Polys are typically £4.00 too. Although many stores will end up selling the CMF for £2 or so (3 for £6) in an offer.

6 hours ago, 3797 said:

 you could scan the code on the bag instead of completely ruining it by trying to feel what's in it.

 

I agree with that, it is annoying to buy one only to find it completely scratched up inside. If they really wanted to make them blind, they need to stick them in a harder casing (kinder-egg style).

6 hours ago, 3797 said:

 What makes the fireworks guy more "fun" than a police officer? .... He's not on the same level as the elephant girl, the girl in the flower pot, the cowboy, the brick figures or the cake guy.

 

It is not a policeman, but that policeman. Most kids into lego will probably have some modern day police figures. This one is just out of date and very plain compared to the modern ones. If you stuck all the figures in a box and asked kids to pick out the ones they wanted for play, I doubt he would be picked very much at all. I'm not particularly fond of the firework guy, but he is brightly coloured and a bit different.  Although I'm not particularly impressed with most in this series. The dragon is nice, and the cowboy is OK for a city MOC with a couple of kids playing, but for the most part the rest of them are a complete miss for me. I've got the suited figures from other series and for the most part liked most of them, but sticking them all in one was a step too far for me. I know many people like the cake, flower pot and brick figures, but I don't think I'd ever use them. I am a use them in scenes type collector rather than a collect them all and display them collector. I gave up collecting them all back at about series 12, and started selling off the ones I never used.

[Hive]

On 16/4/2018 at 8:08 PM, The LEGO Communist said:

Not even the 78's cop minifigure?

No.

[ramofont]

Com sempre una " review " excepcional. Gràcies WhiteFang.

As always an exceptional review.Thanks WhiteFang.

[Killian]

I call this The Lego Centipede...

 

[AmperZand]

On 20/04/2018 at 12:52 PM, 3797 said:

I doubt many little kids have enough money to really care about any of those figures. Whenever I'm in the toy isle of one of our larger stores I pay attention to what the little kids gravitate to. It's not the blind bags, that's for sure. Most kids seem to prefer the way Playmobil are selling the two packs of their special figures on blister cards. Two figures for 4.99€, btw. And with those you know exactly what you're buying. LEGO blind bags are 3.99€ each.

In fairness to LEGO, Playmobil also does blind-bagged single figures. It isn't a LEGO plot to drive AFOLs mad! But I do agree with you. If LEGO reverted to having identifying bar-codes on the packets, it would allow those who wanted to to quickly select the ones they were after while still retaining the mystery for those who preferred the element of surprise.   

On 20/04/2018 at 1:24 PM, julesvincent said:

For all of you, a little comparison :D

Very cool! 

[MOMAtteo79]

I managed to find the policeman, I guess I will BL the other figures I like of this series :)

[MAB]

7 hours ago, AmperZand said:

In fairness to LEGO, Playmobil also does blind-bagged single figures. It isn't a LEGO plot to drive AFOLs mad! But I do agree with you. If LEGO reverted to having identifying bar-codes on the packets, it would allow those who wanted to to quickly select the ones they were after while still retaining the mystery for those who preferred the element of surprise.  

2

The problem then is that regular buyers will not get Spartans, for example, and will just end up with loads of traffic cops and ringmasters. Which is what happened for series 2. Scanning barcodes is very quick, and people were able to strip out all the sought after / resellable figures from a box in a few minutes.

[The LEGO Communist]

I did NOT expect this much division on the subject of the '78 cop! It's good to see everyone has a different opinion, and I'm glad there's been no infighting! I applaud you all, comrades!

On 20/04/2018 at 1:24 PM, julesvincent said:

 

 

(Sorry it's so big, I don't know how to shrink it!) You have the original '78 cop? Did you get it then, or has it been Bricklinked like all of my retro minifigures?

[koalayummies]

7 hours ago, MAB said:

The problem then is that regular buyers will not get Spartans, for example, and will just end up with loads of traffic cops and ringmasters. Which is what happened for series 2. Scanning barcodes is very quick, and people were able to strip out all the sought after / resellable figures from a box in a few minutes.

They should put equal numbers of the figures in each box thus eliminating the false rarity and manufactured desirability. There is always someone who wants something different as is evidenced by Itaria's CMF polls. Many of us had widely different preferences but there was usually at least one figure for everyone in each series which was often different from what others wanted.

There will always be figures from a series that are more desirable to the majority but in the series that have fairly equal distribution of characters the problem of profiteers scooping them up isn't nearly as bad as it is with the series that have only 1 or 2 of certain figures per box. I've never had a problem of finding figures from the majority of series that have near equal distribution, its only the series that have figures with lesser than average quantities.

[julesvincent]

51 minutes ago, The LEGO Communist said:

 You have the original '78 cop? Did you get it then, or has it been Bricklinked like all of my retro minifigures?

Yes, as you can see, I do have the original cop. But I wasn‘t born yet in ‘78, so it has been bricklinked with the rest of the set.

[MAB]

15 hours ago, koalayummies said:

They should put equal numbers of the figures in each box thus eliminating the false rarity and manufactured desirability. There is always someone who wants something different as is evidenced by Itaria's CMF polls. Many of us had widely different preferences but there was usually at least one figure for everyone in each series which was often different from what others wanted.

There will always be figures from a series that are more desirable to the majority but in the series that have fairly equal distribution of characters the problem of profiteers scooping them up isn't nearly as bad as it is with the series that have only 1 or 2 of certain figures per box. I've never had a problem of finding figures from the majority of series that have near equal distribution, its only the series that have figures with lesser than average quantities.

The problem here is that different people have different uses for the CMF series. Personally, I don't collect them as a series any more. There were just too many figures being produced that I don't care for, and so see no point in having. However, put a decent army builder in the series, and I will buy loads of that one. If everyone wanted just one of each and wanted all of them, then equal distributions would work. But that is not the case.

Supposedly in more recent series, LEGO do try to identify which ones they think will be popular and skew slightly in their favour (Banana) but I'm not always sure they can identify what will be popular.

 

[x105Black]

I don't collect all, I have no interest in most.  I collect things that I find useful.  But it is interesting how different people see things.  My close friend is interested in figures I couldn't care less about, and vice versa.  But there are usually one or two that we both want multiples of, so there is overlap.

With this series, I have multiple Unicorns and Dragons.

[Vindicare]

Just saw the whole series in the flesh...and I must say, they’re all pretty great. I love the balloon animals(I’d love to see a sword one if we get a female version in the future).

[x105Black]

1 hour ago, Vindicare said:

Just saw the whole series in the flesh...and I must say, they’re all pretty great. I love the balloon animals(I’d love to see a sword one if we get a female version in the future).

I know it's not what you are talking about, but I wouldn't mind a Sword Suit!

[Vindicare]

On 4/25/2018 at 2:12 PM, x105Black said:

I know it's not what you are talking about, but I wouldn't mind a Sword Suit!

Haha, that would certainly be interesting. 

[Takanuinuva]

Got the Dragon Suit guy and gave it Orca's head. Orca's head really helps turn animal costume Minifigs into animal Minifigs. Now if the Faun legs get released in red. Then this dragon will be complete