LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series 21. Rumors and discussion

[danth]

6 hours ago, MAB said:

But not a dog in a battle armour suit.

Now that I've heard this idea, I need it to happen.

[cosmic]

2 hours ago, MAB said:

So add a cape to the lady bug and armour to the dog yourself. We all have our peculiar fantasies that others would think "what is this?" if it was an official figure. The good thing about these is the lack of skin print on most, so if you want to stick a green head and hands on one of them to make them an alien, you can. We've had loads of superheroes recently in the DC series, and various Batman movie series. Put the plane on the dog and you have a flying dog guy. And what about a centaur drag queen?

If they just randomly put a head, torso and accessories together to make an out of the box character, then to most people they will look like they randomly put together a torso, head and accessories. We will end up with a zombie skateboarder (they already did one of them) zombie surfer, alien skateboarder, and so on.

 

I will say however, we did get a Monkey King and a Ghost knight in Series 19, so it’s not like we’ve never seen these peculiar concepts toyed with in Lego. We’ve also gotten plenty of non human figures like Yeti’s and Gingerbread men and aliens. Who’s to say an alien in a series has to be in a space suit with a laser gun as opposed to an alien gangster akin to the ones from space police, or an alien filling out a human like role, like a cop or a dancer? I disagree with your word choice random bc these intersections of concepts and ideas and themes have been done before and can be done in a cohesive way. We’ve gotten alien villains and gangsters before so toying with other professions/roles for aliens to take up doesn’t sound crazy to me. And bite me but I enjoyed the zombie cheerleader lol. It was something new 

 

also Chima was an entire theme dedicated to anthropomorphic figures and I loved it. Would not mind at all a Tiger-Man randomly appearing in a series. Chima was the theme in particular that normalized animal-people in Lego for me and would much rather see a return to that form of character than just a person dressed as something. There are references for how Lego can and have done this and for me it worked and I would like to see more of that creativity here. You obviously disagree but I think Lego has done similar stuff enough in the past to make it work here.

[AmperZand]

2 hours ago, MAB said:

If they just randomly put a head, torso and accessories together to make an out of the box character, then to most people they will look like they randomly put together a torso, head and accessories. We will end up with a zombie skateboarder (they already did one of them) zombie surfer, alien skateboarder, and so on.

I agree and would add that it wouldn’t be commercially viable. For the youngest kids who have no internalised archetypes and for a few AFOLs who enjoy the weird and wonderful, it might work. But older kids, most adults buying for kids (parents, grandparents etc) and the vast majority of AFOLs, a minifigure that isn’t easily recognisable would turn them away. I don’t have data to back that up, but suspect LEGO does.

2 hours ago, cosmic said:

more unique

Please don’t say that again. Please.

[1Panda]

2 hours ago, BrickHat said:

Let's hope Lego isn't reading this thread and getting any ideas, or the theme is doomed!

You think they know this place exists 

[cosmic]

5 minutes ago, AmperZand said:

Please don’t say that again. Please.

I had to go back to the original comment to see if I really said “more unique” and saw that the entire comment was more along the lines of, and not exactly “the more unique the better” and as far as I’m concerned the original comment in its entirety was grammatically correct? If anyone wants to chime in the comment was on the last page.

 

on the note of non human figures in strange roles not being viable, we got a monkey king, a ghost knight, non human characters engaging in whatever behavior have existed in lego for a while all I said was more figures like that and less costumed figures. We’ve gotten lion people before idk why a lion barber is so crazy? Like has anyone seen halloweentown? But even if the examples I gave are too extreme consider why, if we’ve already gotten an alien thug, why an alien ballerina is too strange for kids to be interested in? Whatever I rest my case but still think it would be fun.

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

2 hours ago, 1Panda said:

You think they know this place exists 

Absolutely. There even is a thread for CMF ideas that supposedly get passed on to Lego through the ambassador program. I think also some few times set designers have popped in and answered questions. That being said, I am sure they are unaware of the vast majority of content that is discussed here.

[danth]

2 hours ago, AmperZand said:

Please don’t say that again. Please.

It's fine in casual usage.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/very-unique-and-absolute-adjectives

[AmperZand]

^ It’s common in casual usage (the measure that lexicographers use). That doesn’t make it desirable. It deprives us of a word by substituting its meaning for one that is already covered by other words and leaves us with a gap. There are other ways of expressing uniqueness, but none so succinct or (formerly) well understood.

Apologies for the digression.

[Vindicare]

On 12/6/2020 at 1:12 PM, jonwil said:

I actually LOVE the food costumes (and have been collecting all of them). The animal costumes can be good as well although I am not a fan of the pug or ladybug (I want more of things like the gorilla suit or the giraffe suit...)

 

I do too. I sprinkle them around my town a bit, but mostly they just sit in a bag. They do have quite a charm to them though. 

15 hours ago, williejm said:

I get the artistic licence, but the ladybird figure bugs me - having spots on the belly and a red head. 

Does it really bug you though? 

[1Panda]

4 hours ago, BrickHat said:

Absolutely. There even is a thread for CMF ideas that supposedly get passed on to Lego through the ambassador program. I think also some few times set designers have popped in and answered questions. That being said, I am sure they are unaware of the vast majority of content that is discussed here.

Oh really. I thought with how often most people on here whine and complain about every non licensed series and say things like why can’t LEGO make stuff like this guy?!? Or try to make their products like their competitors and etc. And the fact that LEGO doesn’t seem to try to compete with the standard that other people set, tells me they don’t care or are unaware of this place but I guess that’s just me. 
and no I’m not trying to start anything against anyone for having different opinions than me or referring to anyone specific person I’m just saying what I’ve see and lastly I’m not mad about anything as I type this some of its sarcasm

from what I have seen the only time LEGO cares about people’s ideas is on their own terms through their various programs. And for the one person who will say “there was this one time” I am also aware of some exceptions.

Edited December 8, 2020 by 1Panda

[Vindicare]

8 hours ago, cosmic said:

I will say however, we did get a Monkey King and a Ghost knight in Series 19, so it’s not like we’ve never seen these peculiar concepts toyed with in Lego. We’ve also gotten plenty of non human figures like Yeti’s and Gingerbread men and aliens. Who’s to say an alien in a series has to be in a space suit with a laser gun as opposed to an alien gangster akin to the ones from space police, or an alien filling out a human like role, like a cop or a dancer? I disagree with your word choice random bc these intersections of concepts and ideas and themes have been done before and can be done in a cohesive way. We’ve gotten alien villains and gangsters before so toying with other professions/roles for aliens to take up doesn’t sound crazy to me. And bite me but I enjoyed the zombie cheerleader lol. It was something new 

 

also Chima was an entire theme dedicated to anthropomorphic figures and I loved it. Would not mind at all a Tiger-Man randomly appearing in a series. Chima was the theme in particular that normalized animal-people in Lego for me and would much rather see a return to that form of character than just a person dressed as something. There are references for how Lego can and have done this and for me it worked and I would like to see more of that creativity here. You obviously disagree but I think Lego has done similar stuff enough in the past to make it work here.

I absolutely love the Chima minifigs, so I’m right there with you on the “real” animal types being tossed in to the CMF’s...although, not sure about a lion barber or alien ballerina. 

8 hours ago, AmperZand said:

I agree and would add that it wouldn’t be commercially viable. For the youngest kids who have no internalised archetypes and for a few AFOLs who enjoy the weird and wonderful, it might work. But older kids, most adults buying for kids (parents, grandparents etc) and the vast majority of AFOLs, a minifigure that isn’t easily recognisable would turn them away. I don’t have data to back that up, but suspect LEGO does.

Please don’t say that again. Please.

What was described is basically the BaM station in pouch form. Granted, it would be ridiculously overpriced at $5 a minifig as opposed to the station’s 3 for $10. I think kids would be more open to getting random bits to make any characters more than AFOLs would. Speaking for myself & my LEGO store traveling partner, we go for the exclusive bits. 

[MAB]

10 hours ago, cosmic said:

I will say however, we did get a Monkey King and a Ghost knight in Series 19, so it’s not like we’ve never seen these peculiar concepts toyed with in Lego. We’ve also gotten plenty of non human figures like Yeti’s and Gingerbread men and aliens. 

Monkey king and ghost knights exist in popular culture. Similarly yetis and gingerbread men and aliens. However, alien gingerbread kings don't so I would not expect to see one. It would suggest they have really run out of ideas and they are just picking random parts from the BAM bins without caring what comes out. If you want unique mashups, just pick multiple bags and mix them up. Or buy random parts in the BAM.

[williejm]

9 hours ago, Vindicare said:

I do too. I sprinkle them around my town a bit, but mostly they just sit in a bag. They do have quite a charm to them though. 

Does it really bug you though? 

I set ‘em up, you knock ‘em down. 

[Robert8]

These are out already

 

[Borex]

Lego making so much furries is also questionable. What is even going on over there in Billund?

[williejm]

1 hour ago, Robert8 said:

These are out already

 

Oooh. Where?

[Robert8]

24 minutes ago, williejm said:

Oooh. Where?

No idea

Someone on IG posted a pic with a bunch of bags

I expect them to post pics of the figures soon

[Lion King]

2 hours ago, Robert8 said:

These are out already

 

Wow, it’s little early! 

[cosmic]

15 hours ago, MAB said:

Monkey king and ghost knights exist in popular culture. Similarly yetis and gingerbread men and aliens. However, alien gingerbread kings don't so I would not expect to see one. It would suggest they have really run out of ideas and they are just picking random parts from the BAM bins without caring what comes out. If you want unique mashups, just pick multiple bags and mix them up. Or buy random parts in the BAM.

I’ll say this, Oola in Star Wars reads as an alien dancer, Lobo from DC could be described as an alien bounty hunter (which I would soooo love). There are examples in popular media of aliens doing things besides just having laser guns and being soldiers or robots. I presume with your reasoning you wouldn’t be interested in seeing aliens filling other roles in the cmf series and we can agree to disagree on that. But in all fairness, popular media through comics, literature, cinema and TV (manga, etc.) given us examples of plenty of things, alien queens, alien dancers, zombie drivers, you name it. And even then, in action themes Lego has given us orc jesters and snake-men before. Lego has gotten really creative in their unlicensed action themes before with characters like Toxicita, Infearno, Pixel etc. The root of my complaint was and still is that too many figures in this series feel city like, not in a traditionally acceptable way where a cmf happens to fit into a city theme but still feels refreshing somehow (not always and ofc we didn’t always love repeated skater figs) but this series leaves a sour note in my mind in part due to the smaller amount of figures but also the amount of figures that simply don’t appeal to me. You see my reasoning as drastic and unappealing to Lego’s market (I happen to disagree bc of fun designs in themes like nexo knights, ninjago and more giving us fun concepts in new ways) and I respect that. But even without going as “radical” as giving us alien bountyhunter, spies, and Dogman creatures ala Chima (I still like these ideas hehe) I’m sure Lego could have done something more that would appeal to us both as they have for me in practically every series ( I always have initial complaints and reasons on why I want to skip an entire series and end up appreciating figures I didn’t buy more as I overlook past series) because for once in I think maybe even the first time ever, I don’t like a series as a whole. I’m only purchasing 4 figs (and admittedly excited about the Aztec and Performer the most) but aside from that and genuinely appreciating the beekeeper, this series is a hard no. Like I really don’t like most of these figures. And that’s too much negativity so I will stop. Violin boy should have been a man in concert gear and the grandpa hair. I would have appreciated it more than some normal kid with a violin. Take the saxophone player, his figure felt super appropriate for the given instrument. I’m talking too much this was an accidentally long post.

tldr: there are plenty of examples of aliens filling various roles in pop culture and I just wanted some sort of creative diversion from the smiley face everyday approach they took for some figures. Maybe not my take but certainly not this either.

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

Sweet! Excited to see better pictures of these soon.

[Pisces no Aphrodite]

Likely to buy spacecop and Azteca.

[MAB]

9 hours ago, cosmic said:

I’ll say this, Oola in Star Wars reads as an alien dancer, Lobo from DC could be described as an alien bounty hunter (which I would soooo love). There are examples in popular media of aliens doing things besides just having laser guns and being soldiers or robots. I presume with your reasoning you wouldn’t be interested in seeing aliens filling other roles in the cmf series and we can agree to disagree on that.

Right. Licensed aliens doing what they do in popular movies in licensed sets are completely understandable. But that doesn't mean I'd want to see an alien hairdresser, alien surfer, alien skateboarder, alien dentist, alien butcher, alien chef, alien diner waitress, alien skier, alien wearing a giraffe suit, and so on. They make little sense. And can also be easily made if you really want to putting an alien head on the body of whatever City style character is necessary.

If you don't like most of them, the answer is simple. Don't buy them. I collected from Series 1 and this happened to me, but it was about Series 12-15 that I realised they were losing their appeal as a complete collection.

9 hours ago, cosmic said:

Violin boy should have been a man in concert gear and the grandpa hair. I would have appreciated it more than some normal kid with a violin. Take the saxophone player, his figure felt super appropriate for the given instrument. I’m talking too much this was an accidentally long post.

Why should? What is appealing about an old man in a boring suit to kids? Kids learning to play the violin will be more interested in a normal kid playing the violin than a bald old man. If you as an AFOL want it to be an old man, then it is straight forward to take a City suited minifigure and give the violin accessory to him. Or, of course, give it to an alien to make an alien violin player.

[williejm]

4 hours ago, MAB said:

Why should? What is appealing about an old man in a boring suit to kids? Kids learning to play the violin will be more interested in a normal kid playing the violin than a bald old man. If you as an AFOL want it to be an old man, then it is straight forward to take a City suited minifigure and give the violin accessory to him. Or, of course, give it to an alien to make an alien violin player.

Zombie space violinist confirmed for series 22! ?

[Karalora]

It is odd to me that they chose to make the Violinist a kid (who is presumably at a lesson rather than actually performing--regardless of age, people generally dress up to play the violin for an audience) rather than an adult professional, since the latter is far more archetypal an image of a violin player. However, the violin itself is the important thing, and adults in formal wear are already abundant in LEGO City, so it's not as if we're missing out on the potential for formally dressed orchestra violinists as a result of this move.

Re-usability is a big deal with the CMFs, to my mind--I don't want them to be so generic that it seems like a waste of an increasingly rare CMF slot, but I also don't want them to be so specific that they don't make sense without a surrounding context that I would have to make up from scratch. That's why I tend to like the animal costumes--they're great, unique parts and there are so many reasons to imagine people wearing such costumes, from Halloween to sports games to furry conventions theme parks. A hypothetical zombie space violinist...what would you even do with that? There's a whole lot about your sci-fi horror setting that you have to establish before you can decide there was a zombie apocalypse at the Astrobach concert.

[williejm]

This is the first kid (Lisa Simpson aside) we have had with a musical instrument I think. I’m all for mixing it up. Kids playing the fiddle is pretty common where I’m from, and can see why that appeals to kids. It’s also a way of getting the violin. And it doesn’t stop us getting an adult concert violinist too somewhere down the line.