Minifigures with Disabilities: Discussion and Rumours

[JopieK]

17 minutes ago, Modeltrainman said:

That's really cool, sir!

Maybe I should have made myself a little clearer, a specialized physical hospital close to our university does the pirate project, at my university we try to involve students in Health Technology projects, so I am only a linking pin. They will apply for at grant (from the LEGO Foundation), so hope that they will succeed so we can involve a lot of students and help them create a better future for disabled kids. It was heartbreaking to hear from some of the nurses that children in Eastern European countries are just lying in their beds and get all kinds of deformaties that could be prevented just by letting them play!

[Modeltrainman]

1 minute ago, williejm said:

Wow… that sounds, not good!

was thinking about the wrist grip crutch/stick - would sure be a design challenge for Lego given the way the arms and torsos are, but it should be achievable - presumably gripped by the hand, and having a piece surrounding the lower arm?

It wasn't. They used Dremel saws to cut them, so I still jump at those years later.Yes! Actually, the LEGO arm cast is a great realization. Just start with that connection, have a bar through to a truncated cone.

[williejm]

9 minutes ago, Modeltrainman said:

It wasn't. They used Dremel saws to cut them, so I still jump at those years later.Yes! Actually, the LEGO arm cast is a great realization. Just start with that connection, have a bar through to a truncated cone.

Oh - good shout. I don’t have an arm cast part so I hadn’t though about that!

[Lion King]

I have a (kinda) silly thing to share with you. Other day, I was told that minifigures don’t have ears, they are already deaf. I kinda rolled my eyes - what about Genie from Disney Serie? Or Dobby & Griphook from Harry Potter theme? Or Goblin from Series 13? 

Earless minifigures don’t prove me that they are deaf/hard-of-hearing unless there are visible hearing aid / cochlear implant, imo. 

But on the other hand, someone made a fair point that earless minifigures are “deaf”!

[williejm]

3 minutes ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

I have a (kinda) silly thing to share with you. Other day, I was told that minifigures don’t have ears, they are already deaf. I kinda rolled my eyes - what about Genie from Disney Serie? Or Dobby & Griphook from Harry Potter theme? Or Goblin from Series 13? 

Earless minifigures don’t prove me that they are deaf/hard-of-hearing unless there are visible hearing aid / cochlear implant, imo. 

But on the other hand, someone made a fair point that earless minifigures are “deaf”!

Lol - but it’s not like the external part of the ear even does all the work! Minifigs don’t generally have noses either - how do they smell? 

[Lion King]

3 minutes ago, williejm said:

Lol - but it’s not like the external part of the ear even does all the work! Minifigs don’t generally have noses either - how do they smell? 

Only Lord Voldemort can smell, I think. :) 

[Karalora]

1 hour ago, williejm said:

Lol - but it’s not like the external part of the ear even does all the work! Minifigs don’t generally have noses either - how do they smell? 

Like plastic! *rimshot*

[Legochaek]

I don’t know if any of you have heard of Izzy Wheels, but it’s a arty wheelchair cover company that partnered with Barbie  and Disney. Probably the Barbie partnership precludes any Lego partnership: but I can dream, right? I can just imagine a bunch of personalised wheelchairs for my minifigures: no more grey/ green wheels. 

[Legochaek]

Also- I saw this https://www.instagram.com/p/CdDor-DhseY/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= which is super interesting 

[williejm]

3 hours ago, Lego-fire said:

Also- I saw this https://www.instagram.com/p/CdDor-DhseY/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= which is super interesting 

That is a great insta thread!

[TheLegoDr]

@williejmI think Man-bat and the bats from Monster Fighters have noses also. And the Native figures from the mid 90s had noses. And I think the NBA figures had noses too...soo I don't know why they chose that for some figures and not others. But the eyes on the Native figures are also different if I recall correctly, so not sure what they were going for there.

@DBlegonerd7In terms of all being deaf because no external ear...well they all have jaundice also since they are yellow, right? I guess I don't know what to say to that person that said that.. shrug

[Legochaek]

Rumoured new yellow wheelchair piece with Jake Sully in the Avatar sets

[williejm]

11 minutes ago, Lego-fire said:

Rumoured new yellow wheelchair piece with Jake Sully in the Avatar sets

New colour, or new mould? I’m not familiar enough with Avatar stuff to know what it should look like 

Looks like the ‘hearing aid’ head is reused in the upcoming big Roller Coaster set too. Not an especially easy way to get it, but continues the theme of representing visible disabilities in sets. 

[Peppermint_M]

While it is 10 years old, it came in enough sets that it is not expensive on Bricklink:

That leg looks a lot more like modern prosthetics than the old peg-leg and as it is symmetrical all around, you can pop it off the hips and modify any colour Minifig legs to have this prosthetic. Just a handy one for anyone who would like to use it but were not aware it existed.

[Legochaek]

13 minutes ago, williejm said:

New colour, or new mould? I’m not familiar enough with Avatar stuff to know what it should look like 

Likely to be same mould, possibly different wheels. Aren’t any photos yet but he uses a manual wheelchair but the wheels only have 3 spokes. 

 

2 minutes ago, Peppermint_M said:

While it is 10 years old, it came in enough sets that it is not expensive on Bricklink:

That leg looks a lot more like modern prosthetics than the old peg-leg and as it is symmetrical all around, you can pop it off the hips and modify any colour Minifig legs to have this prosthetic. Just a handy one for anyone who would like to use it but were not aware it existed.

Yeah, that is cool! 

[Lion King]

12 hours ago, williejm said:

New colour, or new mould? I’m not familiar enough with Avatar stuff to know what it should look like 

Looks like the ‘hearing aid’ head is reused in the upcoming big Roller Coaster set too. Not an especially easy way to get it, but continues the theme of representing visible disabilities in sets. 

I think new molds - Avatar is more futuristic / sci-fi. But if it’s a nomral wheelchair in yellow, then perfect! 

Ohhhh another deaf / hearing-of-hard minifigure! Agreed, it’s not easy to get that large one…I will try to get it off B&P or Bricklink then. 

[Legochaek]

https://www.thebrickfan.com/lego-avatar-sets-revealed-for-san-diego-comic-con-2022/

It is a new mold, but a very usable one! 

[Lyichir]

59 minutes ago, Lego-fire said:

https://www.thebrickfan.com/lego-avatar-sets-revealed-for-san-diego-comic-con-2022/

It is a new mold, but a very usable one! 

It looks really nice! Eager to see reviews to see just how much narrower it is than the old one... it'd be ideal if it could fit through 4-stud-wide doorframes, which the current wheelchair can't. But even if it doesn't have an advantage over the existing one in that respect, it still doesn't hurt to have more than one style of wheelchair available.

[Murdoch17]

I don't think I'm alone in thinking the new wheelchair would be perfect for a certain Professor from Marvel comics....

[williejm]

Really nice to have a variant on the wheelchair, and a new colour!

[williejm]

Great to see more visible diversity coming in the Ideas Table Football set - not just the first minifigure head with Vitiligo, but also a reddish brown head with a hearing aid. There may be others I’ve missed - so many new heads in that set. 

[Lion King]

54 minutes ago, williejm said:

Great to see more visible diversity coming in the Ideas Table Football set - not just the first minifigure head with Vitiligo, but also a reddish brown head with a hearing aid. There may be others I’ve missed - so many new heads in that set. 

Oooooooo, that’s rally neat!! Thanks for the news. :)

[Pop Bumper Pete]

As a leg amputee myself, I have no problem with the old pirate from the 90's or the guy from the Monster Fighters series

[The Brick Boss]

Given the topic of this forum, I feel the need to ask this here. How would Lego portray a crippled person with buckled legs? They covered wheelchair bound people, deaf people and amputated people. But what about a crippled person? Just thought I'd ask. I'm also thinking about making some portrayal of a person with autism or down syndrome. 

Edited October 7, 2022 by Poodabricks

[Murdoch17]

3 hours ago, Poodabricks said:

Given the topic of this forum, I feel the need to ask this here. How would Lego portray a (word removed) person with buckled legs? They covered wheelchair bound people, deaf people and amputated people. But what about a (word removed)? Just thought I'd ask. I'm also thinking about making some portrayal of a person with autism or down syndrome. 

As someone with Autism, how would you do that with a Lego mini-figure? The thing about autism or most neuro-divergent conditions is that it's invisible (I.E. not physical, like missing limb, or hearing aid, etc.) unless you talk to them or notice their quirks. So, I'm genuinely curious how you would do that or someone with down syndrome, without using harmful stereotypes...

Edited October 7, 2022 by Murdoch17