That "No More BigFigs" Rumour

[Killian]

Am I right in thinking that the last new BigFig Lego released was in set 76192 almost 17 months ago?

I'm not counting dinosaurs as BigFigs.

I've seen people online say that Lego has retired BigFigs, can't remember where though, it was months ago..   I can't find anything official from Lego stating whether this is the case or not however.

There does seem to be a trend of Lego making minifig versions of characters that would historically have been bigfigs recently.

 

Existing BigFigs:

Maui

Bane

Sandy

Thanos 

Road Hog

Cave Troll

Goblin King

Killer Croc

HP Troll

Green Goblin

Hulk

Grodd

Killow

Castle Troll

Red Hulk

Chima Mammoth Mungus

Hagrid

Darkseid

Dogshank

Rancor

Star Wars snow monster thing (Wampa?)

Tiger, red statue, and Yeti Adventurers monsters

Various Rock Monsters

Cull Obsidian

 

There are probably others I can't think of, but out of the characters listed we've recently had Sandy, Thanos, Green Goblin and Hulk in minifigure form instead of Bigfigs.  The trend seems to be supporting the "no more Bigfigs" rumour.

I'm not complaining, I prefer minifigs as they fit into the limited space in most sets better.

Does anyone have a link to anything definitive Lego's said on the question?

[MAB]

Why would lego make such an announcement?

[Killian]

1 hour ago, MAB said:

Why would lego make such an announcement?

Same reason why they announced they destroyed the mould for the Goat

[Clone OPatra]

6 hours ago, Killian said:

There are probably others I can't think of, but out of the characters listed we've recently had Sandy, Thanos, Green Goblin and Hulk in minifigure form instead of Bigfigs.  The trend seems to be supporting the "no more Bigfigs" rumour.

Does anyone have a link to anything definitive Lego's said on the question?

Out of the examples you have listed, only Sandy fits the so-called theory because it's the same exact property with the same other characters (unless he has changed sizes in the show too). The one big fig Green Goblin was based on a particular Ultimate Spiderman appearance that hasn't been made again, while minifig versions are based on normal human-sized appearances of the character. Hulk has appeared as a minifig only in polybags (at the same time and prior to bigfig appearances), for the Spidey & Friends show, and for mechs - not in any MCU-based sets where he's obviously huge and beefy compared to the humans. Thanos did appear as a minifig in one MCU set at the same time as appearing as a bigfig, mainly due to coming in a miniature version of his gigantic ship. Since then, he has been a minifig in a mech set, which all don't play by any proportional rules.

So the theory doesn't hold much water other than the fact that LEGO hasn't put one in a set released "recently", but that doesn't signify a trend. After the first You Story sets and no appearances of long arms and legs, we all thought those were gone for good. They weren't, and that was with a much longer gap.

Plus, people with good access to info have said bigfigs aren't going away.

4 hours ago, Killian said:

Same reason why they announced they destroyed the mould for the Goat

LEGO never announced this. One or two designers explained, after sustained fan questions about it, that the mould had been destroyed because it hadn't been fit for long term use (which is still no reason why they haven't remade it though, since they have designed plenty of entirely new animal moulds since then).

[Mylenium]

19 hours ago, Killian said:

Does anyone have a link to anything definitive Lego's said on the question?

Nobody can have a link because LEGO never said any such thing. Even the mere assertion that they won't do big figs anymore sounds ludicrous. Why would they not? This may have come up as a point in the recent battle over the minifigure trademark/ design kerfuffle (diluting the design, infringing and usurping other companies' designs etc.), but otherwise there's no rational reason for them to never do a big fig again if they see it as the viable solution for representing a specific character.

18 hours ago, Killian said:

Same reason why they announced they destroyed the mould for the Goat

It was never consciously destroyed. They simply "lost" it, meaning they didn't store it properly and then it was damaged beyond recovery. Why they never created a new one is of course another question entirely.

Mylenium

 

Edited December 11, 2022 by Mylenium
Typos

[MAB]

6 hours ago, Clone OPatra said:

LEGO never announced this. One or two designers explained, after sustained fan questions about it, that the mould had been destroyed because it hadn't been fit for long term use (which is still no reason why they haven't remade it though, since they have designed plenty of entirely new animal moulds since then).

Not only that, but also those designers never made a statement that LEGO has retired goats and will never make a goat again. There is no reason to.