LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series 25. Rumors and discussion

[Lion King]

We are close to October! Hopefully we will see leaks this fall. 

[Robert8]

Does anyone have info on how the CMF boxes are doing? Are they selling well? 

[karrit]

3 hours ago, Robert8 said:

Does anyone have info on how the CMF boxes are doing? Are they selling well? 

I saw some in a local Walmart a couple of weeks back.  All boxes were ripped open.  Some had figs inside, the rest were empty.  Numerous people have reported seeing the same.  Haven't seen any anywhere else other than the LEGO store.  They were intact there.  If you bought one and it was something you didn't want they had some open ones available to trade.  I was able to get two extra Agatha's to populate Diagon Alley by trading there.  I purchased a complete set from an online source so I wouldn't have to play minifig roulette.  Rumors that Boxed sets of all twelve are being sold somewhere in Europe as a test.  I hope they follow through with this in the future.  Much rather just buy a complete set and maybe try my luck with a few random ones once I have a full set.  Then again I'd prefer they come up with a way we can just get the ones we want as I don't always want a complete set.  Slight glitch with my complete set, they sent me a duplicate of one fig and none of another but they sent me the one I was missing after I contacted them.  The two I purchased in the LEGO store to trade for the Agatha, one was another of what I already had two of & the other wasn't one I wanted an extra of so both were good for trade.

[MAB]

I've seen a couple of partly filled boxes in supermarkets.  None of the set boxes were ripped open and presumably some had sold. It's hard to judge how well they are selling.

[SpacePolice89]

On 9/11/2023 at 1:17 PM, SamVimes said:

So series 1,3,15 and 11 for the Islander, so 2015 at the latest....and Western as a theme is always a bit.....😬 not exactly a great time in human history, given the whole slavery, active genocide and early germ warfare of the period. 

With that logic it wouldn't be possible to do any theme or minifigure. Bad stuff has always happened and will unfortunately also happen now and in the future. Previous subthemes like Islanders and Indians/Native Americans were very respectful and they will never be 100 % accurate because Lego is a building toy and not an accurate model. No one complains about sets that are based on "European" factions when they are not historically or culturally accurate and those who complain about Islanders or Indians very seldom have any connection to the peoples those subthemes are based on. All the complaining only leads to less variety among cultures represented by Lego sets or themes which is not a good thing.

[Karalora]

7 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

With that logic it wouldn't be possible to do any theme or minifigure. Bad stuff has always happened and will unfortunately also happen now and in the future. Previous subthemes like Islanders and Indians/Native Americans were very respectful and they will never be 100 % accurate because Lego is a building toy and not an accurate model. No one complains about sets that are based on "European" factions when they are not historically or culturally accurate and those who complain about Islanders or Indians very seldom have any connection to the peoples those subthemes are based on. All the complaining only leads to less variety among cultures represented by Lego sets or themes which is not a good thing.

I don't want to drag this discussion too far into the weeds of politics, but I will note that some historical periods and events are more fraught than others, when it comes to portraying them in cheerful toy form. No one objects to historically inaccurate European knight minifigure factions waging war on each other because the legacy of the actual history has little to no effect on anyone's quality of life today (and whatever effect it has is not as lopsided as other examples I am about to mention). On the other hand, a LEGO set of European knights waging war on Middle Eastern warriors would spark a lot of controversy because of current issues surrounding immigration and Islamophobia.

By the same token, the treatment of black and indigenous Americans in the 1800s absolutely affects the quality of life for those demographics today...and careless depictions of said demographics in art and literature have been, and still are, used to justify poor treatment. If people aren't sure they can trust a depiction not to be careless, the reaction is likely to be "Can we just...not?"

I don't think the Old West period should be entirely off-limits for LEGO, but they would have to be careful about how they portrayed any indigenous people so that they were neither mocking their culture (even inadvertently) nor making light of the very real atrocities the peoples in question were subjected to during that time. And it's reasonable to ask whether it's even worth walking that tightrope when they could be putting their efforts into Ninjago sets instead.

[Lion King]

Agreed with Karakoram. i still don’t think Wild West should be off limits for Lego to design a set or minifigure. I know Lego is very careful to come up wiht a design for ingenious peoples/Natie Americans. I mean I abou sell love collecting non-licensed sets and minifiures. 

Anyways, I don’t want this discussion goes too far as well.

I heard that some boxes were ripped open at Walmart.  Well, that’s quite unacceptable.

[cosmic]

I saw a Lego teaser poster recently it was a poster with flesh tone figures in interesting accessories and prints. For some reason many of the comments were speculating that it would be for a potential flesh tone CMF series and many comments following that actually proclaimed the outright desire and relief that we would be getting flesh toned cmf figures. I understand people want flesh toned options to depict various scenarios and characters the way we have so many options for yellow skin figures. But I would personally prefer and think its actually more like that this is for a separate theme altogether. I have not only grown accustomed to yellow skin mini figures they have become a staple in my view of Lego and I feel its a huge part of their brand identity for me personally. I'm fine with introducing a non licensed theme that utilizes flesh tones but I don't want them intervening with existing themes such as the CMF series. 

And I also don't want to comment on this too much but I'll say I love my Western figures and hope they continue to make them. Western dresses and style for me is quite fascinating and I love when we get it (that Robot Western gal with the red dress from the Lego movie cmf series was awesome to me). Of course everything should be done respectfully and I actually think Lego is very considerate of these decisions. Nobody is perfect but I don't think Lego has or ever will produce a set meaning to misrepresent things, especially in a harmful way. I think if done right, the indigenous figures can be so empowering. Consider it paying homage to or honoring the memory of some of those tribes that may unfortunately only live on in tales, memories or photographs. It's a touchy subject but if approached correctly I think there are some amazing designs and stories to be told and appreciated.

With that in mind I think Lego should avoid any Cowboy vs Indigenous sets as that would certainly reinforce negative imagery. I know we're talking CMF here but just in general for the Western topic I think as long as they avoid that they're good. I mean what's the harm in just having a Western gal with a cool dress piece? Or an Indigenous figure wearing their traditional garments? if it's historically accurate to images or depictions or modern references for the tribe or garment in reference, than I think figures like that can be viewed as "commemorating" or celebrating the respect design. 

[Lion King]

Fleshie in non-licensed CMF series? That’s hard for me to believe. Are these minifigures suppsoed to be for a new theme? Like…a Fornite theme?

[hikouki]

13 hours ago, Karalora said:

I don't want to drag this discussion too far into the weeds of politics, but I will note that some historical periods and events are more fraught than others, when it comes to portraying them in cheerful toy form. No one objects to historically inaccurate European knight minifigure factions waging war on each other because the legacy of the actual history has little to no effect on anyone's quality of life today (and whatever effect it has is not as lopsided as other examples I am about to mention). On the other hand, a LEGO set of European knights waging war on Middle Eastern warriors would spark a lot of controversy because of current issues surrounding immigration and Islamophobia.

By the same token, the treatment of black and indigenous Americans in the 1800s absolutely affects the quality of life for those demographics today...and careless depictions of said demographics in art and literature have been, and still are, used to justify poor treatment. If people aren't sure they can trust a depiction not to be careless, the reaction is likely to be "Can we just...not?"

I don't think the Old West period should be entirely off-limits for LEGO, but they would have to be careful about how they portrayed any indigenous people so that they were neither mocking their culture (even inadvertently) nor making light of the very real atrocities the peoples in question were subjected to during that time. And it's reasonable to ask whether it's even worth walking that tightrope when they could be putting their efforts into Ninjago sets instead.

 

5 hours ago, Lion King said:

Agreed with Karakoram. i still don’t think Wild West should be off limits for Lego to design a set or minifigure. I know Lego is very careful to come up wiht a design for ingenious peoples/Natie Americans. I mean I abou sell love collecting non-licensed sets and minifiures. 

Anyways, I don’t want this discussion goes too far as well.

I heard that some boxes were ripped open at Walmart.  Well, that’s quite unacceptable.

I don't mind Western-themed CMFs. Perhaps a Saloon singer/ stagecoach lady. That's sorta western but not cowboy-esque. LOL

The stereotype of these cowboys movies is about some revolver-wielding white people defending their lands against Mexicans and Native Americans. But the real context is that people in America arrived in the East and migrated to the West. Instead of propagating stereotypes of cowboy defenders and evil 'other people', perhaps Lego could just re-tell the story of the migration to the West.

How about a medicine woman?

How about a re-telling of the Oregon trail? Lewis and Clark expedition? George Vancouver's expedition? There are countless types of merchants, salmon-fishers, settlers that could be commemorated.

 

4 hours ago, cosmic said:

I saw a Lego teaser poster recently it was a poster with flesh tone figures in interesting accessories and prints. For some reason many of the comments were speculating that it would be for a potential flesh tone CMF series and many comments following that actually proclaimed the outright desire and relief that we would be getting flesh toned cmf figures. I understand people want flesh toned options to depict various scenarios and characters the way we have so many options for yellow skin figures. But I would personally prefer and think its actually more like that this is for a separate theme altogether. I have not only grown accustomed to yellow skin mini figures they have become a staple in my view of Lego and I feel its a huge part of their brand identity for me personally. I'm fine with introducing a non licensed theme that utilizes flesh tones but I don't want them intervening with existing themes such as the CMF series. 

And I also don't want to comment on this too much but I'll say I love my Western figures and hope they continue to make them. Western dresses and style for me is quite fascinating and I love when we get it (that Robot Western gal with the red dress from the Lego movie cmf series was awesome to me). Of course everything should be done respectfully and I actually think Lego is very considerate of these decisions. Nobody is perfect but I don't think Lego has or ever will produce a set meaning to misrepresent things, especially in a harmful way. I think if done right, the indigenous figures can be so empowering. Consider it paying homage to or honoring the memory of some of those tribes that may unfortunately only live on in tales, memories or photographs. It's a touchy subject but if approached correctly I think there are some amazing designs and stories to be told and appreciated.

With that in mind I think Lego should avoid any Cowboy vs Indigenous sets as that would certainly reinforce negative imagery. I know we're talking CMF here but just in general for the Western topic I think as long as they avoid that they're good. I mean what's the harm in just having a Western gal with a cool dress piece? Or an Indigenous figure wearing their traditional garments? if it's historically accurate to images or depictions or modern references for the tribe or garment in reference, than I think figures like that can be viewed as "commemorating" or celebrating the respect design. 

Lego has done a Geisha and a Flamenco dancer. I know these are not exactly based on national costumes, but Lego should seriously think about some iconic national costumes. Thai/ Cambodian traditional dancer, or a lady in a kebaya. 

Oh, Lego did make that pretzel girl and a taco guy. Someone here would make images of possible CMFs and that Thai dancer was among there. What should we call it, 'pad thai lady' or 'tom yum girl'? LOL

Perhaps Lego could make a CMF with non-yellow figures but celebrating some national costumes to coincide with the anniversary of the United Nations, for example. Or is even that too 'controversial' for Lego. (roll eyes)

[SpacePolice89]

8 hours ago, cosmic said:

I saw a Lego teaser poster recently it was a poster with flesh tone figures in interesting accessories and prints.

Do you have a link to a picture of that poster?

[cosmic]

4 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

Do you have a link to a picture of that poster?

It can be found on exabrickslegogo_ instagram page its one of his most recent posts. Looking at the poster it looks like new city figs none of the listed characters look like cmf figures to me. The standout is the blond with the green shirt and snail ears for me.

 

8 hours ago, hikouki said:

How about a re-telling of the Oregon trail? Lewis and Clark expedition? George Vancouver's expedition? There are countless types of merchants, salmon-fishers, settlers that could be commemorated.

 

Lego has done a Geisha and a Flamenco dancer. I know these are not exactly based on national costumes, but Lego should seriously think about some iconic national costumes. Thai/ Cambodian traditional dancer, or a lady in a kebaya. 

Oh, Lego did make that pretzel girl and a taco guy. Someone here would make images of possible CMFs and that Thai dancer was among there. What should we call it, 'pad thai lady' or 'tom yum girl'? LOL

Perhaps Lego could make a CMF with non-yellow figures but celebrating some national costumes to coincide with the anniversary of the United Nations, for example. Or is even that too 'controversial' for Lego. (roll eyes)

I think if the simple depiction of a culture offends someone then there is nothing more I can say. The way I see it is, I’m a white dude from a major city so I can easily make a cmf figure of myself with pieces I have. Wouldn’t an indigenous figure give someone from a different culture the opportunity to see themselves in their figures the way I see myself in some of mine? I’ll go back to what I said that if done respectfully there should be no issue.

[Hippocampe]

I agree with you: a traditional costume that is integrated in the history of a country shouldn’t be perceived as offensive. Au contraire, it should be seen as an interest in other cultures. When I travel, I don’t want to eat like I do at home, I want to see differences in living the day-to-day life. The same for how people dress differently. If done respectfully, it shouldn’t be seen as caricatural. I find it very sad when we want to erase the past because the values we have nowadays differ or are in confrontation with what was done centuries ago. We must learn from the past, reflect on the context why it was done that way and keep searching to improve ourselves from it. Anyway, I collect the CMF that have some kind of a national costume and I begin to have a happy bunch of them, always happy to make that group bigger and more diversified !

[Lion King]

These minifiugres in flesh tones re not meant for CMF. It’s a short Lego put out. 

[Robert8]

Thank god

Non licensed fleshies would be the ultimate deal-breaker to me

[Classic_Spaceman]

9 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

Do you have a link to a picture of that poster?

Here. 
 

[SpacePolice89]

53 minutes ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

Here. 
 

Thanks!

6 hours ago, cosmic said:

It can be found on exabrickslegogo_ instagram page its one of his most recent posts. Looking at the poster it looks like new city figs none of the listed characters look like cmf figures to me. The standout is the blond with the green shirt and snail ears for me.

It seems that the poster is for a promotional video. The flesh colored minifigs represents the kids from the video. Yellow minifigs would've been much cooler but at least it's consistent with the real people=flesh minifigs policy and that means City and CMF minifigs stays yellow and that's a very good thing

[Lion King]

1 hour ago, Robert8 said:

Thank god

Non licensed fleshies would be the ultimate deal-breaker to me

Agreed. I love traditional yellow skin for minifigures since 1978. That video is for Rebuild the World campaign. 

16 minutes ago, SpacePolice89 said:

It seems that the poster is for a promotional video. The flesh colored minifigs represents the kids from the video. Yellow minifigs would've been much cooler but at least it's consistent with the real people=flesh minifigs policy and that means City and CMF minifigs stays yellow and that's a very good thing

Agreed. It was nice seeing kids having the fleshie minifigures represent them in that  video. 

As I mentioend above, I love collecting yellow minifigues from City, Monkie Kid, Ninjago, regular CMF, and Icons sets (such as Modular Buildings, Fairground, etc). 

[Pop Star c o]

I understand that yellow skinned minifigure are a big part of LEGO idenity and at least some of the non-licensed figures should still remain yellow but to be honest, I think that CMF is one theme that I would actually like to see with skin tones. CMF is a theme that really benefits from being colorful and is also very innovative. The figures would also look a lot fancier if they had skin tones and especially the figures depicting various cultures would be better if they actually had more appropriate skin tones. Themes like City or Ninjago would still took better with yellow minifigs.

[Black Falcon]

I thankfully don´t see that happening. I totally see the sense to make skin coloured minifigs as it is much easier to make them recognizable. But all other minifigs should stay yellow. I clearly like the yellow one better and you shouldn´t forget that making flesh toned minifigs would just add more work for the designers. 

[cosmic]

1 hour ago, Pop Star c o said:

I understand that yellow skinned minifigure are a big part of LEGO idenity and at least some of the non-licensed figures should still remain yellow but to be honest, I think that CMF is one theme that I would actually like to see with skin tones. CMF is a theme that really benefits from being colorful and is also very innovative. The figures would also look a lot fancier if they had skin tones and especially the figures depicting various cultures would be better if they actually had more appropriate skin tones. Themes like City or Ninjago would still took better with yellow minifigs.

I’m all here for an occasional flesh based series or two but I personally want this cmf line to remain yellow. Even among cultures people can have varying ranges of skin tones so I like the yellow figures because I can imagine these figures being however I want when they’re yellow. It leaves more to the imagination. 

[Lion King]

Sorry but will we see offical pictures before or after Black Friday? I can’t remember when it happened to Seires 24 and other January CMF Series. 

[Robert8]

2 hours ago, Lion King said:

Sorry but will we see offical pictures before or after Black Friday? I can’t remember when it happened to Seires 24 and other January CMF Series. 

The January series is the one that usually is revealed closer to the release date. Even the leaks. 

I remember Series 15 was first seen in like December 3th or something like that 

 

Just like the Orge from Series 24 or the Cabaret Singer from Series 21, I hope one of the S25 minifigures will find its way out of the factory and show up in IG soon

[Lion King]

12 hours ago, Robert8 said:

The January series is the one that usually is revealed closer to the release date. Even the leaks. 

I remember Series 15 was first seen in like December 3th or something like that 

 

Just like the Orge from Series 24 or the Cabaret Singer from Series 21, I hope one of the S25 minifigures will find its way out of the factory and show up in IG soon

So it’s after Black Friday then. 

Hopefully, we will get leaked list before Black Friday - like what minifigures we will get. I feel like it has been a while since Series 24’s release, lol.

[SamVimes]

On 9/23/2023 at 12:33 AM, SpacePolice89 said:

With that logic it wouldn't be possible to do any theme or minifigure. Bad stuff has always happened and will unfortunately also happen now and in the future. Previous subthemes like Islanders and Indians/Native Americans were very respectful and they will never be 100 % accurate because Lego is a building toy and not an accurate model. No one complains about sets that are based on "European" factions when they are not historically or culturally accurate and those who complain about Islanders or Indians very seldom have any connection to the peoples those subthemes are based on. All the complaining only leads to less variety among cultures represented by Lego sets or themes which is not a good thing.

Nah dude. As Karalora said below, it has to be viewed through the lens of time. Fictional knights are fair game as the system that supported them is long gone, no one is affected by the system in this day and age either. 

And as said "the treatment of black and indigenous Americans in the 1800s absolutely affects the quality of life for those demographics today." Just look at the murder of George Floyd, and residential schools having mass graves being found decades after the program stopped.

And before you leap in with some romantic, disneyfied example of what could still be on the table, (we'll ignore your use of "Islanders or Indians") "because Lego is a building toy and not an accurate model." I mean, have you seen the level of detail the Marvel and Star wars sets have? They could easily depict traditional indigenous dress. 

 

And as for the "islanders" I mean come on Māori culture is pretty distinct from Marquesan which is just as distinct as those from Kama'aina culture. You can't just mash them into one blended homogenous pile.

And some of us work within these cultures every day, so maybe lay down your bias when it's talked about.

 

On 9/23/2023 at 8:39 AM, Karalora said:

I don't want to drag this discussion too far into the weeds of politics, but I will note that some historical periods and events are more fraught than others, when it comes to portraying them in cheerful toy form. No one objects to historically inaccurate European knight minifigure factions waging war on each other because the legacy of the actual history has little to no effect on anyone's quality of life today (and whatever effect it has is not as lopsided as other examples I am about to mention). On the other hand, a LEGO set of European knights waging war on Middle Eastern warriors would spark a lot of controversy because of current issues surrounding immigration and Islamophobia.

By the same token, the treatment of black and indigenous Americans in the 1800s absolutely affects the quality of life for those demographics today...and careless depictions of said demographics in art and literature have been, and still are, used to justify poor treatment. If people aren't sure they can trust a depiction not to be careless, the reaction is likely to be "Can we just...not?"

I don't think the Old West period should be entirely off-limits for LEGO, but they would have to be careful about how they portrayed any indigenous people so that they were neither mocking their culture (even inadvertently) nor making light of the very real atrocities the peoples in question were subjected to during that time. And it's reasonable to ask whether it's even worth walking that tightrope when they could be putting their efforts into Ninjago sets instead.

Respectfully  "I believe that everything is political, and as such it should concern all of us." Elena Poniatowska

But you hit the nail on the head talking about depiction, the expansion west by colonials was easily one of the worst era's of human history, multiple peoples enslaved, active germ warfare and cultural genocide on a staggering scale, let's not pretend it was a time of illumination and heroes.