[REVIEW] 71047 D&D Collectible Minifigure Series

[MKJoshA]

We're back again with another CMF review! I bought a number of individual space figures but wasn't interested in getting 3 copies of each one so I skipped buying a case of the Series 26. However, as a castle builder I was highly interested in the D&D CMFs. As Lego still won't sell a full case I bought mine from the same store as before. This review still won't be as good as Whitefang's, but hopefully it'll help you decide whether these figures are worth pursuing or not. Before we get into the review let me say that I've never played D&D so many of the references in this series go over my head. My knowledge of D&D is limited to what I learned from watching Community and Stranger Things. However I can certainly appreciate the amount of detail that went into these even if I don't know all the source material.

With the introduction of QR codes on the boxes, finding figures using an app has become the new normal. If you're interested in knowing the order of the figures in my box let me know and I'll share it. But I'm going to assume you've all fallen for the Brick Search ads and downloaded the app. I do not endorse the app, though I did use it to see if it would work for the D&D series (it did). If someone from Brick Search reads this feel free to share some insight in the comments, but the site/app clearly has a lot of money to spend on SEO because I see their adds everywhere. For a "free" app, I have to wonder how they are making all that money and what information of mine they are collecting and selling.

But enough about online data concerns, first up are the Elf Bard, Gith Warlock, Halfling Druid, and Dwarf Barbarian. Each of these comes with both a male and female, dual sided head.
Bard I'm not a fan of the gaudy color scheme for the Bard. The magenta scarf and gloves especially seem too bright for other castle/fantasy settings. Thankfully those are easily removable/changable. The silver lipstick on the female head however can't be changed. The new hairpiece for the Bard is excellent and I hope Lego gives it to use in more colors.
Gith Speaking of which, I love that they re-used the hairpiece for the Gith Warlock and gave it yellow ears. This is especially nice for the builders who still like to use all yellow minifigures in their MOCs.
Halfling The Halfling is fantastic all around. The brown cape looks great and it's nice to get a different cut for it. I also really like the mutton chops on the male head. The sparrow also looks fantastic with it's white crown.
Dwarf I love the torso and fur-collar combo, but I feel like the dwarf is really missing having a beard piece. Female dwarves are known to have beards too, so this would have been a great chance for Lego to include it. The hairpiece is necessary for the collar to work, but it's not my favorite for a dwarf figure. The new axe head is amazing though.

Next set includes the Mind Flayer, Aarakocra Ranger, Dragonborn Paladin and Tiefling Sorcerer. Only the Tiefling comes with different heads.
Mind Flayer As far as being able to re-use figures for other castle settings the Mind Flayer is very limited. You could use the robe for a villain, but it's pretty limited outside that.
Aarakocra Our bird friend is also more limited but has a fantastic torso that can be used in many scenarios. The puppy is cute, but I would have rather gotten a more exotic pet.
Dragonborn The beefy armor is fantastic and I love that the torso underneath is so detailed. The new mace piece needs to show up in other colors as it'll make fantastic pillar toppers.
Tiefling The tail not having purple printing in front is too bad. Lego did that with Monkie Kid figures to I know it's possible. The dragon mold is incredible.

The last set includes named characters: The Lady of Pain, Szass Tam, Tasha the Witch Queen and Strahd von Zarovich.
Lady of Pain She is my least favorite out of all the characters. The least re-usable potential and her accessories aren't interesting to me.
Tam I like the re-colored, classic skeleton head.
Tasha Great details on the torso and legs. The arms are especially re-usable.
Strahd He looks ok, but the bit of sand-blue fur on the right shoulder seems a little odd.

There are decent number of extra parts (the top part of the photo) with the best being the extra Gith knife. There are also a great number of new molds and re-colors. The dwarf axe has an anti-stud on the bottom allowing you to attach it to light-saber handles, torches, or other pieces to add versatility to your weapons.

Also of interest are the base plates. I have hundreds of the plain black bases so for me it's great to get some variety. Having something like the Disney symbol means the versatility is nil. But the stars for series 6 and the cobble stones here are fantastic. I imagine we'll see them used on lots of MOCs.

Verdict?

SCORE
DESIGN 9
Even if you aren't a D&D player it's easy to appreciate the designs in this series.

PARTS 9
There are some really great parts. I won't be filling my castle with walking brains. But expect to see some trans-red skeleton head bottles and axe wielding figures in my future MOCs.

VALUE FOR MONEY 10
Buying a case is money well spent. Using something like an app to get the figures you want would also work. If you're going in blind and hoping to not get The Lady of Pain then it's a gamble. But overall this series is certainly a good value.

FINAL SCORE: 9
Lego keeps out-doing themselves. My biggest complaint is with the named characters. I wish Lego had stuck to all generic characters and let people build their own von Zarovich's. But this is still a solid series.

[WhiteFang]

Josh, thank you so much for doing this review! I had also picked up a set and these are awesome and terrific minifigures which can be easily integrated into our existing castle settings/dioramas. I am particularly surprised by the increased minifigures' heads on some characters to allow us to choose the gender of your choice. Furthermore, there are plentiful of unique parts like the new mini red dragon and dagger. 

Appreciate it so much for taking this up and doing it for the community.  

[Artanis I]

The orange tail doesn't have purple on it for the same reasons the torsos don't have skin colours on them: so you can mix and match heads onto different minfigs. Of course, it does look strange with orange visible from all sides. I guess you could give it a cloth kama or skirt thing to mask it.

So many of these are great customisable army builders. Bye-bye money...

[MKJoshA]

4 hours ago, Artanis I said:

The orange tail doesn't have purple on it for the same reasons the torsos don't have skin colours on them: so you can mix and match heads onto different minfigs. Of course, it does look strange with orange visible from all sides. I guess you could give it a cloth kama or skirt thing to mask it.

 

The lack of skin colors on the torsos makes sense, but why not add purple to the tail piece? It would limit it to purple torsos, but that's better than the bright orange.

12 hours ago, WhiteFang said:

Josh, thank you so much for doing this review! I had also picked up a set and these are awesome and terrific minifigures which can be easily integrated into our existing castle settings/dioramas. I am particularly surprised by the increased minifigures' heads on some characters to allow us to choose the gender of your choice. Furthermore, there are plentiful of unique parts like the new mini red dragon and dagger. 

Appreciate it so much for taking this up and doing it for the community.  

Thank you for coming out of retirement to share these kind words

[RichardGoring]

Great write up. I agree that the lack of printing on the front of the tail is odd and would very much have preferred it to blend in with the torso. I bought a full set - for a future D&D game with the main set - and then bought individual figures that I wanted for a castle setting. In initially skipped the Tiefling because thought the orange band was part of the torso print. Glad I can remove it at least.

The halfling is probably my favourite. I really like woodland-folk characters (and it will help to add variety to the forestmen crew I have).

It's a shame they didn't use a recolour of the paladin's mace for Sauron in the Barad-dur set. I also hope it gets used more in future.

[williejm]

I know zilch about DnD, but these figures are excellent. Lots of useful new parts, loving the extra heads to change gender, and also loving the variety of skin tones. 
Standout figures as a whole for me are the Aaracokra and the Tiefling, and *especially* that exquisite new small dragon 😍

I’m not massively bothered by the unprinted orange tail piece - crop tops are in.

[MKJoshA]

12 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

It's a shame they didn't use a recolour of the paladin's mace for Sauron in the Barad-dur set. I also hope it gets used more in future.

I didn't even think about that, that would be a fantastic mace for Sauron. Here's hoping for more, cheaper LOTR sets.

12 hours ago, williejm said:

I’m not massively bothered by the unprinted orange tail piece - crop tops are in.

Yes, crop tops are back in style. Every time I see someone using that style I think, "the 2000s called and they want their midriffs back."

[Wout]

Thank you for the review.

It's always nice to get a good look at all figs and pieces.

[DiatonicDelirium]

Nice review, and indeed for non D&D people like me this set is very nice as well.  The Lady of Pain can be used to create a lady for a castle, of simply a gala at the local Lego square.  Many figures have two heads which is just awesome and allow for even more variability. 

I would recommend everyone to look out for a deal; we had a '2nd half price' discount in stores in the Netherlands reducing the price from E3.5 to about E2.6 per figure!  Needless to say, I bought a whole set plus a few doubles - everyone needs multiple small red dragons!

As for long term value: it will take some time before these will increase in value (if ever) because of the sheer volume of sales, except for the dragonborn paladin.  Buy them for your own pleasure and don't think too much about long term value.