REVIEW: 8683 Minifig series 1 -

[Shadows]

There's still the question of whether on not the printing will be consistent, and that can't be answered with just one review.

Print errors and variations go way back before the so-called "China" problem and are a general quality control issue that can occur with any figure coming from any of the factories. If I spent a few hours digging around, I could post a dozen print problems going back to at least 1980, ranging from entire prints misaligned to missing or misaligned individual colours (one of the uglier problems). A few are fairly well known including the wrong facing Black Falcons, inverted silver/black Imperial Soldiers and those green/dark green pirates from the latest releases. All set figures, all made somewhere else. Heck, somewhere I have a very dark red overalls torso, much darker than it's supposed to be, and it's obvious it was double printed somehow. I'm rather fond of it, actually.

The point is that eventually, all of the people who don't intend to buy them because they think they're poor quality need to just not buy them, the same as all the people who don't like Technic or Star Wars or anything else should simply not buy them. Muddying up every topic with angst and whining serves no purpose, especially if the problem turns out to have been corrected. Mind you, I'm not talking about magnets because even I'll admit that there are still some odd things coming out there, but I do believe that is a product of seeing parts made before things were corrected and will improve in time. Pointing out something that is visually wrong there makes sense, pointing out that nothing here looks wrong, but it's missing a useless neck mark so "it's Chinese crap!" doesn't.

I think people spend a lot of time spinning their wheels over a $2 purchase. Just buy a damn figure when they're available and then decide and save a lot of grief. We're not talking about a $500 set.

Call me a moron, but this is one of the first samples, so it's more likely that all the printing is going to be fresh and aligned. I'm going to wait for them to be mass produced by the millions before I make a call on whether they belong in my collection.

It doesn't make you a moron to do that, but wasting a lot of time poo-pooing every possible topic would, don't you think?

At some point we're all going to have to face the fact that LEGO is intended to be a toy first and foremost, not a $100 collectible where we can expect an amazing level of quality. As it is, we get a great product for a reasonable price (usually) and more often than not, all I see are complaints about it. That doesn't make the community look overly reasonable to TLG and honestly, I'd ignore some of the whining and crying if I was in their position, yet they sincerely seem to be trying to listen and improve things and I personally respect that. Part of respecting that is not tainting every conversation with speculation and rumour.

[Holodoc]

Thanks, Copmike for the review!

We'll have a closer discussion about how you got it and so on in a few weeks...

If CopMike says it's old TLG quality, it is. End of discussion. There are about 3 people I would trust absolutely when it comes to LEGO and he's one of 'em.

Exactly my thoughts!

Captn Kirk also stated the same, so I removed my sig about the bad quality.

Way to go, Lego!

[Blondie-Wan]

Perhaps I've just been lucky when it comes to quality, but I haven't really had a lot of troublesome issues with stuff I've gotten recently. Nice to see evidence whatever issues are there are being addressed, though.

Regarding this specific minifig, I absolutely love a) the fact that even this unique design still incorporates the Classic Space insignia putting him in the same LEGO Space universe as the rest of the Space line, and b) that oh-so-retro-classic style raygun, looking straight out of old Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers strips or serials. I foresee lots of vintage-style space opera MOCs putting it to good use.

Regarding the overall line in general, what I'm most curious about now is the odds of getting any one particular character. IIRC, we've heard that there will be varying quantities of different figures, but we have no idea yet which ones will be the rarest or most common, or exactly how rare or common each will be.

I think it might be a good idea to start a special thread here to track this info, where people post what minifigs they get out of how many packages they open, so we can get an idea of the general odds for each character. What does everyone think?

[Ras 74]

Oh you lucky Banana!

Thanks for the nice review CM!

So looking forward to when those will be in stores!!

[not-in-use-anymore]

Does anyone else think the gun looks like a fish, or is it just me ?

Edited March 12, 2010 by indianajones

[Big Cam]

Awesome review Mike, I didn't even know this is how they were coming out.

Where did you get it!!!! The smaller lightsaber blade is excellent, I hope it's not a permenant change for all lightsabers though, just blasters.

[Siegfried]

If CopMike says it's old TLG quality, it is. End of discussion. There are about 3 people I would trust absolutely when it comes to LEGO and he's one of 'em.

Yeah, I feel the same way.

[Rick]

The smaller lightsaber blade is excellent, I hope it's not a permenant change for all lightsabers though, just blasters.

I just hope this is the introduction of a 3-long/wide bar alongside the 4-long. Could be useful for making some minifig tools.

As to the quality issue: glad to hear that debate finally settled. Dutch Ambassador Aliencat had also been promised by TLG these would be up to standard and I sure am happy to have it confirmed by CopMike now.

[Cakeman]

Oh, but one important question has not been asked nor answered - is it possible to "feel" what minifig is in the bag before you open (or even buy..) it? It would spare me a lot of clowns, divers etc. Though if you can only order these from TLG, this will not be an issue.

[Fugazi]

Regarding the overall line in general, what I'm most curious about now is the odds of getting any one particular character. IIRC, we've heard that there will be varying quantities of different figures, but we have no idea yet which ones will be the rarest or most common, or exactly how rare or common each will be.

I think it might be a good idea to start a special thread here to track this info, where people post what minifigs they get out of how many packages they open, so we can get an idea of the general odds for each character. What does everyone think?

I totally agree, and I've posted this minifig rarity topic in the General sub-forum, as the minifigs pretty much cover the spectrum of the existing themes.

[Extreme Sadness.]

At this moment I am in a small rowboat floating in a sea of my own Drool. WHITE SP HELMET!YAAAAAAAYY!Although the gun looks a little MBish. . . . . . . . . .

NEED THESE NAO!

-ES-

[The Green Brick Giant]

Save the cheerleader, save the world.

Except it became "Kill the cheerleader, save the show", after season 1.

[simonjedi]

Thanks for the review CopMike!

Really cool how we get a new length of lightsaber blade - now we have lots more customizing options for lightsabers!

I love all of the new molds we get here! Three-long lightsaber blade, ray gun, white Space Police helmet, and 3 x 4 tile with studs in the middle row; what more could you want?

The cheerleader

[Matn]

Thanks for this "review"! I like that new bar. Hopefully LEGO'll release it also in brown/grey/tan/black as LEGO Harry Potter wands!

[CaptainBrickBeard]

Thank you for the review Copmike!

I look forward to collecting these minifigs, however, it is a legitimate concern regarding the possibility that these new minifigs will lack in quality (and I'm not talking about the neck printing).

I just compared the latest SW magnet set, just released a couple of weeks ago, to the same figures from the building set, and there is still a noticeable difference in texture, color, and print. It normally wouldn't matter to me that these new minifigs are made in China, but only if they retained the quality and consistency that we have come to expect from Lego. Unfortunately they do not. It doesn't matter that they only cost $2, they should still maintain the quality that is present in their mainstream products. Yes, I'll still collect these sets, but I would hate to see the quality of our Lego to continue to slip. I still have confidence that Lego will try to improve upon this problem, as they have done in the past, but it doesn't hurt to let them know that we notice these differences.

Shadow - Calling or implying that people are morons for voicing their concerns is just uncalled for! Especially since this is a "REVIEW" of a new minifig...

[Grimmy]

I love all the minifigs in this collection but I'm thinking that they will cost more then $1.99. At least $2.99. The build-a-minifig packs are 3 minifigs per pack for $10 If they do end up being $1.99 that will be a steal of a deal!

I'm glad they aren't coming out yet though. There is still a lot to collect for me! They come out with so much stuff it's crazy. If I was rich I would have this kool big Legoland room lol.

[Peppermint_M]

*snip* Although the gun looks a little MBish. . . . . . . . . .

*snip*

-ES-

Thats a good thing. Lego has spent too long with only the most basic or strange looking tools, MB and Oxford have overtaken them with many more attractively moulded accessories. I am happy we get a new raygun instead of another megaphone/blaster/torch thing.

[Johnnhiszippy3]

Print errors and variations go way back before the so-called "China" problem and are a general quality control issue that can occur with any figure coming from any of the factories. If I spent a few hours digging around, I could post a dozen print problems going back to at least 1980, ranging from entire prints misaligned to missing or misaligned individual colours (one of the uglier problems). A few are fairly well known including the wrong facing Black Falcons, inverted silver/black Imperial Soldiers and those green/dark green pirates from the latest releases. All set figures, all made somewhere else. Heck, somewhere I have a very dark red overalls torso, much darker than it's supposed to be, and it's obvious it was double printed somehow. I'm rather fond of it, actually.

The point is that eventually, all of the people who don't intend to buy them because they think they're poor quality need to just not buy them, the same as all the people who don't like Technic or Star Wars or anything else should simply not buy them. Muddying up every topic with angst and whining serves no purpose, especially if the problem turns out to have been corrected. Mind you, I'm not talking about magnets because even I'll admit that there are still some odd things coming out there, but I do believe that is a product of seeing parts made before things were corrected and will improve in time. Pointing out something that is visually wrong there makes sense, pointing out that nothing here looks wrong, but it's missing a useless neck mark so "it's Chinese crap!" doesn't.

I think people spend a lot of time spinning their wheels over a $2 purchase. Just buy a damn figure when they're available and then decide and save a lot of grief. We're not talking about a $500 set.

It doesn't make you a moron to do that, but wasting a lot of time poo-pooing every possible topic would, don't you think?

At some point we're all going to have to face the fact that LEGO is intended to be a toy first and foremost, not a $100 collectible where we can expect an amazing level of quality. As it is, we get a great product for a reasonable price (usually) and more often than not, all I see are complaints about it. That doesn't make the community look overly reasonable to TLG and honestly, I'd ignore some of the whining and crying if I was in their position, yet they sincerely seem to be trying to listen and improve things and I personally respect that. Part of respecting that is not tainting every conversation with speculation and rumour.

Do you realize that you just spent more text complaining about people who complain about quality than any of them actually spent complaning? Personally I like to know what other people think about changes Lego makes to their products and I think shifting manufacturing from Europe to China is worth talking about.

And as a side note, you state that "LEGO is intended to be a toy first and foremost", but I'm pretty sure Lego is marketing these minifigures as collectible - they come with a display stand and the packaging reads "16 to collect"

[Rick]

Do you realize that you just spent more text complaining about people who complain about quality than any of them actually spent complaning?

I think the point is that even when one of the most respected EB members indicates that the quality of the minifigs is up to standards, a discussion about 'cheap Chinese plastic' tends to erupt in this thread. Many EB threads over the past months have evolved into discussions on ABS quality, even though 'Quality issues' have their own thread in the 'General' forum. These discussions make many threads annoying to read. The same goes for US vs. European prices. Sure, it's an issue, but it shouldn't 'pollute' every other thread.

[SpiderSpaceman]

that spaceman rocks, your review rocks, etc. Since we're letting you lay down the law on quality, another question it'd be cool to have a final answer on: how tough is feeling through the foil bags? Could one really not just grope for two spherical lumps in the bag? (I am talking about the pom-poms, I'm not that kind of LEGO fan ) It just still seems to me that you could definitely push the larger accessories to the corner of the bag and pinch around them.

I'd be more than content with getting a spaceman over a cheerleader. especially one whose cheer is so lacking in the 'being not half bad' department

Also, think there's any use in me checking my Toys R Us already? They were getting ready for the Prince of Persia shipment last week, and that seemed like some early stocking to me. Maybe the minifigs will be out early too?

Edited March 12, 2010 by SpiderSpaceman

[escortmad79]

Different bag design to the one posted on the Polish site (Lugpol) a while back:

With it comes a different item number, here's hoping they will be easy to spot going by different numbers then.

The Polish site had a forestman in their bag

[funkybrick]

Thanks very much for sharing, CopMike! The spaceman looks great!

Glad to hear that they are not made from the notorious "cheap Chinese plastic"!

Cheers,

funkybrick

[CopMike]

I think the point is that even when one of the most respected EB members indicates that the quality of the minifigs is up to standards, a discussion about 'cheap Chinese plastic' tends to erupt in this thread.

On the quality of this minifig- I can´t see any difference to other white new minifigs that I have. If I´m wrong let me know then, I´ll gladly do a poodle ! I guess white is a pretty easy color to do.

Different bag design to the one posted on the Polish site (Lugpol) a while back:

With it comes a different item number, here's hoping they will be easy to spot going by different numbers then.

The Polish site had a forestman in their bag

Well, mine was 4568039 and the Polish one 4559116. BUT, I checked a bunch of other bags with different minifigs inside them (didn´t feel as bulky as the Spaceman) and all of them had 4568039. So, I don´t know why or how this works. I would go for the feel technic !

[Dunjohn]

Good luck on your cheerleader hunt Copmike. I think you can feel her pumpkins trough the packaging

tell me he meant pom-poms, please God, somebody tell me this man meant pom-poms....

Urkkh. This little review has only whetted my appetite even more. I'm not that big into minifigs, but I really want these!

[Darth Legolas]

Thanks so much for the review! This one's my favorite! I never realized the lightsaber bar was shorter until I saw this! I love the retro space gun, and I've always loved the helmet. Of course, the helmets not as new.

I'm really looking forward to these! It's a great variety of pieces for each one. By the way, was the garbage story true? Also, was it easy to tell what pieces were inside the bag?