REVIEW: 71000 LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series 9

[Peppermint_M]

We are really getting spoilt for choice on the female figures aren't we? So many different themes to go on and some great face prints.

Sandy, the way this is going you are going to be able to produce a dress boutique next time you present to us all the gowns LEGO has created!

Personal Favourites are:

Roller Derby Girl - Great face print and the printed legs remind me of Pepper Roni's. I have also wanted roller skates since MB made some in the early 00s that were too small for LEGO figures. The vest is also a nice casal print to populate your city with and the printed helmet is a really nice touch, it could have been let blank but TLG added a spiffy print.

Policeman - Well still not the classic British Bobby look I would really enjoy having, I do have a sot spot for those formal caps and the badge tile is a nice addition over yet another pair of handcuffs. Another great head print to add variety to a layout or MOC scene

Mech Warrior - Robot Jox! Oh he looks just like one of those from that terrible 80s film! I love him . The printed head is a lovely bonus and adds possibilities for custom figures, again another part they could have left blank.

Space Avenger - Love love love every detail there, I can see these being hard to find in AFOL heavy areas (No such issues here darlings). I hope we see that armour more often.

Forest Maiden - The hair is interesting, I reserve judgement for IRL but the rest of her is lovely and new shield prints have been a favourite since childhood.

The rest are also fantastic, mostly from a parts point of over theme or overall build. My sisters are dazzled by the starlet and mermaid and my brother is rather taken by the Chicken Man and Cyclops. I am looking forward to exploring the potential of the waiter's tray in MOCs and a new sword from the Knight shall certainly increase my armoury.

All in all, another great series and another wonderful review.

[Chri5kng]

Seeing all the figures together makes me even sadder that I didn't have Lego until last month. I miss out on all the series 1 to 8 mini-figures

[Albero - BEL]

Roman Emperor, Fortune teller, waiter....

So many nice figs this time!

[FabuFabu]

I'm sorry, but the Cyclops is not a medieval monster!

It's more more more ancient ;) The Cyclop was one of the sons of Poseidon and it is part of the legend of Ulysses. It's just Greek, no Roman, and for sure no Medieval :)

Medieval times were just part of mid/northern Europe (Germany, France, Spain, UK, Italy etc)

You should correct this information, this is a time-error of over 1000 years...

Same for Giulio Cesare ;)

Edited December 4, 2012 by FabuFabu

[Etzel]

Thanks for the great review WhiteFang! Too bad it became so popular that it crashed the site

A really good series, I like most of the minifigs. But the distribution of the minifigs in the box is horrible! Only 2 of some figs really sucks and will make it harder and more expensive for everyone who wants a full set. It hardly helps the army builders either since there are so many different army builders out there, some wants knights, some wants aliens, some wants forest maidens, some wants waiters. I wish the figs came in as even number as possible. Hopefully it's just one of those early uneven distributed boxes that you've got WF and the rest will be the normal 3 full set boxes.

My favorites in this series are the Fortune Teller, Judge, Forest Maiden and Roman Emperor, all great designs. Not that interested in the Battle Mech but I will get one to complete the collection.

[gerkenz]

Hi, again very cool figures! The knight is very cool, but do the sword looks different from each side? Is the guard smooth beveled on both side or just on one?

[Janay Bicer]

The new ones are okay I guess. I like the chicken, mermaid and the waiter. Perfect review by the way, except the page was having a spaz while loading for 5 mins -.-

good job

[Dane]

I really think this series 9 is one of the best but If I should give a comment on the ratio of 2-6 instead of 3-5 minifigures, if this also is the case with the official boxes I have to say that I think that TLG have dropped the ball here.

If TLG truly believe that they have made 16 great new figures they should as a minimum put 3 of each in every box of 60 since this both will be good for people buying a whole box and for kids (and others) buying single packs from a box.

I never believe the 3-5 ratio has been a problem for army builders in past series because there the main problem have often instead been that the army builder figs have only been 3 per box instead of 4 or 5.

This 2-6 ratio seems to make to many good figs in this series rare and either difficult or more expensive to obtain for kids and adults alike and others too ordinary and will probably keep many collectors from buying a box.

In my opinion a best of both worlds solution would have been to keep the 3-5 ratio and then let the most popular army builder figs be 5 or at least 4 per box.

[GuntherThePenguin]

Well for me, the Starlet, Cyclops, Fortune Teller, Judge, Plumber, and Lady Marion are must-haves, but all these figs are wonderul. Least favorite is the Cop, but I know I'll still be getting him.

[Aanchir]

Great review. One correction I'd like to make: I'm pretty sure the Cyclops is Olive Green, not Sand Green. Unless the color looks really, REALLY distorted in these photos, which I doubt because all the other colors look crisp and authentic.

[WhiteFang]

Thank you so much for your kind words and thoughts!

Great review. One correction I'd like to make: I'm pretty sure the Cyclops is Olive Green, not Sand Green. Unless the color looks really, REALLY distorted in these photos, which I doubt because all the other colors look crisp and authentic.

Noted on that as my choice of wording may not be entirely correct. It ought to be 'Olive Green' and not 'Sand Green'. I am not really a colour master like you do.

Is the guard smooth beveled on both side or just on one?

It's the same for both side.

Sandy, the way this is going you are going to be able to produce a dress boutique next time you present to us all the gowns LEGO has created!

I am looking forward to what Sandy could do to present her latest update of dresses!

I'm sorry, but the Cyclops is not a medieval monster!

It's more more more ancient ;) The Cyclop was one of the sons of Poseidon and it is part of the legend of Ulysses. It's just Greek, no Roman, and for sure no Medieval :)

Medieval times were just part of mid/northern Europe (Germany, France, Spain, UK, Italy etc)

You should correct this information, this is a time-error of over 1000 years...

Same for Giulio Cesare ;)

Opps. I meant it can be used in the medieval ages as a form of mythical monsters against my knights. Apologies for the confusion.

Hopefully it's just one of those early uneven distributed boxes that you've got WF and the rest will be the normal 3 full set boxes.

I can't be for certain but this is one hope that we may look forward to.

This 2-6 ratio seems to make to many good figs in this series rare and either difficult or more expensive to obtain for kids and adults alike and others too ordinary and will probably keep many collectors from buying a box.

In my opinion a best of both worlds solution would have been to keep the 3-5 ratio and then let the most popular army builder figs be 5 or at least 4 per box.

As mentioned, I also do not know the rational behind TLG sudden change of distribution in this new Series 9. It is a new revolutionary change. I do agree that some of the '2' minifigures will be rated much higher. This will really depend on market forces and all we have seen so far, is no formulation of statistics yet.

Because of the crash, I will try to remember and repost my comment :)

Thank you Mencot for attempting to re-compose your comment once more! It is very much appreciated to hear your thoughts on this review and the new series.

The Hero Knight, every castle fans dream CMF. But as someone already stated we have alot of knights already so an other castle army fig would had been better. But as knight he is awesome addition and getting 6 in one box is great. The refrence, tribute to fantasy era Crownies is a nice touch but I, and as others too would seen him as his own heraldry not belonging to any faction. And also that there was an Royal/hero knight in the Crown faction, the Gold knight. But that gu had the old man head, so maybe he is retired and this is his son now acting as the Kings bodyguard

(Whitefang if you have a Crown Gold knight, could you post a image of these two standing together? ) The colors are nice, is it pearl silver or? A small con about the colors is that he is too silver/gray, place im next to a gray wall and he will blend in like a statue. But that actually is also a good use of him as an armored statue

Originally, I wanted to use the Crown Golden Knight, but I realised I am unable to do so since my only piece is still resting in the minty box. Therefore, I am unable to share this image with you, which is why I choose to use other subsistues to associate with this new Heroic Knight.

[pawcanada]

This line up looks amazing. It has a brilliant mixture of horror, warrior/action, sci-fi and "mythical", all of which are the mini figs I tend to hone in on. The fact we've gotten a Dr Jeckle/Mr Hyde "expy" alone is enough to make this a good wave though it does make it a shame we won't see any more Monster Fighters waves that could incorporate a variant of him like the did with other CMFs. I will admit I was originally dissapointed at the idea of the Knight not having the larger sword the Highlander and Evil Knight when I saw the previews last week. However I'm loving the design of the new short sword so that more than makes up for it.

I will admit I am a little dissapointed by the Roman Emperor. I was expecting something similar to what's in the design sheet that we have seen (i.e. an armoured/field leader styled Emperor) so I could display him in my "warrior/action" line up. However I am willing to forgive them as the Cyclops, Battle Mech, Alien Avenger, Knight, Mermaid, Mr Good and Evil and Forest Maiden more than make up for it.

However this does look like it's the last wave I'll be excited for until Wave 12 is announced, as the leaked line up for ten and eleven is sadly lacking in the "genres" I like to collect (although this may change when images become available).

None the less, great job on the review; you've made me even more excited about this wave than I was before :D

Edited December 4, 2012 by pawcanada

[Cecilie]

I see my comment was lost in the crash. You make too damn great reviews Fangy!

Like I said before the server ate my reply, I'm very pleased with this series as a whole, but I'm very sad about the new distribution. I think this will only create artificial scarcity and inflated prices on bricklink. And I "need" 3 complete sets . Guess I'll have to buy two boxes now ...

[Aanchir]

I see my comment was lost in the crash. You make too damn great reviews Fangy!

Like I said before the server ate my reply, I'm very pleased with this series as a whole, but I'm very sad about the new distribution. I think this will only create artificial scarcity and inflated prices on bricklink. And I "need" 3 complete sets . Guess I'll have to buy two boxes now ...

Alternatively, if you know any brick-and-mortar stores that carry the minifigures series, you could try raiding them for one each of the scarcer figs, and then buying a complete box online. A lot of stores I've been to in the US have employees who are well-aware of the various ways of identifying figs inside the packages and who will sometimes even help you to do so. And an advantage to scarcer figs is that they might not be the first to disappear since they're the least likely for customers to find by picking up a random package. If the stores haven't already been cleaned out by more adept minifigure hunters who are specifically looking for those figs, you might have a good chance.

Also, I'm interested in seeing what the prices will be like for the rarest figs in the aftermarket. Their rarity will drive prices up, but since only the Forest Maiden is an "army builder" fig in the traditional sense, they might not have the same demand as the scarcest figs from previous series. If this fig distribution proves anything, it is that TLG is certainly not weighting the distribution with the intent of creating "chase" figures for army builders, since all but one of the traditional "army builder" figs is six-to-a-package, and the rarest figs seem to be the ones that LEGO's core audience of preteen boys would want the least of: specifically, female figs and male figs with mundane professions.

I'm not the least bit happy with this trend (I love the diversity of female figs in the Collectible Minifigures, and artificial scarcity hurts the average buyer's chances of getting them), but it should at least show that TLG isn't trying to exploit a certain fanatical segment of the audience for these figs, instead trying to cater to their core audience just as they should.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Aanchir

[AgentVortex1010]

Thank you so much for this wonderful review. I am new here on Eurobricks, but I have read every single one of your reviews.

The series is pretty nice, but it does have its draw-backs. I don't like the fact that the Chicken Suit Guy does not have any torso printing. On the other hand, the Cyclops and the Battle Mech are both on my list .

[TheLegoDr]

My message got lost in the crash, so here goes..

Thanks for a great review, once again! Always entertaining and informative.

I will agree with the majority here and complain of the distribution numbers. I was an army builder previously, but I don't care to army build the plentiful figures in this series. I would rather have multiples of the Maiden and Fortune Teller, both of which are the rarer figures. I normally buy a box with two other families to get 3 sets with some extras, but now that isn't an option because someone would be left out. I guess I'll just end up tossing a lot back when I'm fishing for figures next month.I definitely want one of each of the army builders, but not full armies, so they will just get in the way. I suppose I'll just buy every single long skirt piece I can find and hope I get enough.

I'm not disappointed in Caesar, but I won't get more than 1 of him. I may end up getting more than 1 judge for that torso print. I think the wine bottle is neat with the printing, but when did they start putting labels on bottles? I'd almost think it isn't as versatile with the printing, although it would limit the appeal for something "new" also.

The knight fits in well with the evil knight, but he does look rather plain, which is probably authentic. The update to the crown shield is interesting, but since I don't have any crownies I won't be getting too many of him. I guess updating a previous faction helps things for some builders. I'm almost exclusively a castle collector and I'm not that interested in the castle figures lately.

Now the Forest Maiden on the other hand is beautiful and I would looove to get many extras of her (as stated above). But I agree about the long shield. The printing is awesome and I definitely welcome a new oval shield, but I do wonder why they don't include the smaller triangular shields in the CMF line. Not just for use with the bow, but in general. Granted, when I've seen images of official jousting, the triangular shields are actually quite small in real life, so maybe the oval would be better. And another long bow will come in handy.

As good as this series is and I think I put it as my favorite so far, that is mostly because I don't remember what came out in previous series... But I think I am more excited for series 10 than this one thanks to the leak. So I guess it is good I can't/won't army build this series, because come April/May I will have plenty of figures to stock up on.

Thanks again for the review!!

Edit: I just noticed the Knight does have a small triangular shield, so I take back my original words. I for some reason assumed it was the oval to compare with the evil knight's oval shield. I didn't pay close enough attention.

Edited December 4, 2012 by TheLegoDr

[Wardancer]

I'll repeat my thoughts on Maid Marian.

I like her a lot, but she needs to be changed to be an army builder.

The shield is fantastic, I have been looking for another big elven shield and here it is, Awesome

Her hair is very special, Too special to be armybuilt, if you take 10 of these next to each other it will look exaggerated.

Also I think she needs pants. She looks more like a princess than a warrior and one doesn't need many pricesses.

Maybe the actors pants will fit her nicely..

I shall need 10 and 10 extra shields.

[TheLegoDr]

Also I think she needs pants. She looks more like a princess than a warrior and one doesn't need many pricesses.

Maybe the actors pants will fit her nicely..

I shall need 10 and 10 extra shields.

I think pants are a better fit for a Forest archer, but she is a Maiden, so I guess that lends to the dress piece. And if you look at Merida from Brave (which I know a lot of people have), she wears a dress but is always in the country riding her horse and whatnot. I think it is just more typical of the time period, since most women would not have been "warriors." But I do agree putting a lot of these next to each other might look off with the specialized pieces. But on her own she looks amazing and that shield is . I will definitely want extra shields. I also want a return of the Forestmen in next year's Castle return..maybe this figure as a precursor?? Doubtul, but a guy can dream. We need more gingers in LEGO form.

[Chri5kng]

I really think this series 9 is one of the best but If I should give a comment on the ratio of 2-6 instead of 3-5 minifigures, if this also is the case with the official boxes I have to say that I think that TLG have dropped the ball here.

If TLG truly believe that they have made 16 great new figures they should as a minimum put 3 of each in every box of 60 since this both will be good for people buying a whole box and for kids (and others) buying single packs from a box.

I never believe the 3-5 ratio has been a problem for army builders in past series because there the main problem have often instead been that the army builder figs have only been 3 per box instead of 4 or 5.

This 2-6 ratio seems to make to many good figs in this series rare and either difficult or more expensive to obtain for kids and adults alike and others too ordinary and will probably keep many collectors from buying a box.

In my opinion a best of both worlds solution would have been to keep the 3-5 ratio and then let the most popular army builder figs be 5 or at least 4 per box.

What do you mean by that?

Also this is a question to those who own one or more minifigs but where do you find them? I have never seen them at WalMart, Target, K-mart, etc...? Are they found in the front where they keep pokemom cards and other cards at, because I have never seen them in the Lego or toys section of the store. Also I live in the U.S if that help.

[escortmad79]

P*ss poor distribution by TLG, great for army builders in terms of Cyclops', Heroic Knights, Policemen & Alien Avengers but poor for those looking for full sets. There will be a lot of disappointed kids & Bricklink & Ebay sellers making a small fortune on those hard to find!

Don't know what was wrong with the distribution as it was

[Bricknblue]

There are dark blue police minifigures that almost look exactly like this one in the World City sets.

Also I don't see how you can think series 10 will be the last when the CGI pictures from series 11 are parts from a Lego database. That's just silly.

And only having two complete series in a box, and thanking Lego for that, and that that is based on Lego listening to what we want, that's just immature. Having less series of minifigures per box just makes it difficult for kids, parents, and fans to find the ones they want. Kids and parents buy these, and they aren't buying tons of them to build and army.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Bricknblue

[Blakstone]

Excellent review. I will be collecting so many of these. Before this review, i think I might skip the Cyclops but now I want one of those.

I do not like the distribution ratio but why do we think that a single case would represent the distribution of every case? Even in WhiteFang's review, it mentioned that later cases in another series showed differently. Perhaps every case would have a different distribution. That is the way it works for collectible card games.

I understand that others would want lots of both space characters and the police officer for their collection but my collection is focused on historic and mythology so I do not need any of those. I want lots of the fortune tellers and forest maidens. I have no issue if I get quite a few Heroic Knights and Cylops. I want at least one judge and Caesar. If the printing on Caesar was different I might want more of them.

[TheLegoDr]

Also this is a question to those who own one or more minifigs but where do you find them? I have never seen them at WalMart, Target, K-mart, etc...? Are they found in the front where they keep pokemom cards and other cards at, because I have never seen them in the Lego or toys section of the store. Also I live in the U.S if that help.

I've seen lots in the LEGO aisle at Target, Wal-Mart and TRU here in Nebraska, USA. Rarely the Target pack is on the aisle over from the rest of the LEGO, but it's usually close in my experience. So I'm not sure why you haven't seen them before. Maybe you've came in when the series was sold out? I know in my local Wal-Marts currently they don't have ANY of series 8 and I think Target moved them to the Christmas stocking stuffer section. But I know TRU here has series 7 and 8 still. And one of our Targets has series 6 still.

I will never be able to fathom the distribution numbers in this series. I'm not sure why not make each figure about the same rarity instead of artificially creating such an imbalance. And the rarer figures are the females, which maybe the target audience isn't into, but I know people will buy them in the aftermarket for inflated prices won't be happy (me included). Or out of the kids in the target audience, it will be harder for them to get any female figures too.

Edited December 4, 2012 by TheLegoDr

[Kd2apoof]

I love the american policeman!

[wokajablocka]

Brilliant review as always Whitefang, thank you very much. I love the rare figs the most unfortunately, Plumber, Maiden, fortune teller are the best IMO. The Police man is a great improvement on prior releases of police figs.