REVIEW: 71004 LEGO Minifigures – The LEGO Movie Series

[lifeinplastic]

Great review as always White Fang!

Sadly, it wasn't for a 'normal' series which isn't you fault but I do always enjoy seeing your detailed pictures of every part along with comparative pictures for similar themed figs.

My favourite parts are the heads for Larry, Lincoln and Lord Business, the Hawaiian shirt torso and the female robots' hairpieces but no 'must have' figures. I do really like repeats to add variety so I am fairly pleased to see a different Mexican sombrero and mermaid tail. Hopefully having a panda figure won't prevent a teddy costume guy being made in future. The most disappointing part of this series is the lack of new accessories.

Roll on 2015 so we can enjoy reading White Fang's great review of a proper minifig series as this is the first where I haven't wanted all the figures and am quite indifferent about many and it doesn't sound like we will get another normal wave soon.

(Is anyone else having trouble typing?)

[Piranha]

Great review WhiteFang!

Not my favorite series but there are some good figs in this one. Larry, William Shakespeare, Emmet, and a few others are all nice to have. The frontiersman outfit can easily be refitted with a normal head for use in historical themes. I do feel it is lacking that one must have minifig (usually a historical one) but that is not a big deal.

Interesting how the packaging appears to have a matte finish and is lacking the "?" design.

[Freddy Bricker]

Thanks again Whitefang for another great review. You know it is actually your reviews that led me to eurobricks, so thumbs up for that. I initially intended on buying all the figs, and now, I want them even more! Not one fig I don't like, however President business

is only really an attractive figure for his Octan mug. I am really digging Gail the construction worker, and the panda suit guy. I mean a Panda suit guy, time for a new sig fig!

[TheLegoDr]

Thanks for the review. I'm surprised of the distribution, although again I'm not...I don't love the ratio of the rarer figures, because it seems to be the ones I want the most are them.

But the review is thorough like always. There are a lot of great figures in this series. I will most likely get them all because I don't know how many times I see a neat accessory or helmet/hair or torso and want it and it is in a CMF that I don't have. So I might as well get them all so I have them. My daughter will want some too. I know she said she wants the pants guy and the Panda. Kinda odd how appealing the where are my pants guy is to little kids..funny concept I guess.

[Gryphon Ink]

Okay, Scribble Face is creepy awesome, Gail is excellent, and I can't even believe TLG made a second cat lady in so short a time. It's great because I never found a Grandma in the last series, and I really really like the new cat. Wyldfyre is a pretty cool steampunkish character. Most of the others don't excite me too much, and the distribution is not a plus.

[SnapLock]

Great Review thanks.

I think the minifigure accessories like hats & some torso's are the best thing about this series, Overall not a series im going to get to excited about.

might buy 1 or 2 figs just for the hair pieces.

[jonwil]

Loving the cop (helmet, smartphone, torso, sunglasses) although the drawn-on alternate face printing might be an issue if using the cop with the wrong headgear.

Also loving the Hawaiian shirt guy, I need that shirt for generic civilian figs.

Only figs I dont like at all are Calamity Drone, Wyldstyle, the dynamite guy, the panda suit and the mermaid.

Now that I see these figs in all their glory, I will want 1 x president business, 1 x Emmet, 1 x Lincoln, 1 x cat lady, multiple cops (at least 2, possibly more), 1 x Shakespeare, 1 x female construction worker, at least 1 Larry, possibly multiples, 1 x Velma Staplebot (since the torso appears to be usable for non-robot figs if you swap the hands), 1 x sombrero guy and at least 2 of the Hawaiian shirt guys, that torso is amazing. (more variety in generic civilian torsos is one thing LEGO is missing, all the City sets keep comming with the same boring torsos that I have 10 of already :( )

[Ceroknight]

Thank you for the review! I would honestly only get these for the historical figures or the cyborgs

[nana]

Thanks for this excellent review!

Frankly, I am becoming more and more disappointed with CMF. I like the panda and the mermaid though.

I have collected all of CMF. Now I just hope this could be the last wave of CMF...

[-GZ-]

Thank you for another great review, WhiteFang! Now can't wait to get these figs (hope that they'll appear before January even in my place, since Series 6&9 were there before the New Year). The Lincoln is wonderful one (another head to Caesar-Revolutioneer-and-Surfer's eyebrow family), and too bad that there're only two Shakespeares in each box.

[Blakstone]

Excellent review as always, Whitefang. I will get most of these minfigs but I might skip a few of the robots. Can you confirm if Larry's coffee cup is a new piece or just a new print?

[fred67]

I'd like to throw in my Kudos to WhiteFang, too - another great review of CMF where we get to see all the little details. Always a great job, this time is no exception.

I'm torn about "collecting" these. I really want to know, after the Simpsons, if they will put out what they officially call "Series 12," because that will mean that, like the Team GB figures, I don't need to collect them all to have what I consider to be a complete collection. I also don't know, then, if I should put them in my display with Series 11 (I have two series to a display case), even if I do get them all.

It would push me over the line to just buy a box if I really wanted at least half of them, but as it is, I count 7 that I find interesting.

But thanks to Whitefang, again, it never occurred to me (I really don't know why) to just swap out the ugly robot heads and have a handful of new female figures. That makes two more that would work great... and then my enthusiasm was deflated seeing they will only be two to the box. Aaarrrggghhh!!!

The Wyldstyle torso might be OK, but I don't think I'd want more than one of that hair in a MOC.

I think I'll just bite it and get the box. All things considered, the distribution isn't that bad, considering most of my likes are 4 or more... except the mermaid (would only need one more) and Shakespeare (again, would only need one more).

The panda guy... is so cool, but six of them? I love the stuff panda doll, but on the whole, I don't think I need six of them!

I will state my usual disappointment with the distribution... I don't give a damn about fitting an even amount so that they can make uniform distributions in the 30 count boxes, but even if I did, they still have a number of figures that have six that could have four, allowing at least some of the twos to be fours instead. So even with that 30 count box argument, the distribution still stinks.

[Niku]

Great review as usual, is very helpful.

[jluck]

I'm pretty pleased with the distribution this time through! Of the ones I want only the mermaid and Shakespeare will be difficult to find! Love Lincoln, panda man, the Mexican, and the barista!

Certainly no major army builders, but some definite must haves. I think TLG is keeping the CMF series fresh with this idea...at least we don't have another skater

[2maxwell]

Really excited to see the coonskin cap!

[WhiteFang]

Thank you everyone who have taken their time to share their comments and thoughts with one another. It is truly great to see the general positive reaction for this series and I am sure it will go down well like any other previous CMFs.

I somewhat disagree that there are no "army builders" here. Emmet and Gail would both be great army builders if you want to make a construction crew, since even their hair and faces are fairly generic if you separate them from the context of the LEGO Movie, and a little mixing and matching with face prints (and legs, of course, on account of Emmet's nametag) would bring you a very diverse construction crew.

Point taken. I rarely notice that City minifigures can be used largely for army building concept. Not saying that it will be a zero possibility, but I find that City occupational designs such as construction workers and policemen for example, are always commonly available in the regular LEGO City Theme, which might not appeal widely to many insane army builders who are targeting at specific genres. However, I like how you like to plan to mix and match for the construction workers approach and it will definitely be a treat for City fans.

What color are Velma Staplebot's legs? They aren't Medium Nougat (Medium Dark Flesh), since that's her hair color, but they don't look bright enough to be regular Bright Orange (classic orange) in these photos. If I had to guess, I'd say they're Nougat (Flesh), a VERY rarely used color these days — even licensed minifigures tend to use Light Nougat (Light Flesh) as their skin tone, and it's almost never used as anything OTHER than a skin tone.

Aanchir, I am no colour expert, so I may not talk concise colour sense. From a layman point of view, I think it is more towards medium nougat, with a slightly brighter tone as compared with the hairpiece colour.

Lincoln's quote from the trailer is a parody of his famous quote "A house divided against itself cannot stand", which was explicitly in reference to half of the United States allowing slavery and half prohibiting it. The original quote was a paraphrase of a biblical passage. More information here.

Thank you for pointing it out.

Does "Where are my pants guy" look like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective to anybody else??? Alllllrigggghty then.

Indeed it is!

Excellent review as always, WhiteFang. With all this detail, I wonder how long it takes you to review a new series. 6-8 hours?

It will take me at least 1 to 2 weeks to finish up this entire review. I do have a full-time job plus other real life commitments. Spending 6 to 8 hours will only probably take care of my first half of the photo-taking session only.

Can you confirm if Larry's coffee cup is a new piece or just a new print?

Blakstone, it is a new accessory piece with a brand new print!

I'm torn about "collecting" these. I really want to know, after the Simpsons, if they will put out what they officially call "Series 12," because that will mean that, like the Team GB figures, I don't need to collect them all to have what I consider to be a complete collection. I also don't know, then, if I should put them in my display with Series 11 (I have two series to a display case), even if I do get them all.

I wish I could know for sure, but I do share your sentiments on the placement on the CMFs, Team GB, LEGO Movie Series and the rumoured LEGO Simpson. I am unsure but I am betting my gut feeling that there will be a Series 12 'one day', just that we can't be 100% certain. Time will tell and this new series will be out later this month or beginning of next month. It will give you more time to think about it.

But thanks to Whitefang, again, it never occurred to me (I really don't know why) to just swap out the ugly robot heads and have a handful of new female figures. That makes two more that would work great... and then my enthusiasm was deflated seeing they will only be two to the box. Aaarrrggghhh!!!

That's the nice part of it! I could totally change the hands as well to align the torso to be usable in other LEGO minifigs context in a non-robotic manner.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Amazing new minifigs and delightful review!

[Brickus]

These are fantastic, I'm definitely getting two full sets of these, and I can't wait for the actual sets.

[Melan-E]

Nice review!

I wouldnt rely too much on the distribution shown above. Series 11 boxes were random, some boxes had none of a certain character yet the same character was found 10x in another box. Lego is trying to prevent resellers from figuring out the 'rarer' characters and reselling them online for a higher price point.

[Kristel]

Thanks for the awesome review, Whitefang!

There's a couple of "must have's" for me like the Panda Guy and the cat lady, but I struggle to get excited of the collection as a whole.

[The Cobra]

Thanks once again to WhiteFang for another great review. I stil think this is the worst series so far (though the movie itself looks terrific), and I learned the European price will be 2.99, making it even worse.

I admit I will buy a complete series, as I did with all the other ones, but I hope something better is coming throughout 2014.

[obsidianheart]

I will now admit a terrible truth: I buy Collectible Minifigures for parts alone. I do not own a single full series, and I will buy multiples of the same figure if it suits my nefarious purposes (i.e. I own 5 Space Villains for their torsos and helmets). Occasionally, I will use a full, unaltered figure for whatever, but that is rare. However, I will always buy figures for parts, rather than using sites like Bricklink, to express to LEGO that I desire them to keep producing exclusive parts and prints in these series.

All that said, I will be buying more of this wave than any other wave before. So, there's that.

[Pellaeon]

Great review, thanks WhiteFang!

Way more back printing and double-sided heads than the past CMF series. Let's hope that continues.

Edited December 1, 2013 by Pellaeon

[LukeWarmTea]

The fig ratios are a bit disappointing as far as gender ratios are concerned. Every female fig except for Wyldstyle only shows up two to a box, and even Wyldstyle shows up fewer times than her male co-stars Emmet and President Business (and the oddly-common Panda Suit Guy). But this is a small complaint. As AFOLs we have many options for getting the figs we want, and I'm glad to at least be getting this much variety in female figs.

Okay, Scribble Face is creepy awesome, Gail is excellent, and I can't even believe TLG made a second cat lady in so short a time. It's great because I never found a Grandma in the last series, and I really really like the new cat. Wyldfyre is a pretty cool steampunkish character. Most of the others don't excite me too much, and the distribution is not a plus.

I know right?! Though we should take the female distribution with a grain of salt, apparently. I would be well peeved if I didn't score a Wyldstyle - love that do - but why is she not in her iconic hoodie? Which I love? Ah well. I am super excited about Gail! Gail and her red, pony tailed helmet. I used to believe this kind of mold was impossible - now TLC has no excuse for all their female firefighters and other helmeted women. Yay!

Great overall review Wild Fang, so detailed as usual. One thing though - I'm not sure how integral the cat lady (or Gail) are to the plot of the Lego Movie, the feel I'm getting is that there are very few major female roles in the movie. It seems more likely to me that TLC wanted to keep their fig series somewhat gender balanced, and so grabbed whatever quirky female characters the film had to offer.

[timmyc1983]

Thanks for a great review nice and early!!

I am a bit disappointed that Mrs Stratchinpost is so limited in the boxes, I really want her, mainly because her cat is almost identical to my real cat But the Panda suit guy and Larry are a must for me and president business would be good mainly for the Octan mug

Thanks again and I look forward to 1st January 2014 (or whenever they make their way to Aus)