Phyre

Awesome collection! Could you maybe post some more (smaller) group shots, like of the Justice League members, Avengers, X-Men, villains, etc.?

Not at all surprised by this news. With LotR/Hobbit done and with no Castle theme this year, it should be only a matter of time before we see a new Castle theme of some sort. And if it's a return to fantasy, all the better. The 2007-2009 line was what got me into collecting Castle sets in the first place and now that's the majority of what I collect. Hopefully we'll see some nice new factions in this line.

After seeing the pictures, I am sold. This series looks amazing! I have always loved Halloween, and monster figures are some of my favorite aside from castle/fantasy. From those pictures it looks like we will be getting a nice mix of new (for LEGO) classic monsters along with costumed figures and fun takes on old classics. The zombie ones (three of them so far!) are my favorite, but I don't see a single disappointment out of those pictures. They all look amazing! I can't wait to see the rest of them! Personally I hope this does mean they'll do more themed series in the future. Do one new "standard" series every year, then a licensed one, then a themed one. Just think of the possibilities! A castle series, a space series, a mythology series, even a Christmas series. I think it would work great. Do one series for everybody, then everyone can get what they want, and then the licensed and themed series will provide something for certain groups of fans. And if you don't like the licensed or themed series of that year, you can just save your money until the next "standard" series. It also would presumably increase the quality of the standard series. I mean if you think about it, in the past the last series of the year have been less then spectacular (series 8, series 11). Keeping it limited to one series a year should increase the overall quality of the series, and then you would have the specialized series that, from the first look at this monsters series, will allow LEGO to experiment with awesome new ideas they haven't tried before (and probably wouldn't have gotten to if they'd only released one or two monster figures a year in the standard series).

Overall I think this is a fantastic series, a great return to a standard series lineup. As a Castle/Fantasy fan, the Wizard, Jester, Fairytale Princess, and Battle Goddess are my favorites, and they all look amazing. The Wizard is by far my favorite, although I'm slightly disappointed that his cape is printed. While he still looks fantastic, if not moreso with a printed cape, I was hoping for the standard blue cape that so far we've only seen on Martian Manhunter. At least I'll save money and only buy a couple instead of the army I was planning to buy for the capes. :P The Battle Goddess will probably be an army builder for me though. The Hun Warrior and Swashbuckler are pretty cool too and will be somewhat useful for my purposes. As far as non-historical/fantasy, the Spooky Girl, Dino Tracker, Space Miner, Rock Star, Pizza Delivery Guy, and even Piggy Guy are all very nice figures. The Video Game Guy, Lifeguard, Prospector, and Genie Girl I could take or leave. Of course I'll be picking them up to complete the set, but none of them impress me very much. However, they're still a step up from some of the weaker figures from previous lines.

Well of course, I try to look for the positive. There are certainly a lot of useful parts for castle/fantasy, just no useful whole figures, which means no army builders for this series (which I guess is a good thing for my wallet). This is really good news. Although I think I’ll still collect this series, since there are some decent figures and they are “normal” minifigures, the thing that it tells me is that Simpsons will not be Series 12 either, and therefore I won’t feel weird about not buying that series.

I thought that immediately when I saw the pic. But I have to agree with what a lot of people are saying, that this is the worst series so far. Of course, that will only be until Series 13/Simpsons comes out. Partly it’s because I am a fan of castle/fantasy, horror, and mythology, and there are zero of those figures in this series (except for the mermaid I guess). But mostly it’s because of the lack of variety and the poor choices of which figures to put in the series. I mean, why would you put the main character, who is going to be in every set, in the series? And three robot people that have little use as Sci Fi figures (or really anything other than their roles in the movies)? Just looking at the pictures of the sets we’ve seen so far, the new Super Wrestler and Wizard figures would have been much better to put in this series than some of the ones they did. To the people saying that they could see all of these figures in a normal series, personally I could only see about half of them in a normal series (aside from the three or four that we’ve already seen in previous series). Anyway, here’s my take on each of the individual figures. I had to read through some posts to figure out which names went with which figures, but I think I’ve got it now. Calamity Drone – At first, upon seeing the robot figures, I thought they were zombies and got excited. That excitement quickly disappeared when I realized they were robots, and robots that can’t even fit in a sci-fi theme. The dress could be useful if there wasn’t silver on the neck… Disappointing figure overall. Gail the Construction Worker – Not bad. A little plain, but it is a figure that we could have seen in a normal series. Abraham Lincoln – One of the few really good figures in the series. I love the hat/beard combo piece, and the overall figure looks great. Another one we could have seen in a normal series. Larry the Barista – Another good figure, a unique City character that could have shown up in a normal series. Panda Guy – Another really good figure, fitting in with the animal suit subtheme. Also useful as Sexual Harrasment Panda/Don’t Sue People Panda. Velma Staplebot – The hair is kind of cool, but overall a disappointing figure, mostly due to the fact she’s a robot. William Shakespeare – A good figure overall, I like the hair piece in particular. To me it looks like the torso is very similar to the series 8 Actor, which is a little disappointing. Could have seen him in a normal series. Taco Tuesday Guy – Not bad. Looks a little similar to the series 2 Mariachi Guy, but this one looks like he has leg printing, which is pretty cool. And the design on the plate is also nice. Could have seen him in a normal series. So most of the figures in the back row of the picture are pretty good, and most of them could have been in a normal series. Now for the atrocious figures in the front row… “Where are my Pants?” Guy – Seriously? A figure whose only feature is that he isn’t wearing pants. I get that he’s a character in the movie, but what’s the point of including that character in this series? The only interesting part is the shirt, and that doesn’t redeem the figure. Wiley Fusebot – Would be a pretty cool figure if he wasn’t a robot. I guess you could change the face to fix that. The torso and leg printing are pretty cool and might have other uses. President Business – Weird hair and face, plain suit, the only decent thing is the Octan mug. From what I gather he’s the main villain in the movie. Doesn’t make sense to put him in this series. Western Wyldstyle – The hair and the face ruin the overall look for the figure. The dress and torso are pretty cool though and will be useful for various Castle figures. Hard Hat Emmet – This one really boggles my mind. This is the main character of the movie, he’ll be in all the sets, and from the ones we’ve seen so far, wearing the same construction worker outfit. The all-black eyes make him look completely out of place in the series. And we already have the female construction worker. I have no idea why they would put him in this series. Scribbe-Face Bad Cop – Cops are a bit boring. However, the new helmet is cool, and his outfit is different from the previous Collectible Minifig cops. We could have seen a figure like this in a normal series, so I don’t mind him as much. Mrs. Scratchen-Post – Just what we needed, an even weirder version of the Series 10 Grandma. Marsha Queen of the Mermaids – Mermaids are all right, but she looks very similar to the Series 9 Mermaid. And the hair color is terrible. She’s at best an okay figure. Oh well, I guess with this series and Series 13 I’ll save some money. Looking forward to Series 14 and the promise that we’ll see more castle, mythology, space, and pirate figures.

Generic is good because you can create your own storylines and develop a universe with those sets easier than with the theme-specific sets. However, if LEGO were to do a Castle theme based on, say, classic fairytales, that might have potential to be a very cool theme. But for the time being with what Castle lines have been released so far, I voted generic.

I personally prefer the fantasy era Orcs, simply because they fit into a custom fantasy storyline better than LotR orcs. And they look pretty cool too.

This seems like a very strange and unwise move on LEGOs part. This series is clearly going to have a lot less sales than previous series. People who aren't fans of the Simpsons probably aren't going to buy it, especially people who normally only buy a few figs anyway. I'm thinking I might get a set of them just so I'll still have a complete collection of the numbered series, but even then I won't be getting any extras (and I normally get a lot of extras). In fact even people who enjoy the Simpsons would likely only get one or two of each figure. There is zero potential for army building. Oh well, at least I'll save some money. Looking forward to S12 and S14 though.

Series based on the movie and the MMORPG are okay, since we’d still see a variety of characters. But the Simpsons? That’s a very specific license with the only appeal being for fans of Simpsons. I don’t see why LEGO would do that.

The Spartan is still probably my ideal figure, but if I had to pick something they haven't done yet, it would be maybe some type of goblin or maybe a detailed undead knight.

Hm, there are so many cool figures from all the series. I have about 14 Evil Knights (my largest army). But if I had to pick one minifigure to have endless amounts of (especially if I could get it for retail price), it would be the Spartan, either the S2 one or a similar new Spartan.

I think that the phrase “new-again” suggests that they’ll include versions of characters that were released before, but they’ll be updated from the originals (similar to other minifigs we’ve already seen released, like the Forestman, Vampire, Ninja, Samurai, etc.).

I agree, I think this series will contain entirely unique figures that will probably only be minor characters in the movie. Since they are making actual sets for the movie, all the main characters should be in those sets. I don’t think they’ll include previously released figures, and I don’t think it will really be that different from previous series. We may even have a couple army builders depending on what types of figures make appearances in the movie.

The reason figures like the Zombie and most other Series 1 figures are going for so much is because it was the first series, and LEGO didn't really know how well they would sell, so they didn't produce as many as they have for the later series (once they realized it was such a hit). The zombie was the clear army builder of Series 1, so that combined with the limited quantities of Series 1 out there makes it the most valuable figure. I haven't seen it go for much less than $20 in a while. Later army builder figures, even the Spartan in series 2, have pretty much stabilized around $10-12, which in my opinion is reasonable. I have seven Spartans and was able to get them all for under $10. However, I have not been able to get any Zombies aside from the original three I got from Toys R Us. In fact, of all the figures I've bought on eBay or Bricklink once a series was discontinued, none of them are from Series 1. My advice would be to just wait for a good deal to show up. It happens occasionally, where someone will list one for a better price, you just have to be patient and check constantly.

Currently, my top three armies are: Evil Knight – 14 Minotaur – 12 Elf – 11

Or maybe it's a Jack Frost-type figure, but the person who saw it wasn't familiar enough with the character to give it its proper name. It would fit in, since S9 is due out in the middle of winter. And the other figures seem at least plausible. But still, at this point it's very hard to say how true any of this is.

I found my first S8 figures at Toys R Us yesterday. Managed to find 3 Conquistadors, 2 Manbats, an Actor, a Diver, and a Businessman. All of them are great. I'll definitely be doing some small-scale army-building with the Conquistadors and Manbats, and I'll grab a few extra Actors as well.

When I started uploading my figures, I was admittedly biased, voting for my figures whenever they appeared, often regardless of how cool the opposing figure was. But then I realized that not only was this not fair, but it altered where my figures "should" be. In other words, when I look at the rankings I'm interested to see what other people think of my figures compared to everyone else's (and each other). When I give my figures unfair votes, it messes up the results so to speak and my figures aren't accurately ranked. Anyway, what I started doing was only voting when the two figures were not mine, or when they were both mine, and refreshing the page whenever it was mine vs. somebody else's. I'm really interested in seeing this really take off, and I'd really like to see a lot more figures getting added regularly. I have a few more of mine to still upload, but we need more participants, more overall figures, and more people voting to get truly accurate results. It's a really fun and cool idea, and hopefully we can get some more participants. It would be great if we could get this site on the front page of Eurobricks as a news story. I think that would really help more people to get involved.

That's a great idea! Hopefully a lot more people get involved with this. I'll upload some of my figures now. EDIT: I'm having problems uploading... Whenever I try, it says "invalid file." My picture fits the requirements (300x300 pixels and JPG), and I've tried uploading it both from my computer and from brickshelf, but nothing seems to work...

As far as the zombie goes, I would say it is the most valuable/desired figure released so far (currently goes for about $20 on eBay and Bricklink). And I view it as an army builder as well. There are various scenarios for a zombie apocalypse, but in the scenario where the dead are brought back to life and rise from their graves, they would all look more or less like the S1 zombie (the males at least), dressed in suits (at least when the apocalypse started). I see the desire for a more diverse zombie population, but I have no problem with an army of zombies in suits that all look the same, because they would be essentially the first wave of zombies in the scenario. The figures I view as army builders are (in order of release, not preference): Zombie, Forestman, Spartan, Elf, Musketeer, Werewolf, Evil Dwarf, Minotaur, Roman, Evil Knight, Conquistador, and Manbat. Top five in terms of popularity I'd have to say are Zombie, Spartan, Elf, Roman, and possibly Evil Dwarf.

I'm an army builder (not an extremely serious one - currently my largest army is 11 elves), and so I've been keeping eyes on the prices of many of the more desired figures on eBay and Bricklink. Zombies are easily the most valuable figure. I have yet to acquire any besides the original three I got in 2010. I am kicking myself for not buying a bunch from a guy on Bricklink who had them for like $3.40 apiece back when they first came out. He had ten if I remember correctly, and if I'd have known then how much they'd skyrocket in value, I would have bought them all. Currently they seem to go for around $20 apiece. Rarely will you find them less than that. Ebay auctions for them typically end around $20. I saw a couple pop up on Bricklink a couple weeks ago for $12 apiece, but they were gone the next time I checked. Spartans are probably the next most valuable, but they seem to have stabilized at a more manageable price than the zombies. I've won three on eBay this year for around $8-10 apiece, and you can generally find them for less than $12. Elves seem to be at similar rates, maybe slightly cheaper, although I haven't bought any recently since they currently are my largest army. Romans surprisingly are already at a rate close to the Spartan as well (surprising because they were out much more recently than the Spartan). Evil Dwarves and Musketeers seem to hover around $4-$7, and Minotaurs maybe about $3-$6. Evil Knights I'm not sure on, as I've gotten all nine of mine so far in stores, and haven't really checked eBay or Bricklink for them. Those are the only figures I really have interest in army building. The non-army builder figures can generally be found for between $2 and $5. Sometimes you might get lucky on eBay and win one for less than $2. My entire collection, consisting of all 7 complete series, several extras, and a few small armies, is probably worth quite a bit. I just did a quick calculation of just my army builders (zombies, Spartans, elves, mukseteers, dwarves, minotaurs, Romans, and evil knights), and came up with a total of $337 using the lowest rates I listed above. My three zombies are worth $60 alone. Collectible minifigures - especially the army builder ones - definitely seem to be a good investment.

All right, I analyzed the previous series for probably over an hour, to determine what kinds of figures there's a good chance of seeing, how many unique figures we get per series, how many city-compatible figures, how many females, and even how many figures are clearly based on a movie, TV, or historical character. And here is my guess list, with several ideas reappearing from my S8 guesses. 1. Beekeeper - There are on average four unique (never-before-done) City figures in each series. A Beekeeper is a very unique idea and one that I'm sure LEGO will tackle eventually in this series. 2. Teacher - From a quick glance at other people's lists, this one seems to be popular. I expect we'll get one, and if so it will be a female since a male might look too much like the S7 Computer Programmer. 3. Horseback Rider - With the new helmet mold they made for the Team GB figure, I fully expect to see an international release of a similar figure using the same mold. Possibly a recreational horseback rider, but maybe a jockey. 4. Scarecrow - Just a standard scarecrow that could be used on any LEGO farm. 5. Female Elf - We get on average two Castle figures per series. And the S8 Manbat has shown us that LEGO isn't against releasing figures extremely similar to those available in sets at the time. Therefore that means this figure could very well be in S9, despite the fact that we're very likely to get at least one of the female elves in the upcoming Hobbit wave or the next LotR wave. And I really want that Legolas hairpiece or a similar one done with yellow ears, so that there can be more yellow-skinned elf customizing possibilities. 6. Golem - With this idea being featured prominently in the Heroica games, I'm surprised we haven't seen a minifigure version yet. 7. Snake Charmer - We get on average one figure per series that can be easily attributed to a specific culture (i.e. Royal Guard, Bagpiper, Bavarian Guy, Geisha, etc.). I think it's about time we get an Indian Snake Charmer. 8. Golfer - We also get on average one sports figure per series, and now that we have an American Football Player, the sports figure that arguably moves to the top of the list is the Golfer. 9. Groom - I was surprised we didn't get one in S8 to go with the S7 Bride. So I am expecting him to show up in this release. 10. Kid Surfer - We generally get an “extreme sports” figure in every series - skateboarders, skiers, etc. LEGO seems to love throwing these guys in. So my pick for this series’ edition is a kid surfer. I chose a surfer because we got a skier in S8, a skateboarder in S6, a snowboarder in S5, but we haven’t had a surfer since S4. To provide some variation with the figure, LEGO might do a young kid surfer. 11. Red Spaceman - Space is one of the most common sub-themes featured in the CMF. I looked at the figures they’ve released previously, and decided there is need of another good guy to match the five bad guys. So they’ll probably do another Spaceman, possibly red, but maybe blue or green. 12. Pumpkinhead - While a horror figure might be unlikely considering S9 will be out much earlier than Halloween, I decided to throw this one in anyway. I don’t think a female zombie is likely in the CMF yet (although I may be wrong), so I chose a pumpkinhead. We’ve had, by my count, three Jack-O-Lantern minifig heads, yet we still don’t have an actual pumpkinhead figure. It’s easy enough to customize one, but we are really in need of an official one. Whether Monster Fighters gets another wave or not, I fully expect to see a Pumpkinhead figure within the next year, one way or another. 13. Ancient Shepherd - A unique figure that would be very cool to see. 14. Medusa - This seems to be another very popular request, and with Toth’s Medusa design, I’m hoping this figure will be released soon. 15. Female Hippie - Another figure I expect to see eventually, maybe not in this series, but eventually. Hopefully she’ll come with a new acoustic guitar mold. 16. Scientist - There are often figures than can be easily associated with certain characters or people (Jungle Boy - Tarzan; Detective - Sherlock Holmes; etc.). They should release a scientist who resembles Einstein (which I believe is another one of Toth’s designs).

All right, here's my take on the series now that we have pictures. First of all, I think it's a nice step up from S7. Not as great as S4, S6, or S5, but probably tied with S1 for my fourth favorite series. With that said, here's my take on each of the figures, in order of how much I like them. 1. Conquistador - An awesome figure. The clear army builder for this series. True, he's not really historically accurate with all that gold, but since my LEGO collection is castle and heavily fantasy oriented, a small army of these guys will fit in just fine. 2. Manbat - Another great addition to the line-up. Another army builder for me. Unlike others who are really fond of this figure, I actually do plan on getting the Vampire Castle. Then I can use the brown manbats as generals and the black ones as the main bulk of the vampire army. 3. Diver - Although I don't have any use for extras of him, he's still a very cool figure and one we've been wanting for a while. LEGO really did a nice job on him. 4. Shakespearean Actor - A very pleasant surprise since he was originally labeled as an "ancient thespis." I was not expecting this, but I am very pleased. Extras will be very useful for minifig customizing. 5. Santa Claus - Very cool figure. Finally a proper Santa! He's awesome and a great addition to the CMF line-up. 6. Cowgirl - Very nicely done figure. She's very cool, and although I won't be getting any extras, she'll look very nice next to the other Wild West CMFs. 7. Alien Queen - I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, but it looks like LEGO did a really nice job. I wish I had some Alien Conquest figures for her to go with, but she'll still be nice on her own. I'll probably get an extra for the cape and dress piece. Too bad the torso has some alien technology on it or else I could use that as well for an evil medieval/fantasy queen. 8. Bavarian Guy - A very unique figure. He looks pretty cool, and even though I won't really have use for him, I'll buy a couple extras for the parts - especially the pretzel and forestman hat. 9. DJ - A lot cooler than I was expecting. 10. Pirate Captain - Pretty nice, although a little to similar to Brickbeard for my liking. Will probably grab a couple extras for parts though. 11. Businessman - With a bowler hat, just like I was hoping! I'll buy a couple extras just for the hats. 12. Evil Robot - He looks pretty cool, and even though he's similar to the S1 Robot, his printing is different enough to make him stand out. I think he'll complement the S1 one very well. 13. Football Player - It's a figure we've been wanting for a while, but I can't help thinking LEGO could have done a little better. For one thing, I don't really like the color scheme - too much white. And like others have said, he should have a football instead of a trophy. Not horrible, but could be better. 14. Skier - A little boring, not nearly as cool as the S2 skier. 15. Red Cheerleader - The S1 cheerleader was better, but it's nice to have one from an opposing team. 16. Fairy - This has to be the biggest letdown of the CMF line since they started it. When the list first came out, this was the figure I was the most excited about. But now that we have pictures, it is clearly one of the worst CMFs of all time. Why on earth did they not use Toth's design? This thing doesn't even look like a fairy except for the wings. If it weren't for the wings and wand, I'd think it was a really poor remake of the S4 figure skater. I'll be grabbing one just to complete the collection, and only one extra for the wings - combining the wings with the green princess from the Kingdoms Joust set should produce a much better fairy figure that's much closer to Toth's design. So all-in-all, aside from the fairy, this series looks pretty solid to me. I can't wait for it to hit stores, as my S7 collection is finished save for a few extras I still need (mostly Evil Knights).

Yes! He looks just like what I was hoping for! Where did you find that image?