| Minifigures | |
| Subject: | Collectible minifigures |
| Licensedfrom: | The Lego Group |
| To: | present |
| Sets: | 703 minifigures (45 series) |
| Characters: | Various, including characters from sports, history, popular culture, and more. |
| Website: | http://minifigures.lego.com/ |
Lego Minifigures (stylized as LEGO Minifigures) are a 2010 Lego theme based on a set of collectible Lego minifigures. Each figure is an original character with new clothing and facial designs, and many contain previously unseen accessories. Each series usually contains 16 different minifigures; however, some series contain as few as 9 minifigures, while others contain up to 22. Since 2021, the number of different minifigures for a series is set to 12. In 2023, the Disney 100-anniversary series came out, bringing the total number of figures to 18, although it was once again reduced to 12 with the second Marvel series. This series also introduced paper boxes, instead of the plastic bags, making it no longer possible to feel up the pieces for each figure.
The series consists of a number of individually themed collectible Lego minifigures based on movies, sports, history, and popular culture.[1] The figures are sold individually in sealed, unmarked packets, giving customers a random chance at obtaining any particular figurine. While considered a novel approach by some, it has raised controversy amongst enthusiasts and collectors, increasing the amount of difficulty in obtaining a complete collection.[2] Purchases from many retailers make no guarantees regarding the contents of a particular packet. Despite attempts to obfuscate the contents of these packets, the bags of Series 1 and 2 have a second figurine-specific barcode on the rear of the packet, next to the EAN/UPC product barcode (which is unique to each series). This allowed customers to identify individual figures within the packet, significantly decreasing the amount of money and effort required to obtain a complete collection, and eliminating the possibility of unintentionally receiving duplicates.[3] There were also apps for both iPhone and Android devices that utilized these barcodes.[4]
Lego has eliminated the figurine-specific barcodes on all Series 3 and 4 packets and replaced them with a braille-like system of dots embossed in the lower seal of the bag. In theory, this will allow customers to continue identifying the figure enclosed within.[5] [6] Later series do not have any markings to indicate their contents.
On average a new series has been released every four months. Release dates sometimes vary between countries.
In September 2021, Matthew Ashton, The Lego Group's Vice President of Design announced the Collectible Minifigures alongside City, Friends, Creator, Lego Classic, Technic, Speed Champions, Monkie Kid, Ninjago and DOTS themes will continue until at least 2023.[7]
During the development process of the Lego Minifigures theme, Lego designers Tara Wike explained the concept of the Lego Minifigures theme. Tara Wike explained, "Here’s a good example… I’ll go to Austin and say, ‘let’s do an elephant girl’, and he'll doodle that up and we'll go brief the sculptors. And it's usually not just out of thin air, we’ve done some other animal helmets before, so we’ve got some experience with that. We'll have a rough wish, but we know that we'll have limitations, and we go to the sculptors and they come back with their proposal, and we always have a mould engineer sitting in on our weekly design meeting so that they can flag things right away. But our sculptors are actually very good at knowing what we can get in and out of a mould."[8] Creative Lead Astrid Graabæk explained, "We design both for kids and adults in this theme. We look at what kids from five year olds and up find exciting, that also sparks their imagination and trigger play for them. At the same time, we also look at what is exciting for adults, and especially AFOLs. Are there new elements, character choices, or colour changes we think would be exciting? We launch three times a year and it’s a variety of classic launches (numbered series) and also these external IP such as Looney Tunes which is the current one out now."[9]
According to BrickLink, The Lego Group has released 703 Collectible Minifigures.[10]
| 1 | 08683 | Series 1 | 5 March 2010 | 16 | |
| 2 | 08684 | Series 2 | 2 September 2010 | 16 | |
| 3 | 08803 | Series 3 | 14 January 2011 | 16 | |
| 4 | 08804 | Series 4 | 1 April 2011 | 16 | |
| 5 | 08805 | Series 5 | 22 August 2011 | 16 | |
| 6 | 08827 | Series 6 | December 2011 | 16 | |
| 7 | 08831 | Series 7 | May 2012 | 16 | |
| 8 | 08909 | Team GB Olympic Series | July 2012 | 9 | Released exclusively in the UK and based on Team GB to commemorate the London 2012 Summer Olympics |
| 9 | 08833 | Series 8 | September 2012 | 16 | |
| 10 | 71000 | Series 9 | 7 October 2012 | 16 | |
| 11 | 71001 | Series 10 | 6 February 2013 | 17 | Contains Mr. Gold (Only 5000 Produced) |
| 12 | 71002 | Series 11 | 30 June 2013 | 16 | |
| 13 | 71004 | The Lego Movie Series | January 2014 | 16 | Based on The Lego Movie |
| 14 | 71005 | The Lego Simpsons Series 1 | May 2014 | 16 | Based on The Simpsons |
| 15 | 71007 | Series 12[11] [12] [13] | August 2014 | 16 | |
| 16 | 71008 | Series 13 | December 2014 | 16 | |
| 17 | 71009 | The Lego Simpsons Series 2 | April 2015 | 16 | Based on The Simpsons |
| 18 | 71010 | Series 14 | August 2015 | 16 | Branded as a Monsters Series |
| 19 | 71011 | Series 15 | 5 December 2015 | 16 | |
| 20 | 71012 | The Lego Disney Series 1[14] | 1 May 2016 | 18 | Based on Disney Characters |
| 21 | 71014 | DFB Series[15] | May 2016 | 16 | Exclusively in Europe. Based on DFB - The Mannschaft (Germany National Football Team) |
| 22 | 71013 | Series 16 | 1 September 2016 | 16 | |
| 23 | 71017 | The Lego Batman Movie Series 1[16] | 1 January 2017 | 20 | Based on The Lego Batman Movie |
| 24 | 71018 | Series 17 | 1 May 2017 | 16 | |
| 25 | 71019 | The Lego Ninjago Movie Series[17] | 1 August 2017 | 20 | Based on The Lego Ninjago Movie |
| 26 | 71020 | The Lego Batman Movie Series 2[18] | 1 January 2018 | 20 | Based on The Lego Batman Movie |
| 27 | 71021 | Series 18 | 1 April 2018 | 17 | Party-themed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Lego minifigure |
| 28 | 71022 | The Lego Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Series 1[19] | 1 August 2018 | 22 | Based on Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchises |
| 29 | 71023 | The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part Series | 1 February 2019 | 20 | Based on |
| 30 | 71024 | The Lego Disney Series 2[20] [21] | 1 May 2019 | 18 | Based on Disney Characters |
| 31 | 71025 | Series 19[22] [23] | 1 September 2019 | 16 | |
| 32 | 71026 | The Lego DC Super Heroes Series[24] | January 2020 | 16 | Based on DC Super Heroes |
| 33 | 71027 | Series 20 | 19 April 2020 | 16 | |
| 34 | 71028 | The Lego Harry Potter Series 2[25] | 1 September 2020 | 16 | Based on Harry Potter franchise |
| 35 | 71029 | Series 21[26] | 1 January 2021 | 12 | |
| 36 | 71030 | The Lego Looney Tunes Series[27] [28] [29] | 26 April 2021 | 12 | Based on Looney Tunes franchise |
| 37 | 71031 | Marvel Collectible Minifigure Series 1[30] [31] [32] [33] [34] | 1 September 2021 | 12 | Based on Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise |
| 38 | 71032 | Series 22 | 1 January 2022 | 12 | |
| 39 | 71033 | The Lego Muppets Series[35] [36] [37] | 1 May 2022 | 12 | Based on Jim Henson's Muppets franchise |
| 40 | 71034 | Series 23[38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] | 1 September 2022 | 12 | |
| 41 | 71037 | Series 24[47] | 1 January 2023 | 12 | |
| 42 | 71038 | The Lego Disney 100 Minifigure Series[48] [49] [50] [51] | 1 May 2023 | 18 | Based on Disney Characters |
| 43 | 71039 | Marvel Collectible Minifigure Series 2[52] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] | 1 September 2023 | 12 | Based on Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise |
| 44 | 71045 | Series 25 | 1 January 2024 | 12 | |
| 45 | 71046 | Series 26 | 1 May 2024 | 12 | Science fiction theme |
| 46 | 71047 | Dungeons & Dragons | 1 September 2024 | 12 | Based on Dungeons & Dragons franchise |
See main article: Lego Minifigures Online. On 29 August 2013, Funcom officially announced a massively multiplayer online game based on the Minifigures theme, in which there are several worlds the player can travel to and fight enemies, as well as dungeons based on the setting. The game used traditional click-to-move mechanics, allowing younger users to jump into the action. However, for advanced users, there were special abilities activated using the number pad. It was going to be free-to-play, but you could unlock Minifigures by purchasing one and entering a code, however they could also be obtained in-game. It was released in late 2014 for iOS, Android, and PC as either a download client or in-browser on the LEGO website.[60]
Funcom announced that LEGO Minifigures Online would be closing on 30 September 2016. Starting 6 June 2016, new players will be unable to join the game and the in-game chat will be disabled. Existing players would still be able to play up until 30 September 2016.[61]
In 2022, the Lego Minifigures brand also produced a Plush Toy Collection.[62]
In 2022, Lego Marvel Series Collectible Minifigures (set number: 71031) was awarded "Toy of the Year" and "Collectible of the Year" by the Toy Association.[63]
In September 2022, The Muppets (set number: 71033) was awarded "Toy of the Year" and "Collectible of the Year" by the Toy Association.[64]