71004 LEGO Minifiures – The LEGO Movie Series is the 12th series in the Collectible Minifigures line, and the first licensed series. Being based on the movie, and not having seen the movie yet, I can only assume that aside from the obvious main characters, the rest of the minifigs in the line up are secondary or tertiary supporting cast members. Still, they are generic enough to pass off as just another CMF line except for the three robot figures.
These are in no particular order.
President Business
Boy is he angry. Both sides of his double printed head is angry. One is angrier than the other but they are still both angry. President Business’ only accessory is a cup with the Octan logo and and name printed on it. His gray suit is pretty plain too. And maybe that’s why he’s angry. ‘Cause he’s not that exciting of a figure to get. His only redeeming feature is his unibrow cause he will be the first and only minifigure to have a unibrow. He could be angry about his unibrow too. I guess we’ll never know…
Best Part: Hair
Worst Part: none
Case Distribution: x6
What to feel for: Hair element or cup with handle
Scribble-Face Bad Cop
You know that movie Terminator 2? You ever wish you had a T-1000 minifig? Well Scribble-Face Bad Cop comes pretty darn close. He comes with a double-sided head where one face indeed looks like it was scribbled on with Sharpie, a generic motorcycle copy helmet, handcuffs and an Android phone 1×2 printed tile. I only say it’s an Android not because I like Apple but because it continues the robot joke I set up with T-1000.
Best Part: Helmet
Worst Part: none
Case Distribution: x6
What to feel for: Handcuffs
Marsha Queen of the Mermaids
Marsha’s most striking feature is her hair. It’s a blue shade that I don’t think I’ve seen before. It might be bright light blue because it matches up pretty well with the mermaid tail from series 9. The hair also has a starfish and a bit of kelp printed on it. The rest of the figure is your standard mermaid affair (clamshell bra, fish scales printed on the tail). Her tail is makes her one of the bulkiest figs in package so you should have no problems feeling her out.
Best Part: Hair
Worst Part: none
Case Distribution: x2
What to feel for: Mermaid’s tail
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln is the worst figure in the series. Sure he looks great, and the Gettysburg Address tile is a nice touch but what kills the appeal of the fig is the fact that his stove pipe hat and beard are one piece. I’m pretty sure back in the day when stove pipe hats were all the rage, people other than Abe Lincoln wore them, and I’m pretty sure that those that did wear them didn’t have a beard like Abe Lincoln either. And it’s a real shame its a one piece deal since the hat actually has an interesting shape to it. There is a slight pinch in the middle giving it a concave/hourglass shape. It would have been an awesome accessory to use on a minifig, but unless you want to make them look like Abe Lincoln clones, there’s really no point in getting more than one. “One and done” so they say. He should have come 2 to case instead of 4.
Best Part: Gettysburg Address tile
Worst Part: Beard/Hat
Case Distribution: x4
What to feel for: Rubbery Beard/Hat
Velma Staplebot
Ah, Velma. How is anyone supposed to trust you after carrying around the super secret plans in plain view on your clipbard? Those plans being “Taco Tuesday” of course. How any of that plays into the plot of the movie remains to be seen. Her beehive hair is in what looks like a nougat color. I can’t be sure since I don’t have a lot of nougat colored elements on hand to look at. Her torso doesn’t have any exposed robot elements, so no silver printing to prevent you from using the torso elsewhere so yay. The legs are a different matter though with its silver knees.
Best Part: Beehive hair
Worst Part: none
Case Distribution: x2
What to feel for: Square tile AND round hair (hard plastic)
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare bald head is probably one of my favorite new elements in the series. I am still waiting for LEGO to make just a bald element with no hair but in the meantime, the different iterations we have so far will keep me sated until then. The printed tile has the words “To build or not to build” which I feel is a bit of a cop out. If LEGO can keep things historically accurate with “Four score and seven years ago” on the Abe Lincoln tile, why not “To be or not to be” for Shakespeare?
Best Part: Bald Head
Worst Part: Printed Tile
Case Distribution: x2
What to feel for: Neck Ruff
Panda Guy
Panda Guy is this series’ costumed minifig and he does not disappoint. He comes with a sweaty minifig head with its tongue sticking out. The eye holes on the hard plastic Panda head line up perfectly with the ones printed on the minifig. The stuffed panda bear animal toy is the same as the previous bear elements except painted in a panda pattern. The zipper printing on the back of the minifig torso completes the look.
Best Part: Panda Head
Worst Part: none
Case Distribution: x6
What to feel for: Panda helmet (hard plastic) with ears or stuffed panda (hard plastic)
Gail the Construction Worker
I’m pretty sure there aren’t a lot of female construction workers in LEGO’s CITY theme, so having Gail is pretty nice to break that stereotype. Her hair and helmet is like Emmet’s in that it is one piece and, like Emmet’s, isn’t really a detriment. I do object to giving Gail’s face lipstick, but I guess they had to make it as obvious as possible that it is a female’s head. I do like that they added dirt smears on the cheeks around the freckles though. The torso is decidedly female and the legs have this awesome tool belt slung low, Han Solo style.
Best Part: Hat with female hair
Worst Part: none
Case Distribution: x2
What to feel for: Jackhammer
Mrs. Scratchen-Post
Mrs. Scratchen-Post comes with everything you’d expect a crazy cat lady to have: cat, cat themed sweater, and cat hair everywhere. They printed cat hair everywhere on the minifigure except the back of the torso which seems like an oversight. I’m not up on my crazy cat lady lore, but I imagine the fanny pack holds cat treats. Having the figure come with two cats would have been crazy awesome.
Best Part: Cat
Worst Part: Not including a second cat
Case Distribution: x2
What to feel far: Cat
Wiley Fusebot
Wiley Fusebot has some great detail on both the front and back of the torso as well as on the leg printing. He has a beard element which I believe is unique and never seen before. But the best part of the fig has got to be the coonskin cap. Despite it being made of that hard rubber material used elsewhere on unique elements, it is easily my favorite part of the fig. An western style revolver and dynamite accessorize Wiley.
Best Part: Coonskin cap
Worst Part: None
Case Distribution: x4
What to feel for: Dynamite
Calamity Drone
Out of the three robot minifigs included in this series, Calamity Drone is the counterpart to Wild West Wildstyle. Calamity is also dressed in a saloon style dress but since she is a robot she has silver printing on the torso where yellow would normally be matching the silver head and arms. A fascinator hat tops this fig and I don’t know if it’s just late or my old eyes playing tricks on me but I swear her hat is in three different shades of red.
Best Part: Fascinator hat
Worst Part: Silver print on torso
Case Distribution: x2
What to feel for: Skirt, then rifle
Larry the Barista
Larry the Barista has a hairpiece that makes him look like he needs a hair cut. No joke. Once I put the hair on the fig, the volume of the hair immediately became apparent. That was the first thing I noticed. The second thing I noticed was that the coffee cup is an entirely new mold. It’s a tapered cylinder with a slight lip for the lid. The brown apron has some nice details, everything a barista would need: pens, tickets, and a name tag. Some back printing to show the apron ties on the fig would have been a nice detail but we’re not so lucky.
Best part: Coffee cup
Worst Part: Lack of back printing
Case Distribution: x4
What to feel for: Coffee cup
Taco Tuesday Guy
Taco Tuesday Guy could very easily be called American Cheese Slice Guy since the 1×1 yellow tiles are what I think are supposed to be tacos but they look like slices of American Cheese instead. If LEGO can print a cookie pattern on a 1×1 round flat tile, I don’t think a taco print would be too difficult. Almost every other part of this minifig has some really nice printed details. The torso is the only other exception. It is plain green with plain red arms making the poncho a necessary accessory for that Mexican restaurant server look and feel.
Best Part: Poncho
Worst Part: Torso
Case Distribution: x4
What to feel for: Sombrero or Taco Dish
“Where are my pants?” Guy
“Where are my pants?” Guy wins the best minifig name award. WAMP? Guy comes with two sets of legs, Elvis-style hair, and a casual Friday Hawaiian shirt. Just from his name alone, I’m willing to bet his role in the Movie will get a lot of laughs.
Best Part: Tied between name and hair
Worst Part: none
Case Distribution: x4
What to feel for: two sets of legs
Wild West Wyldstyle
This version of Wyldstyle has her in an old west saloon-style dress using the typical 2x2x2 slope brick for the dress part. There’s a lot of detail on the minifig from the corset laces on the back to the skull pendant on her neck. Overall a nice figure and can be useful in a variety of situations.
Best Part: Torso
Worst Part: None
Case Distribution: x4
What to feel for: Dress slope, then either fan or hair
Emmet
Emmet is one of the few figs in the series that has a double printed head and it is probably my favorite piece for that overly enthusiastic grin. Or maybe it’s a laughing face. Even if you’re not a fan of that side, the other side has a slightly crooked smile that’s just as good. His construction hat has the hair molded in and unlike Abe’s hat/hair combo piece, it works well here. It’s generic enough that it can fit on just about any construction worker and the hair is long enough to cover the face printing on the back of the head. The legs have a printed badge with Emmet’s name on it severely limiting its reusability but hey, maybe your construction crew boss only hires guys named Emmet. His 1×2 printed tile is a bit of mystery but I’m sure once we see the movie its significance will be realized.
Best Part: Head
Worst Part: Legs
Case Distribution: x6
What to feel for: Since the scribble face bad cop also comes with a 1×2 tile and a helmet that’s similar in feel to Emmet’s helmet, first feel for the 1×2 tile, then the absence of handcuffs. If you find handcuffs, you’ve found the cop.
Conclusion
Using our new numeric scale rating system:
5 – An Absolute Must Buy
4 – Worth the money
3 – Get it when it’s on sale
2 – One for the clearance bin
1 – Not even if they paid you to take it
I give this series 4 out of 5 stars. The Collectible Minifigure series are always a good value at $2.99 a pop. Looking at the entire line up, this series just feels like it has less value than previous series. It may be slightly hampered because of the Movie tie-in and for some that may tilt the scale for the better or for the worse. Because of that, I would have given it a 3 but from a value perspective, it’s still a good buy. And that little thrill you feel when you rip open a pack? You can’t put a price on that.
