Disney Minifigures

The latest wave of collectible LEGO minifigures is the Disney Minifigures series. (Like The Simpsons and The LEGO Movie licensed minifigures, this series is not numbered.) I was only interested in acquiring a handful of these characters for my collection, so this review will be shorter then my others of this type. The seven characters I have purchased to date include:

Aladdin: Aladdin looks the part, and would make a good generic street urchin character in an Arabian-flavored game. His skin is a light brown, a rare ethnic color for minifigures. His hair and fez are a single piece, which makes using this part for another character problematic. Finally, he comes with the magic lamp, but since the Genie gets this part, too, it would have been nice to include Abu instead.

Alice: The Alice minifigure is very faithful to the Disney animated film, and quite pleasing to a Lewis Carroll fan like myself. She comes with a pleated skirt (a hard plastic piece that fits over the hip pegs), a bottle labeled "Drink Me," and a small cake tile (which, sadly, does not read "Eat Me"). Many years ago, I ran Gary Gygax's D&D adventure Dungeonland, and I hope to run another Wonderland-based game some day. When I do, this Alice minifigure will definitely be making a cameo.

Cheshire Cat: Though the Cheshire Cat isn't exactly a biped, the Disney version blurred that line, and this minifigure allows him to be a posable character who can hold accessories (though he comes with none). His tail is rubber and fits over the hip pegs (as do Donalds and Daisy's stubby duck-tails and Alice and Minnie's skirts). The fact that he can be disassembled begs for someone to build a diorama of him mid-vanishing!

Maleficent: Maleficent comes with a sloped skirt-brick, a two-piece cloak, a magic staff, and a helmet with her trademark horns. This headpiece is perfect for building a tiefling or half-dragon character. This evil fairy is easily my favorite character of the series.

Mr. Incredible: This character is fine, but doesn't seem to properly convey Mr. Incredible's pudginess or strength. The hairpiece, with its widow's peak and curled forelock, is a unique piece.

Syndrome: Syndrome, on the other hand, is a perfect match to his character. I bought him mostly for his delightfully spiky orange hair, which I intend to use for an ifrit or other fiery monster.

Ursula: Ursula's black body is a single piece, with pegs to hold the torso in place. The torso is painted black to match, making it useful as a bodice for a goth minifigure with legs. Her tentacles also fit into a smaller space than those of the Atlantis theme's Squid Warrior or Alien Conquest's Alien Emperor/Empress, making her easier to use for a Medium-sized Pathfinder cecaelia than those earlier characters. (I did not buy Ariel because I already have several mermaids with this tail type, but her red hair is unique and may convince me to change my mind later.)

In addition to these characters, I will probably buy the Genie next, because my next long RPG campaign will start in an Arabian-flavored setting. I already own the two genies that appeared in earlier Minifigures series, but the Disney one has a unique bald headpiece with pointed ears. If only it had appeared earlier, I could have used this part for an undine or marid in my Freeport campaign!

I'm also considering Peter Pan and Captain Hook, even though my pirate-based game is about to wrap up. Peter would make a good elf or oversized pixie in most settings. One of the previous Minifigures series included a Fairy that would make a decent (if huge) Tinkerbell.

For a much more exhaustive review of the entire series, see the Brothers Brick blog here. They have also reviewed the Series 16 Minifigures, due out this month. (The online LEGO Shop lists them as "Sold Out," but I have yet to see Series 16 in local stores.) As usual, my "must-have" list already covers about half that series, and I expect that between myself, my wife, and my two children, we will collect almost all of the others, too.