Monday, February 18, 2019

The LEGO Movie 2 Minifigures


A new Minifigures series for The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part was released on February 1, a week before the movie opened in theaters. So naturally, it's time for me to buy some new toys and share my reactions to them!

Most of these characters (about 3/4 of them?) have heads printed with two alternate expressions. All of them except for Unikitty have at least one pet or hand-held accessory. All come with a white baseplate to distinguish them from previous series.

As usual, I have not purchased every single character in the series (only 15 out of 20 this time), and have relied on the Brothers Brick review for a few details. Those I did buy are marked with an asterisk (*). Two discrete subgroups--The Wizard of Oz and The Popular Band--are discussed together at the end of this column, while the rest appear alphabetically. (The band appears last, because explaining its appearance in this Minifigures series is a bit of a spoiler for the movie, or at least more so than the other characters.)

Apocalypse Benny has the same body as the previous movie, except that one of his arms has been replaced with a robotic claw. He carries a toolbox with a more pristine Space logo than his spacesuit's worn one. One of his two faces is typical cheery Benny, while the other is squinting suspiciously.

*Apocalypseburg Abe is one of many characters who have changed their look for the new, grungier Apocalypseburg setting from the new movie. Lincoln now wears a biker-style jacket with a huge skull buckle, and crossed axes on the back. His signature stovepipe hat has goggles molded onto it, which will make this hat/beard piece a popular part with steampunk enthusiasts. Abe wields an axe, which came with an extra shaft (and thus reminded me of the old joke about the man who claimed to own Abe Lincoln's "original" axe).

*Battle-Ready Lucy wears her old Wyldstyle jacket (now a bit dirty), but she now wears leather pants and boots, and a brown hood with red-lensed goggles. This hood will be a highly-sought piece for use in post-apocalyptic and desert settings; it's available in other sets with the goggles pushed up out of her face. She comes with binoculars and a quiver, but surprisingly, no bow or crossbow.

Crayon Girl has a two-toned, cylindrical purple costume with a simple floral print. Her torso and legs are even simpler, being unprinted (though the boots are formed by two-color molding). She carries a 2x2 tile with a crude crayon drawing of a LEGO minifigure's head. She is one of three characters in this series (with Giraffe Guy and Watermelon Dude) who are defined solely by their costumes. These cute costumed minifigures have proven very popular in past series, and now some of them are being featured in the new movie.

*Giraffe Guy wears a long-necked giraffe costume--the tallest collectible Minifigure costume to date--which bears a very strong resemblance to Geoffrey, the Toys 'R' Us mascot. This costume is a very intriguing choice to include in this series. Before its bankruptcy, Toys 'R' Us had a long history of selling LEGO products, including a number of sets exclusive to that chain, at least one of which featured Geoffrey himself. The LEGO Group has also had a few close shaves with financial disaster over the years, which makes me wonder whether this character was included out of solidarity or as a "too soon" joke--or both.

Gone Golfin’ President Business wears a checked sweater-vest, plaid golf pants, and dark green boots. He carries a silver golf club, and his two faces are decidedly more friendly than any of his expressions from the first movie's sets. His hair is unchanged.

Remix Emmet wears headphones and is grinning broadly as he listens to "Everything is Awesome" on his smartphone and drinks his coffee. His body is identical to other versions of the character, so he's one of the least interesting minifigures in this series.

*Sherry Scratchen-Post and her cat Scarfield appeared in the first movie, but have been updated with post-apocalyptic looks. Sherry wears a leather bodice, skirt, and boots, with metal armbands, and her cat sports a spiked collar and mohawk. Her outfit will prove useful in a number of genres, and her gray hair (same as her previous appearance) remains a rare color for long hairstyles.

Scarfield nicely plays against the "cute pet" look of most LEGO animals (though he fails to not be cute), and would make a suitable familiar (or summoned monster) for a more violent or chaotic spellcaster. An axe-blade or mace-head (not included) can be attached to his tail, as seen in the movie, but the original cat figure was not really designed for such connections, so the "clutch" is less secure than I'd like.

The Swamp Creature is based on the character of the same name from the Monster Hunters theme. His head and mask are the same, but he now wears leather pants with suspenders, has a skull tattoo on his chest, and carries a whip. I prefer the original design as being more generally useful for fantasy monster minis.

*Unikitty has already had her own collectible Minifigures series (and TV series), but she reappears here in a form almost identical to her original debut. As such, she's not of much interest unless you're new to The LEGO Movie franchise, or want more pastel pony tails and spiraled horns. (Her coolest look from the new movie--the spiky giant battle-cat--is its own set.)

*Vest Friend Rex is a new major character in the story, whose two expressions both show his smug confidence. He wears a pocketed vest with his "R" initial, tall chap-like boots, and a hat with a vest design (in dual-colored molding) and more pockets (printed). His shaggy hair forms part of the hat piece. The best part of this character is his dinosaur sidekick, which is an all-blue version of the baby velociraptor figure from the Jurassic World theme.

*Watermelon Dude is dressed as a huge slice of watermelon. He wears a large wedge-shaped costume (making him the easiest character in this series to identify by feel), with a torso and legs of matching white, green, and pink. He holds a melon slice (a printed 1x1 quarter-circle tile) in one hand. He's probably of most interest to costumed character completists.


The Wizard of Oz

The Wicked Witch of the West and her flying monkeys made an appearance in The LEGO Movie (and in the LEGO Dimensions Wizard of Oz Fun Pack), and now Dorothy and her companions appear in the sequel. I'm a bit disappointed that these four characters didn't get yellow or gold baseplates, especially since the checklist/instructions insert shows them standing on the Yellow Brick Road. These four characters make a delightful set that would be greatly enhanced by building an appropriate base for them.

*Dorothy Gale wears her signature blue gingham dress, which has a cloth skirt. Her feet are printed with the sparkling ruby slippers, and her hair is a very nice rendition of Judy Garland's iconic braids. She is accompanied by Toto, a gray version of the terrier that first appeared with the Dog Show Winner (Series 16).

The *Cowardly Lion has a golden-brown body and head, with a tail and a very regal mane headpiece. He comes with the medal for bravery given to him by the Wizard, printed on a clear 1x2 tile.

*Scarecrow has a torso printed on both sides, and a face that captures the movie character's melancholic smile quite well. He wears a floppy conical hat, and carries a Certificate of Achievement to show that he has brains.

*Tin Man is all pearl silver plastic except for his dark gray hands and his red heart (a special 1x1 printed tile). His body is printed with streaks of different metallic shades to make him look weathered and prone to rust. If you remove his tie and funnel, he would make a wonderful, generic, metal statue or animated construct. Alternately, a gray L-bracket around his neck instead of the tie would allow him to wear his heart in just the right spot. (The ties and hearts are quite small, so my Tin Man came with extras of both parts.)


The Popular Band (SPOILERS!)

At the conclusion of The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Emmet learns that Lucy was once part of the Popular Band, who sang his favorite song from the first movie. The movie never shows us what she looked like back then (apart from having blue rather than black hair), or what any of her band-mates looked like, but this Minfigures series includes all four members. These women wear bright, flashy clothes, and have hair in various unnatural colors (which makes their wigs great parts for Pathfinder gnomes!). Each band member comes with a magenta microphone (actually two, because the piece is so small).

*Candy Rapper has a pink-and-white-striped outfit with a tutu-style skirt, and long pink hair with some subtle details. Along with her microphone, she holds a clear 1x2 tile printed as a cassette tape.

*Flashback Lucy wears a dark blue and magenta bodysuit decorated with bubbles, and wears a lighter-colored version of her Wyldstyle hair (aqua instead of black). She carries a 2x3 tile printed with a gold record and the song title "Everything is Awesome."

*Hula Lula wears a floral-printed dress with a lei, and an asymmetrical green cloth (grass) skirt. She carries a 2x2 tile record with a different label color than previous versions. Her ponytailed hairdo is lime green with a swirl of pink in the front. Her hair and skirt would work well for a dryad or other forest spirit.

*Kitty Pop channels a catgirl vibe by wearing a leopard-spotted dress, a white tail, and cat ears poking out of her hair. She comes with a white and pink tiger-striped electric guitar. Her hair, torso, and shorts (or miniskirt?) are a new coral color that is practically neon bubblegum in its intensity, which (as the Brothers Brick opine) photos don't do justice to.

So many pink and kitty parts...

Past Collectible Minifigures Reviews 

LEGO Minifigures Series 14: Monsters!
Series 15 Minifigures
Disney Minifigures
LEGO Minifigures Series 16
The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures
The LEGO Ninjago Movie Minifigures
The LEGO Batman Movie Series 2
LEGO Minifigures Series 18: Party
LEGO Minifigures: Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts

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