LEGO Minifigures Series 27

(See Tim's LEGO Reviews for my reviews of past LEGO Minifigures series.) 

Minifigure Series 27 was released January 1, 2025. As with the past half-dozen series, this one includes twelve unique characters that include a mix of fantasy and futuristic beings, as well as quirky mundane people, and a couple of  costume wearers. I bought 10 of the 12; the two I did not buy are marked with asterisks (*) below, and have less detailed descriptions.

Astronomer Kid: This character has posable short legs, and a huge mop of curly or kinky hair. The only printing is the double-sided head (one side smiling, one side with an eye closed), a cartoon rocket on the shirt, and a collar on the back and front. Their accessory is a brick-built telescope (made of 9 pieces), which my wife (the child of two retired astronomy professors) found highly appealing.

This child also has a removeable prosthetic arm. This is an interesting addition to LEGO's growing representation of people with disabilities and limb differences. Previous Minifigures series have included characters who use prosthetic legs, eyepatches, and wheelchairs, while the City and Friends themes include many other examples. 

Boogeyman: This dark blue furry monster has a large head and comically large mouth, with large red eyes and small blue-gray horns (which have appeared in white in a few other series). It comes with a book with the title "BoOo" printed on the cover and an image of the Boogeyman on the tile inside. This minifigure could be used for a subterranean humanoid monster or a bestial fiend. (The Pathfinder 1E bestiaries includes a nightmare creature template and a bogeyman, though the latter is more human-looking than this minifigure.)

Cat Lover: This character wears a striped sweater knit with cat shapes and pants covered in white cat hairs. The two-sided head includes a smiling face, and one with a stressed expression and cat scratches. Their accessories are a pink ball of yarn and a long-haired white cat (a new mold, I believe).

Cupid: This child-like god has short legs molded in two colors, and a torso printed with a robe or toga, a sash, a pierced heart brooch, and an armband. The head is double-sided with two smiling faces, one with heart-shaped eyes, and is topped with a tussled blond hairpiece. He holds a red bow and a red heart (a modified 1x1 tile). An L-bracket over the neck post allows the attachment of small, feathered wings; these are the smallest wings I've seen on a minifigure to date, which is fitting for Cupid's cutesy cherub look.

Hamster Costume Fan*: This young person wears a hamster costume with two-colored arms and short legs, and a hood-like headpiece. The only accessory is a 1x1 round tile printed to look like a cucumber slice. With a change to a plain white or caramel-colored head, this mini could be used for a humanoid rodent, such as a ratfolk or ysoki.

Jetpack Racer: This spaceman's red, white, and blue suit has Octan branding (the fictional fuel company used in the City theme and some Space sets). The helmet has the number "3" and a red faceplate. The head underneath is double-sided, both with a white astronaut's hood; one side has full face exposed, while the other has a mask over the mouth. The jetpack (built with 4 bricks) attaches to a neck bracket; this covers a printed version on the torso. 

Personally, I find the jetpack design to be a bit clunky, and prefer either space marine-style torso armor or Mandalorian jetpacks for my flying space characters. But this one does provide another option to make individual characters more distinctive.

Longboarder*: This character wears a black and white jersey and ripped pants, and some kind of small backpack. They wear a backwards-facing ballcap over shaggy green hair. The skateboard is a new design, with more exposed wheels.

Pirate Quartermaster: This pirate woman wears colorful clothing with two-colored arms and legs, and extensive printing to add necklaces, a pouch, bracelets, a compass, etc. She has a tattered red cloth skirt, and her black hair is bound up in a red bandanna. Her accessories include a standard cutlass and a white cockatiel with a yellow crest. Her head is double-sided, with a crooked smile on one side and a more open grin on the other.  This figure is a nice addition to the limited number of female pirates, and judging from her title, she holds a more important role among the crew than any of the other women.

Plush Toy Collector: This cute girl wears lavender pajamas with a hood with ears printed on the back, and smaller images on the shoulders. The head is double-sided, one with eyes closed, and she has a pink hairpiece with bangs and a couple small buns. Her two plush toys use identical molds, but one is green and frog-like(?) while the other is blue with a dog face. These pieces would be useful for familiars or other small, cutesy pets.

Pterodactyl Costume Fan: This costume is gray with two colors of blue printing on the front (but none at all on the back). The arms are wing pieces with hands, similar to the Vampire Bat (Series 8 and Monster Hunters theme), but the wings are a new mold. The double-sided head shows a woman wearing lipstick the same gray color as her costume; both sides have open grins, but one is more predatory-looking. 

This minifigure could be converted to an actual pterodactyl by replacing the head with a gray piece, turning the head 180 degrees (to look up rather than forward), removing the legs, then turning the body horizontal rather than vertical. You will need something to raise the body into the air, such as one of the transparent bent stems used in some superhero sets to make the characters look like they are leaping or flying.

Steampunk Inventor: This Victorian gentleman's defining feature is his steam-powered arm, which appears to be a prosthetic strapped to his torso. A piece that fits over the hand makes the arm bulkier, and features a pressure dial and a vent spouting steam. This character has one of the few single-sided heads in this series, as the top hat (complete with printed goggles and a hatband of lighter brown plastic) leaves the back of the head exposed. 

The clockwork hand assembly would make a good addition to a fully-mechanical-looking body to make a more bulky, menacing robot or construct.

Wolfpack Beastmaster: The Beastmaster uses a standard Wolfpack shield (from the classic Castle faction), and has the same emblem on his chest, but his body's print job is far more detailed than any past Wolfpack characters. The two-colored arms and legs show printed chainmail peeking out from under the brown leathers. Both sides of the head show a scar across one eye; one side is in a toothy snarl, which the other has pursed lips to howl. He comes with a fuzzy, fur-like cape and a new hood mold, with a gap under the chin. His weapon is a knight's longsword.

His gray wolf companion has printed eyes and snout, and is about half again as big as a standard LEGO dog (with a footprintn of 1x4 instead of 1x3), making it the perfect size for a menacing Medium-sized wolf. It has a single stud on the back, like the standard dog. (Incidentally, Cupid's wings look surprisingly good on the wolf's back.)

While waiting for this series to come out, I heard that army-builders and resellers were likely to make the Wolfpack Beastmaster the most-sought-for character of the set--much as the Dragonborn Paladin was in the D&D series. Unfortunately, this means that we can expect this character to soon become harder to find, and resale prices to go up steeply. But now that I've acquired one, I can better see why it is so popular: the character is a callback to a fan-favorite faction, the printed details are good, and the wolf is one of the nicest "pets" to appear in a Minifigure series. For now, at least, I'm satisfied with my one, though having multiple wolves could be very useful.