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

LEGO Minifigures: Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts

With the upcoming release of the second Fantastic Beasts movie, the LEGO Group is reviving the old Harry Potter theme alongside new sets for the new movies. Part of this return to the Wizarding World is the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts LEGO Minifigures series, which includes 16 characters from the original series and 6 from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

I have versions of many of these characters from other sets--some dating all the way back to the first LEGO Harry Potter sets from 2001--so I do not intend to collect all 22 minifigures. Those that I have acquired are marked with an asterisk (*) below. I've consulted the excellent Brothers Brick review of this series for a few details of figures I have not yet seen in the plastic pink flesh.

This series nicely showcases some new features of the Harry Potter theme:

• The new wands are no longer just a simple bar, and can be posed in at least two positions in a minifigure's hand (as shown in my photo above). The wands come as a pair on a sprue, so even casual collectors will soon accumulate a large supply of extras in various colors (mostly shades of brown).
• Characters dressed in full-length robes or dresses have a new part for the lower half of the minifigure. Unlike the printed sloped brick skirts used before now, the new piece is the same height as standard minifigure legs. It also has larger pegs instead of studs, which helps keep the figure securely attached at the waist. The back of the skirt falls in a slight curve to a short train, which covers the same 2x2 space as the older trapezoidal brick, but looks more natural.
• Some characters have new, shorter jointed legs that are midway between the size of the traditional minifigure legs assembly and the immobile short legs piece. This allows Harry and his friends to be depicted at three different heights as they grow up over the course of theitr years at Hogwarts. (Harry himself appears in two sizes in this series.) As someone pointed out on the LEGO Dungeons & Dragons Facebook group, these new legs are also perfect for making dwarves, who are shorter than humans but taller than hobbits.

Fantastic Beasts

I find the characters of the movie Fantastic Beasts rather disappointing compared to the far more compelling heroes and villains of the Harry Potter series. I bought Newt's Case of Magical Creatures solely for the excellent creature models, not the characters. Thanks to that set (and Grindelwald's Escape), I already had versions of most of the characters who appear in this Minifigures series, so have no real interest in acquiring more of them. I did, however, buy Newt for the minifigure-scale briefcase and an extra Niffler.

Credence Barebone: Credence wears a staid 1920s suit and has the old Ron Weasley bowl-cut hair in black. His only accessory is a tile printed as a "Witches Are Among Us" pamphlet. Like all of the Fantastic Beasts characters, he would make a good Depression-era Call of Cthulhu mini, but is a bit boring. (He does, however, have a double-sided head with glowing eyes on one face.)

Jacob Kowalski: Kowalski's briefcase is rather nice, with a hinged lid and a hollow interior big enough for a 1x2 tile; his comes with two round 1x1 tiles decorated as pastries.

*Newt Scamander: Newt's briefcase is identical to Kowalski's, but doesn't include any contents. His printed torso has a Bowtruckle peeking out of his pocket, but the star of this mystery bag is the Niffler, which stands about 1 brick high. It would make an excellent mini for a mole or platypus familiar.

Percival Graves: Graves wears an expensive-looking suit, but has no accessory except for his wand. However, he comes with a double-sided head and two hair pieces: the silver-templed black hair he has for most of the film, and a white wig for the big reveal at the end.

Queenie Goldstein and Tina Goldstein apparently eat quite well after meeting the baker Kowalski. Tina comes with a hot dog and bun, Queenie with a large strudel. (I can't help thinking that the big segmented pastry could be used as a giant maggot mini.)

Harry Potter

Albus Dumbledore: Dumbledore has a nicely sculpted hat with flowing hair and a beard gathered in a tie towards the bottom. He also has dapper blue robes with the new skirt piece. His accessories include a wand and a silver dish printed with a swirling blue design: the Pensieve.

Cedric Diggory: This is Cedric's long-awaited debut as a minifigure, finally addressing a criminal oversight in the eyes of all Hufflepuff fans. He is dressed in his Tri-Wizard outfit, and comes with a large Tri-Wizard Cup trophy. Cedric is older than Harry, so has full-size adult legs. His hair and smiling face will serve well for other handsome male characters.

Cho Chang: Cho's light brown skin is rare among LEGO minifigures, especially women. Her long, straight hairdo has appeared elsewhere (Spooky Girl, in Series 12) but is still a nice piece worth acquiring. Cho also comes with a gray fabric skirt, the new shorter jointed legs, and an owl.

*Dean Thomas: Like Cho, Dean's minifigure is interesting primarily for his skin color and hair (a short, nappy style). He has the new legs as well, though his have the end of his colorful scarf printed on them. He carries a Gryffyndor pennant as well as a wand.

*Dobby: This minifigure is a slight update to two older versions of the character. There are very slight changes to the printing on his face and torso, and the 1x2 tile with a printed sock. His legs are cast in two colors, tan and pink flesh, and the diary is a newer design, with a hinged cover and two studs inside to hold the sock tile securely in place.

Draco Malfoy: Draco appears in his Slytherin Seeker robes, with a soft cloth cape, a green broomstick, and a very detailed Golden Snitch. The Snitch has a small post on the bottom so it can be held by the minifigure. This would also allow it to be mounted on a base and used as a mini for a tiny flying creature, such as an arbiter inevitable or a 4E arcane eye familiar.

This series includes two versions of Harry Potter. The first is Harry Potter in Pajamas, which includes the invisibility cloak (made from two shiny cape accessories). This Harry is obviously new to Hogwarts, as he has the shortest of the three leg options. The second, Harry Potter in School Robes, comes with Hedwig as well as the new legs assembly. (I have so many Harrys from older sets--with both yellow and pink skin--that the cloak would be the only reason for me to consider buying either of these versions.)

*Hermione Granger in School Robes: Hermione comes with the new jointed legs, as well as her cat Crookshanks and a wand. (My kids think the cat mini looks suitably grumpy-looking for the part.) Her neat robes form a nice contrast to Ron and Harry's more rumpled appearance.

*Lord Voldemort: You Know Who has a stark white head and hands, and the only white wand available at this time. He has a dark green robe, with the new skirt piece. He is accompanied by Nagini, which is a very handsome large snake piece. However, I wish Nagini had been designed with at least one attachment point--there are no anti-studs or other legal connection points. The tail has a short segment that looks like it's meant to be grasped by a minifigure hand, but it's actually a little thicker than a bar, so could cause that hand to break if done incautiously, or too often. (To quote the Brothers Brick review, "Nagini is a great looking snake, but a poor LEGO element.") The Nagini piece also seems to be identical to the Basilisk from the massive microscale Hogwarts Castle set, though the two serpents are different shades of green.

*Luna Lovegood: Luna comes with bluejeans (with the new legs), a colorful fabric skirt, a pink jacket, and a new blonde hairpiece that fits over the strap of her shoulder bag. Her head is double-sided, with one side wearing SpectreSpecs, and she carries a copy of the Quibbler printed on a 2x3 tile.

Mad-Eye Moody: Moody comes with a wand as well as a staff and a potion flask. He also comes with a double-sided head and two hairpieces, for when the imposter is exposed.

*Neville Longbottom: Neville wears earmuffs and gloves while tending to a young mandrake. His head is double-sided, with the other face showing him fainting. The mandrake is a nice feature, with a plume of leaves and a bulbous root-like head/body. It would make a great head for a small plant creature, such as vegepygmy, by inserting the pin at the bottom into a brick with a hollow stud. Between the mandrake and Neville's short jointed legs--which lack the printing most of the other students' legs have--this is the character I could most easily justify buying multiple copies.

Professor Flitwick: Flitwick is a tiny man, with the older short legs piece. Besides his wand, he has a bow tie, fabric coattails, a megaphone, and dandyish hair.

Professor Trelawney: Sybil wears a somewhat frumpy dress that uses the new skirt piece. Her huge mop of curls includes a brightly patterned headband, and would look great on any vaguely hippy-ish character. She also comes with a rather nice-looking teacup and saucer.

*Ron Weasley in School Robes: Ron's messy orange hair (apparently the same as Han Solo's, in a new color) is a vast improvement over the old bowl-cut his minifigures used to sport. Like Hermione, Dean, and the taller Harry, he has short jointed legs printed with the bottom part of his Hogwarts robes. He also comes with his rat Scabbers, which is (perhaps ironically) a much nicer looking rat figure than either the classic Castle rat or the previous version of Scabbers (both of which were monotone and lacked printing).

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

The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures Series 2

The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures Series 2 consists of 20 new figures. Some are new outfits for existing characters from the movie (including two each for Batman, Batgirl, and Alfred), some are new interpretations of previously-released characters (like Jor-El and Zod), while others are characters that have not been released before (including several members of the Justice League).

I have not purchased a complete set of all 20 minifigures. Because of this, I will give more attention to the characters that I did acquire, which are marked with asterisks (*) below.

This series is distinguished by having the Batman logo printed on each baseplate. The next regular Minifigure release, Series 18 (due out in April), will have orange bases, so perhaps this Batman series marks the beginning of a permanent move away from the boring black baseplates that every Minifigures collector has hundreds of by now.

The Bat Family

Batman, Batgirl, Robin, and Alfred all appear again in this series, and all but Robin get two new outfits.

Bat-Merch Batgirl has been hit by the Bat-Merch Gun, so is covered in Batman logos and carries two "Bat Bucks" tiles. This makes her parts largely useless for other purposes, though her masked head and utility belt seem to have escaped the branding.

Disco Alfred Pennyworth wears a glittery white tuxedo that is extended with cloth coattails that fit over the hip posts. He still wears the high collar and bald wig found in every other Alfred minifigure, but his half-specs are replaced by shiny sunglasses. His electric guitar seems to be a standard part.

*Mermaid Batman has the classic, straight mermaid tail from old Pirates sets, but in black for the first time. He wears a clamshell bra that looks rather comical on his macho muscled chest. The head and cowl are standard for the character, and the trident appears in black here for only the second time (the first being the Cute Little Devil from Series 16).

Series 2 also depicts all of Team Batman on vacation at the beach.

*Swimsuit Batman wears black Speedos with his logo on the waistband, and his cowl is molded with swim goggles attached. He carries a red flotation device, and comes with a dolphin that is based on the LEGO Friends version (but with a less cutesy expression, and no blowhole). The dolphin alone is worth the cost of the minifigure, as it has only appeared in a handful of sets, and is shorter than the older white or gray LEGO dolphin.

Vacation Robin wears a red shirt (decorated with his namesake) and green shorts that match his usual costume's color scheme. His accessories--a boombox and an ice cream cone--have appeared in other sets, so the figure is mostly noteworthy for Robin's robins shirt.

*Vacation Batgirl's purple costume is redone as a wetsuit with short sleeves and legs that leave her hands and feet bare. Her dark red ponytail is attached to a small pin at the back of the cowl, which means that she can push the ponytail to one side or the other (or remove it altogether) to make room for a back accessory. Finally, she comes with a yellow surfboard with a purple Batman logo.

Vacation Alfred Pennyworth appears to be the standard Alfred figure from the collar upwards, but he wears a very old-fashioned, one-piece pin-striped swimsuit, and carries a goblet with a cherry cocktail of some sort.

The Justice League

Apart from Batman, five members of the Justice League appear in this series. Four of them--Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, and the Wonder Twins--will be instantly familiar to anyone who, like me, grew up on the Super Friends in the 1970s. Black Canary is just as much a member of the Justice League, but as far as I can recall, she didn't get her due share of the TV spotlight until the Justice League cartoon of the early 2000s.

*Apache Chief has light brown skin, a traditional tribal costume in red and brown, and long black hair held in a headband. (This hairpiece has been previously used by hippy and rocker characters, but looks more dignified on the 'Chief.) His only accessory, a 1x3 tile, is printed as what appears to be a photo booth strip, taken at the Justice League's Anniversary Party (parts of the last two words can be seen in frame). A monkey appears in two of the photos; this must be Gleek (about whom see the Wonder Twins, below). Not having this photo strip illustrate his signature size-changing power seems like a missed opportunity.

*Black Canary wears her signature two-tone blue outfit of choker, jacket, bustier, fishnets, and boots. She is one of only two figures in this series (AFAIK) who has a two-sided head. One face has a neutral expression, while the other shows her either belting out song lyrics or attacking with her sonic scream. She comes with a microphone and stand that is nicely scaled for picking up by the pole (see the photo above).

Like Apache Chief, *Black Vulcan was little more than a token minority on the Super Friends cartoon, but the success of the current live-action Black Lightning series is testament to there being a lot more to the character. This version features his original leg-baring costume, and he wields two lightning bolts. Sadly, his brown head is only printed with one face, which has a mask over his eyes. I would have loved to see the other side printed without the mask, because decent brown-skinned heads are quite rare among LEGO minifigures.

The Wonder Twins, *Zan and *Jayna, were created for the Super Friends cartoon and proved popular enough to cross over to the main DC comics universe. These two figures are, appropriately, identical except for their faces and the initials and gendered contour lines on their torsos. This hairpiece with pointed ears has been used previously for elves and werewolves, but appears here in black for the first time (a welcome contrast to the usual blond elves). Zan's accessory is a bucket with a 1x1 round tile printed with his face--a nod to his usual schtick of changing into water, then being carried by his sister to get to the action. Jayna, on the other hand, gets a record of party songs. This is a reference to the Justice League party scene in The LEGO Batman Movie, but I would have much rather seen the Twins' sidekick, Gleek, appear here instead--especially since Apache Chief's accessory makes the blue monkey's absence all the more obvious.

The Kryptonians

Two characters from Superman's past appear in this series.

Superman's father, *Jor-El, appears in The LEGO Batman Movie as a hologram in the Fortress of Solitude, and this minifigure carries a blue crystal to underline that connection. This version very deliberately evokes Marlon Brando's classic 1978 movie portrayal, but adds a pearl-gray cuirass and a printed beard. The robe is printed with a nicely patterned vertical stripe and a black "S"-shield over the chest; a white tile with a smaller "S" attaches to a stud in the armor piece. This figure would make an excellent white-robed wizard by removing the armor and adding a beard that can cover the "S."

General Zod is based on Terence Stamp in Superman II, from his angular face and pronounced widow's peak to his chest-baring black robe. He carries a Gotham Gazette proclaiming "Kneel Before Zod (in polls)." (This image reveals the full joke: "Candidate Kneel wins on platform: 'Will Not Enslave Humanity'.")

The Villains

Besides Zod, this series includes six other villains, two of whom (Harley Quinn and The Joker) appeared in the first series of The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures.

The Clock King is one of hordes of minor Batman villains with painfully silly costumes. (This is why I did not buy him.) His head is the Gingerbread Man's head repurposed, and his weapons, presumably representing the hands of a clock, are simply two black spears.

*Doctor Phosphorus is an even more obscure villain, a man transformed into a being of eternally burning chemicals. (Yes, I had to look him up on Brickipedia. It's a very short page.) The minifigure is a very pale, sickly opaque green printed with a black skeleton, but this look might have been more effectively done on a transparent body (like the trans-yellow-green used for ghost characters in some Ninjago sets). Still, he'll make a decent mini for a D&D or Pathfinder burning skeleton, and his yellow-green flames are a new color for my collection.

Killer Moth is another minor Batman villain. He wears wings, and a helmet with antennae, that are identical to the Bumblebee Girl's (Series 10) but in new colors. He wields a ray gun that was first used for the Retro Space Hero (Series 17). For both the 'Hero and 'Moth, I'm a little confused why the designers didn't just re-use the ray gun from the Classic Alien (Series 6), which has a nozzle that can hold a transparent bar "ray."

Disco Harley Quinn wears a white suit jacket, tutu, and tights, and dances on mismatched gold and silver roller skates. Her hair appears to be identical to other Harley figures.

Hugo Strange is a psychiatrist who is dangerously obsessed with studying the inmates of Arkham Asylum. He wears a long white lab jacket with black gloves and boots. His laboratory flasks and short, spiky beard have been recycled from other characters.

*Vacation The Joker wears rose-colored sunglasses, purple shorts, green flip-flops, a turquoise Hawaiian shirt, and a lime-green inflatable duck. He carries a camera and a dubious-looking yellow-green popsicle. Like the other Joker minifigures based on this movie, he has a two-sided head (though with less difference between expressions here) and the same wavy green hair.

Final Verdict?

I had no real interest in roughly half the characters in this series, simply because their inherent silliness would make it difficult to re-use any of their parts in my own creations. That's pretty typical for most Minifigures series, though--I have very different criteria for my LEGO purchases than many Batman fans do. If 50% of a given series appeals to me, it's doing well enough, and I'm honestly surprised when the fraction that I want goes much higher than that (as it did for Series 14: Monsters, and Series 8 promises to do 18 later this year).

However, there were some gems with highly desirable parts, such as Batman's dolphin and mermaid tail, the Joker's hair, Jor-El's robe, and Doctor Phosphorus's weird skeletal body. Others, such as the Wonder Twins, I acquired mostly out to nostalgia, but I also anticipate making good use of Zan and Jayna's heads and hair for elves.

The only real disappointments here were the missed opportunities I mentioned above: Zan and Jayna are simply incomplete without Gleek, and giving Black Vulcan a second face without the mask would have greatly boosted his appeal to collectors.

"WONDER TWIN POWERS--ACTIVATE!"

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

While writing this column, I realized that I never reviewed Series 17 (from 2017). That was another set where I only collected about half of the characters, so I'm not sure whether I will go back and cover that series at some point. If you would like to see a column about that Series, please let me know in the comments!

The LEGO NINJAGO Movie Minifigures

The LEGO NINJAGO Movie Minifigure collection consists of 20 characters from the movie, including multiple versions of Lloyd and Garmadon. About half of the collection are characters from the original NINJAGO toy theme and animated series who were redesigned for the movie, while the remainder are original to the new story. (I have not yet seen the movie, so please pardon any mistakes I make about its content.)

The Ninjas

Master Wu has a very similar design to the original minifigure, but his tunic has been extended with a cloth wrap that fits over the pegs on the legs piece. His single accessory is a box of corn flakes.

Three of his students, Cole, Jay Walker, and Zane, appear in new outfits that reflect their lives before becoming ninja. Cole wears a tanktop with the Ninjago characters for "AC/DC" and carries a boombox. Jay looks like a preppy fop, with artfully mussed curls, a nervous smile, a blazer and scarf, and a selfie stick. Zane is a nerdy day-hiker with a two-tone backpack and a sweater vest depicting two Alien Conquest "head-huggers." The hair and faces of these three characters, along with the hinges in Jay's selfie stick, will be the most useful parts for building fantasy miniatures.

Kai and his sister Nya are dressed in training outfits. Kai Kendo has a kendo mask and breastplate, while Spinjitsu Training Nya wears a gi decorated with Master Wu's likeness. Kai's practice swords are long brown bars, while Nya's are brown wooden katanas. These two can be used as-is in an Asian-inspired setting; Kai's spiky hair and scarred face, and Nya's smirk and messy ponytail will be more broadly useful.

Finally, Lloyd appears twice in this Series. Lloyd Garmadon wears street clothes: jeans and a green hoodie (with attached blonde forelock). He holds a spoon and a bowl with a printed dragon motif. Lloyd also appears as the Green Ninja, with both a two-piece hood and mask and a blonde wig. He wields a new style of sword with a slightly curved blade and a hinged tassel on the pommel, and holds a blueprint of a (robotic?) dragon's head.

Garmadon

The chief villain of the NINJAGO universe appears in three different outfits in this Series. The first Garmadon is the iconic four-armed, all-black evil warrior, though his armor has some additional details, and his headgear is a new, more curved version of the classic conical hat. He also wields a poleaxe with a new blade shape (or new to me, at least).

Flashback Garmadon has a '70s vibe, with big sunglasses, an orange and brown outfit with a wide tie and lapels, and carefully parted blonde hair. He carries a camera and a Polaroid photo of his volcano lair. Volcano Garmadon shows the villain relaxing in baby blue pajamas covered in tiny pictures of his home. He holds a spoon and bowl (with a wave motif), and wears an elaborate samurai helmet.

In the original NINJAGO theme, Garmadon only appeared in the largest sets, making it difficult (and expensive) to acquire his very desirable torso-extension piece with the second pair of arms. However, this Minifigure Series (and some of the smaller movie tie-in sets like Master Falls) have made these parts much more affordable. They are invaluable for building many-armed creatures like xills and mariliths. (See Building the Bestiary #16: Serpentine Creatures for an example of the latter.)

The Shark Army

This series contains four characters from the villainous Shark Army, whose amphibious assault threatens Ninjago City. Shark Army General #1 is a nice female figure, with a dark blue uniform decorated with scales, a sash, and medals. She also has a two-piece blue cape that resembles fish fins, and an interesting asymmetrical hairdo. Her only accessory is a new version of the fast-food style drink cup.

The other three soldiers wear wetsuits, oxygen tanks, and helmets that resemble sea creatures, and wield fish-handled weapons. Shark Army Octopus wears an orange-brown rubber octopus on his head, which works well on its own as an animal minifigure. He carries a plain gray fish and one of the newer guns that fires 1x1 plates. Shark Army Angler has his namesake (in sand-green) for a helmet, and wields a fish-handled mace. Shark Army Great White has a black shark's head helmet and carries a black fish with flame spouting from its mouth. Like the General, Great White's wetsuit/uniform is dark blue with several medals, but his gear shows burned patches (I'm guessing from his own weapon?).

People of Ninjago City 

The final five minifigures depict various citizens of Ninjago City.

Misako is Lloyd's mother and Garmadon's estranged wife. She wears a name badge with her nickname, "Koko," clipped to her blazer, and carries a dark red handbag. Her hair piece is the best part of the figure, with orange tresses held in place with red chopsticks.

The Gong and Guitar Rocker wears a headband over his long hair, a tank top with a skull and some NINJAGO characters, torn jeans, and high boots. His electric guitar is an existing style, but appears here in red and white for the first time.

The GPL Tech wears a lab coat over a Batman T-shirt, and has large round glasses printed to look thick enough to obscure her eyes. She carries a plain mug and a laptop, and wears her hair in a braid.

The Sushi Chef has a bald wig with headband similar to the Pirate from Series 16. His tunic is covered with pictures of shrimp, and he holds a cleaver. His sushi roll is built from a 1x1 cylinder brick and a pair of printed 1x1 round tiles.

The N-POP Girl appears to be inspired by J-Pop idols. Her sleeveless top has a picture of Uni-Kitty (from The LEGO Movie) on it, and it, her tutu, stockings, and boots are pastel pink, blue, and green. Her hair is a copy of Harley Quinn's two-tone wig (from The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigure Series) but in cotton-candy pink and blue. Her accessory is a pink teddybear coordinated to her outfit's palette. For me, she would probably be the hardest character to repurpose for RPG minis in other genres--but I have seen another member of the Facebook LEGO Dungeons & Dragons group use her as-is.

Past Collectible Minifigures Reviews 

LEGO Minifigures Series 14: Monsters!
Series 15 Minifigures
Disney Minifigures
LEGO Minifigures Series 16
The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures