Hot answers tagged minifigures
25
No, they are not meant to come off (and neither are their hands) and I imagine that doing so repeatedly will cause them to become loose, as is the case with hands.
I have noticed that the hands come off a lot easier nowadays compared to 1970s/1980s vintage Lego, but I'm rarely sadistic enough to rip their arms off :)
16
I found this interesting comment by J on a blog post about LEGO female oriented sets.
I did a count of male and female mini-figures by theme in the 2011
releases for which we have visual evidence. The modular house line
always tends to be more balanced so there’s still potential there but
the City theme is particularly bad this year. Here’s the ...
16
The part in question shows up as a "Minifig Gravity Stunt Handle" (part number x817) on Peeron and a "Turntable Spinning with Sports Trick Handle" (item number bb128) on BrickLink. Looks like it appears in two sets:
Snowboard Super Pipe:
Skateboard Vert Park Challenge:
15
It can be done, but you need to be able to handle the packages. Different minifigure series may require different approaches, from barcodes to patterns of dots or dimples to feeling for certain characteristic parts in the bags. Those approaches have been documented in a number of places:
Series 6 (feel + dots)
Series 5 (feel)
Series 4 (bumps)
Series 3 ...
15
Actual Minifigures In Space
There have been a number of videos posted from the ISS mission, where we can clearly see one of the astronauts (Satoshi Furukawa) on the station holding a model with some minifigures:
On the Gallery Pages they list out "Working and living in space - This is the LEGO models shown in the videos"
In the shots there are there are ...
15
All new magnet sets introduced by LEGO will have the figures glued, as will any re-makes of existing sets.
History
In 2009 LEGO started producing sets of minifigures standing on magnetic bricks. At that time, the figures were removable, although some felt that they were of lower quality than the figs in regular LEGO sets.
In early 2011, however, LEGO ...
13
The minifigure is so-called because the original LEGO "Family" figures that were released in 1974 where somewhat larger, with bodies made from 2x2 Bricks, and arms made from hinged tubes.
There's a bit more of a condensed history in the minifigure tag wiki, and there is a bit more information about the minifigure as we know it today in the Company Profile
...
12
To answer the first part of the question, the Company Profile presentation (deep, direct link) states:
When the minifigure first appeared, it was decided that its face should have only one colour: yellow. And that its facial features should be happy and neutral . The figure would have no sex, race or role – these would be determined by the child’s ...
12
Part (or mould) changes have numerous reasons, the main ones being:
decrease mould complexity and thus production cost (for example to )
decrease plastic quantity used and thus production cost (for example, look at the bottom of several 1 x n bricks — the new ones have hollow tubes)
increase part sturdiness (for example to — honestly, how many of these ...
12
You can do that with scale model water decals. You can buy that in blank sheets and print out your designs with an inkjet printer. You can also use products that help those water decals set (adhere) and conform to the surface deformation and use scale model varnishes to seal it in place.
Shopping list:
Water decal sheets
Setting solution (sticks better)
...
12
This is the "Moustache Red, Headset, Red Eyebrows Pattern" minifigure head:
It appeared in two different minifigures.
The Explorien Chief minifigure featured in three sets from the Explorien theme:
And "Aquaraider 1 with hook" featured in two sets from the Aquazone theme:
12
They are referred to as "Minifig Hips" almost everywhere: [partlink:970:4].
The LEGO Pick-a-brick service doesn't sell them without legs, and just refers to the whole construction as "Mini Figure Mini Lower Part":
10
Standing
The smallest area you can enclose a standing minifig in is just about 4x4x4 2/3 with the roof on:
To reach this limit, you need to use the panels and windows to make room for the arms and more importantly the head, which is larger than a 1x1 brick.
Seated
To enclose a seated minifig in the smallest space, you will need to ensure that you've ...
10
In some ways but not others, according to this post by Catsy at The Brothers Brick:
It was near-impossible to pull the legs off–I sawed through them where they join above the knees.
The tab that connects the waist to the torso is completely incompatible with any standard System connection I’ve tried.
The hands are not angled forward the way a ...
10
Within the shoulder socket, a minifigure's arm has full 360° rotation, however the hand needs to positioned correctly to allow it pass the head, and it puts some strain on the joint:
Note that most accessories will block this rotation.
As the arms are made of the same ABS as standard LEGO bricks they aren't flexible, and so without heating (and ...
9
They made them solid black so there are no alignment issues when veiwing the masked minifigures. By leaving them blank LEGO ensured the eye slots always appear black. Side note: The only Stormtroopers seen without helmets in the StarWars Movies were Han and Luke in disguise, therefore Stormtroopers are faceless.
9
A full list of space related minifigures can be found on Bricklink here as well as under the Town theme. If you count fantasy themes there are also many astronaut minifigures under Alien Conquest, Blacktron, Life on Mars, Mars Mission, Space Police, etc...
There is also the Spaceman from the 1st Collectible Minifigure series.
8
The website Brickset.com has an extensive database of sets, digital copies of instructions and a Minifig database built in cooperation with Bricklink. The layout and style may be a little more user friendly than the Bricklink catalogue and if you register on the site you can keep track of your collection.
8
One theory I've read online is that this change was made to increase safety in case of choking.
This reason appears in a Gizmodo article:
We added this hole on the top of the head just in case any kids got one of the heads stuck in their throat. That way they would be able to keep breathing.
The article, though formatted as an interview, is a ...
8
I believe it is supposed to be 24 Bright Yellow, however I know there were some complaints a last year or so regarding the collectable Minifigures and others that were made in China not having the same hue as "regular" minifigures - and now that some of the licensed products are also being made there, this difference will become more common.
These figures ...
8
LEGO will replace a part for free on their website, providing it was missing from purchase. Sadly replacement parts aren't available for Collectible Minifigures, but you can contact them to let them know.
Ensure the Minifigure packet has been fully emptied, it's quite easy to lose parts when you open the packet.
8
Please forgive the length of this but I was careful to check all the facts from the graphic and include source information.
All information in this infographic, except for those that follow below, can be confirmed from the Wikipedia.org page devoted to minifigs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_minifigure. I would not deny that Wikipedia can contain ...
8
It seems like you understand why there are unique minifigs, but I'll point it out explicitly anyway. Unique minifigs add character to sets, and add to playability. For example, I always wanted this guy as a kid:
Without him, my pirates were just a leaderless band, but once they have a fearless leader with a peg leg and hook, things become a lot more ...
7
I did it regularly as a kid and, while it takes some effort, it had to be done a considerable amount of times for any damage to appear.
Removing arms allows for more variety in your minifigs, but also to use these elements separately for other purposes (never underestimate the usefullness of a single hand, or the architectural value of a torso).
Also, note ...
7
A number of the minifigs from the Adventures theme would fit the bill in terms of round glasses and facial hair, especially the Dr Kilroy character:
They also have versions with suits, etc.
There's also a "Detective" figure in the Minifigures Series 5 with the classic Deer Stalker hat that resembles the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
There are ...
7
So far, the best I can think of is the red classic space guy which appeared in 46 sets.
Considering minifigs were less specialized back then, I bet the winner is in that time period anyway, and the fact that spacemen wore an uniform makes me think there is no other minifig apperaing in 46 sets. Even the basic city worker only reaches a pale 21 sets.
7
In short, yes it is possible.
The best place to find replacement parts is Bricklink.com.
You don't mention which minifgure is missing its leg, but for example, here is a link to the 'Hips and Legs with Studded Belt and Safety Pins Pattern' of the Series 4 minifg 'Punk Rocker'.
To find the required part for your minifig, a good starting point would be to ...
7
I'm fairly confident that your guess is the correct one: manufacturing issues.
If each minifigure of a series were to be produced separately, they would be considered as 16 different sets for all production and inventory purposes. As a box, they are considered as only one set, which suits LEGO better as there is less overhead.
Logistically, it makes sense ...
7
The minifigs are what is known in the retail trade as 'blind-packed collectables'.
They're sold at 'pocket money' prices in newsagents and bookshops at aisle ends or counter-tops. The idea is to encourage people (mainly children but adults too) to try and 'collect' a complete set. The opaque bags encourage this by making this goal harder to reach, and ...
6
The latest Star Wars sets (for example 9489 - Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack) do have faces printed on the black Storm Trooper heads, which doesn't work all that well with the Scout Trooper, unless you put it on backwards:
However, looking at them, you can clearly see there are issues with printing on black plastic - the faces ...
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