I thought they were supposed to be out on 1 September, but I was totally wrong. I'm not sure of the exact release date, but I checked the LEGO® Shop at Home web site one day and "tah-dah," they were sold out. What? I kept checking back and happened to catch them available during a double VIP point weekend. I ordered a bunch and it was a good thing because they are sold out again as of the time of this post. I haven't checked to see availability at other retailers, but typically they sell quick at places like Target and Walmart. Has anyone had any luck?
Onto the minifigures... So these are $3.99 like past collectible minifigures and there are 16 as opposed to the Disney minifigures where there were 18.
Here are the first four. The ice queen looks pretty mean and is in line with some other past mean female minifigs to include Maleficient and Spider Lady. I assume she is shooting ice out of her hands, but I can't be sure. I've seen two names for the next one. One is Arabian Knight and the other is Desert Warrior. I'm not sure which is right, but his weapon is about as tall as he is. Next up is the cyborg. I like the blue hair piece. It looks like you could put it on Wyldstyle if you wanted to switch her hairdo around. The last in this row is labeled on brickset as "imp." He looks like he'd fit right in with the series 14 Halloween themed minifigures.
Spooky boy is the male version of the Series 12 Spooky girl. The hiker has some new features that I haven't seen before. He has a compass and map which both are new and a backpack that is different from the past standard minifigure backpack (I'm a fan of this character). Next up is the wildlife photographer. She has a camera and most importantly she comes with a small penguin. This follows the theme of minifigures with various animals such as the skunk with the animal control officer. The final one in this row is the kickboxer. I like the option to put her hair on or her helmet and then there's a brick included to hold her helmet when she's not wearing it.
Two comments on these four. First off is the kid in the penguin outfit. I think it's great! Some of the most popular Collectible Minifigures have been minifigures in animal outfits like the shark man or piggy guy. This minifigure is interesting because it comes with ice skates and a base plate. With the ice skates you can't put the minifigure on the base plate so not sure why it's there other than that's what they always do. Second comment about these four is the Dog Show Judge. I found the size of the dog interesting. In my review of the Fountain, you can see the size of most pets in the LEGO® brand. This dog doesn't quite fit in based on its size. Or maybe the one in the Fountain is too big? There's a cat in this minifigure and it's about the same size as this dog. So what's the right size next to a minifigure?
The acoustic guitar is an awesome addition to the minifigure repertoire. We can add it to the saxophone and a few others that have appeared. I think the banana guy will be another winner along with hot dog guy. The sunglasses are a nice touch. Finally, the last minifigure I show is the babysitter with a baby minifigure. The baby minifigure was added to the LEGO® wold in the recent City People Pack. I'm surprised it showed up again so quickly, but am glad to see it. It's like you're getting two minifigures in one pack. Bonus!
Overall I think LEGO® did another great job with the design of these minifigures. In terms of the numbers of each they product, I'd prefer even numbers of all so I wouldn't get a lot of some and only a few of others. In the end LEGO® just wants to make money so they won. If you're good at feeling through bags, then keep at it. I'm not so good at it so I'll keep buying a bunch and selling the rest. What were your thoughts on series 16?