Old Minifigs vs. New Minifigs

[Cpt. Dan]

Poll please?

I was looking through my stuff last night while I was packing to head home for a few days and I was looking at the old figures from 1989-1997 and compared them to the ones in 2010. Some of the figs I got today and in terrible shape (quality). They are misprinted and the print has a running-like look to it. When I looked at the figs from 15-20 years ago, I realized not only are they better quality, but I think they are cooler and better looking. I feel like the new figs are all so different that in the big picture they are the same whereas the old ones are the exact opposite.

Thinking about it, to this day my favorite fig still is the one from 1747 Treasure Surprise. Timeless!

Edited June 20, 2010 by Cpt. Dan

[blueandwhite]

I wish I could agree with you, however older figures are plagued by some of the problems you've mentioned. I have several old misprints. Moreover, the new torsos are less prone to splitting from the arm down to the waist or from the hand to the elbow. Both of these are major problems with older figures. The new prints are also considerably more complex meaning that small printing errors are more evident. Yes, the battlepacks are noticeably inferior however the same cannot be said of the mainline figures. I would have loved to see prints as detailed as the Governor's daughter back in 1989. As for the question of misprints; I have several misprints from that period (several of my bluecoats, a few Rodgers and many castle figs have terrible printing). In short, I can't really complain about the quality of today's figures. I have too many older figures with suspect printing to complain about the more recent sets.

[Skalldyr]

^^I totally agree, I have no new one and I think I propably will never buy one......

Edited June 20, 2010 by Skalldyr

[Wout]

I have with both old and new ones no printing problems.

[Captain Becker]

I cant say anything about this actually, i think the new ones are cool specially the new soldiers, but the new pirates.. Ols Pirates were cool too so i say: Old pirates were cool but soldiers not, but the new piurates are, well, not so cool but new soldiers are awesome

Captain Becker

[Cpt. Dan]

I have with both old and new ones no printing problems.

Not just printing, but I think the old pirates are alot cooler. I think the new ones look a little <insert that tiresome argument>. Hate to say it but they remind me of that awful 4+ line.

[Cpt. Bloodeye]

i wonder why they made these new ones, the soldiers (musketeers) now have some weird cross on there suit and the old one looks like more of a soldier than the new ones (if you know what i mean) but the pirates kinda look the same except for the captains like red beard and now black beard and then the next thing you know its no beard...

[MillerTime]

The new ones seem too cartoonish. I prefer the old but the majority here disagree....suit yourself.

[Comrade Commander]

I was actually just thinking of this myself the other day.

The new redcoats are so different I don't even consider them as part of the same unit as the old redcoats. While it was kinda cool at first to see the new printing on the back and extra details, I found I preferred the old simple design.

The white torso of old, with just the simple design on the front, allowed the mind to fill in the blanks and put the emphasis on the lego construction instead of distracting the viewer.

I would take an old redcoat/bluecoat over a new soldier any day.

As for the others... pirates look the same and the only good minifigure I have that I like of the new series is the governor.

[Brig. Brick]

nice topic!!!

I was asleep (into lego) for many years..., in fact, since the lego stopped the pirates topic

with the new ones, as everyone, I found several diferences, but all aren't goods and bads things

For example, I do not like the new minifigs have pupils in his eyes, besides, some of them show their teeth ... (That's why I think it gives the feeling of cartoons)

I like the detail painting on the back, but I hate that new Redcoats do not have a backpack, not only painting of what appears to be a bag

I like female minifig (the pirates are not just plastic), all his clothes and new hair styles ... That completes the human essence in Lego

I like the Red Plume and Gold Emblem Pattern of the the new Shako, but I miss the Admiral Pattern from the Pirate Bicorne, and I prefer thousand times the round skull of Roger than the new alien skull from Brickbeard

may be this clash is because the old ones now are classic... and the new one are trying to get a space... and welcome aboard!!!, but, for and older like me, who grew playing with roger, isn't easy to mix old with new and not have a favorite!

[Commodore Hornbricker]

That is hard to choose. I have my favorites from both eras. There seems to be more variety in the old line as it lasted much longer so I like that. The new torsos are more detailed and are printed on the back. The new heads are very nice. The only reason I have to go with the old line is that that is the line with the Bluecoats... For me the new line has this huge gap in it without a new Bluecoat.

All that said. I am so glad to have the new minifigures in my very large collection of new and old pirate minifigures. Lego....I want more!!!!! I want a new a Bluecoat soldier and Admiral!!!!! and I want a lot!

Edited June 23, 2010 by Commodore Hornbricker

[Dan the Brickman]

Lego....I want more!!!!! I want a new a Bluecoat soldier and Admiral!!!!! and I want a lot!

Woah! woah!

So, turning traitor, or change of heart?....lol, just kidding.

I agree to this though.

[squiz]

Dont think i can choose between the new and classic pirates. I havent experienced the quality issues you have (or havent looked closely enough!). At first i wasnt really a fan of the new pirates but since buying the entire line they really have grown on me. Whilst the classic figures are great and remind me of when i had the sets as a kid, the new figures do have a cartoony charm which is endearing. The print detail is high and more diverse, both on the torsos and the faces. I dont think you need to choose between them, just enjoy the differences.

[Apollo]

I think that the pirate minifigs from the past were a lot more diverse; for example the Islanders, conquistadors, French and English militants, governors and pirates in general. The pirate minifigs of today however, are a lot more detailed.

Though I have not had printing problems on my modern pirate minifigs, I have heard of a lot of issues regarding printing and brick quality in the new wave.

[General Redwater]

I really like the old line better. I say this because most of the minifigs I got had those quality issues. The set's themselves were good, and the detail on the minifigs was amazing. I just like the classic feel better, and the diversity of the newer minifigs was very small compared to the older line.

Lego....I want more!!!!! I want a new a Bluecoat soldier and Admiral!!!!! and I want a lot!

I agree to this though.

I have to agree to this too. I would really like to bring the amount of Bluecoats that I have up, so they can equal my Redcoats.

-

General Redwater

Edited June 27, 2010 by General Redwater

[newwavejunkie]

It's really hard to choose between the old line with the new line. Obviously Lego has come a long way in the amount of details they are able to put on their minifigs and this is where the new line really shines. I think the new minifigs are just spectacular compared to the old ones. Sure, the pirates themselves are a bit cartoonier and the alien skull pales in comparison to the classic jolly roger of the old line but overall they look amazing. But for me nostalgia is a major factor for the original line. I can't even describe how excited I was as a child when the old line came out. Plus they were revolutionary since they were the first to have facial hair, patches, etc. I'd probably go with the old minifigs but it's not an easy choice.

[thelast]

Some months ago I would choose the old mini figures, until I got Brickbeard's Bounty and used for crew both old and new minifigs.

Comparing them, old ones look so the same, same faces, same smiles. The new faces are more human like, beard, mustaches and that old smile is gone. I like printing on the back, but it's a lame excuse to not put backpacks on soldiers instead.

I agree that old figures had more diversity on factions, red, blue, pirates, spaniards, indians... Unfortunately they canceled the series. :(

[TheCrimsonTrooper]

I like the variety of the old line, but I did like the new part avaliable in the new line. And like Hornbricker said, I am rather disappointed with the lack of another 'Imperial' faction, like the Bluecoats, after all now their is an enemy famine for Redcoats.

[Brig. Brick]

I like the variety of the old line, but I did like the new part avaliable in the new line. And like Hornbricker said, I am rather disappointed with the lack of another 'Imperial' faction, like the Bluecoats, after all now their is an enemy famine for Redcoats.

I would like that in the new pirate scheme, if continues, it should brings the new bluecoats, but remember, the fact that the blue or red coats exist is to fight pirates (not between them), in Lego world, redcoat just still the battle that the bluecoats left, and the Armada do the same to the redcoats

but you know, there is a need to set a battle between two (or more) powers, but what the Lego wants is not to create violence

[J-MAN]

I definitely like the old pirate mini-figs better. I don't own any of the new ones and don't plan on buy any unless I can get them really cheap.

[BrickPerfection]

I didn't notice the new figures to be inferior in terms of quality; in fact I replaced all the arms and legs on my old figures with new pieces since they didn't age very well. The arms are likely to split from where the hand is put in and the legs tend to loose tension; also yellowing is a problem with white parts, but I guess that's still true. I didn't notice any significant missprints on my new figures and I have lots of them, while there are quite some on the old figures.

So in a nutshell I'd say the quality of minifigures has rather increased.

It's true though that, at the same time, the battlepack and collectible ones are inferior, but not by very much. They still do not have missprints, as least I didn't came across one that did. What worries me is the different, softer plastic material, but only time will tell if that makes them age worse.

However I do agree that the old minifigures were way cooler! That is because some of them were bluecoats!

[Captain Roger]

new pirate minifigs are MUCH better than old.

1) New minifigs have printed back...old minifigs not. It's specially poor in old Bo'sun who wear a shirt with stripes...because they have printed chest but no printed back...so that striped shirt is like a huge bib. I can say something similar about Imperial Soldiers and guards, with printed chest with Blue/Red coat, but white back without print, while new Imperials have printed back too.

2) New minifigs have cooler faces, while all old minifigs have 2 dots as eyes and a smile. Despite of that, old pirates and some Imperials(like Woodhouse or De Martinet) had patch, beards, moustaches, and other accesories...but privates had only 2 dots and a stupid smile like that: while new privates have different faces.

3) Brickbeard is really cool with his gold hook and eppaulettes...more than Roger/Redbeard with gray hook and brown eppaulettes, even have a gray hook may be more realistic than a gold hook.

I understand some people prefer old minifigs...i'm sure the reason is nostalgia.

In any case i feel respect for the 1989-1997 pirate minifigs, and i have lot of them, but i am objetive.

[SirSven7]

Variety Good Sirs, is the spice of life.

Old figs are great and the new ones are 'New' which is always interesting,

lego minifigs have got to learn to get along, their all pirates at the end of the day.

Redcoats on the other hand, Where's the backback, no military man in my unit is faceing a deadly foe without being fully equipped. For shame sir, nice shako printing though.

Also the admirals daughter, What a pretty young thing , lady pirates not bad either.

[Ratshot]

So in a nutshell I'd say the quality of minifigures has rather increased.

True to a point. The misprint factor has improved but some of the new Redcoats gold belt-buckles faded. None of them received harsh treatment. I kept them in my room which is considerably dark most of the time.

Edited March 1, 2011 by Ratshot

[Captain Becker]

I like the new ones torsos printing, but im missing the old chaps too I really loved the old minifigs faces and there were truly some beatiful and rare minifigs (Steve for example). And i actually hate the fact at there is so much same looking faces and even Brickbeard comes in every single bigger sets. And there isnt much anything new in the Pirates also. But the new Redcoats and every single minifigs printing is what i love in these new guys. Really love the old minifigs, maby thats why my sigfigs head is the old one, and the most common one on the old pirates line. And i love the new Torso printings, colours etc. So i say im a neutral on this, i just cant choose.

Captain Becker