Microfigs

[EpicXDFail]

I wanted to create this topic to discuss about Microfigs and the various things you can do with them.

I was going to make a poll, but apparently I can't until I become a knight. Oh well :P.

So yeah - how many do you have? I have 13. 12 from Minotaurus, and 1 from Creationary :D.

What set do you think is best for buying microfigs? Ramses Pyramid seems to have the most, with 13, compared to Minotaurus with 12, but Minotaurus has more a more spread out veriety with 4 colors of 3 microfigs each, whereas Ramses pyramid has 8 mummies, and only 1 of each of the players, with the king microfig.

Do you think Microfigs are worth buying in bulk?

Discuss. :D

[davee123]

how many do you have?

I think I have 39:

13 - Ramses' Pyramid

12 - Minotaurus

9 - Harry Potter

4 - Lava Dragon

1 - Creationary

They also seem to be in:

6 - Lunar Command

5 - Pirate's Plank

5 - Orient Bazaar?

4 - Magma Monster

1 - UFO Attack

1 - Atlantis Treasure?

What set do you think is best for buying microfigs?

They're cute and all, but I'm not really interested in buying them in bulk or anything. Unfortunately, many of them are in very primary colors (because they're playing pieces), but I suppose there could be some appeal in that. So, really, it comes down to what you want to use them for. Ramses' Pyramid may have a chunk of them, but 9 of them are mummies, which may not be something you'd find useful. Figure out which set of 'figs you think are the best, and buy those games!

DaveE

Edited July 26, 2010 by davee123

[Aanchir]

I still think that microfigs would make for good infants in regular LEGO themes. Once upon a time my brother and I were creating minifig designs based on A Series of Unfortunate Events, but Sunny Baudelaire was a challenge given how much the stories emphasized her small size. Likewise, we often attempted to create a nativity scene around Christmastime, but the baby Jesus proved difficult.

The best microfigs for infants currently are the Ramses Pyramid figs in the blue and yellow outfits, as well as the Creationary fig in the red hoodie. Others tend to have facial hair. The mummies don't really work, regrettably.

Interesting thing I observed about microfigs recently: they're the only recent place I can think of where yellow-faced figs appear alongside figs with realistic skintones. One of the minifigs in Ramses Pyramid has reddish-brown skin, and the mummies have what seems to be nougat (flesh) skin. But all the other figs have yellow skin. The last place I remember this happening was in the Cloud City set from LEGO Star Wars, where Lando had brown skin but the other figs all had yellow skin (this was before the switch to realistic skin tones for all licensed figs).

[DLuders]

Forgive me for asking, but what exactly does a "Microfig" look like? I checked Peeron and Bricklink for the Microfig 85863 part, but neither of them have pictures. Is there a website with pictures that somebody can provide here?

[Fugazi]

Have a look here for example, from Dunjohn's review of the Hogwarts game.

[DLuders]

Hmmm... one learns something new every day! I never saw these before. If one of you Microfig collectors have time, perhaps you should submit individual images to Peeron.com or Bricklink.com because neither of them have any images so far....

[Fugazi]

I would gladly submit to Peeron, but I can't get anything through to them. Pity really, I find the site very useful but updates are overdue.

[davee123]

perhaps you should submit individual images to Peeron.com or Bricklink.com because neither of them have any images so far....

BrickLink's had them for a while now-- I think last year sometime:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?q=microfig

Granted, they don't have the ones that were just released, but the older ones are there.

DaveE

[Aanchir]

I've gotten a lot of microfig images from service.lego.com's replacement parts page. It's not by any means a complete list-- the Hogwarts ones obviously aren't available yet, and for some reason they're missing two of the microfigs from Magma Monster-- but I've gotten all the ones that are there.

Lava Dragon

Lunar Command

Minotaurus

Ramses' Pyramid/Orient Bazaar

Creationary

Magma Monster

Pirate Plank

UFO Attack

Folder when public

Enjoy!

Edited July 30, 2010 by Aanchir

[Aanchir]

Sorry to bump the topic, but today service.lego.com uploaded with more building instructions and replacement parts for the newest games. Unfortunately, for Hogwarts Challenge and Atlantis Treasure, the microfigs aren't among the parts pictured and listed.

But there is good news and bad news about the other games that have microfigs!

Orient Bazaar

I totally missed this guy in images of Orient Bazaar. He's the only of the figs who didn't also appear in Ramses' Pyramid.

Meteor Strike

If you did a double-take when looking at those microfigs, you have an excuse. service.lego.com's database sometimes has render errors on its replacement part images, particularly with printed parts. No, that first microfig isn't an alien with an otherworldly face shield-- rather, the render applied his toe print to his face and left his other prints off entirely!

Note also that the Meteor Strike microfigs have the same overall Classic Space aesthetic as the Lunar Command microfigs. However, they are distinguished by having toe prints. Toe prints only appear in the brand-new sets for this year, and are used quite often. A real surprise, since minifigures so rarely have toe prints, but of course microfig printing has to take advantage of all the possible surfaces considering how few of them have a large print area.

The toe prints aren't that varied, though-- so far there's a sandal print (Pirate Plank), a barefoot print (Pirate Plank, UFO Attack, and Orient Bazaar), and a metal shoe print (Magma Monster and Meteor Strike). Hogwarts Challenge also seems to have a print unique to itself, though it's hard to tell since I don't have high-quality renders; just photos. The prints vary in color but are otherwise the same. I appreciate this since it keeps the printing from getting out-of-hand (though that may change in coming years)

I wonder if some Space MOCists can think of something creative to do with these Classic Space microfigs. I love the look of them with the unique and convincing printed faces. Perhaps a minuscule humanoid race from a distant planet?