LEGO Collectable Minifigures Future Series Rumours

[THELEGOBATMAN]

1 hour ago, jonwil said:

There are some great figures in Series 20.

Pea costume.

Space Fan.

Musician with that awesome keytar.

Drone flyer.

 

And Series 19 was good as well with characters like the dog sitter, jungle explorer, pizza costume and rugby player.

That's just my opinion, but Pea girl is a waste of spot, I hate costumes. They are useless. Space fan is okay. Keytar guy is a really bad and uninteresting minfigure, the keytar itself is cool but not worth $5. Drone flyet hasgood accessories, but the minifig is rather uninteresting. I agree with Series 19 tho, those 4 were really nice. 

But the thing is, a few stand outs don't make a series good as a whole. It's still a bad series with a few good minfigs.

[DarrellBricker]

I will agree that 20 is not a very good series, it really feels like the designers phoned it in this time. Which is a shame when you consider that members of our community **cough**Robert8**cough** (to name just one) can run circles around them with their own unique takes. That being said, there is enough to like about this series that I will likely collect them all, but probably not so many multiples this time around. My biggest fear is that this will continue to be the state of the "regular" series going forward, overall lackluster with only two or three standouts. 

[Gorilla94]

3 hours ago, DarrellBricker said:

I will agree that 20 is not a very good series, it really feels like the designers phoned it in this time. Which is a shame when you consider that members of our community **cough**Robert8**cough** (to name just one) can run circles around them with their own unique takes. That being said, there is enough to like about this series that I will likely collect them all, but probably not so many multiples this time around. My biggest fear is that this will continue to be the state of the "regular" series going forward, overall lackluster with only two or three standouts. 

This.

When i started with collecting there was maybe one figure i bought for completion. I loved the rest. Series 18 and 19 had more of such figures and with the care bear the first minifigure i hate. It looks like a recycling product with plain leftover parts. 20 has only 4 figures i'd like to have (Viking, Knight, Lama, Sleepy girl and a few i'd like to have parts from like the pirate hat with hair or the turtle). That's more than bad.

Edited April 6, 2020 by Gorilla94

[meliander]

I wanted to share some of my thoughts regarding CMFs. So I haven't been collecting these since the first 3 series. And the reason for that was very simple - I just couldn't stand the quality. They didn't feel like true Lego to me. Now recently I decided to check what's going on with these and bought one from series 19 (the hacker girl). The quality is awful. The legs are super loose, the arms, the hands are rotating freely. And just the plastic has a different feel to it. But that's not why I'm writing this - I also bought 6 DC Collectible minifigs, which were supposed to be priced at $4.99, however I found them for $3.49 on Amazon. I was so pleased to find out that the quality is so much better. The first thing I noticed is that the torso has a black marker in the neck area, which was odd, because they don't do that for CMFs. And all 6 figures were consistently great in terms of quality. The plastic doesn't feel cheaper, the legs and arms are nice and tight, the hands have strong clutch power. This gives me hope folks, for series 20. As I said, I haven't been collecting since wave 3 and I'm excited about all minifigs in series 20, they all seem new and fresh to me. If that jump in price was needed to bump the quality up - I'm all for it. That being said I will purchase them when discounted anyway (i.e. at the 3.99 or 3.49 which feel like the right price to me).

[jonwil]

I actually intend to purchase no less than 10 of the S20 figs (pajama girl, pinata guy, pea costume, scuba diver, nunchucks guy, breakdancer, space fan, green brick guy, rocker, drone guy). Multiples of some of them too.

For S19 I bought the pizza guy, care bear, black space guy, rugby player, fire fighter, explorer, flamingo lady, bath guy, robot programmer girl, mountain biker, dog walker and gamer (with multiples of a few of them).

And I bought a lot of S18 (everything except the spider one, the unicorn, the cake, the flower and the dragon)

Been collecting these since S1 and will continue to do so as long as they continue to release interesting figures with interesting parts that I can use in my creations (my favorite parts from S20 are the keytar and the turtle although the way things are going with this virus, the MOC I want to use the turtle in may never make it to a show)

Edited April 7, 2020 by jonwil

[Itaria No Shintaku]

2cents.

The normal minifigures are surely bought only from LEGO fans, or casual buyers.
The licensend minifigures are bought from LEGO fans, casual buyers, and fans of that specific franchise.
This means that for TLG those minifigures have more market.
I understand. Though, not happy about that. But in the years I've been an AFOL I slowly learnt to understand the subtle difference between how I do see LEGO and how they do see themselves.

TLG is a company. And ethically that's not a bad company either. I'd say it's the best in the world, but I'm not into many as deep as this one.
TLG's support service repeatedly showed me how much they care about their customers. Both experiences I got and friends got are pointing in this way.
One above all, in a LFW or SFW I don't remember, they offered people to buy Brick Boxes for some amount, stating there were 10kgs of LEGO per box. In the end the boxes ended up being just 7kg. They didn't want to let down the fans, so they shipped home on their behalf the remaining. At every single person that demanded that.
Would I see another company do such a thing? No I wouldn't.
The care they put in everything makes me often forget the uninteresting themes, or minifigures they release.
Pick up Mario. I'll be happy to be disproved, but that thing ain't sell a thing, to me. 
Still I don't care. They gave me the most wanted minifigure I had (Centaur) in my list. They gave me the Pirates of Barracuda bay. The next Ninjago wave is basically fantasy era.
This year would be fantastic for me, less fantastic for my wallet.

Back to the minifigures.
I have been nearly addicted to the first minifigure waves. I started to look for leaks on the internet and make contacts in 2010 just for the sake of knowning which minifigures were going to be released. I clearly remember that it started with series 5. I knew just the package color (teal) before the community did. How satisfying. 
I spent hours going shop to shop feeling the bags and securing the ones I wanted.
I probably own several thousand of CMFs. Really guys, not kidding. Several thousands. (Like, for instance, 60 S14 ghosts, 40 S14 Gargoyles, 100 S13 Goblins, 30 S15 Knights, 100 S16 Rogues...)
So I am a little frustrated to have just 1 or 2 minifigures I really care of per year while they were 5 or 6 in the golden times.
But I slowly started to cope with that.

It's not like "I've been tainted by LEGO and now I submitted" but more like "If I'm getting what I want, somebody else isn't, as we don't everybody have mutual desires."
So, if someone is getting their Marvel, Harry Potter, DC, Star Wars or whatever series, well I'm just happy for them.

I'm now happy when something I care of is procuded.
Not sad when something someone else cares of does.
I'm not the center of the universe, LEGO isn't revolving around me, and that's all.

 

[ToaIruini]

6 hours ago, Itaria No Shintaku said:

2cents.

Well said. I think myself and many others have a similar position right now. 

[DarrellBricker]

Well said, Itaria. I will try to look on that bright side, as well, and strive to have hope for future releases. For surely, there is a non-Harry Potter, Lego centaur in our future (one of my most wanted as well!), and if not, well, torsos and heads are easily switched out.

[zoth33]

18 hours ago, Itaria No Shintaku said:

2cents.

The normal minifigures are surely bought only from LEGO fans, or casual buyers.
The licensend minifigures are bought from LEGO fans, casual buyers, and fans of that specific franchise.
This means that for TLG those minifigures have more market.
I understand. Though, not happy about that. But in the years I've been an AFOL I slowly learnt to understand the subtle difference between how I do see LEGO and how they do see themselves.

TLG is a company. And ethically that's not a bad company either. I'd say it's the best in the world, but I'm not into many as deep as this one.
TLG's support service repeatedly showed me how much they care about their customers. Both experiences I got and friends got are pointing in this way.
One above all, in a LFW or SFW I don't remember, they offered people to buy Brick Boxes for some amount, stating there were 10kgs of LEGO per box. In the end the boxes ended up being just 7kg. They didn't want to let down the fans, so they shipped home on their behalf the remaining. At every single person that demanded that.
Would I see another company do such a thing? No I wouldn't.
The care they put in everything makes me often forget the uninteresting themes, or minifigures they release.
Pick up Mario. I'll be happy to be disproved, but that thing ain't sell a thing, to me. 
Still I don't care. They gave me the most wanted minifigure I had (Centaur) in my list. They gave me the Pirates of Barracuda bay. The next Ninjago wave is basically fantasy era.
This year would be fantastic for me, less fantastic for my wallet.

Back to the minifigures.
I have been nearly addicted to the first minifigure waves. I started to look for leaks on the internet and make contacts in 2010 just for the sake of knowning which minifigures were going to be released. I clearly remember that it started with series 5. I knew just the package color (teal) before the community did. How satisfying. 
I spent hours going shop to shop feeling the bags and securing the ones I wanted.
I probably own several thousand of CMFs. Really guys, not kidding. Several thousands. (Like, for instance, 60 S14 ghosts, 40 S14 Gargoyles, 100 S13 Goblins, 30 S15 Knights, 100 S16 Rogues...)
So I am a little frustrated to have just 1 or 2 minifigures I really care of per year while they were 5 or 6 in the golden times.
But I slowly started to cope with that.

It's not like "I've been tainted by LEGO and now I submitted" but more like "If I'm getting what I want, somebody else isn't, as we don't everybody have mutual desires."
So, if someone is getting their Marvel, Harry Potter, DC, Star Wars or whatever series, well I'm just happy for them.

I'm now happy when something I care of is procuded.
Not sad when something someone else cares of does.
I'm not the center of the universe, LEGO isn't revolving around me, and that's all.

 

Exactly.  I wish more people on these forums felt like you do.  A very realistic and still positive approach to something we all on here love.  I think the complaining on here gets very off-putting sometimes and the fact that Lego is still a kids toy at heart look at the new Mario line.  I mean there is stuff Lego makes that I don't like but I don't sit here for hours stewing over the fact that they didn't make a minifigure I wanted or they way I wanted it to look.  Or even sometimes people get all hurt and feel they are entitled to certain sets, prints, minifigs, molds, etc.  I'm still just freakin thrilled we even got LOTR/Hobbit sets and can't wait for the blacksmiths shop.  As you said some great figs in the CMF's like the viking and Knight and the new Ninjago looks great especially the figs so far.  I also think this years marvel sets could be great and the new wonder woman set looks fantastic.  

[Digger of Bricks]

On 4/6/2020 at 2:29 AM, THELEGOBATMAN said:

My point is, we haven't got anything original in regular series for a few years. They are mostly repeats of previous CMF characters, and the new ones aren't really interesting. The only interesting minifigure I can think of in Series 20 was the red armour guy, only because he had that Power Rangers vibe to him. They either need to step up their game and give us something fresh, or end this and give us more licensed CMF.

Unless Lego can cook-up a worthy replacement to such, putting the non-licensed CMS line to rest isn't an option, as there are so many themes, genres, and archetypes that just can't be represented anywhere else among Lego's product lineup. I can only think that the one reason the last few Series have been so lackluster is due to some kinda hesitancy on Lego's part, not that they're running outta ideas. Like @DarrellBricker said, one doesn't even need to be an artist like @Robert8 to run circles around Lego's efforts when brainstorming ideas, so is it just that something's holding them back??? 

On 4/6/2020 at 8:12 AM, THELEGOBATMAN said:

That's just my opinion, but Pea girl is a waste of spot, I hate costumes. They are useless.

Well I can't argue with you there on that, as we'd be much further along if those guys didn't keep hoarding such coveted slots... 

[williejm]

1 hour ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Unless Lego can cook-up a worthy replacement to such, putting the non-licensed CMS line to rest isn't an option, as there are so many themes, genres, and archetypes that just can't be represented anywhere else among Lego's product lineup. I can only think that the one reason the last few Series have been so lackluster is due to some kinda hesitancy on Lego's part, not that they're running outta ideas. Like @DarrellBricker said, one doesn't even need to be an artist like @Robert8 to run circles around Lego's efforts when brainstorming ideas, so is it just that something's holding them back??? 

Well I can't argue with you there on that, as we'd be much further along if those guys didn't keep hoarding such coveted slots... 

But that’s us thinking as AFOL collectors, there’s no specific end point or must-do list for CMFs. Just because something appeared in series 6 or 9, doesn’t mean the average Lego buyer today has them or has access to them. Lego have to try and keep each series ‘light’ with general appeal for kids. It may well be that the reason for more costume and city type figures in recent series  is specifically to offset the number of ‘more niche’ licensed figures or themes for example. 

[1Panda]

1 hour ago, williejm said:

But that’s us thinking as AFOL collectors, there’s no specific end point or must-do list for CMFs. Just because something appeared in series 6 or 9, doesn’t mean the average Lego buyer today has them or has access to them. Lego have to try and keep each series ‘light’ with general appeal for kids. It may well be that the reason for more costume and city type figures in recent series  is specifically to offset the number of ‘more niche’ licensed figures or themes for example. 

Words of wisdom right here.

 

On 4/7/2020 at 4:18 AM, Itaria No Shintaku said:

2cents.

Couldn’t agree more.

[Karalora]

On 4/7/2020 at 2:18 AM, Itaria No Shintaku said:

 "If I'm getting what I want, somebody else isn't, as we don't everybody have mutual desires."

This is one of the best observations I've ever seen on this forum.

That said, I share @Digger of Bricks's puzzlement/suspicion over why the last few non-licensed CMFs have been so light on...let's call them "genre minifigs"--fantasy and sci-fi characters, historical figures, etc. They must know what attracts people by now, so why hold it back so hard?

[Digger of Bricks]

5 hours ago, williejm said:

But that’s us thinking as AFOL collectors, there’s no specific end point or must-do list for CMFs. Just because something appeared in series 6 or 9, doesn’t mean the average Lego buyer today has them or has access to them. Lego have to try and keep each series ‘light’ with general appeal for kids. It may well be that the reason for more costume and city type figures in recent series  is specifically to offset the number of ‘more niche’ licensed figures or themes for example. 

2 hours ago, Karalora said:

That said, I share @Digger of Bricks's puzzlement/suspicion over why the last few non-licensed CMFs have been so light on...let's call them "genre minifigs"--fantasy and sci-fi characters, historical figures, etc. They must know what attracts people by now, so why hold it back so hard?

In every Series, there've always been "conventional" archetypes mixed-in alongside ones of more historical and fantastical inspirations; and yeah, maybe costumed and "City" archetypes might have always been the primary draw that most of its targeted audience look for from each Series, so it's thanks to the blind-bag system that we even have some of the archetypes we've seen over the years. So then, what's changed since then that's lead to recent CMS leaning more heavily towards "conventional" archetypes, especially now given how much less representation there is for historical/fantastical genres elsewhere? 

[Karalora]

My worry is that they have decided to axe the non-licensed CMFs and are giving them one last hurrah by scrounging up concepts that were nixed the first time around for being too dull, too weird, or too repetitive of ones in earlier series. (Not exactly a hurrah then...more like one last "meh.")

My hope--though it's a slim one--is that they've been using the concept to gather provable data about the sorts of themes people will actually spend money on, and the more interesting figures are tapering off because they're actually workshopping themes built around the popular ones--either full-on themes with model sets, or maybe more themed CMF series.

[BigGuy4U]

2 hours ago, Karalora said:

My worry is that they have decided to axe the non-licensed CMFs and are giving them one last hurrah by scrounging up concepts that were nixed the first time around for being too dull, too weird, or too repetitive of ones in earlier series. (Not exactly a hurrah then...more like one last "meh.")

My hope--though it's a slim one--is that they've been using the concept to gather provable data about the sorts of themes people will actually spend money on, and the more interesting figures are tapering off because they're actually workshopping themes built around the popular ones--either full-on themes with model sets, or maybe more themed CMF series.

I wouldn't worry about that yet. There's not really any reason to believe that licensed CMFs are taking over - we only know of Wizarding World S2 and maybe MCU coming, the other themes being thrown around like Star Wars and Nintendo, or even Disney S3, are just possibilities, but nothing has been suggested about them actually getting CMFs anytime soon.

[ToaIruini]

3 hours ago, Karalora said:

My hope--though it's a slim one--is that they've been using the concept to gather provable data about the sorts of themes people will actually spend money on, and the more interesting figures are tapering off because they're actually workshopping themes built around the popular ones--either full-on themes with model sets, or maybe more themed CMF series.

That’s a great idea and I would love it if they made a non-licensed Western theme, a newer pirates line, or something based on Greek legends. 

[Darth Shadowthrone]

6 hours ago, ToaIruini said:

That’s a great idea and I would love it if they made a non-licensed Western theme, a newer pirates line, or something based on Greek legends. 

A Greek mythology line would be so good, especially with how many brickbuilt creatures Lego has been doing for ninjago and Harry Potter. Just imagining sets like the Hydra, Argo or Troy is too exciting. 

Sadly there really seems to be an absence of classical figures recently. The closest I’ve got is Hercules from the Disney CMF 

[Itaria No Shintaku]

3 hours ago, Darth Shadowthrone said:

A Greek mythology line would be so good, especially with how many brickbuilt creatures Lego has been doing for ninjago and Harry Potter. Just imagining sets like the Hydra, Argo or Troy is too exciting. 

Sadly there really seems to be an absence of classical figures recently. The closest I’ve got is Hercules from the Disney CMF 

They are actually doing something like that.
Monkey Kid is based on mithology. Not classical greek mithology, yet mithology. 
They could do a modern revamp. Like Saint Seiya revamps in modern times knights and greek myths.
Doing a totally historic-themed seires, though would have all my money, wouldn't sell IMHO.
It can be an ideas set though.

[Karalora]

My ideal Greek mythology theme would actually be a reimagining with a sampling of famous Greek characters as a hero team who wander the countryside tackling various monsters. You could have Odysseus as the leader and tactician, Heracles as the heavy-hitter, Perseus as the gadget-guy with his winged sandals and mirror shield (and maybe the charmer--he always seems to be portrayed in classical art as young and pretty), Atalanta as the speedster and wilderness expert (and token girl), and Daedalus as their version of "Q," making their weapons and inventing cool steampunk-y machines. Individual sets would recall the specific myths without being beholden to the traditional plots, and we'd get lots of brick-built monsters and a few monster minifigs.

[ToaIruini]

1 hour ago, Karalora said:

My ideal Greek mythology theme would actually be a reimagining with a sampling of famous Greek characters as a hero team who wander the countryside tackling various monsters. You could have Odysseus as the leader and tactician, Heracles as the heavy-hitter, Perseus as the gadget-guy with his winged sandals and mirror shield (and maybe the charmer--he always seems to be portrayed in classical art as young and pretty), Atalanta as the speedster and wilderness expert (and token girl), and Daedalus as their version of "Q," making their weapons and inventing cool steampunk-y machines. Individual sets would recall the specific myths without being beholden to the traditional plots, and we'd get lots of brick-built monsters and a few monster minifigs.

That sounds good. I could see them inventing entirely new characters as well, with maybe references to individual stories. I’d also like the sets to include some cool architecture. 

[UberCorp]

My concern with a potential greek mythology theme is that they would go the Monkey Kid route and have it be a Percy Jackson-esque theme where it's Greek myths imported into in the modern era. If they were able to keep the 'figs and some of the builds looking like they could fit in a historic context, I'd be more okay with it. But I really don't have any interest in a theme where Hercules is running around in a hoodie and Nikes 

[Karalora]

I think Hercules would be very interested in shoes named after the winged goddess of victory!

[Robert8]

Well, I expect DC and Marvel to take turns. I don't think they would release 2 superheroes series back to back. 

So, let's say that would be the January Series: Either Marvel or DC

The next spot (May) should be Disney or Harry Potter. I think both will get a third one. Disney might even get a 4th, but I don't see HP getting more than 3

And if they get the Star Wars license of CMFs.... I think that would be 1 series per year. At this point it's more than proven that SW fans buy whatever TLG throws at them. At this point there is a collection of (I don't how many) Millenium Falcon versions. And that's a huge set. Can you imagine CMFs? They can make Luke yawning, Luke sleeping, Luke eating, Luke crying, Luke thinking, Luke having a seizure.....  and they would fly off the shelves. That would take the September spot every year

 

When I said I think Series 20 might have been the last regular one, I wasn't complaining or anything, it's just that it does look that way 

[Darth Shadowthrone]

4 hours ago, Robert8 said:

Well, I expect DC and Marvel to take turns. I don't think they would release 2 superheroes series back to back. 

So, let's say that would be the January Series: Either Marvel or DC

The next spot (May) should be Disney or Harry Potter. I think both will get a third one. Disney might even get a 4th, but I don't see HP getting more than 3

And if they get the Star Wars license of CMFs.... I think that would be 1 series per year. At this point it's more than proven that SW fans buy whatever TLG throws at them. At this point there is a collection of (I don't how many) Millenium Falcon versions. And that's a huge set. Can you imagine CMFs? They can make Luke yawning, Luke sleeping, Luke eating, Luke crying, Luke thinking, Luke having a seizure.....  and they would fly off the shelves. That would take the September spot every year

 

When I said I think Series 20 might have been the last regular one, I wasn't complaining or anything, it's just that it does look that way 

Honestly that sounds great to me but I don't see two Harry Potter series being released two CMF waves apart. I really hope there is a third one and am going to buy an absolute tonne of the second series minifigures but I think a third series would either be released at the same time as the third Fantastic Beasts film or two years apart so casual fans know its a new series