The Evolution of Star Wars Minifigs

[surrideo]

The minifig has come very far. As long as it stays however many cm high it is and retains the same shape and dimensions Ill be happy. The more detail the better.

When pirates first came out I wonder if there was the same debate about the printed faces,hooked hand,peg leg etc. All of it is evolution of a classic design

[Darkdragon]

The new detailed "alien" figures are a really good thing, it will mean less likely to see kids using sharpie and paint to horribly detail a Watto figure (for example). Battle damage helmets and such, I like on the one hand (again, now the kids don't have to ruin things) but for my own "play" I would like it if a figure included dual side head with scar/no-scar and two helmets damaged/undamaged so that it could be switched out.

I was one of the many people who hated any head that wasn't "classic" - so exoforce, fleshies, etc. I sold off almost everything that was "ugly" before I realized how that type of thinking was just limiting my creativity. I've since rebuilt a collection of fleshies and exoforce and even clone wars heads. Though I'm still not a huge fan of the clone wars eyes, I'm beginning to warm up to the idea.

As far as details, so far it all looks great and I'm happy to see it. I think it would be nice if they would concentrate on not having the huge modified heads though, such as Wookie. I would rather it be a modified head that can turn like a normal head, and a breastplate for the rest...something like that. Heads that don't articulate really irk me.

[Huntleyfx]

I must admit that my reservations are completely from an army building standpoint. in which case uniform is better, obviously. On the other hand, I have tried to get the complete chronological (from the canon) standpoint of the Imperial troopers. Therefore, I will pick up the new CW battlepack in 2012, but I will keep that to a minimum. (I despise the clownish colors of the new ARC trooper)

In regards to the "alien" figures, I think LEGO is beginning to stray a bit far off from the original iconic shape. In between Geonossians, Gungans, Ewoks, and the Mon Calamari, the iconic 'minifigure' that we know and adore is beginning to go by the wayside.

[LandShark]

Personally, I feel the level of detail is getting too high.

I prefer minifigures to be fairly simple and recognisable. I also like some consistency, not a changing design every few years. I don't mind redesigns of characters, but generic troops or classes should be consistent.

I don't like the way that Lego have made a new design for the the stormtroopers and protocol droids in the 2012 waves, essentially making the others obsolete.

I also don't like environmental printing like in the new sandtroopers, but I'll stop complaining now. I know I won't be able to change anything, and I don't buy Star Wars sets much any more anyway. But that's just me.

[Brickdoctor]

That is the point I disagree with. Yellow does not look better than flesh tone, because no one in the world has yellow skin. LEGO is about playing for kids, and when the figures aren't even recognizable as humans it takes away from the play experience. Kids want a toy with people that look like the people in the world that they see, and people with yellow skin don't just go strolling down the street on a daily basis now do they? The other reason I disagree is that when the minifigs have two different skin tones, they aren't compatable with their counterparts in the other color. For example, someone made a fleshie minifig to go with Dino, but it didn't look right, so they had to order expensive flesh parts to replace all the faces of their regular Dino minifigs. That is the problem. If all the minifigs were flesh, the problem would be eliminated. That's my opinion.

If kids hate yellow minifigs, why does the City line sell so well? As recently as August 2011, LEGO claims that the City line, composed entirely of yellow minifigs, ranks in the top-selling category along with Star Wars.

[Lobot]

I’m leaning towards ‘old school’ on this, but perhaps that reflects my age (mid-thirties). When I was a child I had loads of Red, Yellow, White & Blue spacemen which all had yellow heads and I simply adored them!

To me Lego is almost getting too accurate; they are toys after all, and if you want a really detailed model why not buy a 100% accurate replica instead? I can live with the new flesh tones, but the ‘dirt’ on the new Stormtroopers is too much for me!

Edited November 28, 2011 by Lobot

[Churchill]

The minifig has come very far. As long as it stays however many cm high it is and retains the same shape and dimensions Ill be happy. The more detail the better.

When pirates first came out I wonder if there was the same debate about the printed faces,hooked hand,peg leg etc. All of it is evolution of a classic design

I wish they could have stayed with the faceless armless minifigs of my youth.... they seemed to be able to sit, and carry the stretcher, in my hospital set just fine!

Sorry, I can't help but be sarcastic about this.

I agree with surrideo. Minifigs have come so far, and that's progress. Lego has to keep up to compete for kid's attention, and their share of the marketplace. If that means more detail, then so be it, I can live with it, as long as Lego is able to stay in business so I can keep buying more Lego!

Now, back to working on my faceless armless army building!

[Darth Nihilus]

If kids hate yellow minifigs, why does the City line sell so well? As recently as August 2011, LEGO claims that the City line, composed entirely of yellow minifigs, ranks in the top-selling category along with Star Wars.

My observations are purely based on my neices and nephews and their opinions. I'm not saying that they are the spokeskids of the entire child population, but I think that quite a few other children agree with them. I'm no expert on child behavior, but that was my observation. As StoutFiles said, LEGO is constantly getting better, and the minifigs have to evolve with the parts. That is exactly the way I see it. I would really rather have the 'figs all have flesh colors, regardless of the qualms TLG obviously has about making such a big change.

[Blondie-Wan]

Ehh...

I think that characters with human dimensions can be accurately represented with minifigs from the '99 era, but a lot of aliens require molds to look halfway decent.

Let's not forget that TLG has to compete with other toys, and letting their minifigs stay "pure" isn't going to impress kids and keep them ahead of lesser quality knockoffs. If we're going to argue about their minifig designs changing, then we should support them going back to the old minifig design.

TLG has to evolve. The figures need to keep getting better. The LSW figs now don't mesh perfectly with the '99 figs, just like the Lego City figures of today don't mesh with the '74 figures. It's progress. Lego is doing a great job with their figures while still keeping the signature shape of a figure intact, which is commendable.

I don't think so. We don't need to go all the way to "support them going back to the old minifig design" just because we'd like the designs to stay a little more stable.

The early Aldar Beedo figure you posted an image of is clearly an aberration, as it's a pretty random assemblage of elements to which TLG assigned one of the podracer names, without it even bearing a general resemblance to the character. It's far from representative of the entire original few waves, though.

If nothing else, I'd really prefer for the uniformed troops to not change over time. It's one thing when the primary characters are redesigned, since one's generally going to use only one minifigure of a specific character in a specific outfit at a time anyway, but it's kind of a big hindrance to army builder-types when something like the Rebel pilot flight suit or the stormtrooper armor is redesigned - if we've been getting sets over the years and have amassed several figures in the older designs, do we now start our armies all over again from scratch in order to use the new ones while letting our old ones go to waste, or forever stick to however many we managed to get of the older types (adding to them only with figures / sets expensively acquired on the secondary market, if at all), or mix and match both versions and have non-uniform uniformed troops?

I've been mulling over how best to take advantage of my existing parts inventory, expand my forces and retain a cohesive look as we go forward, and the redesigns and new elements for such things as the Hoth Rebel trooper headgear, Rebel pilot flightsuit torso, TIE Figher pilot and AT-AT driver helmets, etc. all pose their own challenges, though I think I've arrived at solutions for most of them I'm comfortable with. But now that we're getting new stormtrooper torsos and legs, I'm not sure what I'm going to do...

[Brickdoctor]

My observations are purely based on my neices and nephews and their opinions. I'm not saying that they are the spokeskids of the entire child population, but I think that quite a few other children agree with them. I'm no expert on child behavior, but that was my observation. As StoutFiles said, LEGO is constantly getting better, and the minifigs have to evolve with the parts. That is exactly the way I see it. I would really rather have the 'figs all have flesh colors, regardless of the qualms TLG obviously has about making such a big change.

There is, of course, no way I could know for sure what percentage of the target audience would prefer flesh minifigs over yellow ones, but TLG does regularly test their products with children before they are released. I think that if there was any significant opposition to the classic coloring of the LEGO minifig, TLG would know and would be making changes if most of the testers did prefer the fleshies. I know that after the grey-bley transition that infuriated some AFOLs, TLG stated that if they ever made another major change like that (and changing all minifigs to fleshies certainly would be one), they would consult AFOLs first, so if TLG was in the process of testing a complete change to flesh minifigs, we probably would have heard of it.

[hockeyboy89]

My 7 year old went nuts when he saw the new figs set to come out. He even offered to 'return' the figs he'd 'borrowed' from me since he started playing with Lego. When he looks at his newer Boba compared to my original, it's no contest what he prefers. Part of the 'problem' for him is he wants them to resemble his Hasbro figs or the customs he sees online. Lego detailing them the way they are is right up his alley, and I'm assuming many other kids as well. Just my 2 cents.

[Blondie-Wan]

Lego detailing them the way they are is right up his alley, and I'm assuming many other kids as well. Just my 2 cents.

Well, sure; I'm certain TLG doesn't arbitrarily redesign these things for absolutely no reason, after all. Presumably the new designs help sell sets, and honestly I don't even mind too much for unique, named characters like Darth Vader and Han Solo (though I think the new Boba Fett is just a little action-figurish for my tastes; I think once I finally pick up the current Slave I I'll use a Boba Fett combining elements of the current minifigure with ones from the "classic" Boba I already have from several older sets). But it's pretty vexing to have dozens of older stormtroopers and see what's waiting in the wings for next year. I mean, now what?

[Darth Nihilus]

But it's pretty vexing to have dozens of older stormtroopers and see what's waiting in the wings for next year. I mean, now what?

As print gets more detailed, it is brought to look more 3D, thus the 'shadows' and black lines on the new Stormies and the new C-3PO. Eventually, I think, we will have torso gear that is shaped like the armor/plating of the armored characters, but for now I think that the print will just continually strive to look '3D' and 'pop out at you' like an action figure's detailing does. The more minifigs evolve, the more detailed they get. Eventually, I should think, minifigs might have noses, though that would be going a little too far for my taste. The torso pieces shaped like armor I can live with. Those I might even accept. But when my minifigs get popped-out 6-packs molded into the torso, I will complain. There is a certain limit to how detailed LEGO can get, and I think that they're pretty close right now. If the 'figs stay this detailed for the foreseeable future, I'll be satisfied.

[Skarkdahn]

I like the approach taken with the Clone Wars-style Clone Troopers and Boba Fett, including the usage of the ARC armour and the separate jetpacks.

However, I'm not too sure what to think about the new torso print for C-3P0, although it is nice to see them trying to improve their previous print design. The Sandtroopers' sand prints also show this, but I think they've layered the sand on too much and too boldly - if the sand was of a lighter tone or a smaller quantity, they'd be even better in my eyes.

[Piranha]

I haven't been on these boards long enough to find out whether or not this statement makes me a minority, but I love the flesh-tone minifigs. I'm a bit disappointed that LEGO hasn't spread that aspect over to their other non-licensed themes.

my point isn't which is better or which is worse or who likes what, the point is the color change fragmented the figs therefore it doesn't really matter to me anymore what matches.

[Hollander]

The point is that TLG has to improve the detail on it's minifigs if they want to keep selling their product in the record numbers they currently do. Which is apart from the fact that a significant amount of the Star Wars community here, doesn't like this overprint at all. Including me. However, I can imagine that kids will prefer the detailed figures, as they want it to be as real as in the television series. But, that doesn't mean we have to like those new figures. I've had Star Wars sets from the beginning, when the first ones were released, and if the detail on them would be the same today, I wouldn't mind. Absolutely, I love the somewhat more detailed figures, but the amount of detailing we've seen this year is more than enough for me. Except from the introduce of the flesh tone though.

Edited November 29, 2011 by Hollander

[Ceroknight]

High detailed torso and high detailed hairpiece/helmet and basic leg/arm prints is as far as I go...

[Thea Neotera]

I think it's been pretty obvious that I am a huge supporter of the new minifigs. I am even a big fan of the new Leia face, which I know some people thought was unnecessary. But with that being said, I would like to point out that there is one minifig which I prefer the original version of, and that's Yoda. I think the original looked a lot closer to the movie version than the newer one. As of now, though... that's the only instance I have found in which I would take classic over redesigned.

[prateek]

I just hate the new face styles, with the huge eyes. I'd rather have dots. Other than that, I think Lego should refrain from overly detailed leg printing. The torsos can be as detailed as they can, but the leg details make figures look a bit out of place. As for printing on other parts, I'm all for it, as long as it doesn't look cartoony. For example, the new Watto and Jar Jar are really nice, while General Grievous is not.

[StoutFiles]

I think it's been pretty obvious that I am a huge supporter of the new minifigs. I am even a big fan of the new Leia face, which I know some people thought was unnecessary. But with that being said, I would like to point out that there is one minifig which I prefer the original version of, and that's Yoda. I think the original looked a lot closer to the movie version than the newer one. As of now, though... that's the only instance I have found in which I would take classic over redesigned.

Well that's because it's CW Yoda. Should they do a new Yoda based off the movies it will be more accurate.

[Brickmamba]

i am a bit of a purest and i don't mind the detailing as long as it is subtle and the fig doesn't lose it's simple Lego charm, it is a hard line to define

from what i have seen in the market the figs that have the extra detail have always commanded the premium prices, just think cloud boba with printed legs and stormies with printed legs from imperial inspection set so it seems TLG has noted this and is giving what the market wants

must admit some of the new figs are overly detailed though these sets are 'new releases' and most people want something new whether it looks good or not, and for the ones that don't there's always eBay

[Zzz]

Love the new figs, seriously. Evolution is not a matter of SW, just check minifigs in general, compare the collectable ones with any 10 year old minifigs.

There are a few exceptions though, where the redesign feels a little unnecessary and therefor just a trick to make some easy money. I think about the new 3PO in 2012 and new Stormie in 2012 (not the Sandy, he is awesome). Giving us one new Stormie that doesn't fit our current army is a not very nice move.

On the other hand, I also like to complain about designs they didn't re-do. The officer in the Rebel Hoth BP, he should be wearing Lukes torso from the Wampa set. So I guess it's difficult to make everyone happy, and for all others, there is BL or ebay, right?

[Werlu Ulcur]

The point is that TLG has to improve the detail on it's minifigs if they want to keep selling their product in the record numbers they currently do.

Do or die.

As much as we (not me) can moan about the "over-detailed" minifigs, Lego has to keep up with the market, so they won't go back to simpler figs.

[Blondie-Wan]

You know, I actually don't know that they really "have" to. Oh, some characters may be due for updates, but a lot of older figures work perfectly fine as is; was anyone really crying out for a redesigned stormtrooper torso?

As far as keeping up with the market goes, I think TLG pretty much creates its own market when it comes to Star Wars construction toys. It's not as though they really have competition from Mega Bloks or Hasbro or whatever; other companies either don't have the Star Wars license, or don't make the same kind of toy. TLG does compete with them to an extent, in that someone who buys both Star Wars LEGO sets and other sorts of toys (whether Star Wars or not) may choose whether or not to prioritize LEGO Star Wars according to how much the current sets appeal to oneself, but I think updated minifigure versions of previously-released characters are only part of the equation.

[Werlu Ulcur]

But Blondie, don't forget that Lego can't "evolve" one line and not the other, they have to be consistent. So if the City line demands more detailed minifigs, they update all their minifigs, independent of what line it fits in. So if the market is asking for more details in the firemen/police/emergency line, they're upgrade everything, from Castles to SW.

Every big and traditional brand is doing so, trying to cram as much details and features in their lines as it's economically viable. Electronic entertainment and xing ling toys are a BIG bogey man to all the traditional toy lines, like Lego and Playmobil, so the brands have to keep up. If any of them stop coming out with new stuff and features, they sink.