My first minifigure: post your story

[Mr Meleca]

This post is an invitation for ou to show your first minifigure and his story.

Dear Fellows, I present you my first mini figure. 30 years ago my Aunt, who lived in USA brought me one set of Space (in Brazil, there was not Lego on sale in Stores). I do not remember which year but I do remember its box and where I did open it. I was 4 or 5y-o (1979-1980). It was the set 452 - Mobile Ground Tracking Station. From that moment, this was obviously my favorite minifigure. He used to fight against the horrible big heads gang with a cannon in their fist (I removed the firemen (218) hands). Years later my adorable aunt gave me the second Space set, 6881 - Lunar Rocket Launcher. I had my adventurer fellow and a friend. All changed in 1986 when Lego Company opened a factory in Brazil. That Christmas my father gave me 2 amazing sets: the FX Star Patroller and the Inter-Galactic Command Base, my best Christmas ever.

My relation with Lego Space lasted until the early 90´s, my Dark Age. In 1999 TIE Fighter & Y-wing brought me back.

So finally I show you the bravest adventurer in my collection:

My first minifigure

As you can see, the helmet is broken in the chin, a predictable accident that only happened after years of use. I used to remove the air tanks during his travels, and the repetition made the head loosed. I had to attach the head to the torso with paper. Because of that, it was hard to remove the head. The head marks are consequences of it (teeth involved sometimes, of course).

The torso had the printing gone in the first years. The hands still have a good clutch and broken arms appeared only in the lasts years of "service".

My first minifigure and a brand new one

The Hips and legs… these pieces suffered the action of time.

During the lasts years of intense activity, the legs could not clutch in the vehicles anymore. My friend was loosing his Swooshability. He used to fall off from any opened vehicle. The studs did not make pressure over his tired limbs.

Hands, hips and legs, front view.

View of his back, note the paper on his right hip articulation.

For years I had the question: to clean or not clean my friend.

As you can see, he was used intensively for a long time, his scratches and dust do not denies the time.

I have decided he must stay how he is. It shows me the time has passed and we cannot clean all we have been through. Also he shows me who I was and encourage me to don´t loose the virtuous human been I used to be as the time is always trying to make me forget.

Framed display were he is in exposition, in my bedroom.

[62Bricks]

This is a wonderful tribute! I agree keeping him in his "original" state is the proper thing to do.

The modern minifig came along right about the time I was making the switch from Universal sets to Expert Builder and then Technic, so I never really played with them as a child. As a result I don't have much attachment to minifigs or much desire to collect them. This has worked to my advantage, since it has allowed me to add about 30,000 pieces to my collection for free. I buy mixed lots, then make my money back by selling the older minifigs to people who did not manage to hold on to their favorite figures from their childhood as you have done.

[StickFig]

I very clearly remember my first set... according to BrickLink it came out the same year I was born, although of course my parents didn't buy me LEGOs until I was four or five. I remember mostly the little van... (Pictures from BrickLink.)

I wasn't as lucky as you to get a cool space minifigure; my first was about as plain as minifigures can be. He is long since gone, his pieces put into other minifigures and his face and hands sold (I have converted to human-colored minifigures). Still, this little guy and I had many, many fun hours.

Edited February 9, 2014 by nstickney

[Faefrost]

That looks like a much loved, much played with and much enjoyed little friend. Let him wear his battle scars with pride. Give him a place of pride in your collection. He truly deserves it.

[The Architect]

This really brings on the feels. I feel happy knowing that there are others who still have their first figure. I still have mine, he's one of Vladeks Knights. Iv'e had him for eight years.

21 gun salute for you and your little friend there.

:cannon: :cannon: :cannon: :cannon: :cannon: :cannon: :cannon: :cannon: :cannon: :cannon:

[Hrw-Amen]

My first actual mini-figures (There were two of them.) were of the type that was a plain yellow heads with no details and then arms were just molded lumps on the side of the torso with the legs all in one. They were black with white hats and were supposed to be policemen, they came with a police boat that I played with in the bath as it floated.

My first real mini-figures were two space men that my father bought me. Two sets together, the very smallest of the space sets when they came out. A little buggy with the white (American.) spaceman and then a little skimmer with a red (Soviet.) spaceman. These were soon followed by all sorts of space themes and more red and white spacemen, eventually giving way all sorts of colours. Nearly all of my early mini-figures were space realted in one way or another.

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

My first minifigure was probably a little man with a hat in one of the early 80s Basic sets. I no longer have those, so I have no idea where that guy went. However, I still do have the original Castle ghost from the late 80s/early 90s, whenever he came out. As of last night, he now has an orange rubber band around his head--he's now our <spoilers>Ghost Vitruvius.</spoilers>

[LEGO Guy Bri]

I very clearly remember my first set...

This was my first minifig as well, although he came in the 1638 Basic Blue Bucket from 1990. He's still floating around somewhere

[Deathleech]

I'm not even sure which minifigure was my first. I know I have some old Blacktron 2 minifigures, as well as some Crusader ones. Those seem to be the oldest, and most beat up

So, it was one of these two, most likely:

[naf]

My first minifig, along with my first set ever... the 6872 Lunar Patrol Craft! He's in surprisingly good shape, the only classic spacemen that have their logo rubbed off are the white and red ones. His helmet is a bit chewed, I had a tendancy to put those space helmets in my mouth for some reason.

I had lots of fun swooshing him around the house in his patrol craft. He was happy when he got his ground crew to help him out, 6926 Mobile Recovery Vehicle, my 2nd set ever!

[Lego Otaku]

My memory is somewhat foggy but I am sure the red space minifig is the first one. From X-1 Patrol Craft

[rocco92]

my first minifig is probably a Johnny thunder guy or a carvery guy

[Galaxy Explorer]

My first minifig was the Police figure included with 540 Police Units. I bought that set with my allowance back in 1980- it was my introduction to Legoland Town!

[AMK152]

My first minifugure is actually a three-way-tie. It was May of 1997 (or 1998). For my 6th or 7th birthday, I got this LEGO construction set:

http://www.1000steine.com/brickset/images/6565-1.jpg

I still have the minifigures, but I am not sure which ones, as I have a couple other minifigures from other construction sets.

Edited February 19, 2014 by AMK152

[antp]

http://www.bricklink...m.asp?M=post001 from http://www.bricklink...em.asp?S=6651-1

The printing were long gone, but I bought recently on BL one that still has the printings.

I also had to buy a yellow window frame for the van, as the original one is broken (the shutter holder on these old window frames were fragile).

I should rebuild it now that I have all the parts.

And a few years ago I bought the modern version of the set, http://www.bricklink...em.asp?S=7731-1

just because the 1982 set was my first Lego set (except Duplo).

Edited February 19, 2014 by antp

[rodiziorobs]

This was my first set:

I was lucky enough to start out with five minifigs (including the ghost!) and a monkey. I still have all but the knight, who a friend borrowed about the time I entered my dark ages, so I never bothered to get him back.

[midelburgo]

Well somehow in 1980 the apparition of minifigures two years before was a reason for my first Dark Ages. Suddenly all sets were having them, and then they looked childish next to my figureless sets, so I avoided them and I did not have any minifigure.

In 1992 I bought the Black Knight out of curiosity, and that meant my first minifigure and the end of Dark Ages.

Actually I do not know which one is the first, because I have something like 10 of them, all in AFOL condition. I have not made a census for a while, but their total number shall be approaching the 1500s.

Edited February 22, 2014 by midelburgo

[antp]

Well somehow in 1980 the apparition of minifigures two years before was a reason for my first Dark Ages.

Interesting, that's an unusual dark age period, as many of us seem to consider 80s sets as the best :D

(well, probably because a lot of AFOL played with lego as kid in the 80s)

[LAKAbricks]

Well... I actually have no idea which minifig was my first. The oldest set I have got - 166 Flat Wagon from 1978, the year I was born - contains two minifigs:

But if the set was my first, I have no idea about.

The oldest minifig that stands out from the other minifigs I have got is the lady from 6365 Summer Cottage:

When I see how nice the prints are on some old minifigs, I wonder - didn't people play with them? On most of my oldest minifigs the prints are rubbed off from playing. They might occasionally have some cracks in the side of the torso and on the arms where the hands are attached. But I don't recall any of my minifigs has lived such a hard, though adventurous, life as Mr Melecas white space man has...

[Mr Meleca]

After few months, I am attending to my daughter´s request, I am posting her first Olivia.

She got it after 2011 Christmas, In the Tree House set and used to play only with her for a long time.

This is her description:

"One day Olivia started to loose her shirt paint but I still keep playing with her.

I played my adventures with her, then I got her house in 2012. In 2014 I got the camper van and it came with another Olivia. some times I play with both olivias. I had two Olivia´s shirts but then I lost one. 2015 in christmas I am going to get emma ´s house. if i get emma´s house i will have Emma´s and Olivia´s hose because I have Olivia´s house."

[Dazmundo]

I think that this was my first minifigure

I still love these classic knights and keep my eyes open to pick them up second hand, I've got a nice little unit now :)

[dr_spock]

My first minifigures were the ones with the 7710 Push Train set. I bought the set when I was at university out of country and couldn't bring my HO trains with me. They held up pretty well sitting on a shelf in sunlight for years. There are some discoloration of the white torsos though.

[ShaydDeGrai]

I started with "slabbies" (or whatever people call them these days). I guess they were sort of the Neanderthal of the minifigure world.

I think I got my very first one in a present my aunt sent over from Scotland, it was a little "forklift" set (even though the lift was really a solid platform not a fork) and the figure was red with a black hat. Slabbies didn't have arms, jointed legs or even facial printing.

Of course having just one doesn't make for good play, even Robinson Crusoe had Friday and the occasional tribe of cannibals, so I remember being really excited when the 485 fire truck came out a short time after, it had three (count 'em, three) figures.

I remember replacing the heads on some of them with 1x1 rounds so I could have humans and androids (androids didn't wear hats, but later would eventually get trans-red heads and wear helmets) Sure, they had all the pose-ability of a brick, but backed by my childhood imagination, it was good enough.

I think my very first "modern" mini-figure came about three years later. I'm pretty sure it was this guy:

For a long time I like my slabbies better, the redesign seemed too cute, too cheerful. As my collection grew, I made all my slabbies into "androids" with basic 1x1 round heads and used the blank (actual) heads I freed up on mini-figures who I felt shouldn't be smiling so much.

Of course these days, the expressions are a lot more varied, ranging from happy to sad, laughing to grim, and, in the case of LOTR "combat faces" even painfully constipated.

The minifigure has certainly come a long way, but I'll always remember my android army of slabbies fondly.

[Borador]

If I recall correctly- and I probably don't- but if I do, I got most of my original childhood LEGO around the same time, WAY before I can remember. But-

The earliest memories of a minifigure I have are of this guy:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?M=jstr009

Except he had no helmet. We randomly found him in the Lincoln logs drawer and thought he was amusing. We called him Elvis, due to him bringing the King to our minds. Despite being bald. I ought to find him and give him a proper Elvis hair piece as a tribute to both the real King and the figure.

[Robert8]

My first minifigure came with my first set.... and that's the story.

This is the guy:

And I still have it.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Robert8