The Joy of Six

Well, you really have to hand it to them. Having created a whole new craze with the release of their Collectable Minifigures, LEGO have somehow managed to up the ante with each new series and keep them interesting, to me at least.... I have to confess I'd expected the appeal to wane with each successive series, but having recently taken delivery of a full set of series 6 (cheers, Huw !) I have to say that LEGO have really outdone themselves this time.

Sixteen new minifigures, and many of them are excellent in my opinion. Everyone will have their own favourites and here are a few of mine....

First up it's gotta be Sleepyhead (below). Honestly, how cute is that ?! The teddy's the star, but I also love that huge yawn, those bleary eyes and that tousled hair. And if you'd rather be greeted by a more restful face, turn the head round and you've got a placid, sleeping minifig. Superb !

Next up is Lady Liberty, the one figure in the current series which I got shortly after UK release. Having bemoaned my inability to find an affordable boxed example of Set 3450 Statue of Liberty in my "Bucket List" posting a couple of months back, I found a sealed series 6 Collectable Minifig pack under the Christmas tree on Christmas Day. Turns out my wife had spent some time in the toy aisle feeling up foil bags so she could get me the minifigure version of Lady Liberty to make it up to me..... And I wasn't disappointed - what a fantastic rendition, right down to the sand green torch, stone tablet and headpiece. Not to mention the dark green lipstick - a superb touch of LEGO style.

Then there's the Classic Alien figure, which for obvious reasons (if you're a sci-fi geek, that is....) I've named Paul.... An uncluttered, elegant design - perhaps too simple for some, but just perfect for my tastes. You also get a white ray gun, which you can only get with this minifigure, complete with a trans-bright green 3 stud long bar as a laser blast which is also not available anywhere else. So not only is he cool, but he comes with unique accessories....

The surgeon is also great, with her medium azure surgical scrubs, light aqua surgical cap, light bley syringe and (brand new) trans-light blue X-ray tile. For the City builders among us, such minifigures are great for swelling the population, and this one is quality.

An early favourite of mine from the publicity shots was the Clockwork Robot, a deliciously kitsch throwback to the classic 50's robot designs. The key sticking out of his back is a great touch, and he's already a firm favourite in our household, with my wife declaring him to be her favourite minifigure of the whole of series 6.

Finally there's the Butcher; while there's nothing especially outstanding about the figure itself, I do love his 'dual wield' T-bone steak and meat cleaver.... I have this image of the coelophysis dinosaur from Dino Set 5882 Ambush Attack running down the road with the T-bone in his mouth, being chased by the butcher angrily waving his meat cleaver.....

Thinking about it, there's barely a duffer in the whole series. The Skater Girl feels like she's been done to death in previous series, conceptually at least, but otherwise they're all neat. And that's no mean feat, given that this is the 6th series.

Are any of you struggling to work out how best to display all these guys, incidentally ? I know I have been. When there was just one series I was all for putting them in individual perspex prisons, but now there are 6 series of the things with more to come it's getting out of hand... I ended up constructing a 'gallery' (below - click to enlarge) to display my series 6 minifigures - it would have been black, but I didn't have the pieces I needed, so it ended up being dark bley.

Encouraged by the order I had inadvertently created, I decided to triple up the display, and threw together the 3-tiered affair below which can accommodate 3 series of collectable minifigures. When I get a chance I'll build another one to display the rest.

I'm lucky enough to own a couple of glass display cabinets, so my minifigure grandstands will go in there to stop everything getting caked in dust. Which is all very well until we get to Series 10, at which point there won't be any more room, so it'll be back to the drawing board....

Play well !