Update: Collectible Minifigs series...um...14?

MinifigPriceGuide.com has an image of collectible minifigure series 14, subtitled Monsters, confirming what we've already known about the series: that they're going to be Halloween-themed.

The image isn't in high resolution because it's a scan from a small image in a print catalog.

Of more interest, though, are the various figure prototype images on the same story, some of which we hadn't seen before.

Collectible Minifigs series...um...14?

The info's not out in English yet, but it looks like the French (and then some English sites) are getting some advance info on the upcoming September release of the next series of collectible minifigures.

We've heard before that the release would be Halloween-themed (or monster-themed, maybe) and gotten a few leaked photos before, but this is a confirmation of that theme from the Lego Group, itself.

September 1, here we come, 16 for 16 again!

The Simpsons and a bit of hubris

For two or three straight collectible minifigure series, I'd gone - with the help of Calen mostly - sixteen for sixteen, not getting a single duplicate.

I thought I was hot stuff. I'd helped kids in the stores and parents of kids, even.

This time was a little different as a student of mine gave me a trio of figures as an end of the year gift, three un-searched bags. Those turned out to be two unique figures and a duplicate, but that's not on me. I didn't pick those.

So, I had fourteen for fourteen in my sights.

Calen and I headed to the Lego store a couple of weeks ago, getting there around 10:30 on a Wednesday morning with our fingers all limbered up to pick the necessary fourteen.

At eleven-oh-five we left the store thinking we had our fourteen. Plus we'd helped one of the employees by filling in five or six of his needs, too.

Then I got home and found a duplicate.

Thirteen for fourteen.

Perfection lost with the slip of a stack, because there's no way we mixed up Martin Prince (the one we missed) with either Patty or Selma (whichever one has the blue dress and the eye chart). Selma's hair is way too distinct, plus she has full-size legs as opposed to Martin's short, hinge-less legs. And we definitely didn't get a book mixed up with a 2x2 tile.

Along the way, though, I did pick up two other sets (70166 because of the carbon fiber/conductive bricks and 60077 because the gold-helmed astronauts look awesome) so I could get to the $75 reward, Winter Soldier figure.

That's okay, though, because with five minutes (and five bags) of searching at WalMart, I found my Prince.

Least I Could Lego

Least I Could Do: the comic is very much NSFW throughout the vast majority of its run.

The past week, though, has been Lego-centric and fully SFW. Heck, there's a kid in the strips, even.

Check out these couple then start at the beginning and work forward from there.

Gizmodo's Lego tour

The exclusive Lego tour as given to Gizmodo...

Less than a week away

I've heard surprisingly little noise about the second The Simpsons collectible minifigure series, particularly since I assume that it's to be released on May 1 - following the pattern of the last few years (January 1, May 1, September 1).

But thanks to WhiteFang (and The Lego Group), I at least know which figures are most common and have a copy of the flyer to follow along and check off as I find them.

Now I just need to find the time to go searching - something unlikely to happen in the next week or so.

Another series coming

Yes, the Kwik-E-Mart is gorgeous, but I'm not going to spend $199 for a Lego set, no matter how cool the set looks.

Yes, the printed tiles are pretty stunning...

...and the sticker of frozen Jasper is entertaining (though printed is always better than stickered)...

 But the real stuff for me is the new collectible minifig series, Simpsons 2.0.

A feel guide here could be tough because there are a whole lot of two-by-two tiles in the bunch this time.

• Professor Frink - Erlenmeyer flask...should be easy enough to distinguish from the rest of the accessories
• Martin Prince - short legs and a book
• Patty (or Selma) - 2x2 tile, distinctive hair
• Selma (or Patty) - purse, distinctive hair
• Sunday best Homer - 2x2 tile, smooth head, no hair- going to be tough to tell from Dr Hibbert
• Waylon Smithers - 2x2 tile + 2x2 plate, Smithers's head
• Maggie - weird, baby body, dog
• Sunday best Lisa - cat, short legs
• Groundskeeper Willie - plunget
• Comic book guy -  2x2 tile, squishy (1x1 round brick)
• Fallout Boy - short legs, coffee
• Edna Krabapple - 2x2 tile, coffee cup
• Marge Simpson - big hair
• Hans Moleman - short legs, 1x2 tile (thankfully, only one in the whole set)
• Dr Hibbert - 2x2 tile, nothing else (going to be tough to tell from Homer)
• Ths Bartman - sling shot, cap

May 1st...Lego's are coming

Buy me this

It's so simple. I want this.

Actually, I want to know the measurements (height, volume, whatever) more than just that it's "upscaled 10 times" from the original

Lego wants

Figures I want that are already out and about...

I've all the Collectible Minifigures at this point other than Mr Gold (and I don't really want him - if I did have him, I would sell him in a heartbeat to finance all the rest of the habit) and two Olympians: brawny boxer and relay runner.

There are a number of Super Hero minifigures that I don't have just yet. Some of them are rare enough convention exclusives that I don't count on ever getting them. Most of the others I will pick up here and there on the grey market.

There's the Astor City Scientist from the Ultra Agent line. I just love the white version of the Hazmat Guy's suit.

Now, from this year's new Marvel sets, as seen at the 2015 Toy Fair...

• I don't need another Iron Man, no matter the slight armor design changes.
• I do like the new Ultron figures, though, those in the $13 set and in the $30 Hulkbuster set.
• Speaking of the Hulkbuster set, it also has a Hulk megafigure, Ultron Prime, and Scarlet Witch. That'll be tough to balance whether that's worth $30, especially because I very much like the design of that Hulkbuster armor
• Ultimate Ultron, Vision, and Black Widow are worth getting from the new Quinjet set. The slightly different Iron Man and Captain America aren't as much.
• Nothing from Avengers Tower tempts me.
• I'll probably pick up the full new Spider-Man set at $13 to get the two Spider-Man figures. It's Miles Frickin' Morales. How cool is that?
• Another Spider-Man variation but a cool, Iron Spider one, and Sandman look great. The rest of the Supervillain team up does nothing for me. Rhino is dumb without his suit. Spider-Man looks the same as all the other Spider-Man figures.
• Finally we get a right, proper Green Goblin instead of the stupid movie figure.
• I'm not sure about the Ant-Man set. The figures just look like stupid, helmeted figures. I might feel differently after seeing the movie, but not yet. I do like the up-scaled Lego bricks to show that the figures are tiny.

In the DC sets from the same source...

• Jokerland comes with a ton of figures. I don't dig the Harley Quinn with the bare sleeves, and Joker and Penguin look about the same, as do Robin and Batman. But the Teen Titans are awesome: Beast Boy and Starfire. Plus I don't have Poison Ivy yet.
• The other set, BatBoat Harbor Pursuit come with an interesting Robin and Deathstroke, both worth getting. The Batman is an eternal issue, though, with every DC toy. We don't need a thousand variations on Batman and Superman. Give us new figures, new characters.

The very coolest thing in the new Lego announcements, though, might be the new 1x1 black brick that's 90% ABS and 10% carbon fiber. That has me intrigued, especially with its connection to the Lego app shown in the photo here.

Collectible Minifigure Series 14 rumors

Series 13 just came out three weeks ago. (I sort of went 16 for 16. I'll put a PS at the bottom if you're curious.) The next series, scheduled for May, looks to be the second series from The Simpsons (check the full, rumored list here.)

And, already, we get a teaser list of September's Series 14. Looks like we'll be getting a thematic series: Halloween-themed this time.

• vampire
• tiger girl (seen above)
• zombie accountant
• zombie cheerleader
• zombie pirate captain
• venus flytrap (pic at the link below)
• werewolf (pic at the link below)
• witch
• Frankenstein's rock monster (rock like music?)
• mad scientist
• skeleton boy (pic at the link below)
• five more as yet unnamed

I'm starting to get really curious as to how these Asian folks keep getting the pre-release info on the minifigs and how Lego doesn't smack them down when they leak all the info.

Rumors from here...four pics from here...

More Simpson Lego Minifigs

Looks like May's next series of Collectible Minfigs will be another round of the Simpsons, and the list has already (unofficially) been released:

• Homer in his Sunday Best
• Marge in her Sunday Best
• Bartman
• Lisa with Snowball II
• Maggie with Santa’s Little Helper
• Fallout Boy
• Waylon Smithers
• Patty Bouvier
• Selma Bouvier
• Jeff Albertson a.k.a. the Comic Book Guy
• William MacDougal III a.k.a. Groundskeeper Willie
• Edna Krabappel
• Dr. Julius Hibbert
• Jonathan “John” I.Q. Neidelbaum Frink, Jr., B.Sc., Ph.D. M.R.S.C., C.Chem a.k.a. Professor Frink
• Hans Moleman
• Martin Prince

I'm kinda thrilled to get Willie, the Comic Book guy, and Professor Frink. And these throw my guesses from earlier totally out of the window. I didn't a full repeat of the Simpson family in new costumes. I wonder who'll come with the Kwik-E-Mart set.

And the photo up top came from Whitesnake...I'm three short of managing all those (two Olympians - runner and boxer - and one Mr Gold).

Collectible Minifigures Series 13

The full Lego collectible Minifigures Series 13 has now been fully revealed. Let's take a look at what I'm going to be trying to feel for in January.

• Galaxy Trooper - armor is starting to be distinct and two guns
• Alien Trooper - only circular piece in set, head is going to be tough to feel because it's new
• Evil Wizard - staff, neck beard
• King - crown, sword is too much like female samauri
• Goblin - weird sword, satchel - no sword
• Lady Cyclops - club
• Snake Charmer - staff with no bumps at all, snake
• Paleontologist - bone, pith helmet
• Carpenter - 3x1 tile (or maybe 4x1), saw
• Hot dog guy - the full hot dog suit
• Sheriff - 2x2 tile
• Samurai - two swords, maybe shoulder armor
• Disco Diva - microphone, two roller skates
• Unicorn girl - horn, helmet with ears
• Fencer - epee, maybe face shield
• Egyptian Warrior - giant shield in pentagonal shape

There are a lot of swords this time. That's going to make things tougher.

My early favorites are the hot dog guy, snake charmer, carpenter, Ming the Merciless, and the king.

More Lego Simpsons Updates

Last week I posted a link to leaked sculpts of some of the heads for the Lego Simpsons collectible minfig series 2. From those, the rumors point toward a Dr Hibbert and a Groundskeeper Willie as well as a Santa's Little Helper.

This week's leaks look to be getting us a Professor Frink, Snake, Smithers, Patty, and Comic Book Guy. Big excitement about Frink and CBG for me.

That brings our list to...

• Dr Hibbert
• Groundskeeper Willie
• Professor Frink
• Snake
• Smithers
• Patty
• (assumedly) Selma
• Comic Book Guy

That's eight of a likely sixteen figure set. Who else should we have?

• Moe Syzlack - still alcohol-connected making him a tougher sell for Lego
• Barny Grumble - same as Moe
• Principal Skinner - I'm surprised he didn't make the first cut.
• Edna Krabappel - her voice (Marcia Wallace) passed away last summer, so this might be a tough one
• Troy McClure - again, with Phil Hartman passed, I doubt this one
• Bumblebee Man - would fit nicely with the collectible series's penchant for figures in animal costumes
• Lenny - only if we get Carl, too
• Carl - only if we get Lenny, too
• Fat Tony - little too violent, perhaps
• Reverend Lovejoy - I like this as a possibility.
• Hans Moleman - how can he die in Lego?
• Mayor Quimby - he might require a pudge
• Dr Nick Rivera - always hilarious
• Sideshow Bob - over Sideshow Mel

A whole lot of comics and one crappy Lego book

Really good things I've read lately

• Flash: Rogues Revolution (vol 2) and Gorilla Warfare (vol 3) (new 52) - The relaunch of Flash is working really well. I dig the artwork; I dig the change of romantic interest from Iris Allen to Patty Spivot, a crime scene investigator and Barry Allen's professional equal. I dig the redesign of the Glider from stupid, golden skater to mostly intangible astral projection. I dig the idea of Speed Force as being a weird dimension.
  
  I really, really dig the artwork.
  
  Sadly I couldn't read the first volume as the library copy I checked out had a bunch of pages ripped out. Stupid teenagers

Good things I've read lately

• Action Comics: Superman and the Men of Steel (vol 1), Bulletproof (vol 2), and At the End of Days (vol 3) (new 52) - I haven't been a huge fan of Grant Morrison's writing, finding Batman (Black Glove, et al) and Final Crisis needlessly complicated, hard to follow, and difficult to understand. There are time-jumps a plenty, multidimensional villains, and attacks that aren't even remotely what they appear to be. These stories work only on the very, very long term, rewarding readers for paying attention to and remembering story breadcrumbs laid down years previously.
  
  Here, it actually kind of works. Admittedly, though, the three-volume storyline is far greater than the individual issue parts are on their own. In fact, at times, the individual issues were somewhat confusing, jumping from past to future, new 52 universe to an Earth-23's President Black Superman. In the end, though, Morrison actually brings things together to a satisfying wrap-up.
• Invincible Ultimate Collection Volume 9 -  Admittedly, there's a bit of save-the-world fatigue at this point in Invincible because the world has been nearly destroyed dozens and dozens of times, the Viltrumites have fought again and again, and Mark has been left for dead dozens of times.
  
  But it just keeps working.
  
  Every time I think the series's gone too far, I keep wanting to read more. The cliffhanger at the end of this volume - with Mark trapped in another dimension - has me biting my nails again. Nice job, Kirkman.
• Fairest: Of Men and Mice - Cinderella takes the series for a run here with something that certainly would have fit in tidely in the main series. In fact, much of the storyline ties in neatly to the building tension of the main series's impending wrap-up as we find in the end that a plot set into running by Brandish (now trying to redeem himself in Rose Red's army of hope) is nearly seen to fruition by an Leigh who ends this volume practically laughing maniacally and rubbing her hands together.
  
  The actual plot sees Cindy quelling an assassination attempt against her and Snow White, attempts involving hundreds of rat-human hybrids of varying levels of ratness and humanness (yes, humanness, shut up). The plotline wraps up neatly enough and isn't much more than an unnecessary sideline from the main series's continuing march toward the inevitable. Let's get back to the main tale, shall we?
• X-Men Legacy (vol 1-4) - This exploration of Legion (Prof X's son) mental illness and attempts to right his world and control his powers is surprisingly interesting. Definitely worth a try.

Passable things I've read lately

• How to Fake a Moon Landing -  I really wanted to like this one. It's a graphic novel/comic book/picture story that points out that science disbelievers are misguided. The book tackles moon landing disbelievers, autism-vaccine linkers, homeopath purveyors, and all sorts of other mistaken folks.
  
  I wanted to like it, but I just didn't. It's too one-note, too pedantic, lacking any subtlety whatsoever. Maybe younger readers might be more willing to read through this lack of subtlety, but I only made it through about half the book before I sent it back to PLCH.
• Batgirl: Knightfall Descends (vol 2) and Death of the Family (vol 3) (new 52) - First off, I was embarrassed to even pick up vol Knightfall Descends because of the horrible cover. Apparently the artist was trying to come up with a horrifically sexist cover showing off Batgirl's apparently massive quads and a spandex-covered view of the holiest of holies. I couldn't carry the comic around without covering it up with another book. Good lord, folks. (Check out the image to the right there...click to make it larger)
  
  The continued exploration of the after effects of Barbara Gordon's shooting and temporary paralysis at the hands of the Joker (in the still kind of in-continuity Killing Joke) is an interesting and likely necessary choice if they're going to keep Barbara Gordon's past in continuity. The girl Talon, continuing the Court of Owls crossover is happily passed by quickly. The weird, girl version of Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael named Knightfall here (referencing the broken-back storyline from the old 52) comes next...meh. The best part of the Batgirl series so far has been the search of Batgirl to find independence, finding her own apartment, making a new friend with her roommate. The villains here are forgettable.
  
  Then comes the crapfest that is Death of the Family. CRAPfest...the face ripped off and stapled back on Joker is a whole bunch of horrible ideas, as is the 'Joker wants to marry Batgirl'. Even worse is the introduction of Barbara's brother James, Jr as a horribly psychotic, disastrous badguy who knows Barbara is Batgirl. Bad, bad, bad idea and execution.
• Superman: Fury at World's End (new 52) - Meh...Superman and Wonder Woman hide their relationship from fellow heroes...the biggest threat (another Kryptonian but with super science ability and superpowers that Superman and Supergirl don't have) ever to Earth to the whole solar system EVER...zzzzz
  
  Yes, the sight of Clark Kent talking to Lois Lane while thinking about Wonder Woman followed immediately with Supergirl barging into Clark's apartment - which Lois dismisses as Clark doing 'blog interviews with comely cosplayers.'
  
  And the entertaining prison traps built around Lex Luthor - traps which only Superman can break through when he needs to talk to Luthor - are pretty fun.
  
  But the actual plotline isn't very interesting.

Awful things I've read lately

• Brick Flicks -  Good lord is this stupid. It's a collection of film photos or posters recreated in the medium of Lego. There is almost no Lego-related information - no discussion of the Lego techniques involved, a very few wordless photography building instructions (which alternate between ridiculously, pointlessly simplistic and ridiculously hard to follow due to the gigantic jumps made between steps), just a few paragraphs of tepid movie summaries with a cute closing sentence.

More Lego updates

• Lego The Simpsons 2015: leaked minifigure molds - looks like we'll get a Groundskeeper Willie, a Doctor Hibbert, and a Santa's Little Helper. Most excited about Willie from that trio.
• Lego CMF Series 13: unicorn girl and hot dog guy molds - ...but I'm way more excited about the Hot Dog Guy from this post. How cool is that?

More photos of Minifigure series #13

More confirmation continues to appear about the list of collectible minifigures series #13.

This bit of info is thanks to HothBricks and gets some low-res images of the figures on a couple of display boxes in a style that I've never seen in stores around here.

After some zooming in, thoughts...

• Alien trooper - looks a lot like Cthulhu (on the top left, side)
• Egyptian warrior - meh...(on the top right, side)
• Unicorn girl - another awesome addition to the figures in animal costumes line...(on the middle, side)
• Disco diva - pretty cool (on the bottom, side)
• Snake charmer - curious to see what the snake looks like (bottom, left side)
• King - I dig the torso and the cape (bottom, front)
• Paleontologist - meh (bottom, front)
• Sheriff - love the mustache, love the wanted poster (bottom, front)
• Female cyclops - another opposite-sex pairing from the figure series (bottom front)

No images yet of galaxy trooper, evil wizard, goblin (curious there), hot dog guy, carpenter, samauri, and fencer.

More Lego Collectible Minifigs

We're just barely a month since the release of Lego's Collectible Minifigures series #12, and we're getting our first leaked images and list for series #13, to be released on January 1 of 2015.

LEGO Minifigures, a tumblr, has a leaked list of the figures...and TheBrickFan has a couple of leaked images...

• Galaxy Trooper
• Alien Trooper
• Evil Wizard
• King
• Goblin
• Lady Cyclops
• Snake Charmer
• Palaeontologist
• Carpenter
• Hot Dog Guy
• Sheriff
• Samurai
• Disco Diva
• Unicorn Girl
• Fencer
• Egyptian Warrior

In the long run, the list is largely whatever. I'll be lining up to go a perfect sixteen-for-sixteen again.

Calen, are you in?

Collectible series #12 feel guide

LEGO Minifigures tumblr posted a full breakdown of his/her thoughts on and a series of individual images of each of the coming-in-October collectible minifigure series #12, continuing the numbering and just ignoring the Simpsons and LEGO Movie series.

Let's see what I'll be feeling for come October...(names are from aforementioned tumblr post and not yet official)...

• Space miner - shoulder pads, I think...confirm with drill cone (does anybody know if the drill will be attached to the handle or separate?)
• Swashbuckler -foil...very thin, small ball on end
• Genie Girl - ''tail'...no legs
• Pizza Deliver Man - 2x2 tile...confirm with round 2x2 pizza tile...
• Dino Tracker - bow and arrow...confirm with syringe
• Battle Goddess - round shield, no bump on front, handle on back...confirm with long spear
• Fairytale Princess - slope dress...distinguish from wizard because she doesn't have a long staff...hat has attached hair
• Prospector -pickaxe...I don't know that I'll recognize the hat yet
• Hun Warrior - round shield with bump...confirm with sword
• Lifeguard - apple...confirm with pig helmet
• Piggy Guy - binoculars & flotation device
• Jester - two 1x2 tiles...jester's hat
• Wizard - slope dress...distinguish from princess because he has a long staff...hat should NOT have hair attached
• Spooky Girl - teddy bear...long, straight hair
• Video Game Guy - 1x2 tile...only one of them...
• Rock Star - guitar

There may be a couple of tough ones to distinguish, but my aim is, as always, to go sixteen for sixteen. I went sixteen for eighteen on the LEGO Movie series and sixteen for seventeen on the Simpsons series. Let's keep up that pattern.

They seem to be on the roof of the Grand Bazaar

• Harvard Students Have Invented Microwaveable Cake Batter - TheGirl is out of town until Monday evening. I'll see if I can try some by then.
• The 14-hour search for the end of TGIFriday's endless appetizers - When I described this to TheGirl, she suggested we try this. I'm not so sure I want to live the article, but I certainly enjoyed reading it.

Lego news roundup

A few bits and bobs of Lego news that caught my eye of late...

• Greenpeace campaign against LEGO and Shell partnership - I'm pretty solidly anti-Big Oil, but I'm also pretty solidly Lego Group, so I'm torn here. Lego hasn't done a ton of corpration tie-ins in the years (though there was a Vestas wind turbine set, take that Greenpeace!). If this turns out to be a protest with legs (and I don't think it will be), I'm thinking it'll be a fairly easy separation in spite of the long history of Shell sets. Go Octan!
• Man caught stealing 6000 Lego minifigures from local toy store - This was in the Czech Republic, and it looks like he was buying sets, picking through for the minifigures, and returning the original sets. I would think that would be really obvious as he would have to have been buying/returning a bunch of sets to get 6100 minifigures.
• More Lego Collectible Minfigures (71007) Series 12 Minifigures - I'm a sucker and will probably buy every one of these sets no matter what's in them, but I do dig that Piggy Guy. October can't come soon enough for me.
• LEGO Ideas #007: Exo Suit (21109) - Green space minifigures! Green Space Minifigures! GREEN Space Minfigures! GREEN!!!

• The Exo-Suit has been revealed - Seriously, GREEN! $35 is a bit steep for just the two green figures, but I'm spending it.

• More Exo-Suit goodness - full pics from the Brickset photostream including a nice comparison photo to the original Cuusoo/Ideas design

•  Seriously, GREEN spacemen!

• LEGO Ideas Exo-Suit finally revealed - Check out the comments from Lego_Nabii, the LEGO designer who was tasked with translating from the original Ideas proposal to the actual set. It's a great insight into the business/design process at the Lego group.
• Stressing the elements - The discussion of the Exo-Suit design mentioned a number of illegal connections, and I wasn't as knowledgeable about what those were as I would like to be. Thankfully, one of the redditors linked to this presentation clearing things up.
• Lego hands fit cables perfectly - who knew?