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A Lego minifigure, often simply referred to as a Lego figure or a minifig, is a small plastic articulated figurine made of special Lego bricks produced by Danish building toy manufacturer The Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978 and have been a success, with over 4 billion produced worldwide as of 2020. Minifigures are usually found within Lego sets, although they are also sold separately as collectables in blind bags, or can be custom-built in Lego stores and on lego.com. While some are named as specific characters, either licensed from already existing franchises or of Lego's own creation, many are unnamed and are designed simply to fit within a certain theme. They are highly customizable, and parts from different figures can be mixed and matched, resulting in many combinations.
Lego Alpha Team was a Lego theme that was released in 2001 and ended in 2005. It focused on a group of secret agents and their evil nemesis named Ogel.
Lego Adventurers was a Lego theme based on an early 20th century 'explorer' concept. It centred around the main character named Johnny Thunder and a team of explorers who go on adventures. Unlike other Lego themes, which take place in a fictional "Lego Universe", most of the Adventurers sets took places in real-world locations, such as Egypt, the Amazon rainforest, the Himalayas, India, and China. The only fictional sub-theme took place on an island where prehistoric creatures still lived. The theme was first introduced in 1998. The product line was discontinued in 2003 and replaced with the Lego Pharaoh's Quest theme in 2011.
Lego Exo-Force was a Lego theme that was launched in 2006 and discontinued in 2008. It focused on a team of elite pilots that used robotic mechanical machines (mecha) to protect their home against attacking robots. The backstory for the toy sets was detailed in associated media, including an online comic and a series of story books.
Lego Wild West was a Lego theme based on the Old West period of the United States. It was in production for only two years, from 1996 to 1997.
Lego Ninja was a theme and product range of the construction toy Lego. Launched in 1998, the collection was its own theme. It had many elements of the ninja warriors from feudal Japan. The majority of the sets were released in 1998 and 1999; however, three small sets of minifigures were released in 2000 as part of the "Mini Heroes Collection". After this, the theme was discontinued, and was effectively replaced by the "Knights Castle" theme in 2000.
Lego Spider-Man is a product range of the Lego construction toy, based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. When the theme first launched in 2002, it was inspired by the Spider-Man film released the same year and was part of the Lego Studios line. Additional sets were released two years later, based on the film's sequel, Spider-Man 2. The theme was discontinued before the release of Spider-Man 3, and the rights were sold to rival Mega Brands, who entered a multi-year licensing deal with Marvel Enterprises, giving them the rights to produce playsets, vehicles, and other building-themed products based upon various Marvel characters for their Mega Bloks toys.
Lego Studios was a popular brand of Lego toys released in 2000 and mainly focused on movie-making and the steps thereof. Lego Studios was first distributed in November 2000, and was later discontinued in 2003. The last series in the franchise was the Lego Spider-Man set.
Lego Aqua Raiders was a Lego theme that was launched by The Lego Group in 2007 and discontinued the same year. The theme focused on a team of divers searching for treasure in the Bermuda Triangle. The product line consisted of seven construction toy sets released in the same year.
Lego Belville was a Lego theme designed to appeal primarily to girls. First introduced in 1994, the theme included multi-jointed doll-like characters that were larger in scale than the traditional Lego minifigure. The toy sets were produced from standard Lego bricks and larger pieces, often in a pink and purple colour scheme, and depicted scenes from fairy tales and fantasy as well as everyday life. The product line was discontinued in 2009. Belville's direct successor is Lego Friends, which was introduced in 2012. Other Lego product ranges that have been designed for girls include Homemaker (1971-1982), Paradisa (1991–1997) and Scala (1997–2001).
Lego Minifigures are a 2010 Lego theme based on a set of collectible Lego minifigures. Each figure is an original character with new clothing and facial designs, and many contain previously unseen accessories. Each series usually contains 16 different minifigures; however, some series contain as few as 9 minifigures, while others contain up to 22. Since 2021, the number of different minifigures for a series is set to 12. In 2023, the Disney 100-anniversary series came out, bringing the total number of figures to 18, although it was once again reduced to 12 with the second Marvel series. This series also introduced paper boxes, instead of the plastic bags, making it no longer possible to feel up the pieces for each figure.
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean is a discontinued Lego theme that is based on the film series of the same name. It is licensed from Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. There are nine known sets. The first wave was released in May 2011 with the second wave coming out in November 2011. In November 2010, it was officially announced by Lego that the video game Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game was in production. It was released on May 10, 2011, in North America. The series acts as a thematic replacement for the popular Lego Pirates theme, featuring many of the same elements. Most of the sets are similar to the Lego Pirates theme. The theme was first introduced in 2011 and discontinued in 2017.
Lego Pharaoh's Quest was a Lego theme that was first introduced in 2011. It uses elements from the previous Lego Adventurers theme. The Lego Pharaoh's Quest theme was discontinued by the end of 2012.
Lego Speed Racer was a 2008 Lego theme based on the 2008 film Speed Racer. It consists of four sets which were first released in April 2008. The product line was discontinued by the end of 2009.
Lego Dino was a Lego theme that was first introduced in 2011 after the discontinued Lego Dino Attack/Dino 2010 theme. The theme was inspired by Jurassic Park film as well as various dinosaurs films. It was eventually discontinued by the end of 2012.
Lego 4+ also known as Lego 4 Juniors was a Lego theme that was first introduced in 2003, designed for children aged 4+. It is the successor of the Lego Jack Stone theme released in 2001. The 4+ theme consisted of Pirates, City and Spider-Man sub-themes. It was eventually discontinued by the end of December 2005.
Lego Juniors was a product range of the construction toy Lego, designed for children aged 4 to 7 years old. It acted as a transition from the Duplo to the regular Lego System. Lego Juniors initial release was on February 14, 2014, with the tagline Easy to build. It was the successor to the Bricks & More line released in 2009. Unlike its predecessor, Lego Juniors offered specialized bricks to make builds look more realistic while using fewer pieces for an easier build. The product line was discontinued by the end of 2018 and rebranded as "4+".
Lego Trolls World Tour was a Lego theme based on the film of the same name created by Thomas Dam. It is licensed by Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation. The theme was introduced in January 2020 and was discontinued by the end of July 2021.
The Lego Ninjago Movie was a product line based on The Lego Ninjago Movie, the third film of The Lego Movie franchise. It was licensed from The Lego Group and Warner Bros. Animation. The theme was introduced in 2017 as part of a licensing and merchandising programme associated with the film. Alongside the release of the Lego sets, the programme included the release of several promotional short films and The Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game. The product line was discontinued by the end of 2019.
Lego The Angry Birds Movie was a Lego theme based on Rovio Entertainment's video game series of the same name and the same of the film. It was licensed from Columbia Pictures and Rovio Animation. The theme was first introduced in April 2016. The product line was discontinued by the end of 2017.
References
- 1 2 "BrickLink Reference Catalog - Sets - Category Lego Jack Stone". www.bricklink.com. Retrieved 2021-04-12.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "LEGO Jack Stone 20th Anniversary Sets Announced". thebrickfan.com. April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
- ↑ J.P. Wolf, Mark (2015-01-01). LEGO Studies: Examining the Building Blocks of a Transmedial Phenomenon. Taylor & Francis Ltd. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-41572-291-9.
- ↑ Herman, Sarah (2012-07-09). Building a History: The Lego Group. Grub Street Publishers. pp. 183–184. ISBN 978-1-78340-804-7.
- ↑ Farshtey, Gregory; Lipkowitz, Daniel; Hugo, Simon (2020-10-01). LEGO Minifigure A Visual History New Edition. Dorling Kindersley Limited. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-241-50202-0.
- 1 2 Farshtey, Gregory; Lipkowitz, Daniel; Hugo, Simon (2020-10-01). LEGO Minifigure A Visual History New Edition. Dorling Kindersley Limited. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-241-50202-0.
- ↑ Polan, Dana (2020-11-10). The LEGO Movie. University of Texas Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-477-32157-7.
- ↑ "Jack Stone LEGO Sets". BrickEconomy. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
- ↑ "Five kinds of LEGO set we'll never see again". Brick Fanatics. 11 August 2022.
