Is LEGO Running Out of Ideas for its Collectible Minifigures?

17th November 2022

The Collectible Minifigures (CMFs) series began in 2010 as is now on its 23rd iteration, covering over 350 minifigures. The theme has pushed the minifigure blueprint to its limit and has produced some amazing and never seen before designs, including plenty of new moulds for minifigure parts and accessories, many of which are one of a kind. Because of this, they have well and truly earnt their “collectible” mantle.

However, for all the praise that can be bestowed on the CMF range, there are signs that LEGO are running out of ideas. Firstly, the rate at which new series are released has slowed drastically. In the early days, we could expect three series a year, but recently there has only been one. This is partly because of the greater number of licensed CMF series, such as The Muppets, Looney Tunes, and Marvel. But despite taking that into account, the turnover in series has still slowed.

Secondly, the number of minifigures per series has decreased. 16 used to be the norm, but the last three series have only had 12.

Thirdly, the variety of minifigures has started to suffer and the characters are becoming more niche. In the early series were got people from all eras and genres, but now there is a growing number of costume-based minifigures. These are those showing regular people dressed up in an outfit of some kind.

Up until series 16, typically a maximum of one of the minifigures would be in costume, but since then their numbers have grown. Seven out of 12 belonged to this group in the latest series (series 23), while this number hit its current peak in series 18, arguably the worst series thus far, where 12 of the 16 were dressed up.

Maybe people may like these types of characters, and certainly for kids they might be more appealing, as they have a cuteness to them. While has been minifigures in some great costumes, for me personally, they have lowered the appeal of the last few CMF series, and I haven’t felt the desire to collect them all.

With this mind, we've come up with our own list of characters we would like to see in Series 24.

Sculptor
Professional Cyclist
Ogre
Troll
Escapologist
Evil Henchman
Desert Nomad
Wingsuit Flyer
Paraglider
Billiards / Snooker Player
Auctioneer
Diamond Jeweller
Milkman
Postman / Delivery Driver
Jet Fighter Pilot
Drone Pilot
Druid
Ten Pin Bowler
Paint Baller
VR User
Giant Slayer
Balloonist / Aeronaut
Glass Blower
Green Man
Chess Player
Drag Queen

Hopefully LEGO will take note and bring these characters to life!

Posted by Graham on 17th November 2022

Graham is a passionate LEGO collector, who has a penchant for the Castle, Pirates, and Western themes. You can usually find him monitoring the latest developments and giving his opinion on what's hot and not in the LEGO world.