Brick Ranker Awards - Best Minifigures of 2023

This year LEGO released a record number of minifigures, breaking the 1,000 minifigure barrier for the first time. As is customary at this time of year, we've gone over all of them to pick our favourite 10.

10. Adam Warlock

This is the first appearance of this character in LEGO form and his gold skin makes for a striking minifigure. The head printing also does a great job in portraying the actor Will Poulter, who played Adam Warlock in the latest Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Given the short shelf life of the New Guardian’s Ship set, we can see this minifigure becoming very desirable in the years to come.

9. Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is one of several Disney 100 minifigures making our top ten. It was one of the best CMF series ever, with very few disappointments. People’s favourites from the series are going to be heavily influenced by the Disney films they watched as a child, but as we had a relatively Disney-deprived upbringing, we hope this makes our list fairly unbiased! This minifigure was one of our favourites because of the excellent head mould and dual moulded legs.

8. Beast

X-Men has been a very underrepresented subtheme of Marvel, such that only a handful of mutants have been given minifigures. Any new additions to this small line up are therefore most welcome. The second CMF Marvel Studios series gave us Beast, who is one of the most memorable X-Men characters, due to his all blue appearance. Subsequently, this gave us a very memorable minifigure which many Marvel fans have been wanting for some time. The fur printing throughout his torso and legs looks great as does his new hair mould. Our only criticism with this minifigure is the lack of arm printing.

7. Robin Hood

Robin Hood was another one of our top minifigures from the Disney 100 CMF series. His bright colours and unique head mould really made him stand out from the rest, and the minifigure is a perfect likeness to the on-screen character. As big Castle fans, we also appreciated getting some “Castle-themed” Disney characters.

6. Prince John

Prince John was the perfect accompaniment to Robin Hood so we were happy to see the Disney 100 series included both. It's another minifigure that had a faultless likeness to the real Disney character, thanks to the bespoke head mould. The ermine fur printing and its continuity across the torso and legs was a great detail that helped elevate this minifigure.

5. Professor Huyang

We've had so many versions of characters from the episode movies that it's hard to get excited about another one unless it's substantially better than the rest. Therefore, it's always refreshing to get a minifigure of a new Star Wars character. Professor Huyang was just that. The tan colour looks fantastic and it has some of the best printing you could ask for.

4. Ernesto de la Cruz

Our favourite Disney 100 minifigure was Ernesto de la Cruz. The simple white and black colour combination is something we’ve always liked. Here it’s done particularly well, with very detailed printed across the whole minifigure. The hat and hair piece is perfect and even the guitar accessory is top notch.

3. Knightmare King

The DreamZzz theme was a breath of fresh air in 2023. It felt like it gave the LEGO designers a much needed creative outlet. While you could argue the sets and minifigures were a little over the top, they certainly broke the mould. Originality and creativity in minifigure design is something we appreciate and the Knightmare King certainly had that. He had several never seen before parts, including a great rubbery cloak that cleverly incorporated a menacing wolf silhouette.

2. Moon Knight

The Moon Knight was the most detailed minifigure from this year's Marvel CMF Series, with really exceptional printing across almost every surface. The moulded hood also looks fantastic so it’s hard to imagine how it could be improved. The Moon Knight is also a character we’re unlikely to see again in minifigure form, so we’re thankful LEGO nailed it first time round.

1. Vision

Taking the top spot this year is Vision. We've had minifigures of the superhero before, but this is the first to show him in his MCU colours. The teal and purple combination makes this one of the most striking minifigures of 2023. The half transparent legs is a rarely used effect but it looks very cool here and also does a great job in depicting Vision’s ethereal state just after his creation. The plastic cloak is another great element with some very fine detailing. All in all, it’s a unique and amazing minifigure that we couldn’t wait to add to our collection.

If you liked this article, you might also want to check out our best sets of 2023.

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