Which LEGO Collectible Minifigures Are Better - Licensed or Non-Licensed?

A short while ago, we brought you an article looking at whether LEGO Collectible Minifigure (CMF) series are getting better or worse? This looked at the ratings of minifigures across all the 25 non-licensed series that have been released so far.

This time we thought we'd investigate how well licensed CMFs fare when compared to their licensed counterparts. Once again, this analysis is based on user ratings collected by Brickelo.

Top Rated Licensed CMF Series

First of all, let's look at the average minifigure ratings across all licensed CMF series.

Series	Average Rating
Marvel Studios Series 2	1,122.6
Marvel Studios Series 1	1,096.6
The LEGO Batman Movie Series 1	1,071.8
DC Super Heroes	1,070.7
Disney 100	1,066.2
The LEGO Movie 2	1,061.8
The LEGO Batman Movie Series 2	1,059.0
The LEGO Movie	1,043.1
The Muppets	1,042.0
Looney Tunes	1,033.7
Disney Series 1	1,023.4
Disney Series 2	1,021.2
The LEGO NINJAGO Movie	1,014.6
Harry Potter Series 2	1,000.3
The Simpsons Series 2	996.0
The Simpsons Series 1	985.0
Harry Potter Series 1	982.5
Team GB	926.8
Deutscher Fussball-Bund (DFB)	905.7

For reference, every minifigure starts with a rating of 1,000, so a value less than that represents below average and vice-versa.

As you can see the superhero series are clearly the most popular as they occupy the first four places. The most recent licensed series, the Marvel Studios Series 2, is the favourite by some margin. And I have to agree with this result as the series had some outstanding minifigures, such as The Moon Knight, Wolverine, and Storm.

When we arrange the series by the order they were released, you'll see that generally there's an upward trend in average rating, meaning the minifigures are getting better in the eyes of the LEGO community.

Series	Average Rating
Team GB	926.8
The LEGO Movie	1,043.1
The Simpsons Series 1	985.0
The Simpsons Series 2	996.0
Deutscher Fussball-Bund (DFB)	905.7
Disney Series 1	1,023.4
The LEGO Batman Movie Series 1	1,071.8
The LEGO NINJAGO Movie	1,014.6
The LEGO Batman Movie Series 2	1,059.0
Harry Potter Series 1	982.5
The LEGO Movie 2	1,061.8
Disney Series 2	1,021.2
DC Super Heroes	1,070.7
Harry Potter Series 2	1,000.3
Looney Tunes	1,033.7
Marvel Studios Series 1	1,096.6
The Muppets	1,042.0
Disney 100	1,066.2
Marvel Studios Series 2	1,122.6

Comparison with Non-Licensed Series

The table below shows the top ten highest rated CMF series, and only three non-licensed entries make the cut. Series 14 is the highest placed, which differs from the rest of the regular series in that it had a specific theme - Monsters.

Series	Average Rating
Marvel Studios Series 2	1122.55
Marvel Studios Series 1	1096.57
Series 14	1084.42
The LEGO Batman Movie Series 1	1071.77
DC Super Heroes	1070.69
Series 13	1066.18
Disney 100	1066.18
The LEGO Movie 2	1061.77
The LEGO Batman Movie Series 2	1058.96
Series 12	1055.76

When we look at the average rating of all licensed and non-licensed minifigures that have appeared in a series (some have appeared in smaller minifigure packs), the non-licensed minifigures have a slightly higher average. This is surprising, but can be explained by the low scores of the DFB and Team GB minifigures, which lack appeal if you’re not a sports fan. These have dragged the average down for licensed minifigures, and if you were to take these out, then the licensed average would jump up to 1,038.13.

	Average Rating		Average Rating
Licensed	1027.97	Non-Licensed	1028.92

When we look at the average rating of all licensed and non-licensed minifigures that have appeared in a series (some have appeared in smaller minifigure packs), the non-licensed minifigures have a slightly higher average. This is surprising, but can be explained by the low scores of the DFB and Team GB minifigures, which lack appeal if you're not a sports fan. Their appeal is also somewhat time-limited, as once the 2012 Olympics and 2016 World Cup finished, they became less relevant. These have dragged the average down for licensed minifigures, and if you were to take these out, then the licensed average would jump up to 1,038.13.

Final Thoughts

So there you go, licensed series have won the battle, which is hardly a surprise. But while licensed series will always have more popularity, especially amongst those with an interest in the franchise being depicted, my favourite CMFs are all from the regular series. I'll take originality over depicted an on-screen character any day of the week.

There are always some bland minifigures included in every series, which feel like they're just there to make up the numbers. Having a theme, like Series 14 gave us, seems to raise the standard. Therefore, I'd like to see LEGO do this more often, and at least for now that's happening, as we have the Space series scheduled for May this year.

CMF Series 14 - The highest rated non-licensed CMF series according to Brickelo

If you want to have your input into deciding the list of top rated Collectible Minifigures, you can do so here.

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