With LEGO having just announced its 21st set for The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, it’s safe to say they’re betting big on the film franchise. And just like the first movie in the series, that means there’s also a tie-in wave of the infinitely popular Minifigures theme (commonly called Collectible Minifigures, or CMFs). 71023 LEGO Minifigures – The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part will be officially available beginning Feb. 1, though they’re already beginning to pop up in retail stores. They’ll be priced at US $3.99 | CAN $4.99. Remember to check out our Feel Guide if you’re on the hunt for these figures.
This series features the main movie crew of Emmet, Lucy, Benny, and Unikitty, along with newcomers like Rex and a newly happy President Business. There’s also a contingent of characters from Apocalypseburg and The Wizard of Oz, plus Lucy’s all-girl band is ready to rock with all four members in the series. Finally, a sprinkling of the ever-popular costume characters is present with a giraffe and crayon. Let’s take a look at these figures one by one.
The packaging
As with previous series, these figures are sent to retail stores in display cases of 60. The overall styling is very similar to the CMFs from the first LEGO Movie back in 2014, though this time around the blue is a bit brighter. We encountered quite a few oddities in the packaging, though, so let’s get that out of the way before moving on to the figs themselves.
These blind packs differ from every previous series in one very distinctive way: they’re bigger. The blind packs for the individual figures are about an inch taller and a little wider than previous series. The reason for this change isn’t obvious, since there aren’t any large elements in this series that are bigger than the large pieces in previous series. The bags are also made of a thinner plastic. Interestingly, the new plastic actually makes the figures easier to feel through the packaging.
Another change with this series is the addition of a second bag inside the main bag. Only 6 distinct characters out of the 20 in our case have this inner bag: Crayon Girl, Hula Lula, The Swamp Creature, Kitty Pop, Dorothy Gale & Toto, and Cowardly Lion. We’ve seen reports that others have found inner bags on different characters, so your mileage may vary. The inner bag contains most–but not all–of the pieces in the bag. The minifigure stand and guide page are not in the inner bag. With Dorothy and Hula Lula, it appears as if the bag is to separate an easily damaged cloth element from the rest. However, there doesn’t seem to be a particularly unique element that explains the bags on the other four characters.
It’s also worth noting that the guide sheet which is included with every character is now taped shut–except when it’s not. 15 of the characters in our case have taped guides, with each of the five untaped ones coming in the characters who also have inner bags. The Cowardly Lion, however, had a taped guide and an inner bag. All of the characters have a white minifigure stand. It’s a new color for a CMF series, but not a new color for that element, having previously appeared in white in four sets since 2016.
The minifigures
Another oddity we noticed is that our case–ostensibly brand new from LEGO for our review–wasn’t sealed. It’s not that it had been opened. The case itself bore no sign of ever having been sealed. This means we can’t verify 100 percent that the minifigure distribution in our case reflects that of a regular retail case. And in fact, we suspect it doesn’t, because we’ve seen reports from other reviewers and people with early access that each case of 60 contains precisely three full sets of minifigures. Ours was one pack off that target, suggesting that either the unsealed case wasn’t as pristine as it appeared, or the very real possibility that cases have slight variations. Additionally, our case was fairly close to having each full set of 20 in a single row–but not close enough that we’d guarantee if you grab 1 row you’d get a full set. Still, if you aren’t going to feel the packs, grabbing a row is probably your best bet with this series.
The minifigures in this series are:
Character | QTY per case | Character | QTY per case |
---|---|---|---|
Remix Emmet | 3 | Candy Rapper | 4 (3?) |
Battle-Ready Lucy | 3 | Gone Golfin’ President Business | 3 |
Apocalypse Benny | 3 | Apocalypseburg Abe | 3 |
Giraffe Guy | 3 | Vest Friend Rex | 3 |
Crayon Girl | 3 | Kitty Pop | 3 |
Sherry Scratchen-Post & Scarfield | 3 | Dorothy Gale & Toto | 3 |
Hula Lula | 3 | Cowardly Lion | 3 |
Watermelon Dude | 3 | Scarecrow | 3 |
Flashback Lucy | 2 (3?) | Tin Man | 3 |
The Swamp Creature | 3 | Unikitty | 3 |
Remix Emmet
Emmet has appeared nearly 20 times already in other sets, so chances are you’ve already got one or two versions laying about. Remix Emmet doesn’t offer a whole that’s remarkable, with a torso and legs that are identical to those of earlier figures. The coffee cup has only appeared once before in plain white with no printing, back in 2015 in the Simpson’s Kwik-E-Mart.
Battle-Ready Lucy
It seems the crew is going to the ends of civilization in the new film, and they’re dressed to match. Lucy’s Wyldstyle outfit is looking a bit worse for the wear with dirty sleeves, and she’s traded her black legs for more survival-oriented ones with straps and pockets. The dual-molded dark brown and black legs are sure to be a sought-after element. Lucy carries a standard black quiver and grey binoculars, but oddly she lacks a bow/crossbow to fire the arrows.
Lucy’s hood is molded as a single element with the goggles and scarf. It’s designed to fit around the quiver. Underneath, Lucy’s head is double-sided with alternate cheery and angry expressions.
Apocalypse Benny
Always the optimist, Benny isn’t one to be discouraged by a little thing like the Apocalypse–or even the loss of an arm. In fact, now he’s even more spacey! However, apart from his arm, Benny’s blue spacesuit is identical to that of other versions. He does carry a sweet red toolbox emblazoned with the Classic Space logo (this one pristine).
Giraffe Guy
The costume characters have always been among the most popular figures out of any given CMF line, and it looks like they’re finally getting some screen time in The LEGO Movie 2. First up is Giraffe Guy, who might win the award for tallest CMF character ever. With a base of light yellow overlaid with orange spots, the coloring looks, um, spot on.
Crayon Girl
Crayon Girl is the second costume character in the series, dressed as the mascot for an arts & crafts store, I’m guessing. With a large purple cone over the torso and a crayon drawing in hand, Crayon Girl is a pretty simple character. A handheld crayon would have been a great touch that seems to be missing here. The top of dual-molded lavender and dark purple crayon costume has a plume-sized hole, just like Series 18’s Firework Guy. The flower border around the wrapper are printed on.
Sherry Scratchen-Post & Scarfield
Next up is one of my favorite characters in this series, Sherry Scratchen-Post with her cat Scarfield. Introduced in the first LEGO Movie as as an adorable (but slightly crazy) cat lady, she showed up as a CMF in the first series from that movie. Now the apocalypse has hit, and what’s a cat lady to do but embrace it full on? Gone are the frumpy sweatshirt and fanny pack, and in their place a leather bodice with a fierce tiger medallion. She’s got studded pants with fringes inspired by a Roman legionnaire, with a brown torso and hips, and dark brown legs.
Hula Lula
The first musician from what I presume is Lucy’s Popular Band comes up next. She’s LEGO’s second foray into the world of Hula, though Lula is decidedly more 1950s nostalgia than even the still-Westernized version from CMF Series 3. Lula is dressed in a yellowish green dress with a pink leis. She’s got a cloth skirt over a magenta swimsuit bottom, with a thin green line for sandals around the bottoms of the legs. She carries a 2×2 round tile record, a new design that also appears in 70828 Pop-Up Party Bus. In Lula’s other hand is a magenta microphone, which is carried by each of the other band members also. There’s a second as an extra.
Watermelon Dude
The third and final costumed character from this lineup is Watermelon Dude. Always a refreshing guy, he’s here to hand out watermelon slices and… advertise his watermelon cart? At just shy of four studs tall and wide, his fruit suit is a huge element that’s dual-molded in dark pink and green, with a white stripe and black seeds printed on both sides. The watermelon wedge is a little shy of the 72° that would be 1/5 of a circle, dashing our hopes of putting multiples together for a full watermelon circle.
Flashback Lucy
This character’s name gives us our only pre-movie hint to how the Popular Band fits into the movie. It seems like Emmet and Vitruvius may not have been far off when they asked if Wyldstyle was a DJ, as she’s got a gold record album in her past, and of Bricksburg’s most famous pop tune Everything Is Awesome, no less. With a blue torso, magenta hips and boots, and a bare sleeve on one arm, it’s certainly apparent where Lucy came up with her alter ego’s name.
The Swamp Creature
Hailing from the land of the Monster Fighters, The Swamp Creature has turned out to be a leather enthusiast in the apocalypse. The lime green torso is an updated design from the green version in the previous iteration, and he’s picked up leather suspenders and a wicked tattoo. His legs are dual-molded with brown shorts and green leg bottoms. He carries a standard brown whip. Don’t ask why.
Candy Rapper
Armed with a mean mixtape cassette, Candy Rapper is the third member of the Popular Band to fill the ranks of this series. Candy is dressed in the loud pink dress of a bubblegum pop singer, including a bright pink tutu that’s printed with dark pink and white stripes on top. Her legs are double molded with bright pink boots and white tights. The clear 1×2 tile printed as a cassette tape is only the second non-stickered cassette that LEGO’s made, following Star-Lord’s black mixtape.
Gone Golfin’ President Business
When difficulty strikes, President Business can always be counted on to do the right thing–as long as that thing is golf. Dressed in fashionable sportswear for the links, President Business has a lovely knit sweater-vest, short sleeves, and tartan pants with dark green boots thanks to dual molding and detailed printing.
Apocalypseburg Abe
It’s been three-score and seven months since LEGO last released an Abraham Lincoln minifigure. Like many of his fellow citizens, Mr. Lincoln has hunkered down for the end of the world as we know it. His new persona positions him as an elite raider, and he looks ready to ride with Immortan Joe thanks to a totally metal skull-and-pistons belt buckle. Lincoln wields an axe, because of course he does, and his tophat is now decked out with a pair of goggles (though sadly they’re molded in).
Vest Friend Rex
The only new major character from The LEGO Movie 2 to feature in the CMF series, Vest Friend Rex is a cool guy with a tough attitude who’s got what it takes to always get it done, and a bit of charm to boot. Rex’s dark blue fedora is dual molded with his dark brown shaggy hair. LEGO’s ability to seamlessly molded colors together to achieve decorations without printing is improving each year, and Rex’s hat/hairpiece is a prime example. The dark brown vest that stretches around hat’s crown is molded in with only the pockets and zipper being printed.
Kitty Pop
The final member of the Popular Band quartet, Kitty Pop’s schtick is clearly of the feline variety. In addition to the white cat ears thanks to a recolored Catwoman hairpiece, she’s also got a white cat tail and her dress is covered with subtle leopard spots. As the band’s guitarist, she carries a white electric guitar with pink tiger stripes, and of course she’s also got a magenta mic. How she plays the guitar and holds a mic is one of her mysterious talents.
Dorothy Gale & Toto
After the Wicked Witch of the West and her Flying Monkeys showed up in The LEGO Batman Movie, the rest of the Wizard of Oz gang is finally here. First up is Dorothy, and she’s definitely not in Kansas anymore, though of course she looks as if she could be with her simple plaid dress and braided hair. For the torso, Dorothy’s dress is printed over a white torso, while the bottom is a cloth element that covers dual-molded legs with white tops and light blue bottoms. Her iconic ruby red slippers are printed around the edges of the legs.
Cowardly Lion
Everyone needs a bit of courage, though some don’t know they’ve already got it. The Cowardly Lion may be a bit bashful, but he’s ready to join Dorothy for some LEGO adventures. Almost entirely nougat colored with simply brown fur patterns on both sides of the torso and the front of the legs, the Cowardly Lion has flesh-colored ears and head, along with brown hands. The lion’s mane is a new element.
In back, Lion’s got a majestic cat’s tail. His head is double-sided with happy and sad faces, but most importantly, he’s got a medal to show his courage. It’s a lovely piece printed on a clear 1×2 tile, and is sure to be useful to fans outside of this setting.
Scarecrow
A slightly different take from most of the scarecrows that LEGO has made previously, which have tended towards the supervillain styling with the exception of the Series 11 CMF version, this friendly neighborhood Scarecrow is a kindly fellow who’s here to join his fellow Wizard of Oz travelers. Outfitted with a new hat element with a molded-in ribbon tie, the Scarecrow is dressed in dark green tatters with dark brown patched pants. He carries a 2×2 Certificate of Achievement tile which recognizes him as being outstanding in his field.
Tin Man
The final member of the Oz crew is the Tin Man. He’s done up all in flat silver except for the hands, which are dark grey. Although it’s not particularly noticeable, I do wish LEGO would produce silver hands, a color that is annoying still missing from the lineup. The Tin Man wears a silver bowtie, which is of course a new color for that element, and he’s topped with a funnel as a cap. The funnel is a new element which sits at a jaunty angle. Both the funnel’s tip and the handle have plume-sized holes.
Unikitty
The final figure in this huge 20-character lineup is Unikitty, a fan favorite from the previous film. She’s already appeared in a myriad of iterations including her whole own CMF series, so while this version is technically new, it’s basically indistinguishable from numerous other versions except for minor difference in the expression. One interesting point, though, is that this version has returned to the Unikitty design used in the first LEGO Movie, and not the sturdier redesign with an inverted 1×3 tile used in the CMF line.
Let us know in the comments which character you’re looking forward to most, and watch out for our Feel Guide soon.
71023 The LEGO Movie 2 Collectible Minifigures will be available Feb. 1 from the LEGO Shop Online (US $3.99 | CAN $4.99) and Amazon, as well as third-party sellers on Bricklink and eBay.
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick a copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.