Review: LEGO Minifigures Series 13

January 11, 2015 | 34

I can’t think of a better way to kick off 2015 than with the latest edition of LEGO’s universally beloved Collectible Minifigures. Now in its 13th series, it only seemed like yesterday that we were treated to Series 12. I absolutely love doing minifigure reviews so a new series is something that I look forward to every few months! From first impressions, Series 13 looked like it had a lot of promise! Let’s see if it lives up to the hype. 

It seems like LEGO are running out of bright and visually appealing colours, with Series 13 going back to a familiar shade of green. It’s kind of a cross between Series 11 and Series 3.

LEGO Minifigures Series 13 is now starting to slowly show up around the world and right here in Australia as well. To my knowledge, most Toyworld and independent stores like I’m Rick James Bricks have them for sale, and they’re also starting to appear in bigger retailers like Target. Expect to see them all over soon. Series 13 minifigure packs are still priced at $5.

I got my full set from Rick James Bricks – he sells complete sets, which is way more convenient than awkwardly standing around department store counters groping around the blind bags.

5x Goblin
5x Carpenter
5x Galaxy Trooper
4x Evil Wizard
4x Egyptian Warrior
4x Alien Trooper
4x Snake Charmer
4x Sheriff
4x Classic King
3x Unicorn Girl
3x Paleontologist
3x Fencer
3x Samurai
3x Lady Cyclops
3x Disco Diva
3x Hot Dog Man

Here’s the box breakdown for Series 13 which should give you an idea of the relative rarity of Series 13 minifigures. The ratio of minifigures per box has remained similar to previous series, which is great since each box guarantees you 3 complete sets of minifigures.

To make things slightly easier, if you click on the names of the minifigures listed above, you will instantly jump to that minifigure’s review section. Also, in a slight departure from my previous minifigure reviews, I’m not splitting up my reviews into several parts so all 16 minifigures will be featured in this one post!

Here’s a look at each Series 13 blind bag, which contains one mystery minifigure. These minifigures don’t come cheap, so I’ll include tips on how to feel for the minifigures you want. You don’t need particularly deft fingers to find the minifigure that you’re after – some patience and a decent knowledge of how small LEGO parts feel like should be sufficient.

Here’s the check list included in each Series 13 blind bag, which should come in handy while you’re out hunting for them as you’re able to visualise the distinctive parts and accessories each minifgure comes with

Series 13 puts a new spin on the Collectible Minifigure Series with a Collect & Win competition. On the other side of the checklist, you’ll find a 12 character alphanumeric code which you can enter into the Collect & Win page to go in a draw and win some great LEGO prizes.

This is an interesting mechanic to get people to try the LEGO Minifigures Online game as you will be prompted that you’ll receive an in-game character, a free 3 day membership trial as well as some online diamonds. I haven’t tried the online game, so my knowledge about it is pretty limited.

There are 17 prizes up for grabs, with a different prize each week. Do note that there’s a limit of one entry per day. Entries are tied to your LEGO ID, but if you had a ton of codes, I guess you could circumvent the limit by creating several LEGO ID accounts.

Here’s the list of weekly prizes. There are different sets such as Modulars, Technic and Mindstorms which will appeal to different people. If you have a limited number of codes, my advice would be to identify the prizes you’d want the most and prioritise those weeks. As an added protip, because this competition runs for quite some time – punch these dates into your calendar and set reminders on when to enter them.

31313 – LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 in week 2 (5 – 11 January)
10214 – LEGO® Creator Tower Bridge in week 3 (12 – 18 January)
10234 – LEGO® Creator Sydney Opera House™ in week 4 (19 – 25 January)
10243 – LEGO® Creator Parisian Restaurant in week 5 (26 January – 1 February)
10232 – LEGO® Creator Palace Cinema in week 6 (2 – 8 February)
42009 – LEGO® Technic Mobile Crane MK II in week 7 (9 – 15 February)
60052 – LEGO® City Cargo Train in week 8 (16 – 22 February)
31313 – LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 in week 9 (23 February – 1 March)
10234 – LEGO® Creator Sydney Opera House™ in week 10 (2 – 8 March)
31313 – LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 in week 11 (9 – 15 March)
10214 – LEGO® Creator Tower Bridge in week 12 (16 – 22 March)
10234 – LEGO® Creator Sydney Opera House™ in week 13 (23 – 29 March)
10243 – LEGO® Creator Parisian Restaurant in week 14 (30 March – 5 April)
10232 – LEGO® Creator Palace Cinema in week 15 (6 – 12 April)
42009 – LEGO® Technic Mobile Crane MK II in week 16 (13 – 19 April)
60052 – LEGO® City Cargo Train in week 17 (20 – 26 April)
31313 – LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 in week 18 (27 April – 3 May)

It’s a bit of a long shot to win, but good luck! Would be great to score a sweet set like the Sydney Opera House or Tower Bridge. Let me know if you win one 😉

Just to recap, here’s what the 5-point scale review scale means.

5/5 – I love it
4/5 – I really like it
3/5 – I like it
2/5 – I don’t like it
1/5 – I didn’t really like it
0/5 – I hate it

So without further ado, let’s get on to the Series 13 minifigures review!

Goblin “Oops, did you step on something? Hee hee hee!”

The Goblin is a mischievous little imp of the forest. He scampers through the shadows and hides out in rocky caves and hollow trees, snatching up bugs and birds’ eggs for his supper…and wherever he goes, he’s always giggling to himself about all of the tricks that he’s going to play.

Have you ever been building something and thought that a brick was missing, only to discover it later sitting right there on the table? That was the Goblin’s doing. Inside his magical bag, he keeps all of the pieces that people think they’ve misplaced, and he loves to leave them just where you don’t expect to find them – like under your feet!

Character description and quotes shamelessly lifted from LEGO’s Character Profiles page.

We kick off the Series 13 review with the cunning Goblin, a mythical character that has long been a staple in Enid Blyton stories as well as other fantasy settings. The goblin has a cheery and teethy grin, with sharp yellow eyes and a gorgeous olive green skin colour. He’s attired in a very shabby tunic and pants which has some great little details such as sewn-on patches.

His accessories are pretty interesting, my favourite being the Santa sack which comes in a shade of dark brown for the very first time. He also comes with a large notched scimitar that’s usually included with Orcs in the Lord of the Rings sets.

The Goblin’s headpiece has fused pointy ears and is a new interesting mould that’s a slight variation of the normal Holiday Elf hat. LEGO decided to also throw us a bone with another patch printed on his hat. Another great little bit of detail is the crinkled pointy end.

I quite like the Goblin as I’m pretty biased in favour of any mythical character in the LEGO Minifigures series. The minifigure captures the Goblin look just right and I would definitely like more than one of these little guys. A roving gang of Goblins would fit in perfectly within any Medieval or Castle-type scenario. The only downside is that he doesn’t have any back printing, which is a bit of a shame.

Series 13 No Back Printing Count: 1

How To Find One: I would say that the Goblin’s huge notched blade is the easiest identifying piece, followed by his brown sack. The blade is large, flat and has a very noticeable curve. The brown sack has a very distinctive shape which feels significantly larger than a minifigure’s head, and has a little handle that’s relatively easy to feel out. His pointy hat is also to feel, but you may need to twirl it around the bag to actually feel the pointy bit.

Minifig Rating: 3/5

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Carpenter “Ow! Can somebody lend me a pair of tweezers?”

The Carpenter is one of my unexpected favourites from Series 13. If you love City and civilian-type settings, the Carpenter is a charming character that’s essential to any construction site. Mr. Carpenter has a very affable smile and some stubble on his face to give him quite a rugged look.

His torso is in a very pleasing shade of blue, but his legs steal the show with a really cool utility belt printed sharply onto it.

His accessories propel the Carpenter from good minifig to great – you get an excellent and very useful spread of unique accessories. His construction hard hat is a recolour of Emmet‘s, but the new handheld saw steals the show. The saw is almost perfectly sized and is one of the best, most useful accessories to come out of the Collectible Minifigure Series. Wrapping it all up is a gorgeous printed 1 x 4 plank tile. I can see this tile coming in handy for all sorts of creations and MOCs.

There’s almost nothing that I don’t like about the Carpenter – the Minifigure Series has always been a great platform to give us minifigs based on real-world occupations and the Carpenter is a very worthy addition to the minifigure family. He’s another minifig that I plan on getting multiples of, which is easy since there are 5 Carpenters per box!

Series 13 No Back Printing Count: 2

How To Find One: The Carpenter is extremely easy to find, thanks to his 1 X 4 tile. It’s the same length as the black base that the minifigs stand on, and you can easily feel it thanks to its narrow and flat rectangular shape.

Minifig Rating: 4/5

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Galaxy Trooper “If you want to steal those energy crystals, you’ll have to get past us first!”

When evil aliens and space crooks attack, the Galaxy Troopers stand ready to turn them back. As the front line of defense for the universe’s peaceful planets and outposts, these can-do interstellar warriors use their double-barreled stun dischargers and slime-resistant armor to protect innocent species and civilizations all throughout known space.

Although they battle as a single well-organized unit, in between cosmic invasions, each Galaxy Trooper has his or her own individual hobby. One bakes amazing cakes, another knits cozy socks and scarves, and there’s even a trooper who’s working on a stand-up comedy act. Knock-knock. Who’s there? It’s the Galaxy Troopers!

I’d like to think that the Galaxy Trooper is an enhanced version of Series 7’s Galaxy Patrol. They both share many similarities, chunky space armour, twin blasters, similar helmets and even targeting reticules on their faces. The Galaxy Trooper is an intergalactic soldier and I absolutely love the sleek colour scheme that the designers have gone for. The use of subdued colours such as grey, black and light blue for his face make them look almost robotic, in a really cool way.

Without his armour, which is a new mould with awesome looking abdominal plates, the Galaxy Trooper has an all-black torso in addition to an alternate face. He has a very stern no-nonsense look about him, which is fitting for anyone in an intergalactic defence unit.

I’d like to think that they belong in the same universe. Series 7’s Galaxy Patrol, of course has the classic space logo on his shoulderpads so maybe the Galaxy Trooper belongs in an entirely different, more militarised faction. That said, they look pretty awesome side by side.

The Galaxy Trooper has enhanced battle armour, which feels a lot sleeker and more stylish compared to the Galaxy Patrol’s chunky suit. The new space armour has tons of cool little details like layered shoulderpads, as well as two clips behind, which will be really useful if you’d like to modify it and add on any other attachments. For now, it also serves as pretty good gun holsters. The space armour looks great, as it looks a lot more organic and sleek, compared to the older armour.

Space minifigures will always occupy a special place in my heart. Although it seems like a recycled concept, LEGO has done a remarkable job ensuring that it feels fresh thanks to the great colour scheme as well as the brand new, sleek space armour. When Series 7 was out, I amassed quite a large army of Galaxy Patrols, so I might just do the same this time around.

I will say that it’s a bit of a shame that the Galaxy Trooper wasn’t a female character – it would’ve been really interesting and add a lot more variety, although I perfectly understand why it’s a man, seeing as how this minifigure would mainly appeal to boys.

Series 13 No Back Printing Count: 3

How To Find One: The Galaxy Trooper is extremely easy to feel out thanks to his extremely chunky battle armour. When feeling for the battle armour, the top half has a little dip in between the large shoulderpads – on the bottom, it has two rigid flaps which represent the front and back pieces. It’s very large, so it should be quite easy to find.

Minifig Rating: 3/5

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Evil Wizard “You will never escape my giant crab monsters! Wait, how did you escape my giant crab monsters?”

The Evil Wizard dwells at the top of an impossibly tall tower on the highest, most unscalable peak of a forbidden black mountain. There, he spends the stormy, moonless nights plotting wicked plots and preparing deadly magical traps for any heroes who would dare attempt to thwart his schemes.

But much to his constant surprise and outrage, the heroes somehow always manage to survive his creatures, catacombs and enchanted pitfalls, reaching the top of the tower and ruining his plans. And no matter how many times he waves his sorcerous staff and rants that he’ll get them the next time, things just never seem to go his way. Sorry, Evil Wizard, but that’s what happens when you’re the villain of the story!

In Series 12, we got a benevolent wizard, so it only makes sense to receive his diabolical counterpart in Series 13.

If you’re kind of old and feel that the Evil Wizard looks familiar, it’s probably because the designers at LEGO lifted heavily from Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon. Yup, Flash Gordon! I totally dig these obscure 80s pop culture references that LEGO keeps sneaking into its Minifigure Series. I can’t wait till we get a Mr T minifig. C’mon LEGO, you know you want to!

The Evil Wizard is nefariously sinister with his red and black robes and villainous facial features. I love the Evil Wizard’s skull monogram design on his inner robes – sinister and stylish at the same time! The Evil Wizard has a black staff with flames erupting from the tip which seems a lot more tacky than evil but hey, whatever does the job at terrorising his foes!

I really like the Evil Wizard’s robes, which consist of two separate pieces of fabric to achieve that popped collar look. I really like that LEGO is doing a number of interesting things with cloaks and capes lately as they really enhance a minifigure’s overall look.

Removing his black ‘Oriental Sensei Wu‘ beard gives you a clearer look at his sallow face. He’s got the obligatory evil red eyes, well manicured brows as well as a little scar running across his left eye. He has that “you don’t want to bump into me in a back alley” look about him. Unfortunately, the Evil Wizard has no back printing, which I guess is okay since his back is obscured by his cape anyway.

As a LEGO character, the Evil Wizard isn’t particularly groundbreaking being quite a staple in Castle sets such as the recent Dragon Mountain. Except for his snazzy cloak, the Evil Wizard feels a little hollow – the result of not having any special or unique accessories that would at least make the Evil Wizard a lot more appealing. Without any interesting accessories to embellish the minifigure, the Evil Wizard just feels quite boring.

Series 13 No Back Printing Count: 4

How To Find One: The Evil Wizard is also quite easy to find thanks to his wedge dress piece which feels like a slope. There’s only one wedge piece in Series 13 which should allow you to identify him quite easily. 

Minifig Rating: 2/5

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Egyptian Warrior “Is it the 21st Century yet? I need a vacation.”

Life is tough when you’re a soldier of ancient Egypt. Not only does the Egyptian Warrior have to get up before sunrise and train all day to serve in the Pharaoh’s army, but even when he’s not fighting, he’s tending the fields and helping to build new pyramids and temples – and when you have as large a pantheon of gods as ancient Egypt does, there are a lot of temples that need building.

The Egyptian Warrior really can’t wait for modern times to roll around. The first thing he’s going to do is take a trip somewhere as far away as possible from any sand and deserts. Then he’ll get a motorized chariot to drive around, and maybe even a little pyramid of his own to call home. Yep, the future’s going to be great!

Series 13 is an army builder’s dream with so many characters that are just begging to be collected in multiples and the Egyptian Warrior is perhaps the best of the bunch. I’ve always loved LEGO’s take on medieval and historical characters and the Egyptian Warrior is a worthy companion to Series 2’s Pharaoh and Series 5’s Egyptian Queen.

I have no idea where to begin gushing about the Egyptian Warrior. For starters, his outfit is just perfect from head to toe. I really love his Egyptian headdress which has a really nice shimmery gold trim as well as precise and crisp painting. He’s attired in white Egyptian-style robes which has some nice details such as his blue Egyptian collar necklace. As an added bonus, the yellow skin that’s visible on his torso is also quite close to the colour of his limbs and face.

For accessories, the Egyptian Warrior delivers in spades with a fantastic looking shield in a darker shade of pearl gold as well a very new blade called a Khopesh which is some sort of sickle-sword hybrid. Both of these are uniquely new and perfectly finish up his look. He’s all ready to defend the Pharoah and his Queen in style.

The LEGO designers definitely pulled out all the stops, capping this immaculate minifigure off with back printing that continues his outfit.

If the Egyptian Warrior was in any other Series, I would’ve eagerly crowned it as the standout minifigure, but with Series 13 stacked with so many impressive minifigures he’s up against some really tough competition. That doesn’t take anything away from the Egyptian Warrior – he is a top notch minifig and is one of my priority minifigures to amass in this series. Who wouldn’t want an army of brave Egyptian Warriors?

How To Find One: The Egyptian Warrior’s shield is the most easily identifiable accessory. Try and feel for a flat piece which has a handle that’s attached to the back. You can also feel his khopesh sword which has a noticeably curved and flat blade to make sure that you have the Egyptian Warrior on your hands.

Minifig Rating: 5/5

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Alien Trooper “Cower before the might of our extremely advanced space armada!”

Slithering forth from the Toflacrev Abyss in deepest uncharted space, the Alien Troopers have waited in cryogenic stasis for many long eons. Newly awakened by the explosion of a nearby sun, they have emerged from their silent slumber and resumed their ancient mission to rebuild the cosmos in their own pulsating, tentacled image.

But the galaxies have moved on during the thousands of years that the Alien Troopers have slept, and by now their technology has become woefully outdated. Who even uses a digital laser blaster these days? And so they face defeat on world after world, their hive-minds unable to comprehend why everybody keeps giggling at the approach of their slow, clunky rocket-ships.

It’s quite a rare occurrence that we get two similarly themed minifigures in one series, but we have the Alien Trooper, a very fitting opponent to the Galaxy Trooper. Armed with an imposing ray gun fitted with a very retro transparent green dish, the Alien Trooper looks like he/she means business. I can’t tell if he/she is male or female.

His/her blue spacesuit has some great details – I like the great combination of blue and purple as well as the yellow molecule-esque logo branded in the middle of his/her torso.

The coolest thing about the Alien Trooper has to be his/her tentacled, Cthulhu-like head. I was initially very excited about the Alien Trooper’s head as it looked great in pictures, but when I popped him/her out of his/her packet I was sorely disappointed to discover that his/her head was made out of the softer, rubbery plastic instead of conventional ABS plastic. It’s not overly squishy and holds its shape quite well but it’s just doesn’t have the same premium feel of regular ABS plastic.

Despite that minor disappointing flaw, the Alien Trooper’s head is still pretty good looking, with a bulbous dome that has some nice dark green scales (or alien freckles) as well as thoughtful deep blue eyes. The tentacles that dangle from his/her mouth give him/her a suitably extra-terrestrial look. Mr/Ms Alien Trooper has back printing, which is always welcome.

The Alien Trooper ranks slightly above average – there’s a lot to like, but not quite enough for me to go out and grab 10. That said, an army of Alien Troopers would look pretty cool, and his/her unique head will definitely come in handy if you like building Space or Sci-Fi scenes. Shame it doesn’t come in red or we’d be able to get our very own Zoidberg.

How To Find One: The Alien Trooper is moderately easy to find – his/her squishy tentacled head is the most identifiable part – if you feel something rubbery and soft that’s not shaped like a snake, you’ve got the Alien Trooper’s noggin. Alternatively, you can also try feeling for his/her gun which is shaped like a long rifle which has a clip on top of it. I wouldn’t explicitly look for the transparent green dish as it’s quite small.

Minifig Rating: 3/5

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Snake Charmer “Remember, I’m a trained professional!”

The Snake Charmer is a real reptile expert. He likes lizards, adores alligators, and he’s crazy about crocodiles, but what he really loves are snakes. He takes excellent care of his cobra, making sure that she’s always kept at the correct temperature and fed the right foods, and in return she helps him to entertain audiences with their celebrated snake-charming act.

All he has to do is play a tune on his pungi flute, and his cobra slithers, sways, and dances to the melody. It may look risky, but the Snake Charmer has had lots of practice, and he’s very careful. He isn’t completely fearless, though – he hasn’t yet worked up the nerve to ask Medusa out on a date!

The Snake Charmer is another interesting cultural character included in Series 13. Of Indian descent, the Snake Charmer is attired in a traditional Indian outfit called a Kurta (I think. It’s either that or a jippa). The snake charmer’s Kurta is lime green which is an excellent choice as it’s a very vibrant colour that goes very well with his white pants and turban.

Speaking of his turban, it’s also a brand new mould which packs a ton of texture detail. I was seriously impressed by how well the LEGO designers managed to replicate the look of cloth that’s tied together. I hope we see a lot more of this piece as this is an A-grade head accessory. The Snake Charmer also comes with a brown stick that acts as his flute to control his little cobra friend.

Like the Alien Trooper’s head, I was equally disappointed when I found out that the cobra was made of soft plastic. LEGO animals aren’t usually made out of this material, which makes the Cobra quite peculiar. One thing I didn’t like about the Cobra, is because he’s so soft, it was quite difficult to attach him to studs. If you can get pass those flaws, the cobra does look pretty good with printing on both his front and back (i forgot to take a picture of the back pattern) as well as a forked tongue sticking out.

Overall, the Snake Charmer has a lot more pros than he does cons. Unfortunately, no back printing but in this case it’s okay as a kurta normally has a plain back anyway. His turban and Indian outfit make him a welcome cultural addition to anyone’s LEGO collection, and the Cobra is a pretty decent animal despite it being crafted out of inferior plastic.

Series 13 No Back Printing Count: 5

How To Find One: The cobra is the easiest part to identify, it’s slightly rubbery for one thing, and has a large sturdy base followed by a slightly flimsy neck. You can also find the Snake Charmer by feeling for his stick and ensuring that there’s no wedge piece which will indicate that the minifigure is an Evil Wizard

Minifig Rating: 3/5

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Sheriff “I’ve caught ‘em all. All…but one.”

The Sheriff is out to lock up every last outlaw in the Wild West. With a shining badge on his chest and a six-gun by his side, he’s captured card sharps, rounded up rustlers, and busted badmen by the dozen. Now there’s only one most-wanted minifigure left for him to catch: the notorious varmint known as the Bandit.

From town to town the Sheriff rides, scouring every saloon, stable and outhouse for his slippery foe. So far, the Bandit has always managed to stay one step ahead, but the lawman knows that it’s just a matter of time until his quarry slips up and he hauls that crooked cowpoke off to jail. And on that fateful day…the Sheriff’s LEGO® Minifigures collection will finally be complete!

The Sheriff is all about law enforcement in the Wild West and looks like he just walked out of a Western movie. The Sheriff is not an entirely new character (seeing as how we only just recently wrapped up the Lone Ranger theme) but he’s got his strong points. Firstly, that moustache is such a useful accessory and getting it in this shade of brown is cool.

Details on his torso and legs are pretty sharp, I really like his brown vest and his leather belt, which has a holster hanging onto it for those high noon showdowns. He’s obviously very proud of his Sheriff star badge, having it attached on both his wide brim hat as well as pinned on his chest.

He also comes with a nice wanted poster in the form of a 2 X 2 printed tile. The wanted poster should come in handy for any Western MOCs. If you’ve been collecting the Minifigure Series for a while… you may recognize the Bandit in the wanted poster.

Yup, if you guessed the Bandit from 2012’s Series 5, you guessed right! Here is the Sheriff in an epic showdown after cornering the Bandit. Can you see the holster printed on the side of his leg? That’s a pretty great application of leg side printing.

The Sheriff is an okay minifigure, pretty average in my opinion. The lack of back printing obviously hurts his overall look. Western characters are not the most exciting and apart from his cool moustache, I really can’t think of anything else that makes him an exceptional minifig.

Series 13 No Back Printing Count: 6

How To Find One: The Sheriff is pretty easy to find as he’s the only character in Series 13 with a flat 2 x 2 tile. Should be pretty easy to locate him once you feel for the smooth tile piece.

Minifig Rating: 2/5

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Classic King “We may be small now, but one day we shall be a legend!”

The Classic King’s kingdom is just getting started. He doesn’t have much land or treasure yet, or even his own little village to rule, but he’s already recruited fourteen brave and loyal knights, and by working together they have constructed a fine golden castle. It has battlements and a flag and a drawbridge and everything!

Creating a brand-new kingdom isn’t easy, but the Classic King is full of big ideas. He imagines that one day, the world will be full of castles and fortresses and inns and forests. There may even be horses for his knights to ride…though for right now, they’ll have to build their own!

I loved how they had to emphasise that this King is a Classic instead of being, you know any other type of King. The Classic King, as his name suggests is an instant classic – it’s quite possibly the best King that LEGO have ever manufactured. There have been a lot of Kings over the years, but the Classic King edges them all out by being better in nearly every single.

Let’s begin with the Classic King’s bright and very flamboyant colour scheme that effectively clashes primary colours like Red, Blue and Yellow in a very classy way. He’s got an epic pearl gold longsword, a very noble-looking beard and a great new headgear which has his crown fused into it.

The secret ingredient that makes the Classic King an immaculate looking minifigure are his royal robes. Like the Evil Wizard, his cloak is made out of two pieces of fabric, a bright red cape as well as a spotted collar piece that drapes over his shoulders. This winning combination really ties the Classic King’s entire look together.

Putting on the king’s robes was a bit of a puzzle, so I’ve made a step by step diagram on how to fold his cloak/royal robes. It’s easier than it looks – just make sure you criss-cross each side hole before folding in the middle hole to secure the robe in place. I tried folding in the middle hole first, which also works but I wasn’t too happy with that result.

Check out how awesome his robes look from the side.

I was really impressed by the fact that they managed to sync the colour of his beard and hair. His headpiece is a stellar bit of LEGO – the crown is perfectly sized and fits perfectly on the Classic King’s head. I was also blown away by how well its designed – it fits almost perfectly with his brown beard. Unfortunately, the Classic King has no back printing which is a minor grievance as his robes obscure his whole back anyway.

Removing his beard lets you have a closer look at his face. Curiously, sans beard the Classic King has a bit of a moustache and a soul patch going on under his bushy beard. There’s a slight disparity between how young his face looks compared to the King’s complete look, but I guess he needs to maintain a big bushy beard to maintain the respect of his court.

The Classic King is one of those minifigures that feels so much more than a design refresh because of all the love and attention given by the designers. His stellar bunch of accessories and razor sharp printing makes this one of the leading Series 13 minifigures in my book. Credit where credit is due, this minifig just screams quality.

Series 13 No Back Printing Count: 7

How To Find One: The king is a little tricky to identify but if you’re meticulous enough, it shouldn’t be a issue finding him. Firstly, his longsword might seem like a good idea, but feeling around the blind bags, it might be easy to confuse it with the Samurai’s katana. Try to find the Classic King’s crown, which has a teeth-like spikes that you can feel if you squeeze the part hard enough. They’re quite sharp and have noticeable ridges that separate each spike. There’s also a fairly large opening at the bottom where his head goes – hope that gives you a rough idea of what it feels like!

Minifig Rating: 5/5

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Unicorn Girl “It must have been a magical unicorn! Yay!”

Some people don’t believe in unicorns, but the Unicorn Girl is out to prove them wrong! Whether she’s prancing through mist-covered meadows, whinnying outside of windows and then running away giggling, or just throwing glitter everywhere, she’s determined to show the world that unicorns really exist.

The Unicorn Girl is always happy and optimistic. Nothing gets her down, not even people who say that she’s being silly and unicorns are only a myth. She just does something nice and thoughtful for them when they aren’t looking. Then, when they ask who did it, she smiles and says that it was a unicorn!

For the first time ever, a LEGO minifigure in an animal costume is not my favourite in the series. Preposterous! Joining a very elite club of minifigs dressed up in cute costumes, I still consider the Unicorn Girl an exceptional minifigure that’s very hard not to get excited about.

There’s so much to love about Unicorn Girl – from her all white outfit that’s punctuated by very Friends-like pastel coloured stars, baby blue gloves and even hooves all the way to her adorable Unicorn head. LEGO made an excellent decision making the horn detachable (it’s a LEGO drill bit in white) so you could easily transform her Unicorn Headgear into a Horse.

She has a really whimsical, innocent look about her, very befitting of what you’d expect from a girl dressed up in a Unicorn costume! The Unicorn Girl also has a very cute face, which has some nice facial features such as freckles and very pink lipstick.

Unfortunately, my Unicorn Tail piece was warped quite badly as its made out of rubbery plastic. This tends to happen with these new leg accessories, but once you affix them in and leave it for a few days, the shape does manage to correct itself after awhile. Still, it really doesn’t fill you with confidence you see when it pops out the blind bag and it’s all mangled.

From the side, you can get a better look of the purple mane and tail, which was a pleasant surprise to me as it wasn’t immediately apparent that she had all this detail from early photos. In my honest opinion, Unicorn Girl looks best from the side, as you really get to see the complete outline of her head and Unicorn features.

Here’s a little enhancement I made to my Unicorn Girl. I think that she looks way more awesome like this, wouldn’t you agree?

The Unicorn Girl is a fantastic minifigure and more than worthy to be included in the illustrious club of Animal Costume minifigures. She’s a really adorable character that would definitely be a hit with all LEGO fans. I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get any handheld accessories with her – something like a Magic Wand would’ve been pretty awesome and add so much to an already brilliant minifig.

Series 13 No Back Printing Count: 8

How To Find One: Try feeling for the Unicorn head, it’s one of the larger pieces of headgear and is easily identifiable by feeling for the two ears, which are pointy and feel a little like horns. Her drill bit is small but also another good indication that you’ve found the Unicorn Girl.

Minifig Rating: 5/5

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Paleontologist “When it comes to science, the older it is, the better!”

The Paleontologist has spent her whole life enthusiastically digging in the ground with pick, shovel, trowel and toothbrush in order to uncover the incredible secrets of the ancient past. It isn’t the cleanest job, but if she can discover a new tiny, fossilized mammal tooth or the feathery imprint of a previously-unknown dinosaur species, she knows that she’ll have done her part to help unlock the mysteries of prehistory.

She’s also the consulting expert and best pal of the Dino Tracker, who often enlists her fossil-hunting colleague’s expertise to learn more about the time-lost dinosaurs that she’s trying to capture. For her own part, the Paleontologist is delighted to help. After all, not a lot of scientists in her line of work get to see the subjects of their studies first-hand!

It’s funny how LEGO made a huge deal out of the Research Institute last year which included a Paleontologist as one of the three female scientists, only to release a total upgrade barely months after the Research Institute went on sale! That said, the similarities are quite different, as Series 13’s Paleontologist works in the field compared to a laboratory.

The Paleontologist looks pretty good, she has a rugged tan outfit as well as a Pith helmet (very similar to Series 2’s Explorer) which allows her to dig up fossils and ancient dinosaur remains in practical comfort. I really like the detail on her legs, especially her tan shorts and socks that just peek out slightly above her shoes. Her hair is attached to her headpiece, which is fast becoming a norm when it comes to LEGO headgear for females.

She comes with two accessories, a regular bone piece and a very cool exclusive fossil tile. It’s printed and looks absolutely fantastic, being my favourite thing about the minifigure. The Paleontologist is pretty great minifigure, well designed and the very fact that she’s female is great as it gives a lot of diversity to anyone’s LEGO collection.

Series 13 No Back Printing Count: 9

How To Find One: There’s not a lot to work with as the Paleontologist’s accessories are all quite small, but you can try feeling for her bone piece and/or fossil piece which is a tiny 1 x 1 flat round tile. Her hat might be a little tricky to feel as a lot of other elements in this series have the same general shape but if you’re looking for her hat, look out for the wide brim and roundish dome which has a little bump on top that feels like.. an umm, nipple.

Minifig Rating: 3/5

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Fencer “I know exactly how to end this disagreement!”

In the Fencer’s opinion, all disputes can and should be settled with a friendly fencing match. Can’t decide on a restaurant for lunch? Having trouble agreeing on which movie to see? Just strap on your padded suit, don your safety mask and raise your fencing foil, and the outcome will soon be determined!

So you say you’re not a trained fencer? Well, that’s hardly the Fencer’s problem, is it? If you’re not going to learn the rules of the sport and carry around some basic equipment, then you probably don’t deserve to get your way anyway. This is why nobody likes to hang out with the Fencer.

It sure feels like quite a while since we’ve gotten a Sports character so the Fencer is a very welcome addition to my collection! As Fencers go, LEGO have done a remarkable job capturing the look perfectly, right down to tiny details like only one gloved hand – this level of attention to detail is something that I’ve always appreciated.

The Fencer has a fairly simple look, consisting of a metal mesh mask (which looks really good, I should add) and a pearl silver Foil (or Épée). His protective clothing is clean and white, with minimal crease and fold details, as well as a small logo on his right chest.

Removing the Fencer’s mesh mask reveals a pretty perplexed face with a single raised eyebrow and an uneasy grin. He has that “Ooops, I shouldn’t have stabbed you there” kind of look.

I quite like the Fencer as he’s a character that would normally not show up in regular sets so I’m quite glad that LEGO have used the Collectible Minifigure Series to give a really recognizable athlete a home. You’re almost obligated to get two Fencers so that he has a sparring partner – until I get him a friend, he’ll have to make do with practicing with one of the three Muskeeters.

Series 13 No Back Printing Count: 10

How To Find One: The Fencer’s needle-shaped sword is the easiest way to identify him. It’s long, narrow and has a little bulbous bit of plastic on its tip as well as having a rounded pommel.

Minifig Rating: 4/5

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Samurai “My secrets are my own to keep.”

The Samurai walks a mysterious path, her origins and destiny known only to herself. No records reveal where she trained in the art of the warrior, but all who have watched her wield her twin katana blades say that she is perhaps the greatest sword-fighter the world has ever seen.

No lord commands the Samurai. She chooses those to whom she will lend her aid as bodyguard, messenger or defender, and once she has taken up a cause, nothing can make her abandon it. Those who seek her out never find her, but others may sometimes encounter her after a heavy rain, standing by a waterfall or on the shore of a swift-running stream, her feet damp but her armor always dry.

Did I mention that Series 13 was an army builder’s dream come true? Not only can you amass intergalactic troopers, Egyptian Warriors, now you can also get started on your army of female Samurai. The Female Samurai is a great companion to Series 3’s Samurai Warrior except that she’s obviously benefited from enhanced manufacturing processes which have gifted us with a really cool looking printed traditional Japanese armour.

The Samurai means business, wielding two katanas and has a facial expression of someone that you wouldn’t want to mess with. Her hair is neatly tied in a Japanese bun.

Removing her armour, which comes in a fantastic feudal-Japanese shade of deep red reveals another pleasant surprise – a beautifully printed torso. It’s a really useful Oriental outfit which looks spectacular, especially since the Chinese Lunar New Year is coming right up. Her armour is by far the best thing about her – the printing on the front really makes it pop.

Here’s a comparison shot with Series 3’s Samurai Warrior which shows you just how far we’ve come when it comes to armour printing. I can see the Samurai being quite a popular character – her rarity will mean that there won’t be a lot on the market, so she might be a challenge to army build with. The best thing is that you can swap her head out if you want a more mixed gender Samurai army.

The female Samurai is a minifigure upgrade done right – the swapped gender is a great move by LEGO to stem gender inequality criticism but the real winners are us LEGO fans with her excellent printed armour and body details.

Series 13 No Back Printing Count: 11

How To Find One: Finding the female Samurai is pretty easy, all you have to do is feel for her armour which is soft and you can get a feel of it by pinching the front and back flaps. Her two katanas are also relatively easy to identify as the katanas have a much longer hilt/handle compared to the other swords in this series.

Minifig Rating: 4/5

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Lady Cyclops “I want to see everything!”

The Cyclops always thought that he was all alone, the last of his kind. Imagine his surprise when the Lady Cyclops suddenly showed up on his isolated island! It turned out that she had taken a nap at the back of a cave a few centuries back and had overslept. But now that she’s up and about, she’s eager to find out what lies beyond their rocky beach.

With help from the Cyclops’s driftwood-carving skills, the Lady Cyclops has built a ship that she’s named the Eye-Go. It has a sturdy hull and a tall mast, and it’s ready to sail in search of unknown lands far across the sea. So it’s time to set out, two Cyclops friends off to explore the world!

The Lady Cyclops was a surprise but very welcome edition to the LEGO Minifigures roster. I really didn’t expect LEGO to create a female companion for Series 9’s Cyclops but it’s pretty cool that they did. The Lady Cyclops is almost a carbon copy of her male counterpart except that she has more feminine features such as lipstick on her printed headpiece, a fluttery eyelash come hither alternate face and a more feminine outfit.

I really like the Lady Cyclops’ face. She has two expressions – a normal smiley one and a slightly more seductive look, probably reserved to catch the Cyclops’ attention. She’s had her eye on him for some time now. Unfortunately, the best features of the Lady Cyclops’ head are obscured by her larger moulded head – which include her eyelashes and cute toothy smile.

She almost feels like a 2-in-1 figure, looking great with or without her Ogre-ish headpiece. It’s an extremely versatile look, allowing her to also function without her optional ugly headpiece. Personally, I like the Lady Cyclops without he headpiece as she looks much cuter.

Thankfully, she has back printing, which is a continuation of her outfit. The printing looks sharp and great.

The Lady Cyclops wins points for having a lot of utility. While it may not be a really imaginative character, I quite like the storyline that LEGO is going with – it’s about time Series 9’s Cyclops starts setting his eye on the future and consider settling down with a nice one-eyed Lady Companion.

How To Find One: The Lady Cyclops’ large spiked club is the easiest indicator when feeling for her. Its distinct shape and bumpy exterior should be very easy to feel for.

Minifig Rating: 3/5

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Disco Diva “Everything comes back sooner or later!”

When the Disco Dude went back in time, the Disco Diva stayed in the present day. She knew that she didn’t have to go looking for a golden age of disco – if she waited long enough, it would come to her. And she was right!

All over the LEGO® world, disco is suddenly making a big comeback. Everybody is wearing disco fashions, playing disco music, and dancing and roller-skating to the flashing disco lights. Maybe it’s just the natural cycle of trends, or maybe the Disco Dude somehow changed history. The Disco Diva doesn’t care either way – right here, right now is exactly when and where she wants to be!

LEGO is really pulling out all the stops when it comes to finding suitable partners for previous minifigures with the Disco Diva. In fact, Disco Dude from Series 1 2 (thanks chadjj, for the correction) has been waiting for more than 4 years to find his other half, so props to LEGO for remembering our lovable afro friend.

The Disco Diva is awesomely groovy, with LEGO bringing back the cool afro hairpiece, only this time it has a nice dark brown shade. She’s wearing a snazzy purple crop-top which has era-appropriate trippy design printed all over, as well as dark purple pants with a shiny ring belt hanging from it. She’s got a bling’d up golden microphone as well as white rollerskates on to tear up any disco roller skating rink.

Disco Diva wins the non-existent award for best printed minifigure details with unprecedented amount of printing on both her torso and the sides of her legs. I’m especially surprised by the great use of side leg printing to show off her flared 70s pants. I could stare at Disco Diva’s amazing almost-360° printing all day long. It’s that good and I don’t believe I’ve seen a more detailed print job on any Minifigure from the Collectible Series.

The Disco Diva is such an exceptionally designed minifigure that anything out of a 5/5 score would be selling her short. This is the level of detail that I hope all minifigures strive to achieve.

How To Find One: The Disco Diva’s large afro hairdo should be pretty easy to find. It will feel like it has a bumpy rough texture. You can also try and feel for her skates or microphone by shaking the blind bag around so that the smaller parts dislodge themselves from the other elements and fall to the bottom of the blind bag.

Minifig Rating: 5/5

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Hot Dog Man “Try me with mustard, ketchup, relish or sauerkraut!”

Can you guess what the Hot Dog Man’s favorite food is in the entire world? That’s right – it’s hot dogs! He loves hot dogs so much that he’s made his very own hot dog outfit so he can travel around reminding people just how tasty hot dogs are.

If it’s a sunny summer day at the park, the ball game, the movies or the zoo, that’s where you’ll find the Hot Dog Man dancing and singing about the wonders of cooked sausages in a bun. His greatest dream is to one day find out exactly how hot dogs are made. Best of luck, Hot Dog Man!

This is it – the greatest minifigure that LEGO has ever produced. It’s a bold claim, but it’s difficult not to recognize Hot Dog Man as the pinnacle of absurd, silly and fun minifigure design. Hot Dog Man is bold, colourful and most importantly, a minifigure in an oversized Hot Dog suit. What more could you want?

When pictures of Hot Dog Man first appeared online, I have to admit that I was worried that LEGO would half-arse it and give us a Hot Dog suit (awesome) made out of the softer rubbery plastic (not awesome). I was so relieved to confirm that Hot Dog Man’s suit is made out of real LEGO plastic. It’s absolutely huge and I think it’s the largest accessory that LEGO have ever produced for a minifigure.

It’s not an understatement when I call it a work of art. A masterpiece – a masterstroke in design – the magnum opus of all minifig accessories.

I believe that Hot Dog Man represents the very essence of LEGO’s Collectible Minifigure series – a platform that allows LEGO to deliver some really far-left and out-of-the-box ideas that would struggle to find a home in their regular sets or themes. Hot Dog Man embodies everything that I love about the Minifigure Series.

I could sing so many praises about Hot Dog Man, but as this post is over 9,000 words long, I’ll have to cut it short. If I were to truly nitpick, I would say that the worst thing about Hot Dog Man is his rarity – there are only 3 of him in every box and judging from his prices on eBay (scumbags are scalping him for over $10), he’s going to be one of the most desirable minifigures in recent history.

I wish that LEGO had placed four of him in each box, but a lot of plastic went into his suit, so I kind of understand why he’s the rarest. Also, the collectibility and perceived rarity of the Minifigure Series is one of the things that make it great. At the end of the day, I’m just glad that LEGO gave us Hot Dog Man. Planet Earth is a slightly better place to live in now that Hot Dog Man is in our lives.

Repeat after me: Hot Dog Man is love. Hot Dog Man is life.

Series 13 No Back Printing Count: 12

How To Find One: Hot Dog Guy is extremely easy to find thanks to his large, Hot Dog-shaped suit. The only problem is getting to him before the scalpers/and or Hot Dog Army builders do. Your best bet would be to search through fresh boxes of Series 13 to snag him. I implore you, do not encourage scalpers by overpaying for him on eBay.

Minifig Rating: 6/5 (yes, that’s not a typo)

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And that’s it for my review of Series 13. I’ll come right out and say that Series 13 is without a doubt the best Series so far. The quality and selection of minifigures this time around has been sensational, and out of all 16 characters, I only didn’t like the Sheriff and Evil Wizard. Even then, they didn’t feel like filler minifigures that you can just toss aside.

There was one pressing concern about Series 13, which was the very noticeable lack of back printing on the minifigures. If you’ve noticed, I’ve been keeping count throughout the review and a whopping 12 characters out of 16 didn’t have back printing. For some of them like Hot Dog Man, Classic King and Evil Wizard who have their backs concealed, it’s not that big a deal but if you look at it as a whole, it’s quite worrying that only 3 minifigures had back printing. I really hope that this is an issue that LEGO deals with as the minifigures look extremely empty and hollow without back printing.

Despite that, LEGO have really pulled out all the stops with Series 13 and have delivered an outstanding lineup of charming, varied and high quality characters. It’s great to see LEGO doing such a great job this time, and now I’m more excited to see if LEGO can surpass Series 13 with Series 14 and beyond.

My top 3 picks for Series 13 would have to be Hot Dog Man, Egyptian Warrior and Unicorn Girl in that order. There are so many more minifigures that I would love multiples of, so my next priority now that I’ve completed the set would be to hunt down and get started on my Egyptian Warrior troop.

So that’s that for Series 13. I hope that you’ve enjoyed this longer format – I think it’s much easier to read rather than splitting it into two parts which seemed a little disjointed to me.

Have you gotten any minifigures from Series 13? Let me know in the comments which ones have been your favourite! Thanks for reading!