Review: LEGO Minifigures Series 14: Monsters
September 22, 2015
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One of my favourite seasons in the year other than Christmas and Autumn is the release of LEGO’s latest Minifigure Series. I have in my hand (finally), the complete set of Series 14 minifigures. Seizing on the fact that horror and monster themed LEGO sell like ice cream on a hot summer’s day, Series 14 sees the newest wave of Minifigures venture into Halloween territory with 16 brand new horror-themed characters!
Minifigure Series reviews have been a long-standing tradition on my blog – I invite you to check out some of my reviews of older series if you want to see what I thought about previous editions in the Review Hub.
Series 14 Minifigures have been on sale in Australia for a few weeks now and you should be able to find them in toy sections across the country. Each blind bag costs $5 each and contains a “random” minifig. The blind bags are black in colour this time around to match the dark and spooky Monster theme of Series 14.
Without going into the full review, I’m already calling Series 14 as one of the best if not the best Minifigure Series in history. A very bold claim for sure, but the cast of characters included in Series 14 is one of the strongest yet.
Here’s the leaflet which comes inside each blind bag that has a checklist of all 16 characters of Series 14.
On the other side of the leaflet, you get a code that you can use to unlock digital goodies in the LEGO Minifigures Online game. I’ve never tried it, so I have no idea what it does. Feel free to grab this code if you play the game. Interestingly, we also get a couple of instructions on how to put on various accessories such as skirts and capes for the minifigs which is a fantastic new addition since it could be quite confusing for kids or those unfamiliar with LEGO apparel.
I disagree with the skirt folding technique demonstrated here as it makes the skirt flare up in a very awkward manner. Use my tutorial on folding skirts for better results.
I also made this easier to read checklist for Series 14 which contains all the character names for every minifig in Series 14 that you can consult if you’re on the hunt.
With Series 14 being such a unique theme, it’s probably going to be challenging collecting a full set since everyone and their uncle seems to be after the Tiger Woman and other rare minifigures in the set. I recommend picking up a complete set outright to save you the trouble.
I personally recommend I’m Rick James Bricks as I got my set from him. He sells complete sets of Series 14 for $80 and shipping is only $3 I believe.
Here’s the breakdown of each box of Series 14 minifigs, which should give you an idea of the relative rarity of each minifigure. Like previous series, each box should guarantee 3 complete sets of minifigures. Here’s the full list and their quantities in each box!
5x Monster Scientist
5x Monster Rocker
5x Zombie Pirates
4x Fly Monsters
4x Gargoyle
4x Plant Monster
4x Skeleton Guy
4x Spectre
4x Square Foot
3x Banshee
3x Spider Lady
3x Wacky Witch
3x Wolf Guy
3x Tiger Woman
3x Zombie Businessman
3x Zombie Cheerleader
You can click the name of each minifigure and instantly teleport you to the corresponding minifigure’s review section!
If you’re new to my LEGO Minifigure reviews, I use a 5-point scale review scale. Here’s what the numbers mean!
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
Okay, enough talking – let’s get straight into the Review of Series 14: Monster Minifigures!
Monster Scientist “Hee-hee-ha-ho-hoo! This will be my greatest creation yet!”
Series 14 character description and quotes shamelessly lifted from LEGO’s Character Profiles page.
The Monster Scientist is obsessed with making things that the world has never, ever seen before. In order to come up with all of his amazing new ideas, he has experimented on his own brain to make it even bigger and smarter…but it’s really just made his silly imagination even sillier.
And the Monster Scientist’s ideas are very silly ones indeed, from butter-resistant toast to rocket-propelled shoelaces. Mostly, though, he makes monsters: big ones, little ones, green ones, blue ones, furry ones, scaly ones, and any other kinds that his giant brain can think up. In fact, just last week he turned an ordinary housefly into a fly monster so that he would have something to swim in the giant bowl of soup that he’d invented the previous day!
We kick off the Series 14 review with one of most stereotypical monster and horror characters – the Monster Scientist! A culmination of Dr. Frankenstein, Professor Fansworth from Futurama and Emmet Brown of Back to the future, the Monster Scientist is the perfect caricature of a Mad Scientist in LEGO form.
LEGO have nailed the Monster Scientist’s look with his most recognizable feature being his enlarged balding head, oversized goggles and crazed eyes.
I was surprised that his head wasn’t a solid piece – his elongated forehead is attached to a regular minifig’s head with the goggle and hairpiece fused into it. Beneath his deformed head lies a rather friendly and kindly looking old man’s face, complete with forehead wrinkles and eyebrows, which leads me to believe that his unsightly head is a disguise to make him look more sinister than he actually is.
One clever design I liked with the Monster Scientist is that his elongated head has the exact same dimensions as a minifig head, so you can further accessorize him with hats or headgear.
I really like his asymmetrical lab coat which has metal clasps or buttons at the side. The dual-coloured sleeves also look great. In keeping with his mad scientist persona, he also has chemical spills on the front of his coat. His accessory is an Erlenmeyer Flask filled with a mysterious bright pink fluid that also has a fly printed on the glass.
For a Series paying homage to horror-movie and monster tropes, the Monster Scientist is a fitting character in the entire lineup. LEGO have done Mad Scientists before but the comically enlarged head goes a long way to inject a playful sense of fun into what might’ve been a stale character.
How To Find One: The Monster Scientists’ enlarged head is really easy to find thanks to the forehead’s cylindrical shape that’s exactly the size of a minifig’s head. Try and feel for a stubby longer-than usual minifig head with some rough bits at the base. You can also feel for his flask which has a very noticeable conical shape.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Monster Rocker “Shock and roll, my rockin’ monsters!”
One day, the Monster Scientist heard about the cool hand-made monsters that all of the other mad scientists were building, so he decided to try putting together his own. He thought that he had gotten the recipe right, but some of the music he was listening to must have fallen into his creature creation’s head, because what he got was the ultimate rock ‘n roll monster!
The Monster Rocker gets a real charge from rocking – literally! The more he rocks out on his guitar, the more electricity he generates, making him his own power supply and amplifier in one. When he really gets into the ghastly groove, his creepy chords can wake up the Gargoyle, set the Wolf Guy’s hair on end, and even get the Zombies tapping their toes!
Like Mad Scientists, this isn’t the first Frankenstein’s Monster that LEGO have released, having featured as a character in Series 4 and also in 2012’s Monster Fighters theme. The Monster Rocker is an attempt to revisit the iconic monster by incorporating some fun – this time thrusting an electric guitar in his hands. Because y’know, he was brought to life with electricity.
I’ll be honest, the Monster Rocker didn’t quite grab me. Maybe because you can’t really innovate from an established character’s appearance. I quite like the bright red electric guitar which has a very subtle horror-theme to it with the bat motif printed on the body.
Even with some outstanding torso and leg printing that includes a grunge/heavy metal style with the denim and metallic details, the Monster Rocker still feels a little blah to me. I did like the Shock ‘n’ Roll printing on his back, which I’m guessing is his band’s name.
I also really liked the arm printing which has torn sleeves and stitches on his wrist. The recent rise in more arm printing on minifigs really goes a long way with adding more depth to minifig designs and I now expect to see all minifigs with some sort of arm print.
Despite that, the Monster Rocker is one of the throwaway characters in Series 14. It’s not a really inspired choice and overall quite forgettable.
How To Find One: The Electric Guitar is the easiest way to identify the Monster Rocker, although it feels a lot narrow than you would expect. You can feel for the thin neck which enlarges into the body shape, which has a slight curve to it. The guitar also has a pointy bit on the body for the minifig to grab hold of which is very easy to pick out.
Minifig Rating: 1/5
Zombie Pirate “Yo ho ho and a barrel o’ brains!”
The Zombie Pirate was getting sick and tired of seeing all of these young whippersnapper pirates mess things up, so he’s come back to show them how things used to be done back in the good old days. Not surprisingly for a several-hundred-year-old sea dog, he’s kind of old-fashioned. He still prefers to strand his prisoners on deserted islands instead of making them walk the plank, and he only plunders gold, not fancy-pants modern treasures like silks and spices.
As a zombie, he isn’t particularly big on personal hygiene. His hook is rusty, his captain’s coat is falling apart, and his wooden leg has a bad case of termites. No one is entirely sure whether he has a beard, or just a particularly impressive collection of moss and lichens on his chin. In good news, he doesn’t smell much worse than the average pirate, and if he falls in the water, he’s more likely to bite the sharks than the other way around!
The Zombie Pirate like the Monster Rocker falls into familiar category – a common LEGO character (Pirate Captain) given a slight twist – he’s been Zombified! Zombies are an extremely popular “tribe” in LEGO, mostly because due to the popularity of TV shows like The Walking Dead, blockbusters like World War Z and computer games such as Left 4 Dead.
I like Zombies and I like Pirates, so it would be obvious that I would like it when they both have a baby together but like the Monster Rocker, the Zombie Pirate similarly felt quite uninspired to me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of some of the details, but as a character there wasn’t a lot that I could get excited about.
The Zombie Pirate sports some really nice details like a neat-looking bicorne tricorne (pirate hat) with a comical skull and crossbones logo, an amazingly designed torso featuring a tattered outfit and a very fitting facial expression.
You can remove his grey beard to reveal the Zombie Pirate’s full face, which has everything that you’d expect from a reanimated Pirate Captain – an eyepatch, evil red functioning eye and a snarl which reveals a gold tooth.
Unfortunately the Zombie Pirate doesn’t have any back printing which is a shame since his front torso printing is incredibly detailed. He has that new two-tone leg going on which is a small consolation. No idea why the Pirate Captain is brandishing a massive notched sword – you’d expect something a little more fitting like a cutlass or a pistol.
It’s a shame that Zombie Pirate is a character in Series 14 where he gets seriously outclassed by most of the other fascinating characters. In any other Series, I’d be a little more tantalised by the prospect of an undead Pirate Captain but here, without the strength of any standout accessories or a creative twist, the Zombie Pirate just feels average.
How To Find One: The Zombie Pirate has many distinguishing accessories like his giant notched blade. You can also try to feel for his beard piece, which has an uneven halo-shape and also his tricorne hat which has a very smooth and narrow feel.
Minifig Rating: 2/5
Fly Monster “Bzzz. Bzzz? Bzzz!”
Until very recently, the Fly Monster was a regular housefly. Now that he’s been mutated into a half-fly, half-minifigure creature, he’s found himself a little bit confused. Part of the problem is that his mind is still pretty much that of a fly. The other part is that he doesn’t realize just how much larger he is than he used to be.
The Fly Monster is always running into windows, falling off ceilings, and getting stuck to pieces of tape. He’s also very afraid of spiders and flyswatters and flees at the sight of them, buzzing in insectoid terror. There is one good side to his new body, though: it’s a lot easier to get at all of that delicious rotting garbage now that he can lift off the trash-bin lids!
Continuity! Guess who the Monster Scientist was experimenting on? The Fly Monster is a grotesque enlarged fly in minifigure form…and I absolutely love him! His standout feature is his oversized fly head which some pretty ridiculous attention to detail. If you’re squeamish about bugs, I’m sure that you’re not going to be a big fan of the Fly Monster.
I also just recently discovered that the Fly Monster pays homage to the 1958 horror science fiction film The Fly. The resemblance is super uncanny, right down to the enlarged claw on his arm!
His head features slightly bendy and flexible antennae (the rest of the head is solid ABS plastic), two fantastically large compound eyes which feature plenty of texture and a proboscis where his mouth should be.
The details don’t end there, he also has an oversized left hand which has mutated into bright red pincer. Was the Monster Scientist trying to splice him with a lobster?
His claw hand allows him to grip on LEGO accessories like a regular hand and is a really cool hand variant that you can easily switch out for use with other minifigs. We’re so close to being able to recreate a LEGO Zoidberg.
Rounding out the minifigure is his grey wing neck accessory. In the photos they look transparent (due to my excessive lighting) but in real life, they’re much darker grey. His torso and legs have a bit of detail such as a segmented abdomen and tiny green furs – as if it wasn’t gross enough already!
The Fly Monster is such a bold move from LEGO’s designers – pushing the envelope of minifigures that you’d expect to find in the Collectible Series. The Fly is a horrifying but beautiful minifigure. His head mould is outstanding and ambitious – it’d be a shame if we don’t get to see it used again.
He has only 2 minor flaws – he has no back printing, which I can overlook. I’m not a fan of his colour scheme – I think black was a poor choice for his primary colour as the minifigure in its entirety looks very dark. You really have to look at him closely to pick out all the details. I think a darker shade of grey would’ve been more suitable but hey, don’t let this very minor complaint of mine detract from what is a spectacular minifig.
How To Find One: From experience feeling up blind bags, the Fly Monster’s wings are the easiest way to identify him. They’re made of solid plastic and feel thin with the neck ring a very prominent feature that you can easily feel. His head is also quite easy to spot, if your fingers are deft, you should have no problems picking out the slightly flexible antennae attached to it, or the pointy proboscis.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Gargoyle “Oops. Overslept again.”
Being made of stone has its advantages – including being very long-lived and waterproof – but it has its drawbacks, too. The short but solid Gargoyle is hard-headed and stubborn, making him extremely slow to change his mind about anything. He’s also about as light and graceful as a rock, and so despite having wings, he doesn’t so much fly as plummet straight down. Fortunately, he’s extremely durable and can just walk away from the resulting crater.
The Gargoyle likes to hang out on rooftops so he can see all the way across the city, but he has a habit of falling asleep…and a gargoyle nap can last anywhere from days to centuries. When he wakes up, the landscape and architecture have often changed around him, he needs to catch up on all of his TV shows, and he’s usually covered with bird’s nests!
I think the Gargoyle is one of the most underrated minifigures in Series 14. You can tell that plenty of attention and care was placed into the creation of the minifigure which I think has the most utility in this set. First let’s get into his awesome look.
The first thing that strikes you about the Gargoyle is his complete grey look that’s punctuated by some great texture details that really go a long way in making him look like he is made out of stone. These extend from his headpiece to his head and all the way down to his arms. I also love the cracks on his head, body and arms which makes him look like he’s been battered by the elements after standing watch over hundreds of years.
It’s a shame that the effect didn’t continue into his legs, but I don’t think LEGO’s printing capabilities are capable of pulling that off at this moment.
His headgear is great – looking very demonic thanks to his Baphomet-inspired goat horns and wings. I was actually surprised that LEGO greenlit what seems to be a very occult minifig, but hey, I ain’t gonna complain.
Here’s a look at his wings which are made of solid plastic. His wings are really cool and I fully expect to see them being recycled in upcoming LEGO fantasy themes.
The Gargoyle is going to be a priceless addition to Building MOCers – scattering a few across any Gothic-inspired buildings is going to be almost mandatory. I can instantly see him being added as a fixture in the recent Batman Arkham Asylum Breakout.
The Gargoyle’s understated yet ingenious design concept is a fantastic use of LEGO’s Minifigure Series to supplement builders and LEGO fans with characters and elements from real life that you might otherwise find difficult to introduce in conventional LEGO sets. You almost want to pick up at least 4 Gargoyles to add to your collection, just in case you ever need to place them around your city’s buildings.
How To Find One: The Gargoyle is the only minifig with short stumpy legs, so that alone makes him quite easy to identify. His solid plastic wings are also quite easy to feel for, the webbed and pointy underside are your best indicators.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Plant Monster “Om nom nom nom.”
Have you ever met a semi-intelligent ambulatory plant? One very alarmed Minifigure recently has! The Plant Monster used to be the Monster Scientist’s houseplant until the silly mad doctor accidentally gave it too much of his experimental super-growth fertilizer, causing the horticultural horror to sprout arms, legs, spiky vines, and one huge appetite.
Lurking in gardens, bushes, and anywhere else that’s green, the Plant Monster bides its time and then springs out to swallow up passers-by with a gulp and a happy smack of its leafy flytrap mouth. Oddly, it isn’t actually a carnivorous species (though it doesn’t seem to know that), and as long as it gets plenty of sunlight and regular watering, it just spits its victims out again after a day or two – smelling slightly of lettuce, and with a very strange story to tell!
LEGO are on to a cracker minifig with the Plant Monster – he’s one of my personal favourites from Series 14. Plant Monster pays homage to Plants vs Zombies in excellent fashion. Because you know, Series 14 is overrun by marauding zombies and everyone knows the best way to deal with the Undead is with shotguns or garden plants.
The Plant Monster is the most visually impressive minifigure in Series 14. Sporting vivid greens and a bold splash of bright pink, the Plant Monster grabs your attention with his massive headpiece that evokes a hungry and carnivorous botanical monstrosity.
I love his bewildered expression – you know, the kind that everyone gets when they wake up and realize that they’ve inexplicably transformed into a Plant Monster.
There’s not a single thing I dislike about the Plant Monster. Special mention must be made for his excellent torso printing which has thorny vines snaking across his body.
The printing is sensational, with the vines lining up almost perfectly as they cross the chasm that divides his body and legs – I’m not exaggerating, this is the sharpest and most accurate continual printing I’ve seen in minifigs with full-body designs. It snakes around the side of his legs for crying out loud!
Here’s a closer look at the Plant Monster’s fantastic headgear. It’s made out of solid plastic which has a very premium, high quality feel to it and I really like the tongue within the mouth!
His headgear is accentuated by the leafy veins which you can see from behind. Back printing is also present and accounted for.
The Plant Monster is an exceptional minifigure that embodies all that I love about LEGO’s Minifigure Series – an inventive and creative character that is a worthy inclusion into the growing population of minifigs.
He’s one, if not the best minifigure in Series 14, and is on my personal chase list so you can bet that I’ll be stocking up multiples of him.
How To Find One: The Plant Monster is ridiculously easy to find thanks to his oversized headpiece. It’s really easy to tell apart thanks to its wide mouth opening – it basically feels like a three dimensional Pac-Man. You can also try and feel for his vines which are skinny, flexible and has a very noticeable ridged texture.
Minifig Rating: 5/5
Skeleton Guy “Why, yes, I am indeed a walking, talking skeleton.”
There the Skeleton Guy was, out trick-or-treating one dark Halloween night, when he suddenly found himself in a land of real-life witches and ghosts and vampires. He doesn’t dare to take off his costume and reveal that he’s just a regular person underneath, so he’s doing his best to pretend to be a monster too, and hoping that he won’t be discovered.
But what the Skeleton Guy doesn’t realize is that he isn’t actually fooling anyone. Everybody knows that he isn’t really a monster (after all, you can’t fool a werewolf’s nose), but they also don’t care. He seems to be a nice fellow, if a little strange, so as long as he keeps being a friendly neighbor, the other monsters think that he can dress up however he likes!
Skeleton Guy might not be as outlandish as Plant Monster but he more than makes up for it with plenty of charm. Donning a very popular Halloween costume – a basic yet spooky skeleton, the Skeleton Guy is another one of my Series 14 favourites.
His simple black costume has just the right amount of detail with a minfigure’s skeleton frame carefully represented from head to toe. His accessory is another staple Halloween elements – a superb Jack O’Lantern trick or treat bucket that will hold plenty of candy.
I was incredibly impressed by Skeleton Guy’s back and side printing which add so much to the overall minifigure’s look. The side printing especially helps propel Skeleton Guy from good to great minifig. I also like his mask, which has a crude ribbon bow attaching it to his face.
Skeleton Guy is one of those endearing characters that give the LEGO Minifigure Series plenty of heart and soul. He may not be flashy, but he’s easily one of my favourites in Series 14 if not the entire Minifigures series.
Like the Plant Monster, I’m going to build a modest army of skeletal costume dudes, which is handy as there are four in each box.
How To Find One: Skeleton Guy doesn’t have a lot of accessories, so you’ll have to look for his pumpkin head bucket, which has a spherical shape to it, much like a large minifigure’s head except that is has a large hole on it, and a small dimple at the bottom that can fit a stud.
Minifig Rating: 5/5
Spectre “Boo! Did I scare ya?”
The spooky Specter really enjoys being a ghost. He delights in being able to fly right through walls, and gets a real kick (even if he doesn’t have any legs) out of lowering the temperature in a room just by hanging out there invisibly for a few minutes. His favorite pastime is to suddenly appear behind an unsuspecting Minifigure and loudly rattle his chain. The higher they jump, the better!
Yes, the Specter is a real prankster, but it’s all in the name of laughs for this fun-loving phantasm. And he doesn’t mind being pranked in turn, either. One time, the other monsters got together and called a team of ghost hunters from the big city to chase him around for a while. He’s still laughing about that one!
We continue our strong run into Series 14 with yet another unique minifigure, the ghastly Spectre! Using the new spooky ghost legs that made its debut in 2015’s Ninjago sets, the Spectre is unlike any other LEGO minifigure – in all the best ways.
Attired in a grey hood, a tattered cape and wielding a chain to rattle and spook unwitting minifigures, the Spectre appears to be a blend between a traditional ghost and mischievous poltergeist coupled with a friendly and welcoming face reminiscent of Casper the friendly ghost.
Here’s a better look at the Spectre’s leg piece which is a gorgeous blend of transparent and dyed plastic. It’s a really cool new element that can be affixed to a single stud and is sort of the next stage of the LEGO’s Ghost evolution.
Here’s a look at the Spectre from behind, giving you a better look at his tattered cape. He’s an ideal additition to any haunted home!
Series 14 is the perfect time to introduce the Spectre. I’m a huge fan of the character’s distinct look and concept. Like Skeleton Guy, it possesses plenty of charm and is the perfect combination of novel character design and utility.
Series 14 has thus far been an army builder’s dream – you can add Spectre to the list of minifigures I will be actively seeking multiples of!
How To Find One: The Spectre is relatively easy to find thanks to his unorthodox leg-piece. His legs have a really rough uneven shape to them with the wide flat base and pins that attach to its torso being quite easy to identify. You can also feel for his chains just to make sure its not the Banshee, which has the same leg-piece.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Square Foot “Aw, c’mon. Just hold still for a second!”
Legend holds that a rare and reclusive creature called the Square Foot dwells deep within the woods. Actually, the legend is only half-right. The shaggy Square Foot does spend a lot of time out in the wilderness, but that’s because he’s an avid amateur nature photographer who’s always looking for his next great shot.
Somehow, though, all of his photos end up coming out blurry. Maybe it’s because hikers and campers keep spotting his square-shaped footprints and making a big fuss about them. Maybe it’s because he needs to buy a new camera. Or maybe it’s because he always puts his hand in front of the lens. It’s definitely one hairy situation!
LEGO retains its playful personality with the Square Foot AKA Bigfoot. Excuse the terrible pun. I can respect the wordplay…but let’s face it, the pun is really, really bad.
Square Foot (ugh) is a recolour of Series 11’s Yeti, this time sporting a shaggy brown coat. It’s a pretty clever choice, inserting one of America’s most popular mythical creatures into a Monster-themed Minifigure Series.
The Square Foot’s headgear is one big moulded piece, which has a decent amount of furry texture baked into it. He has a plain brown torso with dark tan hands and matching brown legs with just a tiny bit of printing on his (square) feet.
I can appreciate the hilarious choice of accessory – a camera which plays on the fact that Bigfoot has never been convincingly photographed in the wild despite hundreds of eyewitness accounts of him roaming around the American woods. Turning him into an avid nature photographer is pretty clever. 
Here’s a comparison between the Square Foot and his Abominable Snowbuddy.
Square Foot as a character is pretty decent if slightly underwhelming. Recolours and reskins of existing minifigures are almost an inevitability, especially when they’ve produced an excellent headpiece but I just can’t get too excited over the Square Foot.
I think if he had plenty of fur printing across his body, it would improve my opinion of him slightly. But hey, I like the Square Foot more than I dislike it!
How To Find One: The Square Foot’s large headpiece is very easy to feel for. You’re essentially looking for a large piece with ridges and bumps all around it. The front and back sections of his headpiece are quite easy to identify thanks to the large-ish gap where it slots over his body.
Minifig Rating: 3/5
Banshee “I’ve got bad news, and more bad news…”
Poor Banshee. It’s not her fault that her job is to warn people about bad news in their future. And she does it very well, with all of the woeful weeping and wailing that you might expect from an ancient spirit of ill omen. But nobody likes to hear her tidings of misfortune, and so she finds herself unwelcome wherever she goes.
It’s hard to make friends when you’re compelled to inform your fellow Minifigures that they’re going to stub their toes, or misplace their phones, or forget to water their plants. It’s not like the Banshee causes the problems herself; she’s just cursed with the ability to see that they’re going to happen. For some reason, though, everybody seems to blame her anyway. On the bright side, she’s recently become pen pals with the Sad Clown, who just loves getting bad news!
The Banshee is the Spectre’s female counterpart, the herald of woe and misfortune that is cursed to be the bearer of bad news to minifigs the world over. Like the Spectre, she also comes with the brand new “ghost” leg-piece.
She’s a bit more colourful than her Spectre friend as she exudes an eerie green glow typically associated with spirits. The Banshee has a very ethereal look about her thanks to her wispy green torso which some nice details that make it look her dress is on the verge of decomposition.
Her facial expression is also pretty neat with big blue eyes and exaggerated tears printed on her face. Her green skin doesn’t give her a lot of utility but it works quite well within this context.
The Banshee’s most surprising and impressive feature is her translucent hairpiece. I certainly didn’t see it coming that LEGO would produce a translucent hair element – I may be wrong but I think that this is the first ever transparent hairpiece in LEGO history.
The Banshee has back printing, which is a simple continuation of her frayed top.
Like the Spectre, I love the Banshee’s concept and she’s a stunning and eye-catching addition to the LEGO Minifigures Series. With only 3 of her in each box, it’ll be somewhat of a challenge amassing Banshees but I’ll still try – mostly to amass as many translucent headpieces and ghost legs as possible!
How To Find One: Like the Spectre, you can easily tell the Banshee apart by her ghost legs – feel for the pins which connect to the body and an odd-shaped mass that has a flat base. To confirm that you have a Banshee, her hairpiece is really easy to identify – it’s surprisingly large and has a very rough texture with a distinct opening at the front for her fringe.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Spider Lady “Vould you like to meet my friends? I do hope you’re not too ticklish!”
Some vampires are fond of bats or rats, but the Spider Lady just adores spiders. She uses them in all of her home decorations, and even weaves her own gowns out of purest spider silk (a very fine thread, but a little sticky). She keeps a large number of pet spiders around her castle, but her favorite is a large red specimen that she calls Baron von Skitters.
Given her love of all things arachnid, it may be a little surprising to learn that the Spider Lady has become rather sweet on the Fly Monster. There’s just something about him that compels her to ask him over for tea…and she doesn’t understand why he keeps running away whenever she invites him to step into her parlor for a bite!
Spider Lady has a pretty confusing name as she’s not some sort of Spider Queen but just a simple Vampiress that prefers Spiders instead of bats. The only indication that she’s a vampire comes from the protruding canine teeth on her face.
Apart from that, she’s pretty much covered in spider motifs from head to toe, as well as a bright red spider which I’m guessing is her pet??
The details across Spider Lady’s body is outstanding – from the silver spiderweb motif on her beehive hair-piece, to all the spiders and webs printed on her dress.
The Spider Lady’s most fascinating accessory is her webbed cape, which is made up of two separate parts – a collar and the actual cape itself.
The cape’s material is unlike anything I’ve ever come across before – it’s made out of transparent plastic and I was surprised by how rigid the material was. It feels high quality and premium, which is all that really matters in my book.
Here’s a look at the Spider Lady’s cape from behind. Its thick structure enables it to hold its shape very well, and I’m a big fan of the webbing printed onto it.
The Spider Lady could’ve been a half-assed minifig, but I love the LEGO designers’ attention to detail and care taken to ensure that she’s got an overall great design. As a character, she’s pretty decent – not something I’m overly excited about but definitely fits Series 14’s Monster theme.
How To Find One: The Spider Lady is stupidly easy to find – all you gotta do is feel for her sloped dress piece and you’ve got her.
Minifig Rating: 3/5
Wacky Witch “By the stacking of my bricks, something wacky this way clicks! Eee-hee-hee-hee!”
The Wacky Witch strives to be the perfect storybook witch, but living the fairy tale lifestyle is a lot harder than the picture books make it look. She spent weeks baking and building her gingerbread cottage, but it gets soggy in the rain, and the Fly Monster keeps nibbling at the edges. She can’t seem to get the hang of riding a broomstick, either – she gets airsick pretty easily, and it’s left her looking permanently green.
As for the traditional witch’s familiar, don’t even get her started! Her black cat steadfastly refuses to bring anybody bad luck, choosing instead to spend all of his time napping in sunbeams, ignoring her when she calls his name, and yowling whenever his supper is five minutes late. With all of these complications, it’s enough to drive the Wacky Witch to cackling!
What would a Monster and Halloween-themed Minifigure series be without a Witch minifig. The Wacky Witch as her name suggests is a wicked looking Witch sporting a very cartoony bright green and purple colour palette.
She’s got all your cliche Witch ingredients from a ratty pointed hat, toothy grin, shabby clothes, obligatory broomstick and even a lucky (or unlucky) black cat as her companion!
The Wacky Witch has a purple fabric skirt which unfortunately cover up a very stylish black and white striped pants.
The Wacky Witch has some a really simple but terrific torso print which has plenty of nice bits of detail such as patches on her front, back and even her arm.
Her headgear is a giant piece which fused her pointy (and slightly lopsided) hat to a generous clump of grey hair which stick out the back.
Did you know that you can grip LEGO cats by their tails? I literally just discovered this fact, which makes for some really funny scenes you can reenact.
Witches aren’t exactly innovative or groundbreaking characters but like the Spider Lady, LEGO have incorporated enough effort and design elements to set her apart from her peers. Her bright and cartoony appearance which borders caricature works exceedingly well with the Monsters theme, making the Wacky Witch yet another highlight of Series 14.
How To Find One: The Wacky Witch’s large hat is the most identifiable element but make sure you don’t confuse it with the Plant Monster’s equally sized headgear. The Witch’s hat’s pointy end is quite easy to find, and it feels a lot sharper compared to Plant Monster’s head, thanks to the narrow bits where her hair is. You can also feel for the broomstick to confirm that its the Wacky Witch.
Minifig Rating: 3/5
Wolf Guy “I’m still okay!”
The Wolf Guy isn’t quite sure what’s going on. One minute he was chopping lumber like usual, and the next he had become a hairy, drooling werewolf. The only thing he could remember happening in between was a lot of running around in the woods and howling at the moon.
The world seems pretty different now that he’s a Wolf Guy. Everything smells really interesting, especially trees and fire hydrants. His hearing has gotten a lot better, too. But he can’t find his favorite cap anywhere, and he keeps craving doggie biscuits. Or maybe a nice, rare steak…that sounds pretty good, too!
I love it when there’s continuity with previous Series. Wolf Guy, while having the most unfortunate name (Werewolf was taken in Series 4) is actually Series 5’s Lumberjack after undergoing what I’m assuming is a horrific and painful transformation under the full moon.
Wolf Guy has the exact same checked shirt, complete with “Kel” which I’m guessing is his name printed on the same spot. At first glance, the Wolf Guy shares many similarities to the Werewolf that showed up in 2013’s Monster Fighters theme – they both have a unique headpiece – but when you look closer there are several subtle differences.
Here’s a comparison pic showing all 3 Werewolves.
Series 14’s Wolf Guy has a slightly narrower and sharper snout and a different fur pattern, which is pretty surprising as I would’ve been totally fine with LEGO opting to just recolour the head.
Wolf Guy also has a tail piece, slotted in between his torso and legs. The tail piece is made out of the rubbery flexible plastic which I hate, but it does give him a more complete, animalistic look.
Rounding up the Wolf Guy’s design is arm printing, back printing and a very respectable amount of detail on his legs. He wields a massive bone that’s almost as long as his entire body, which is an okay accessory.
I have to say, minifigures with unique heads are always a plus in my books. Even though it may feel like a rehash from Monster Fighters, the slightly updated Wolf Head mould more than makes up for it not being a completely new concept. It also helps that the Wolf Guy looks fantastic, making him one of the more eye-catching minifigures from Series 14.
How To Find One: The Wolf Guy’s large head is quite easy to find – you can tell it apart by its sharpish snout and ears which are quite sharp and pointy. Another easily identifiable part is his bone piece, which feels like a long stick with knobs on each end.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Tiger Woman “Rowr.”
You may have seen lion and tiger tamers before, but in the land of monsters, it’s the cats who tame the people! The Tiger Woman is the world’s greatest Minifigure tamer. At the famous Monster Circus, she leads her team of well-trained firefighters, construction workers, and other everyday people in amazing routines of agility and grace – jumping through hoops, balancing on each other’s backs, and sitting up on command.
The Tiger Woman was once a regular Minifigure, too…until an ancient artifact from a long-lost temple transformed her into an incredible mystical creature with stripes, fuzzy ears, and a twitching tail. Now that she’s half-feline, she never wants to go back to being normal again. She can see in the dark, she sleeps on top of the cupboard, and she gets to eat all the mice she can catch. Yum!
Here we are, the most coveted minifigure in Series 14 – the Tiger Woman! Her high profile is mostly due to the fact that she’s a minifigure in an animal suit or costume – joining an elite group of minifigs which include Bunny Suit Guy, Lizard Suit Guy and Bumblebee Girl.
LEGO fans are just crazy over animal suit minifigs as they’re often incredibly adorable and are usually the crown jewel of each series. Tiger Woman eschews traditional cuteness for a bit of sultriness.
With a sly smirk, a stylish bob with ears sticking out and a tight bodysuit, Tiger Woman is all about being fiercely confident. In her hands is a whip so you know she’s equipped to intimidate other minifigs into submission. Roar.
Tiger Woman has amazingly detailed printing across her entire body, with her legs, arms and back covered in stripes. Adding to the entire costume is a tail piece, similar to Wolf Guy which slots in between her torso and legs.
Here’s a better view at the sharp printing details on her side.
Tiger Woman isn’t as cute as her other Animal Suit colleagues but she still manages to hold her own with her signature look and sultry appearance. She’s in an outfit that you’d commonly find in Halloween parties which adds a bit of realism to the character.
It’s going to be quite a challenge getting your hands on Tiger Women as everyone else is probably on the hunt for her as well, but hey, there’s always at least one of those chase minifigures in each series. Thankfully, Tiger Woman is an exceptional minifig, which makes the chase slightly worth it.
How To Find One: Firstly, pray that no one else has gone through boxes of Series 14 minifgs. If you can search fresh boxes, you have a higher chance of finding one. You can feel for her whip, which is the most identifiable accessory or her hairpiece, which has a very round curved shape to it, with slightly blunt ears that stick out the top.
Minifig Rating: 5/5
Zombie Businessman “Coffeeeeee…”
The Zombie Businessman is an extremely dedicated worker. Every evening, his alarm goes off up at the crack of dusk and he shambles off to work the all-night shift in his cubicle at the big office building in the next town. For hour after hour, he files, organizes, optimizes, and prepares presentations, only pausing to occasionally catch up on the latest zombie news (hint: it’s usually about brains).
His co-workers haven’t especially noticed that he’s a zombie yet. His speech may sound a little funny, and he may not be the snappiest of dressers, but he gets his projects finished on time and always turns in the right paperwork and forms. And sure, he may make a bit of a mess when he drinks his daily cup of coffee…but what business-Minifigure doesn’t have a few odd quirks?
Finally! LEGO have recreated a minifigure version of me on Mondays! The Zombie Businessman pokes fun at the soulless drones of the corporate business world, slapping a white collar on a reanimated corpse.
Dressed in a suit that is on the verge of decomposition, the Zombie Businessman is ready to waltz into a job he probably he hates to work for a stickler boss, biding his time till he gets to leave his lifeless workstation to pursue more enriching hobbies like collecting and sorting through his Brain Stem collection.
The Zombie Businessman has some really cool accessories such as a black briefcase and a 2 x 2 “Zombie Times” newspaper tile. Love the Braaaaaains headline! He has no back printing but he has a small tear printed on his right arm, which is a decent enough consolation.
The Zombie Businessman also sports a new awesome looking hairpiece with side parting and a stylish tousled look that’s rather anime-inspired. The hairpiece is currently exclusive to the Zombie Businessman but I fully expect to see it appear in 2016 City sets.
I really love the playful tongue-in-cheek concept of the Zombie Businessman. Anyone who has worked in a corporate environment will be able to relate with the Zombie-nature of being in a mundane office.
How To Find One: The easiest way to find the Zombie Businessman is to locate for his flat 2 x 2 tile which is the only one of its kind in Series 14.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Zombie Cheerleader
The Zombie Cheerleader is a star student at Zombie University who has personally come up with some of the cheer squad’s best new cheers, from the one about the brains, to the other one about the brains, to the other OTHER one about the brains. That last one is everybody’s favorite, because it’s just so catchy.
For a zombie, she has a really upbeat attitude. You’ve got to be extra inspirational when your players’ legs and heads tend to fall off in the middle of a game, which is why she’s also pretty good with duct tape. Her whole zombie family comes out to watch her cheer, and while she’s happy to see her businessman dad take time out of his busy schedule, she’s a little embarrassed at the way her pirate great-great-uncle keeps threatening to keelhaul the other team.
I’ve saved the best Series 14 zombie minifigure for last – the Zombie Cheerleader takes the cake as the most impressive undead character while looking stylish and zany, all at the same time. Where do I start?
From her well-natured grin (even though she’s missing a tooth) to her pale decomposed grey skin, the Zombie Cheerleader’s unique and well thought out character design just works well in a very pleasing undead package.
Like the other Zombie characters, her attire is kinda rotten and falling apart.
She has some cool side leg printing. Can I say it again? I really love the level of side and back leg printing that we’re getting in Series 14.
Her standout accessory isn’t her two green pom-poms, it’s the incredibly new ponytail hairpiece that’s the perfect hairstyle for any cheerleader. It’s an exceptional new hairstyle and I will bet my last dollar that we’ll see it being used for a Harley Quinn minifigure sometime in 2016 – maybe in a Suicide Squad set?
Unfortunately, she has no back printing which is a bit of a waste.
There’s a lot to love about the Zombie Cheerleader and even though she might be a walking corpse, she blends in almost effortlessly with all the other LEGO cheerleaders!
How To Find One: Try and feel for the two pom poms which are roughly the same size as a minifigure’s head, except that they have a rougher texture and a small hole in it for the hands to grip. Alternatively, you could also feel for the cheerleader’s hairpiece – the two ponytails are quite prominent and they feel like 2 short thin prongs.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
At the start of my review, I did claim that Series 14 is one of the best LEGO Collectible Minifigure Series yet and I still stand by it. Featuring a diverse but unified cast of Monster and Horror-themed characters, Series 14 represents one of the biggest leaps yet in terms of minifig design concepts, torso and leg printing and most importantly has an excellent line-up of memorable characters.
Outside of one or two throwaway minifigures such as the Monster Rocker and Zombie Pirate, the other 14 characters are unique, interesting and fascinating in their own right. LEGO have really outdone themselves with Series 14 and while the lack of a more traditional minifigures and characters might be a drawback for some, I wholeheartedly enjoyed almost every Series 14 minifig.
LEGO has obviously taken a gamble by focusing on a specific theme but judging by the rate that Series 14 is being snapped up by fans, they’ve got their hands on a winning hand once again. Nearly every minifigure brings something special to the table, from the Plant Monster’s impressive headgear to the Skeleton Guy’s simple charm to the Gargoyle’s utility.
Kudos also need to be given to LEGO for kicking minifigure printing up a notch – each minifigure has exceptionally sharp printing – there are no splotchy bits or sloppy errors to pick out and oh boy, I love all the side arm and leg printing that’s present in most of the minifigs.
If you’re a fan of LEGO Minifigures you cannot afford to miss out on Series 14. I’ve never been so impressed by a series before that I’ve put my money where my mouth is and purchased a whole box of minifigures because I pretty much wanted multiples of almost every character.
With the bar being raised so high, I simply cannot wait to see what LEGO has up their sleeves with Series 15 and beyond. Their experiment with a single themed series seems to have paid off, which I believe opens up doors for future Series to have more unified themes. Historical Series? International Culture Series? Pixar or Disney Series? Video Game Series? Literally anything is possible!
And that concludes my LEGO Minifigures Series 14: Monsters review! Thanks so much for reading!
Tell me which characters are your favourite and what you thought of Series 14 in the comments!
