Review: LEGO Minifigures Series 18
July 29, 2018
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2018 is a monumental year for LEGO, what with the brand celebrating its 60th Anniversary. The venerable LEGO brick isn’t the only thing that’s celebrating an anniversary this year – the humble minifigure also celebrates its 40th anniversary.
There’s no better way to celebrate this huge milestone than to throw a huge party, which is the theme of LEGO Minifigures Series 18!
LEGO Minifigures Series 18 officially released in April so I recognise that this review is SUPER late. So sorry about that. Quick life update. I quit my job which paid decently well but was ultimately making me miserable.
It was probably one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life and I took a short holiday to reset my head. I also started at my new job recently which has been pretty hectic but incredibly fun and rewarding.
Long story short, I’m in a much better head space!
Series 18 marks a return to form for LEGO’s minifigure series with an eclectic cast of characters in different costumes and party-related outfits. After 2 consecutive licensed Series (Batman Movie Series 2 and Ninjago Movie), this is a huge breath of fresh air. I’ve also personally liked the core numbered series more then licensed ones, with the exception of Disney.
For a taste of my previous LEGO Minifigure reviews, check out the Minifigure Series Reviews section in the Review Hub!
Here’s a look at the Series 18 blind bags, which comes in a vibrant shade of orange and has a party design, with streamers hanging from the top border, as well as a 40th Minifig Anniversary commemorative badge in the top right hand corner.
Each blind bag costs AU$5.99 (US$4 in the US and £2.99 and €3.99 respectively). You can find them at your local toy store, or on LEGO.com or even on Amazon.
For nearly every Series, I always recommend not wasting time by feeling up countless bags to collect a whole set (unless you really enjoy it) and just purchase a complete* set online. I always get mine from Rick James Bricks but if you’re in the US, you can usually get full sets from Amazon
Here’s the box breakdown of Series 18.
4x Cowboy Costume Guy
5x LEGO Brick Suit Guy
5x LEGO Brick Suit Girl
3x Elephant Costume Girl
1x 1978 Police Officer
3x Party Clown
4x Firework Guy
4x Spider Suit Boy
4x Unicorn Guy
3x Cactus Girl
4x Flowerpot Girl
3x Race Car Guy
3x Birthday Party Boy
3x Birthday Party Girl
4x Cake Guy
3x Cat Costume Girl
4x Dragon Suit Guy
If you click the name of each minifigure, you’ll instantly jump to the corresponding minifigure review! For the “feelers out there”, my reviews also contain a “How To Find One” section with actual tips on how you can best identify the minifigs in their blind bags.
If you’re new to my LEGO Minifigure reviews, I use a 5-point scale review scale to rate each minifig. 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
Now all the details are out of the way, let’s jump into my review of LEGO Minifigures Series 18!
Cowboy Costume Guy
We start off with Cowbow Costume Guy, a pretty plain character all things considered, but one that’s elevated by one of the most creative minifig accessories ever – a miniature wearable LEGO horse!
The horse looks brilliant, and the designers have done an excellent job of nailing the look of an actual LEGO horse that’s shrunk down to minifig-size.
The printing and details on the horse is great and I love how they managed to incorporate printed hooves and the dimple on its snout.
The horse is made up of two parts – the body which is attached to the minifig’s neck and the tail goes between the torso and legs.
With the horse off, you can see the printing on the minifig’s torso, where he has a Woody-esque cow-print vest and a red bandana across his neck.
Sadly, the horse is made out of rubbery material which isn’t my favourite as it has a squishy feel to it, and quality control can be iffy with these elements, but my horse in particular had no real issues.
Here’s a look at the Cowbow’s back printing.
With Series 18, I believe LEGO included many throwbacks to the very first LEGO Minifigure Series, and it’s hard not to see the homage to Series 1’s Cowboy minifigure. They even have similar taste in sideburns.
The Cowbow Costume Guy is a great start to Series 18, with a fresh take on what could’ve been a really boring character. The horse accessory was a delightful surprise with how well it was executed, and feels truly unique and at home in a numbered Minifigure Series.
How To Find One: The Cowboy Costume Guy is relatively easy to find. The horse has an odd shape and feels very squishy. It’s honestly hard to pick out, so if you have trouble feeling for the horse, you can try feeling for the cowboy hat which has a wide brim.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
LEGO Brick Suit Guy
To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the brick, LEGO included 2 Minifigure costumes dressed as the iconic brick. Not as iconic as a 2 x 4 as they had to make do with a 2 x 3 configuration to fit the size of the minifigure.
LEGO could’ve easily made the suit a 2×4 but in keeping true to the spirit of the LEGO System, they decided to ensure that the costume has the same dimensions as a 2 x 3 brick so that it remains compatible with nearly every LEGO piece out there. Yup, those are working studs right there.
I really like his super-happy face, which is nice and expressive and just screams “I’m so happy and excited!”
Here’s what the brick suit looks like from the back, where you can see the tubes which allows the suit to attach itself to studs. The brick suit is exceptionally designed and will arguably become one of the most iconic accessories in the history of LEGO minifigures.
Of course with the suit being designed to attach to other blocks, naturally one of the first things I did was to fuse the Brick Boy and Brick Girl together, and yes, it is just as suggestive as it looks.
The concept of the LEGO Brick Suit Guy is a relatively simple but effective one. It’s probably THE most iconic costume in this entire series, given that the character is literally dressed up as a LEGO mascot.
The utility of this minifigure and most importantly this costume will go a long, long way, especially because it’s compatible within the LEGO system.
How To Find One: The LEGO Brick Suit guy is relatively easy to identify thanks to its unique brick shape. It feels like a rectangular with sharp corners and you can easily make out the studs on it. The challenge arises from trying to differentiate it from the Brick Suit Girl since they have the same suit.
The only way to tell them apart is by feeling for their hairpieces – the boy has a toussled hair, which doesn’t have the pointy ponytail bit that the girl’s hair does.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
LEGO Brick Suit Girl
The LEGO Brick Suit Girl is nearly identical to the Brick Suit Boy, just that she’s colour-swapped and has a blue 2 x 3 brick costume and a red 1 x 1 stud as her accessory.
Like the Brick Suit Boy, her facial expression is one of utmost joy, with a big wide grin that will come in very handy if you need to depict a minifigure being purely happy.
She has her hair up in a side ponytail and it’s quite a nice female hairpiece that isn’t particularly common.
Like the Brick Suit Boy’s costume, the girl’s costume also fits within the LEGO system.
Overall, I see both the Brick Suit Boy and Girl as a complementary pair. They should both stick together (heh), and the opposite colour scheme also work particularly well together.
How To Find One: Like the Brick Suit Boy, the girl’s large blocky costume is fairly easy to feel for. Differentiate between them by feeling for the girl’s hairpiece, which has a slightly pointy end to it courtesy of the ponytail.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Elephant Costume Girl
With so many costumed minifigures in this Series, fans of “animal suit” minifigures are in for a treat with Series 18, starting with the excellent Elephant Costume Girl.
The minifigure is a reference to the Circus Polka, a musical composition by the famed Igor Stravinsky, which was used by the Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus in a ballet performance featuring elephants and actual ballerinas.
Finding out the historical context behind the Elephant Costume Girl only increase my appreciation for the minifigure. The Elephant Costume is fairly simple as the minifig is dressed in a grey suit, with markings on her belly, and cute little toes printed on her feet. She’s equipped with a pink tutu that’s the same as Fairy Batman’s.
Her elephant headgear has a cutout for her face and a very cute cartoonish elephant design, with beady eyes, tiny budding tusks and of course ears and a trunk which extends upwards.
There’s a lot to like about the Elephant Costume Girl, but her best feature has to be her grimacing expression, in which she’s mid-scream with a look of fright and disgust all rolled into one. Not gonna lie, it’s one of the best female minifigure faces produced in a while.
Her disgusted expression comes from her discomfort of being in the presence of a mouse, which plays on a wildly popular trope that elephants are terrified of mice, a concept postulated by Greek philosopher Pliny the Elder and popularised by Dumbo.
The mouse is a brand new 2018 version which is a massive improvement over the previous LEGO mouse. The mould now incorporates so much more detail such as a face, more prominent ears and a tail that’s made out of rubbery plastic. Great improvement over the old mouse.
Here’s the look at the back of her helmet. No back printing as it isn’t really necessary since the plain grey works well, however a zip at the back would’ve been a nice touch.
The combination of being an interesting Animal Costume minifigure, a great alternate face and the addition of the new LEGO mouse make Elephant Costume Girl one of the best minifigs in Series 18 and is a personal favourite of mine. I’ll definitely be amassing as many of her as I can find.
How To Find One: The Elephant Costume Girl is really easy to feel for, just feel for her tutu dress piece, which is quite large (about the same footprint as the baseplate, with curved corners and easily identifiable ridges across the rigid piece.
Minifig Rating: 5/5
1978 Retro Police Officer
Meet the most contentious minifigure since 2013’s Mr Gold. The now infamous 1978 Retro Police Officer is an ultra-rare minifigure from Series 18 – only one Retro Police Officer is included in each sealed box of Series 18 making him an incredibly prized possession.
Like Mr Gold, the extreme rarity of the Police Officer has generated some amount of unhappiness amongst LEGO fans as it becomes so much more difficult to get a complete set. The rarity is meant to make the minifigure a lot more special (but not to the extremes of Mr Gold) and ties in very nicely to the 40th Anniversary of the LEGO minifigure.
The minifigure pays homage to set number 600 which includes the Police Officer – the very first LEGO minifigure in the form that we all know today. It even comes with a special printed tile which is really cool, adds a lot to the whole retro/vintage appeal of the minifigure.
Apart from those cool references, and the retro appeal of the remake of a 1978 Police Officer minifigure… there’s really not much else going for the minifig. It’s simple, almost too simple, hearkening to a time where minifig designs were minimalist by nature.
In that sense, I think LEGO did a brilliant job balancing the scales between desirability and rarity. If the 1978 Police Officer wasn’t so rare, not many people would give this minifigure a second glance, let alone spend up to 6 times its selling price on him.
But he’s rare, and in a world of Yeezys, holographic Pokemon cards and CSGO Skins, artificial scarcity commands a premium. Personally, unless you’re a die-hard collector or completionist, and have no affinity with a 40 year old minifigure, you can skip out on the Retro Police Officer and not miss out on much.
I’m a sucker for retro/vintage LEGO, so I really love what LEGO have done with the 1978 Police Officer, especially how they weaved him into a series that celebrates 40 years of LEGO minifigures.
I usually have a penchant for collecting rare minifigures as I love the concept of owning things that others don’t (fake sense of superiority etc), but for the Retro Police Officer, I didn’t really go out of my way to hunt him down and I was pretty content with the one I got from my box.
How To Find One: First off, because the Police Officer is so rare, unless you come across a fresh, unopened, unrummaged box of Series 18, your chances of finding the Police Officer will most likely be close to 0.
To find him, feel for the 2 x 1 tile, which is unique to him. Also… you can actually pinpoint the Police Officer’s location in the box. He’s located in the left compartment, towards the back of the box. He’s usually about 6-ish blind bags in.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Party Clown
What would a party be without a Clown to entertain the guests. The Party Clown minifigure is the latest in a long line of Clown minifigures, which have been a staple of the LEGO Minifigure Series since the Series 1.
The Party Clown is dressed in bright, wildly clashing colours featuring a mix of lime green, purple and orange. He comes with a red bowtie and a large two-tone top hat that was recently seen with The Penguin from the Batman Movie sets.
I really like the two-tone top hat which has a flower printed in the front, as it gives the clown a very distinct look. The clown also comes with the long coat-tails from the Batman Movie’s Joker, in a shade of orange that matches the colour of his jacket. Personally, I’m not a fan of the coattails as they’re quite large and often get in the way.
As great as the design of the Party Clown is, the best part of the minifigure is undoubtedly the two balloon dogs that he comes with. Made out of rigid translucent plastic, the two balloon dogs have highly detailed moulds and are thoroughly impressive. They’re my favourite new LEGO accessories.
The little details such as the snouts, and tips at the ends of their tails as well as the bulbous shape of the dogs are just amazing, and the fact that we get two of them, in different colours is just an added bonus.
Like the Cowboy Costume Guy, I believe that the Party Clown is a nod towards the Clown from Series 1. Placed side by side, you can really see how far LEGO Minifigures have come since Series 1, especially in the accessories department.
How To Find One: The Party Clown’s large top hat is quite easy to find, it is quite large and feels like a thimble, which narrows down towards the middle before you can feel the brim. The dogs are fairly tricky to feel for as they’re quite small – you’re better off feeling for the bow tie to confirm that it’s the Party Clown.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Firework Guy
How To Find One: The large Firework costume is easy to feel for as it’s large, rigid and has a cylindrical shape with a conical top. the body of the suit also has an opening which is very easy to identify.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Spider Suit Boy
The Spider Suit Boy is an interesting but slightly disappointing minifigure. I guess he does deserve to be included into the “Animal Suit Minifigure” group but he definitely isn’t cute and adorable in any way. Unless you find spiders cute.
The concept design of this minifigure is really cool and I do love that LEGO are branching out beyond “cute” animal costumes, but I wish the execution was done better.
I do like the minifig’s helmet, which has fangs on the bottom part and little beady eyes on top. The anatomy is slightly incorrect as spiders often have 8 eyes but for the most part the headgear is pretty nice.
I also like the minifig’s all-white head with a slightly rattled expression on one side, and a neutral smile with a pointy teeth sticking out on the other.
Spider Suit Boy would’ve been an outstanding minifigure, save for the shoddy execution of the spider body that’s attached to his back via a neck clip. First up, the body is made out of soft, rubbery plastic which I actively dislike. It feels cheap, and just clashes awkwardly against regular LEGO plastic.
The Spider Suit is quite large, and it has 8 legs, a thorax and a large abdomen that’s devoid of printing. Some extra markings would’ve been nice.
With the two Spider Suit Boys that I got, the quality control of the suits were wildly inconsistent, with it jutting out at different angles. I would’ve preferred it to be flush and straight down the back but when you cheap out and use rubber instead of regular plastic, these things inevitably happen.
Also, the choice of accessory is a little boring – just a regular spider. A fly mould would’ve been a brilliant accompaniment, but nothing will truly save this minifig from shoddy manufacturing.
Such a shame as Spider Suit Boy had so much potential to be a memorable minifigure.
How To Find One: The large spider suit is easy to feel for – it’s a little rubbery and you can easily pick out the large abdomen, as well as the spindly legs that stick out.
Minifig Rating: 2/5
Unicorn Guy
I feel like the Unicorn Guy is a reference to something, but my brain just keeps drawing a blank, so I’ll evaluate him for what he is – some sort of Unicorn Knight. First off, I love the light blue colour scheme of Unicorn Guy, it’s very soft and feminine which is then contrasted with his accessories, a shield and a pearl gold broadsword.
The shield is really interesting, with a white unicorn adorning it, surrounded by ferns and leaves, which again has a very feminine, almost My Little Pony feel to it. Cute little details such as gold stars and a crown on his chesty, as well as printed hooves on his legs top the minifigure off.
He has a winking face, with striking orange eyebrows. The eyebrows are a little too out of place with how orange they are, but I do like his winking expression.
Like Unicorn Girl, the Unicorn Guy has the same tail and head combo with dark blue accents. He comes with a pearl gold horn, which just looks regal as anything.
Unicorn Guy makes an excellent companion to Unicorn Girl and they look great together. The blue and gold colour scheme is really nice and the sword and shield gives Unicorn Guy an otherworldly yet lighthearted fantasy vibe.
Probably will be one of the most underrated minifigures of Series 18. In any other Series, Unicorn Guy would be an easy Top 3 in any non-stacked lineup.
How To Find One: Unicorn Guy’s sword is the easiest accessory to feel for – it’s long, narrow, flat and the pommel/hilt is quite easy to feel for. The shield is also quite easy with its kite-shape, and the handle sticking out the back.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Cactus Girl
Out of all the costumed characters in Series 18, Cactus Girl easily wins the prize for most nonsensical outfit. I’m a fan of the Final Fantasy video games and this is an unmistakable reference to the Cactuar character.
Cactus Girl is delightfully cute, and I’m impressed at the lengths that LEGO went to get the look right. Instead of just creating a Cactus Suit mould and calling it a day, they went one step further and also included custom-designed arms as well.
The Cactus Suit has some really great details such as ridges and thorns all over the body.
Another nice bit of detail is that Cactus Girl has a printed torso, which has a striped jumper look on it. It’s actually a pretty neat torso and could be reused as a simple green striped jumper.
As an extra bonus, Cactus Girl also has a great alternate face with a nervous smile, almost as if she was forced to play an inanimate object in a high school play.
I quite like Cactus Girl. For one thing, I have a soft spot for unorthodox minifigure designs and Cactus Girl is right up there in terms of costumed minifigures that I never thought would exist. The entire design is great, with a lot of love and care being given by the designers.
This is one I’m amassing multiples of, just in case I ever need to create a Desert Diorama filled with minifigures. As an added bonus, Cactus Girl also goes tremendously well with the Cowboy Costume Guy!
How To Find One: Cactus Girl is super easy to find, her Cactus Suit feels like a cylinder with a domed top, almost like a long thimble with very easily identifiable thorns across the body.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Flowerpot Girl
Flowerpot Girl’s headpiece is made out of hard plastic and looks fantastic with 6 petals, and some leaves at the back. The design is pretty much flawless and I particularly like the perfectly round circular cutout in the front for the face
Here’s a look at the headpiece from behind, so you can appreciate just how sublime the printing and the moulding is. Everything is pretty much crisp and there are no unsightly paint splotches here.
The Pot accessory is an interesting one, as it’s pretty much a “skirt”. It has two holes for the leg pins to pop into, slotting nicely between the torso and legs. It’s a really ingenious accessory as I had initially expected the pot to just be an entire custom leg-piece.
The one thing that LEGO missed the ball on was not having the pot be compatible within the LEGO system – it should, but it doesn’t. The possibilities of using the pot for anything else are a little constrained because of that, which is a little disappointing.
That said, I really like the stalk printed on her torso, which really adds a whole lot to her entire appearance. The cute double-sided face with the freckles is another great addition as well – her hesitant, neutral looking face is an awesome new expression that will surely delight minifigure fans.
It’s hard to fault such a well-designed minifigure with a cute theme. I’m really glad that we’re getting so many more plant-based minifig costumes, as it provides a bit of variety. I will be sorely disappointed if we don’t get a Pine Tree minifigure in Series 19.
Here’s a comparison pic with the Plant Monster from Series 14! They make a pretty cute couple and it’ll be great to see their budding romance blossom.
How To Find One: Flowerpot Girl is incredible easy to find, just feel for her pot which is very unmistakable. The wall’s pots are particularly thin but this is one of the largest accessories in the series.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Race Car Guy
LEGO Minifigures has covered Race Car drivers before, with the earliest being Series 3, but in keeping with the Costumed theme, the Race Car Guy is equipped with his very own car suit costume.
The LEGO Car Guy is attired in red, blue and white racing suit which has plenty of similarities with the Murican sport of Nascar.
The Car Suit is a fascinating accessory – it goes between the torso and legs and LEGO went to great lengths to get the shape of it right. I am really impressed by the printing on the car.
The print is incredibly sharp, and they managed to pack in a ton of details such as headlights, the windscreen and even the number 40 on the bonnet to signify 40 years of LEGO minifigures. On the back, there is a printed semi-circle tile lodged on, which is another nice touch.
Here’s how the car looks from the side. I love that the designers used the tiny car wheels for it.
Here’s how the driver looks sans Car Suit – the printing across his torso, legs and even helmet is outstanding. You can also see his name “R. Racer” printed on his belt. The car is a really unique and interesting accessory, mostly because you can slot just the upper torso into it to look like a tiny human driving a car.
Here’s a better look at the back printing and the arm printing. In classic LEGO fashion, the names and logos printed across the body are a play on words of popular LEGO terms “clutch-drive, grand brix and even cross axle”.
I didn’t expect too much from the Race Car Guy, thinking that it would be a cute but unremarkable minifigure with a decent Car Suit gimmick but I was very, very impressed by how excellent the minifigure is in nearly every aspect from the car design, to the outstanding printing across his entire body.
How To Find One: The Race Car Guy is relatively easy to find since his car accessory is quite large and has a very distinct shape. Try to feel for the gap between the bonnet and boot.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Birthday Party Boy
It wouldn’t be a birthday party without some guests. Like the Brick Suit couple, we also have a pair of Birthday Party guests, a young boy and girl. The boy is attired in a cute formal do, with a short-sleeved polka dot shirt, and a bright striped tie. He has dark blue shorts, and matching shoes as well.
He has a meek smile, with green glasses and like any good party guest is equipped with a massive present.
He comes with a brand new balloon accessory which has a fantastic, highly accurate design and a stick which can be grasped by minifig hands. No more using round domed pieces together for balloons which is brilliant. You can also see that he has back printing which is always a nice touch.
Opening up his present is one of my favourite accessories from Series 18 – a printed 1 x 1 tile of a Series 1 blind bag.
The gift box itself is a great new accessory – there are ribbons printed on the side and the lid is also generously decorated.
The designers have managed to squeeze in a surprising amount of detail onto the tiny tile to ensure that it’s unmistakable. We can clearly see the Ninja, Astronaut, Tribal Girl and a brown blob that’s probably the Cowboy.
Here’s a comparison between the tile and a Series 1 bind bag to show you how alike they are!
As meta-accessories go, I this is right up there with one of the best that LEGO have produced. For most people, the Series 1 blind bag has a lot more personal meaning than say, the 1978 Police Officer’s set.
The Birthday Party Boy ticks all the boxes for me – unique and interesting accessories, a dash of nostalgia and the generic design of the kid make for a wonderful bundle of value. If I were to randomly buy Series 18 blind bags, I would not be disappointed to get a Birthday Party Boy, or even multiples of him for that matter.
How To Find One: First of all, try and feel for the Balloon, which should feel like a lollipop. Do note that the Birthday Party Girl also has the same balloon element, so the the most painless way to tell them apart is by the 1×1 square tile – which is exclusive to the boy. If not, the boy’s hair-piece, which feels rounded will also help tell the two apart, but it’s easiest to just feel for the square tile.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Birthday Party Girl
Here’s a look at the gifts that she brings to the party. Unfortunately, they aren’t as cool as the Birthday Party Boy’s, as they’re just a regular pastry tile and a speckled donut.
Overall, the Birthday Party Girl doesn’t come close to the Birthday Boy when it comes to being unique. Apart from a different coloured balloon, and the gift box, she lacks the special x-factor that the boy had because of the Series 1 tile.
I kinda wish that LEGO had maintained some level of parity, maybe by including a Series 1 minifigure microfig in her gift box – that would’ve been a really nice touch.
How To Find One: The Birthday Party Girl isn’t too difficult to feel for. The balloon piece and the gift box are instant giveaways that its either the boy or girl. The easiest way to feel for the girl is by feeling for her 1 x 1 round tiles.
Minifig Rating: 3/5
Cake Guy
What kind of respectable party doesn’t have a cheerful character emerging from a large cake to entertain party guests? Cake Guy, as he is affectionately known is the answer to livening up any party. From the get-go, his massive smile and expression of pure glee after jumping out of a cake promises to set the tone for the party.
It’s a really interesting, but playful inclusion in this series, and in my opinion, one of the most zany characters in what is already a zanier-than-average series. The Cake element is a pretty interesting costume, it has two tiers, much like a wedding cake with a slot in the middle for Cake Guy to stand in.
It’s pretty massive, occupying a 4×4 footprint and actually has a lot of utility as you can just use it as a massive wedding cake for special occasions.
I also really like Cake Guy’s minifigure. He’s dressed in matching colours, with pink pants to math the cake’s base, and a baby blue jacket to match the icing. A really wonderful touch is all the cake and icing splattered across his body – expected when you jump in and bury half your body in cake.
They didn’t really have to include that detail, but it adds so much to the overall character and just puts a smile on my face. He has a great, very happy expression, quite possibly one of the happiest faces in existence. It’s like the designers mashed Emmet and Benny from The LEGO Movie together.
Oh and the shiny gold party hat and matching bowtie is another nice touch.
Here’s a look at the back printing, which has a bit more icing detail across his waist. In this view, you can also see the cake from the top where Cake Guy slots in snugly. The Cake piece is made of solid plastic, and the printing and colour blocking are excellent.
Lastly, one of the subtle things I enjoyed about Cake Guy is his new hairpiece which not only has a hole for hair accessories, but seems to be an updated version of a classic male hairpiece, which you can see on the left.
Cake Guy’s hair now has a nice matte sheen, and you can also see the texture and shape is slightly different, with a wavy shape that looks much more natural.
I can’t help but love Cake Guy. A fun accessory coupled with a great minifigure design, and a new super happy facial expression make falling in love with this charming minifig a piece of cake.
How To Find One: Cake Guy is the easiest minifigure to identify thanks to his massive cake piece. It’s large and round and you literally cannot miss it.
Minifig Rating: 4/5
Cat Costume Girl
Is Cat Costume Girl LEGO’s very first official furry minifigure? If you don’t know what a furry is, trust me, you DO NOT WANT to Google it. You’re better off not knowing.
I guess there’s always that one strange person at every party, who believes that he or she is a giant, anthropomorphic cat. From a costumed minifigure perspective, Cat Costume Girl isn’t the most interesting – the design reminds me of a Chima minifigure as she only has a new cat-face mask to go along with print on the body.
As “animal costumes” go, a Cat is pretty uninteresting, especially since we’ve had Tiger Woman way back in Series 14, which begs the question if we actually needed more feline minifigures. The printing on her torso is pretty standard, with a patch of white fur on her chest, as well as white arms and legs.
Removing her face mask, you can see that she also has whiskers, a nose and fur around her mouth painted on her face. Again, it’s probably the furry reference, but this minifig just kinda creeps me out.
Oh, at least the blue fish is nice. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the fish in this Medium Azure colour shade before, so that’s a nice consolation.
It wouldn’t be a cat costume without a tail.
Cat Costume Girl is just pretty boring character. Slightly disturbing reference material aside, it doesn’t push the envelope at all and doesn’t add much to the series, which makes her my least favourite minifigure of Series 18.
How To Find One: Try feeling for the fish piece, which is the easiest thing to identify Cat Costume Girl. Her tail is a made of rubbery plastic, and is quite hard to feel for, especially as it’s easy to get confused with the Cowboy’s horse costume.
Minifig Rating: 1/5
Dragon Suit Guy
I’ve saved the best for last. My favourite minifigure from Series 18 is Dragon Suit Guy is simply a revelation of a minifigure, and quite possibly, is one of the best Collectible Minifigures that LEGO have ever released.
Equal parts immaculate design, bold gamble and a fun reference to LEGO dragons, this minifigure has it all.
Dragon Suit Guy’s design is just stunning. From the hyper-accurate moulding of his mask, to the little red gargoyle wings on his neck, to the spiky tail accessory, you can immediately tell that LEGO pulled out all the stops for this minifig.
I love that all the costume elements are made of hard plastic, except for the horns which are soft. The printing is also exceptional, especially on his mask.
As an extra bonus, we also get an alternate face, which has Dragon Suit Guy making an angry face – one that mirrors the expression of the dragon on the mask so brilliantly.
Here’s a look at the Dragon Suit Guy, next to the Dragon that he’s based off. They absolutely nailed the iconic elements of the Dragon, including all the tiny details such as the scales and tail.
Could they have improved Dragon Suit Guy? Of course – there’s always room for improvement. I thought it would’ve been really cool if they had incorporated a fire piece into the mouth, but I reckon that would look quite weird and throw the balance of the minifig off slightly.
If there’s one minifig in Series 18 to go crazy over, Dragon Suit Guy is the one. He’s going to take his rightful place as one of the most excellent minifigures in the entire LEGO Minifigures library and is easily my favourite minifigure of Series 18 by a long way.
How To Find One: The Dragon Suit Guy has several elements that are easily identifiable, but for me, finding his wings has been the most reliable method. They’re quite large, and rigid, as you can feel the webbing between the wings. You can also look out for the neck clip which emerges at a right angle from the wing. If not, try feeling for the tail piece, which has noticable spikes on it.
Minifig Rating: 5/5
It goes without saying that Series 18 has catapulted its way to the top of my list of Top Minifigures Series without a question. It has something for everyone and LEGO obviously pulled out all the stops with minifigure designs and were extremely generous with all the new costumes, elements and characters that they included in Series 18.
As a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the LEGO Minifigure, it only feels right that it was party themed and with it included so many Costumed minifigures that were just pure fun.
Some of these minifigures like the Brick Suit Guy/Girl, Cactus Girl, Unicorn Guy, Cowboy Costume Guy, Cake Guy, Elephant Girl, Flowerpot Girl and of course Dragon Suit Guy would easily be one of my top picks in any other numbered series.
This Series was so strong, and I immediately knew that I wanted multiples of each minifigure that I bought an entire box for the first time ever. I wasn’t phased with getting multiples because I actually wanted them for a change, instead of just focusing on multiples of one or two characters from a series like I always did.
The extra special inclusion of the 1978 Police Officer Minifigure was also a nice touch, although I’m still a little on the fence about making him ultra-rare and the whole one-in-a-box business. I’ve never been a fan of artificial scarcity to drive demand but I know how well it works.
Thankfully, due to the “plain nature” of the Classic Police Officer, i does temper the overall desirability of the minifigure, and in this case, is only wanted because he’s released in such low numbers. I do love the vintage/retro nod and I’d love to see LEGO reissue more iconic minifigures in their illustrious history, but not at crazy rare levels.
There’s just so much to like with Series 18, with the value and quality of nearly all the characters being at an all-time high. I really cannot see any future LEGO Minifigures Series eclipsing the outstanding value and overall awesomeness of Series 18, although I would be so happy to be proven wrong.
I normally pick a Top 5 in each series that I review, but man, this one was particularly hard to put together just because of the sheer quality of each minifigure. Nonetheless, here’s my Top 5:
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- Dragon Suit Guy
- Elephant Costume Girl
- Brick Suit Guy/Girl
- Party Clown
- Cowboy Costume Guy
Unicorn Guy was so close but didn’t make the cut!
That’s it for my review of LEGO Minifigures Series 18! So sorry this post came so, so late and also so close to the release of the Harry Potter Minifigures series. It was a massive mental struggle pulling this review together and with all the other things I was dealing with in my personal life, it made it all the harder to write this review.
Nevertheless, it’s here and I’m glad I managed to overcome the hurdle and hit publish on this long-awaited review. I sincerely apologise for how late this is!
That said, I’d still love to find out about your thoughts on Series 18. Let me know in the comments what your favourite characters were and what you think of the whole ultra-rare 1978 Classic Police Officer minifigure. Do you like it when LEGO does things like these?
Thanks for reading!
