Revisiting LEGO Mission Impossible and the Ethan Hunt minifigure

July 14, 2023 | 3

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckon Part 1 is in theatres right now, and (no spoilers), it’s a whole load of fun for the 26-year old franchise.

Tom Cruise is still having a great time as Ethan Hunt, and it’s an exhilarating adrenaline-fuelled romp at the movies, and a great all-around action movie.

After the movie, I was reminded of the one and only time LEGO produced a Mission Impossible set, for the now-defunct LEGO Dimensions theme, LEGO’s take on the toys-to-life craze that was a thing in the mid-2010s.

71248 Mission: Impossible Level Pack was LEGO’s one and only set featuring an Ethan Hunt minifigure, and is the only time a Tom Cruise character has been immortalised in LEGO (for now!).

Looking back at LEGO Dimensions, it was quite a crazy theme with a plethora of licenses and characters, many of which have remained within LEGO Dimensions.

We had the A-Team, Knight Rider, Gremlins and so many other pop culture icons feature as characters, and were made available in Fun Pack, Levels and Team Packs, which were small builds that came with NFC-enabled bricks called Toy Tags, than when scanned on the LEGO Dimensions gamepad, unlocked those characters and levels in-game.

Sets didn’t come with instruction manuals too, as you had to build them in-game, but thankfully, LEGO released PDF instructions for all the micro-builds on their Instructions Portal, so even if you don’t own the game today, you can still build all the models.

Here’s the completed set – I chose to build the IMF Sportscar and IMG Scrambler, a motorcycle for Ethan to ride.

The builds themselves are pretty decent, and I did like the Toy Tags that helped serve as display stands, and also accentuate the builds.

The bike itself is handy given Tom Cruise’s big stunt in Dead Reckoning involves him biking off a cliff before parachuting to the ground.

Here’s a look at the Ethan Hunt minifigure, which is a really great rendition of Tom Cruise’s defining cinema role. Despite being 8 years old, the minifigure design holds up really well, and Tom Cruise’s headset, glasses and facial features are rendered accurately.

The custom Toy Tag with the mission impossible logo and lasers is also a really nice accessory.

Looking at Ethan Hunt’s printing, I’d say the graphic designers nailed his expressions, and despite it being quite a simple design, does match Tom Cruise’s look enough that you’ll have no issues recognising him.

Here’s another closeup of his face. I’ve learned today that his dual-moulded arm is quite rare, as this black short sleeve and skin combo hasn’t been included in many minifigures, with only Superboy being the other one that I’m aware of that shares the arm.

While LEGO Dimensions wasn’t a smash hit, I do appreciate the licensing deals that LEGO managed to secure which gave us so many iconic 80s TV characters in their only outing as minifigures.

With Mission Impossible all but assured to be a box office hit, and LEGO’s continuing focus on adults and nostalgia, it does make me wish for a LEGO Icons Mission Impossible set – I think a diorama-scene featuring Ethan Hunt in his infamous vault scene where he’s lowered down by a wire would be welcomed by a lot of Mission Impossible fans.

If you missed out on this LEGO Dimensions set, thankfully, you can still pick it up on Bricklink, or just the Ethan Hunt minifigure on its own, which isn’t all that expensive.

Would you like to see LEGO revive some of their old licenses used in LEGO Dimensions? What sets you would you like to see?

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