Build a Minifigure Exclusives: Blue Pug Costume & Brown Bear Suit Guy

As the world slowly crawls back towards some sense of normalcy, and we emerge from various forms of lockdowns, and store/shopping centres start welcoming crowds again, there’s one thing that LEGO fans can look forward to – heading into a LEGO Store, or toy store in-person.

Here in Melbourne, Australia, we’ve just got out of a small circuit breaker lockdown which lasted a few short weeks, and one of the things I managed to do before the retail stores were closed was pay a visit to the Melbourne Legoland Discovery Centre to check out the Build a Minifigure selection.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions in our state, I wasn’t able to actually build my own characters, but they had pre-built characters on display, and you could go to the counter and request the characters you wanted to be placed into the blister boxes and they cost the same 3x minifigures for $20.

I mostly went for the Blue Pug Costume minifigure as they were new, and I’m also including the Brown Bear Minifigures which I got a couple of months ago but never wrote about.

Here’s a quick look at some recent Build-a-Minifigure exclusives that I recently added to my collection!

Blue Pug Costume Minifigure

I was very pleased to see these new Blue Pug Costume minifigures, which are exclusive to Build-a-Minifigure stations that can be found in LEGO Stores, or Legoland Discovery Centres.

The pale blue custome is a little bizarre, in a fun, almost comical way – why is this Pug Blue? The colour gives off a very cartoonish vibe, and when paired with his accessory of choice – a bright red sausage, and a handsome bowtie, it’s got cute written all over him.

The Blue Pug is a re-coloured variant of the Pug Costume Guy from Series 21, which was released in early 2021, so it’s quite surprising to see a recoloured version so soon. But I’m not complaining because I’m an ardent collector of Animal Suit Minifigures, and the Pug is a great new addition to the lineup.

Here’s a look at the back, where he also has the curly tail present in Series 21’s Pug Suit Guy.

Lastly, here’s a comparison. While they share many similarities, there are a few slight differences – the blue version has a bowtie instead of a bandana, and the blue version is also “taller” as he has full-sized minifigure legs, instead of the medium legs of Series 21’s Pug Costume Guy.

Here are all 3 blue pugs included in the blister pack I got from the Melbourne Legoland Discovery Centre.

I think the Blue Pug Minifigures are really cute, and the shade of blue, jovial freckly face and make for an outlandish, yet cartoony combination.

Brown Bear Costume Minifigure

The Brown Bear Costume Guy minifigure is another Build-a-Minifigure (BAM) exclusive, and quite possibly, one of the best BAM exclusives since the Pink Elephant from February 2020.

Based on a typical brown Teddy Bear, it’s an excellent use of the Panda Bear headpiece – something that I’m surprised has taken too long – but here we finally are – with a Teddy Bear Minifigure.

Here’s a side by side comparison with the Panda Suit Guy from The LEGO Movie Minifigures Series 1, which is one of my favourite minifigures of all time.

What a cuddly duo!

The back of the Brown Bear is unfortunately quite bare (heh), and has no printing – it doesn’t really detract from the overall minifigure, but it would be nice to have a little tufted tail printed on.

Unmasking the Brown Bear Costume’s head reveals a pretty funny surprise – the minifigure has a blue head! It’s a blue-coloured version of a fairly common LEGO City minifigure head.

I don’t know why his head is blue. Is he cold? Does he have poor blood circulation?

Oh – he’s sick! Here’s his dual-sided head – which has the same “sick face” from minifigures such as this one from the Creator Expert Roller Coaster.

The Brown Bear Costume Minifigure is another really cute addition, specifically because it’s the closest we’ve ever gotten to a Teddy Bear minifigure, and a real must-have if you enjoy cute, costumed minifigures.

As a big fan of costumed LEGO minifigures, here’s a look at all the animal suit minifigures that are exclusive to Build a Minifigure station – from left to right, we have the Brown Bear, Chocolate Easter Bunny, Blue Pug, Halloween Tiger Cub, and Valentine’s Day Elephant.

The Build-a-Minifigure station has been a surprising source of unique new characters and re-coloured variants, and these aren’t the only exclusive elements/characters released so far, but as I like the Animal Suit Minifigures, I mostly focus on collecting any new costumed minifigures.

Depending on where you’re at in the world, you might still be able to find the Blue Pug, or Brown Bear minifigures, or at least their accessories or parts.

As vaccination levels rise worldwide, and restrictions begin lifting, why not check out your local LEGO Store and make a beeline for the Build-a-Minifigure station to see if they have any of these minifigures!

Have you been collecting or discovering any unique Build-a-Minifigure characters or parts? Let me know your favourites in the comments!

Thanks for reading this short feature! To catch up on some of my recent posts and reviews, be sure to check out these recent posts:

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