Review: LEGO Build-a-Minifigure (BAM) Q4 2022 selection

November 7, 2022 | 11

It’s November and we have a small but very festive bunch of new LEGO Build a Minifigure exclusives just in time for Christmas.

There are 3 new “exclusive” characters to collect, a Boy with a Guitar, Gingerbread Woman, and Mrs Claus.

There’s technically only one brand new element introduced, a Christmas sweater torso. Or two, if you consider slight print variances a thing.

I picked up my trio from the LEGO Certified Store at Doncaster, but had a particularly odd experience. Firstly, because the components weren’t available in the stations, and were only sold as pre-made 3-packs at the counter.

No biggie, so I decided to just grab a pack, and swap out some of the accessories because I already had pretzels and a white acoustic guitar, and instead wanted some more usable accessories, but was told that I couldn’t do that, and upon pushing them on why I wasn’t able to do that given that these are BUILD A MINIFIGURE, they ultimately let me pay for what I had picked out.

This was a very strange experience, and I think it might be a Doncaster-only thing, as I had reports from other Australian LEGO Stores that the parts were found in the stations. Either way, very disappointing and in my opinion, goes against the spirit of BUILD A MINIFIGURE. My tip is to not go to Doncaster, and try your luck at other LEGO Certified Stores if you’re in Melbourne if you want specific configurations.

What are LEGO Build-a-Minifigure (BAM) exclusives?

In case you’re new to this, LEGO have been releasing new (and sometimes exclusives) into Build a Minifigure (BAM) stations that you’ll find at LEGO Stores. These are usually released on a quarterly basis, and are an intentional strategy to attract LEGO and Minifigure fans in-store.

You can customise your minifigures, and select a wig/hairpiece, head, torso, legs, and one accessory for these 3-pack blister packs which cost US$9.99 / AU$19.99.

If you want to get your hands on these, check your local LEGO Store, or if you’re in Australia and can’t get to a LEGO Certified Store, you can order them from the LEGO Certified Store’s website. (the new Q4 BAM figures aren’t online yet)

Some stores also send these new characters pre-packed, but that depends on your local store policy.

Gingerbread Woman

First minifigure is a Gingerbread Woman, who isn’t particularly new as she previously made her debut in 10267 Gingerbread House, widely considered as one of the best LEGO Winter Village sets yet.

Still, for those new to LEGO, it’s a great opportunity to pick her up, especially if you missed out on 10267, and she comes with the complete package including a printed skirt piece.

Her designated accessory is a printed doughnut 2 x 2 tile, which is relatively rare as it has only showed up in one set, 10278 Modular Police Station, so it’s nice that a fairly uncommon element is now available in Build a Minifigure.

Here’s a look at the Gingerbread Woman’s back printing.

So for all intents and purposes this is the same minifigure as the one from 10267 Gingerbread House BUT… there are some slight printing variations. Here’s a side by side with the original Gingerbread Woman.

The most noticeable difference is that the colours of the old one re slightly more vibrant, and the chocolate eyes are a much darker shade in the 2022 version.

Not enough for me to call this a completely new minifigure, but something to take note of, especially if you already have 10267 Gingerbread House.

Mrs Claus

Next we have Mrs Claus, or a female Santa Claus if you’d prefer her to have her own distinct identity not tethered to that of her spouse.

The Mrs Claus minifigure is a clever mish-mash of existing elements, such as the dual-sided elderly lady face, Santa torso and hat, BUT the red skirt is a brand new element, having not been produced in this colour previously.

Here’s a look at Mrs Claus’ back printing and alternate face. Her designated accessory is a pretzel.

This isn’t Mrs Claus’ first appearance as she has also shown up in 2014 Santa’s Workshop set, albeit in a much different form.

Here’s a side by side comparison.

It’s nice to have a female Santa minifigure, and the addition of the new red dress piece is a nice bonus, but I really would’ve liked a bit more razzle-dazzle with the minifigure to give her a bit more of a unique identity.

Boy with a Guitar

And last but not least, the only true new character and exclusive, a young boy with a guitar. He comes with a white acoustic guitar, which is a decent accessory that you can look out for in Build a Minifigure stations.

The boy comes with a very fun ugly Christmas sweater torso, which has a bunch of reindeer printed on them. It’s very cute and festive BUT… there’s no back printing which is a huge shame, as you’d expect the pattern to continue across the back as the bare minimum.

I can forgo the arm printing, but no back printing makes for a very incomplete torso, for what should be a home run.

Here’s the boy’s alternate face.

And that’s it for my short review of the Build-a-Minifigure (BAM) Q4 2022 minifigures. As standalone pre-made characters, this isn’t the most interesting lineup, but there are some interesting bits and pieces.

The ugly Christmas sweater is nice, but the lack of back (and arm) printing is disappointing. The Gingerbread Woman is also a nice one to have en masse, especially if you have a LEGO Winter village with a Gingerbread section, and Mrs Claus should be a fun pickup for the many new LEGO fans that have entered the hobby and missed out on Santa’s Workshop.

If you want to track these Build a Minifigure exclusives down, head to your local LEGO Store to see if they have them in stock or if you’re in Australia, you can also order them from the LEGO Certified Store online store if there isn’t a store that’s convenient to you.

To check out past releases, check out my older Build-a-Minifigure exclusives reviews!

What do you think of the Q4 2022 BAM minifigures?

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