LEGO has been churning out the Collectible Minifigure Series for years now, and here I am once again trying to collect them all! The latest in the long-running series is Series 27 (#71048). Series 27 contains a total of 12 figures to collect. Each figure comes in a blind box that is lime green in color.
The box front shows two-thirds of the potential characters you could find inside, but I was able to secure a full (sealed) set from an eBay seller so I didn't have to go to the trouble of scanning every blind box in the hopes of building my set that way!
Before we get to the review, here's the full checklist for Series 27:
- Hamster Costume Fan
- Wolfpack Beastmaster
- Jetpack Racer
- Astronomer Kid
- Plush Toy Collector
- Pterodactyl Costume Fan
- Longboarder
- Bogeyman
- Cupid
- Pirate Quartermaster
- Cat Lover
- Steampunk Inventor
Lots of fun minifigures to review, so let's get right into it!
#1: Hamster Costume Fan
Series 27 starts off strong with a costumed hamster character. The animal costumes are always fun and this adorable hamster doesn't disappoint. The kid inside has two different facial expressions as well as printing on both sides of the torso (check out the adorable fluffy tail) as well as printing on the legs.
The two printed tiles are supposed to be cucumbers, though they kind of look like limes to me. I guess hamsters love cucumbers (limes, not so much). It's a cute figure, for sure, but ultimately I don't have any particular attachment to hamsters nor do I see a way to easily integrate this figure into my custom LEGO City display. For that reason, I'm giving it a score of 3/5 which should be taken as a solid score!
#2: Wolfpack Beastmaster
And here we are, the chase figure of Series 27 by far. LEGO has been hitting the nostalgia levels hard in recent years and the Wolfpack Beastmaster is clearly aimed at the demographic that I happen to belong to! As a kid, I had the large Wolfpack Tower set and a couple of copies of the much smaller, but still cool, Ghostly Hideout. The Series 27 Wolfpack Beastmaster would be right at home in either of those sets - and if I had this figure as a kid I am positive it would have been one of my all-time favorites. I love the cloth cloak and the large wolf that follows the wolfpack (this is my first LEGO wolf animal)!
The Wolfpack Beastmaster comes with two expressions - one mean and serious and the other one whistling for his wolf! I also appreciate the printed Wolfpack shield, my only nitpick for the figure is I would have preferred the "old school" smaller castle sword to have been included instead of the larger, newer mold sword. Don't get me wrong though, this is a nearly perfect figure and the first 5/5 score for Series 27!
#3: Jetpack Racer
I will admit upfront when I saw the checklist that I immediately discounted the Jetpack Racer as a figure I had no interest in. However, that's why I don't like to write reviews based on visual impressions - instead, once I got the Jetpack Racer in hand to build I realized how good the figure actually is! The obvious highlight might be the buildable jet pack but for me, it was the incredibly detailed printing on both the torso and the legs. This minifigure looks the part of a futuristic racer right down to the Octan advertising panels on his clothes!
The Jetpack Racer is also the third minifigure in a row to have an alternate expression. Finally, I have to give an additional shoutout to the amazing helmet - dual molded and incredibly "spacey", I love it! The only negative thing I can say here is that he doesn't have any sort of accessory to hold (maybe a trophy would have worked)? Still, it's a pretty sweet minifig and it earns my second 5/5 of the series!
#4: Astronomer Kid
The Astronomer Kid comes with a lovely brick-built telescope and rocket shirt but the thing most people will probably appreciate is that the kid has a prosthetic hand attachment. LEGO has been making a concerted effort to include more "types" of people within its plastic world and I think it's great to have more representation for kids (and adults) with all sorts of differences.
The Astronomer Kid also continues the trend of having multiple facial expressions though there is no barely any back printing for this minifig and no leg printing at all. The kid does get the bendable mini legs at least, I greatly prefer those over the solid, unmovable legs that came with the Hamster Costume Fan from earlier in the review.
Overall, I appreciate the diversity that LEGO is going for with this figure and I like both the brick-built telescope and the kid's shirt. It's a solid effort and a solid figure, so it gets a score of 3/5 from me.
#5: Plush Toy Collector
The next minifigure is the Plush Toy Collector who comes with a pair of plush toys to (presumably) collect! I do like the pink hairpiece of the figure (and this figure is another with dual expressions). I also like the printed outfit including printing on the arms.
That all said, while I am a collector of many things (LEGO, baseball cards, board games, etc.), I don't have any interest in plush animals. I will admit that the back printing of the minifig won me over a little bit, I love the printed hood! Overall, the Plush Toy Collector isn't my favorite minifig but it certainly isn't terrible. I'm giving it a 2/5.
#6: Pterodactyl Costume Fan
We end the first half of our review with the other "must have" character for me (along with the Wolfpack guy) when I saw the initial checklist. I'm a big fan of dinosaurs and I enjoy the costumed minifigs, so combine those and you've got something that I'm probably going to love!
With two expressions plus lovely "winged arms," this figure is a winner in my book. I like the printed talons on the feet as well, that's just enough to push this one into the vaunted 5/5 category!
And thus ends the first half of the Series 27 minifigures. Of the six in this batch, I'd rank them in the following order (best to worst):
- Wolfpack Beastmaster
- Jetpack Racer
- Pterodactyl Costume Fan
- Hamster Costume Fan
- Astronomer Kid
- Plush Toy Collector
Truthfully, all but the Plush Toy Collector are great minifigs so I don't think you can really go wrong with this half of the set! I do have the second half of the set in hand as well, so I'll try to get a review of the final six minifigures up on the blog before too long! Until then, I'd love to hear your thoughts on any of the first six minifigs (and include your ranking of the six thus far)!
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