Lego Minifigures – Forestman (Series 1)

Back in 2010, Lego released the first of their now ubiquitous series of Minifigures. The blind-bagged concept isn’t particularly new or inventive, but it was the first time Lego had done it. Much more importantly, it was a cool way of bringing out characters that either hadn’t been seen before, or as in the case of the Forestman here, hadn’t been seen in decades.

The Forestman, as his name suggests, is based on the Forestmen faction from Castle. They were released in the late 1980s, heavily inspired by the stories of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Indeed, this guy looks to be the famous outlaw himself. He's got a very Errol Flynn look to him -- it's not  perfect representation but it covers all the important details like his beige collar. The belt in particular is spot-on! I love Lego's pop-culture tribute, and it's cool to look back and see that they've pretty much been doing it since day one of the Minifigures.   

The Forestman comes with three accessories -- a bow, a quiver full of arrows and a feathered cap. The only other thing I think it should have (realistically) included is a sword, though I've got enough of them lying about the place that sourcing one shouldn't be a problem. However, in an ideal world it would have also included a dead deer, to replicate this iconic scene. 

My main disappointment with this minifigure is that it didn't spark off a re-invention of the Forestmen. Castle has been a little bit all over the place in the last few years; the 2013-14 had some great sets, but the Kingdoms theme that had been running for a few years prior didn't really grab me. It seems 2015 will leave us without a medieval-oriented theme, which is a real shame.  

Perhaps even more sadly, Minifigures series 1 & 2 don’t seem to have been released in Australia. You can still track down most of Series 2 at a (somewhat) reasonable price, but even the crappiest characters from Series 1 are now outrageously expensive. I’ve seen Forestman here go for around $50AUD – but the Zombie is the worst, now usually selling for about $60AUD. It’s a bit of a shame that Series 1 was such a limited run, because it had a lot of cool characters who are now priced out of many people’s budgets. Still, the Forestman is a great minifigure, and worth adding to your collection if you spot him for a reasonable price.