Minifigure Mini-Review #6: Firework Guy

In the last review, we looked at Cactus Girl, and today we’re taking a look at Firework Guy, who's also from Series 18. On the face of it, this is a pretty fun costume. But I can tell you exactly who would wear this sort of costume to a party, and it's not fun at all. 

The main sort of person to buy this costume would be an ageing uncle, invited out of obligation and with the secret wish that he wouldn’t come. He’d carry on like he was the life of the party – but in truth, he’d forget to bring to bring a present, proceed to drink too much and then embarrass everyone with crass rocket/penis analogies. 

When he finally poured himself into a cab, hours after the party had finished and all the other guests had left, the hosts would secretly hope they’d seen him for the last time.  

Arriving home to his one-bedroom apartment in a bad part of town, he’d burst into tears because he’s still not quite over the wife that left him all those years ago for a much better guy. Deep down, he knows how little other people like him – at work, down at the pub, and worst of all, his former family. The moment his kids turned 18 and they didn’t have court-ordered visits anymore, they stopped showing up. He’s staring at the wrong end of 50, all of his ambitions have amounted to nothing and the nights can be so lonely. 

Fireworks may light up the sky, but they can never truly brighten the darkness within your soul. 

Aside from that, Firework Guy is a pretty solid Minifigure. Just make sure you keep him away from the liquor cabinet at any Lego party he might attend.

Minifigure Mini-Review #5: Cactus Girl

Minifigures are one of my favourite things about Lego. Collecting them helps stem the encroach of the void within™ and it’s a huge source of joy for me to see what they come up with each series. Well, Series 18 is finally hitting Australian shelves – and boy oh boy is it a great one. 

It’s a Costume Party theme! Today, we take a look at Cactus Girl!

My immediate thought upon seeing this Minifigure was to think of a Cactuar from Final Fantasy, and I’m sure I’m not the only one to notice it. Beyond this, the Minifigure does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s a girl in a Cactus costume.

But let’s get a little more granular. She’s specifically dressed as a saguaro, which is often thought of as being the archetypal cactus thanks to a ton of American movies that feature shots of the desert. However, there are actually 1750 known species of cactus, so it’s kind of selfish of the saguaro to hog all the attention. Yeah, we know your flower is the state wildflower of Arizona! So what?  

The arms are posable, so can be rendered at the jaunty angle of your choice. I prefer mine both up, but I’m sure you can change things according to your specific taste. Cactus Girl also comes with two faces – one happy and one anxious. I’m not totally sure on why they’ve done this, but it’s always nice to have an extra option, particularly if you like to mix and match parts.

The only real letdown is that there’s no paint on her spines. It’s understandable why they didn’t do it, but it detracts very slightly from the final effect. Nonetheless, Cactus Girl is a solid figure, and would easily be a series highlight in any other series. She’s not the standout figure from this particular series, but I do like her very much nonetheless.

Minifigure Mini-Review #4 – Tartan Batman

Like most white Australians, my family background is closely tied to the British Isles. As a result, Scotland occupies a special (read: heavily romanticised) place in my heart. So when I found out there was effectively a Highlander Batman, I decided I had to add it to the collection.

Batman is dressed how we popularly imagine the people of the Scottish Highlands dressed in ye olden times. He’s wearing belted plaid, which he’s paired with tartan trousers. He’s also wearing a torc around his neck, which is a nice little touch. His cape and cowl are also rendered in brown, rather than black. Naturally, he’s armed with a claymore, though you would assume this be in contravention of Batman’s usual “no killing” rule.  

Though I have no doubt there are questions to be raised about the historical accuracy of the figure*, in truth he’d be a pretty great base for making Highlander Warrior custom. You’d just need to paint over the bat sigil and substitute in a different head. You could even trim the cape to fit if you wanted.

Now if you want to own him, Tartan Batman was originally packed in with a kid’s activity book called Chaos in Gotham City, which was one of the many merchandise tie-ins for The Lego Batman Movie. I have no idea what happened to my copy; I assume I just threw it in the recycling after getting this minifigure. It was published about a year ago, so you may still be able to get a copy – but I haven’t seen it on Sydney shelves in a while.

The face of a man who could not find a Tartan Batman.
Or severe constipation. Perhaps both.

If you missed out, don’t worry too much though. Tartan Batman is a fun figure, but he’s certainly not essential. As someone with a smattering of Scottish background, he’s pretty much been bought for sentimental reasons.

*Pro tip if you’re ever visiting Scotland – most of the locals weren’t really that fussed on Braveheart. If you would like some more advice on what to not say to Scots, you can click here.  

Minifigures Mini-Review #3 – Black Canary & Swimsuit Batman

Black Canary

Of all the figures in this series, Black Canary was the only one I had to have. She’s one of my favourite superheroines, but she’s tended to fly under the merchandising radar in comparison to Wonder Woman, Supergirl or Batgirl.

Originally debuting in 1947, Black Canary’s history has become inextricably bound with Green Arrow. Sometimes lovers, sometimes married and sometimes divorced, they’ve shown impressive longevity as a superhero couple throughout the decades. But she’s no shrinking violet; as well as doing stints in the Justice Society and Justice League, she’s a core member of the Birds of Prey, delivering STREET JUSTICE all the while.

Her outfit has undergone minor alterations since her debut, but with one notable exception has stuck pretty close to her original look – leather jacket, leotard, fishnets and boots. Curiously, this minifigure renders her outfit in dark blue. It may be based on a specific comic look, but it’s not one I can identify. Perhaps it’s just meant to mimic the way highlights on her outfit are frequently drawn and coloured. However, we may well see a black-suited version in a future DC set.

As an accessory, she’s got a microphone with stand. This is a nod to her current incarnation as a rock singer as well as a superhero. It’s okay, but I think a motorbike would have been better, if impractical. She’s also got two facial expressions, neutral and screaming.  

In spite of the odd colour choice, this is still an excellent minifigure. Highly recommended.  

Swimsuit Batman

Though I wasn’t a huge fan of it, one thing I did like about The Lego Batman Movie was its fearless iconoclasm with Batman’s super-serious image. So though I mentioned previously that I didn’t want to buy every single variation of Batman that was released, this one made me laugh quite a bit when I saw it.

This version of Batman sees him bedecked in a Speedo, and wearing goggles over his cowl. This cowl-piece is presumably a new mould, so it’ll be interesting to see if it pops up anywhere else in the future. He’s also equipped with a floaty dolphin (presumably come across from the Friends theme) and the same paddle board that came with the Female Lifeguard, all the way back in Series 2.  

But MOST importantly, Swimsuit Batman has ripped abs and is T H I C C. I don’t know all the ins and outs, but apparently Batman and Black Canary had a bit of a fling in recent comics. With buns like this, it’s not hard to see why.

Though at first glance, she wasn’t so impressed.   

With apologies to @FakeEyes22

Swimsuit Batman isn’t as essential as Black Canary, but he is fun. This one will largely be down to your personal tastes. 

Minifigure Mini-Reviews #2 – Black Vulcan & Dr Hugo Strange

Time to look at a couple more minifigures from The Lego Batman Movie Series 2! Today we take a squiz at Black Vulcan and Hugo Strange.

Black Vulcan

Truthfully, I don’t know much about Black Vulcan. Initially I assumed he was a member of the Flash family, given that he has the same “helmet” as the other Flash characters, and comes with these power bolt thingies as accessories. But it turns out he’s a character that was originally created for the Hanna-Barbera Super Friends series, and rather than super-speed he has electricity powers. Kind of like another African-American DC character with electricity powers, you say? You would be correct.  Turns out that originally the plan was to have Super Friends feature Black Lightning, but there was a rights dispute, so an ersatz workaround was created.

I’m fairly ambivalent about Hanna-Barbera cartoons in general, but I know that they’re a big part of plenty of people’s childhoods. It’s nice that Lego is getting the Hanna-Barbera Super Friends characters out there, but this is the figure I’m least excited about in this series. The leotard look doesn’t work for me.

Hugo Strange

Possessed of the most famous neckbeard in comics, Hugo Strange has a much longer history with Batman than most might realise. He was originally introduced all the way back in 1940 as a mad scientist, yet I would argue that it wasn’t until the Arkham series of video games that he really entered any kind of mainstream consciousness in association with Batman. As a result of his appearance in the games, he’s become much more prominent in Batman media, most notably showing up in the Gotham TV Series, portrayed by B.D. Wong.    

It’s nice to see a “new” addition to Batman’s Rogues Gallery, I’m still fairly cold on Hugo Strange. He’s a genius, but he’s not as megalomaniacal as Lex Luthor, and he’s creepy, yet lacks the disturbing edge of someone like Professor Pyg. I’ve just never felt like I could care that much about why he does what he does. Nonetheless, it’s a solid rendition of the character and the shelf wouldn’t be quite complete without him.  

Minifigure Mini-Reviews #1 – General Zod & Jor-El

Series 2 of the Lego Batman Movie Minifigures have started hitting Sydney stores, and I was lucky enough to grab a few of them the other evening. Now, I’ve been pretty slack in reviewing the last couple of series of Minifigures, so I’m going to try something new with these Minifigure Mini-reviews. They’re in no small part (ha!) inspired by OAFE’s Mini-Mates reviews.   

Truthfully, my impressions of this series of Minifigures are a little mixed. These two figures are great…but I didn’t love The Lego Batman Movie, so I don’t feel the need to own every single version of Batman that appeared on-screen. With that said, the series includes a number of important, unusual and/or strange characters who might not otherwise see release in Lego format. So I plan to pick up maybe…half of the series in total? Time will tell. 

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the two Kryptonians featured in this series – General Zod and Jor-El.

General Zod

Clearly inspired by pre-Priscilla Queen of the Desert Terence Stamp’s take on the character, Zod is rather a plain minifigure at face value. He’s wearing his black pyjama garb, and his face is printed in a fairly neutral – if slightly irritated – expression. But this is appropriate; he’s had many different looks in the comics, but this is the one that the general public probably associates with him most closely.

He didn’t really need any accessories (Kryptonite maybe? Or a clear panel to serve as a Phantom Zone?). But he does come with a newspaper, with the headline “Kneel Before Zod”. There’s another part to the joke, which can be seen in the photo.

He’s also got two face options to pick from – spin his head around and you’ll see an angry face with heat vision eyes. Perfect for battling Superman!

Given that we’ve only had the Michael Shannon version of Zod in Minifigure form previously, this is a welcome addition to the collection. He’s a key villain in the DC Universe, and his addition to the line is long overdue.

Jor-El

Live as one of them, Kal-El

Discover where you strength and your power are needed

Always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage

They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be

They only lack the light to show the way

For this reason above all, their capacity for good,

I have sent them you, my only son.

Superman: The Movie is when Supes’ Jesus-like aspects began to become really heavily emphasised. And fulfilling the figurative role of "God" in this setting was Marlon Brando’s Jor-El. While this figure isn’t an exact replica of Brando’s look in the film, it’s very clearly inspired by it. He’s got the exact same hairstyle and similar robes, but it now looks a little more comic-y, thanks to the chest armour.

There has been a Jor-El figure previously, but it was based on Russell Crowe’s version of the character from Man of Steel. It wasn’t a regular release figure either, so it will cost you a comparative fortune if you go for it. This is an excellent substitute.