Lego Animals: Minifigure Scale, Constructed

mr_benn

^ Whilst the Duplo elephant is indeed one immovable chunk of plastic, the Lego elephant that has appeared in Explorers etc had 2 points of articulation in the trunk, and the front and back legs could be moved as pairs forward and backward - not perfect, but not bad. Loving @Schwallex 's animals though!

Aanchir

TheBigLegoski said:

I like them both, and when I was a kid I never minded having both brick build horses as well as 'Lego mini-animal-fig' horses. I used to play with both together. (see #6083 and #6021 i.e.) The Lego animals/creatures all look really charming, I just sometimes think it is too bad that they have so few or no articulation points at all, in comparison to the minifigs. Which is of course no issue with the tiny animals such as cats, rats, frogs etcetera. In that respect the new Lego horse is an improvement. The newly molded head I also like better, but I understand why especially this may look less 'Legoish' to others.

Of course the Hulk and the Cave troll aren't animals but fantasy creatures, although I do like them very much, I am somewhat puzzled why these bigminifigs have such limited articulation, and posing possibilities, I don't have any elephants, but if I am not mistaken that animal is also pretty much one big chunck of plastic.

I agree with what @prof1515 said before on this thread:

" I actually like the animals because, like the mini-figures, they're meant to represent living creatures so having specific molds for them helps to distinguish them from structures. They're not completely useless outside of representing their respective animals either as a number of them have been used to depict ornamentation (the parrot and frog most prominently though others like the bat, swordfish, etc. have been used as well). "

Actually, the LEGO elephant is based on the [url=http://www.brickset.com/browse/themes/?theme=Dinosaurs]dinosaur molds[/url] released in 2001, and has an impressive range of motion. The front legs are joined together, as are the back legs, and it has no posability in its knees (then again, what LEGO animal does?). However, it's far more posable than the new bear from LEGO City or the new horse from LEGO Lord of the Rings.

To be specific, its head and tail can twist side to side and its neck and tail can hinge up or down. Its front and back legs can hinge forward and back, and its trunk has two additional points of articulation. So overall, it's quite impressive for its time.

Sadly, I doubt we'd ever see it in sets again in that particular form. Many of the molds it used have not been seen in sets for years. Hopefully if there is ever a new elephant, it will be an even more versatile design, perhaps with the legs each operating independently.