Collectible Minifigure categories

vynsane

Given that the CMF figure gallery has generated so much buzz around how to categorize them, let's discuss how we view the arbitrary distinctions between these little guys.

This is how I see it:

Arts/Entertainment:
s1: Circus Clown, Magician
s2: Maracas, Pop Star, Ringmaster, Mime
s3: Hula Dancer, Rapper
s4: Artist, Punk Rocker

Extreme Sports:
s1: Skater
s2: Surfer
s3: Snowboarder
s4: Street Skater, Surfer Girl

General:
s1: Nurse, Demolition Dummy
s2: Disco Dude, Lifeguard, Traffic Cop
s3: Fisherman, Gorilla Suit Guy
s4: HazMat Suit Guy, Sailor

Historical:
s1: Caveman, Cowboy, Forestman, Tribal Hunter
s2: Pharaoh, Spartan Warrior, Explorer
s3: Pilot, Samurai Warrior, Tribal Chief
s4: Geisha ("Kimono Girl"), Muskateer, Viking

Horror:
s1: Zombie
s2: Witch, Vampire
s3: Mummy
s4: "The Monster", Werewolf

Sci-Fi/Fantasy:
s1: Robot, Spaceman
s3: Elf, Space Alien, Space Villain
s4: Crazy Scientist, Lawn Gnome

Sports:
s1: Cheerleader, Deep Sea Diver, Super Wrestler
s2: Weightlifter, Skier, Karate Master
s3: Baseball Player, Race Car Driver, Sumo Wrestler, Tennis Player
s4: Soccer Player, Hockey Player, Ice Skater

atkinsar

I think this is a good categorisation, although I don't have a problem with @Huw's to be honest.

A couple of things:

> The Ninja is missing I think - should be in Historical?
> Not convinced there's a need to separate Sports and Extreme Sports.

The rest looks good.

vynsane

D'oh, I meant to include Ninja under Historical, don't know how he ended up off the list.

I understand the questionable nature of separating 'Extreme Sports' from 'Sports', but by the same token, there might be individuals out there that are only interested in the 'counter-culture' types presented by those I've labeled as 'Extreme Sports'. There is a marked difference in the over-all 'feeling' evoked by those figures in the 'Extreme Sports' category as opposed to those in the 'Sports' category. They just don't seem to go together well, in my mind.

Huw

I like those, except for 'General'. They could be called 'present day occupations', or something more snappy if we can come up with it, may be just 'occupations'

rocao

Would it be too confusing to call them "City" minifigures?

vynsane

I like those, except for 'General'. They could be called 'present day occupations', or something more snappy if we can come up with it, may be just 'occupations'

Yeah, it's hard to come up with something at once distinct and unifying for that group. They might become more sub-divided as more series' are released. Like Gorilla Suit and Godzilla Suit from CMFs5 might be the beginning of a new sub-division, but we'll see. They don't seem to be occupations, though - more like attending a costume party.

Huw

I've implemented these, thanks Vyn. I'm not 100% convinced about the disco dude: he could be a DJ and therefore in arts/entertainment. The diver may be a professional so not a sportsman and the elf doesn't really fit in with the others in the category.

But other than that, thanks for the suggestion! I look forward to reading what others think of them.

vynsane

Woah, I didn't expect that, thanks for the kudos, though I can't say I came up with those categories in a vacuum. The other news article comments had a lot of great suggestions that I definitely gleaned from.

Heh, Disco Dude is definitely a hard one to place. I actually like the suggestion to place him under 'Historical', too!

If future offerings feature more 'Fantasy' figures (and it stands to reason that they would - we're getting a Dwarf in CMFs5), it would make sense to break it out into its own category. I'm just going with the categorization of, say, a video store - they always seem to lump Sci-Fi and Fantasy together more-so than Horror and Fantasy, as has also been suggested.

drdavewatford

Thanks, Huw - more great pics and the categories are making more sense now.

For what it's worth, my personal preference would be to combine "sports" and "extreme sports" (I don't buy the argument for separating them !) and I agree with @vynsane to combine Sci-Fi, Horror & Fantasy into one category. Oh, and I'd put Gorilla Suit Guy and The Disco Dude/DJ in with "Arts and Entertainment"....

Roll on series 4 !

vynsane

I agree with @vynsane to combine Sci-Fi, Horror & Fantasy into one category.

That's not exactly what I was saying - I foresee those becoming three categories in the future, but for now we don't have enough to justify a fully-qualified 'Fantasy' category. When CMFs5 comes out we'll have Zombie, Vampire, Witch, Mummy, Werewolf AND Frankenstein's Monster, so that's quite a full category. Sci-Fi is also well-rounded so far, but won't have as much as Horror, so it makes sense to lump Sci-Fi/Fantasy together until Fantasy is given the nod for a promotion.

drdavewatford

I knew @vynsane would come back, as I did stretch what he said a little ! To be clear, I don't think there's obvious justification splitting sci-fi, horror and fantasy - split too much and you might as well just give each minifig their own category and have done with it.... Broad categories are fine by me, but at the end of the day it's Huw's call.

vynsane

I totally see the reason for broad categories for now, with only three collections under our belt - but as the new collections come out, there will be a need to get more granular - the flip side to 'splitting too much' would be lumping too much together, and then you might as well just have a huge page of uncategorized minifigures ;)

Huw

Yep, we can review the categories as new series are released.

brickmatic

Posted on this on the main site, but I really feel that extreme sports is not a good breakdown of the sports category. I do think there is a different feel to some of the sports characters, but I think this has to do with the difference between recreational and competitive sports. A lot of the extreme sports characters seem to be recreational sports. The difference is that the competitive athletes wear uniforms, have sponsors, hold trophies, or in the case of the sumo wrestler are a sport that is not really practiced for recreation.

I also think that the official bios published by LEGO can help classify these characters into particular categories. For instance, the diver I think should be under recreational sports because his bio talks about how much fun he has diving in water. The fisherman, on the other hand, should be considered professional and thus in the City category because of his bio description.

Orthobotrex

I wonder how many series LEGO will come up with?

Yellowcastle

It looks like they're going to be monthly. ;o)

bluemoose

I wonder how many series LEGO will come up with?

AFAIK, Lego have only officially confirmed up to series 5, but I don't think that will be the last one.

drdavewatford

I personally think that LEGO need to slow down a bit or the novelty will quickly wear off.

atkinsar

I agree they should slow down. I may be the only person in the world that thinks this, but I would like to see one series per year, with chase figs included in each series.

Matthew

I'd like one every 2 or 3 months, but not like this all jumbled up, say a historic series, then a sci-fi series, then a licensed series.

Yellowcastle

I'd like 3 no more than 4 series a year, a return to $2/ea, and at least 2 historical and 2 scifi/space per batch. I know it saved money to do gender repeats, like the surfer and caveperson, but that just seems lame. I love the first 4 series but 1 and 2 had such reduced availabiity and 3 and 4 were too close and more expensive. Maybe 5 will be just right?

bluemoose

Personally, I like the 'mixed up' series & I like the fact that they are doing variations on the same fig (i.e. kid/adult skateboarders, male/female surfers). I also think the release schedule, a new series every 3 to 4 months, is fine too. I'm also happy with the £2UK a fig price ... cheaper would be nice, but I think it's a fair price; the quality issues would be worse if they were cheaper & none of us want that.

Yellowcastle

I'm ok with $3 usd each, but it's certainly kept me from army building. I certainly hope they continue this as it's just so much fun collecting them. And it's an easy and fairly inexpensive impulse buy for parents. I do think 4 series per year is pushing it and should be considered the absolute max.