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Flesh tone versus classic yellow faces

korkor Member Posts: 392
edited April 2011 in Collecting
I'm a bit curious about everyones feeling on the never-ending "fleshies vs yellow" face debate.

When the flesh color first came out I HATED them. It didn't matter how cool the minifigs looked I sold them all and kept the pieces out of the sets.

Now that I'm used to them I actually don't mind the fleshies. In fact, I really like many of them. Just wondering if anyone else has "come around".
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Comments

  • MatthewMatthew Administrator Posts: 3,714
    I don't mind which, I just can't bear mixing them, but I have to in HP as some of the figs are only in one of them. I wish Lego would either abolish the fleshies, or make them permanent for all themes.
    Matthew
  • korkor Member Posts: 392
    I don't mind which, I just can't bear mixing them, but I have to in HP as some of the figs are only in one of them. I wish Lego would either abolish the fleshies, or make them permanent for all themes.
    Matthew
    Yeah, mixing them doesn't seem to work well.

  • bluemoosebluemoose Member Posts: 1,716
    Hmm, not something I can get particularly worked up about. Same with the grey/bley issue. Choice is good :-)

    Some 'fans' think you're not a proper 'fan' if you don't have a strong, intransigent view on the issue. There are plenty of issues that I can get fired up about (translucency in solid colour bricks, bricks that crack, colour inconsistencies between batches, etc.), but fleshies ... not so much an issue for me :-)
  • Lego_Lord_MayorcaLego_Lord_Mayorca Member Posts: 619
    I used to draw a pretty hard line at collecting sets with flesh-tone figs. It nearly ruined my 2004 Millennium Falcon gift for me, but I took consolation in that replacement heads existed in good ol' yellow if I needed to get rid of the flesh ones. Since then, I've avoided buying SW sets with a preponderance of fleshie figs. In 2005, the only flesh fig I got was Anakin Skywalker and I only got one set in 2006 (V-Wing). When the Clone Wars sets rolled around, I had to bite my lip some more for sets like the new Republic Attack Gunship. To me, the set was awesome enough to endure a flesh-toned AND creepy-faced Obi-Wan and clone troopers. Since then, I've managed better by reminding myself that Lego sets are about the SETS, not the mini-figures, so now it's mostly a non-issue.
  • mirandirmirandir Member Posts: 31
    edited April 2011
    I do prefer "yellowheads" but I don't really hate the Fleshies. I just don't use them. On the other hand I rarely buy licensed sets anyway.
  • jatonazjatonaz Member Posts: 7
    Definitely a yellowhead here. They are easier to fit in with older collections and to an old fan like me it's so weird seeing minifigs in flesh. However that's not to say fleshies are of no use. I myself use around 75% of my fleshies as a foreign mercenary crew in my castle worlds. The rest I usually sell.
  • starfire2starfire2 Member Posts: 1,335
    I like the liscenced lines like Star Wars and Harry Potter to have fleshy heads since they are based on real characters. I like the rest of Lego's line to be yellow heads, like the city and and Pharoahs quest lines.
  • schvattsschvatts Member Posts: 1
    Well, as stated by others above over time I have grow not to mind it any more... just don't mix them!! I really liked a lot of the PoP figures and have been slowly working my way around Bricklink to get nice alternative heads heads for them so they don't clash with my Spartans. (Okay, I want them to clash just not in colors.)

    With this new Potc line my my whole pirates collection is about to look like a miss mashed box of crayons. Not happy with the changes that collection will undergo.
  • PaulTRPaulTR Member Posts: 115
    I really don't mind it. Actually, I'm really liking the fleshies more and more. My only complaint is there aren't enough "surprised" and "shocked" fleshie faces out there; it makes famous-movie MOCing a bit problematic.
  • atkinsaratkinsar Member Posts: 4,258
    edited April 2011
    I'm sure I saw a surprised fleshie face (there's a phrase I never thought I'd use!) in the recent CM4 batch, can't quite recall which one though...
  • indy1973indy1973 Member Posts: 70
    edited April 2011
    Being an Indiana Jones and Ferrari fan first, I always replace all the yellow heads and arms with flesh-tones. It is definitely true that there are still only a limited range of facial expressions for the fleshies...!

    So I have a big ziploc bag of about 150 top quality yellow heads, including over half of the collectible minifig heads, including two cheerleader heads, two spartan heads, lots of cool expressions, etc...

    Would any one be interested in acquiring them? I can take a picture of all of them and post it under "Marketplace" if someone is interested. Or I can just put them on E-BAY and let anyone bid.

    Doug
  • knuclear200xknuclear200x Member Posts: 45
    Buying fleshies just seems out of place. Yellow has always been the standard color for me. I guess it's just the idea that it gives them some cartoony/fantasy feel.
  • ThornmaskThornmask Member Posts: 9
    When the Fleshies came out I resented them. In my opinion, they ruined the Star Wars sets that I liked to buy. I basically made a point of only buying SW sets that did not include a fleshy (ie. sets with old Clone Troopers and Droids). I finally gave in when the Rebel Trooper Battle Pack came out in 2009. For me, I think it was the wider variety of faces by '09 that made me like the flesh head more. Now I seem to make a point of using fleshies in MOC's as opposed to boycotting them from them as recently as 3 years ago.
  • crazylegocrazylego Member Posts: 4
    i much prefer fleshies and my collection is rather young and i dont own any old SW or any HP so i never ran into the issue of mixing, and in my opinion the fleshies seam more realistic, i have replaced most of my city sets with fleshy heads from duplicate minifigs (although i might buy the duplicates on bricklink so i can have complete sets and buy more extra heads for future city sets) but i prefer to keep classic lego themes such as agents and power miners with there original heads.

    i think if lego was to pick one color over the other i would rather see them choose flesh.
  • MatthewMatthew Administrator Posts: 3,714
    I am mainly focusing on Harry Potter and Harbour (Town) so I'm choosing yellow for town and flesh for HP. It's a pain though trying to source about a hundred different flesh heads with lots of them female!
  • Brickmaster47Brickmaster47 Member Posts: 28
    Like many others, I detested fleshies when they first came onto the scene... but then I started collecting Indiana Jones, Batman and further Star Wars, and now I almost exclusively collect the fleshies - I have the entire Star Wars trilogy in skin tones!
  • YpresYpres Member Posts: 200
    edited April 2011
    I never really cared what skin colours there were. I like yellow simply because it's classic, and I like flesh because it goes great with licensed themes. I just love the classic lego dot eyes and smile heads.
  • TalasAntaresTalasAntares Member Posts: 124
    Weird, I never really noticed the change until I built the newest version of the SW landspeeder (8092)...oddly enough shortly after I read this thread.
    I have to say I'm nostalgic for the old yellow heads.
  • dmm32552dmm32552 Member Posts: 47
    I think the fleshies work well for licensed themes and that all the LEGO original lines should be classic yellow. I wish they'd go back and redo the HP Chamber of Secrets set WITH fleshies because all the other truly great sets in the HP line are with flesh-colored heads.
  • prof1515prof1515 Member Posts: 1,550
    My big complaint with the flesh-colored mini-figures was and still is the lack of diversity both in regard to skin tones as well as face prints. For that reason I prefer the yellow heads/hands.
  • yys4uyys4u Member Posts: 1,093
    I hate flesh color. It's a definite deal breaker for me, and is why I've never gotten into licensed themes and why I stopped collection SW sets. I may break my rule of not buying fleshies for the PotC just because I want the new red coat minifig and maybe the barbosa blue coat fig.
  • pantenkindpantenkind Member Posts: 258
    Ok, I am all about collecting LEGO, but seriously, I cannot believe this is even an issue for anyone? I say pick your battles with LEGO, there are plenty of other things to worry about.
  • aplbomr79aplbomr79 Member Posts: 159
    edited April 2011
    I am a classic-man. I love the yellowheads. I don't mind the fleshies, but I would trade them in a heartbeat. None of my MOC's are in fleshy. The fleshies are regulated to 'play' buckets of my young sons.

    However, my favorite is the Orange/Jack-O-Lanterns... only because I have a fascination with pumpkins and the autumn season ;)
  • LuciusMalfoy7LuciusMalfoy7 Member Posts: 107
    I am indifferent. My main collections are those of Agents and Harry Potter; I use fleshies for HP and yellow for Agents, obviously. I just can't stand mixing them inter-theme or (shudder) inter-fig.
  • StyerStyer Member Posts: 73
    edited April 2011
    I'm newly returned to Lego after sitting it out since about 2000, so the flesh-toned mini-figs were totally new to me. I haven't completely made up my mind. I'm starting to make pre-modern themes my focus and determining my "factions" (Knights, Ninja, etc.) I have a couple Prince of Persia sets, and I really like that theme and want more. So I'll probably lump the flesh-toned guys from that theme into another faction along with any cobbled-together guys I can put together from other licensed themes that I've picked up here and there.
  • IstokgIstokg Member Posts: 2,363
    The first "forray" into non-yellow minifig heads actually predates the minifigs...

    The minifig "stiffs" of 1975-77 (no moving arms and legs) all had faceless yellow heads.... except for 1 exception. That was the 215 Indians (Building Set with People) of 1977. It came with 4 large red heads for that genre of Homemaker scale sets... but it also came with 1 minifig head in red for the Papoose (with black pigtails type hair).

    That 1977 set was the first variance from the standard yellow minifig head for decades... even though it predates the regular minifigs by 1 year (intro 1978).
  • 50missioncap50missioncap Member Posts: 96
    I personally prefer the yellows, but that's just an opinion. My big issue is combining the two of them on a moc / diorama / vignette... just looks off to combine the two. I wish that Lego would have just stuck with the yellow.
  • wander099wander099 Member Posts: 114
    I am perfectly happy with the flesh heads for licensed themes. What I am not happy about is that half my Star Wars collection is yellow headed and the other half is flesh headed. It bugs me and I will have to get replacement heads so I can have each character match (fortunately there are a lot of sets I want to buy anyway and I'll mostly use those newer figures if I am going to make a scene).

    But speaking of changes midway through a product line, I wish they had kept the old guns for the Star Wars series. Yes, the new guns are more real, but there was just something about those old blasters with the orange tips...SIGH.
  • brickmaticbrickmatic Member Posts: 1,071
    Come to think of it, Star Wars has to deal with three head types: Yellow, Flesh, and Clone Wars.
  • cbowerscbowers Member Posts: 21
    I like the yellow it keeps social commentary out of my mocs
  • wander099wander099 Member Posts: 114
    Ugh. I avoid the clone wars sets like the plague unless I want some clones or other figures that come with helmets. If they have helmets I don't have to look at those bizarre faces :)
  • NeilJamNeilJam Member Posts: 272
    edited April 2011
    I prefer yellow, but understand why it could have been necessary to change due to licensing contracts. Still, I was especially disappointed that they changed to flesh for Star Wars after doing so many characters in yellow. I switched out flesh parts (hands, head) for a couple figs. I haven't bought as many SW sets since they changed this. Not because of the color change, but because I don't buy many sets that are newer versions of ships they've already done and I don't get Clone Wars.
  • legoDadlegoDad Member Posts: 529
    Like both. Variety is better.
    And Lego's done it right, go with the yellow on their own sets, and flesh for the licensed sets.
  • FrodoBFrodoB Guest Posts: 7
    I Like lots of the flesh heads, but i think the classic yellow was better and the ones they have now could be yellow
  • paul88paul88 Member Posts: 169
    I don't mind the flesh colored heads, but prefer yellow. There was a time when I was anti-expression though...all I wanted was the classic smiley faces. In recent years, I've warmed up to the variety of expressions that they've created. I think I like the "scared" faces most :)

    Like someone posted already, the classic smiley faces are still available in quantity, so replacements are always an option.
  • LuciusMalfoy7LuciusMalfoy7 Member Posts: 107
    ^You liked those classic smileys? I can't stand them! I hate how all of the modulars have them, for some reason. Those would have to go.
  • paul88paul88 Member Posts: 169
    @LuciusMalfoy7: Yes, I sure do, but it may have to do with the fact that those are what I grew up with :) One thing I would do with all of my space sets though was turn the faces around in the helmets so that they looked like a visor....I could never stand seeing the faces through the helmet because it didn't make sense that they were in space but their helmet was "open" LOL
  • CrackseedCrackseed Member Posts: 90
    I don't mind the fleshies, but I greatly prefer the good old Yellow Heads/Hands :)
  • brickmaticbrickmatic Member Posts: 1,071
    @LuciusMalfoy7, I'm with @paul88 on this one. I like the classic smiley. Funny thing is, the newer classic smileys are now adding twinkle to the eyes, so it's actually not true to old-school classic smileys.
  • CrackseedCrackseed Member Posts: 90
    The classic smiley will forever be the timeless nostalgia darling, but I really do like the range of expressions LEGO has developed now, especially with some of the cool things like the headsets/hair for example that showed up with SPII on their minifigs. Even more recently I really like having a choice with the head to show either a cocky grin or the AMG WE'RE GONNA DIE expressions the SPIII troops have haha xD
  • RogueRogue Member Posts: 27
    I prefer the yellowheads, but I like the fleshies, too. I'm with you 100%, @Crackseed! I love all the new headsets/hair. I remember when the female heads first had eyelashes and lipstick (was such a big deal to me as a kid! Haha). I have to laugh every time I see the raised eyebrow expression of the painter from season 4.
  • colethegeekcolethegeek Member Posts: 12
    I like the flesh tones for the licensed themes. I thought it was cute when they started doing HP and they did a MF of Harry and all, but looking back on them now, I'm happy they did the switch (I'm sorry, but I think the old Hermione is ugly). The characters are a lot more realistic while still using the classic molds, which I think makes for a very happy medium. That being said, I would be VERY upset with TLG if they strayed from yellow in their own themes. The reason they chose yellow was so that they would create their own sort of "ethnicity" and thereby be all-inclusive, which I respect. Not to mention that yellow is just classic. In any case, I don't like to mix the flesh and yellow in my scenes, though. I think it makes it too awkward. If I did need a character, I would rather just switch the head and hands.

    I love the variety of new expressions that MFs are getting. However classic, I am annoyed with the large number of simple smiley faces that stare up at me every time I pull out my bricks. I'm fine with getting them here and there, especially in smaller sets that are more geared towards younger builders, but when I'm paying over $100 for a 14+ or 16+ model, it'd be nice to see the figs match the quality of the set.
  • MatthewMatthew Administrator Posts: 3,714
    The thing that really bugs me, is the neck being printed in either yellow or flesh, as then you can't just change the head and hands.
  • bluemoosebluemoose Member Posts: 1,716
    edited April 2011
    ^ They're just wearing a yellow t-shirt under their other clothes ;-)
  • LuciusMalfoy7LuciusMalfoy7 Member Posts: 107
    @bluemoose - I've tried to trick myself with that too, but for some reason I can't. I can't mix and match.
  • legoheadlegohead Member Posts: 6
    edited April 2012
    i prefer flashies , they look more realistic.
    suport this project if you would like to see more fleshies
    http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/13678
  • Blue1dotBlue1dot Member Posts: 78
    whenever I hear the word "flesh" tone I wonder whose flesh tone they are talking about.
  • dmg111dmg111 Member Posts: 40
    I like flesh tone, I just wish they had a wider variety. Not everyone is the same skin tone.
  • madforLEGOmadforLEGO Member Posts: 10,789
    I think Yellow will always signify LEGO to me. I can understand the use of flesh tone for licenses, but like others I will not mix them.
    I kinda wish they would stop making hundreds of special yellow heads anyway.. I miss the old days of you have a choice, standard grin, or standard grin, I can understand the use of the eyepatch for Pirates and female heads (with eye lashes and or lipstick), but all of these new heads coming out is just crazy IMO.. but I guess that is just my old school way of thinking

  • georgebjonesgeorgebjones Member Posts: 224
    edited April 2012
    I don't have a preference. Actually, come to think of it, I do. I think I prefer heads that are less common colors, like sand green, tan, white. The neck printing thing bothers me a bit, too. I do prefer they would print torsos that could be used universally. I don't mind mixing them, people are not all the same color, I like variety. I have never really understood the whole "I refuse to mix yellow and fleshie" position. :|

    On an interesting side note. Fleshy colored heads have been around the entire time my children have played with LEGO, and they all prefer the flesh colored heads. In fact, when they are playing, they always switch out the yellow because they don't want their minifigures to be "sick." I always find yellow heads and hands laying around. My 4 year old is always asking me to switch out the yellow hands for "peach hands." :)
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