Vault Review: LEGO Minifigures
Series 7 (+ Decoder)

Vault

Usually I first see and pick up my set of minifigures at Toys R Us, but this time it seems they’re hitting all the stores at the same time. The first ones I found were at Wal-Mart, but over the next couple days both my TRU and Target also got theirs.

Like last time, the minifigs are a bit tougher to decipher because The LEGO Group changes the bump patterns between batches. You can find the batch number stamped onto each bag in the area where the dots appear. This time our decoder is good for batch 401B2.

Also like last time, our cheat sheet includes a “feel guide” comprised of the silhouettes of unique pieces that come with each figure. These silhouettes are the size of the actual piece. Hopefully this will help you in compare and decipher what you’re feeling in each bag. This is only our second time using this system. So if it was helpful, or you had problems with it, please let us know in the comments section so we can improve future cheat sheets.

Click here to go directly to our Printable Decoder

 

 

#1 Swimming Champion
The Swimming Champion may be my least favorite figure of series seven. I don’t collect a lot of the City theme, and this figure seems to be a very specific genre in that theme. But just because I don’t care for her doesn’t mean she’s a bad figure. She has two faces: a normal one, and then one with her swimming goggles on. She also comes with a cool gold medal for when she wins the race. Decoding Tip: Feel for the unique round and bent shape of the medal.
#2 Aztec Warrior
The Aztec Warrior is a great army building figure. The deco on this figure is detailed with plenty of gold, feathers, and a tiny minifig head hanging from his necklace. His shield is even adorned with a bird in a South American art style. But the most impressive part of this figure is his giant bird-shaped headdress, which has fantastic sculpting and color. Decoding Tip: The headdress takes up a lot of room in the package, but you can also feel for the long spear to help narrow it down.
#3 Bunny Suit Guy
I really like the trend of minifigs in costumes. Although I guess every minifig could be at a Halloween party, the Bunny Guy really seems like he’s meant to hang out with the Gorilla and Lizard suit guys. The figure even has a little fluffy tail tampoed on the back of his torso. Decoding Tip: The figure comes with carrot pieces, but it’s really much easier feeling for the two large ears of his rabbit hat.
#4 Bride
The Bride is an interesting figure because she doesn’t have anyone to marry yet. (I assume we’ll be getting him soon.) Her dress has a neat paint design to it that even extends down to the bottom of her skirt. She comes with a piece of soft fabric to make up her veil and not the stiffer fabric that is used for capes. Decoding Tip: She comes with flowers, and you can feel for the three pronged stalk, but it’s easier feeling for the large sloped piece that’s her skirt. Just don’t confuse her with the Viking Woman.
#5 Ocean King
Sure this Ocean King represents Poseidon, but I can’t help thinking of King Triton from The Little Mermaid when I look at him. He’s even got an annoyed look on his face like Ariel just sold her voice for some legs again. Decoding Tip: You can feel for the trident for verification, but his large fish-tail lower torso is easy to find. Just feel for the curve and two fins at the end.
#6 Bagpiper
The Bagpiper is one of those figures I never would have expected. He’s all dressed up in his kilt, which is made out of the same material that capes are. He’s also got on his Tam o’ Shanter cap. Probably his most impressive piece is the little LEGO bagpipes that are colored plaid, but hollow on the reverse side. Decoding Tip: The bagpipes are also the easiest thing to feel in the bag because of their very unique shape.
#7 Daredevil
The Daredevil is a pretty interesting figure. There’s definitely an Evil Kenevil vibe to him, but there also seems to be another homage mixed in. I just can’t place it. I do love that he came with both a helmet and pompadour hair. I’m also glad they gave him two faces: One happy and smiling for meeting the fans, and one scared for when he’s about to crash. Decoding Tip: Feel for this guys helmet and visor.
#8 Galaxy Patrol
I don’t think this guy is your average “Galaxy Patrol”, which seems more like a job for the Space Police. This guy looks more like a hard boiled space marine with his new bulky armor and supped up laser pistol. He even has two faces: One with a techno eye patch, and the other painted red with electronic data and a target. Definitely another great army builder. Decoding TipFeel for his bulky space armor, which is about as large as the Aztec’s headdress.
#9 Tennis Ace
This Tennis Ace makes a perfect partner for the Tennis Girl of series three. I was surprised to see he only comes with one face, which is either annoyed or determined, I can’t really tell. He also comes with a blue racket, although I wish he would have come with a ball also. Decoding Tip: Feel for the racket.
#10 Jungle Boy
The Jungle Boy is probably modeled to look like Tarzan, but I can’t help thinking his face and hair look like Brendan Fraser from George of the Jungle. He’s another mostly naked torso, but he is wearing a necklace and has claw marks across one of his pecs. Jungle Boy comes with a couple of knives and his very own monkey friend. Decoding Tip: Feel for the bulky body and outstretched arm of the monkey.
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23 thoughts on “Vault Review: LEGO Minifigures
Series 7 (+ Decoder)”

    1. Lucky for you, those 3 are the easiest to find since they all have ridiculously large pieces. Just look for the bags that seem to be more full and you’ll have an easy time of it.

  2. Love to get The Black Knight and a few Aztecs, Thanks for the codes Vault!

  3. Series 7?! But I haven’t completed Series 5 or 6 yet!!! 🙂

    Actually, I’ve been REALLY lucky so far, gotten most of the figures I really wanted like Lizard Suit guy with only a few duplicates. For some reason I kept picking up the Space Patrol Gal and Lumberjacks, and woo an extra Leprechaun.

    With the Scottish Festival in Alma coming up in a couple of weeks I feel a burning need for that Bagpiper. 🙂

    Space Patrol Gal and the Lumberjacks. Sounds like either a band, a crappy early ’90s indy comic or a bad,bad porno… 🙂

    Ya know, I’m loath to understand why Lego works so hard to randomise the figures, why they put so much effort to obscure whatever internal system is used to identify what’s in the bag. I thought the early system with the secondary barcode was just fine. If you have a cheat sheet you can get what you want but the vast majority of buyers got the blind pick. Why wasn’t that good enough? Is there a rarity element to this we don’t know about? And if there is, what’s the POINT of that? It’s LEGOS, darn it. It shouldn’t be so hard to get what you want.

  4. Love your little blurbs and decoding tips as always.

    I think it is supposed to be a DOS ‘C prompt’ (c:\) on the Computer Programmers mug. Kind of like the hardcore techie guys that wear the /dev/null t-shirts.

  7. Great reviews, Vault, but ya just gotta get Noisy to tag these reviews with a button over on the right with the other toy guides!

  8. Great review! I’ve really enjoyed all of the reviews on the Lego minifigs.

    I’ve been fortunate enough to have complete sets of all 7 series, and I must say that feeling for the figures is the best way to go. I’ve used the Feel Technique for the past 3 series of minifigs, and I’ve only had about 4 duplicates in total. When I tried to use the cheat guides,” I actually ended up with more even more duplicates. The bump code are sometimes pretty tough to see, so it takes roughly the same amount of time to simply feel up the bags.

    This is probably my favorite series so far. Huge variety amongst the figures, lots of newly molded pieces, great paintwork, and lots of different colors. All in all, very visually appealing and lots of fun to buy!

  12. Anyone else feel awkward standing in the Lego aisle for an extended period feeling up all the minifigure bags?

    Even with my attempts at figuring out which figures are inside, I’ve still gotten stuck with a bunch of Lego dudes I had no interest in…I hate blind bagged figures. Why not just sell all the figures as a box set and be done with it? I get that they’re tricking you into buying as many as possible (which is pretty crappy) but they could just mark up the pack of 16 to compensate and cut out the unnecessary headache.

    1. I have to agree with you here, brother. Usually I don’t care but on my last visit I just felt like all eyes were on me. This particular TRU’s service desk was right in direct sight of the island shelf display, too, so I didn’t have any cover. Not to mention people coming in to the store. If I could have just grabbed a box and ran into the aisle I would have — at least have a little privacy/cover.

  13. I walked into a TRU with four fresh boxes of these suckers — but I only ended up walking out with the Bunny Suit guy… this series is damn tough to figure out!

    It didn’t help my case that I was on a time crunch and had to be somewhere so it wasn’t like I could exactly take my time.

  14. Great review and love the printable guide! Also, great catch on the programmer looking like Clark Kent. the only problem is that the superhero figures have flesh heads and hands, while these guys and the non-branded sets are yellow…:/

  15. I go yesterday my first series 7 minifigues wich are rocker girl and bagpiper.

  16. Anyone else having a tough time with these? Its not finding them, but trying to figure out whats in the bag is a pain in the butt.

  17. i have poseidon and galaxy marine and bride and tennis ace and swimmer girl and two hippies and dark knight

  18. Thank you so very much for the cheat sheet. The printable version is AWESOME and the feel guide is just what we need. I have made so many mistakes with the bump code as it has just become to hard to figure them out.
    Thanks for the feel guide and the printable list.

    Can’t wait for series 8 in September!

  19. Found this on another site, so I can’t confirm its validity…any thoughts?

    Lego Minifigures Series 8
    1. Rapper (Male)
    2. Pizza Deliverer (Male)
    3. Babysitter (Female)
    4. Astronaut (Male)
    5. Monkey Suit Guy (Male)
    6. Truck Driver (Male)
    7. Fisherwoman (Female)
    8. Jungle Girl (Female)
    9. Waiter (Male)
    10. Actor (Female)
    11. Movie Director (Male)
    12. Farmer (Male)
    13. Ice Cream Truck Man (Male)
    14. Horse Rider (Female)
    15. Soccer Player (Male)
    16. Hippie (Female)

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