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Set Review: 71010 Series 14 Collectible Minifigures - Monsters
 Friday, September 18th, 2015 at 1:51am by Jason, BZPower ReporterThe latest wave of Collectible Minifigures is out, and these are all Monsters. BZPower Reporter Xccj has collected this batch and has a picture and video review prepared. If you want one or want them all, read on or watch to see what these figs are all about, and check out the video for a chance to win a free fig yourself.
Just in time for Halloween, we get the Monster themed Series 14 Collectible Minifigures. They come in a black bag with a selection of the characters on the front, while the back has a lime color to print the legal details on. They're already starting to appear in stores, and will cost about $3.99 each. You can currently order some from Shop.LEGO.com, but you're limited to 32 and won't get to feel for the figs you want. Each fig comes with a small foldout. This includes some instructions for some of the more complicated "builds" involved here, which is mostly about attaching the capes or skirts. The other side includes the standard checklist with all sixteen figs listed out. There's also a code included that can be used in the Minifigures Online game, which is another neat perk of getting these figs. Of course, the minifigures aren't equally distributed, and I've included the counts of the characters that I've found from various sources. Collectible Minifigures come in boxes of 60 blind bags, but there are generally groups of figs that come five to a box (common), four to a box (moderately rare), and three to a box (rare.) This is a rough approximation, because fan's preference for specific figs can alter the availability at different stores, but it's a decent method to go by. I generally feel through the bags to identify the characters, and so far I've had good success with this series, and I've included a guide for each character to help you identify them if you choose that route. Wolf Guy
We've had a lot of werewolf minifigures before (not to mention an entire tribe of Wolves from Legends of Chima) but it's still cool to get another one in this mix. The torso and legs are very similar to the Lumberjack from Series 5, who must've been the one bitten. The arms come with some neat printing on the side, and the legs are actually dual molded, which is a neat trend that's seen a bit in this wave. The head is a recolored mold from the Monster Fighters werewolf, and the tail was used in Rocket Raccoon, but they're still some neat designs. His accessory is a large bone, which is pretty generic. The Wolf Guy is rare at 3 to a box. The piece to feel for will be the bone, which has a long bar with the distinct knobs at both ends.
Zombie Pirate
This scallywag appears to be the zombiefied version of the Series 8 Pirate Captain. He has most of the classic Pirate signs; a peg leg, a hook for a hand, and an eye patch. (In that regards, he should be used to losing limbs as a zombie now.) His one good leg is again dual molded, and includes some printing from his jacket on it, whereas the torso includes the rest of the dirty jacket printing. His pirate hat also has a bit of a goofier skull with crossbones, which also has Xed out eyes. He also has the short beard piece in dark gray and wields a Scimitar sword. An interesting combination of the two themes, for sure, and great if you want to crew your ship with the undead. The Zombie Pirate is common at 5 to a box. The piece to feel for would be his beard piece, which is the only element to form a real loop in this set, as well as the flat blade of the sword.
Monster Scientist
When people wanted more scientist figs, this was probably not what they envisioned. He's a bit of an upgrade from the Series 4 Crazy Scientist in that he has longer gloves and boots, resulting in dual molded arms and legs, which is a nice touch. Unfortunately, the pink splatter on his lab coat hurts its reusability, in my opinion. The main feature is his elongated head with wacky goggles. The mold is neat, but unfortunate it's all one piece, so the goggles can't be reused elsewhere. He does have a standard head underneath the headpiece, but only his mouth and moustache are visible. He comes with a flask, but this time it has solid pink coloring with a fly printed on one side. I wonder what he's mixed together this time? The Monster Scientist is common at 5 to a box. The piece to feel for is the flask, which is cone-shaped body.
Wacky Witch
It's nice to get an updated Witch after the last iteration in Series 2. She has a lime green head and a purple outfit, which contrast nicely with each other. The pointy purple hat is a new mold, but it includes her dark grey hair as well, limiting its uses. She comes with a purple cloth skirt, which still uses the cardboard-like cloth that capes used to be made out of. (I've never been a huge fan of minifigure skirts, in that they somewhat limit leg movement and often leave an opening .) Her legs are again dual molded, with some black and white stripped leggings, which are neat. She comes with a standard broom piece and a black cat, which is the first time the new cat mold has appeared in that color, so that's a major plus. The Wacky Witch is rare at 3 to a box. The piece to feel for would be the broom with its long handle, but you could also try to spot the cone-like hat, as long as you don't get confused by the hair extension at the bottom.
Plant Monster
I think the Plant Monster is the stand out character in this series. I believe the idea is that the plant actually ate the guy, but grew around the body and still lets him live, thus explaining the scared head. (As opposed to just a guy in a plant costume.) The body and legs have some nice vine and leaf printings on bright green, and he comes with two lime Piraka spines to act as vines. The head piece is an excellent mold of a lime leaf with a pink mouth, and fits perfectly over the minifig head. Perhaps it isn't reusable elsewhere, but it makes for a very unique character. The Plant Monster is moderately rare at 4 to a box. The pieces to feel for are the vines / Piraka spines, which will have the jagged edges, but the plant head might also stand out since it's the largest individual mold in this series.
Fly Monster
We've had some interesting insect minifigs before, especially from Galaxy Squad, but this Fly Monster is still bringing something cool to the table, and just you try to swat at it. The head is a new mold, with the black rubbery material forming the nose and antenna which fits over a trans red dome that forms the compound eyes. It's pretty neat. He comes with some trans black wings that also appeared on the Series 8 Fairy and Series 10 Bumblebee Girl. His torso is fairly plain, but one of his hands has been replaced with a dark red lobster claw. That mold was previously only used in Davy Jones from the pricey Black Pearl Pirates of the Caribbean set, so it's neat to have it again here in a cheaper set. No accessory, unfortunately. The Fly Monster is moderately rare at 4 to a box. The piece to feel for would be the head, which will have the rubbery antenna, but you could also try to locate the wings, as long as you don't mistake them for the Gargoyle's.
Specter
I guess this is the closest we'll get to a ghost in this wave of figs. The main thing that jumps out is his new ghost lower body. This mold is used a lot with the ghosts enemies in the summer Ninjago sets, but this trans clear and dark grey version is exclusive to the Specter. The piece is about a brick taller than standard minifig legs, and can sit atop two studs (front to back, not side to side.) He has a plain gray torso, but that's covered up by the cloth-like cloak that fits over his shoulders and is held down by his grey hood piece. His head is white and has a somewhat happy ghost face printed on it, but it turns out that the face also glows in the dark. (Just the face, not the entire head.) He also carries a short chain, to atone for his past sins or something like that. Or maybe he just likes chains. The Specter is moderately rare at 4 to a box. The piece to feel for is the lower ghost body. It is tall and the bottom forms an L shape, but it does have some gaps so it would be hard to recognize at first. But the Banshee also has this piece, so to pick out the Specter you can also identify the short chain.
Zombie Cheerleader
The Zombie Cheerleader is another one of my personal favorites. Her uniform and skirt have the same basic design as the Blue Cheerleader from Series 1 and the Red Cheerleader from Series 8, only here color is dark green and her school's letter is a Z. Also, her uniform is in fairly bad shape because she's a zombie. She even has a happy looking face, with grey lipstick (and a missing tooth) to help cheer for her zombie sports team. Her hairpiece is a new mold that includes two dark tan pigtails with dark green hair ties, and even a connection point for hair accessories. This mold is very reusable, and I wonder if it might show up in a future Friends set. She also carries two recolored pom poms, which are in better condition than her uniform. The Zombie Cheerleader is rare at 3 to a box. The pieces to feel for are the pom poms; if you can identify at least three roundish objects in the bag, it's probably the two pom poms and her head. You could also try to find the hair, but the mold doesn't really stand out that much and could be confused for one of the other odd head pieces.
Tiger Woman
Tiger Woman appears to be another animal costume character, although I guess she is still a new monster. (Or she could be Tigra from the DC Universe.) She has some excellent striped printing on her torso (front, back), legs (front, side), arms, and tail. Oh, yeah, and she reuses the tail mold first used in the Simpsons Scratchy fig, but it's been recolored nicely. Her face also has stripes printed on it (although I think they could also double as whiskers) and her orange hair mold includes two cat ears at the top. To finish off her design, she carries a black whip, because I guess she was inspired by DC's other feline heroine, Catwoman. Tiger Woman is rare at 3 to a box. The piece to feel for would be her whip, which has a distinct shape but is also flexible.
Gargoyle
The shortest fig in this batch is the stone Gargoyle. He has some great stonework printing on his torso, arms, face, and headpiece. His headpiece also features some nice ears and horns in the mold. He includes some wings, which have a really intricate design. I was expecting them to be more rubbery, but oddly enough they are very sturdy plastic. Unfortunately, the Gargoyle doesn't have any accessories, but he makes for a great character, or even a building decoration if you so choose. The Gargoyle is moderately rare at 4 to a box. The piece to feel for would be his wings, but don't mistake them for those of the Fly Monster. His headpiece also has some odd bumps with the horns, but it's not quite as recognizable a shape to feel for. He is also the only fig in this series to have the short legs.
Skeleton Guy
The Skeleton Guy is apparently the only non-monster in this batch, being merely a trick-or-treater who wandered into a scary alternate universe, or so the story goes. He doesn't have any fancy headgear and merely carries a small pumpkin trick-or-treat pot, the mold which has previously been used with the Series 6 Leprechaun and Series 10 Bumblebee Girl. (The handle is also in black for the first time.) But what the Skeleton Guy has going for is his bone printing, which remarkable matches up with the standard skeleton figs. He has detailed bone printing on the front and back of his torso, side of arms, and front and sides of legs. Granted, the printing isn't included on the lower front of his legs for some reason, which is odd because other figs have had printed legs in that area. Another neat thing is his mask has a string printed that goes around his head; I can't think of any other head design that had something that goes all the way around; usually there's a gap on the sides. The Skeleton Guy is moderately rare at 4 to a box. The piece to feel for would be the handle, which is small and easy to isolate and identify.
Monster Rocker
Frankenstein's latest monster is alive... and ready to jam. The Monster Rocker has a cool sand blue jacket and jeans, dual colored arms, and "Shock 'n' Roll" printed on his back. He has the same Frankenstein Monster hair piece that was used in Monster Fighters and the Series 4 Monster, but he has some different stitching printing on his, as well as olive green skin. He plays a flashy red electric guitar, which is based on the Friends mold. (Unlike previous Collectible Minifigures guitars, the Friends guitar has a clip on the back for the minidolls to grab.) The Monster Rocker is common at 5 to a box. The piece to feel for would be the guitar, which will have the long arm and the recognizable body shape, as well as the pin on the back. (I got confused at first because previous guitars haven't had the pin on the back, so that's an important distinction.)
Zombie Businessman
In my opinion, the Zombie Businessman is the weakest of the series, since we've seen zombies in business suits plenty of times before. Still, it's a different design, and I'm sure zombie collectors will be happy for the added diversity to their zombie hordes. Plus, his broken glasses give him a unique look that other zombies just can't match. He had a dark blue suit with a light blue undershirt that's visible through the rips. He has a dark brown tousled hairpiece, and I was surprised to learn that it's currently exclusive to him, which is nice because it's totally reusable. He carries a suitcase and a newspaper called "Zombie Times" with a headlining article of "Braaains!" While he's not the most interesting fig in the batch, there's still a lot to like about him. The Zombie Businessman is rare at 3 to a box. The piece to feel for would be the 2x2 tile, which is the only tile that appears in this series.
Banshee
We get another ghostly fig in the Banshee, who also uses a new sand green and clear lower ghost body piece. She has a basic design printed front and back on her sand green torso, and a weeping face on her light aqua head, which are all nice. But the big draw is the hairpiece, which is trans black. The mold is similar to other hair styles, but apparently it is a new design currently unique to this fig. But the transparent coloring gives it an awesome ghostly effect, and leaves me wanting to see more transparent hair pieces. Unfortunately, she doesn't have any accessories to hold onto. The Banshee is rare at 3 to a box. The piece to feel for would be the ghost lower body piece, which again is tall and L shaped. However, since the Specter also has the same mold with him, you'd need to confirm that the Banshee lacks the chain, or that she has a hair piece and not a hood. This makes her one of the tougher ones to feel for, since it's easy enough to confuse her for the Specter.
Square Foot
It's already awesome that we get a Big Foot / Sasquatch minifigure, but even better that they named him "Square Foot" even if that physical trait really doesn't differentiate him from all the other figs. The main draw to him is the brown and furry headpiece, which has some nice printing for the face and fangs. Some may see it as unfortunate since it's the exact same mold as the Series 11 Yeti, but the two monsters types are generally related so this is fine in my book. (Better than them using the mold on the Legends of Chima Beaver, anyway.) His torso is just plain brown with orange / flesh hands, so no printing there, but he does have three toes printed on each foot, so that's a nice bit of detail. He also has a camera and a passion for photography, which I find delightfully ironic. Square Foot is moderately rare at 4 to a box. The piece to feel for would be the large body piece, which has distinct furry ridges and a noticeable gap at the bottom.
Spider Lady
Our final minifigure is the Spider Lady. I thought she was another female vampire, judging by her fangs, but apparently she's sticking with the spider motif. She has a torso and slope piece to act as her dress, and both have some excellent spider web printings in black on them. Her head is white with purple eyeliner and fangs, which I still think would stand in for a vampire. Her hairpiece reuses the beehive 80s mold that was used in the Lego Movie fig Velma Staplebot, only the Spider Lady has it in black. At first, I thought this would be a great reusable hair piece, but then I realized it has a cobweb printed on it, lessening its uses in my opinion. The neat thing about her cape is that it's made out of the clear plastic usually reserved for sails or wings. They also have a spider web printed on it, and the clear plastic makes it look less like a cloth and more like just webbing. Finally, she comes with a standard spider mold in red, to use as a pet. The Spider Lady is rare at 3 to a box. The piece to feel for would be her dress slope, which is the only one in this wave.
This is definitely a fun wave of figs. We have a lot of repeat monsters, but most of them have had some sort of update to keep them fresh. Plus, we've gotten a lot more unique characters that will be fun to add to a collection. Hopefully you should be able to find the characters you want, be it a few or all sixteen. And now I can't help but wonder what we'll be treated with in the next wave of Collectible Minifigures! Thanks for reading and / or watching this BZPower Set Review! Like and subscribe to the BZPower Youtube channel, and stay tuned for more LEGO Set Reviews! Plus, make sure to watch the video to see how you can win one of these Monster minifigures!
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