Once upon a time in the land of Far Far Away, DreamWorks’ animation studio released a film based on a picture book called Shrek. The story of a grumpy ogre soon became a cult classic and spawned several sequels and spin-offs. It’s become so beloved that the film series is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and a fifth film is due to be released next year. Along with Shrek, the film series has created many popular characters such as Donkey, Princess Fiona, Gingy and Puss in Boots. All of which feature in the latest series of LEGO Minifigures. The upcoming Shrek Series features 12 new characters to collect. Here’s an early look at the new Shrek Series LEGO Minifigures.
Since the switch to boxes, LEGO Minifigures have been available in various ways. These include a large outer box featuring 36 minifigures along with a box of 12. Both of these boxes should offer at least one full series. In terms of the boxes of 12 received for review, each featured all 12 characters. The boxes of 36 should give you 3 full sets. There are also boxes of 6 minifigures.
Each box features the pieces to create each character, along with their accessories, a leaflet and a display plate. Unfortunately, we don’t get a unique base, just the usual black one, which is a shame. Some of the accessories included with certain characters are actually characters themselves, so Donkey and the Three Blind Mice are included with Fiona, Pinocchio, the Big Bad Wolf and Puss in Boots.
There has been some concern about the Shrek Minifigure boxes not featuring the scannable code to help identify which character is in each box. Well, worry not; the packs do feature the code, and once they are more readily available, the various apps that have been created to scan them will help you to find certain characters.
Product Details
Set Name: Shrek Series | Set Number: 71053 | RRP: £3.49 / $4.99 / 4.99€
Pieces: each blind box includes various accessories, baseplate & collectors’ leaflet | Availability: LEGO Brand Stores, LEGO.com & LEGO retailers from September 1st
Shrek
Shrek is one of several characters in this new series, which introduces new moulds. Here, Shrek’s unique head is a brand new element. This sits on a normal minifigure body. It does look odd from certain angles, and the eyes seem a little off. Not in terms of a printing error, but they feel a little too far apart. Elsewhere, the print detail on Shrek is great, especially the legs, which are topped with a short skirt element to form part of his tunic. Shrek also includes a storybook accessory. This features a printed cover and two 1×2 tiles presenting the pages of a fairytale.
Fiona & Donkey
Similar to Shrek, Fiona also uses a new and unique head; this includes her hair. She’s featured in her ogre-form, which includes her regal green gown, shown here by a sloped element in place of legs. Fiona’s accessory is technically another character, as she is used by Donkey. This is an animal figure which includes a separate head and body. Although Donkey is a main character, how he’s portrayed here doesn’t warrant him being an individual character.
Pinocchio
Pinocchio is one of many fairytale characters featured in the Shrek film. Based on the classic characters, the Far Far Away version of Pinocchio is shown in his puppet form. His minifigure uses a new head element, which includes a physical nose and not a printed one. The print detail on the head is great, although the same can’t be said about the legs. These are a combination of dual-moulded and printed, with the printed colour being a little misaligned, due to the restrictions of how print can be applied to legs. Pinocchio is joined by one of the three Blind Mice. His companions are included with other characters in this series
Gingy
Gingy the Gingerbread Man features in one of Shrek’s most memorable scenes. You would assume it reuses the head element previously used for Gingerbread-based minifigures. However, it’s a similar element but lacks the filling between the two halves of the head. To print detail is simple but matches the icing decoration and gumdrop buttons featured on the character. Gingy’s accessory is a large lollypop. A road sign plate is used for the lolly, and a long handle is used for its stick.
Dragon
Dragon is an odd choice to include in the series. She couldn’t have been an accessory similar to Donkey, and if she was truly to scale, she’d be similar in size to the dragon found in the LEGO Castle set, which obviously couldn’t be featured in a minifigure series. The minifigure is a decent take on the character and reuses the dragon tail and wings previously used for dragon characters. Although maybe the dragon tails used for the dragon-form NINJAGO characters could have worked better, in my opinion. Dragon’s head is quite impressive.
Puss in Boots
This is Puss in Boots’ second minifigure appearance, as he was oddly featured in the Shrek and Donkey diorama. This isn’t just the same minifigure. It does use the same head mould, but this features different print detail. Here Puss is giving his best cutr kitty eyes. He also uses the fixed short legs and loses the cape and sword for a bag of swag. Puss is also joined by another of the Three Blind Mice; this is the same piece used for all three of the visually impaired rodents.
Thelonius
Thelonius is Lord Farquaad’s loyal henchman, hypeman and torturer. If there is one thing Thelonius loves more than torturing the folk of Duloc is true love, shown by his my his hastly written cue card. Although he only uses a plain black head element, his hangman hood looks great. As well as the 1×3 printed ‘Awww’ sign, a microphone accessory is also included.
Big Bad Wolf
The story of the Big Bad Wolf is well known, where a wolf assumes the role of Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother. In Shrek, the Big Bad Wolf is one of many fairytale characters to be relocated to Shrek’s swamp and is found in Shrek’s bed. This is another minifigure to use a unique headpiece and includes the final of the Three Blind Mice. It’s another good representation of the character.
Merlin
Merlin is probably the most unusual addition to the series. He’s not a particularly memorable character and only appears in Shrek the Third, where he is Artie’s magic teacher. Although the character has great print detail on the torso and wizard hat, the dual-moulded legs make it look as if Merlin is wearing shorts, not a robe. Two block ‘power blast’ elements are used to represent Merlin’s magical abilities. It’s a nice minifigure, just not a great recreation of the character.
Lord Farquaad
Lord Farquaad is the villainous leader of Duloc, who yearns to be king by any means necessary. He sends Shrek and Donkey to free the Princess in the tower. He’s famously short in stature, so of course his minifigure uses the shortest of minifigure legs. I love his hat, which is a new element. Similar to some of the other minifigures in this series, Farquaad’s accessory is technically another character. So he’s joined by the Magic Mirror. This is created from a printed shield.
Fairy Godmother
The devious Fairy Godmother was introduced in Shrek 2, where she uses her magic and potions to bend others to her will. Her main aim is to get her son, Prince Charming, wed to Princess Fiona. Her minifigure uses a sloped piece to recreate her dress and a pair of purple wings, which have been used before for similar fairy characters. The purple colour doesn’t seem to match the colour of the wings in the film. The same transparent colour for her wand. The Fairy Godmother has two expressions and uses a new hairpiece. She also includes a 1×2 printed tile.
Prince Charming
Joining his mother is Princess Charming. The vain and ‘heroic’ prince wears an array of outfits during Shrek 2 but is featured here in his regal blue attire. The design and detailing of said outfit is great, although the slightly tanned skin tone doesn’t match his as seen on screen. His two expressions of fun, especially his smirking grin. Charming also includes a sword, although a Frair’s Fat Boy Medieval Meal would have been better.
The Verdict
Shrek is a beloved film series, and it has a great cast of characters. Some are better suited to being transformed into minifigures than others. That’s mostly the case for Dragon. That’s not to say it’s a bad minifigure, it more than it’s an odd choice to transform such a huge character into a minifigure. I like that many of the accessories have been used to expand the line-up of characters. Overall, it’s another fun series of LEGO Minifigures, with some being better than others. The Shrek Series of LEGO Minifigures will be available from September 1st.
These were provided to BricksFanz by the LEGO Group for review purposes. The thoughts within this review are those of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing a set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
