The 10 Best LEGO Superhero Minifigures of All Time (5-1)
—by Nathan on January 30, 2015—
About a month ago, I posted the first part of this blog, talking about my favorite superhero minifigures numbers 10-6. As I've mentioned, I really get LEGO for the minifigures, and it's awesome to see how comic book heroes and villains are claiming their own spots within the LEGO universe. Characters adapted for TV shows and movies—or pulled straight from the comics in some cases—are now figurines from the greatest toy that ever existed. It's a really fun time to both enjoy both superheroes and LEGO, even for a guy who's twenty (kid at heart…as should be evidence that I bought a new DC set a few weeks back), so I'm going to celebrate by listing the final five, the Top 5 minifigures that have made it on to this list. Like with the action figures, the criteria is essentially the same: these are figures that I really enjoy playing with, mostly because I can't get over the fact certain characters are toys this small and cool. Here, then, are my Top 5 LEGO superhero minifigures, from 5 to number 1:
5: Hydra Soldier
Set: CAPTAIN AMERICA VS. HYDRA (76017)
Why: I actually taught Abby a new word through this guy: "generic." Common, standard. Those seem like pretty simple qualities, but being generic is what makes the Hydra soldier one of the more prominent minifigures on my list, at the top of my Top 5. The soldier looks like he would in the comic books. Angry scowl, and the green suit with the yellow highlights. You can just tell he's completely ready to yell "Hail Hydra!" fanatically at all his enemies. And given the fact that he's so generic, I can pretend that he's a whole organization of crazy soldiers, obedient only to the Red Skull. Wave after wave of soldier can attack any superhero I choose, guns blazing. Actually, with the set, he didn't come with a gun, so I had to provide him with one of my own. No biggie, but now he has a weapon to go up against my heroes with. He's not terribly tough, unfortunately, so I let him and his compatriots get bowled over all the time by my way-more-powerful superheroes. But still, the fact that I can create a devious and massive organization like Hydra from one character is lots of fun, one of the main selling points of the actual set.
4: Hulk
Set: HULK'S LAB SMASH (76018)
Why: Abby actually has a Hulk figure of her own, but he's based off the first Avengers movie (and looks completely different from the Age of Ultron figure, who looks ridiculously awesome). Mine comes from an Avengers Assemble TV show, and the main reason I like him is because of his pants. The Avengers Hulk comes with a pair of tan pants, but my guy has purple, which is yet another design ripped from the comics. Having a character look exactly like his/her comics version makes me super-excited, if you couldn't tell already. So having the purple-shorts Hulk is cool. Also, he's a big fig, which are extremely rare and recent compared to current minifigures. They're steadily growing in number, and the Hulk will have three different versions by next year. Big figs are neat because they're really a solid piece of plastic. The arms and hands are detachable, like other LEGO figures, but the rest—head, torso, legs—are solid. While this does make for a toy with a lot less articulation than other minifigures, it makes for a sturdy character. And having a giant Hulk who can jump around and kick the snot out of pretty much everyone makes for some interesting battles, especially when I pit mine against Abby's. Granted, I've made my guy some kind of evil Hulk-clone, but this is the first character that I got that can go toe-to-toe with Ole' Green Skin, a big fig against a big fig.
3: Deadpool
Set: WOLVERINE'S CHOPPER SHOWDOWN (6866)
Why: I'm not a huge Deadpool fan. I guess I enjoy some darker heroes (or, at least, I like writing them), but I think there are anti-heroes who go a little too far. The Punisher, Deadpool. But, still, having the guy rendered in LEGO form makes for a pretty fun character. He's a wise-cracking oddball who occasionally breaks the fourth wall. Playing as an insane, gun-toting lunatic is tons of fun, especially when I utilize his healing factor. Getting Deadpool into all kinds of crazy situations where he ends up hurt may sound dark, but it's still fun bringing injury to a guy who can heal pretty much any form of harm that comes upon him. Deadpool's just one of those characters with a vibrant personality, and it's pretty sweet to be able to bring that personality out when I play with him. I guess I level with him in a sense. No, I'm not a goofy assassin, but I can be goofy. No, I'm not a nigh-invincible killer who cracks wise, but I can crack wise (though being invincible would be a plus). In that case, it's easy for me to play as him; I don't have to "get" into character. I can already bring that character to the minifigure easily, which makes playing with him feel a bit more natural than me going "Ah! Hulk smash!" or "Thor will smite thee with his mighty hammer Mjolnir!"
2: Batman
Set: BATMOBILE: TWO-FACE'S ESCAPE (7781)
Why: Like I mentioned with my action figure Batman, having a LEGO version is great because he's one guy who fights against a bunch of bad guys. The first time I saw a LEGO Batman ad in a magazine, I flipped. This first wave of sets—back, as I said in my last blog, around 2006—was really the first time a superhero was genuinely represented in LEGO format. Yes, there had been some Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 sets based on the Raimi films, but these Batman sets were more than that. They gave us a whole Rogues Gallery, something Spider-Man sets are only beginning to do with adding in Electro, Beetle, Venom the Green Goblin and others (and I just read that this year Carnage, Sandman, and Rhino are being released, too). But guys like Two-Face, the Joker, the Penguin, Catwoman, and the Riddler came out in quick succession. Plus, it also introduced iconic vehicles—like the Batmobile—, locales—like Arkham Asylum—, and other characters, like Robin, Nightwing, Bruce Wayne, and even Alfred Pennyworth. But back to the character. I bought this Batman with a set that also came with a pretty sweet Batmobile. He's got a more Nolan-esque black costume, but he looks really cool. Batman's a character who speaks tough, swings on grappling hooks, throws batarangs, and dishes out justice to supervillains with his fists. He's a classic DC superhero (probably the only DC superhero I enjoy totally) who glares angrily but never wavers from his purpose. He's really the hero who kicked off the superhero theme and has carried it along, as evidenced by his three videogames and large role in The LEGO Movie. Batman's an iconic character, but just being the guy who began my journey into superhero LEGO makes him good enough to land this spot.
1: Doctor Doom
Set: SPIDER-MAN: DAILY BUGLE SHOWDOWN (76005)
Why: This guy was the reason I bought my Daily Bugle set. Sure, it also came with Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson, but we're talking Doctor Doom here! The arch-enemy of the Fantastic Four! The Stalin of Marvel's Eastern Europe! One of the premier supervillains in all of Marvel history (which the movies seem to fail to understand time and again…)! And a fantastic character to add to my growing Masters of Evil team. I like supervillains, and the fact that Doctor Doom was a LEGO figure blew my mind. He's cartoony-looking and, dressed in his sinister armor and dark green cowl, he's exactly like his comic book counterpart. He stares at you through metal slits, and you can see the evil in his eyes. From his castle in Latveria, I can concoct all kinds of dark schemes for this master villain to undertake. As a bonus, if I remove the cape and hood, I can always pretend that he's a sinister Doombot, ready to carry out his master's orders. The guy's a master of grandiose speeches, a technological wizard, and one of the most resourceful minds of the Marvel Universe. To have such a classic villain as a LEGO minifigure that I can control in the palm of my hand may represent the epitome of hours of pure enjoyment. He's not the only character I play with, but to have him lurking around corners, plotting evil rampages, or undertaking sinister schemes makes for the basis of some pretty great stories. The better the villain, the better the story, so Doctor Doom is one heck of a storyteller. What we're talking about here is one of the first Marvel supervillains who also happens to be the tyrannical monarch of an imaginary Eastern European country armed in weaponized armor and with an army of robots at his ingenious beck and call. There aren't many bad things to say about this bad guy. He's a wonderful minifigure. My absolute favorite.
The list is finished. Out of all the LEGO superhero minifigures that I've collected over the past eight years or so, these blogs have shown my top ten favorite. Figures I really like playing with or have some other form of intrinsic value to me. Maybe I'm beginning to sound repetitious, but LEGO is probably the greatest form of toy out there, and for a geek who enjoys comic-based characters as much as I do, this is the perfect outlet for fun. And as 2015 is beginning to show, there's no stopping this train anytime soon.