Produced by Lego | Released February 2013
Lego Minifigures Series 9
We're slowly building a collection of Lego Minifigures at That Figures, picking up an assortment of the blind-bagged toys as and when we can. And as part of that today sees us taking a closer look at the newly-released Series 9 Roman Emperor.
Roman Emperor
The Roman Emperor is not one of the more complex figures in the range. Sculpt-wise he's pretty simple, sporting little in the way of additional pieces or augmentation, with his hairpiece being - as far as I can tell - the only new bit of sculpt work present on the figure.
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Thankfully what could have been a pretty dull figure is saved by some really detailed tampo and paintwork.
As you can see, his face sports a new tampo (including some deeply-ingrained worry lines and wrinkles) and the body transfer work is pretty detailed, with the Emperor featuring a cool toga-effect. The edge-work on his clothing, his sandals and the brooch are all neat little touches, topped-off with some very cleanly applied paintwork to his hairpiece and the gold laurel wreath that sits upon it.
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It's strange then, when you turn him around to discover that he's sporting the latest in toga-thongs. I'm really not quite sure what's going on there...
Accessory-wise the Roman Emperor comes with a scroll, tampo transfered onto a single tile piece. I'd have preferred to see a custom piece here, which - given how little the Emperor has in the way of unique parts - I don't think would be asking too much. I've no idea how production costs are calculated for the Lego line, but maybe the extra paint/tampo detail is responsible for the quality of his accessories.
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On the plus-side the scroll fits neatly into his hand and the tile's ''port'' can also be popped onto the hand's raised half should you wish to display him holding it in a different manner, as you can see in the above image.
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As is the norm, the Roman Emperor sports the standard Lego Minifigure articulation set up, namely a swivel head, swivel arm joints, swivel wrists and swivel legs.
Final Thoughts
Whilst the Roman Emperor is a neat looking figure, he's really hampered by his lack of interesting accessories. I wish Lego had given him a ''proper'' scroll or a rod of office or other such accessory, as the flat tile - however nicely printed - looks, well, flat.
Still, let's not dwell on what should have been and instead consider what we have. And that's a figure with some really detailed tampo work, a neat color scheme and some very cleanly-applied paint. It's a shame about his exposed butt, but that aside it's this paintwork that really saves the figure from being a total write-off.
If you're a fan of historical Lego then you'll probably really like this little Roman Emperor, as he makes an ideal companion piece to the Series 6 Roman Soldier. I could also see him as a neat addition to any kind of theatrical set (such as the upcoming Palace Cinema) or even working with the upcoming Star Trek Kre-Os (Plato's Stepchildren, anyone?) But beyond that, he does seem a little out of place and not quite as adaptable as some of the other figures in the line (if such things bother you.)
Overall, a great-looking figure thanks to some excellent tampos/paintwork, let down by his accessories.
Final Score: B
Image Gallery
For some reason he looks like Khan to me.
ReplyDeleteYou mean ''KHAAAAAAN!'' ?
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