REVIEW: LEGO Minifigures Series 13 Goblin

#MinifigureMonday!

Welcome once again to Minifigure Monday! Today we're taking a look at the new LEGO Minifigures Series 13 Goblin. Is he worth the time and effort of squeezing those bags and squinting at bump codes? Read on and find out!

Goblin

The Goblin is, as we've come to expect from the Minifigure line, a basic LEGO figure accompanied by some new pieces and tampo transfers to create a new character. Sometimes this works well but other times it can result in a fairly bland figure. Thankfully the Goblin definitely falls into the former camp.

As you can see, even stripped of all his accessory pieces, he's still a pretty good-looking figure, thanks to some nice tampo work and a nice color scheme.

I'd say if you were looking for a medieval zombie, then you just found him.

Add his hat (and ears!) and the figure is completely transformed. It's amazing how just a single piece can make such a difference and it's definitely the ''character piece'' of the figure. I also appreciate that the hat has its own tampo work that really works with the body/leg transfers and continues the ''raggedy'' theme.

Unfortunately there's no back print, though, which is a little disappointing. Unless you're really into goblin thongs.

Accessory-wise, the Goblin comes with a really neat sword (which I'm sure is a relic from the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit range) and a great little swag bag. According to the LEGO site, this is where he hides all those bricks you misplace when building, only to then find when you stand on them...!

I love the dented detailing on the sword and although it may be a little large for him, it still looks great. The sack is also a neat touch and if you're somebody who likes unusual or special pieces, then you'll find a lot of uses later for this, as it's a great accessory and decorative piece (it has ports on the base to allow it to clip onto LEGO studs.)

The Goblin, of course, uses the standard LEGO Minifigure articulation set-up: swivel neck joint, swivel shoulders, swivel wrists and hinged hips. It's not a massively expressive arrangement when compared to something like the Mega Bloks Micro Action Figures or even the Kre-on figures but it's fine for what it is.

Final Thoughts

The Goblin is another Minifigure that will fit into a variety of scenarios or settings. He'd make an ideal henchman for one of your Marvel supervillains (or with a bit of repainting, he'd form the perfect base for a Silver Age Green Goblin...), he'll fit right in with your Castle and Middle Earth sets or as a creature for your Monster Fighters to combat or even as a sewer-dwelling gribbly your Ultra Agents will be called upon to tackle. It's like the LEGO create and construct ethos taken to figure form. Wow, meta...

As with all LEGO Minifigures, it's about reusing and recycling pieces and parts to create new characters and in this case it's most definitely a successful venture. The Goblin oozes character. You can totally see where LEGO's designers were going with him, in that he's not so much a scary, evil creature as he is a trickster-y, sneak-thief annoyance who's more likely to drop his sword and run than he is actually use it. It's a really fun design and the execution does it justice.

Sure, his lack of back-print is disappointing but that's a very minor point, especially when you consider his hat accessory's transfer work. Add to this a couple of great accessories (as I say, the bag is awesome) and the overall effect is very positive.

A great-looking fantasy character with some neat tampo work and cool accessories.

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