Cute, but overall an unfortunate series of missed opportunities.
TL;DR:
- Original Price: $4.99
- Pieces: 7
- Minifigure(s): Yes
- Sticker Sheet: No
- Pros: Not-unattractive, a few new molds
- Cons: Feels like a downgrade from previous CMFs, victim of cost-cutting?
I pre-ordered this from Minifigures Plus, and as always they did an amazing job. Some lego fans might enjoy the "thrill of the hunt," weighing, shaking, or scanning boxes in the various local stores...or worse ordering them individually or in un-guaranteed 6-packs (I've read several reviews on previous CMFs where purchasers got three of one and three of another in such a thing); I, on the other hand, prefer to be sure that I'm getting one of each. I've actually used Minifigures Plus for this before: first with the Dungeons & Dragons CMF (because I knew I'd be making use of all the parts), then Series 25 and Series 27, not to mention various figures I needed to complete my Disney and Space collections. Their customer service is exceptional, and their handling is swift. For anyone wanting to get a full set of minigures (or grab one or two), I wholly recommend them. (Note: when buying the full set, the price for each minifig is the same, but when buying individually the price can vary wildly—for example, in Series 27, $3.29 for the Longboarder vs. $21.99 for the Wolfpack Beastmaster)
I also used the Minifig Scan iOS app (as you can see in the composite photo above) to check that all boxes were there before even opening them. I also recommend using this app when in the store hunting for that perfect single figure.
In the interest of efficiency, I'll be reviewing each of them individually, and then provide my score for the set as a whole. Buckle up, we're getting spidery!
#1 Peacock:
Accessory: Sunflower
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: Yes - 1x1 reddish brown round plate
The new molds (mask, tail, legs) and printing (torso) certainly make this a flashy start to the collection. The sunflower is an interesting accessory pairing, evoking the eye markings in the tail and also perhaps making reference to the fact that both peacocks and sunflowers were popular artistic symbols and subjects in the Art Nouveau movement (though it's probably more likely just a coincidence). It's worth noting that the tail piece is the same as the solid brown used for the Turkey costume, but recolored and with printing.
#1: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
#2 Cat:
Part Count: 7
Accessory: Yarn ball
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: No
Some simple but effective printing on the torso and the same pink yarnball that first appeared in CMF 27's cat lover makes this seem budget-conscious without seeming too cheap.
#2: 🧱🧱🧱
#3 Fish:
Accessory: Fish food
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: Yes - 1x1 medium azure round tile
The gold scale printing on the torso and head piece are quite nice, and the head's expressions are suitably cheerful. My biggest issue with this figure is the solid head-to-tail piece—a new mold—which I'll discuss in greater detail in my summing-up below, but is especially limiting given the figure's medium-length legs. The fish's face looks awkward from the front, but at an angle it's a bit more naturalistic.
#3: 🧱🧱
#4 Monkey:
Part Count: 7
Accessory: Banana
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: No
I particularly like this one from a character point of view, with the minifigure head doing much of the heavy lifting in that regard: one side shows a cheekily playful face, sticking out his tongue, the other a more rough-and-tumble visage. The costume's head is a new mold, but the tail is the same as used in several of the Monkie Kid sets, but now in reddish brown rubber instead of dark orange. As is the case with most of the minifigures in this series, the printing is limited to a few details on the front, specifically the belly and toes (also discussed in my summing-up below).
#4: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
#5 Frog:
Accessory: Bubble jar and wand
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: Yes - 1x1 white round tile, 1x1 white plate with bar, 1x1 dome
LEGO loves its frogs, and this one is no different: in addition to legs that are not only double-molded but printed with two colors (the only one in this set, apart from the Crocodile), it also gets a new color—satin trans-clear—of the 1x1 2/3 tall dome piece, which is perfect for the bubbles he's blowing. I could see it being useful for micro-scale greenhouses or space habitats, for example. The frog head isn't that bad either, and definitely adds to the playfulness of this figure.
#5: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
#6 Koala:
Part Count: 7
Accessory: Boomerang & plant
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: Yes - bright green plant stem with three leaves
The medium-length legs fit a koala's stature quite well, though it might have been nice to get some toe claws printed on them as was done with the Lion and Crocodile; on the other hand, it's good to get plain medium legs for use in other figures. The sleep mask-wearing face is also a great one to have handy, but the mouth of the koala mask is a bit...unsettling.
#6: 🧱🧱🧱
#7 Dalmatian:
Part Count: 7
Accessory: X
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: No
Surprisingly, the Dalmatian has three-color printing on its torso as the cat did, for the collar; the costume's head is also a new dual mold. The tail is the same mold as the one used for the Lizard in the Spider-Man vs. Sandman: Final Battle set (worn up here in white, where the Lizard's was facing downward and in olive green). And speaking of Spider-Man, I've seen people recommend using this figure's arms to replace the plain white ones used for The Spot's minifigure. Though still pretty simple, this is one of the better minifigures in this collection: like the Monkey, the Dalmatian's face goes a long way to making this a whole character, rather than just someone wearing a costume.
#7: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
#8 Crocodile:
Part Count: 7
Accessory: Rubber duck, inner tube
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: No
This minifigure is clearly a reference to the classic crocodile animal figure, which makes it all the more disappointing. The teeth and spikes have just the right chunky roundedness, and there's a wonderful mischievousness in that grin, but it's taken down several pegs by the fact that this is another single-piece head-to-tail costume. A lot of money (and material) went into that one piece, and I for one would much rather have seen it broken into two (mask and hip-mounted tail with the spikes printed down the back, or better still hip-mounted tail, mask, and a neck-mounted spike piece to run down the back, now that would have made this a top-tier minifig). I actually missed the fact that the legs had two-color printing at first glance, the dark green knee-swirls are so close in tone to the green of the plastic (perhaps doing them in black like the toes or yellow like the belly would have worked better).
The accessories on the other hand are nice.
#8: 🧱🧱🧱
#9 Dolphin:
Part Count: 7
Accessory: Seashell with pearl
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: Yes, 1x1 satin trans-light blue jewel
While this also has the dreaded head-and-tail, it actually looks ok compared to the others. I could see this being used for a fountain, for example, perhaps using one of the rounded 1x1 "D-SNOT" bricks within the head space to hold the base of a water jet. A pretty cute minifigure, overall, but it still feels a bit basic and first-draft.
#9: 🧱🧱🧱
#10 Bunny:
Part Count: 7
Accessory: Basket & egg
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: No
The head on this is a new mold, with previous bunny masks having both ears up—a little symmetry adds a good deal of character. The accessories make it clear that this young lady is cosplaying as the Easter Bunny, with the medium legs in tan being a nice addition to the spare parts bin. As mentioned before, the extremely simplistic printing on the torso makes it feel like someone sent their first draft in instead of the final; the printing on the egg, on the other hand, is quite sharp and attractive: I could almost see someone picking up extras of this particular minifigure just for the egg.
#10: 🧱🧱🧱
#11 Lion:
Part Count: 7
Accessory: Drumstick
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: No
The best part about the lion is the new tail mold. The face's freckles are pretty cute too, but like the others this suffers from an overly-simplified printing approach.
#11: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
#12 Parrot:
Part Count: 7
Accessory: X
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: No
The most impressive thing about this figure is also the tail...or two tails, in this case. The double-fabric tends to stick straight out, even if you give it a good crease, but it still looks impressive (and way better than if it had been a head-and-tail piece like the Dolphin's). The box of birdseed is cute, and I appreciate how her makeup matches the colors of her costume, a nice touch.
#12: 🧱🧱🧱
#1 Peacock: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
#2 Cat: 🧱🧱🧱
#3 Fish: 🧱🧱
#4 Monkey: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
#5 Frog: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
#6 Koala: 🧱🧱🧱
#7 Dalmatian: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
#8 Crocodile: 🧱🧱🧱
#9 Dolphin: 🧱🧱🧱
#10 Bunny: 🧱🧱🧱
#11 Lion: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
#12 Parrot: 🧱🧱🧱
Average: 🧱🧱🧱 (Final score will also take into account overall questions of value, play, etc, as delineated below.)
I unsurprisingly didn't have much to say about each one specifically, because there's so little going on with them. That said, there are a few callouts and overall themes I'd like to mention.
- The Fish, Dolphin, and Crocodile heads are a single piece, draping down the back to also form the tail. I find this to be a lackluster solution for several reasons: it prevents the head from turning as it would with a mask, it severely limits the figure's torso movement as well, it takes up a space at least two studs deep behind the figure, and it reduces usability (eg, if the Crocodile had a head piece and a tail piece, that means the tail could be used for Chima figures, for example, and the head for a Mardi Gras costume). They could even have made use of existing molds, like the new hip-mounted dragon tail created for the new Ninjago sets. But instead we have these oversized and awkward single pieces. It will be interesting to see what MOC creators end up using them for.
- The Peacock and Goldfish torsos are completely reversible, due to having identical printing on front and back and having symmetrical arm pieces:
- This is also a good point to mention that the wide shoulders of the feathery and flippery arms mean that they can't be raised above a certain point without making the costume heads pop off:
- Torso (and, in a few instances, leg) printing is minimal, being limited to one color only; by contrast, even the simple Baby Monkey King minifigure has two- and three-color printing, which allows for a more detailed result. While these minifigures are all supposed to be costumes, and therefore not highly detailed as though they were actually frogs and dogs and suchlike, a bit more detail might have improved that look, perhaps by adding stitched seams or fabric creases, or even a bit more of an indication of texture. I've heard a few people complain about the holiday sweaters in Advent calendars (especially the Star Wars ones), since it's a relatively cheap way to make a "new" figure: generic solid-color legs, heads from preexisting models, and solid color torsos with multicolor printing. My counterpoint to this argument is the fact that each holiday sweater is designed, often with cheeky references or visual puns, and each one is different, making them a part of the character and story (and way more impressive and desirable than if they were all the same generic sweaters). That's how I see the printing on these figures: as generic, basic, first draft, and unimpressive on the whole.
- Tail pieces could be useful, most for costumes and similar applications, but the peacock tail stands out as having decorative applications (a fireplace screen, an art deco pediment ornament, or perhaps upside-down as a trailing skirt for a statue)
Because of the wide mouths on these costume heads, the Head from the Orca minifigure (LEGO Batman Movie CMF Series 1) has already become quite expensive and hard to find, so I tried other options, as shown below. Left to right, we have a black minifigure head, a 1x1 round brick, and a 1x1 cone, in different colors that might be appropriate for the inside of an animal's mouth. The best solution seems to be a minifigure head, plain, which fills the whole inside of the mouth (just as a regular minifigure head would). The 1x1 round brick was a surprising success as well, especially if using red, because it gives the impression of a tongue within the mouth, while the space around it recedes into shadowy darkness. The 1x1 cone would have worked even better, were it not for the X of axle grips built into the inside, which prevented it from sliding all the way down the minifigure's neck (perhaps this could be remedies by adding several capes or other neck-mounted gear, but that would be a stretch). This is all great news as I have tons of 1x1 round bricks in various red colors, and swapping that out would free up the minifigure heads to be used for other things.
And speaking of creative uses, I know a lot of AFOLs like to build themed habitat blocks for entire CMF Series. It will be interesting to see what habitats people think up for these creature-loving minifigs. It would be easy to make zoo enclosures or wild environments, but I could also see a lot of opportunity for puns and other silliness. While their costumes' simplicity doesn't provide much in the way of inspiration on its own, it also leaves things very open to interpretation, so that's a bit of a bright-side view.
On the whole, these felt very...budget-conscious, much in the same vein as 2025's Star Wars Advent calendar, with cost-cutting measures reducing part count and complexity wherever possible (by contrast, look at the richness of 2025's City Advent calendar, where the costumes have three or four colors printed on them, in addition to entirely new molds). And in the same way, compare CMF Series 28 with the phenomenal Dungeons & Dragons CMF Series, where there was printing in multiple colors, often two accessories, several pets, and where many figures came with not only double-printed heads, but two heads for more representational flexibility. Those minifigures were a smorgasbord for MOCers and figbarf projects, and worth far more than their identical $4.99 price. These, on the other hand, feel more like something one might expect from a knockoff brand, one that couldn't afford the design and manufacturing costs of really elaborate minifigures; granted, the usual LEGO quality is still present, but that doesn't make for a truly impressive product, just a good one.
And speaking of LEGO's usual qualities, the best figures in this set (Monkey, Dalmatian, Lion), as well as most of the others, did put a bit of effort into crafting a character for each one within the obvious budgetary limitations. It's just a pity that they had to be hamstrung, with so many unique molds (especially those head-to-tail ones) preventing the wildly unbounded creativity that has made previous CMFs so fantastic. With many of those other series (D&D, Space, 27) I actually have multiples of some of the minifigs, either because they were just too cool on their own (Dragonborn Paladin and Steampunk Inventor, for example) or because they just had too many good parts (pretty much all of D&D) that I could use in a bunch of other ways. By contrast, I don't see myself getting duplicates of any of Series 28.
Score (out of 5 🧱):
- Price: 🧱🧱
- Process: 🧱🧱
- Presentation: 🧱🧱
- Play: 🧱🧱🧱
- Pieces: 🧱🧱
- Total: 🧱🧱
Lego Instructions: here
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