71053 Shrek CMF LEGO Review - CMF, 2026

Fairy tale denizens from a land far far away...otherwise known as Denmark.

TL;DR:

• Original Price: $4.99 (each)
• Pieces: 8 (more or less)
• Minifigure(s): Yes
• Sticker Sheet: No
  
• Pros: New molds, same price
• Cons: Some of the designs look wonky, less re-usable than previous CMFs

As usual, I pre-ordered this series in its entirety from Minifigures Plus, and as usual they did a phenomenal job. For just a little extra cost you can ensure that you get all twelve minifigures in the set, with no duplicates, no digging through piles, and no frustration or disappointment. The collection arrived quickly and intact, with no issues. It's very convenient for a reviewer and fan like me to be able to focus my attention on building and discussing the sets, rather than hunting them down. I highly recommend Minifigures Plus to anyone who wants a similar excellent experience.

I also used the Minifig Scan iOS app (which has been updated to include this latest CMF) to confirm each box's contents before even opening them. Its gotten even more accurate and quick over the years, and can easily identify stacks of four at a time. I similarly recommend using this app when hunting for that perfect single figure in a brick and mortar store.

I'll be reviewing each of the minifigs individually, as I usually do, and then provide my score for the set as a whole. It's worth noting that this is the first year (as far as I can remember) where the CMF checklist isn't numbered, so I'll simply be going in order as if it were numbered.

[fun group photo?]

#1 Thelonious: 

Part Count: 7
Accessory: Cue card, microphone
Dual-Printed Head: No
Spare Parts: Yes, microphone

Lord Farquaad's loyal executioner looks good in LEGO. The hood seems to be a new mold, and the printing on the torso and cue card are nice. Underneath the hood is a solid black minifigure head piece. This minifigure not only captures the essence of the character, but could also be used for other purposes.

#1: 🧱🧱🧱🧱

#2 Puss in Boots & Blind Mouse: 

Part Count: 8
Accessory: Loot bag
Dual-Printed Head: No
Spare Parts: Yes, plume

This was surprising: while the torso and tail are the same as the Puss minifigure in 72423 (buildable Shrek & Donkey), the head and feet are completely different. I was expecting (for the purpose of cost-cutting if for no other reason) that they would use the exact same minifigure. Instead, they have a completely different head print and short legs. The designers were clearly going for the "small Puss with big kitten eyes" look that he has when we first meet him in Shrek 2. It doesn't look bad, and the scale definitely feels more proportional when compared with the other minifigures, but I like the overall look of the full-size minifig in 72423 better. This is also the first of the Three Blind Mice that we get.

#2: 🧱🧱🧱🧱

 

#3 Gingy: 

Part Count: 6
Accessory: Lollipop
Dual-Printed Head: No
Spare Parts: No

At first glance, this appeared to be simply a reuse of the gingerbread man head used in other sets (introduced, I believe in CMF 11), though those ones seem to be round at the bottom, where Gingy's is flattened. This is confirmed by New Elementary, which lists Gingy's head under "New Moulds, Minifig Heads". The lollipop is a new printing, as are the decorations on Gingy's body (including the gumdrop buttons). Overall this minifig looks fine, but feels a bit underwhelming compared to the others in this set. It also is amusing that Gingy—who is either the same height as the Three Blind Mice, or even a little smaller—is represented by a full-sized minifig, while Puss (who is easily twice their height) is represented with a short minifig. Perhaps Gingy could have been a small single-mold like the Mice, and given to Thelonious as an extra accessory; this would have freed up a minifig slot for another character, perhaps Rumplestiltskin, to broaden the range of movies drawn from, and would also have allowed the designers to re-use the full-size Puss as well. 

#3: 🧱🧱🧱

 

#4 Shrek: 

Part Count: 9
Accessory: Book, torn page
Dual-Printed Head: No
Spare Parts: No

It's time to discuss the ogre in the room. The biggest complaint I've seen about this series is the new-molded heads, and Shrek's is called out as the worst. I can't say I disagree with this opinion: the overall shape is pointier, especially at the top of his head and chin, than the actual character design; and while I appreciate that they tried to give him a thick neck, it just doesn't read well, especially not with the hard creases at the back. Some commentators also point out how much bigger this minifigure's head is than Fiona's, but having re-watched the movies to prepare for this review, I can say that this is actually lore-correct: Fiona's head is smaller than Shrek's in the movies, possibly due to her being born a human and cursed into ogrehood (the other female ogres we see in Shrek Forever After are built more like Shrek, as far as their head size goes). 

The wide grin and bright eyes also don't feel true to the character: even at his happiest, his eyes tend to squint. It sees like they tried to quirk his right eyebrow up a bit—signature to Shrek's snarky nature—but it's too subtle. A rounder head, a narrower neck, a less-protruding chin, and a more-accurate expression would have gone a long way to making this a top-notch representation of an iconic character. The tunic and skirt piece are fine, and the plaid on the pants is nice, but the boot printing is only on the toes, making the legs look like their printing just ends. The darker brown color should have been brought up to above the ankle, where the plaid printing stops, since his pants are tucked into his shoes. Dual-molding would also have worked, as it did with may of the other minifigures in this collection.

The book and its pages are my favorite part of this minifig, which is rather telling. 

#4: 🧱🧱

 

#5 Elizabeth (Dragon): 

Part Count: 6
Accessory: None
Dual-Printed Head: No
Spare Parts: No

As pointed out on New Elementary, the wing and tail pieces are recolors, while the head is an entirely new mold. It doesn't look bad, and does a good job of transforming a massive beast into a minifigure (further weight in the "Puss shouldn't have been stuck with short legs" argument, since like Gingy she's presented at a completely different scale than in the movies). The printing is plain but effective, reminding me of the printing on most of the CMF 28 figures, and the use of dark red to accent her spikes and wings is not only accurate but it looks good too. That said, like Gingy, she feels a bit bare-bones. I would have loved to get an accessory with this minifig, perhaps a little donk-dragon baby, or even just a minifigure skull, as a nod to her past employment.

#5: 🧱🧱🧱🧱

 

#6 Fiona & Donkey: 

Part Count: 6
Accessory: None
Dual-Printed Head: No
Spare Parts: No

The printing on both of their faces is much more successful than on Shrek's, and Fiona's head shape feels more natural and true to character. The printing on her torso is also quite nice. It's worth noting that the peg for Donkey's head is smaller than the standard minifigure head; it seems to be more in line with the size of Scooby Doo's neck post, and is therefore the same diameter as a standard LEGO pole (for example, a lightsaber bar). You could, therefore, stick his head on a pole and turn him into a hobby horse (not quite the transformation he underwent in the second movie).

As with the other minifigures in this set, however, it feels like the new molds sucked up all of the budget, leaving the figures themselves feeling rather lonely. Even the Unicorn Elf from CMF 29 got a crystal chalice to hold. Perhaps a little blue flower with red thorns (made of a green ice cream cone part with a red leaf part and blue sunflower part) could have been included, adding that much more charm to the existing set. 

#6: 🧱🧱🧱

 

#7 Merlin: 

Part Count: 8
Accessory: Trans-blue power blasts
Dual-Printed Head: No
Spare Parts: No

This is one of my favorite minifigs in this collection, in part because it does such a good job of capturing his character and converting it to a minifigure, and in part because of how cool the parts are on their own. The face (behind the beard) has a kindly expression, and the costume is very detailed, including gold braid trim on the cuffs and hem. The inclusion of two magical bursts is also fitting, though perhaps one burst and a book (with "Magic for Knaves") would have been more fun. Still, he's a good figure and I'll definitely be getting at least one more to add to my parts pile.

#7: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱

 

#8 Pinocchio & Blind Mouse: 

Part Count: 5
Accessory: None
Dual-Printed Head: No
Spare Parts: No

There's a missed opportunity here: instead of having his pupils be completely centered in his eyes, they could have printed him slightly crosseyed, which would have made it look like he was looking at his nose. You can also see where the tan printing on his legs over the dual-molded legs (blue top half and white bottom) isn't quite opaque enough to cover the blue, and isn't wide enough to stretch all the way to the inside edges. Otherwise the design is fine and looks like him. Which in my opinion is part of the problem with this set as a whole.

Part of what makes more generic (or random) CMFs like Series 29 so cool to me is the number of neat parts and pieces they include. I love doing figbarfs—where random minifigure parts (and other LEGO pieces) are cobbled together to make something completely new—but I also value having a variety of faces, hair, and body designs available so I can fine-tune minifigures for MOCs. That's why I was so excited about this series, because of the potential of adding to my selection of medieval & fantasy minifigure elements. Sadly, many of these are so close to their character's design (Shrek and Fiona, for example) that using one of their parts would pretty clearly signal "this is Shrek's torso," distracting from the minifigure itself. So, in this case, while the body is generic enough to be potentially useful, the head is not.

#8: 🧱🧱🧱🧱

 

#9 Big Bad Wolf & Blind Mouse: 

Part Count: 5
Accessory: None
Dual-Printed Head: No
Spare Parts: No

As I touched on in my discussion of Pinocchio above, this minifigure could be useful for multiple things (and, indeed, swapping out the hands would make the nightgown fit just about any one, of any species), but the head can't be anything other than the Big Bad Wolf from Shrek. Which is a pity, because the head itself is full of character and rather charming. This is actually the same issue I had with Puss's head piece: by making hat and head a single mold, they reduce the potential for other uses. I realize that isn't their primary concern when designing minifigures, but it's definitely my primary concern when buying them. 

After checking Bricklink, I found that the only inhuman minifigure heads that could potentially wear hats or hair pieces are the Na'vi (from Avatar) and Pigsy (from Monkie Kid). So technically it is possible to have a dimensional wolf minifigure head that also has a stud on top. The tricky part would be in placing the ears so they weren't entirely in the way (like the Na'vi's swept-back ears or Pigsy's flopped-over ones) but without also looking like someone just called him a bad boy or took away his squeaky toy.

Setting aside the dashed hopes of being able to use this for custom minifigures, it does do a good job of representing his character. It might have also been nice to get something extra, perhaps a printed tile with "Pork Illustrated" on it, but that might have been a little too salacious for LEGO standards (though, to be fair, it's perfectly fine for Shrek's PG rating). 

#9: 🧱🧱🧱🧱

 

#10 Lord Farquaad: 

Part Count: 9
Accessory: Magic Mirror
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: No

This minifigure does an ok job of conveying the character, though most of that is done by the outfit. The double-printed minifigure head is a little too generic: while the smirk does fit with Farquaad's usual attitude, the smiling face is simply too pleasant; it would have been better if it were an angry shouting face on that side. Also including some grey stubble would have matched his look (even the officially-sanctioned mascot design that Shrek and Donkey first meet when arriving in Duloc has a five-o'clock shadow) and helped it look less like a little boy in a Lord Farquaad costume. The printing on the Magic Mirror is quite lovely, and seeing his face rendered as a minifigure head gave me a chuckle.

#10: 🧱🧱🧱

 

#11 Fairy Godmother: 

Part Count: 8
Accessory: Wand, "Just a tear drop away" card
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: Yes, wand

The detailing and colors on this are very accurate (more the the point: the wing and wand pieces are new recolors for this set in a lovely trans-purple), though—as with Lord Farquaad—I would have preferred if the other side of her head showed an angry face, as befits a mercurial villain.

#11: 🧱🧱🧱🧱

 

#12 Prince Charming: 

Part Count: 6
Accessory: Sword
Dual-Printed Head: Yes
Spare Parts: No

Out of all the minifigures in this collection, this one deserves a standing ovation. There is no question that 1) this is Prince Charming from Shrek and 2) this is a LEGO minifigure—it blends both so flawlessly that the other figures really should take note. The design of his fleur-de-lis doublet is exquisitely detailed and resplendent with gold printing, his hair piece is a new recolor and just the right wavy shape, and his face is spot on: not only does it have his characteristic overconfident smirk on one side, but the other side actually shows him mad. Where the Shrek minifigure feels more like one of the cardboard costumes from Charming's play, the prince's look is just right.

Add to that the fact that—despite looking so closely like him—each part is also generic enough to be useful in custom minifigures, and you'll see why I'm going to be picking up a few extras of him.  

#12: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱

 

All Together: 🧱🧱🧱🧱

It's easy to see the battle between budget and design in these minifigures: as with the animal masks in CMF 28, the significant number of new molds really ate up the budget, but the designers also worked very hard to translate the Shrek movies' style into LEGO (with greater or lesser success, depending). That budgetary concern even extends to the use of plain black baseplates; I was half hoping that they would at least re-use the stone-printed baseplates from the D&D CMF series, or perhaps Shrek-green with grass printing, or any number of other alternatives (like the trans-orange ones for the Spiderverse CMFs), but the black 3x4 plates are probably the cheapest option, and—up until the D&D series—the expected one for CMFs. As a side note, there are only 3 spare parts in the entire set of 12 minifigures:

This is in part due to the fact that a significant proportion don't come with accessories—even basic, brick-built, or pre-made ones like Thelonious's microphone—which would have definitely improved the overall look and feel of these minifigs, as well as adding storytelling possibilities (like giving Elizabeth a skull or a donk-dragon baby). With the Series 28 minifigs, every single one had something extra, even when every single one also had a new head piece, and many had new tails or arms.

I suspect that part of the reason in this instance is the fact that any licensed IP is going to add to the cost of a set, not to mention the time and effort it takes to design new pieces to accurately represent that IP. Given that, it was at first surprising to find out that these are still $5 each, the price they've had since 2019's DC Super Heroes CMF (CMFs 19-12 were $4, CMFs 11-3 were $3, and CMFs 2 & 1 were $2...which, adjusted for inflation from 2010 would still be only $3). It's laudable that despite the rising costs (both of LEGO sets and of the materials to make them, not to mention power, shipping, water, and all the other factors that go into the calculations of economics) they have maintained these at such an entry-level price. As is the case with polybag sets, these small "pocket change" purchases are often a child's entry into LEGO, or perhaps their first foray into buying them for themselves.

Speaking of accessories, it's also worth noting that the 3 blind mice are identical, which is both a cost-cutting measure and accurate to their design in the movies. This also means that you don't need to collect Puss, Pinocchio, and Wolf to get all three.

Thought it isn't perfect, and some of the figures are better (or more useful) than others, it's still a good attempt at depicting non-human characters in minifigure form. Shrek fans will appreciate the various nods to the lore of the movies, and kids will appreciate being able to build adventures with the colorful cast. 

Score (out of 5 🧱):

• Price: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
• Process: 🧱🧱
• Presentation: 🧱🧱🧱🧱
• Play: 🧱🧱
• Pieces: 🧱🧱🧱🧱

• Total: 🧱🧱🧱

LEGO Instructions: here

I also posted a short video on these, which you can see here.