Lego Minifigures
Series 14: Monsters (Part 4)
Spider Lady
A nice riff on Elvira and to some degree the Bride of
Frankenstein, the Spider Lady also serves as a great partner for the Vampire,
who appeared all the way back in Series 2!
At initial glance, she looks fairly simplistic in her design
– beehive hairdo, spider-web dress and a red spider accessory. But there are a
couple of little details that elevate her above your average Halloween costume.
One is a little spiderweb printed on her hairpiece, which (intentionally or
not) is a nice little reference to an old urban legend about
beehive hairdos. She’s not my favourite figure from the series, but she’s a
fun addition to the overall horror theme.
Square Foot
It’s been two years since we saw this mould – it was
originally introduced as the Yeti’s
head back in Series 11. Not a huge surprise that we saw it reused in this
form, but it’s certainly welcome. It’s a really nice touch that he comes with a
camera, given the prevalence of alleged Bigfoot/Sasquatch photos out there –
his official bio over at Lego.com
even makes reference to his keen amateur photographic endeavours.
Given the iconic status that Bigfoot has in the cryptid
world and wider popular culture, it was only a matter of time till we got a
Lego take on him. My only real disappointment was that the paint on his teeth
is a little bit sloppy. The Yeti had similar issues, so I suppose it’s not that
surprising.
Banshee
What do you think of when you think of Ireland? I’d be
willing to bet that leprechauns rank fairly highly. But there’s another Irish
creature of folklore that’s arguably as famous – the banshee. Rendered in Lego
form, she’s pretty endearing, but the banshee actually has a pretty grim
history. In traditional Irish folklore, the wailing, screeching or singing of a
banshee was typically seen as an omen of death. Of course, Lego didn’t go that
route – she’s described as being more of an omen of inconvenience or minor
accidents in her official bio.
Like the Specter, she uses the smoke waft/spirit piece for
her legs. Her top half is dressed in a ragged peasant blouse. Her hair is also
cast in translucent plastic, which adds nicely to the overall ghostly effect –
however, I think they should have gone all out and simply cast her in entirely
translucent plastic. It would have looked really cool, and elevated her from being
fun and entertaining to being great.
Monster Scientist
Mad scientists are a staple of the horror genre, with my personal
favourite probably being the guy from Dr
Butcher, M.D. aka Zombie Holocaust
– a movie which lacks a lot in plot (famously lifting most of it, including actors
and footage, from Zombie Flesh Eaters)
but makes up for it in enthusiasm and genuinely frightening/disgusting scenes.
For some strange reason Lego have decided to be a little more
restrained in their depiction of mad scientists, so they’ve given us the creator
of the Fly Monster. The only real indication of this is the fly printed on the Erlenmeyer
flask he’s holding, but that’s good enough for me. He’s also spilt a bunch of
the purple fluid on himself, so he’s obviously not very careful. I hope that’s
thick protective gear he’s wearing.
With his headpiece on, this was initially my least favourite
figure from the series. He does have a full face printed underneath there, but
he doesn’t look particularly sinister or zany – more like someone’s grandpa. But
it has grown on me more than I expected; I suppose Lego will probably reuse the
piece for a future Ultra Agents set,
where it seems that anything goes.
And thus we wrap Lego Minifigures Series 14: Monsters. As
always, it has been a tremendous pleasure – Lego has really been on the
up-and-up with these figures. I can’t wait to see what they do for Series 15,
which will presumably be launching early 2016. Stick around on the LBC, as we
will have more reviews coming up shortly.
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