#88: LEGO Minifigures series 17 - Rocket Boy

Rocket boy is a person in a costume, which is one of my favorite sub-themes to the various series of LEGO minifigures. It's a very cool rocket costume, with the face looking out from a porthole. Underneath, the kid is wearing a grey jumpsuit with the old school LEGO space series design on his chest, which is reproduced in a more hand-drawn looking form on his flag. Maybe this is Benny as a child? If this series is even in stores any more, it's easy to find the rocket boy by feeling for the rocket piece, which is very distinctively shaped.

#64: LEGO Minifigures Series 17 - Connoisseur

I think my local Target ordered way too many cases of the LEGO Batman Movie series of minifigures, because series 17 never showed up there. While visiting a Target in a different town, I was able to find some of the series 17 minifigures still in stock. The stereotypical French guy is officially known as "Connoisseur" which I guess is a better name than stereotypical French guy. It's French, even. I mostly wanted this minifigure because it comes with a baguette and a French bulldog, which is way too cute. Why a French bulldog and not a poodle? I don't know. Poodles seem more stereotypically French to me. He's pretty easy to find through the bag by feeling for the baguette.

#60 LEGO Star Wars Microfighters - Wookiee Gunship (75129)

This was another birthday gift. Since this is a Wookiee who isn't Chewbacca (you can tell because he's completely nude), this is a set based on Revenge of the Sith. But it turns out there is a larger Wookiee Gunship set that's based on Rebels, so maybe not. My Shyriiwook is terrible, I can't come up with an appropriate name for him, so I'll just go with Frank. Frank's bowcaster looks suspiciously like a regular crossbow. I've never had a Chewbacca minifigure before, is this "crossbow as bowcaster" treatment standard for Wookiees in LEGO form? The gunship itself is a fun little build, with adjustable wings and flick out missiles.

#20: The LEGO Batman Movie - The Scuttler (70908)

As cool as the Batmobile is, it is ultimately limiting as a purely wheel based ground based vehicle. Traffic can be killer. The Tumbler addressed this by being able to leap around on rooftops, but the Scuttler does it one better. Basically looking like a giant mechanical bat walking around, the Scuttler can handle a wider variety of terrain with its leg based locomotion. Not only that, it can convert to flight mode for when land based travel just won't cut it. While this set doesn't have an alternate build for that configuration (although I'm sure someone has already worked one out), that's the way it worked in the movie. I thought the Scuttler was really cool in the movie, enough so that I was convinced to buy the most expensive LEGO set I've ever bought for myself. You know how sometimes aspects of different adaptations work their way back into the comics (most famously Harley Quinn from the Animated Series)? I hope the Scuttler or something like it makes its way back into the comics. The toy itself is quite cool looking. The legs and head are posable, there's a net launcher, a couple stud launchers, and the front legs are also extendable. The set comes packaged in seven bags and took a fair amount of time to assemble.

Part of the fun of a big LEGO set is all the minifigures, and here are the non-costumed types. There's a Barbara Gordon in a tactical police outfit. The vest is really thick at the top, making her head sit oddly high. It's one of those things you can't un-see once you've seen it. Next up is the James Gordon, wearing his formal dress uniform. Rounding this half of the minifigures out is Dick Grayson in his 70s prom formalwear. The hair and glasses are one piece, and he has beady eyes printed on his head.

There's the obligatory Batman, who has a jetpack. Poison Ivy also has some sort of plant monster she can ride around on. The Joker has a "bang" flag gun and ridiculously long coattails. That's definitely my favorite part of his design.

#14: The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures - Catman

I think that most people who are fans of Catman can think Gail Simone's runs on Secret Six. I am definitely one of those people. While Catman did have a six inch figure from Mattel a couple years back, it was a pleasant surprise to see him show up in the movie series, and of course it was one of must haves. The claws he uses are more like brass knuckles, but for the minifigure they are Wolverine claws, so they are kind of too long. But that's understandable, as it's a way to save on new tooling. Interestingly, Catman's mask is completely different from Batman's. This is one of the pieces that you can feel for, it feels different from a Batman mask  because the ears are shorter, and more distinctively there's no chin strap piece to it. The claws are also something fairly distinctive to feel for.

#13: The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures - Red Hood

Ever since The Killing Joke, it's more or less been accepted canon that the Joker was operating under the Red Hood identity prior to getting dumped in a vat of chemicals, and that even survived into the New 52. So that's basically what you're getting here, a guy in a nice suit with a cape and dome over head head, armed with a couple pistols. Feeling for the dome or the pistols is probably the best way to find him. Interestingly, the head underneath the dome is the modern Jason Todd Red Hood mask. I'm not sure if this is true, but I'm assuming all the characters in this minifigures series will be in the movie. So how does Red Hood figure into it? I would guess a flashback for the Joker, since he seems to be the primary antagonist of the movie. Since this version of Batman is just starting to work with Dick Grayson as Robin, having Jason Todd wouldn't make any sense. So the Jason Todd head here is probably just a fun Easter egg. I guess we'll find out in a couple weeks!

#12: The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures - Vacation Batman

The other Batman variant I wanted to get was Vacation Batman. Normally Batman doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would let himself take a vacation, but LEGO Batman isn't quite so serious. He may be all about Darkness and the color black, but he likes to have a good time as well. So this is Batman ready for some pool-time fun. He's got his bat-trunks, bat print aloha shirt, flippers, goggles, and floatation device. The goggles are a permanent part of the cowl. I found him in the packaging by feeling for the big round flotation device, although the swim fins are somewhat distinctive as well.

#11: The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures - Fairy Batman

Target got another case of two of the LEGO Batman Movie minifigures in, so I was finally able to get the rest of them that I wanted. Naturally, Fairy Batman is a must have. I don't know what role this costume will play in the movie, but hopefully it's more than a background cameo. Batman in a pink fairy costume with a wand is just one of those things that you'll probably either love or hate, and I'm definitely in the loving it camp. Finding this one is probably easiest by looking for the wings piece, although the skirt and wand are helpful as well.

#3: LEGO Marvel Super Heroes - Mighty Micros: Iron Man vs Thanos (76072)

This is my first foray into the LEGO Micro Minis sub-line. This one features Thanos riding around in a car that looks like the Inifinity Gauntlet, so of course I had to buy it. Thanos himself has an Infinity Gauntlet that can go on his hand. It's exactly the kind of ridiculous that I love. The mini in the name seems to correspond to the minifigures as well as their vehicles. Instead of the standard legs, they have the shorter unarticulated legs usually used for child or short characters. I'm assuming that's to help keep costs down, because two figures and two vehicles for ten bucks is remarkably cheap for a LEGO set. Also included is Iron Man (with a hair piece if you want an unmasked Tony Stark) in a more classic style of armor than usually seen these days.. His car looks like a more traditional go kart with repulsor jets added to the back. He also gets a wrench.

#2: The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures - Nurse Harley Quinn

Although I didn't find all the minifigures I wanted on my first try, a more recent visit to Target yielded at least some new minifigures to search through. Although I still haven't found Catman and Pink Fairy Batman, I was at least able to find the Nurse Harley Quinn minifigure. Presumably this is meant as an homage to Nurse Harley from the fantastic Arkham Asylum video game. Her accessory is a clipboard from Arkham with a file for the Joker on it. She's written "H + J" in the middle of a heart on it. Since it is a 2x2 flat plate, it is one of the easy ways to narrow down the search for Harley through the packaging, as only a few characters in this series have one. The other main way to identify her is by her big pig-tailed hair piece.

#122: LEGO - Birthday Table Decoration (40153)

So this is kind of a weird little set. It's a birthday table decoration. Not a cake topper! The box specifically states that it is for "table decoration only." Basically it's a cake that a jester can pop out of, like you see strippers doing in movies. The jester is a half minifigure (no legs) that sits on one end of a lever. Pushing down on the other end causes the top of the cake and the jester to rise. There are pieces to customize the number corresponding to the age of the person whose birthday is being celebrated, with a range of one to ninety nine. Since it's nowhere near my birthday, I opted to go with 42 for display purposes.

#117: The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures - King Tut

King Tut was one of the more memorable villains from the 1966 Batman TV series, and now he's back in Pog LEGO form. I'm guessing all these lower tier villains are there mostly as a Joker induced distraction for Batman rather than having any major role, but it is cool that some of them are getting what is probably their first and only toy. King Tut is probably most easily found by feeling for either his staff or the snake. Either one is distinctive enough and easy to feel for that he is easy to find through the packaging.

#116: The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures - Orca

Orca is a repaint of the guy in a shark suit minifigure that was available recently. She's easy to feel for because she's the only minifigure with flippers for arms, and the big body piece has a dorsal fin and a tail. The "head" piece has the inside of a mouth painted on it, complete with uvula and tongue. If you swap that piece into the shark suit guy, you have just made a King Shark custom. A King Shark minifigure being made seems unlikely, so that might be your best bet.

#115: The LEGO Batman Movie Minifigures - Lobster Lovin' Batman

I'd heard the street date for LEGO Batman Movie minifigures was the first day of the upcoming year, but I found some at Target a few days before Christmas. There wasn't a whole display, so I wasn't able to get all of the minifigures that I want, but I did get some of them. I had to get Lobster Lovin' Batman (as seen in the trailers) because I just love that LEGO Batman keeps his mask on, even when he's home relaxing in Wayne Manor. And he's wearing a smoking jacket-esque robe. The easiest way to find this one is by feeling for the platter, which is particularly large. The lobster is also a good way to feel for it.

#81: LEGO Minifigures series 16 - Penguin Boy

The penguin boy is the other costumed minifigure that I wanted to get from this series. Not only is it a kid in a penguin costume, he is also wearing ice skates. It's pretty easy to feel for him in the package, because it's the only minifigure in this series with the winged torso. The ice skates are also pretty distinctive pieces to feel for.

#80: LEGO Minifigures series 16 - Cute Little Devil

While the first time I found this series, it had already been picked over so I was only able to get the banana costume guy, fortunately there was a re-stock, so I was able to get the rest of the minifigures I wanted from this series. I'm a fan of the minifigures in costume, and here is another one who is also a trick 'r treater like the skeleton costume guy. They both have different designs on their treat buckets, which is a nice touch. It's pretty easy to find by feeling for the wings or the pitchfork. Although really, the pitchfork looks more like a trident. Also since it's a child, it can help to feel for the non-articulated legs as well.

#66: LEGO Minifigures Series 16 - Banana Guy

As usual, the latest series of LEGO minifigures showed up locally a little later than it tends to elsewhere. Unfortunately, when I found the display it had already been mostly picked over, so the only one I was able to find that I wanted was the Banana Guy. Fortunately, that was the one I wanted most, as I am a fan of the people in costume. Finding him is pretty easy, as the banana piece is pretty distinctive. It's pretty large so that helps make it easy to find.

#63: LEGO Ghostbusters - Ecto 1 & 2 (75828)

Rounding out all the toys I picked up from the Ghostbusters, here's the LEGO set featuring Ecto 1 and Ecto 2. Naturally, the main attraction here is the new Ecto 1, which is based on a hearse rather than the classic ambulance version. It's a pretty detailed build, with a lot of small pieces. This improves on the original LEGO Ecto 1 by having enough room to seat two figures side by side and having opening doors, although it is apparently at the expense of side windows. The stripes along the side are broken up because the printing doesn't extend across the entire brick, which is kind of disappointing. Overall though, it's pretty cool.

The minifigures naturally include all the team, as well as Kevin. There is also the "mayhem" ghost that they fight in the theater. All the human characters have two faces on their heads. The proton packs do make them somewhat back heavy, but they can stand up while wearing them if they are leaning forward. The Ecto 2 is there for Kevin to ride as well. It's not super involved, but there are some tech bits on the back.

#25: LEGO Minifigures Series 15 - Shark Suit Guy

I'm kind of burnt out on the blind packed minifigure thing now that we're on series 15. But I knew that I wanted to at least get the shark suit guy, because people in costumes is my favorite theme of the minifigures. I'll probably pass on the entire next series, which is all Disney characters. Shark suit guy is easy to feel for because his torso has flippers instead of arms. Also, the head/fin/tail piece is pretty distinctive as well.

#5: LEGO Ideas Doctor Who - TARDIS (21304)

Now that LEGO has the Doctor Who license, the first (only?) building set released was from the LEGO Ideas program. Naturally, it's the TARDIS. Both the exterior and the control room. The control room is where the bulk of the pieces go for this set, and many of them are small pieces. So it's not a particularly large set, but it's pretty well detailed. It looks pretty cool, particularly the hexagonal control panels.

The other main part of the build is the TARDIS exterior, in its familiar police box shape. Its back side folds apart, and it plugs into the console room, or it can be displayed separately. There are a couple buildable Daleks, and four standard minifigures: the eleventh Doctor, the twelfth Doctor (post-regeneration), Clara, and a weeping angel. There is even a fez for 11.