Celebrating 40 Years of LEGO Minifigures.

The year 2018 has a few milestone celebrations across multiple subjects and genres, but here’s one for LEGO enthusiasts that they’ll really dig. It concerns the 40th anniversary of one of the innovations developed by LEGO to further enhance the brick-construction experience: minifigures. Yes, LEGO-people are now four decades old.

Brick Fanatics elaborates that LEGO was making these little guys even before 1978, when the first minifigures (referred to as the pre-minifigure era) began to be included in selected sets. These prototypes were brick-built and too big for most LEGO sets, and the ones produced shortly before that year were armless mini-statues.

Post-1978 however, the shape of those little plastic guys that populated LEGO playsets began to be standard fare: the articulaed legs, 5-piece torso with movable arms and trademark C-shaped hands, and of course the ever smiling minifigure head. They started out as civilians to fill out locations and eventually played various jobs and roles in their brick-built community.

Afterwards, LEGO minifigures evolved from original creations to depictions of fictional characters from the deluge of licensed franchises that the company has made playsets for over the years. And in all those times the shape and mechanics didn’t change, only the material construction, to make them sturdier to wear-and-tear.

Originally targeted only at younger builders, LEGO was quick to notice that the little plastic figures have also become a favorite among older kids and even adults, and starting from 2007 almost every major LEGO set has a minifgure or two. LEGO even came up with a line of Collectible Minifigures, all unique on its own, and wrapped it up in a mysterious blind bag.

So there it is: we are now in the 40th year of the long-running design for LEGO minifigures, and you can bet there will be tributes to that milestone in several upcoming sets. One in particular that was revealed so far is the upcoming LEGO CMF Series 18 where a Police Officer minifigure is said to be designed after the same minifig found in LEGO set 600. Definitely, it is one cool throwback for the iconic symbol of the LEGO brand.

Needless to say, this year is going to be a cool celebration of four decades of brick-building fun, and LEGO’s minifigures will always be around to ensure that.  So what is your most favorite LEGO minifigure through out these years? Do you have one in particular, and from which set? Let us know in the comments below.