Set Review ➟ LEGO® 71036 Series 23 6-Pack
LEGO has seen fit to package six custom minifigures in a box. And so for the convenience of having one line item on the checkout receipt, you can experience up to six times the wonder and six times the disappointment all in one neat yellowy-orange box. Open the box and you are greeted with six yellow ochre foil packs…the same as you can find individually elsewhere.
Curiosity, Despair, Disappointment, and Disparity
Hope springs eternal, and like Charlie Brown’s belief that he will kick the football, so goes the belief that eventually one can collect the minifigure one wants from any series of Custom Minifigure releases. There is the expectant wonder of what is in this pouch. And then the pouch gets opened. And that’s not it. And the second pouch gets opened. And that’s not it. Repeat ad infinitum.
Anyway.
I was curious about the packaging of this set, and upon opening my guess was confirmed: six standard foil packs in a box. So one dead cat was revived.
I was curious if, of the six packs in a box, would there be any repeat figures. Nope. Not in this box. Redditors seem to confirm that is the case with all boxes. Second dead cat revived.
I was curious that if I got this boxed set, would I get different figures than I had from buying individual foil packs. Odds here, based on experience, was a strong no. I had four figures from this series and no repeats in the four, purchased individually, which in of itself is astonishing as usually the football gets yanked away just before my foot kicks the ball. It’s a metaphor.
This box of six contained the candy cane fairy, wolf boy, reindeer girl, nutcracker, popcorn box kid, and the hobby horse knight. Three of the six were repeats from the individual pouches: fairy, wolf, and nutcracker. So while despair was kept at bay for the most part, the expected disappointment was confirmed.
What stuck out to me while I was opening pouch after pouch was the disparity in contents from one bag to the next. One would kind of figure on average five, maybe six, pieces plus a base per pack. But, no, not the case. Here’s the breakdown:
- Candy Cane Fairy (9) Base, short legs, skirt, torso, candy cane, wings, head, tiara (2)
- Wolf Boy (7) Base, legs, tail, torso, sack, head, wolf headpiece
- Reindeer Girl (11) Base, legs, torso, cookie (2), head, reindeer headpiece, antlers (2), box, box lid
- Nutcracker (11) Base, legs, torso, nut (2), sword (2), epaulets (2), head, headpiece
- Popcorn Kid (5) Base, short legs, torso, head, popcorn body
- Pink Knight (16) Base, short legs, torso, chest plate, wand (2), pony head, shield, head, helmet, visor, plume (3), sword (2)
The last two on the list were opened one after the other, Knight then Popcorn, and the disparity was glaring. I checked the pouch and instructions to make sure I hadn’t missed something for Popcorn Kid. Nope.
Poor Popcorn Kid…who looks less like popcorn and more like my first encounter with a can of spray foam…no accessories? Really? Because Pink Knight would need five hands to hold all her accessories, I think I’ll give the two swords to Popcorn Kid and call them butter knives. But that’s an aside. Curious if this is a weight thing at work. Most of the figures were seven grams (rounded) and Pink Knight was eight. Possibly the third plume was a second second plume.
I really do wish that LEGO would package these in a single complete set pack, though. If I’m dropping $80 for 16 figures, it would be wonderful to get one of each and satisfaction versus getting five of one figure, three of another figure, two of three other figures, a random two others, and disappointment.
Summary
Not unlike a fast-food meal, you pretty much get what you’re expecting. You don’t know if you’re getting the chicken nuggets or the cheesburger until you open the bag, but you’re definitely getting either the nuggets or the burger.
Disclaimer
A box of thanks to LEGO for providing the review set. No audible groans of disappointment escaped my being during the creation of this review.
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