by Sarah Herman
Known as “minifigs,” “figs,” and “LEGO people,” those little yellow mini figures that populate LEGO creations the world over have as vibrant a history as the bricks they sit on. Despite now being one of the most recognizable elements in the LEGO universe, it wasn’t until 1978—twenty years after the first stud-and-tube bricks came onto toy shop shelves—that the minifigures we know today were launched. Since then, they’ve evolved to become one of the most variable and collectible toys available, not to mention the world’s largest population: Estimated at four billion, there are currently twelve times more LEGO minifigures than there are Americans.
But like all great civilizations, LEGO people did not start out as we now know them. Four years prior to the birth of the smiling minifigure, in 1974 the LEGO Group launched the Family set, which included parts to build five figures: grandmother, mother, father, and two children. Each figure had a set of opposable arms, hands that could be connected to other LEGO pieces, and small ears that formed connecting points for hair pieces. But unlike their descendants, their legs and torsos could not be moved. This LEGO family was also included in “home” sets, such as the 1974 Complete Kitchen sets (263), which included two figures. Adding a new dimension to the system of play GKC had developed, the figures were responsible for winning the LEGO Group its first British Association of Toy Retailers Toy of the Year Award in 1974 and were soon the biggest selling product, and a hit with girls and boys. Realizing they had struck gold, the company set about developing the LEGO figure, releasing variations on it that would go on to inspire the minifigure.
Jens Nygaard Knudsen had been working as a designer for LEGO Futura since 1968, creating LEGO cars, fire stations, and his first model that was brought to market: a police heliport (354). “After a while I started working on a small figure,” he explained. “I thought the box sets needed more life in them. The figure consisted of three elements and had six different hats. It gave a spark of life to the box sets and a lot of new opportunities.” Known as “the extra,” or “stiffs,” this simple angular figure had no facial expressions, no defined arms or legs, and served very little play purpose apart from being moved and attached. It could not hold onto other LEGO elements, and visually was a step backward from the more human form of the LEGO Family. Despite the original larger figures still being available, the extra appeared in a number of LEGO sets including Police Headquarters (370) and Texas Rangers (372). The scale of the figure was significantly smaller than the alternative figure design, meaning a set could more easily include enough pieces to make a house or plane that could accommodate these figures. But Knudsen hadn’t given up on the little block people and as new ideas for exciting themes branching away from the town/home models were being developed, Knudsen was inspired to push his design further.
“I am convinced that the minifigure will live as long as children play with LEGO,” said designer Jens Nygaard Knudsen, pictured here during his time at the LEGO Group. © Jens Nygaard Knudsen
The award-winning Family Set (200), released in 1974, injected characters and life into the LEGO System toys. © Pieter Stok
Set 277 was one of many “homemaker” sets that were released during the 1970s—with a more distinct dollhouse feel, they proved popular with girls as well as boys. © Pieter Stok
Released in 1975, these smaller police figures (659) with no faces, arms, or legs were the inspiration for the more detailed minifigures we know today. © David Martin
The smaller “stiffs” made sets like this 1976 Rescue set more playable, and opened the System up to new play theme ideas. © Jordan Schwartz
“I started designing a new figure with far more abilities than the old one that was on the market. I designed new moveable legs and arms with hands that could hold 3.2 millimeter accessories. I used the head from the old figure, as well as the hats.” he said, In fact, around fifty prototypes (made from LEGO bricks and tin) were developed in the process of making the final figure.
Recalling the final stage of development of the first minifigure, Knudsen said, “Godtfred, who was known to us all simply as GKC, became more and more visible in our department. He was thrilled by the new ideas and the new figure. So after various alterations and adjustments the new minifigure was approved and we ordered the test tools for the production of it. Things really speeded up and GKC wanted us to push forward and get the elements produced quickly.” This was also a top-secret matter at LEGO HQ and all designers who were given test elements for the minifigure had to sign a confidentiality agreement. The minifigure made its debut in the Town theme in 1978 and immediately became extremely successful. The first minifigure available in set 600 was a smiling figure with a yellow head, hat, black policeman’s clothing, and moving arms and legs. Over thirty years later, that same policeman figure, updated, but very much the same, has morphed through over forty different versions, and appeared in more than 100 different LEGO sets, making it the most prolific minifigure of all time.
The first batch of minifigures included seven different figures across the Town, Space, and Castle themes. The famous policeman was followed by a fireman, a petrol station attendant, astronauts, and medieval knights. Despite original plans to avoid assigning gender to the toys—in the hope that children would use their imaginations—shortly after the first figures were introduced, a decidedly female-looking hospital nurse was launched. Since then a variety of hair pieces and clothes choices have given LEGO lovers the opportunity to develop a wide range of figures, both male and female, although there has always been a higher ratio of male to female minifigures.
From 1978 most Town sets were being marketed as LEGOLAND Town System, and TLG put out a large number of small sets introducing the new minifigure in its many guises. These sets’ emphasis was less on big-scale building and more on playability, injecting color and characters into what was previously a vehicle-led world. Rather than continuing to produce large card boards to build models on, base plate sizes were increased and roadways made on them for LEGO vehicles. These were available individually and also as part of sets such as Bus Station (379) and 1980’s Town Square Castle Scene (1592), which cleverly incorporated the medieval-style building being developed for the medieval knight-themed sets (covered in more detail later) with the modern Town style.
Released with the 1986 Police Command Base (6386), this policeman minifigure is one of many reincarnations of the first policeman from 1978. © StreetFly JZ
For a time, the LEGO Group released sets including both the old “family” size figures and the new minifigures (which featured as dolls or babies), such as this nursery set (297) from 1978. © Pieter Stok
One of the first few female minifigures released during the 1980s, this lady came with a convertible sports car (6501). © David Martin
Larger base plates such as this one from a 1981 fire station set (6382) included studs and railways and marked a departure from the traditional boards of the ‘50s and ‘60s. © David Martin
The minifigure celebrated its thirtieth birthday in 2008 and is one of the LEGO System’s most collected elements. © Andrew Martin
MINIFIGURES BY NUMBERS
• Nine is the number of parts a minifigure is traditionally made up from. These are: head, torso, hip joint, two arms, two hands, and two legs. Some minifigures come with hair pieces or other accessories.
• Three is the number of parts a minifigure is typically packaged as. These are: head; torso, arms, and hands; hips and legs. Any headgear, including helmets, hats, and hair pieces, will not be attached in the packaging.
• Four is the number of standard LEGO bricks high a minifigure is, including its head.
• One is the number of holes that now exist in a minifigure head to reduce the risk of choking if the small part is swallowed.
• Seven is the number of points of articulation found on a typical mini figure: legs move back and forth, arms move back and forth, wrists swivel, and head swivels.
• Ninety is the number of degrees a minifigure
can move its legs forward (they can only move them back about 45 degrees).
• And 3.9 is the number of minifigures sold every second in the world.
Police Command Base (6386), released in 1986. © StreetFly JZ
Throughout the 1980s, LEGO continued to update its various Town sets, adding in new building techniques and minifigure accessories. These can be seen in the archway garden wall and patio furniture of Holiday Home (6374), the signage and transparent pieces used for Motorcycle Shop (6373) and Cargo Center (6391), and the sheer scale and building versatility of larger sets such as Victory Lap Roadway (6395), Police Command Base (6386, pictured), and Big Rig Truck Stop (6393). The fast-paced, nonstop development of ideas and parts that Godtfred encouraged ensured these sets were a world away from the earliest stud-and-tube town sets of the late 1950s and incorporated emergency services, construction work, leisure activities, boats, and planes.
LEGO Train had emerged as a distinctive motorized theme of its own, and the introduction of minifigures to the vehicles set them apart from the model trains produced by the likes of Hornby and Lionel. Firstly, the minifigure scale was unique to LEGO Train—model trains are most popularly built in 1:87 scale—and secondly the primary colors and child-friendly appearance were markedly different from the more severe-looking models largely popular with adult hobbyists. The year 1980 marked the start of a new phase for LEGO Train, as it embarked on what is referred to as the “gray era.” While still compatible with both the 4.5 and 12 volt lines, the tracks’ familiar blue was replaced with a more natural gray color, and the trains themselves followed suit, adopting more realistic designs based on existing trains. The year 1980 also saw the launch of thirty-five sets related to the Train theme and while many of these were track parts, wagons, and accessories, there were a few engines to choose from, including a passenger steam train (7710), a diesel freight train (7720) and an electric goods train (7730).
Tug Boat (4005), released in 1982. © David Martin
Hamburger Stand (6683), released in 1983. © Andrew Martin
Emergency Treatment Centre (6380), released in 1987. © StreetFly JZ
Fire patrol Copter (6657), released in 1985. © David Martin
It was during this period (1980–1991) that the LEGO Train theme moved beyond simply the trains and tracks themselves, perhaps to accommodate the more involved level of play the minifigures had introduced—the first railway station (7822) and level crossing (7834) hit stores in 1980, and were soon joined by a service wagon (7821), a goods station (7838), and a container crane (7823) by the end of the decade. The technology had also changed with a transformer that served an impressive array of remotely controlled functions including signals, points, and crossings as well as the introduction of lighting features on the trains and lampposts. The older blue-era trains were compatible with the new tracks, so Train enthusiasts could simply add to their collection.
This push-along passenger steam train (7710) was one of the first gray-era engines. It was compatible with 4.5 volt and 12 volt tracks. © David Martin
Released in 1985, this train (7715) included five minifigure passengers and a small platform. © StreetFly JZ
The 1985 passenger train (7715) included a platform with destination times. © StreetFly JZ
Sets such as this 1985 road crossing enabled fans to more easily merge Town and Train sets. © David Martin
While the introduction of trains to the LEGO world had been a departure from the original Town Plan building system, the contemporary designs and recognizable vehicles were a part of the larger LEGO Town a child would imagine. If you wanted a passenger train to drive past your police station or holiday cottage, now you could build one. But LEGO was about to go where no minifigure had gone before with the launch of a brand-new LEGO theme in 1978.
In 1962 United States President John F. Kennedy set a deadline. In a speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas, he declared that America would land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Despite Kennedy’s assassination a year later, the space program forged ahead and, as Kennedy had predicted, in 1969 Neil Armstrong spoke those infamous words as he stepped foot on the moon. It’s not hard to see why in the late 1960s and 1970s, space travel held a fascination for the world. With the proliferation of international media and television news, the globe was united in this obsession of what was “out there.” The toy industry, waking up to the influential power of the television, was quick to produce products that would appeal to the children of this new Space Age. The ‘60s saw the release of Mattel’s Major Matt Mason astronaut action figures, the Ideal Toy Company’s Zeroid robot aliens, and Colorform’s Outer Space Men. The emergence of space toys helped breathe fresh air into the LEGO System, with a contemporary, new play theme as expansive as Town Plan. For LEGO fans who grew up on Star Trek and Star Wars, these were the sets which enabled them to play out their space adventure fantasies as the creators of their own ships, bases, and alien wars.
Set 358 was one of the first space-related sets to be sold in Europe. The nose cone of this model does not include the original parts, and an aerial is missing from the ground vehicle. © Pieter Stok
The iconic Classic Space uniform with planet logo. This logo has been repeated in various guises throughout the theme’s history. © Owen J. Weber
Perhaps because of the United States’ heavy involvement with space travel, it was American licensee Samsonite who put out the first LEGO space toy in 1964. The set (801) was a small 98 cent packet that could make a simple rocket, but wasn’t followed up with any bases or accompanying sets. The time from development to release of a new LEGO product could take up to three years, so it wasn’t until 1973 that a rocket base (358) was launched in Europe. TLG seemed to be testing the ground, unsure if the space craze would hold long enough for them to develop sets and get them onto shelves. But they persevered and, despite the final Apollo moon landing taking place in 1972, released a set depicting a moon landing in 1975 (367) complete with a U.S. flag.
Jens Nygaard Knudsen was one of the designers who worked tirelessly to bring the new LEGO Space toys to life. “LEGO Space and was given top priority so we worked hard to finish the theme,” he recalled. “We had to make many samples by hand, build models and make test tools, new decorations, a space logo, a new vacuum plate system (32 × 32 studs) and much more. After several months of hard work—I actually put in fourteen months of work hours in a year—the space theme was finished.”
Commonly referred to as “Classic Space,” the early space-themed sets of the 1970s and ‘80s were a design revolution for LEGO. Although later they would introduce a number of new parts in exotic colors to create dramatic spaceship shapes and set the tone for the science-fiction world of the new theme, these early sets were relatively simple but carefully designed to create a recognizable impression of space that children who knew all about Neil Armstrong could identify with. Gray was en vogue in Space and featured heavily in spaceships, bases, and new base plates (some of which included craters). The theme was called LEGOLAND Space System, and featured the same packaging style as the LEGOLAND Town System sets.
This moon-landing set (565 in the United States, 367 in Europe) featured some inventive astronaut figures and a U.S. flag. © Jordan Schwartz
The original 1978 “Classic Space” sets such as Rocket Launcher (462) and Space Command Centre (493) were manned by some of the very first minifigures. Available in red and white uniforms emblazoned with a unique space logo, accompanied by the meticulously designed helmets and airtanks, the sets were brought to life as children could play real space games with real astronauts. The minifigure brought with it the opportunity for LEGO to sell smaller sets that could build a small buggy or spacecraft with as few as 19 pieces (885 Space Scooter); these cheaper sets made LEGO more accessible to lower-income families. Producing smaller, more economical sets forced LEGO to get creative with how they used the system’s parts, as can be seen in 1980’s Shovel Buggy (6821) and 1983’s Seismologic Vehicle (6844)
. But LEGO did its best to keep larger set collectors happy, too, with some ingenious spaceship designs, including 1979’s Galaxy Explorer (928) and its big brother, Galaxy Commander (6980), released four years later with a white and blue color scheme and mobile laboratory that fits onto the back of the ship for transport. Using the Electronic Light & Sound technology developed for LEGO train sets, a few sets were released with these battery-run capabilities. Sonar Transmitting Cruiser (6783) and XT-Starship (6780) were both available in 1986, and Sonic Robot (6750) in 1987. The technology was ideally suited to the Space theme which pioneered the use of colored transparent parts and innovative design, and added yet another dimension to these sci-fi creations.
This space supply station (6930) released in 1983 is an example of the simple but effective sci-fi building Classic Space incorporated. © Owen J. Weber
Mobile Lab (6901), released in 1980. © Owen J. Weber
The 1986 XT-Starship was one of a few Classic Space sets that incorporated the Light & Sound technology. © David Martin
While the majority of Classic sets were imaginative and stretched the scientific truth of space technology at the time (and even since), some sets stand out for their imaginative spirit more than others. There was the Solar Power Transporter (6952), Walking Astro Grappler (6882) with its controllable trunk, and the Robot Command Centre (6951) that launched a rocket from behind while a spaceship docked in the robot’s mid-section. LEGO’s gamble in space paid off, and sets continued to fly off the shelves. “It became a huge hit straight away and generated hundreds of new jobs in Billund,” Knudsen said. LEGO Space toys were a phenomenal success for LEGO and were subsequently named 1979’s Toy of the Year by the British Association of Toy Retailers.
