LEGO managed to keep collectors in suspense for nearly record-breaking time, but with less than one month until its release, the 2013 LEGO Minifigures Series 9 assortment has finally been revealed in all of its glory!
UPDATE: Sightings of LEGO Minifigures Series 9 71000 are starting to appear! If you just can’t wait for your favorite minifigure(s) to hit your area, you can find most of the minifigures in this set up for sale on ebay right now!

The rumor going around based on samples of the set sent out by LEGO is that there may be greatly skewed, unequal quantities of certain Minifigures in each case. Personally, the idea of “chase” Minifigures doesn’t sound very LEGO-like at all, so I definitely wouldn’t panic about the idea of rare or shortpacked blind-bagged LEGO Minifigures until when and if such a thing becomes apparent at retail. Until I see evidence to the contrary, I just don’t believe that LEGO would produce greatly unequal quantities of the different Minifigures.

The official names for the figures in LEGO Minifigures Series 9 and my thoughts on each figure are as follows:

• Chicken Suit Guy: If they’d made the Chicken Suit Guy’s face a little bit less generic, he could’ve filled in for Al from Al’s Toy Barn in Toy Story 2! Barring that missed opportunity, this is a very fun and comical Minifigure that I’m really excited to pull for.
• Maid Marion (Forest Maiden): Uhhh, call me crazy, but this is Merida from Disney-Pixar’s “Brave”. I don’t buy that this is Maid Marion at all–it’s just a little too close for comfort if you ask me. Regardless, I’m a big fan of action-oriented female minifigures, and this is certainly the most dynamic and exciting girl LEGO Series 9 minifigure.
• Heroic Knight: Fantastic for cheap army-building, and we needed a gallant knight in the Minifigures series. I wish he looked a little more heroic instead of doofy, though.
• Cyclops: I’ve never really liked Cyclops (neither the monster not the X-Men leader), but this LEGO Minifigures Series 9 Cyclops figure is far better-executed and desirable than I would have expected it to be. The Cyclops could have been a real yawn, but with his awesome rock club, I think he may actually be the best figure of all the LEGO Series 9 Minifigures.
• Alien Trooper (Alien Avenger): Wholly unncessary, if you ask me. We’ve had more than our share of LEGO aliens both in themes and the Minifigures blind-bags over the last few years, and this one doesn’t bring anything immediately striking to the table. Definitely passable.
• Mermaid: Boring. I have enough Mermaids now. I know there’s not much use for the Mermaid minifigure mold, but I’ve had enough LEGO Mermaid minifigures to last me the next few years.
• Fortune Teller: The Fortune Teller Minifigure’s gypsy bandana and giant, blocky tarot cards are a thing of beauty. I was never saying to myself “I need a LEGO Fortune Teller!”, but she certainly adds a new element to the LEGO universe.
• Dr. Splitz (Mr. Good and Evil): LOVE IT. Just when I thought LEGO had used up all the classic “monsters”, they hit us with a Mr. Hyde Minifigure in Series 9. Terrific choice and execution, and easily in my top 3 figures in this series.
• Roller Derby Girl: The big positive here is that this isn’t yet another LEGO skier or snowboarder figure, but it’s also not a figure I care much about. Roller Derby? Oy. How about some female basketball players, LEGO?
• Judge: I love the idea of a judge, but this looks more like Ben Franklin to me because of the glasses. The robes, hair, and gavel all look nice–I just think I’m going to do a head-swap on this Series 9 Minifigure ASAP.
• Battle Mech: WOW. This looks more hi-tech and science fiction-oriented than many of the LEGO Star Wars Minifigures! Very fun and exciting–the Battle Mech adds a lot of variety to LEGO Minifigures Series 9.
• Caesar (Roman Emperor): Terrific historical figure selection, and something totally unique amongst other LEGO Minifigures released so far. I don’t know if kids will find this a particularly compelling LEGO figure, but I sure do.
• Downtown Cop (Policeman): This is a nice, cheap LEGO Policeman figure. Hard to complain about that, and I can think of plenty of uses for his LEGO handcuffs. The LEGO police badge is pretty cute as well.
• Plumber: Y’know, this is one of those instances where I really wish LEGO was chummy with Nintendo. I know LEGO has a ton of licenses already, but Italian plumbers with red & blue and green & blue overalls would have been an absolute blast. This plumber minifigure we’re actually getting in LEGO Series 9 is “okay”, but a pretty forgettable figure overall. The existence of a LEGO plunger is pretty funny, though.
• Waiter: I never knew how much my LEGO collection needed a Waiter figure until I saw this Minifigure. He can pass for an Alfred Minifigure to hand out with my LEGO Batman figures, and the serving tray with bottle of wine–errr… grape juice–is positively charming.
• Hollywood Starlet: At first glance I really thought this was just a reissue of the Ice Skater from LEGO Minifigure Series 4. As a Marilyn Monroe-esque minifigure I guess she’s fine, but certainly not anything I’d lose sleep over if I didn’t draw her.

LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 9 is scheduled to be released in January 2013, but I would be truly shocked if we don’t see Series 9 start popping up at Toys R Us (if no where else) before the end of 2012. I’ll add in-hand photos and a review of LEGO Minifigures Series 9 as soon as the set is released at retail.

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