Now that LEGO has made it official that LEGO Minifigures Series 9 is retiring soon, it’s time to look to the future of LEGO Collectable Minifigures! The second series of 2013 LEGO Minifigures is due out in just a few short weeks, and now we’ve got the high-res photography to show off the splendor of the sixteen figures that comprise LEGO Minifigures Series 10. And oh yeah–that super-limited “golden minifigure” everyone’s talking about? Yeah, we’ve also got our first good look at him…

I first revealed the lineup for LEGO Minifigures Series 10 back in December based off of images from the LEGO Parts Database, and these photos confirm that lineup as 100% correct. I posted my thoughts on each of the sixteen figures in the series in that article, so check it out if you want to know how I feel about each of those LEGO Series 10 Minifigures. The LEGO Minifigures Character Encyclopedia with Toy Soldier Minifigure is also scheduled to be released alongside Series 10.

Of course, there’s one figure that I didn’t even know was going to exist until last month…

…the famous Golden Minifigure. As announced last month, there will only be 5000 of these Golden Minifigures distributed randomly in LEGO Minifigures Series 10 blind bags around the world. I was always pretty sure that the fabled 71001 LEGO Minifigures Series 10 Golden Minifigure wasn’t going to just be a gold-painted blank, but now we know exactly what he looks like.

As far as the much talked-about and sure to be legendary Golden Minifigure goes, well… I’m not really sure what I think about him. Though the two don’t really look alike in a direct comparison, more than anything, looking at the LEGO Minifigures Series 10 Golden Minifigure reminds me of a monocle-wearing Rich Uncle Pennybanks, the Mayor from the classic Monopoly board game!

But I digress–for me, personally, this Series 10 Golden Minifigure is merely “okay”. The image seems to suggest that he’s going to be covered in gold except for having all-white hands, which doesn’t make any sense at all. I guess maybe he’s wearing white gloves because he doesn’t want to get his valuable, solid gold hands dirty? I really have no idea.

71001 LEGO Minifigures Series 10 is scheduled to be released by April 2012. If you’re looking to buy LEGO Minifigures Series 10, the set is now available for order! I’ll update once the figures have been found in retail stores.