LEGO Minifigures Series 11 officially launched in the United States (and most other countries) over the weekend, so I headed out to my local Target to pick up the quartet of Series 11 LEGO Minifigures that I wanted the most: Yeti, Gingerbread Man, Scarecrow and Holiday Elf. Well, call it overconfidence or hubris, but the LEGO blind bag I was absolutely certain contained the Holiday Elf actually had a Constable in it when I ripped it open. So this is my LEGO Minifigures Series 11 review of a trio of figures I wanted most, and one I absolutely didn’t…

The Right:

Some how, some way, the LEGO Constable minifigure’s hat felt enough like the Holiday Elf minifigure’s hat to me that the Constable has ended up joining my collection, though I did not intend for it to be so. I was pretty glum to have wasted three bucks (and to be short a LEGO Christmas Elf minifigure) when my wife suggested I set up the Constable figure in my LEGO Winter Village setup.

Seconds later, I was totally enamored with the LEGO Constable and so very, very glad I bought him. Whether he’s guarding the LEGO Winter Bakery from Yetis or chasing after a delinquent adolescent who’d been throwing snowballs recklessly, the Constable minifigure adds an element of charm and authority to wherever he’s set up.

He looks fantastic in his constable hat, and his nightstick baton is the perfect accessory to finish the figure off. For a figure I didn’t want, I’m very, very pleased with him.

Meanwhile, the LEGO Gingerbread Man and Yeti minifigures are keeping the Constable company within the LEGO Winter Village. The LEGO Gingerbread Man is, I think, one of the craziest designs LEGO has ever come up with for a minifigure.

His round, cookie-shaped head is so fun and unique, and I love that LEGO opted for a grainy, gingerbread-like texture on the figure’s body instead of using a straight brown paint. The “Dunk Me” handheld mug Gingerbread Men comes with is clever, and really, what else does it make sense for a gingerbread man minifigure to come holding?

The LEGO Yeti minifigure defied my original expectations by being not a monstrous Yeti, but instead a cutesy, friendly-looking Yeti. I’ve given him the Lich King’s Frozen Throne diorama to hang out in from the Warcraft Mega Bloks Sindragosa and the Lich King set I reviewed last year, and the Yeti has made himself comfortably at home dwelling within.

The Yeti is going to be a very popular minifigure, so I think LEGO was wise to heavily pack him into cases at six per case. While I have no need to army-build LEGO Yeti minifigures, I sort of do wish I could army-build his accessory, though.

The translucent blue Popsicle (ice cream) accessory looks terrific, and I have some fun placing the Yeti at one of the food stands in the Winter Village and pretending he’s peddling Popsicles to the kids in the village.

Finally, the LEGO Series 11 Scarecrow Minifigure. I’m not sure why, as it’s not immediately obvious to me where I’m going to display this figure with the LEGO sets I have, but I fervently wanted the Scarecrow LEGO Minifigure as soon as I saw it. The tattered old hat with a crow on it makes me smile every time I see it, and despite the pitchfork, the LEGO Scarecrow is pretty cute instead of being scary (at all).

I may have to purchase the LEGO Fall Scene set that came out last month so I have somewhere to display the Scarecrow, but he’s unquestionably cute and well-done. It’s a shame he’s only packed two-per-case-of-sixty, but I don’t think many people are going to want to army-build scarecrows, so hopefully most LEGO collectors who want him won’t have trouble tracking one down.

The Wrong:

Okay, let’s be real here–these are wildly fun and imaginative LEGO minifigures that cost less than three bucks each at retail. Even the one I didn’t intend to buy ended up being awesome. There’s really nothing here for me to complain about, and I’d be loathe to nitpick just for the sake of doing so. Great work, LEGO.

“Where Can I Buy It?!”

LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series 11 71002 has just been released at retail in the United States and most other countries. If you want specific LEGO Series 11 figures from the series, all of them are pretty cheap on ebay already, so you can get them without having to feel up the blind bags and guess what’s inside.

Overall: Though I didn’t quite pull the four minifigures I’d intended from the case at my local store, it turns out that was a gift–the Constable minifigure is a ton of fun and I’m thrilled to have him to police my LEGO Winter Village. The LEGO Gingerbread Man Minifigure is wholly unique, and easily my favorite figure of the series. The friendly Yeti is a close second and looks terrific with any winter/snow/ice-themed sets. And the LEGO Scarecrow, while he doesn’t fit into as many scenes as the other figures, has an adorable element to him that makes my smile whenever I look at him. This is another stellar, A+ series of LEGO Minifigures, and I sincerely hope that LEGO can bring such creative concepts and ideas into LEGO Minifigures Series 12 at the end of the year.

GRADE: A