Last week I was lucky enough to stumble across a case of LEGO Minifigures Series 8 8833, the latest installment in the uber-popular series of LEGO blind-bagged figures! As I said back then, I’m awful at interpreting the dot codes on those figures’ bags, so the four figures I pulled were completely and utterly random. Usually when I pull blindly I end up with figures I don’t want, but luck was with me this time–I drew two of the figures I wanted the most in the set–the Vampire Bat Boy and Pirate Captain, as well as two more I don’t mind having at all–the Cowgirl and Conquistador! What do I think about these new LEGO Minifigures now that I have them? Read on…

The Right:

The Pirate Captain is absolutely sensational. Why settle for having a peg-leg or a hook hand when you can have a peg-leg and a hook hand?! With his eye-patch, feathered hat, and pirate sword, this figure combines everything I ever could have asked for from a LEGO Pirate Captain Minifigure. From the four figures I pulled from this set, I definitely think the Pirate Captain is the best-design.

Although I think the Pirate Captain had the most fun details packed into it, my actual favorite figure in LEGO Minifigures Series 8 in the Vampire Bat Boy. Whenever I look at this figure, my mind wanders to the old “Weekly World News” magazines and their infamous headlines about the Bat Boy and his various misadventures. I don’t know if that’s exactly what LEGO was trying to capture here, but I’m projecting it onto this figure and it helps me appreciate him more. I love the Bat Boy’s fuzzy chest and spread vampire wings, even though his permanently-curved arms restrict his posing potential a bit.

The Conquistador is a great supplement to the expanding lineup of historical LEGO Minifigures, and I love having a little Spanish or Portuguese explorer to look for undiscovered nooks in my apartment! I can always use a LEGO rapier in my collection, and I’m tempted to create a Soul Calibur III Raphael using the Rapier and some of the parts from the LEGO Minifigures Series 2 Vampire figure. The printed details on his armor and legs are both very nice and high-quality.

Finally, the Cowgirl. I initially had close to zero interest in this figure, but after building her, she sort of won me over. Her cute little freckles and painted-on cowboy boots are really, really cute up close, and I love that her lasso is large enough to loop all the way around another LEGO figure! She really evokes Applejack of My Little Pony fame, except in LEGO form. While she’s certainly not my favorite figure in LEGO Minifigures Series 8, the Cowgirl does have her charms, and I don’t regret pulling her blind bag at all.

The Wrong:

I always feel kind of slimy complaining about $2-$3 LEGO Minifigures that would have never been possible three years ago, but I can never resist nitpicking just a few things. I would have liked the Vampire “Bat Boy” just a little bit more if he’d been a true “boy” and used the kid/hobbit/small person legs. That’s just my personal preference.

In addition, I’m a little perturbed that the Cowgirl’s ponytail hair is attached to her western hat. I’d have liked an extra hairpiece to display her without the hat or an extra cowboy hat to give other figures without the ponytail. Having the two pieces molded together really limited what can be done with it.

Overall: I paid 10 bucks and got four wildly inventive LEGO Minifigures, including several that I never would have thought in a million years would be produced. The vampire-like Batboy is just so much fun, and I like the Cowgirl a lot more than I ever thought I would (though her attached hair on her cowboy hat does bother me). The Conquistador, while not something I would ever army-build, is very well-done, and I don’t mind having one on my shelf of historical LEGO Minifigures. Finally, I love the Pirate Captain’s hook-hand and peg-leg, and he’s easily one of the most fearsome LEGO blind-bagged figures yet.

GRADE: A