LEGO Minifigures Series 2
Item No.: 8684 Manufacturer:LEGO Includes:Stand, top hat, whip Action Feature:n/a Retail:$2.99 Availability: August 2010 Other: #3 in a collection of 16
Sometimes a figure is clever, and that makes it worth buying. In the case of this LEGO Ringmaster, it takes an out-of-place in LEGO concept (a circus) and slaps a whack-ass crazy head on it. The smile alone is freaky-- the figure has huge teeth and a tongue, but LEGO kept going with big eyebrows that look like a displaced moustache. And the moustache! Just look at it-- Rollie Fingers would be proud, and were I not writing this during a move I'd have stuck this head on the baseball player's body and took a picture. And that would be the greatest LEGO figure ever.
There's really nothing new here, it's just an example of deco trumping design. LEGO has the one mold and isn't afraid to exploit it. The whole black tophat on a red coat figure has been done to death in Playmobil as its circus motif seems to cycle in and out every few years, but that kind of play is absent from LEGO and I'm not sure what it is you're supposed to do with this figure. I mean, sure, it has impressive deco, a little bow tie, buttons, and the works-- it's a very impressive paint job. But once you get it, where does he live? You could put the dude in a gorilla suit on any LEGO street corner, but this guy seems like an odd pick. He's neat, but it's hard to get past the "why" of it.
Series 2 of the line had an amazing focus on weird hair-- Dracula's, the Disco Dude (Stu?), and others really managed to cultivate some useful designs which I expect fans will be chasing down in the future. Witches, monsters, and the like are always cool... but I can't exactly say that this was a figure I chased down for any reason other than to talk about it here. And now that I have it, all I can say is that it's worth getting for that awesome moustache-- and until LEGO licenses Nick Offerman's likeness, this ma remain the best LEGO facial hair money can buy.
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