LEGO Minifigures Series 11
Item No.: 71002 Manufacturer:LEGO Includes:2 erlenmeyer flasks, stand Action Feature:n/a Retail:$2.99-$3.99 Availability: September 2013 Other: #11 in a collection of 16
You can tell a lot from someone's toy designs. Playmobil said their people were largely designed with children's drawings in mind, hence no noses or ears. LEGO's Scientist probably stems more from other issues, but I have to say I am impressed how a toy line that's mostly boy-driven has 5 women in a series of 12 figures - sure, one's a sexy German lady with a big pretzel, but you have to cater to the fantasies of adult collectors now and again. (That's a joke.)
What's particularly interesting about the scientist is that unlike a lot of the other lady minifigures, she's not really a female version of an existing male figure. There was a mad scientist a while back, but this is the only proper scientist in the entire line - and it's a good one. She's got glasses (or safety goggles) as well as gloves, a lab ID and a pen in her pocket, plus a pair of flasks. When I first heard that LEGO was doing a girl-driven line, this is actually what I was imagining - more women in the figures, and maybe more diversity in the environments. Well, at least we got more pink bricks, right?
Her deco has a few subtle details flattering the female figure, as you can see some slight indentations on the sides of her torso as well as an outline on the chest region. As such, you're not going to repurpose this for a male scientist, most likely, I don't think. There's some very fine detail in her ID card and shirt collar, plus the buttons and pockets on her pants. There is no deco on the arms or the back of the figure, but there's green and blue stuff in the flasks. I assume it's Mountain Dew and Windex.
All in all it's a great figure and easily one of the more interesting candidates to come out of 2013 - and it was a great year for these little guys, too. The only drawback is that LEGO seems intent on giving us wonderful $3 partial glimpses into bigger and better sets. Where will this figure live? Will she hang out outside a police station? Be rescued by a fireman? It's a character that has to forge an identity on her own because there's no larger environment for her to exist in just yet, although maybe we'll see a fancy laboratory set in City someday for her to work in. Or at the very least a subway or something. Get her now while you can, and worry about what she'll be doing later. Or don't, that's been my philosophy on LEGO purchases for a while and now I don't know where everything is ultimately going to go.
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