Award #9 – Custom minifigure of the year

Today we do our first new award for 2016 – and this one covers custom minifigures. These are 3rd parties who use official LEGO elements but create their own minifigures. Some of these companies are better than LEGO themselves and some of the custom minifigures coming out are usually on par with LEGO.  You do get really rubbish ones from some but in the UK we are blessed with some of the best. Neither Keith nor Luc voted for this award so I called in minifigure fan and former site contributor Chris Adams to be guest judge for this award. Here is what the panel picked.

Adam –  Kaylee Frye from Firefly by Minifigs.me

 Kaylee always looks on the bright side of things aboard the Serenity and Minifigs.me have managed to capture this perfectly. You can see the twinkle in her eye.

Chris – Mr.Bean by Minifigures.com

I think last year was a better year for customs than this year and as such, I’ve struggled to really find something that I think is better than everything else this year. However, there was never any doubt in my mind about which company would produce the best custom minifigure of the year; minifigures.com. I have seen first-hand the quality of their printing and made comparisons to other products in the same market. I find their work truly exceptional and after looking around at this year’s customs from all companies, I was proven correct. I was very drawn to the Collateral Carl (reviewed by Rich back in November) because of the exceptional printing and detail. Also the idea of a fully reversible minifigure is unique and I commend them for trying it out.

After careful consideration though, I don’t think this is for me because I can’t get past the fact that when looked at from the back, you see a front. The face can even be seen peeking out from underneath the helmet. So with Carl out of contention, it leaves only one contender and that is Mr Bean. Whilst I’m not a fan of the character I can appreciate it for the amazing printing and likeness. The printing on the arms, torso and face is all top-rate and at a glance, you can tell straight away that this is Mr Bean. The tweed jacket has been reproduced in painstaking detail and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such fine detail in such quantity on an official minifigure. Special mention goes to the white shirt, which is beautifully bright. Again, I’ve never seen this colour clarity on an official minifigure when white is printed onto another colour; there is usually bleed through. So for me, Mr Bean is top of the pile for 2015 (I’m now imagining him falling off that pile, accompanied by canned laughter).

Séb –  Jack the Pumpkin King from Minifigures.com

What an amazing looking figure. It should absolutely be made into an official LEGO minifig (with a set to go with it please!). This one stood out to me when I first saw it and even now compared to many of the others over the last year remains my favourite. I just need to get hold of one to use in a future stop motion film.

Richard – Mr. Bean from Minifigures.com

What a tough choice this year. I have the casting vote again and all 3 are amazing customs. Some others I had on my fave list includes Collateral Carl, my own Mohican Runner minifigure, Citizen Brick’s Pity Enthusiast aka Mr.Tea. However I had to select a winner from the above three and it was a pick I knew I would find easy and that is Mr. Bean, one of the best custom minifigures ever IMO. The tweed jacket and unshaven look printing is just outstanding.

This year’s custom minifigure of the year – Mr. Bean from Minifigures.com