Parts review: 71048 LEGO® Minifigures Series 27

I might be a bit late in saying, but LEGO® Minifigures are a bit of a phenomenon. Fifteen years, 47 actual series when including licensed themes, and 727 figures – many of which it would be difficult to imagine ever existing outside of this theme.

There have been hundreds of unique parts introduced, some of which have made it into standard sets by virtue of their usefulness. The posing stand, aka Bar 1L with Angled Hollow Stud (65578) would definitely be a candidate for that. Will Series 27 contain a game-changer of similar importance?

Products in this article were gifted by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

71048 CMF Series 27

• Release date: 1 January 2025

Price: 

• US$ 4.99 on LEGO.com US
• CA$ 5.99 on LEGO.com Canada
• GB£ 3.49 on LEGO.com UK
• AU$ 5.99 on LEGO.com Australia
• NZ$ 5.99 on LEGO.com New Zealand
• DE€ 4,99 on LEGO.com Deutschland
• NL€ 4,99 on LEGO.com Nederland
• FR€ 4,99 on LEGO.com France
• PLN 16.99 on LEGO.com Polska
• NOK 49,90 on LEGO.com Norge
• DKK 29.95 on LEGO.com Danmark

Other countries click here

At New Elementary, our focus is generally on parts and there are already lots of other great reviews of the minifigures out there. So here, I will be mostly highlighting the interesting new parts that are contained within the new series. 

① Hamster Costume Fan

• Costume / Mask Hamster with White Strip, Bright Pink Nose, Black Eyes print (6510721 | 109769)
• Tile Round 1 x 1 with Cucumber Slice print in green (6510657 | 98138) is also in friends 42670

"Costume" minifigures have been a popular part of the in house series' since Gorilla Suit Guy back in Series 3. Although not always present in earlier series, the costumed characters are now regulars and generally a highlight for me. I'd welcome a whole series, akin to Series 18's fancy-dress party theme. I have a list of wants of favoured animals/creatures and other classic fancy dress options far exceeding the confines of a set of 12.

② Wolfpack Beastmaster

• Animal, Wolf with Dark Bluish Grey Nose, Black Eyes print Wolf in Light Bluish Grey (6510720 | 6649)
• Minifig Shield Triangular with Silver Wolf on Black Background, Red Border Print in Light Bluish Grey (6510654 | 3846)

I have seen a lot of online discussion surrounding the Wolfpack figure, mostly down to its desirability and the apparent harvesting of it from retail shippers by arguably entrepreneurial aftermarket sellers. Having encountered boxes devoid of Dragonborn Paladin's in the Dungeons & Dragons series, I can understand the frustration that many feel.

③ Jetpack Racer

• Helmet, Space with Trans-Red Visor, Black '3' print Helmet in White (6520728 | 89844)

This part reminds me of the fabulous over-moulded helmet that lurked in the final wave of LEGO® Ultra Agents sets back in 2015, Helmet Space with Trans Light Blue Visor and Ear Protectors in White (6097145 | 19023c01, above right).

The figure itself gives off vibes of a Wipeout 2097 pilot to me. Which, I'm aware, is not the cutting edge of graphic design and pinnacle of pioneering techno music that it once was, all of 30 years ago!

Regardless of that age related digression, this is a fabulous figure and probably my favourite of the set.

④ Astronomer Kid

The main piece of interest for me in this figure is the tripod of Astronomer Kid's telescope:

• Brick, Round 1 x 1 with 3 Bars in Black (6507603 | 6331), available in just this figure and in dark green in two LEGO® Botanicals sets: 10342 Pretty Pink Flower Bouquet (see Eero's review of set 10342) and 10345 Flower Arrangement (see Thomas' review of set 10345).

This part I think might be a bit of a game-changer! It's a simple element, but one that I think will prove to be much more useful than similar existing parts.

The three bar attachments are arranged at 120° intervals circumferentially, and at 20° from the vertical.

Here are some elements that share design DNA with the new stem/tripod piece:

Shown in the top frame above are:

• Plant, Flower Stem with Bottom Bar (24855) which is itself an update of Plant, Flower Stem (3741) from 1976 which has not been seen in sets since part 24855 was introduced in 2018.
• Brick Round 1 x 1 with Fins, Open Stud (4588) – although visually similar, the four fins don't provide attachments.
• Rock 1 x 1 Crystal 4 Point (11127); a purely aesthetic option.

In the bottom two frames above is another part with potentially similar usage: 

• Plant, Palm Tree Top, 4 Top Bars, 1 Bottom Bar (2566).

Let's move onto the actual minifigure now, or please skip to my techniques using the new LEGO stalk/tripod, part 6331 at the end of this article if those are the insights you are here for.

An important aspect of this minifigure's appeal is the new arm element. Inclusivity is always nice to see and, taking the lead set by LEGO® Friends last year, we now have our first minifigure torso with a visible limb difference. This left arm is obviously a new mould, here provided in bright light orange (6509056 | 6828).

Having seen minifigure arms used to good effect in MOCs over the years, from a builders' point of view, it would be nice to see the reflected arm introduced in the future.

Although no longer new or exclusive, I felt the accompanying Prosthetic Hand with Bar Holder in Dark Azure (6467587 | 5059, shown below) was worthy of few more pictures as we have only briefly discussed it previously, and there are currently a limited number of sets that contain this piece. 

As you can see above, with minifigures the usage is slightly affected by certain details of the geometry. Minifigure hands are set at approximately 15° but the prosthetic hand appears to be set at 90°.  I think this is potentially a very useful variation. I only hope it eventually appears in more colours.

⑤ Plush Toy Collector

• Pillow Plush toy with White Chest, White Nose, Black Eyes print in Dark Azure (6510709 | 6330)
• Pillow Plush toy with Bright Light Yellow Chest, Magenta Mouth, Black Eyes print in Lime (6510710 | 6330)

These plushies have a reasonably deep anti-stud that, rather pleasingly, fits over a minifigure neck. I did this, and it made me laugh. I decided to call them Lulu and Bob. They're staying like this.

⑥ Pterodactyl Costume Fan

• Costume / Mask Pterodactyl with Dark Blue Markings, Black Eyes print in Sand Blue (6510724 | 6648)
• Torso with Medium Blue Belly, Wings, Dark Blue Markings print, Sand Blue Arms with Wings, Dark Blue Hands (6954)

Cleverly, the new arm mould is transposable and is only distinguished as left and right sides by the decoration.

It’s not all that significant, but compared with the previous prehistoric creature costumes, it feels as if the amount of decoration on the pteranodon is reduced. Possibly just on the back, because the wings do have a couple of steps of decoration more than the arms of the other prehistoric creature costumes have, and an absence of knees may have had to be the compromise.

Side note of nerdiness: ‘Pterodactyl’ is a genus of extinct prehistoric flying reptile and the more general term is Pterosaurs or Pterosauria. Most importantly, none of them are dinosaurs!

⑦ Longboarder

• Sports Longboard with Trolley Wheel Holder in Medium Nougat (6507600 | 6330)

The longboard is two modules wide by six modules long and has a 3.18 bar rim, much like similar existing minifigure accessories: 

There are a group of similar extreme sports boards that share a commonality of their design.

• Skateboard (42511)
• Surfboard (90397)
• Snowboard (18746)

All of these elements have anti-studs and the 3.18mm bar edges. 

 

⑧ Bogeyman

• Minifig Head Special Bogeyman with Red Eyes, Black Eyebrows, White Fangs, Tongue print in Dark Blue (6520729 | 6846)

• Book Cover with Gold 'Boooo', Black Tree Silhouettes, Birds, Moon print in Dark Red (6510693 | 24093)
• Book Binding with Two Studs in Dark Red (6522565 | 24324)
• Tile 1 x 2 with Dark Brown Scribbles, Bogeyman print in Tan (6544113 | 3069)

I think I associate this character with 71002-8 Yeti from 2013 and 71010-15 Square Foot from 2015. Although, more than anything else, this guy just screams Monsters Inc. at me (ironically, perhaps).

⑨ Cupid

• Minifig Wings Double Layer with Anti-Stud in White (6507604 | 6332)

• Weapon Bow and Arrow [Large] in Red (6518540 | 4499)
• Tile 1 x 1 Heart in Red (6435651 | 39739) – relatively rare in unprinted form, having only previously appeared in Disney 100 71038-7 Queen of Hearts. However, four are present in set 40824 Sweetheart Tweety Bird.

It is interesting to me that rather than attaching via an integral neck bracket as many similar parts do, these wings are simply attached to a regular neck bracket piece (6277181 | 28974) via an anti-stud.

Eagle wings (6483472 | 5684, above right) from LEGO Minifigures Dungeons and Dragons Series 26 were only released late last year  – a matter of only four months. Perhaps those wings weren’t quite cherubic enough? 

⑩ Pirate Quartermaster

• Animal, Cockatoo with Yellow Crest, Black Beak in White (6510723 | 6333)

New animals are always welcome, and joining the much-used Parrot/Macau is this cheerful cockatoo. 

⑪ Cat Lover

• Animal, Cat with Furry Chest, Bright Pink Nose print in White (6510676 | 6329)
• Wool / Yarn Yarn in Dark Pink (6509764 | 6900)

The long-haired cat is currently exclusive, but the ball of yarn appears in many sets already.

 

⑫ Steampunk Inventor

• Top Hat with Reddish Brown Band, Dark Tan Strap, Gold Goggles, Bright Green Glass print in Dark Brown (6520731 | 101777) 

LEGO has produced a number of top hats, but this relatively new design is pretty rare having only appeared in two other figures: 71038-3 Jiminy Cricket and 71038-6 Dr. Facilier, both from Disney 100.

• Tile Round 1 x 1 with Gauge, White/Copper Field print in Reddish Brown (6510700 | 98138)

• Equipment Hand Armor in Pearl Gold (6518127 | 15407), exclusive to this figure in this colour.   

Choosing a CMF barcode scanner

While I'm a full supporter of the more sustainable packaging, in terms of identification I really miss “feeling the bags”. Although, I have to admit the new method of scanning packs is faster in my experience. Many of our LEGO fan media brethren have a minifigure scanner now and a short while ago, user Rasmodius write an article on Brickset of most of the more well-known CMF barcode scanning apps.

 

Personally I have found that the interface of omgbricks is a little faster and more reliable than some of the others, and can identify more than one figure at a time. That small snippet of extra efficiency can be essential in the wild, where predatory resellers, scalpers and ravenous AFOLs can be lurking in the toy aisle.

Conclusion

As far as LEGO Minifigures are concerned, I thought this was a nicely balanced range, with many of the niche sub-groups of collectors catered for; Space, Castle and City all have new characters. Fans of the 'dress-up' minifigures are also sure to be pleased. 

LEGO once again have demonstrated their commitment to inclusion and diversity. This series does what the theme does best: give us engaging new additions to our cast of characters, enabling us to create new and different stories that would not normally be possible within remit of regular sets.

The "one to look for" has proven to be the Wolfpack Beastmaster, and I can definitely see the appeal.

However, for me, it's the Jetpack Racer. I had fun building him a souped-up jet-board from the longboarder's deck.

Techniques using Brick, Round 1 x 1 with 3 Bars in Black (LEGO part 6331)

The tripod/stem is an interesting part and, while not necessarily something that I had on my 2025 bingo card, any part that presents interesting possibilities for connections is welcome.

Above right shows that sadly, the internal technic axle connection is not orientated to align with any of the angled bar attachment points. 

I investigated a few connection methods, although not exhaustively. I had aimed for something geodesic in these attempts, but each arrangement I tried seemed to require an angle of connection that I struggled to make without stressing the elements too far.

I think many of these constructions are possibly still stressing the elements but undoubtedly there are many geometric opportunities still open to exploration. Some of these arrays would make interesting engine units for spaceships.

I think this is a truncated tetrahedron, although don't quote me on that!

Ultimately, I did manage to build a dodecahedron.

This part is not quite the game-changer I had hoped for, in part down to that irritating lack of orientation with the Technic axle. However, I still think it might have some further novel uses that I have not explored.

READ MORE: GwP and 2x Points for MAR10 Day 2025 now available

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