And that's a perfect lead-in to today's review, since today, we're looking at an attempt to bring emojis into the building brick world with "i L🙂VE FiGZ" Emoji Minifigures. ...And yes, I might just stylize it like that each time to really annoy people missing the text pack.
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Name: "i L🙂VE FiGZ" Emoji Minifigures
Distributor: BricTek
Model: 19401, 19403, 19405, 19407, 19409, 19411
Pcs: N/A
...So, we had an Emoji movie come out a few months ago. ...Apparently, it was a REALLY bad idea. I say "apparently", since I haven't seen and have absolutely no desire to see it. It didn't sound like anything worthwhile as they were announcing it, it was being made by a company that's more miss than hit, and it just REEKED of lazy fad cash-in*, as well as an attempt to capture the magic of "toy/game crossover" animated movies like Wreck-It Ralph, The LEGO Movie, and Toy Story, without the slightest clue what made those movies work.
*Yes, I know I'm being a hypocrite, but I'm a broke twenty-something desperate for ad revenue who makes no-budget videos in his bedroom. What's THEIR excuse?!
Plus I'm extremely sore they canceled* the Popeye movie over this...
*Or "indefinitely delayed", if you believe that argument...
And it seems my judgement was sound, because the movie was thoroughly trashed by critics and viewers alike, becoming one of the worst received animated movies ever made. It's made even worse by the fact they KNEW they had a bad movie on hand, so they barred critics from seeing it until the last minute. ...If you make a movie that's basically one long ad for mediocre/overplayed apps, with no idea how modern technology works, while including a horribly botched feminist message, that's YOUR fault, NOT the critics'! It's a movie where Patrick Stewart plays a living pile of crap*, and I don't think he smelt as bad as it did...
*Which, let's be honest, is ideal casting. If you're going to make a character that's literally living poop, might as well be dignified about it.
Still, in all fairness, I guess it's not the most desperate thing to base a movie on...
I bring this up, because with all the hype this movie managed to gain, at least one building brick company decided to cash in on this slight craze by making minifigures with emoji heads! ...And surprisingly, it's not one of the Chinese "bootleg" companies we're accustomed to seeing here, but a prolific-ish semi-mainstream company located in America! ...Or the North American continent, rather.
These "I LOVE FIGZ"* are a very recent release from building brick company BricTek.
*Had to get at least one correct spelling in for the search engines
BricTek(not to be confused with Block Tech, which we already looked at a few months ago) is a relatively new manufacturer, founded in Canada in 2012.
Like most Lego clones, they focus mainly on generic themes, like "Space Flight", Construction, Army, Police, and general Girl sets(which go under the name "Imagine.")
However, they are a little more creative(?) with their genericness, since they also have niche themes like School Bus, "Happy Farm", Train, Racing, and Castle, which you don't often see other clone companies tackle.
Oh, but that's not the end of it! They also have a Technic knock-off line called "Ingenius", an obvious Duplo clone called "Bildop", a clearly Lego City/Lego Ideas-inspired line called "Builder", and even a line of buildable RC cars! I've never seen a company so intent on duplicating Lego!
Heck, their website might just be the most "customer education pandering" I've ever seen! Turn to any page and they'll give you a dozen reasons why their company produces the best product on the market and TWO dozen reasons why you should buy their sets! They proudly post an academic study of their product detailing how their product will foster creativity, develop problem solving skills, comprehend spatial skills, and basically make your kid the smartest person in the universe!
They even have a video that all but tells you that if you show your kid building with BricTek around the workplace, you'll be next in line for CEO!
But even with all the different lines they offer, most of their success can apparently be attributed to their lines of basic bricks and figurines. According to this news article I found, BricTek was able to get a foothold in the market(at least in Canada) because Lego is so focused on their themed and licensed lines, there are basically no sets comprised solely of generic bricks. In order to get a good amount of the pieces or characters you want to work with, you'd need to track down some sets that HAVE those pieces/characters and buy several, and we all know how Lego likes to charge an arm and a leg for so much as a single minifigure...
So along comes BricTek with their baseplates, roof pieces, windows, grab bags, and even color-coded mixed bricks, as well as packs of brick figures that work with most brands, and you can start to see how they've managed to establish themselves as a semi-major player in the building brick market. While not something commonly found in your local Walmart or Toys R Us*, they can still be found in a number of online stores and specialty toy shops, so they're at least on the same level as Block Tech and Best Lock, if not possibly a bit higher. They're probably not something you'd notice unless you were specifically looking for this certain budget brick line, but they are there if you look hard enough.
*At least not in my area. If you're Canadian, you'd probably have a better chance of finding these in a larger chain.
However, if you are tempted to hunt down some BricTek sets, just be warned that they're a little pricey. At least when compared to other budget brick lines. For example, I bought one of these character packs online and another at a Smith & Edwards about an hour away, and each cost around $8-$10 for 3 characters.
Compare that to these Block Tech figure packs I often find that include 8 figures for $5. ...But we'll talk about these later.
Even if I'm lucky enough to find a budget set at Big Lots*, they're often priced $8+, compared with the $5 Block Tech sets right next to them with the same number of pieces and figures.
*Which is becoming harder and harder since Big Lots is apparently no longer actively stocking building brick sets...
And honestly, the Block Tech sets look a lot more appealing in comparison...
Also, while the BricTek site does have a full list of what they offer and the prices they go for, they don't have their own store, instead redirecting you to sites and physical retailers that stock their general product. So if you're interested in buying a certain set(such as the figure line I'll show you once I eventually stop talking), good luck navigating several dozen sites or actually spending time and fuel visiting brick-and-mortar retailers, hoping someone has that specific line in stock...
I was lucky enough to find this certain line on eBay for about $25 including shipping. A bit pricier than I'd normally be willing to pay, but seeing as how these are the only buildable Emoji brick sets in existence and I have NO idea where else I'd find these, I should count my lucky stars I was able to find them at all...
Now why these figures were produced is a bit of an interesting mystery to me. I originally wrote that it was pretty clear BricTek was just cashing in on whatever success The Emoji Movie would have by popping some generic Emoji faces on custom circle heads and releasing them around the same time as the film.
However, on their site, it's quite clear that these were produced in conjunction with The Emoji Movie and they had Sony Pictures Animation's blessing to make these.
You can even see in this picture I'm assuming is from the February 2017 New York Toy Fair that they're advertising The Emoji Movie at their booth along with the "i L🙂VE FiGZ" figures, so they did produce these figurines purposely to promote and cash in on the movie.
And yet, with all that, there is NO promotion with the figures themselves. You'd think that something meant to promote a movie would feature characters from that movie, or at least bear the logo of the movie they're trying to promote!
Even the prototype figures and boxes seen in this video(which I'm providing a link to since it's unlisted) don't bear any obvious tie-in to the movie. It's not even mentioned.
They even made their own promotional video for these figures with no mention of The Emoji Movie! ...Though seeing as how this video is cute, exciting, and really shows off the benefits of having these figures, while The Emoji Movie was anything but any of those things, that might have been for the best.
Maybe they were going Block Tech's route and producing generic designs that they could continue to sell after the license expired? ...But even then, Block Tech branded them with the Fast & Furious name at first...
This isn't even BricTek's first licensed venture, as they're also behind a line based on the Ice Age movies, which not only bears the Ice Age name, but contains custom figures of the main characters. ...And be honest, you didn't even know this existed until I just brought it up.
Though they're also behind an obvious Transformers knock-off line called "Android Heroes", where the designs are so similar to existing sets that you have to wonder how they haven't been taken to court by Kre-O, Hasbro, and/or Paramount/Dreamworks...
So the fact that the "i L🙂VE FiGZ" set contains no reference to The Emoji Movie is a bit odd to me. Maybe it's actually BricTek that recruited The Emoji Movie to use some of their promotional material to promote these figurines that just so happened to also be based on Emojis? ...But that sounds even more unlikely than the first scenario. If anyone else has any ideas on why they teamed up with The Emoji Movie, then didn't use their name to promote their sets, I'm all ears.
And with that, let us FINALLY talk about the figures themselves. ...After we examine the box art, of course😜.
To start with: The name. ...Now strangely, the fact that they replaced the "O" with a "🙂" doesn't bother me as much as it should. It gives the line a bit of an identity and it works with Emoji-styled figurines. Plus it distracts from the fact they just used a regular font for the title.
No, what bugs me a little bit are the lowercase "i"s and the inconsistent font sizes. You can see that the "i" at the beginning of the name is the exact same as the one used in "FiGZ." But for some reason, they reduced the size of the letters in "LOVE", meaning that that lowercase i is now as big as an uppercase L... Why did they even reduce the size in the first place? It looks like there's sufficient space to fit letters the size of the lower word on the upper tier. If they were trying to make it look less awkward that they're using a lowercase i... Well, it looks even more awkward now...
And lowercase "i"s? Really? ...Why? I think in the days of autocorrect, misspelling and forgetting to capitalize are basically things of the past. Nowadays, saying something like "i no wat u did, lawl!!!" screams either immature 10-year-old hyper over getting their first phone or 55-year-old with their first phone trying to understand what "kids these days" are into... And who would place a lowercase i in the middle of a capitalized word anyway? If you're talking in all caps, it's likely you have Caps Lock on, so you'd have to intentionally go back and change the letter, and I don't know why you'd put more effort into misspelling a word than picking a filter for the selfie you're posting on Instagram... So if they meant to include lowercase "i"s to add to the "Emoji style", they're at least a decade too late...
Only one guy can get away with incorporating lowercase "i"s in his name.
Actually, make that TWO decades if they think replacing the "S" with a "Z" is still "in"...
Alright, now that I'm done nitpicking the name apart, let's talk about the rest of the art. ...It's pretty basic, even for a minifigure. The only major graphic is the figure on the right, depicting what you'll get in each box. ...And no, there are no names, so I guess you can call them whatever you call them online. ...Besides lazy.
And yes, it's the exact same pose for each figure.
The only other thing of note on the front are these small diagrams that show that you can do more with these figures than use them as regular minifigures.
Which they emphasize on the top by showing you what accessories each come with. But we'll get to that when we get to that.
Also, it's nice that they went to the trouble of changing the figure for each picture. That's surprisingly rare even for major companies like Lego.
The back just shows you the line of figures and tells you to "Collect Them All"(which I did), as well as gives you an idea of how big the figures are.
Which they were correct about, can't argue with that.
At the bottom, we're given the website for BricTek, as well as a small-text disclaimer that the art on these figures originally came from the EmojiOne archive, specifically the ones under a Creative Commons License.
EmojiOne is a major producer of Emojis, Emoticons, and Digital Stickers, and they have quite a collection of both paid and open-source of each to use.
In fact, within a minute of clicking on their archive, I found every single face used with these figures. ...And it was pretty clear in some cases why they had to be altered to fit.
Look, here's the page for their sunglasses face, and you can see that it is indeed the same one used for the figs. The 2.2 version to be exact. And it is indeed available for commercial use with attribution so if you want to make your own Emoji figs, they have designs to start you off.
The other sides don't have that much to them. One side just has the French and Spanish language Warnings
While the other one gives us the standard "Compatible with other leading brands" statement so they can be compared with Lego.
The bottom has all the boring legal stuff, including "Made in the only place where anything is made", "You might not get what we've clearly pictured as being included on the box", and "Don't throw away the box; we spent good money designing it!" It also says it was distributed by "BRMB Inc", which, as far as I can tell, is just another name for BricTek. What does BRMB stand for? ...You tell me...
One more thing that puzzles me about these sets are the model numbers. For some reason, instead of the regular sequential numbering, they go up by 2 for each model, so we get "19401, 19403, 19405, etc." Maybe that's a clue they're making more, but it's a strange way to hint at it.
What's not as much of a surprise is that they stuck the "Not for children under 3" warning right next to the "6+" age recommendation.
Anyone between those ages will have a laughing Emoji head attached permanently to their shoulders, meaning that they'll look like the most soulless person alive in the face of tragedy...
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And here is the figure set! ...Yeah, took long enough to get to this point, didn't it? Well, that's because I found the backstory and company behind these things a little more fascinating than the figures themselves. ...Though that's not saying a whole lot, because these are some pretty unique and solidly put together figures!
Since this is the first time featuring BricTek figures on this site, let's go over a few differences between them and regular Lego minifigures. For one thing, they're slightly taller, with slightly slimmer and elongated features. It's admittedly easy to miss unless they're right next to each other, but it is there.
Their bodies are much more rounded compared to Lego's blocky bodies, with legs that more resemble human legs than Lego's.
Unfortunately, they hollowed out the back of the legs, meaning that it's much harder to get them to stand centered on studs and they can slip off easily if moved wrong. That may not sound like a big deal, but when you're trying to very carefully pose these for videos, they can move on their own...
Since the legs are slightly longer, it can be difficult to get them to sit in chairs made for Lego. ...Not as difficult as Block Tech figures, but that's a story for another time.
You can also tell where they cheaped out with some of the molding, since the hands have little "sprue holes" in the middle.
Plus they made the legs interchangeable, so there's always an obvious hole on one side. ...It's a little sad when you're too cheap to make separate leg molds...
But the most notable difference between these figures and Lego minfigures, and what almost makes these BETTER than Lego(almost)? WAIST ARTICULATION!
Instead of the two pegs of Lego legs, only a single round peg connects these to a BricTek torso.
This allows for complete 360° rotation of the figure, and a LOT more movement! It's something I'm surprised Lego has never done!
It allows for easier movement to slap a cheeky Brick Miser at least.
There's a little more to talk about with BricTek figures, but I'll save it for when we feature figures with actual heads. But, speaking about heads, let's talk about them, since that's really what we're all here for today.
I have never seen a head mold like this, much less one meant to be an ACTUAL head!
Everyone's already familiar with Lego headgear and how detailed some of it can be. Especially when they're trying to make it look like it's the actual Lego head. ...Without making it the actual Lego head.
Heck, the JinRun figure of Anger we looked at in that knock-off Inside Out showcase was just a blank Lego head with a mask over it, so it's clear that it's easier to make a mold to fit OVER the head rather than make it the head itself.
These, on the other hand, ARE molded to be the actual heads and fit on the neck peg, making these some of the most unique head molds I've ever seen! And for a budget brick company to make unique head molds like these? That's impressive! It almost reminds me of another unique head mold also from a knock-off Inside Out figure that belonged to-
...Well, let's just not go there...
And they really want you to know who made these, since "BricTek" is stamped on the back of each head.
Though the fact that these don't fit snugly on anything but something made by BricTek might be enough of an indication if someone wanted to stick these on another company's figure...
Like I mentioned earlier, each of the face designs are based on already existing, free-to-use Emoji designs from EmojiOne. Though some, like this laughing-so-hard-I'm-crying expression, were altered slightly to fit on the face.
The same also applies to the graphics on the shirts. It's pretty easy to find the exact pictures used on the same page as the expressions.
And that's all the detail we get with the torsos and legs, since the rest is just one solid color. But again, the focus is on the heads, so the rest of the body is just an afterthought.
One of the few nitpicks I have with the choices for the figure faces is that they're all "happy" Emojis. Each one can only be used if the sender is in a good mood, or a mischievous mood at worst.
It really would have been nice if they included some sad, angry, scared, etc. Emojis to give the line a bit more variation and more situations these could be used in.
Heck, I wouldn't mind if they even included one of those poop Emojis. A figure with a pile of crap for a head is a comedy reviewer goldmine!
However, as shown in this section of their toy fair booth, they do ask people to "Help Us Select the Next 6 Figz*", and some other Emoji emotions are shown, so we may be getting more variation in the future!
*With a capital I strangely enough...
But for what they have available now, they want to make sure we get the most out of these as possible! Not only do the heads come with minifigure bodies, but also a variety of accessories(all nicely color-coded even) to additionally use with the heads!
Some even come with extras.
So not only do you get a standard baseplate to stand these figures on*
*Which I only just now remember I could have stood the figures on to keep them from falling over...
But also a center-pegged brick that you can put the head on and stick on whatever you please
A little pencil topper to stick the head on a pen or pencil and really annoy your classmates and/or teacher.
A clip to attach it to the flat screen of your laptop or TV(which I might just do)
And a smaller neck clip to attach them to pretty much anything else(pockets, fans, strings, cords, whatever has a thin enough surface to allow it to slide over.)
And, in case the front and top of the box weren't enough to remind you of all the accessories included
They're also listed in the instructions. ...Yes, these have instructions. Why, especially since the figure comes mostly assembled to begin with? ...I have no idea.
Though they were once again thoughtful enough to personalize each sheet. ...It's like they were ashamed that they didn't originally come up with these designs, so they put as much detail into the little things as possible...! ...Well, whatever the reason they did it, they get a gold star for paying attention to the little details. And that's an award I can't even give to Lego all the time!
And that's the line! A team of overly happy, amorphous heads attached to Lego bodies with pituitary gland problems, made by a company that can't decide if these were made to promote a movie or not. ...I guess now I gotta give these figures the treatment they deserve...
...What? You thought I was going to throw them away? ...I actually LIKE these for a change! I'm not cynical ALL the time! ...Well, ok, I am, but these get a place of honor nonetheless, so
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Quality: The quality is quite good for these figures. They're made out of a slightly softer plastic than Lego, but they still feel solid and professional. They have the classic signs of cheaper manufacturing(bits of sprue, obvious places where they glued two halves together, inconsistency in how well the piece attach, etc.), but they're not as obvious as other cheap figures we've looked at. The paint job is quite hi-res and I didn't see any splotching, and they feel relatively durable, like I'd have to intentionally scratch them with a sharp object to wear it down. The accessories also feel nice and solid, but when I was attaching the figures to my computer with the screen clips, the black one felt much looser than the others and it won't attach as securely as the other figures. So for the most part, they're good quality. They just needed a bit more attention to really push them above average.
Design: I'm very impressed with BricTek's design for their figures, as they managed to make their own unique style of minifig while also still being compatible with basic brick elements. The smoothness of the figures gives a sense of being sleeker and friendlier than Lego minifigs, which seeing as how most things I've seen from BricTek have a lighter tone to them, fits just fine. I especially LOVE the waist articulation, especially since it allows me to turn these figurines without having to balance them between the studs on my table. The unique heads for this line fit the brick aesthetic just fine and look like something a major company like Lego would have thought of(so I bet they're happy they beat Lego to the punch.) However, I don't like the fact that the back of the legs are hollow and fail to make a secure connection and that they cheaped out slightly by making the legs interchangeable, producing obvious holes on each side no matter which way you order the legs. Plus the fact that the bodies are basically a solid color with a random picture slapped on does make them slightly boring. Still, for an attempt to produce a new type of figurine that would still fit in with the general brick world, I say they went above and beyond.
Creativity: Well, I can't give them too much credit for the faces or the symbols on their shirts, since they were preexisting images under a Creative Commons License. However, the fact that they actually made unique head molds and altered the art slightly to make it all fit does show a lot of creativity and effort. I'm very impressed that they made these the actual heads of their figures and didn't just slap a mask over already existing figure heads, and I can tell that they were proud of it too with how they stamped their company name on the back of each. But what most impresses me are the ideas they give for what you can use the heads for. They don't just have to be on a minifig, as you can also stick them on their own bricks or on a pencil. And if you want to take them with you, they've also provided ways for them to ride on a pocket or a computer screen. It's that thinking outside the box that I love to see, and these figures might be the poster child for that kind of thinking.
Readability: ...The fact that they even included instructions baffles me. They're just little figures that come already assembled, so it's not that hard to figure out what goes where... You'd think that they would include little diagrams of how to properly attach the figures to their accessories if they wee going to include instructions, but it's just stating the obvious here. ...But I guess in the terms of being easy to follow and properly sequential I base this category on, they're just fine.
Packaging: The packaging isn't completely bland, but I feel like it's just doing the bare minimum. It's just the figure in front of a white background on the front and back, combined with a few diagrams of what they can be used for and the other figures in the line. It needed a group shot of Emojis or some sort of Emoji world to really stand out. However, the cardboard quality is quite decent, though slightly coarse, and I do have to give it major points for the bizarre logo choices. ...Seriously, why the lowercase "i"s?
Compatibility: They're figures that, for the most part, would fit just fine with other brick figures. However, the pieces aren't interchangeable with most other figures and BricTek figs are slightly taller than most, so getting them to sit in a Lego chair or fit inside something built for a smaller figure would be problematic. Also, headgear would be a problem with these certain figures(as well as other BricTek figs in general, but we'll get to that later.) Still, on their own, they'll work just as well in a brick world as most other brick figures.
Overall:
Yes, another perfect 5/5 on this blog and an overall score slightly larger than any of the categories. Like the Dr Star "Light & Sound" Christmas Nanoblocks, I just can't think of a reason NOT to get these! They're cute, they're imaginative, and they have other uses than being included in brick sets. If you're not into Lego or anything similar, just stick them on your pocket or backpack or laptop or shelf or anywhere else they've given you the means to attach to. I do wish that there were more and in a larger variation, but judging from the promotional art, we may just see that happen! If you can find these at a decent price(probably lower than what I paid for them), I highly recommend you buy them. They're fun for kids, adults, collectors, and anyone who wants to send an Emoji without using the general stock in their phone.
In other words:
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