Thursday, May 3, 2018

The Brick Miser: Mega Construx Despicable Me 3 Minions Series 10 Blind Bags

It's time to open some blind bags! And what better way to start looking at blind bags than with a franchise I absolutely can't stand?! ...Let's open some Despicable Me 3 Minions blind bags...

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Name: Despicable Me 3 Minions Series 10 Blind Bags
Brand: Mega Construx
Model: DYG42
Pcs: Various















Blind bags and subscription boxes are things I've noticed have gotten an INSANE amount of popularity in the last few years. You can't go down a toy aisle in your local Wal-Mart without a shelf of blind bags/pods staring you in the face, you can't watch a YouTube channel without an Unboxing or Opening video either on the channel or in the Recommended videos, and things like POP figures and novelty T-Shirts have practically become synonymous with surprise boxes, to the point where people actually grade subscriptions based on if they have one or the other! It's one of the longest fads I've ever seen, starting around the same time as Loot Crate, and continuing to this day with THOUSANDS of different blind bags and subscription boxes to choose from!
















There are so many of these surprises, and they've become so prolific in our media, that there are hundreds of YouTube channels dedicated almost SOLELY to buying and publicly unboxing/opening them! And not only are most of these channels so popular, they're able to subsist on revenue from viewership alone, but some of the more popular ones receive more money in a month than I've ever seen in my life! ...I spend all week creating these in-depth looks at things, and I don't get even a tiny fraction of someone who filmed their video in 20 minutes and didn't bother to edit... ...That's life, I guess...










Obviously, these fads are nothing new. We've been collecting and taking risks on surprise packages since before the advent of baseball cards over a century ago! The 1960s had a similar fad, where they had Book-of-the-Month, Fruit-of-the-Month, Candy-of-the-Month, even Animal-of-the-Month* clubs, where members would get a surprise item based on the "X-of-the-Month" theme 12 times a year. And, of course, surprise bags have been around for decades, usually aimed at children and meant as party favors or a way to get rid of overstock.

 *And you can guess how long that lasted...


















However, I have never seen a craze for them on THIS scale! Practically EVERYTHING seems to have its own blind bag! Five Night at Freddy's, Thomas the Tank Engine, Disney Princess, Tsum Tsums, Shopkins, Garbage Pail Kids, My Little Pony, Lego, Angry Birds, etc. If it exists, it probably has a blind bag variant!






















And that's not counting franchises created strictly AS blind bags...

















Subscription boxes have even MORE variety to them! Thanks to such hosting sites as Crate Joy making it easy for anyone to start their own subscription services, practically any theme can be created with inventory to match! Loot Crate, Geek Gear, The Toy Box, YOUR Toy Box, Nostalgia Crate, The Bath Benefit, Chi Box, Pretty Paper Club, Mario's Mystery Block, Kids Bookcase Club, LaLa Horse, Hiker Club, Range Junkie, the list goes on and on! As long as there's a profitable group out there demanding these hobbies, and the person/people behind the box can continue to stock and afford the related items, ANY subscription can be created and provided and last for as long as the demand lasts. ...Provided they can keep up with the host and processor fees and they're not trafficking in dope and human organs... More the former than the latter.


















While there are a LOT of theories why these surprise crates and bags are so popular today, I personally think it's because of how jaded a society we've become. We are so comfortable in our lives with practically everything at our fingertips, that we have all but lost the ability to be impressed or surprised. Movie details are released so far in advance, you could probably string together everything you find online and have a complete movie before they've even finished filming! We're much more comfortable going to see endless sequels, remakes, and adaptations than we are something original, despite those movies often being of low quality. We'll gladly watch the same YouTube videos on repeat than discover new channels, and we'd rather meet people online than in real life, since we're so afraid of taking a risk beyond what we're comfortable with! With a few keystrokes, we can shape our worlds to be what WE want to see, and any intrusion is often met with hostility.

















These surprise boxes give us a "safe" amount of surprise, just enough to keep us on the edge of our seats, yet not enough to get us to worry and fret about upcoming events. We KNOW that a surprise is coming, so we're just wondering what level of surprise it is. It's not like somebody suddenly handing us a check for a million dollars on the street, or a tornado picking up out trailer and throwing us across several states to our doom. It's still a choice we made, and something we're interested in. The only real risk is what level of quality what we bought is. If the product as a whole is absolute junk, we won't bother with any further bags/crates. Otherwise, we'll gladly pay more money to get that thrill all over again, especially if it's that limited edition 1-in-250 chance figure from one of these bags/crates!
















On top of that, humanity as a whole likes to gamble. Even if we're not playing cards or rolling dice or spinning slots or anything else we associate with gambling games, we will still take chances to achieve a clear goal. It can be something as innocent as playing Candy Land and hoping you pick the right colors to get to the end first, or it can be something as lucrative as buying tickets to hopefully win the state lottery. Heck, by choosing to eat a burger instead of a salad, you're gambling that your enjoyment of the unhealthy food will be more than the pounds you'll gain and the chance of  developing cancer later in life... Subscription crates and blind bags provide a similar chance to get what you want. How much will it take to get that figure you want, or even to collect the complete set? Will you get them in your first haul, or will you have to mortgage your house to collect HALF of them?! Opening one of these boxes/bags contains the same level of hope, intensity, and risk as rolling the dice with money on the line!

















With that in mind, you can probably understand why there are some groups out there trying to have subscription crates and blind bags classified as "gambling" and regulated as such. ...I'm sort of in the middle with this stance. While I think enforcing the same laws as casinos have to endure on something hobbyists are collecting every month is a little extreme, I'd be lying if I said I didn't see the problem. My advice is to only choose what you want, only use money you're not using for something more important(such as paying your rent or insurance), and know when you've exceeded your budget. ...Of course, by giving that advice, I'm a complete hypocrite...













 While I might have made it sound like I'm apathetic to surprise boxes/bags, rest assured I am the complete opposite. I LOVE these things! ...The brick-themed versions, anyway. I LOVE seeing what I'll get from these surprise packages, and, since I collect and make videos with brick set stuff, everything I collect I put to use!













I even featured a brick-themed Loot Crate a little over a year ago, on both my YouTube channel and my blog. And that's not the only surprise box/bag I have lying around!













This bag here is full of nothing but blind bags and polybags I've collected, and I'll be periodically and randomly pulling some out for the occasional look on this blog. Heck, I was going to do that before today's subject cut in line. I don't even remember most of the stuff I've put in here, and I'm DESPERATE to find out! ...Later...













Also, I happen to be partly in charge of a certain nostalgia-themed subscription crate in need of subscribers that you can find by clicking the tab at the top of the page, hint hint...












The only thing that turns me off to more actively collecting blind bags and subscribing to brick-themed subscription boxes is the price. I'm a bit of a penny-pincher when it comes to conscious purchases, and I don't have that much money to throw around in the first place(though having a few supporters on Patreon could help me with that, hint hint again.) I'm an adult. I have rent, car, insurance, groceries, business expenses, taxes, etc. to worry about. Brick subscription boxes usually demand more than most other loot boxes out there, and those actually worth something can be upwards of $30 a month, plus shipping, which I don't normally have to throw around.












 Even minifigure blind bags can be $4+ apiece, and I just don't have that much to take a gamble on getting a good amount of these figures. I'm a scavenger. I like to peruse the shelves of thrift and overstock stores in search of things to collect, not places like Walmart. So unless these blind bags appear next to that near-expired orange juice or that ugly brown sweater somebody wore once and then tossed(and they have), I'm unfortunately not in a position to regularly collect blind bags.













And that brings us to today's look at stuff. I recently found a load of Mega Construx Despicable Me blind bags at an overstock store I frequent, for a little under $1.50 apiece! So I thought "Hey, that's a review", and bought the lot. And today, we're going to open them all and see what we got. Who knows? Maybe we'll get the whole set!















I've already given my opinion of the Despicable Me and Minions franchise when I featured the Mega Bloks Despicable Me advent calendar back in Christmas 2016. ...Namely that I can't stand it. The series as a whole I never thought was that funny and a lot of it relies on the audience being brain-dead stupid not to think in how many ways nothing adds up... And the Minions are just irritating, talking in that high-pitched garglemesh throughout each movie and overstaying their welcome by the first 10 minutes. How these things took off and weren't immediately thrown into the same garbage disposal as the Lemmings from Norm of the North is beyond me! They're ugly, they're stupid, they're annoying, they serve no purpose other than to give toy makers more design ideas, and the sooner this franchise runs out of movies and people forget about these things, the better!













Still, my grandmother likes them, so I buy these sets for her. If you're reading this, I HOPE YOU APPRECIATE WHAT I HAVE TO SACRIFICE FOR YOU, GRANDMA!













Before we start ripping them open, let's take our customary look at the packaging these things come in. ...Though there's not much to say in this case. It's simply a group shot of all the Minions you could get in these bags, all facing off in different directions and mostly not caring about your obsessive compulsion to buy as many of their bags as possible(and even beyond that.) However, the lack of any excitement is understandable, seeing as how these are blind bags. They're here to be ripped open, then tossed. They don't need to convince you they have staying power...













I believe this is the first Mega Bloks product featured on this blog under their new Mega Construx line.






















The "Construx" name is a feature Mattel gave to their more "advanced" brick sets in 2017, to differentiate the Lego-style sets from the larger and more toddler-oriented Mega Bloks bricks. Makes sense. They want to stop using a name associated with younger kids for their more "adult" building sets.

















It's like Gerber trying to market classic dinners to adults. No matter how classy they make them appear, no adult with any dignity is going to eat food from cans/jars with the name of a baby food company on them... Which is why their Gerber Singles line back in the 70s flopped like a hippopotamus on the high dive.






















Of course, seeing as how the Mega Bloks name has been used for all their construction sets since 2003, including the more advanced stuff, the question going through my mind is "What took you so long?"













To set them apart from the numerous other Despicable Me brick sets, and to show that they're the most recent line, these are stamped with the Despicable Me 3 title. A movie I haven't seen. I saw the first one, I was forced to see the second one, and that's as far as I ever want to go. So if these figures include inside jokes pertaining to that movie, I'm sorry if I don't catch on.













These blind bags are part of Series 10. Just to further show how late I am to this party...






















 I can't find that much information on each individual series. However, Series 1 was apparently released in 2015, shortly before the release of the Minions movie. There were six figures in the lot, all based on variations from Despicable Me 2.






















Other series have been periodically produced since then, each one giving us different designs and characters to collect. ...Most of which seem to be the same Minion just holding a different accessory. Eh, all Minions look the same to me, so what do I know?






















In fact, we've long since moved past Series 10 with Series 11 and 12. That's me! Always talking about the most current of topics! ...So I guess I'd better talk about this series before it loses the last of its relevance...













The back just has another group shot of the Minions, along with all the legal information, so nothing to comment on here.













Still, we can't forget their "0-3" warning













 When they say "5+" on the front.













Anyone between those ages gets a blast in the face with the fart gun. And I'm not talking about the toy versions that smell like bubble gum...

Alright, let's open these bags, see what we get, and HOPEFULLY collect the entire series. ...That's a fool's wish, isn't it? I'll be surprised if I can even get half of them out of this small lot... Eh, I'll splice in some pictures of the ones I'm missing later. For now, let's see what we DO get.

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Blind bags have been opened and HOLY COW RIDING A UNICYCLE TO THE MOON AND BACK, I did NOT expect to get all 12! Seriously, out of 23 bags, I found ALL 12 figures, including the rares and the secret!













I didn't even have to open all the packs! I didn't even feel most of them! I just opened random bag after random bag, and somehow ended up with all 12 figures and 4 left over!













Of course, I did run into a few duplicates along the way. ...Hello, eBay.

...Well, I guess we need to ride this high of getting all figurines in one fell swoop and start taking a look at them, don't we?! ...Seriously I'm on a success high right now, and I don't feel that that often, so I'd better talk about these while I'm still elated.













Alright, we're going to talk about these in the order the booklet presents, since that leaves the rares and mystery until the end. It breaks up a few "like" figures, but that shouldn't be too distracting here.













First up, Hula Minion with ice cream(?). These are apparently based on when the Minions were relaxing on a beach in Despicable Me 2, where they were being picked off one by one to turn into those purple monsters. ...I think. I haven't see the movie since it was in theaters, and I have no desire to return to it to double check.













So since he's in a tropical climate, he's wearing a grass skirt* and a coconut bikini. ...Get it? It's funny because he's a he** and doesn't even have nipples. Haha. ...Actually that joke kinda works stacked against everything else the series wanted us to laugh at.

*Which, did you know, wasn't invented by islanders, but proselyting missionaries who were embarrassed to show off as much skin as the indigenous population was? ...This has been your Useless Factoid of the Day.
**Actually, is he a "he"? They're all presented as male, with male voices, personalities, and names, but, from what I got out of the series, they're some sort of asexual immortal creature that's existed since at least the Late Cretaceous. ...In fact, come to think of it, if they're both male and female, with immortality and eternal life, I think we're looking at the peak of evolution! The perfect life form! No wonder they spend their lives helping others. They have nowhere else to go on the evolutionary scale!













 He also has a painted-on lei on his head. ...Which, given Mega Bloks' knack for accessories, no matter how small, is a little disappointing it's not removable. I'm sure the Call of Duty figurines would have appreciated a string of flowers around their necks!













I have NO idea what he's holding here. At first glance, I thought it was a triple-decker ice cream cone,  but, given the tropical setting. maybe it's pineapple & pepper kebab? There's no actual description for each of these figures, so I have no idea what they were going for with this figure. It's a skewered traffic light for all I know.













Next is a Prison Minion with a banana. ...A very rude Prison Minion, given how he's closing his eyes and sticking his tongue out at you! Well, FINE, Mr. Jackass! I guess you don't NEED this cure for Panama disease!













Speaking of things that are currently endangering popular strains of bananas, he's clearly holding a fake, rubber banana! They didn't even bother to paint the top white! It looks like he's holding a cheap dog toy!













Mega Bloks HAS created bananas with fully painted features, but I guess they had a shipment of defective banana accessories, so they just tossed them in the blind bags, hoping people would be too busy opening pack after pack to notice this little detail. However, they didn't count on me, a nitpicky internet critic, to notice their little screw-up and point it out for the whole world to see! THIS IS WHAT I WAS BORN FOR! ...I AM SO PATHETIC!













Oh wait. On the little sheet that came with these figures, it shows a fully-painted banana with brown spots, meaning it's dirty or overripe.













And when we flip the banana, we suddenly have context for why he's so disgusted. Ok, my mistake. I jumped the gun there. ...Though the picture shows the detail on the opposite side of the banana, so forgive me for being slightly confused.













One final nitpick before we move on is that the material they used for the banana and the Minion's hairpiece is EXTREMELY rubbery. Almost uncomfortably so. Past hairpieces and bananas I've seen with similar figures have also been flexible, but what they used here is especially malleable. It feels like one of those Mash'ems more than something you'd expect to be included with a brick figure. It's actually a little difficult to place and take out of the figure's hands or head without ripping.

I mean, why can't you be like Lego? They'd never do something like this!













 ...Oh, wait...













Next up, Casual Minion with Swiss Cheese. ...Because Minions apparently wear torn undershirts when they have time off. ...Despite not wearing anything under their work overalls. ...So they put more clothing on to relax in than they work in? ...Seems to defeat the purpose of a lazy afternoon...













Actually, IS this casual wear? He appears to be wearing purple shoe covers and a fanny pack on the front of his jeans. With how much trouble he apparently took to dress up, he looks more like a discount plumber. You know, the independent kind that work for themselves that can't even be bothered to put on a jumpsuit and that charge you $150 for a slapjob on the toilet valve that breaks after a week? If you need a plumber, go with a name company, is what I'm saying...













These are also apparently form-fitting jeans, since they made sure to mold them in a way you can clearly see his butt crack. ...Classy... And further puzzling as to what he's dressed up for.













And in his hand, he holds Swiss cheese. ...On a stick. ...Was this a plot point in the movie I haven't seen? Last I checked, Minions were ecstatic about bananas, not cheese wedges. Or does he use this as a makeshift plunger for whatever his job is? ...This figure is giving me WAY too many disturbing theories as to what he even is, so let's move on...













Next up, we have one of the more rotund Worker Minions. ...Again carrying cheese. ...I don't get it.













Ok, there was a Cheese festival in the third movie, but, as far as I can tell, the Minions weren't a part of it. In fact, they were apparently in jail for most of the movie, so at no point did they go to the festival or even handle a single cheese block. Again, I could be wrong, since I'm assuming this solely based on scattered scenes and screenshots I've seen, but I don't see the sense of packaging Minions with cheese accessories. ...Then again, we're talking about a line of blind bag figures where they had to come up with 60-90 different designs at this point, so they're probably scraping the bottom of the barrel with a sheet of sandpaper to salvage enough material for new figures at this point...



















Heck, the cheese theme is so popular, that Mega Construx devoted not one, but TWO sets to the Minions interacting with cheese festival attractions! Seriously, Mega Bloks, why are you making sets that show just how desperate you are for ideas? Why can't you be like Lego and make models that represent MEMORABLE scenes from the movie you're licensed to produce for?


















 Like Luke Skywalker walking through the hall to the throne room of the Death Star, represented by a single plate and an archway? ...You know, I think I've lost faith in mankind's limitless creativity by this point...













Ok, I went on a needless tangent again. ...But only because I don't have anything to say about this figure. It's a standard minion dressed in standard overalls, holding a slice of Gouda. It's decently built and would fit in with pretty much any other Despicable Me set. It's fine. Let's move on.













Speaking of Minions in jail, we have another Prison Minion. One of the shorter and more standard guys, once again wearing prison overalls. ...Also a very unhappy Minion who's not ready to take any crap.













Seriously, stay away from this certain figure. He looks ready to shiv someone...













This guy's accessory is a... chalkboard? With numbers on it to represent a score? ...This is probably another event from the movie I don't get because I haven't watched it. If I had to guess, they had a ping pong tournament and one of the minions won 2799-to-4.










Or maybe it's part of their mugshot. ...And seriously Despicable Me 3, Paddington 2, Muppets Most Wanted, and other bad sequels, STOP SHOWING PRISON AS A JOKE! The only time you'd want to be in prison is if it's the zombie apocalypse and it's the most fortified building in the area! ...In which case, beware of people named after political titles with eyepatches riding tanks...













Anyway, here's another Prison Minion. And this one "Has a Shuvel!" ...You know, for those familiar with memes from 2006...













...And boy, does this guy have issues... That is a "cow about to be pulverized by a semi" expression if I've ever seen one... It looks like he only just now realized what movie he's in and that he'll be doing these for the rest of eternity, if Illumination has anything to say about it... Probably the same expression Johnny Depp gave when they announced Pirates of the Caribbean 6...

And I just used up most of my ellipses budget with that last paragraph. Let's move on.













Next is Dapper Minion. ...This is probably my favorite of the bunch.













First of all, I have NO idea what he's supposed to be wearing. A white undershirt and pink pants with a green fanny pack? It looks like what Old Navy barfed up after drinking Pepto-Bismol! It is SO tacky, that it somehow turns around and becomes a strangely appealing fashion statement! Look for this outfit at Hot Topic this summer...













Then there's the hat. It gets points right off the bat for being a mold I've never seen before, and it legitimately looks like a hat, despite being built out of several pieces! ...And with the style of the hat, combined with the colors and make of the clothes, I'm wondering which of Harold Lloyd's wardrobes he managed to raid for that getup...













 But my favorite part is that, despite everything this guy is wearing, he has THAT expression! That is a look of "Yeah, my clothes are the ugliest you've ever seen! ...Whatcha gonna do about it?" This is a guy who doesn't care what he wears, he's going to wear it with pride! He's gonna make you think that in order to be cool, you gotta wear the exact same outfit, even if it looks like the contents of a hamburger from a sketchy diner!

















The Doctor and his fez have NOTHING on this guy!













Sadly, we need to leave that guy and his attitude behind as we move on to the other Hula Minion. ...But this guy also has a look of absolute coolness that would put Fonzie and James Dean to shame, so this is possibly the best figure transition we could get! This guy makes me want to go out and buy a grass skirt and coconut bikini myself, if it means I can wear it and keep that expression on my face!













This guy is holding what I'm assuming is one of those coconut shell drinks(which my camera REFUSES to focus on.) ...Though with the lack of detail, it could easily be a regular coconut that he's holding like a bowling ball. Maybe he's going to roll it and drink the contents after he gets a spare? ...Beer Bowling. THAT'S an idea!













Unfortunately, our next figure moves away from the coolness we've come to expect and into awkwardness, as we seem to have wandered into a Worker Minion strike... There was apparently a scene in the movie where Gru gets fired from being a good guy, but says he's not becoming a bad guy again, and this guy's from right when things turn ugly. ...I'm also hoping this is the fan reaction to when they announce Despicable Me 4...













So now you too can protest Gru with this giant sign almost as big as the Minion himself! But if you like Gru, you can use it to protest other things that begin with "G"! Grapes, Gadgets, Greeks, Guns(very popular to do right now), Gags, Ground, Gorillas, Gazebos, pick your protest march!























Just don't try protesting Galactus. ...It doesn't do much good.













Luckily, we can move away from the ugliness of a union strike with another Worker Minion holding a balloon. ...I'd like to imagine this is the same Minion as the one protesting. "We will no longer be enslaved by our capitalist overlord! Rise up, my brothers, and revolt against this cruel oppression brought upon us good working people by those who... *GASP*! BALLOON! ...I completely forgot what we were talking about. ...Back to work, I guess!"













In keeping with the odd theme Mega Construx seems to be sticking with, the balloon appears to be made out of cheese. ...I'm just going to assume that it's a balloon PAINTED like cheese, and not a Swiss cheese wheel they somehow filled with helium and attached Cheez Whiz to for a string. ...But knowing this series, I wouldn't put it past them...













And, don't tell this guy who's apparently more excited about receiving a balloon than anything else that's ever happened in his life, but I don't think this is a real balloon...













We're coming up on the end of the line, as they're giving us a break from the Minions with the "It's-So-Fluffy Unicorn". This is the "Rare" of this series. ...I found it in the second bag I opened...













It's also the hardest to position in a way that doesn't make it look doofy... I don't think I succeeded a single time.













I was tempted to call this the best of the lot, on the sole grounds that it's NOT a Minion, and therefore something I'm more likely to want in my collection. ...But after what we've seen so far, especially the snarky Minions, this just looks bland in comparison! ...Yes. I'm saying that a unicorn is less interesting than a Minion in a hula skirt at this point. DO YOU SEE WHAT THIS SERIES IS DOING TO ME?!













Still, I can say it's the most flexible mold of the lot. Simply change around the hair, and PRESTO! A regular horse! ...With a golden termite mound built into its lower back! ...Might want to get that looked at...













Finally, we have this line's "Secret" guy: a Worker Minion wearing an "I 💓 Gru" hat! ...And not looking too happy about it...










Again, based on what little I saw, this is based on the scene from the movie where Gru says he's not going back to being a villain, and the Minions revolt, with this guy(Mel?) wearing this hat while he's leading the rebellion.


















Which is later stomped on. Saddest death of the series, right here...













You know how I was impressed with how well they made Dapper Minion's hat, despite using conventional pieces, and it actually looked like a hat that fits him?













Well, this is a custom hat molded as one piece, yet it doesn't fit at all! It looks like one of those cake ornaments sitting on top of his head, legitimately like a 6-year-old took it off his birthday cake and stuck it into one of his Minion figures!













They didn't even TRY with this accessory. It's not made to fit around the Minion's head in the slightest! Just from a casual glance, you can see all around the underside of the hat. You can even still see his hair! It's like the hat was filled with something and he's simply balancing it on top of his head!






















Even the Funko Pop figure is built better than this! ...Oh geez. They just made me compliment Funko Pop... I gotta finish before I throw up...













The point I'm getting at is that, for a "Secret" character, he's not exactly worth all the secrecy. Why wasn't the Dapper Minion the secret guy? He's the best of the lot, AND the most unique! ...Or is their "Secret" category reserved for figures they'd rather be kept secret...? Well, I know about it now, and I wish I didn't...

And that's Series 10 of Mega Construx's Minion figure line! Thankfully, this was far less painful than I thought it would be, and I was even pleasantly surprised with a few of the figures! Heck, I got all the figures all in one go, that's a wonderful surprise even for collections I don't care for*!

*Remind me to feature a set of "The Original Computer Glitch" one day...

But do you know what the best part is? This is the first and last blind bag opening I'll ever have to do involving Minions! I got all of these as a fluke, I've featured them all, and now I can go feature blind bags I actually care about and never again have to deal with the threat of the Minions!
















 ...Well, crap...

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Quality: It's Mega Bloks/Construx quality plastic. Very close to Lego plastic, but slightly more rubbery, which sort of annoys me. I guess my brain is wired to recognize very good plastic, very poor plastic, and the exact middle, so anything sort of in the middle of "Good" and "Middle" throws me off. Still, that's a nitpick at best. Everything stuck together, nothing was loose, all the pieces were present, even the paint jobs were better than the advent calendar variants I featured! I guess my only other nitpick is that the rubber accessories(bananas and hair pieces) are really thin, and it's difficult to place them or take them out without ripping something. Still, I can't think of anything that was a mess, nor any obvious sprue hanging off the pieces, so, quality-wise, these figures get a good rating. The movies, on the other hand... Let's not go there.







Design: The figures are simply three molds tweaked a little differently for each. I guess if they work, and they match the movie's characters, there's not much reason to add more physical variation. Everything looks the way it should based on the movie these are from(as far as I can tell), and I could tell what everything was(or at least get a better grasp than the advent calendar.) The paint jobs they used to try to cover up that it's the same overalls each time ranged from "good" to "you're not fooling anyone", but I didn't notice that much splotching this time around, and they resembled something at least. I guess they got lazy with a few of the accessories(the skewer, the coconut, and the banana, for example), as they were harder to figure out than most, or the paint job was inconsistent from the packaging's portrayal. Which is sad, knowing Mega Bloks/Construx love for custom pieces. Still, at the end of the day, you have the Minions and things that would go with the Minions. ...Take that for what it's worth.







Creativity: There aren't any major gimmicks or things out of the norm with these figures, plus most figures and accessories are taken directly from the movie, so there's not a whole lot of creativity at play. It's quite obvious that some accessories are copies of other Mega Construx pieces, and, like I said, the same three figure molds are used for each figure. That said, there are a few things I think are creative. I like that they printed Despicable Me logos on some of the pieces, the hula skirts are awkwardly creative, and the "I 💓 Gru" hat, despite not being molded well, is interesting to see a custom mold of. Also, I LOVE some of the Minions' attitudes, like the Dapper Minion's "I don't care how I look. I'm still sexy", or the Prison Minion's "...What have I been doing with my life?!", or the other Prison Minion's "Buddy. You're on my turf and you're about to lose your nose..." Plus, that Dapper Minion made getting this set worth it just to see him rocking a white undershirt, pink pants, and a round hat like it's no big deal. So while the figures and accessories are mostly standard molds, it's the little details that just crack me up, and almost make me sympathize with these mutant Simpsons characters! ...Almost.







Readability: No instructions. All you have to go on is the booklet and the packaging. ...Then again, these are figures, so instructions aren't exactly needed here. ...Still, giving it my standard







Packaging: ...It exists? They're tiny bags with the name of the product and the variants you could get, listing them on both the front and the back. Since they're SUPPOSED to conceal what's inside and not give you too much information, then be thrown away right after you open them, I can't really fault the packaging for serving its purpose. However, that also means I can't give it credit for creativity either.






Compatibility: Being Mega Bloks, a lot will work with Lego, and a lot won't. However, I will give these credit that I didn't see any special pieces that wouldn't fit with most standard Lego elements, and a lot of it would fit in with the Lego aesthetic just as well as Construx. The major points of incompatibility are the hair/headpieces and the tops of the heads, but since these are custom Mega Construx figures, that's to be expected. Overall, you could use most of these things just fine with pretty much any standard brick set! ...If you really felt that the Minions needed to be on the set of DC Superhero Girls...







Overall:







I'll give these a lot of credit that they're a lot better than I thought they'd be. The quality's what I expect from a top-tier brick company, there's a bit of creativity, and I found myself liking a few of the designs(especially Dapper Minion.) However, nothing really sticks out or makes them extremely desirable to collect(at least not for me.) There's no major color variant, no interactive gimmick, no "Collect them all to build a special model", everything's just... Predictable. And that's one of the worst things to say about a blind bag series. Still, if you're a die-hard Minions fan, or even someone who likes the movies, you'll probably have a lot of fun with these. If you can find them for a decent price, go ahead and check them out. I mean, if we're up to SERIES 12 with this line, they must be doing SOMETHING right, right?

And to the various Minions I've met during this review, I just have one thing to say:

"Asa Ka verlo to unama, Ka sama fas tu lo kapee!"

Don't worry if you don't know what that means...

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