LEGO Minifigure Year by Year: A Visual History

When it comes to LEGO books showcasing minifigures, DK has made many books showcasing LEGO minifigures from a series, to showing various types of LEGO minifigures made. But in 2013, DK released a book that many fans have been waiting for and that is a visual history of LEGO, year by year. It’s important to note that with the number of releases LEGO has each year, in terms of minifigures included in many types of sets, that not all minifigures are going to show up. Also, because the book was released in 2013, the years covered in the book are from 1978 through 2013. And also, DK is know for including LEGO Minifigures, you get three with this book, with the townsperson, Stormtrooper and a robber. It’s also important to note that if you buy this NEW, to make sure you buy it from a reputable store and if buying USED, to know that you may get a version of the book which does not come with the minifigures. The book kicks off with how the minifigures were brought to life and a lot of factoids that went into the creation of the first LEGO minifigure and the precursor to it, such as the LEGO Family. Also, by separating of what is a minifigure and what is not a LEGO minifigure (such as the LEGO skeleton, the LEGO Star Wars Battle Droid and the LEGO Friends mini doll). The book also goes into how LEGO minifigures are made and the brainstorming sessions at the LEGO offices in Billund, Denmark. The book features a timeline to show how LEGO minifigures have evolved throughout the years and then going into a visual breakdown of LEGO’s year-by-year. For me, I absolutely love this book for the fact it showcases the various types of LEGO minifigures produced with small factoids printed next to the figure. The book does go into various LEGO series released that year, such as LEGO TOWN, LEGO STAR WARS, LEGO HARRY POTTER, LEGO CYCLE TEAM, LEGO SPIDER-MAN, LEGO DC UNIVERSE, LEGO LEGENDS OF CHIMA , LEGO minifigures (the ones included in mystery bags) and more. The book points out the variants available and those that came with DK books. Overall, for those who are looking for a really good visual history of LEGO minifigures, this is the best book to buy! Recommended!

I’m too old to have had modern LEGO bricks as a boy and for some reason, my son never became a LEGO user. But my grandson took to them like a duck to water and, in turn, he introduced me to the charms of LEGO bricks. But I really fell for LEGO minifigure or minifigs. By definition, a LEGO minifigure is “a small, posable figure of a person or being”. Most have rotating arms, legs, hands and heads. More than 2,000 minifigures have been released by LEGO since 1974. This book proclaims itself a year-by-year “visual history” of LEGO minifigures from 1974 through 2013. In my eyes, LEGO minifigs are tiny works of art, classics of minimalist design where a few deft strokes of pen and brush depict an amazingly broad range of facial expressions and pellets of strene are formed into hats, crowns, weapons, lunchboxes, hairpieces, capes and so much more. With their movable arms, legs and heads, they are natural models for stop-motion video productions. Visit YouTube and you’ll find hundreds, some of them extremely complex. While I am sure my grandson will thoroughly enjoying this encyclopedia – when I make it available to him – I am selfishly enjoying my tour through the history of minifigs. The printing is first-rate (though the binding is very fragile and probably will quickly split) and the photography of each minifig is sharp. Photographs are big enough to see all the minifig details and the layout is kept spare to allow for an excellent presentation. The first 15 pages of the book provide a pretty thorough history of how minifigs came to be and how they are made. Each minifig gets a block of text, with many call-outs to special or one-of-a-kind features, along with historical notes. For LEGO obsessed kids – and adults – this is a great visual reference. Just be careful in handling it – the binding is awful. And, by the way, three minifigs are detachable from the front cover of the book! Jerry

My two children and I are all huge fans of Lego. We've owned and enjoyed many other DK Lego edition books, so I knew this was a must-buy item. Sure enough, it's fantastic! From pictures of minifigures - thousands and thousands of them - to details about their history and evolution, this volume has it all! This book is 250 pages long, and covers minifigures year by year from their birth in 1978 right up to present-day 2013. The first 15 years get just two pages each, but those were the days when minifigures were vastly less varied, and even two pages is enough to show a nice sampling of figures from the original classic themes of Castle, Town, Space, and Pirates. As years go by and new themes are introduced, the book adds pages to cover them, expanding from four to six pages per year through the mid-90's to eight or ten pages per year in the minifigure-laden 2000's. Every theme gets a thorough treatment, and every aspect of the minifigure - from hair to legs - is thoroughly explored. It's truly amazing to see how basic the early figures were compared to the varied, specialized minifigs of today! My kids and I have spent hours with this book already, and I'm sure it will be treasured for years to come. The only negative is that we've found so many wonderful minifigures that we don't yet have! Overall, definitely recommended for Lego fans everywhere!

Ich finde das Buch sehr schön gemacht. Die Aufnahmen sind von hoher Qualität und auch bestimmte Sonderseiten, z.B. über sehr rare Figuren oder die zahlreichen unterschiedlichen Frisuren oder Kopfbedeckungen der berühmten Lego-Minifiguren, sind witzig und unterhaltsam. Insgesamt wird versucht, die Entwicklung der Figuren wie auch der unterschiedlichen Themen und Lizenzen (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Sponge Bob, Marvel, Indiana Jones, Herr Der Ringe usw.) darzustellen, was dank der gefühlt tausenden von Abbildungen auch gut gelingt. Ein vollständiges Verzeichnis aller Figuren aus über 40 Jahren ist das Buch allerdings nicht, dazu müsste es auch mindestens doppelt so dick sein. Klasse sind natürlich die drei (!) im Einband untergebrachten Minifiguren (Stadtmensch, Räuber, Star Wars Stormtrooper)!

muy bonito y con mucha informacion para los amantes de los lego...

Non intendo svelarvi quante centinaia di euro ho dovuto spendere per mio figlio in set Lego prima di rendermi conto che in realtà quello che davvero desiderava non era il modellino da costruire, ma le minifigure incluse!!!! Inutile dire che quando abbiamo scoperto questo volume in una fiera è stato faticosissimo convincerlo a lasciarlo li' e ordinarlo su Amazon ad un prezzo decisamente più onesto!! Ma per fortuna è arrivato subito, è bellissimo, pieno di dettagli e anche di storia (ci sono anche i lego dell'infanzia dei genitori <3 )... e non solo, porta in omaggio due adorabili minifigure!! p.s. il libro è in inglese, ma è prevalentemente fotografico. Ho dovuto tradurre un paio di didascalie, ma per il resto il mio bimbo, che ha solo dieci anni, non è rimasto minimamente infastidito dal testo in lingua straniera. Anzi, trovo sia un'ottima occasione per abituarli ad utlizzare il poco inglese che fanno a scuola ;-)

Bought it as a Christmas gift for my 5 years old to encourage him to read more. He and I read together and enjoy the book and the minifigure. It is a great gift for kids.

Informative and certainly for Lego fans. My son loved it!!