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The LEGO Group’s Up-Scaled Minifigures Should Be A Serious Cash Cow

The LEGO Group's Up-Scaled Minifigures are growing in number, and it's about time the company formalized them as a core range.Matt GardnerLEGO Up-Scaled Minifigures are becoming more common, and the range has g...

LEGO Up-Scaled Minifigures in a line, including Darth Vader, Pirate, Racing Driver, and standard LEGO Minifigure

The LEGO Group's Up-Scaled Minifigures are growing in number, and it's about time the company formalized them as a core range.

Matt Gardner

LEGO Up-Scaled Minifigures are becoming more common, and the range has gained real momentum. In the last 12 months, we’ve had four new additions to the line-up, including two tie-ins: the upcoming Pokémon trainer, and last month’s inevitable Darth Vader.

The LEGO Darth Vader Up-Scaled Minifigure (75461) is by far the most technical build of the collection to date, with a whopping 1,028 pieces compared to the wider line-up’s average of 778 (not including exclusives and promos). The extra pieces and higher price aren’t in vain, because the set’s clever and refined design choices prove that any iconic LEGO minifigure could get the supersized treatment.

It’s also the best of the bunch so far, even if it lacks a couple of things that you’d hope to see, and a couple of other minor misses. Its construction is heavy-duty — LEGO’s designers have clearly looked at how they could improve on past Up-Scaled Minifigures, and you can assume this is partly down to the pressures of the Star Wars license. You can only hope these learnings will carry over to the next releases in a range that still lacks official status on the LEGO Shop.

LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Up-Scaled Minifigure (75461).

Matt Gardner

However, the final product highlights a huge business opportunity for the LEGO Group to expand its Up-Scaled Minifigure line-up and cater to past and present fans. Nothing made by LEGO will ever be as iconic as the minifig, and having a large one in your own personal flavor — one you can actually see from a distance — is the perfect mix of display and build for all ages.

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All LEGO Upscaled Minifigures to date, in order

As the fourth USM in my collection, Darth Vader’s probably my favorite — and for good reason.

LEGO Star Wars Up-Scaled Darth Vader Minifigure (75461) specifications

Pieces: 1,701
Price: $99.99 (£89.99; €99.99)
Dimensions: Over 3.5in (9cm) high, 22.5in (57cm) wide, 13.5in (34cm) deep

LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Up-Scaled Minifigure (75461)

The LEGO Group

The 75461 pack comes with 10 bags, plus a sticker sheet, the cape, and a big ol’ Technic cross axle for the lightsaber. Bags one to three give you the left leg, center connector and belt line, and right leg; four and five are for the torso and left arm; six is dedicated to the lightsaber and arm; seven through 10 are for the head, which is easily the most technical part of the build.

Bottom to top

Every single Up-Scaled Minifigure to date has started with the torso, but Darth Vader is built from the ground up, starting with the legs and bottom-half connector, finishing with the helmet. It makes sense; you don’t have a floating midriff waiting for you to plonk it on the legs.

The Darth Vader Up-Scaled Minifigure's legs are heavier and more technical than previous outings.

Matt Gardner

While it swallows up a few extra parts for accuracy, here’s where the first major change is: LEGO designers have finally fixed the gap between the legs. Previous Up-Scaled Minifigures have a slither-like space, but Darth Vader is truer to real minifigs. It’s also the first USM, to my knowledge, that adds notches to the leg positions, soft-locking them in place for safer display.

From here, it’s business as usual. The torso’s odd angles need Technic construction, and while I’ve never been a fan of making them, Vader is particularly galling because of the decision to add a sticker for Vader’s digital chest console — Racing Driver’s equivalent is printed. There’s also an odd splitter on the right flank, but this is for good reason: the cumbersome lightsaber.

The arm-locking mechanism on LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Up-Scaled Minifigure (75461).

Matt Gardner

This acts as a genius lock piece. Building the lightsaber is painful in the truest sense, as you slide sharp-edged bricks down the Technic axle, but you appreciate the clever hilt construction using Technic cross bars. However, the weapon and arm are all one piece, and it has a single pin with towball, locking the lightsaber into place to help balance the full model. This comes at the expense of no movement in the wrist, but to be fair, having the lightsaber pointed in any other direction would look rubbish.

Not gonna lie, the cape is inspired. It’s absolutely massive, and I’m just sad that it didn’t come in a massive version of the standard cape box, complete with its arch-tabbed opening. That’s a missed opportunity for fan service.

Headaches

Over one third of the bags is unsurprisingly dedicated to Vader’s head, building up once again from the bottom. The initial construction of the mask’s mouth is impressive, with long studs and angled pieces to cleverly but accurately recreate the classic triangle.

The mask is a very technical, but clever, part of the build.

Matt Gardner

Still, it gets tricky from there. In a similar way to the overcomplicated F1 helmets, smaller elements are added in pieces, but under higher pressure (at least, if you don’t cradle the rest of the build), it has a habit of exploding.

It all gets technical; angled pieces and a huge number of elements can confuse you, especially with its jigsaw-like ending to finish the helmet’s drops. It doesn’t help that there’s a slight flash of red tile on each side — the central piece could’ve just been black.

The dark side of LEGO Darth Vader

All things considered, there are only a handful of issues with the Up-Scaled Vader. The first we’ve already touched on: there are no printed tiles, and you have to rely on stickers. Aforementioned unnecessary chest sticker aside, the others prove difficult to apply, especially for the nose triangle and admittedly weird-looking eyes — you just can’t get them straight.

There’s also a lack of treasure in the head. In the classic LEGO Minifigure, a standard minifig hides in the hat; there’s a robot in the Blue Astronaut’s head; a small desert island forms the “brain” of the Pirate; my favorite is the tiny engine in the Racing Driver. Here, nothing. A young Anakin minifigure would’ve been great; a tiny Tatooine diorama, or his pod racer, perhaps.

There's nothing special going on inside Vader's skull.

Matt Gardner

Finally… no minifigure? It doesn’t even need to be a unique one, but at this price point, you’d hope to get one.

What could be the next LEGO Up-Scaled Minifigure?

LEGO Darth Vader might split people in terms of value and finish, but it showcases the art of the possible. Up-Scaled Minifigures aren’t going anywhere, and there are plenty of famous examples that the LEGO Group’s experts could put their minds to immediately.

If we’re being business-minded, retro staples offer the broadest appeal for new LEGO Up-Scaled Minifigures. A knight, wizard, or Forestman from the classic Castle line-up would be perfect. While there’s already a (rare, exclusive) Pirate, there’s still room for an Imperial Guard, ghost, or skeleton. Then there’s Blacktron, Western, Adventurers – even Fabuland.

There are so many more opportunities for LEGO's Up-Scaled Minifigures.

Matt Gardner

If the LEGO Group really wants to go hard on the Star Wars theme, there’s maybe no more obvious slam dunk than an R2-D2 minifigure. Sure, the company has released four Artoo-specific builds since the spartan 8009 build from January 2002, but reflecting his most common minifigure form seems apt. There’s definitely space for X-Wing Luke Skywalker, the Mandalorian, a Stormtrooper, or any other character that’s featured in the Star Wars Helmets Collection.

Whatever comes next, LEGO Up-Scaled Minifigures are going nowhere, but the company still needs to formalize the series, make it a collector’s range beyond a small community, and really play to its base.