Review: 40820 Up-Scaled Santa Minifigure
Posted by Huw,
The series of upscaled minifigures debuted in 2021 with 76393 Harry Potter & Hermione Granger. A total of seven have been made to date, including the adorable 40767 Up-Scaled Baby Astronaut.
40820 Up-Scaled Santa Minifigure is the second retail one to be released this year, following the rather boring and uninspiring 40819 Up-Scaled Racing Driver Minifigure.
Given that Santa minifigures are perennially popular, I suspect that this one will be better received.
Summary
40820 Up-Scaled Santa Minifigure, 761 pieces.
£46.99 / $54.99 / €54.99 | 6.2p/7.2c/7.2c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
A delightful addition to the series of six-scale minifigures
- A good likeness of the original minifigure
- Printing could be better
- Head can't be removed easily
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
The set contains two unique printed pieces for the front of the torso and face which approximately replicate the decoration on last year's updated Santa minifigure.
Unfortunately, the white print on the red panel is not as good as it should be: it could have done with another coat of paint.
The body and legs are built in much the same way as those in its predecessors, with hidden complexity inside the torso to provide sufficient friction on the axles used for mounting the arms, allowing them to be posed at any angle.
The head and hat are of course different, though, and both are incompatible with the other figures. The hat is held at an angle with the aid of bar and clip connections.
The figure stands at about 27cm tall and has full articulation of arms, legs, and wrists. Like the bearded minifigure it replicates, the head can't be rotated, and the beard is attached to the torso as well as the head which prevents the head from being easily removed and swapped with one from one of the other six-scale figures.
The bobble on the hat is very well modelled, making use of the myriad new curved wedge slopes that have debuted recently.
If you have any of the other figures, you'll know what to expect, and you won't be disappointed. It's a lovely model to display on its own, especially over the holiday season, or with its brethren.
The price, $54.99, £46.99, €54.99, is the same as the first single one in the series, 40649 Up-Scaled LEGO Minifigure, despite having almost 100 more pieces, so I have no reason to complain about that. It'll be available at LEGO.com from 1st October.
Which figure would you like to see upscaled next?
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29 comments on this article
Ugh. Nearly 55 Euros for this minifigure, and the legs aren't even dual-moulded.
I look forward to getting this one — it will be a fine addition to my collection.
Speaking of Star Wars, I hope there will be some upscaled figures for that theme, like for Harry Potter.
Upscaled figures from most IPs would be nice as well… what if there was one of Indiana Jones, one of Frodo Baggins…?
Let's not forget about LEGO's own themes, e.g. a Classic Space astronaut, a Robin Hood figure, an example from the CMF series…
The sky is the limit!
An upscaled Johnny Thunder (with the proper hat!) would be awesome!
Great review! I think one of the Forestmen or Johnny Thunder would be terrific!
Edit: you got the suggestion in before I did it, @Murdoch17, when you said
“"An upscaled Johnny Thunder (with the proper hat!) would be awesome!"”
Overall a pretty good figure, but the more I see it, the less I like that printed piece. The white doesn't match the bricks at all, and the black belt just stops. I can't help but feel they could have gone for a brick built solution here which wouldn't have had such issues.
It's a shame they couldn't print the black belt on those red slopes.
Still need a GiAnt Man in this scale, because they still have never done it justice. If HP can get these figs, so can Marvel (and SW)
I might have to make my own version of the pre-articulation minifigure.
Never thought I’d see the words “head can’t be removed easily” used in a negative context.
@Murdoch17 said:
"An upscaled Johnny Thunder (with the proper hat!) would be awesome!"
You want to kill me with indecision? Tell me I can have that *or* an upscaled Classic Spaceman.
@PDelahanty said:"I might have to make my own version of the pre-articulation minifigure."
Honestly, they should have done that as the Lego House exclusive, and made Redbeard available at retail.
@Crux said:
"Ugh. Nearly 55 Euros for this minifigure, and the legs aren't even dual-moulded."
While this joke would've landed better if the minifigure this set replicates wouldn't actually have dual-moulded legs (which it clearly does), I do agree with the underlying sentiment that a lot of folks only seem to come here to complain that LEGO is expensive -- to the point where I'm thinking they might be better off pursuing a different hobby.
On topic: perhaps the best upscaled minifig yet, but I still don't really see the point of this beyond the gimmick that it is a large minifig. I wonder how many they can do before the gimmick wears off. But probably a lot.
If they make an upscaled Star Wars figure, it will be the same size, less pieces, and 179.99
Looks alright and I'm not sure if I'll be purchasing once it's on sale.
It would have been so cool if heads and legs could be swapped between the upscaled versions just like regular minifigs.
Regardless, I'm enjoying this series. I have yet to get one, but I'm excited to see which others are coming, and I'll pick one up at some point.
“Head can’t be removed easily” is an odd con. Was there a word limit to reach for the summary box?
@Arendi said:
"It would have been so cool if heads and legs could be swapped between the upscaled versions just like regular minifigs.
Regardless, I'm enjoying this series. I have yet to get one, but I'm excited to see which others are coming, and I'll pick one up at some point."
I don't have plans to get any new upscaled minifigures, but I did pick up the Harry & Hermione set a few years ago, basically because it was on sale at Target for $60, making it an amazingly cheap parts pack. I disassembled Hermione long ago, but still have Harry standing intact on the shelf, awaiting the time I figure out how to turn him into Barnabas Collins.
As I say every time there's a new one:
Batman, please and thank you.
As with Redbeard, I’m just disappointed there isn’t an actual minifig tucked away in the hat piloting their scaled-up duplicate to continue the joke that 40649 started
@Crux said:
"Ugh. Nearly 55 Euros for this minifigure, and the legs aren't even dual-moulded."
Looks like they involve dozens of molding steps.
Once again printed parts spoiling an otherwise decent set. I don't understand why they don't use stickers more often.
Still wish they would make a stormtrooper like this!
Lego should fix his (white) printing problem before going to 3D printing… ??
IMO an 'okay article' about an 'okay set'. I don't think I'll buy one though, because I already have a couple of them (set 40649-1 being one of them) and will be using their parts to combine them into another upscaled figure (with some additional parts needed.) Plus, only the upper parts/thighs from this upscaled Santa figure -needed for my idea- aren't enough for me to spend EUR 55,- on it.
Therefore, because of my little plan, @Huw, I can not agree with your opinion of "the rather boring and uninspiring 40819-1 Up-Scaled Racing Driver Minifigure." Didn't you notice its red Classic Space helmet and its red hips? (Apart from that, being a petrol head and liking the LEGO sub-brand Octan, I think 40819-1 looks good on its own too.)
For now all I need are some upscaled monotone red legs, a pair of upscaled red hands and the parts to make a certain upscaled neck-/back gear in red. That would make my version of an upscaled 'Santa' figure!
I still dont understand why they decided to print that white part instead of building it and PRINT THE SIDES.
Money no object and with infinite space at my disposal, I’d get it happily, because I love these upscaled minifigs. The Christmas line-up this year has been full of great kits and I’m left with some very tough choices!
Indiana Jones please.
It's getting ridiculous now. The so-called "cheap", "knock-off' and "actually rather excellent quality at a much lower price" brands have got *far* better prints in their sets. Meanwhile, LEGO continues to pump out shoddy junk that looks like somebody wafted it at a $50 inkjet and said "Yeah, that'll do". At what point does the "premium product" bubble get burst?
@Arendi said:
"It would have been so cool if heads and legs could be swapped between the upscaled versions just like regular minifigs. "
This can be done to a limited extent, as seen in 40649's review.
@FuddRuckus said:"As I say every time there's a new one:
@chrisaw said:"“Head can’t be removed easily” is an odd con. Was there a word limit to reach for the summary box?"
Besides the fact that the word you're looking for is "quota," not "limit," there are multiple up-scaled minifigs, so wanting to easily swap the parts between them is easily understandable, so considering it a con when you *can't* do that is also understandable.
Batman, please and thank you."
@PurpleDave, is that you?
@gunther_schnitzel said:"Indiana Jones please."
Or, y'know, Johnny Thunder.
I will get this. this will be part of my annual Christmas Decoration along with 40499-1 . I suppose it will be standing or sit somewhere around the house and put back in the box come the new year.
I am still waiting for the Spaceman version. When this happens, it will again raise the problem of having the Lego Space crest in different colours to make large-scale spacemen in as many different colour as possible (I'd be happy with white and red - the original two - I suppose many would prefer blue because of Benny). When they do make it, I just hope the helmet will be fixed from 40819 - that helmet is wrong.