Random minifig of the day: col015
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random minifigure is col015 Deep Sea Diver, Series 1, a Collectible Minifigures figure that came in one set, 86835 Deep Sea Diver, released during 2010.
Our members collectively own a total of 24,592 of them. If you'd like to buy one you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $15.10.
Image and minifig data courtesy of BrickLink.com
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22 comments on this article
He looks like he'd be a LEGO City minifig.
I remember seeing a list of S1 CMF names in German, and this guy was called "Taucher". One of my former coworkers had that for his surname, so that's how I found out what his name meant.
Not a bad figure, but not an interesting choice for a CMF.
The CG render is a completely different design then what was actually included.
@BabuBrick said:
"He looks like he'd be a LEGO City minifig."
Personally that's what I found most appealing about the early CMF series, most designs fit in extremely well with the City theme just as oddball characters.
I imagine that was a part of a bigger design ethos at play because Power Miners and Alien Conquest were set up as City-adjacent themes as well (Power Miners takes place under Lego city unlike Rock Raiders).
It's also important to remember that divers weren't in City yet, that was a part of Aquazone / Aquaraiders / Atlantis. Even the Coast Guard subtheme lacked divers, the first City divers were in 2013!
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Not a bad figure, but not an interesting choice for a CMF."
The CMF line has improved massively since that first series. That said, I still wouldn't mind having this one.
@Nuclearxpotato said:
" @BabuBrick said:
"He looks like he'd be a LEGO City minifig."
Personally that's what I found most appealing about the early CMF series, most designs fit in extremely well with the City theme just as oddball characters.
I imagine that was a part of a bigger design ethos at play because Power Miners and Alien Conquest were set up as City-adjacent themes as well (Power Miners takes place under Lego city unlike Rock Raiders).
It's also important to remember that divers weren't in City yet, that was a part of Aquazone / Aquaraiders / Atlantis. Even the Coast Guard subtheme lacked divers, the first City divers were in 2013!"
Makes sense. The Coast Guard sets from 2013 were some of my first (and only) LEGO City sets, so I guess I just automatically associate divers with that theme, lol!
@Nuclearxpotato said:
" @BabuBrick said:
"He looks like he'd be a LEGO City minifig."
Personally that's what I found most appealing about the early CMF series, most designs fit in extremely well with the City theme just as oddball characters.
I imagine that was a part of a bigger design ethos at play because Power Miners and Alien Conquest were set up as City-adjacent themes as well (Power Miners takes place under Lego city unlike Rock Raiders).
It's also important to remember that divers weren't in City yet, that was a part of Aquazone / Aquaraiders / Atlantis. Even the Coast Guard subtheme lacked divers, the first City divers were in 2013!"
Maybe so, but town had them long before that: https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Town/subtheme-Divers
@Nuclearxpotato said:
" @BabuBrick said:
"He looks like he'd be a LEGO City minifig."
Personally that's what I found most appealing about the early CMF series, most designs fit in extremely well with the City theme just as oddball characters.
I imagine that was a part of a bigger design ethos at play because Power Miners and Alien Conquest were set up as City-adjacent themes as well (Power Miners takes place under Lego city unlike Rock Raiders).
It's also important to remember that divers weren't in City yet, that was a part of Aquazone / Aquaraiders / Atlantis. Even the Coast Guard subtheme lacked divers, the first City divers were in 2013!"
What about the Divers theme from 1997-1998? Bricklink has that catalogued as a subtheme of Town/City.
This brings back memories of standing in line every morning at the Lego store to get my allotment of five minifigures every day for about a month.
Hi I’m scuba steve
@PurpleDave said:
" @Nuclearxpotato said:
" @BabuBrick said:
"He looks like he'd be a LEGO City minifig."
Personally that's what I found most appealing about the early CMF series, most designs fit in extremely well with the City theme just as oddball characters.
I imagine that was a part of a bigger design ethos at play because Power Miners and Alien Conquest were set up as City-adjacent themes as well (Power Miners takes place under Lego city unlike Rock Raiders).
It's also important to remember that divers weren't in City yet, that was a part of Aquazone / Aquaraiders / Atlantis. Even the Coast Guard subtheme lacked divers, the first City divers were in 2013!"
What about the Divers theme from 1997-1998? Bricklink has that catalogued as a subtheme of Town/City."
I (probably incorrectly lol) consider Town and City to be two different things in the same way I don't consider Bionicle and Hero Factory to be the same thing. City was essentially a full slate reboot for Town, but there was also a few years where neither themes existed (Jack Stone filled that role for some time).
Either way there were no divers in Town/City for about 15 years, which is like an eternity for a toyline (things typically move in 3-5 year chunks). And the diving themes by 2010 were sci-fi so it was cool to get a proper scuba dude.
Blue and orange feels like colours used by some other theme but I can’t recall which one, it’s just a nagging feeling
Got 'im...Ah, "In The Beginning", there was 'Series 1', and it was good, dare I say GREAT...sorry:)
Went over my series list, and to my surprise, missed: The Clown, The Caveman, The Wrestler, The Nurse, The Skater, and The Zombie...and missing some of those did suck (looking at you Clown...you too Wrestler...), but...really, this set 'crawled' so we could get better ones down-the-road (milage-may-vary on that road, but still:))
How deep?
@Nuclearxpotato said:"I (probably incorrectly lol) consider Town and City to be two different things in the same way I don't consider Bionicle and Hero Factory to be the same thing. "
Town sometimes did have the feeling that it was depicting a, y'know, *town,* rather than a city. But as for Bionicle and Hero Factory, I take it you never got into the lore of either. I don't know a whole lot about HF lore, but I have the complete run of the Bionicle comics (except for the last one, because I didn't renew my Lego Club membership in time, to my regret) and most of the books. (I know I have all of the books that were just story, and I also have some of the reference books.) So let me tell you, the two were nothing alike, lore-wise.
@brick_r said:"Got 'im...Ah, "In The Beginning", there was 'Series 1', and it was good, dare I say GREAT...sorry:)
Went over my series list, and to my surprise, missed: The Clown, The Caveman, The Wrestler, The Nurse, The Skater, and The Zombie...and missing some of those did suck (looking at you Clown...you too Wrestler...), but...really, this set 'crawled' so we could get better ones down-the-road (milage-may-vary on that road, but still:))"
I missed the whole series. The closest I even came to getting any was seeing an empty display box at Toys 'R' Us. An employee saw me looking at it and said, "Yeah, those went fast."
I know that I was on board with the concept of the Collectable Minifigures when they first came around, and I remember looking at the character bios for the first wave of CMFs on the Lego website and finding them fun; but their timing was absolutely terrible from my POV since they basically came out right at the same time I fully gave in to the 'dark age'. A different character selection might have enticed me even then, but none of the ones here (except perhaps the Ninja, and then only because I'd missed getting any of the Ninja characters from the 90s Ninja theme) were quite character types that interested me.
(Later series, that I've looked back on since returning from the dark age, have been a bigger hit with me on that count; although they're still always a a mixed bag from my perspective, and I can't recall a single CMF series (not even the Disney ones) where every figure has appealed to me.)
Even so, I feel like I thought this guy was the blandest of the lot for series 1; perhaps mostly because I already had a minifigure diver or two from the 90s theme (if not quite the same part combinations that came in any of the sets, since I'd got them from trading minifig pieces with schoolfriends...!) and several of the Alpha Team Mission Deep Sea cast, so he didn't feel like anything new. His airtanks and flippers being my favourite colour were probably the biggest thing he had going for him in my book!
@Brickalili said:
"Blue and orange feels like colours used by some other theme but I can’t recall which one, it’s just a nagging feeling"
Ice Planet?
I liked all the orange recolours, but given the other figures in the series, he wasn't high on the "must have" list.
There was also the little issue of where to put his flippers when he's on the display stand.
@Atuin said:
"I liked all the orange recolours, but given the other figures in the series, he wasn't high on the "must have" list.
There was also the little issue of where to put his flippers when he's on the display stand."
Stack them bottom to bottom, and a minifig can grip the ribbed edges of both in one hand, I believe. It’s not quite as elegant as the snow skis, which were clearly designed with that in mind (and the ski poles also nest head-to-tail, allowing the other hand to grip both poles in the center).
@PurpleDave said:
" @Brickalili said:
"Blue and orange feels like colours used by some other theme but I can’t recall which one, it’s just a nagging feeling"
Ice Planet?"
Hmm, maybe, especially with this guys orange flippers being vaguely reminiscent of Ice Planet's iconic trans-orange skis
@PurpleDave said:
" @Atuin said:
"I liked all the orange recolours, but given the other figures in the series, he wasn't high on the "must have" list.
There was also the little issue of where to put his flippers when he's on the display stand."
Stack them bottom to bottom, and a minifig can grip the ribbed edges of both in one hand, I believe. It’s not quite as elegant as the snow skis, which were clearly designed with that in mind (and the ski poles also nest head-to-tail, allowing the other hand to grip both poles in the center)."
Still, though, if I had a dollar for every CMF with at least one accessory that must be left loose somewhere when the figure is on the stand for whatever reason (too many accessories, animals tohat can't be securely attached to the stand beside the minifigure, etc.), I could buy... at least a full set of CMFs.