Minifigures with hair? LEGO explores the road not taken
Posted by CapnRex101,
The modern minifigure was introduced in 1978 and LEGO has today shared some photos of an interesting route explored in their development: giving minifigures synthetic hair!
According to the short video available below, this idea was presented by designer Vittig Hed, but later shelved after a poor response in testing. There have been rumours that this concept was discussed for a while, so it is amazing to see some images at last, similar to the other minifigure concepts shown for the 40th anniversary in 2018.
Of course, LEGO would eventually produce figures with synthetic hair at a much larger scale in the SCALA theme, which perhaps coincided with the prototypes' rediscovery mentioned in the video.
You can watch the video and view more images after the break...
Huw and I actually had the pleasure of meeting Vittig at Fan Media Days back in 2018, where he discussed his involvement in Time Cruisers, Znap, Galidor and the cancellation of monorail sets, so his career working for LEGO was certainly varied before retirement.
Do you think LEGO should have pursued creating minifigures with synthetic hair, or were plastic hair pieces the better solution? Let us know in the comments.
153 likes
76 comments on this article
Very poor!
@sjr60 said:
"Very poor!"
Agreed
I think it they would have looked 'hair-rible'…
Actually looks pretty nice! Bit of O-Gel and you could mould them into all the current hairstyles. Go figure, The year is 2025, the month is April; first time I've ever seen these.
Imagine if this had one day led to a BIONICLE with hair...
Given it was the 70s, I’m a little disappointed they didn’t try moustaches.
Got me for a moment there!
Logged on at about 8am and was pleasantly surprised to see we'd been spared this nonsense this year.
Oh well, maybe next year.
@ShinyBidoof said:
"Logged on at about 8am and was pleasantly surprised to see we'd been spared this nonsense this year.
Oh well, maybe next year."
I really don’t understand who actually likes all the april fools nonsense- feels a complete waste of time
@Terreneflame said:
" @ShinyBidoof said:
"Logged on at about 8am and was pleasantly surprised to see we'd been spared this nonsense this year.
Oh well, maybe next year."
I really don’t understand who actually likes all the april fools nonsense- feels a complete waste of time
"
I like clever ones where the penny only drops well into the article. Ones that are obvious from the title are a bit too lazy!
I cannot decide if this is an April 1st or an actual informative article.
Was that the only hair style they trialled?
Galidor and Znap… sounds like Vittig should have retired a few decades earlier.
Good fun for today including a video. Good job. Hair on a minifig significantly increases creepiness.
@mitra said:
"Got me for a moment there!"
Nice try, but not
@sjr60 said:
" @Terreneflame said:
" @ShinyBidoof said:
"Logged on at about 8am and was pleasantly surprised to see we'd been spared this nonsense this year.
Oh well, maybe next year."
I really don’t understand who actually likes all the april fools nonsense- feels a complete waste of time
"
I like clever ones where the penny only drops well into the article. Ones that are obvious from the title are a bit too lazy!"
I don’t really see many of those anymore, but very possible I am just too jaded/aware of what the date is ??
My Dad as a minifig!
Runs away screaming...
@Lordmoral said:
"I cannot decide if this is an April 1st or an actual informative article."
I suspect you can.
The fun part of April Fools replies is separating out those who are playing along from those who are just a bit thick!
A much better April Fools, which would be totally unbelievable would be for Lego to announce a 20% reduction on RRP.
Next year:
The studless minifig head for bald-headed inclusivity.
This is better than than the latest article, you could see what sort of problems Lego could run into if was serious.
Can’t tell if this is April fools joke or real?
There are already minifigures with synthetic hair in the Brickset database, such as the princess figures 47205PB003 and so on.
@Wellspring said:
"Can’t tell if this is April fools joke or real?"
Danish inside knowledge: "vittighed" translates to "joke"
@Terreneflame said:
" @ShinyBidoof said:
"Logged on at about 8am and was pleasantly surprised to see we'd been spared this nonsense this year.
Oh well, maybe next year."
I really don’t understand who actually likes all the april fools nonsense- feels a complete waste of time
"
Gosh, how fud and negative can people be on a website about plastic toys :) maybe they didn't get their left-handed instructions with the orchid set?
These would draw the dust from the rest of your builds X)
This did get me XD
@Terreneflame said:
" @ShinyBidoof said:
"Logged on at about 8am and was pleasantly surprised to see we'd been spared this nonsense this year.
Oh well, maybe next year."
I really don’t understand who actually likes all the april fools nonsense- feels a complete waste of time
"
I woke up early in the morning just to see what shenanigans the internet came up with. I understand why you don’t enjoy it, but some of us do.
Makes for some effective cursed images
thats an april fool.... or does anybody believe that?
I feel like the "btw he was responsible for All The Unpopular Stuff" bit at the end was laying it on a little thick.
Though maybe it's just because I really liked Time Cruisers.
@Jack_Rizzo said:
"Imagine if this had one day led to a BIONICLE with hair..."
Funny thing, there's a real Bionicle prototype that has a beard.
Bellville and Scala already tried this. And we know exactly how that went.
@gunther_schnitzel said: "Was that the only hair style they trialled?"
They actually had a wide selection of intricately designed hairstyles, but they all ended up looking like this after a week in the parts bin.
"Galidor and Znap… sounds like Vittig should have retired a few decades earlier"
And Time Cruisers - one of these is not like the others.
I know this is a joke, but those minifigs actually look good.
@Jack_Rizzo said:
"Imagine if this had one day led to a BIONICLE with hair..."
I'm reminded of BZPower's 2006 April Fools prank where they announced, among other things, "my little Piraka" sets, which would ostensibly have included sets such as 8900 with styleable hair instead of rubber spines...
(Also, as someone who does sometimes depict Bionicle characters with hair when I draw them, that actually doesn't sound like too strange of a concept! xD)
Happy Hairty Hair Day!
I'd like to applaud Vittig for his involvement in Time Cruisers - a highly underrated theme! The hair, though, nah... Here's hoping for an April full of such insightful articles.
I like the idea of some poor soul finding the drawers full of hair… then the drawer full of teeth…
@MegaBlocks said:
"A much better April Fools, which would be totally unbelievable would be for Lego to announce a 20% reduction on RRP."
Ah, but for an April Fool’s to be successful, it has to be credible. A 20% RRP reduction is completely implausible. A 20% RRP *increase* on the other hand…
@Euca said:
" @Wellspring said:
"Can’t tell if this is April fools joke or real?"
Danish inside knowledge: "vittighed" translates to "joke""
Ah, I was wondering about that. Thought it might have meant “Hairy Head” or something
Did they also experiment with producing left handed minifigs?
the funniest part of the april fools jokes are all the comments that are offended that the joke wasn’t good enough to meet their standards lolol
I always look forward to 1st April - well done - and two posts!
@Andrusi said:"I feel like the "btw he was responsible for All The Unpopular Stuff" bit at the end was laying it on a little thick.
Though maybe it's just because I really liked Time Cruisers."
As did I. I have a particular fondness for 6493 because it was the last large Lego set my parents bought me, if not the last Lego set of any size. I wish I'd gotten more of the line than just that one and 6495. I'd like to see some minifig photographer take a picture of Dr. Cyber, Doc Brown, and the Doctor in some historical setting, either real-world or Lego-built.
Not the best joke ever (though much better than than that other one), but nevertheless good for a chuckle. At least they put in the effort to make that video.
Excuse while I get up from my chair and perform a scene from home alone. *clears throat
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
@MartyMcFly said:
"I know this is a joke, but those minifigs actually look good."
I actually liked them too! The hairstyles reminded me of coming out of the Covid lockdown and desperately waiting for the barbers to reopen!
Yeah, not funny either.
eugh
I'm not surprised the testing didn't work out. The size of the individual hairs indicates to me that they'd be likely to fall out easily, resulting in hair accessories that didn't hold up to play nearly as well as the later plastic elements. An interesting attempt, to be sure, but one better left as an experiment.
I don't know about April 1st, but this is surely more suited for October 31st
It does look like his hair was cut left-handed by someone who is right-handed. Or wasn't able to follow the instructions completely.
@HuskyDynamics said:
"eugh
I'm not surprised the testing didn't work out. The size of the individual hairs indicates to me that they'd be likely to fall out easily, resulting in hair accessories that didn't hold up to play nearly as well as the later plastic elements. An interesting attempt, to be sure, but one better left as an experiment."
Bless.
@gunther_schnitzel said:
"Galidor and Znap… sounds like Vittig should have retired a few decades earlier."
I sat through that keynote speech at Brickworld Chicago. They had a woman come in from Billund, and she'd basically worked on Homemaker, Scala, Belville, and Clikits before she retired. Then they released Friends. The next year, they had an AFOL do the keynote speech.
I don't think so, skip the hair, bring back monorail! ok to get something this silly for this day.
As a follicly-challenged, non-jaundiced person, I feel excluded from being represented by my favorite hydrocarbon-based collectible company
@CapnRex101
I liked the video, but especially liked this line: "he discussed his involvement in Time Cruisers, Znap, Galidor and the cancellation of monorail sets, so his career working for LEGO was certainly varied before retirement."
And official Lego comment on minifigure hair:
https://www.lego.com/en-us/minifigurehistory
@gsom7 said:
"And official Lego comment on minifigure hair:
https://www.lego.com/en-us/minifigurehistory "
the shampoo though.... imagine trying get that 20 years later...
also I thought I've seen this before...
So was this a Bricket joke or LEGO joke?
@CCC said:
"So was this a Bricket joke or LEGO joke?"
Neither. Jokes are funny.
@CCC said:
"So was this a Bricket joke or LEGO joke?"
Lego. https://www.lego.com/en-us/minifigurehistory
@gsom7 said:
"And official Lego comment on minifigure hair:
https://www.lego.com/en-us/minifigurehistory"
Nice find!
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Andrusi said:"I feel like the "btw he was responsible for All The Unpopular Stuff" bit at the end was laying it on a little thick.
Though maybe it's just because I really liked Time Cruisers."
As did I. I have a particular fondness for 6493 because it was the last large Lego set my parents bought me, if not the last Lego set of any size. I wish I'd gotten more of the line than just that one and 6495. I'd like to see some minifig photographer take a picture of Dr. Cyber, Doc Brown, and the Doctor in some historical setting, either real-world or Lego-built."
Actually in virtually the same scenario, 6493 was one of the last sets I got. And while Time Cruisers did feel like "here are some sets made of all of our leftover parts," I quite liked the flying wings mechanical feature in the set. I actually stumbled across a copy of it in a lot I bought second hand and my kids loved it. Shrug.
@BlackFalconBirdman said:
" @gsom7 said:
"And official Lego comment on minifigure hair:
https://www.lego.com/en-us/minifigurehistory"
Nice find!"
Thank @gsom7 for the find, they posted it first.
@gsom7 said:
"And official Lego comment on minifigure hair:
https://www.lego.com/en-us/minifigurehistory"
I guess that explains why it includes a video. Bigger budget.
Its just disturbing
@madforLEGO said:
"Its just disturbing"
Just "disturbing?" Not, say, hair-raisingly scary?
Wait. This wasn’t an April fool’s day bit?
@PixelTheDragon said:
"Wait. This wasn’t an April fool’s day bit? "
Yes, it was. What made you think that it might not be?
@TheOtherMike said:
" @PixelTheDragon said:
"Wait. This wasn’t an April fool’s day bit? "
Yes, it was. What made you think that it might not be?"
Normally each April fools day prank on Brickset has [April Fools] before the title, but this post doesn't
@Hylian_Warrior said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @PixelTheDragon said:
"Wait. This wasn’t an April fool’s day bit? "
Yes, it was. What made you think that it might not be?"
Normally each April fools day prank on Brickset has [April Fools] before the title, but this post doesn't "
Something you forgot, @Huw?
@TheOtherMike said:
" @Hylian_Warrior said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @PixelTheDragon said:
"Wait. This wasn’t an April fool’s day bit? "
Yes, it was. What made you think that it might not be?"
Normally each April fools day prank on Brickset has [April Fools] before the title, but this post doesn't "
Something you forgot, @Huw?"
They disarmed their own prank, but I got the feeling this was a real article about a prank that TLG pulled at some point in the past. Usually, though, there's a followup article, compiling all the pranks that other sites did, so maybe a couple things got forgotten.
@Jack_Rizzo said:
"Imagine if this had one day led to a BIONICLE with hair..."
Roodaka and Kalmah could have gone to the moon!
@waltair said:
"thats an april fool.... or does anybody believe that? "
Yep. It’s fake.