At first glance, this appears to be a rehash of the Lifeguard from Series 2, and that’s about it. The leg and torso designs are almost identical, with a few minor changes and in different colors. The yellow printing on the black torso is a little faded, but it’s a little better than the yellow printing on the Lifeguard. The face is double-sided; one has a standard female smile, while the other includes swimming goggles, which is really nice. The swimming cap is a new element and has some nice details on the top, but they’re a little hard to see because it’s all in black. The highlight of this fig is clearly the gold medal neckband. This piece is apparently going to show up in the Olympic Collectible figs in the UK, but everybody else will get a chance to snag one on this fig. It fits snugly around her neck like a regular backpack, so it’s a really nice piece.

If you’re feeling for the swimmer, search for the neckband, which has a distinct bend you can feel. Otherwise, there’s really nothing else to feel that sets this fig apart. She is one of the more rare figures who comes three to a box, but since she is almost a repeat of the Lifeguard, I don’t see a particularly high demand for her. Still, it’s always nice to have a diversity of swimmers (and swim suits in different colors) so that’s always a plus.

This Minifigure is one of only five figures in this series which has more than one brand new mould, and not only that, but probably the most useful new piece for me from Series 7 is included with this figure as well! The Swimming Champion is one I was eager to see in person and it totally lives up to my expectations.

Parts

The swimming cap is one of the brand new pieces and I like it. From the first images of the series I could not tell if they were going to re-use the hat included with a couple of figures from previous series, such as the Skier from Series 2. Luckily, they have not and this piece is totally unique. It is black with this figure and has a few ripples at the back to add some detail. I love how it fits tightly around the head of the Minifigure as the edges of the part are quite thin which creates a realistic look for the character.

The head is double sided. One side has a big grin with a tiny bit of lipstick and long eyelashes for when she is standing on the podium. The other face shows a much more serious expression and she is wearing some nice goggles. I am very pleased that they used a reversible face as it allows a bit more playability as you can recreate not only the actual race, but also the medal presentation afterwards.

Next is my favourite piece of the Minifigure, the lovely medal. It is very nicely made with a wonderful red strap going round the neck of the swimmer and a large pearl gold medallion at the end of it. It is held very firmly in place and does not wobble about at all which is what concerned me before I got the figure. A simply superb piece in my opinion!

The torso is very simply printed with a black swimming costume and the traditional female Lego Minifigure curves. There is no back printing and the arms are bare so are plain yellow.

The legs are printed with a continuation of the costume made up of a simple black triangle basically. Her hips are plain black.

Summary

Overall this is a nice figure, just not quite as exciting as some of the others like the Galaxy Patrol or Valkyrie. I love how the face is reversible and the swimming hat, but best of all is the wonderful gold medal which hangs around her neck. I would certainly recommend this figure as a must have but due to the character being a little bit boring, despite the accuracy to real life, I can only give it...

Overall - 8/10

This was one of the 3 unique minifigures that I got today and I have to say I'm quite pleased with it. My main attraction was the medal ( I don't think it will be too long before we have bronze and silver too) but I also like the figures as a whole.

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Pros

• Brand new unique medal, useful in many places and well coloured.
• Also unique torso printing and hat which leads to...
• …this is our first swimmer! After the 30 something years of minifigures I think this must be our first swimmer. This is because one would never really fit in a set so I think that this is something that makes the whole series great. Chances to get figures which wouldn't be in another set.

Cons

• Looks a little plain with nothing to hold.
• No back printing, though the double sided head works great here.
• Unfortunately, the double sided head means the goggles can't go all the way around.
• 
  

Overall it boils down to whether you want a swimmer figure. If so then it is a must buy. Otherwise it is still good for the medal which is very useful. I'd recommend it!

Here's a link to my thoughts on video.

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpClOBKqGDM

The first figure in the LEGO Minifigures Series 7 is the Swimming Champion. This figure was released in 2012, retailed for three dollars, and includes 6 pieces. So let's take a closer look!

On top is that black swimming hat, and believe it or not it was new to the figure. I love how satisfyingly smooth it is, with very little wrinkles; it comes out looking great overall. I love how it covers the back of the head to allow for alternate expressions as well.

Next is the head, which has not one great face but two. The front face shown in the image has those great blue eye-goggles on, and I also love the determined grimace she has. Her tiny eyebrows work as well. But as if the front face wasn't already great, she actually has an alternate expression, which is a very happy face. It isn't anything insanely special, but that's okay. I still love the inclusion, and it does still look good for the figure.

I guess technically the next piece on the figure is that medal, which was very new to the figure as well. It isn't anything special nowadays, but again, it was new to the figure back in 2012. I love how the red part of it goes all the way around her neck, and I love how it makes that V on front. The golden medal itself is printed instead of dual-moulded, and I like the roundness of it. It would've been cool if it had some more printing on it, but it's okay in the end. Overall, it's a great piece.

Next is her torso, which has some fine printing on it. The curve lines look good, as does the sleek design of it in all. What stinks is that she has no back torso printing. She needs back printing to continue the curve lines, as well as the yellow flesh, and it looks incomplete without it. I like how she has those exposed yellow arms though.

Lastly, we have her legs.I do like the printing on the top and how the top piece of the legs are black and the bottom pieces have black printing on the top that matches up seamlessly to the black in the middle. Of course, it does look a bit...strange from the back since the back of the legs is exposed, so just don't look at the back.

But all jokes aside, I used to really hate this figure. I just thought her design was extremely boring. When I take a closer look at it while writing this review, her design still seems a bit boring to me, but when you think about the two new pieces, the great head piece, and the good front torso detail, she isn't half bad. The concept of having a swimmer in a CMF series is good, but it is slightly overused after this. Nonetheless, while this is very far from my favourite in the series, and maybe one of my least favourites, she isn't terrible. But that's all for this review! Check out my profile, and thanks for reading!

Set #8831 Swimming Champion: From Mini-Figures Series 7 LEGO re-introduces some parts from past series in new colors and includes a much appreciated female Mini-Fig for your LEGO Mini-Fig collection.

The Swimming Champion brings back the swimsuit style torso print from the Lifeguard of Series 2, this being my first exposure to the print really impressed me. The torso piece is standard black plastic color from the back, which sadly interrupts the great looking print detailing, as only the front shows the great printing we've become accustomed to with Collectible Mini-Figures. She's suitably curvy and has a mixture of black and yellow paint for the print. (The yellow is slighlty muted, like other Mini-Figures who have used this, it doesn't match the arms coloring as well.)

The swimsuit pattern continues in a V-Shape on the legs, which are mostly yellow. This Mini-Figure would look great next to a swimming pool. Her facial print is double-sided, one side is a beaming smiling face with lipstick and long eyelashes, she's grinning at her victory. The other side features a more subdued, determined looking expression complete with swimming goggles, the straps continuing underneath the skull cap.

The skull cap, which is also black, is a new head piece. She has no extra hairpiece unfortunately, which means she's pretty much always wearing the skull cap unless you happen to have an extra hairpiece lying around. I think she'd look good as a blonde personally, though darker hair tones could look nice on the figure too.

She also includes a gold medal with red strap, a piece we will see again (or rather have seen again) with the Olympic Team Mini-Figures produced by LEGO. Overall I'd have to say this is a must have Mini-Figure from Series 7, she adds another female mini-figure to your collection and features an impressive looking print. The only thing that is a dissapointment is that her torso is only one-sided, which looks kind of odd considering she's meant to be wearing a swimsuit.