(Written by William)
I picked up the #40649 LEGO Up-Scaled Minifigure when it originally came out in 2023. For $60, it was a great display piece for a fairly affordable price. Since then, we’ve gotten more up-scaled minifigures like the #40819 LEGO Up-Scaled Racing Driver, the #40504 LEGO Up-Scaled Pirate, the #40820 LEGO Up-Scaled Santa, the #75461 LEGO Up-Scaled Darth Vader, and more. However, I didn’t really pay much attention to them until the #40921 LEGO Up-Scaled Blue Astronaut Minifigure that hit me right in my nostalgia! Extra bonus is, with a small change to the helmet, I could even turn it into Benny from The LEGO Movie!
An interesting feature of the up-scaled minifigures released so far is that they are built following a system. Parts of these up-scaled figures can be swapped out just like you can do with regular LEGO minifigures. LEGO designers clearly had a collectible line all planned out. So one question I had when building the Blue Astronaut is if it also fits into the system. Let’s take a look!
UP-SCALED LEGO MINIFIGURE SYSTEM
LEGO designers, in their attempt to recreate larger versions of favorite minifigures, made it possible to easily separate the legs from the torsos and the heads from the torsos; thus, these sections can be swapped out. Accessories like hats/helmets and back pieces are stuck to their respective minifigure though.
Keep in mind that if you are swapping elements around, there may be extra components that may need to go with the swapped part. A good example of this is the Blue Astronaut’s head. It is a much heavier design than the basic minifigure head. This is why there is an axle located in the neck to help hold the head in place. This axle should fit into the round brick of the other up-scaled torsos; it will just be an extra step when moving the blue helmeted head.
As mentioned before, the oxygen tanks are kind of part of the Blue Astronaut. You can remove them; however, the back of the torso is partially hollowed out to accommodate the extra weight for balancing purposes. Additionally, since the tanks utilize LEGO Technic pins to attach and the hollowed-out section for additional balance, you won’t be able to easily slap it onto any of the other up-scaled torsos.
This is a nice level of play that requires minimal work for those looking to collect multiple up-scaled minifigures. I can imagine a Darth Vader Santa combo would be fun. Even swapping the astronaut helmet with a more normal minifigure can allow the astronaut to have a more casual appearance. In general, this mixing and matching has always been one of the hallmarks of why fans love to play with minifigures. So, it is great to see this feature partially preserved in their larger forms.
CHANGES TO UP-SCALED MINIFIGURE DESIGNS
Now that up-scaled minifigures are becoming a more common staple, I was curious to see if there were any updates to how these large minifigures were built. There are a couple that are more internal in nature. One I hope is the new standard. The other change is a different approach with its own pros and cons.
The best change is in the center of the torso of the large minifigures. The angled mounting remains the same. This is fine since it helps maintain a standard for the torso. The change came in how the external axles that hold the arms are mounted. Previously, there was a center piece that prevented the axles from falling into the center. This was rather an annoying element to work with. In the new version, they made each axle self-contained. Axles are prevented from moving inward with the backs of some slopes. This means they are locked in and now operate without the worry of sliding.
The other change is how the legs connect into the hip sections. The original model used large ball-joints and then the internal structure of the leg had clever sideways parts that sort of operated as a bone for the leg. This gave you the ability to pose the legs at any degree you wanted while still providing decent support.
The new version uses a clicking hinge, one part of which has a built-in LEGO Technic liftarm. This liftarm works as the bone element for the leg and is much more straightforward to build. As for the hinge, I think it can handle a bit more weight, which makes sense with the oxygen tank and heavier head design of the astronaut. Though, positioning legs are a bit more limited. You only have a set number of fixed positions due to how the clicking hinge works.
LEGO UP-SCALED MINIFIGURES – FINAL THOUGHTS
I absolutely loved the initial #40649 LEGO Up-Scaled Minifigure. Having stylized versions like the Blue Astronaut only adds to the value. Plus, for those who like a series, this offers a new line fans can collect. It is neat to see the ability to mix and match on a larger scale even if there are some limitations. And the retail price of $60 for most of the sets is not terrible.
However, outside of LEGO-branded large minifigures, you will see an increase in price. The upcoming #40868 LEGO Up-Scaled Pokémon Red Minifigure is $20 more, and the #75461 LEGO Up-Scaled Darth Vader is $40 more. Part of the higher price is for the license fees, and the other is for the use of more elements. Darth Vader, for example, has a complex helmet, a cape, and a lightsaber. You can find all the currently available up-scaled minifigures at the Online LEGO Shop.
As for the Blue Astronaut, this is probably one of the best sources for blue parts I’ve seen in a long time. Plus, you have nifty printed elements like the slope for the face and the space logo on the panel for the torso – both are great iconic designs that can be useful in all sorts of builds. Put simply, this is a cool retro-themed model that won’t detract from similar models you may have picked up. And, let’s face it, this is really Benny before his helmet got cracked. The real question is how to build a spaceship for him that is the right scale? In the video below, I will discuss the set in a bit more detail.
What do you think? How do you like the up-scaled minifigures collection? Do you have any of the sets already? And what do you think of the Blue Astronaut? Feel free to share your thoughts and own reviews in the comment section below!
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