Figbarf Friday

Welcome to Figbarf Friday (not to be confused with Freedom Friday, which as we all know, took place on a Tuesday). 

WTF is a Figbarf?

According to my good friend the Internet, “Figbarf” started out as a derogatory term used by MOC builders who were tired of seeing the LEGO Flickr groups and MOCpages filled up with little armies of minifigs.  But once the people opposed to the practice coined the term, group minifig builders quickly latched onto it. 

A figbarf is when you build a bunch of unique minifigures (common consensus seems to be a minimum of five) and post a photo of the results online. 

Variety Pack #1

I suspect that the majority of the figbarfs I bring you will each be gathered beneath a unifying theme.  (As with most things, I’ve got a list.) 

But I also have some ideas for single minifigs that don’t really lend themselves to expanding into a several figure wave.  So for my first Figbarf Friday, I’m bringing you an unthemed variety pack.  

 

Frankfurtus Anthromorphus

(The Hot Dog That Walks Like a Man)

 

The product of mad science, Frankfurtus Anthromorphus is a half-human, half hotdog hybrid.  Genetic splicing gone horribly, horribly awry. 

Theoretically, he’s very tasty.  But he’s also very angry at the notion that someone would want to taste him.  He sees hot dog eaters as the enemy. 

But even more evil – in his eyes – than hot dog eaters are hot dog impersonators.  His arch enemy is Hot Dog Suit Guy from the current Collectable Minifigures series, who he sees as a mockery of all he stands for. 

Rapha-El, aka Superturtle

(Last Reptile of Krypton)

 

Rocketed to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton, the last surviving member of the House of El.  No, not Kal-El.  Rapha-El. 

Dressed in classic ninja-black (save for the alien emblem on his shirt and matching red mask), this Teenage Kryptonian Superhero Turtle fights crime in Metropolis under the nom du cape of “Superturtle”. 

I had my Rapha-El all put together and ready to be photographed for Figbarf Friday when someone else’s Raphael-as-Superman build showed up on my Facebook feed.  Apparently, timing IS everything.

Blue Cactus Betty

(Tallest Minifigure in the West)

 

If you’re in the wild west with a price on your head, bounty hunting cowgirl Blue Cactus Betty has a bullet with your name on it.  She’s a crack shot with the long gun and even deadlier with a six shooter.  But as defining as her gunslinging skills might otherwise make her, they aren’t her most notable feature. 

Standing nine studs tall, her long legs and tall distinctively cactus-shaped hair make her a true sight to behold.  She’s known as the tallest minifigure in the west for a reason. 

The long stride that comes with legs of that size give her the edge in a chase.  Her exaggerated facial features have instilled in many a man the momentary paralysis of the startled.  Plus, she’s been known to stash the odd bundle of dynamite in her hairdo. 

She’s definitely not someone you want to mess with. 

Conan O’Headroom

(The Ultimate Talk Show Host)

Last year, I started to write a review of the LEGO Movie Collectable Minifigure Series, intended for the original version of this blog.  (That’s about when I got sick with the flu which was the first of the dominoes to fall that ultimately put the whole blog on hiatus.)  In it, I mentioned that President Business’ hairpiece had only one other potential use, and that was a minifigure mash-up of Max Headroom and Conan O’Brien. 

I never forgot that realization, and when I picked up the Double Decker Couch set at the LEGO store last week, I realized that the inaugural Figbarf Friday would be the best possible place for that figure to manifest itself. 

So, voila!  Conan O’Headroom.  The ultimate talk show host of the digital age. 

Part of me (the small overlapping part of me that wants to make webcomics AND has really dumb ideas sometimes) wants to build some sets and photograph the character’s origin story.  I can so clearly see a little minifig Conan O’Brien on that motorcycle, crashing into the parking garage dropgate, and later needing to be cortically scanned and stored, leading to the creation of his alter-egotist Conan O’Headroom being brought to life on screen in the lab…  Thankfully, most of the other parts of me usually keep that one other part in check. 

Hydra Henchman

(Post-Decapitation)

 

And last but not least, the post-decapitation Hydra Henchman. 

This was the single most obvious joke I could tell given the minifigs and accessories I had on hand.  I mean, come on.  Hydra’s motto is “If one head is cut off, two more will take its place.” 

The two-headedness of the figure is achieved using BrickWarriors’ “Ogre Armor” piece.