Wishlist - The Cast of DuckTales & Other Classic Disney Characters

There are lots of LEGO themes that I’d love to have.  But most of them just aren’t going to happen.  Max Headroom?  Nope.  Nexus & Badger?  All signs point to ‘No’.  Transmetropolitan?  Un-f’n-likely.  And since these themes just aren’t really feasible for LEGO to produce, I don’t talk about them on Wishlist day. 

(And MAN-OH-MAN am I ever hoping that you’ll forget I said that by the first full week of April…)

The classic Disney characters (Mickey, Donald, Goofy, etc.) do have potential as a LEGO theme, and I wasn’t really planning on discussing that either, because the main Disney figures I want would most likely not be included.  It’s been stated that without a media tie-in for little kids to obsess over, LEGO just won’t do a licensed set. 

But last week the news broke that Disney XD will be bringing us a reboot of Duck Tales sometime in 2017.  Which means that in 2017, the denizens of Duckburg might be enough in the public eye that Disney and LEGO could collaborate on some sets that have been on my list of improbable LEGO sets for years and years now. 

But before we get into DuckTales, let’s explore some of Disney’s pioneer animated characters. 

Mickey Mouse (and Friends)

Mickey is actually no stranger to LEGO.  He’s had two themes this century, one of which was technically System, but used Fabuland-style characters instead of minifigures.  His other, more recent series was from Duplo. 

But when I think of Mickey (and other classic Disney characters) in LEGO form, I’m thinking about minifigures.  [Mickey and Minnie-figures?]  I want minifigure Disney characters that can interact as esthetic equals with minifigures of Spider-Man, Darth Vader, and maybe even some figures that aren’t also owned by Disney.  Haven’t you ever thought that the traditional adventures had by Mickey, Donald, and Goofy (a mouse, duck, and dog), were missing out by not having a mutant turtle in the mix? 

And I’m picky about Mickey.  I’m sure the first thought would be to produce figures with oversized cartoon mascot heads (like the abominations that are the Simpsons collectable minifigure series).  But I’d rather not have classic Disney minifigs at all if that’s how they’d do them.  Mickey and Minnie should have standard minifig heads, with a mouse-ears add-on piece that would double as the classic mouse-ears hat you get at Disneyland.  Goofy would have a topper that held the molded shape of his long ears and ridiculous little hat.  And Donald… well, we’ll get to the ducks shortly. 

Mickey’s dog shouldn’t be too difficult – if LEGO can give us a variety of Scooby-Doos, then a Pluto seems like a no-brainer.  And maybe some of the other supporting characters, like Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar. 

We’d need a Pete (or several, including Pegleg Pete and Black Pete) and the Phantom Blot as villains.  Blot could simply use a recolored version of LEGO’s classic Ghost shroud.  Maybe throw in a BigFig of Willie the Giant. 

Carl Barks, not Walt Disney

I’ve always been a huge fan of the Carl Barks Duck comics.  His comic stories about Donald have always seemed better and funnier to me than the onscreen antics.  While Barks didn’t create the nephews, he did popularize them in the comics.  And as for $crooge McDuck, well, that was ALL Uncle Carl’s doing. 

$crooge was created for the comics, and quickly surpassed Donald as the spearhead of Carl Barks’ artistic endeavors. 

Barks quickly spun an entire community around his version of the Ducks.  Including an extensive family tree for Donald, $crooge, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie; a rogues gallery of enemies for $crooge; and a vividly populated Duckburg. 

So when DuckTales hit my television screen in 1987 (holy crap, I’m old!) I was overjoyed.  Many of the episodes were direct adaptation of Barks’ comic stories. 

And now (‘now’ being the days when lots of Disney’s properties are physically realized in LEGO form) that they’ve announced a reboot of the series for 2017, I can’t help but think about this set of figures I’ve wanted so badly for so long…

LEGO Duck Tales

About the figures themselves:  I’ve got more specifications about the Ducks than I did about Mickey and the gang.  And I’m sticking to my ‘normal minifigs’ preference.  All LEGO really needs is new molds for two pieces, and a new use for an existing piece, and we’re good to go. 

Beaks and tailfeathers.  That’s where the new molds come into play.  I want a duck beak manufactured along the lines of LEGO’s recently added mustache piece.  Just a facial protuberance on a ring that goes over the neckpost before you slide the minifig head into place. 

And then, a tailfeather piece that works like the recent tails that attach in-between the legs and torso during assembly.  Voila!  Most of a duck, right there. 

But the legs (for the adult ducks, anyway) are the easiest piece.  You simply take the pirate’s peg-leg, produce them in orange, and put them two to a waist rather than one plus a normal leg.  Scrawny duck legs that you finish off by attaching a set of orange swim fins.  (Maybe with some classy spat printing for Uncle $crooge!)

$crooge, Donald, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Launchpad (who was created for the cartoon, and took on Donald’s role is some of the adapted storylines), Flintheart Glomgold, Magica DeSpell, Glittering Goldie, Mrs. Beakley, Webigail Vanderquack… this many characters into the list, and they’re still all ducks.  Gyro Gearloose (who I believe was a chicken), anthro-canine butler Duckworth, and the it-just-isn’t-DuckTales-without-them Beagle Boys Gang. 

Enough characters for multiple waves of Duck Tales sets. 

The most obvious set is the Money Bin.  But trying to do a monolithic cube building with that big dollar sign on the front seems like UCS territory – and still wouldn’t come close to being minifigure scale.  So I’d do $crooge’s office interior, with the door into the vault and a truncated version of the money bin proper.  (I’ve always wanted LEGO to do a 4 stud by 4 stud tile/plate that was covered in a molded layer of gold coins – perfect for building a dragon’s hoard, but also useful as the surface of the cash in the money bin.) 

Another set (putting the nephews into alternate costume) could be a Junior Woodchuck cookout.  Complete with a Scoutmaster telling ghost stories, and a real ghost lurking in the trees. 

A prison escape playset would be nice, and could introduce some of the Beagle Boy minifigs into the series.  A set entitled “The Richest Duck in the World” would pit $crooge and Flintheart against each other in a battle of the wealth.  And Magica DeSpell’s set would center around (and possibly be titled) “$crooge’s Number #1 Dime”. 

Wishing Really, Really Hard Here

Usually on Thursdays I expound upon something on the “I wish LEGO made this” list.  And I know that doing so is mostly just pipedreams.  But this?  LEGO Duck Tales?  This I’m wishing for hard.  Really, really hard.  I want this badly.  And you want it, too.  (I can tell.) 

Let’s start letting LEGO know just how badly we want this, shall we?