LEGO Series 27 (71048)

Series 27 (set 71048) reached shops on 1 January 2025 and is a classic unlicensed run of LEGO collectible minifigures — no shared theme, just twelve very different characters. There are everyday archetypes (the Cat Lover, the Longboarder, the Plush Toy Collector), two costume gags in the hamster and the pterodactyl, a seasonal Cupid, and a handful of nods to classic LEGO.

The biggest name in the series is the Wolfpack Beastmaster, bringing back the Wolfpack faction from the Castle sets of the early nineties. He arrives with a wolf pup in a brand-new mould, a soft hooded cape, a shield printed with a wolf's head and a sword — and he has been the figure collectors hunt hardest since the day the series landed. He is not the only debut here either: the cockatoo, the long-haired cat, Cupid's cherub wings and the space helmet with its red visor are all new.

It is a good series whether you are starting out or have been completing collections for years. A child will find figures that go straight into play, and a collector will find at least two or three that have to be on the shelf. Since the boxes are sealed and you can no longer feel the pieces through the packet, the only reliable way to land a particular character is the Data Matrix code printed on the bottom of the packaging.