Lego minifigure

A Lego minifigure, often simply referred to as a Lego figure or a minifig, is a small plastic articulated figurine made of special Lego bricks produced by Danish building toy manufacturer The Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978 and have been a success, with over 4 billion produced worldwide as of 2020. Minifigures are usually found within Lego sets, although they are also sold separately as collectables in blind bags (e.g. under the Lego theme of the same name), or can be custom-built on lego.com and in Lego Stores. While some are named as specific characters, either licensed from already existing franchises or of Lego's own creation, many are unnamed and are designed simply to fit within a certain theme (such as police officers, astronauts and pirates). They are highly customizable, and parts from different figures can be mixed and matched, resulting in many combinations. There are also other types of figures from Lego sets, such as animals, Duplo figures or mini-doll figures. The Lego minifigure is, together with the Lego brick, the company's mascot and one of the most popular toys of all time. Minifigures are collected by both children and adults. Similar figures, often called "Lego compatible minifigures", are also produced by various other companies (often as clones/knock-offs), such as Kre-O (called Kreons), Lepin, Cobi, Block Tech, or Mega Bloks.