Classic LEGO minifigures are (literally) making a resurgence

The LEGO Group has made nostalgic returns to classic themes like Space and Castle – but now classic LEGO minifigures are quite literally forcing their way back to the surface.

2023 saw the return to LEGO Castle with a nostalgic remake in 40601 Majisto’s Magical Workshop, while 2024 has been littered with LEGO sets across multiple themes harking back to classic LEGO Space. While these are intentional returns to classic sets and themes, one reddit user, credible_hulk, has been seeing a literal resurgence in classic LEGO minifigures – rising to the top layer of their garden, to be precise.

Back in the autumn of 2023, the reddit user shared how they were removing an old wooden deck from their garden, revealing ground underneath that hadn’t been touched since before they moved in. This not only brought to light a new area of the garden but also a Majisto minifigure, soon to be followed by an Aquanaut.

Both of these minifigures come from the mid to late ’90s, suggesting that someone living in the same property a good 25 years or so before had excellent taste in LEGO sets. Now, yet another minifigure has also made an appearance, with credible_hulk sharing an update.

“The remains of this Royal Knight join that of an Aquanaut and Majisto as archaeological evidence that a cool kid long ago played in what is now my yard,” they wrote.

Although a bit grubby, the survival of the minifigures under a wooden deck and seemingly a lot of dirt for more than 20 years is testament not only to how long LEGO has been around as a hobby but also how surprisingly well minifigures can hold up. Sure, Majisto may have lost his hat along the way, but a bit of cleaning up and these minifigures could be as good as new.

So perhaps instead of trawling secondhand markets, we all need to be digging around in our back gardens for LEGO treasure. While there’s no guarantee of the same luck, it adds some extra drama to a strong classic LEGO collection.

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