Take a closer look at each of the minifigures in LEGO Icons 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger – and see how they stack up next to the rest of Springfield’s citizens a decade on.
10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger brings America’s favourite cartoon family back to LEGO Store shelves in June, a full 10 years on from their last venture in 2015’s 71016 Kwik-E-Mart. Just two of its seven minifigures are repeats from the original wave of LEGO The Simpsons sets and Collectible Minifigures series in 2014 and 2015, but everyone else is brand new in some shape or form, whether marking LEGO debuts for certain characters or new variants of returning favourites.
Here’s a closer look at all seven minifigures arriving alongside Springfield’s most iconic fast food restaurant, along with comparisons to (and pairings with) previous Simpsons characters.
Bart and Lisa Simpson
Until now, the aftermarket was the only way to get your hands on the original Bart and Lisa LEGO minifigures. “You mean there’s a better way?!” Yes indeed – both of these characters return almost note for note in 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger, from Lisa’s fabric skirt and Bart’s dual-moulded arms to the very same head moulds first introduced back in 2014’s original Collectible Minifigures series.
They both hold up well to say it’s been so long since they were first introduced, but it does feel like there was a missed opportunity here to swap out their red clothing for the relatively new reddish orange hue. And in a perfect world, these might have worked better as alternative variants of these characters (Bart in his blue shirt, for example), for those of us who already have the originals. It’s a consideration the LEGO Group did give to other minifigures here, after all…
Homer Simpson
Like Homer, for instance, who is very nearly identical to his previous incarnations in LEGO, save for back printing and a Ribwich stain on the front of his shirt, in a nod to the show’s parody of the McRib in Season 14’s I’m Spelling as Fast as I Can.
It’s hard to imagine a LEGO The Simpsons set without Homer, but maybe this one could have gone even further and dressed him in his Krusty outfit from Season 6’s Homie the Clown, not least because 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger already includes the car from that episode.
Krusty the Clown
Now we’re getting really obscure: 10352’s unique Krusty the Clown minifigure pulls on Season 20’s Coming to Homerica, in which Krusty debuts a brand new veggie burger that immediately gives the townspeople food poisoning.
It’s a polished and effective recreation of a costume probably nobody was asking for, and it means that you’re going to need to track down one of the original Krusty minifigures from 2014’s Collectible Minifigures series if you want a regular version to go alongside the restaurant…
Officer Lou
The first of three characters making their minifigure debut in 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger, Officer Lou joins Chief Wiggum – who originally appeared in the first LEGO The Simpsons Collectible Minifigures series in 2014, then again with minor printing variations in 2015’s 71016 Kwik-E-Mart – to bolster the Springfield police department. He won’t be asking the chief if he can hold his gun sideways here, though, given he’s only armed with a coffee cup.
As an initial pass at Lou this one mostly hits the mark, but comparing it with the source material you could argue that the hat needs to be a little bigger. There’s also one stylistic change from Chief Wiggum in that the belt is now printed on the torso rather than the legs, which means 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger can get away with giving Lou plain blue legs.
Squeaky-Voiced Teen
Whether you know him as Mr. Peterson, Jeremy Freedman or just as the Squeaky-Voiced Teen, this is one recurring Simpsons character that could only ever have shown up in 10352 The Simpsons: Krusty Burger. Unless we one day get a LEGO Bowlarama, Duff Gardens, Aztec Theatre, Gulp ‘n Blow, and so on… he’s the perennial minimum wage shift worker, and he’s executed to a tee here for the first time. You’ll have to dip him in your own grease, mind.
Sideshow Bob
That brings us to maybe the most heavily-anticipated minifigure in the mix here, Sideshow Bob, a man twice convicted of attempted murder. (“Do they give a Nobel Prize for attempted chemistry? Do they?”) He makes sense in this ensemble given he was one of the biggest omissions from the original range of LEGO Simpsons minifigures – even if he does only show up every now and again in the animated series – but the jury’s out on the execution. Do they give a prize for attempted minifigure design?
It's a reasonable attempt all things considered and you can clearly tell who it’s supposed to be, but everything feels just a little off the mark. Bob’s head is famously pencil-thin, which can’t happen here thanks to the limitations of LEGO head design – it needs to fit over the torso’s neck – but his hair should really have been bigger to compensate. The half-closed eyelids that didn’t work in 71006 The Simpsons House don’t fare well here either: Bob comes across more tired than scheming.
It's a mixed bag all in all; a minifigure medley of redundant repeats, puzzling variants and fresh faces that could have been better, but could also have been worse – at least the moulded heads are in step with the original Simpsons sets. Let’s just be grateful we didn’t have a Toy Story situation on our hands. Speaking of which…
Every LEGO The Simpsons character, 2014 to 2025
Here’s how the new LEGO The Simpsons characters stack up against the old. Pictured here is every unique character from the original Simpsons run plus the new Krusty Burger minifigures, not including outfit variants (such as Milhouse as Fallout Boy). As noted in our review of the whole set, the LEGO Group has pretty much picked up where it left off 10 years ago with not only the model but the minifigures.
So for all 10352 Krusty Burger’s faults, it’s going to be hard to say no to this for anyone who does own those original sets – even if it’s only to add its three brand new characters (and two new variants) to your collection.
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