LEGO Minifigures 71037 Series 24’s Falconer isn’t the army builder you’re looking for

LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71037 Series 24 includes a brand new member of the Black Falcons – but it isn’t the medieval army builder you’re looking for.

Nestled in amongst the 12 new characters in 71037 Series 24, which arrived in stores on January 1 as one of the last blind-bagged Collectible Minifigures series (pending the switch to blind boxes in September), the Falconer sports colours that will be familiar to LEGO Castle fans. In fact, she’s a literal embodiment of the Black Falcons faction, equipped with – you guessed it – a black (and grey) falcon.

And while there’s no denying she’s a wonderful minifigure all on her own, she perhaps doesn’t offer the direct route to amassing an army of Black Falcons that many of us were hoping for. The faction has made a pretty significant comeback over the past couple of years, first in 21325 Medieval Blacksmith, and later in 31120 Medieval Castle and 10305 Lion Knights’ Castle.

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Anyone lucky enough to own all those sets will have a seven-strong army of modern Black Falcons minifigures, which is a start, but not quite enough to hold down the fort. When initial images of 71037 Series 24 landed online, the Falconer seemed like a potential avenue to building out those forces, or perhaps simply upgrading our current minifigures with her dual-moulded legs.

For one reason or another, though, this latest minifigure doesn’t quite fulfil either of those desires. Given the specificity of her role, she has one gloved hand and one bare hand, which would obviously stand out for any regular soldier. But swapping LEGO hands around isn’t exactly difficult (even if the LEGO Group doesn’t officially recommend it, for the stress it places on minifigures).

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The greater problem with the Falconer is that her colour palette pivots away from the Black Falcons design we’ve had for the past couple of years, dropping gunmetal grey in favour of brown. The minifigures in 21325 Medieval Blacksmith, 31120 Medieval Castle and so on each incorporate a mix of black, blue, gunmetal grey, using brown only sparingly – but the Falconer’s wearing brown boots, and has black and black/brown arms.

That means the Collectible Minifigures character’s dual-moulded legs don’t really fit with the existing Black Falcons minifigures. Maybe they would have done so if they were dual-moulded in blue and gunmetal grey, but as is, brown feels like too much of a clash for the rest of their outfits. And it means there’s perhaps less potential in stocking up on Falconers than first anticipated.

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None of this is to say that 71037 Series 24’s new Black Falcons soldier isn’t a worthy addition to your collection, nor a bad minifigure: like most of the newest series, it’s absolutely worth your time. But you probably won’t need more than one…

71037 Series 24 is available now at LEGO.com, in LEGO Stores and through third-party retailers, for £3.49 / $4.99 / €3.99 per bag. 21325 Medieval Blacksmith, 31120 Medieval Castle and 10305 Lion Knights’ Castle are also all out now.

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