A LEGO Oswald the Lucky Rabbit minifigure seems like a likely prospect

The LEGO BrickHeadz theme may have given us a clue to the LEGO Group’s Disney output in the year ahead.

2023 is a big year for Disney fans, as the Walt Disney Company is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The occasion seems likely to inspire plenty of media for us to enjoy, with a new animated film about Disney’s wishing star scheduled to appear towards the year’s end.

Of greater interest to LEGO fans is a new poster hinting at LEGO Disney products in the months to come. The poster appears to reference Peter Pan star Tinker Bell; although she has appeared in minifigure form before now, a new version would be appreciated. Particularly as she has only been available with the expensive (and now retired) 71040 Disney Castle set so far. 

While concrete details on 2023 Disney LEGO sets are still thin on the ground, existing rumours suggest a new line of Disney Collectible Minifigures – which this poster seems to corroborate. Disney characters have appeared in this theme in two waves before now, so a third would certainly be popular. If such a product line does exist, we suspect that Oswald the Lucky Rabbit will be starring in it.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the character, Oswald is a very early creation of Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. He went on to appear in more than two dozen animated shorts throughout the 1920s and 1930s, although Disney eventually lost control of the character – and created Mickey Mouse as a replacement. The character eventually came back into The Walt Disney Company’s ownership, with the video game Epic Mickey referencing Oswald’s sordid history.

A recent LEGO BrickHeadz announcement has revealed that at least one LEGO Oswald is incoming. 40622 Disney 100th Celebration depicts four Disney characters in BrickHeadz form, with Oswald included in the lineup. That design choice makes us think an Oswald minifigure could join it, as the BrickHeadz line tends to follow (or be followed by) minifigures of its subject matter.

The BrickHeadz theme has touched upon various corners of pop culture during its lifespan, aligning fairly closely with the LEGO Group’s existing licensed products along the way. Star Wars, Marvel and DC have all received multiple BrickHeadz sets, while the likes of The Simpsons, Ghostbusters and Back to the Future have also received BrickHeadz tributes. 

A particularly interesting case is 41630 Jack Skellington and Sally, a BrickHeadz set inspired by The Nightmare before Christmas. This set depicts two of the animated film’s main characters, and actually preceded minifigure versions of them – which appeared a year later in 2019. Similarly, Minions villain Belle Bottom received a BrickHeadz version shortly before her minifigure incarnation in 2021.

There’s no guarantee that a BrickHeadz set will lead to a minifigure version, of course. 40548 Spice Girls Tribute released in 2022 but has not (as yet) been accompanied by any minifigure counterparts. Similarly, 40422 Frankenstein hasn’t inspired a direct minifigure counterpart – although the iconography of the film it’s referencing has inspired several generic LEGO knockoffs, so that one may sort of count. 

Broadly speaking, however, there has been a close link between BrickHeadz and minifigure versions of pop culture characters – so if you’re an Oswald fan, we feel your chances of getting an Oswald minifigure are relatively high. In the meantime, 40622 Disney 100th Celebration is available worldwide from February 1, 2023; expect to pay £39.99 / $39.99 / €39.99 for it upon its release.

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