LEGO Wicked: For Good sets split focus, but that’s not bad
After an initial year of just mini-doll models, LEGO Wicked is splitting its focus for the second year of sets, but it looks to be an effective strategy.
LEGO Wicked is now in its second year, with a second wave of sets just around the corner on September 1, 2025. For the first time in the theme’s history, we’re about to receive Wicked minifigures, but that doesn’t mean the theme’s signature mini-dolls are gone for good.
The standard LEGO Wicked sets still feature the usual mini-dolls and creatures reminiscent of the art style seen in LEGO Friends. It even affects the design of the new flying monkey figure in 75689 Emerald City & Kiamo Ko Castle. Everything from the figures to the graphics in the four new sets (and those of the first year) is closer in style to LEGO Friends than any minifigure-focused theme, and it’s a style we should be used to by now.
However, we can’t completely get used to this style in the second year of LEGO Wicked, as a specific pair of builds is set to debut the first Wicked and Wicked: For Good minifigures on September 1, 2025. This includes 75685 Emerald City Wall Art and 75691 Glinda & Elphaba Bookends, and that’s something in common between them.
Neither model is a playset for minifigures, yet they include minifigures all the same. Instead, they’re intended for ages 18 and older for display purposes only, rather than play as the other new sets are. There are places to store the minifigures in each model, but there’s nothing for them ot interact with, or for you to play with using them. These are adult-aimed models through and through.
Both models are intended for display around your home, with few to no other play features as you would expect from any LEGO set with an 18+ label. The minifigures themselves don’t necessarily evoke that 18+ label in any way, beyond the mostly exclusive selection of characters in each, just in case fans want to get both. That might be precisely what the LEGO Group is counting on with this new strategy for LEGO Wicked, though.
It all leads to one conclusion: that the LEGO Group sees minifigures in the context of LEGO Wicked as a commodity for collectors and older fans, rather than its core audience. Mini-dolls are instead being used to tell the story in those sets aimed specifically at a younger demographic. Mini-doll themes are extremely limited in the current portfolio, and this is the first time that we’ve seen a range split its focus between minifigures and mini-dolls. This is aside from a couple in The LEGO Movie 2, which were select characters rather than part of a strategy.
Opting to use minifigures to appeal to collectors is nothing new for the LEGO Group, with everything from 76294 X-Men: The X-Mansion to 76300 Arkham Asylum choosing to save some beloved characters for more expensive models aimed at older fans.
It is the first time that this has happened in a theme where the rest of its product range focuses on mini-dolls, though, signalling clearer than ever before that the LEGO Group is well aware of how collectable LEGO minifigures are, and how they do better with older, nostalgic fans, rather than the more realistic mini-dolls.
That’s not to say that the standard Wicked sets should feature minifigures over mini-dolls, and you click here to see us debate which is better for LEGO Wicked – minifigures or mini-dolls. Following the reveal of these six new sets, though, it’s clear that LEGO Wicked believes that mini-dolls are better for children and that minifigures are preferred by adults.
With Wednesday also currently focusing only on mini-dolls, as well as LEGO Friends, it will be interesting to see any other themes adopt this strategy in the years to come. For now, you can look forward to the release of the next LEGO Wicked sets on September 1.
LEGO Wicked 2025 sets
| LEGO set | Price | Pieces | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40794 Elphaba & Glinda Figures | £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99 | 325 | September 1, 2025 |
| 75685 Emerald City Wall Art | £139.99 / $159.99 / €149.99 | 1,518 | September 1, 2025 |
| 75687 Elphaba’s Retreat | £19.99 / $27.99 / €24.99 | 228 | September 1, 2025 |
| 75688 Glinda’s Wedding Day | £34.99 / $39.99 / €39.99 | 476 | September 1, 2025 |
| 75689 Emerald City & Kiamo Ko Castle | £74.99 / $79.99 / €79.99 | 860 | September 1, 2025 |
| 75690 Glinda & Elphaba Visit Munchkinland | £59.99 / $69.99 / €69.99 | 744 | September 1, 2025 |
| 75691 Glinda & Elphaba Bookends | £109.99 / $129.99 / €119.99 | 1,327 | September 1, 2025 |
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