The LEGO minifigure history of Disney and Pixar’s Buzz Lightyear

Buzz Lightyear is getting a new minifigure this year as the latest iteration of the Space Ranger that first debuted in Toy Story, so let’s look at the rest.

Three new Lightyear sets are launching in April 2022, based on the film of the same name that tells the origin story of the character that inspired the in-universe toy of Buzz Lightyear seen in Toy Story – yes we know it’s a bit confusing.

With dozens of Toy Story LEGO sets released previously, Buzz Lightyear has had more than a few minifigures in the past, allowing us to explore the design journey that brought us to this latest iteration.

Moulded head

As part of an initial wave of Toy Story sets in 2010, the LEGO Group opted to create moulded head elements for key characters including Woody and Buzz. The large elements allowed for true-to-life interpretations of the characters and also worked with the fresh Buzz Lightyear armour element.

DUPLO

A DUPLO version of Buzz Lightyear also existed in sets from 2010 as well as an updated iteration in 2019. Though not a traditional minifigure, it’s still worth mentioning as it adopted the moulded head brick and kept the design, unlike the minifigure.

Minifigure head

Debuting originally in the LEGO Disney Collectible Minifigure series from 2016, Buzz Lightyear’s minifigure later swapped out the specialised head element for a standard minifigure head in purple, with the face printed on. This change was later applied to other Toy Story characters such as Woody, though the armour element from Buzz’s original minifigure remained.

Lightyear

Now in 2022, the Lightyear movie introduces a few minor changes to Buzz’s original design, opting for a cinematic look that inspired the LEGO designers to create an all-new element for the Space Ranger armour. Featuring in all three Lightyear sets, Buzz’s latest minifigure includes a standard head piece with and without the hood, showcasing his hair for the first time. The wings also appear in brown, rather than the purple and green design seen in past sets – though this likely reflects a change in the film.

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