LEGO Minifigures 71051 Series 28 Animals includes 12 new collectible minifigure, but some of the line-up’s critters have been covered before.
71051 Series 28 Animals was officially revealed this week, with the latest range of collectible minifigures due to debut on January 1, 2026. Each of the 12 colourful characters boasts their own distinctive animal costume, complete with new moulded headgear, although we have seen versions of some of these minifigure outfits previously.
For instance, 8831 Series 7 dropped in 2012 and included Bunny Suit Guy, 71011 Series 15 arrived in 2016 with Shark Suit Guy, who’s very similar to 71051 Series 28 Animals’ dolphin costume, and 71021 Series 18 released in 2018 and featured a Cat Costume Girl, with an updated version of the feline look available in the upcoming collection.
The choice of which costumes to include in 71051 Series 28 Animals and why some have been updated was revealed to Brick Fanatics in an interview with the set’s designers during a recent LEGO Fan Media Days event.
“It’s kind of a squirrely process,” explained Esa Petteri Nousiainen. “We have some data, like what animals are popular amongst kids and then we look into if there are ways of bringing some kind of relationship to actual LEGO animals that we have.”
The LEGO Collectible Minifigures team specifically mentioned such existing animal figures as the parrot that’s popped up in numerous Pirates sets over the years, along with frogs and crocodiles, both of which have appeared in various brick-built forms.
“We wanted to not repeat ourselves,” said Esa. “Of course, there are some animals we’ve seen before, like the cat and the bunny, but the previous iterations have been a slightly different design style.
“As you’ve probably noticed, we have evolved this into where the minifigure face is visible through the costume’s mouth, so that you see expressions, and it’s not just a frozen-in-time animal costume.”
You’ll be able to pick up a full set of 71051 Series 28 Animals when the upcoming collectible minifigures are released on January 1, 2026, priced at £3.49 / $4.99 / €3.99.
To help you find each 71051 Series 28 Animals minifigure, the Brick Search team will be working to verify all of the dot matrix codes on the blind boxes for when you’re ready to start scanning them. You can download the Brick Search app for iOS and Android devices in advance right now, so you'll then be all ready to go when the collectible minifigures arrive.
To find out our thoughts on 71051 Series 28 Animals, hop, trot, swim or fly over to our full review here.
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