LEGO’s Springfield is expanding this May with another iconic location and another sixteen residents from “The Simpsons.” While rumored for about a year, and confirmed last fall, this is the first we’ve seen of the Kwik-E-Mart and the minifigures. 

The Kwik-E-Mart retails for $199.99, and while be available alongside the Simpsons House, also $199.99. While the convenience store looks great, with incredible detail inside, I’d rather have them reduce some of the size and detail and give us a smaller one at around a $100 price point. I don’t know if that’s because I’m cheap or broke, but either way, I don’t think I’ll be picking it up. And yet, look at the details! Comic books, newspapers, food, that one dude in the freezer — wow. 

The second series of The Simpsons Minfigures though — I’ll be buying every one. 

• Maggie with Santa’s Little Helper
• Bartman
• Sunday Best Marge
• Sunday Best Homer
• Sunday Best Lisa with Snowball
• Radioactive Boy
• Smithers
• Hans Moleman
• Comic Book Guy
• Edna Krabappel
• Groundskeeper Willie
• Martin Prince
• Professor Frink
• Dr. Hibbert
• Patty
• Selma

I love the character selection, but still wonder if we’ll ever see a Moe or Barney — I know, they’re all alcoholey, but if you looked at the violence and bad habits of the other characters in this series…come on. We can handle a drunk. I also prefer Jasper to Hans Moleman when it comes down to it, but I do like the series here. If there’s a Series 3, I already have a wishlist going. And if they worked in a handful of “Futurama” characters somehow, all the better.

The Minifigures will be blind-bagged again, but of all of the lines of characters LEGO has done, the Simpsons characters, with a distinctive mold for each character, are easiest to suss out. So if you want a dozen Groundskeeper Willies for some kind of bizarre diorama, you’ll be able to find them. 

That would be pretty cool, actually. 

These are in stores starting in May — get your fingers ready to fondle some packages! 

The Simpsons LEGO Minifigures $2.99 – $3.99 Available at www.lego.com, LEGO Stores, Target, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, other major retailers. Blind packaging, limited release.

It caught LEGO fans by surprise. The rumors about a “Simpsons” line of LEGO sets popped up about a month before it suddenly appeared last winter, as a LEGO Store exclusive. The Simpsons House playset cost about $200, and raised the question: Would LEGO put that much expense into making new sculpts for the six minifigures in the set if they weren’t going to do something else with them? Until very recently LEGO has been reluctant to make non-standard minifigures. Including six new sculpts in one set may be unprecedented. But with no other playsets on the horizon, what was the future of the Simpsons line?

For now, the future is the line of sixteen minifigures, currently in stores. They come blind-packaged in plastic pouches, so you don’t know which character you’re buying until you open it up. Unless you’re really good at fondling packages (yeah, I went there), in which case you can usually suss out which character you’ve picked up, with few repeat purchases.  LEGO has been releasing minifigures as collectibles since 2010, but “The LEGO Movie” and “The Simpsons” are the first licensed properties they’ve done. It’s a perfect way to populate your LEGO Springfield. 

a perfect way to populate your LEGO springfield

The sixteen characters included in the lineup: 

• Homer Simpson
• Marge Simpson
• Bart Simpson
• Lisa Simpson
• Maggie Simpson
• Grampa Simpson
• Ned Flanders
• Krusty the Clown
• Milhouse Van Houten
• Ralph Wiggum
• Chief Wiggum
• Apu NassfhefIdontwantolookthisup
• Nelson Muntz
• Mr. Burns
• Itchy
• Scratchy

Those are some solid choices; those are characters that are central to the series, but that you’d also want to include in any Springfield scenes that you’d be building out of LEGO, or sliding into your Star Wars or Batman or Christmas Village scenarios. There are some variations on the six characters that came with the house–the five members of the Simpson family and Ned Flanders. The minifigures from the house have lowered eyelids, making them all look either sneaky or (in my opinion) a little bit high. Homer has the necktie that he wears to work; Marge and Flanders are both wearing aprons. In contrast, the individually packaged minifigures are the “classic” version of the characters. Eyes wide open, no necktie, no aprons. 

A problem some people have with the Simpsons as minifigures is the same that people had with the Simpsons action figures from Playmates a few years back–they don’t look “right” in three dimensions. “The Simpsons” is one of the most two-dimensional cartoons currently on the air, and seeing characters who are usually flat as fully-sculpted figurines…they don’t necessarily look like you’re used to seeing them. That said, these are some amazing minifigures. The colors are perfect, they’re surprisingly proportional as LEGO people; and personally I love having Mr. Burns with Blinky the Three-Eyed Fish, and Maggie with her beat-up teddy bear (once shared with Monty). 

My favorite characters in the lineup are also my favorite characters on the show–the kids. Milhouse, Ralph Wiggum, Lisa and Bart, even the bully Nelson. Before the series shifted to become more and more Homer-centric, a lot of the show happened at the elementary school, and the kids made me laugh more than the adults did. Ralph’s sad-but-cute-but-hopeful Valentine to Lisa? “I choo-choo-choose you!” Amazing. I love the details that they worked into the accessories as much as the characters themselves.

Will these sixteen characters be the beginning and end of the population of Springfield? Personally, I’d love to see a Simpsons Series 2, with an additional sixteen minifigures. I assume a few of them would be variants on characters we’ve already got, but there are still dozens of other characters who seem like they’d fit the bill. If I were in charge of the lineup, here’s who I’d pick:

• Radiation Suit Homer
• Daredevil Bart
• Waylon Smithers
• Sideshow Bob
• Principal Skinner
• Edna Krabapple
• Groundskeeper Willie
• Moe
• Barney
• Mayor Quimby
• Comic Book Guy

…that’s eleven. Who would fill the remaining five slots? Variants of Lisa and Marge? Rod and Tod Flanders? Rich kid Martin Prince? Sherri and Terri (really only one minifigure, just buy two of them)? Bus Driver Otto? Patty and Selma? Lenny and Carl? Reverend Lovejoy? Troy McClure? Bumblebee Man? Dr. Hibbert? Dr. Nick? Radioactive Man and Fallout Boy? …whoever has to make those decisions will run into some problems when they get to the C-listers. I also wonder if LEGO would run afoul of uptight Protect the Children groups with a bartender and drunk, but they got Itchy and Scratchy made, so maybe they can do it. 

Some problems with the C-listers

I’m not the biggest fan of “The Simpsons.” I like it fine, I have fond memories of it, I think it’s a great show. But I don’t watch it much. What I’d really hope to come from this–and what will never happen–is a line of “Futurama” LEGO. The characters, a Planet Express spaceship…I won’t go on. Because it’s too sad to contemplate a world that can’t come about.

If you’re looking at picking up the Simpsons minifigures, you’ll need to act soon. They’re still available at Target, Wal-Mart, the LEGO Stores, and online at LEGO.com. But not for long. They’ve been out for a while now, and each of these waves of minifigures is only on the shelves for three months. The twelfth series of the “regular” LEGO minifigures is starting to come in and push the Simpsons out. So get them while the getting’s good. 

The event some of us asked for, and most of us expected, has finally arrived. Like the comic books that inspired the convention that the footage previewed at, “Family Guy” and “The Simpsons” are getting a crossover episode. With a quick guest appearance from Bob of “Bob’s Burgers”, the episode is sure to play up references from both series as well as ones about Fox, the network the cartoons air on. From the preview below, it appears that the two families will get along fine until Peter Griffin and Homer Simpson argue over who has the best beer. That argument will probably be what creates the epic fight scenes found in the preview.

It will be interesting to see if the rest of the episode can maintain the tempo and hilarity in the preview. It’s quite possible though, that at five minutes, the best of the episode is in the preview. At five minutes, the preview contains about a quarter of the total episode time of a typical “Family Guy” or “The Simpsons” episode.

Both shows will premiere during the event in September. “Family Guy” will be entering its 13^th season while “The Simpsons” enters its 26^th as the longest-running American sitcom. Let’s hope for seasons 14 and 27 we get another crossover in the style of DC and Marvel’s Amalgam Universe. If that happens, I vote they keep the hairstyles from “The Simpsons” if only to see a Maris Grimpson with a bright red beehive.

I feel validated as a human being when two of the world’s most innovative and quality cosmetics manufacturers celebrate pop culture. Not even ashamed. Some of you might remember my complete meltdown when M.A.C. announced its Rick Baker collection (which was amazing, by the way, you can see my experiment here), and my emotions have again went into Earthquake Pill Mode after the two consecutive announcements made this week. 

Yesterday, Urban Decay showcased their new “Pulp Fiction” inspired collection on their Instagram feed. The line will feature exclusive lip, nail, pencil, and liner shades, as well as a neutral shadow palette. No word on whether you will be able to purchase as a set, but individual prices range from $19 – $34. The pros: you can (and I will) do both pre- and post- OD Mia looks with this kit. The con? It does not seem to be available for pre-order yet. 

MAC teased their Marge Simpson collection a couple months ago, and I didn’t post the news because I wanted all the juicy details.  The collection will be available online on August 23 and in stores on September 5, but Comic Con attendees will have an opportunity for a one day sale of the items. Prices range from $16.50 to $44.

It will include a pressed blush in a pink that definitely speaks to an animation palette while still being wearable on every skin tone, and a set of lashes that are just dead-on Marge. There’s a lip gloss, and not pictured are nail stickers. MAC can be very surprising when it comes to their pop culture lines. The Wonder Woman palettes, for instance, came in shades of blue, green, and rose – all shades that aren’t directly associated with Diana but upon consideration, definitely a spectrum that reminded me of comics on newsprint paper. But this time around it looks like they went a bit more literal, and I have zero complaints. My only wish is that the collection comes with a makeup gun. 

Absolutely one of my all time favorite Simpsons moments.

I’ll definitely be adding these items to my stash, and I’ll share some pics on my Instagram after I play!

I haven’t watched “The Simpsons” in a great long while. It was never a conscious decision, but somehow I got old and ended up cramming all the grownup things I should have done during the weekend on Sunday night. Of course I’ve read the woes that say the show just isn’t as funny as it used to be, but I never really faulted anyone – those fans aren’t kids anymore, and it’s hard to be at your peak for 25 years.

But a fellow bot asked for assistance tonight, and I happily stepped to the plate. I’m glad I did, because my return to the show saw a George Plimpton couch gag, a Stan Lee cameo, a Harlan Ellison cameo, and a truly delightful tribute to Hayao Miyazaki.

A playful poke at the comic industry trend of killing a hero only to bring him back in a number one led Comic Book Guy to meet the woman of his dreams. She’s into comics, writes her own autobio manga, and enjoys his snark. Truth be told, I kind of have a crush on her, too. After a vision (and a shoplifting violation) from Stan Lee, she agrees to move into the Android Dungeon’s basement with CBG and live happily ever after. Unfortunately her father has more traditional ideas, but Homer intervenes and after a night of snake and fish wine Kumiko’s father experiences a “Spirited Away” vision that leads him to see the error of his ways. Comic Book Guy and Kumiko are joined in matrimony by Stan Lee in the Android Dungeon.

This episode was super sweet. It never hit on sappy territory for me, but I might have made the happy-cry face when CBG announced “BEST. DAY. EVER.” There were minimal appearances by supporting characters, but the few that did appear made some classic Simpsons quips that will surely creep in to my everyday use (namely Apu’s “I’m ruined by whimsy”). The satire completely lacked any venom and stayed playful, and the Miyazaki tribute took the show where I’ve never seen it – into total beauty. The sequence adapted all the surreal and dreamlike qualities of its source while remaining goofy and light. It was very well done. I only wish the Kwik E Mart hadn’t been so obviously digital. It broke the spell a bit, especially since the biggest point of wonder in Miyazaki’s work is that it’s hand drawn.

I also loved all of tonight’s winks to episodes past. I don’t know if this is frequent, or if the writers decided that since a few more viewers might be tuning in tonight it would be a good idea to let them know they’re welcome back any time. Millhouse’s 15 minutes got a nod, as did Homer’s resemblance to Mr. Sparkle, which was originally introduced in what is easily one of the shows greatest episodes.

I don’t know if it’s my own absence or if tonight was a highlight of these later years, but “Married to the Blob” was a pop-culturey good time with a couple guffaws and an Alan Moore pun. What more do you need? So while the show has surely had its waxing and waning over the past 25 years, tonight’s episode showed that this team can be imaginative, relevant, and funny.