What was the first LEGO minifigure ever made?
The modern LEGO minifigure debuted in 1978 with a police officer character.
Before 1978, LEGO figures were simple blocks without moving limbs. Designer Jens Nygaard Knudsen spent three years perfecting the modern version with movable arms, legs, and the iconic yellow face. This design first appeared in set #600, featuring a police officer and his car. LEGO has since produced over four billion minifigures, making them one of the most populous groups on Earth.
Nerd Mode
The development of the LEGO minifigure was a significant engineering feat led by designer Jens Nygaard Knudsen at the LEGO Group headquarters in Billund, Denmark. Between 1975 and 1978, Knudsen created over 50 different prototypes to find the perfect balance between playability and the classic LEGO brick aesthetic. The final design was patented in 1978 and featured a modular system where the head, torso, and legs could be swapped.The first wave of figures included seven different characters across three themes: Town, Space, and Castle. The very first released was the police officer in set number 600, which retailed for approximately $3.00 at the time. LEGO chose the iconic yellow skin tone to ensure the figures remained racially neutral and inclusive for children worldwide. This remained the standard until 2004 when the company introduced natural skin tones for licensed sets like Star Wars.Since their introduction, the production of minifigures has reached staggering numbers. By 2020, the company had manufactured over 8 billion units, which technically exceeds the human population of Earth. The precision of the manufacturing process is so high that the molds are accurate to within 0.005 millimeters. This ensures that a minifigure from 1978 is still perfectly compatible with any LEGO brick produced today.
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FP-0004177 · Feb 18, 2026