Here’s another up-to-date animal article for you! Today’s guests are LEGO big cat figures. Even though they entered the stage a bit late, their popularity and variety increases rapidly. Lions, tigers, panthers, and much more. Shall we begin?
Like the others in the series, this article will be updated as new animals are released. The name of the colors used here are the Bricklink colors. To see a better image of the color, please visit this link, search for the color, and click on its name to go to Rylie Howerter’s Flickr page.
The First LEGO Big Cat Figure
The first LEGO big cat isn’t big at all. A lion and a tiger cub are released in 2014, under the Friends theme. There are 12 sets released between 2013-2014, called Friends Animals Series. All of them include an animal figure along with a small habitat. If you ask me, this was a great series, because it was possible to get animals without purchasing big sets. I kept waiting for it to jump to System, but alas, it never happened. The tiger and lion cubs come with the 4th and 6th wave of the series. The tan-colored lion cub appears in one more, the bright light orange tiger cub in two more sets in the following years.
The same mould is released in 2015 again, this time in Elves and in sand blue, representing a panther cub. Its name is Enki, and can only be found in one set. It’s also released as a magazine gift. In 2020, the same mould is made in white, a tiger cub coming with one set, and crazy-colored mystery animals in Stephanie’s Jungle Play Cube (41435). These colors include bright light yellow, coral, dark turquoise and light aqua.
The big cats are here!
The jungle theme jumps from Friends to System in 2017, and we get three big cats at once: A panther, a leopard and a tiger. These cats use a brand-new mould, and just like the new horses and bears, their bodies are hinged. The panther is black, the leopard tan with black spots, and the tiger bright light orange with black stripes. All three kitties appear in one set each.
It seems the LEGO Group (and the fans!) like this new big cat mould, because a mountain lion and a saber-toothed tiger is added to the family in 2018. The mountain lion is dark tan, the tiger medium nougat with reddish brown stripes. The tiger’s head is different than the others. It has long, “sharp” teeth, chin fur and slightly different ears. The mountain lion comes in one, the saber-tooth tiger in two sets.
A lioness is released in 2020, two male lions in 2021. The lioness is tan colored. The male lions come in tan and white; tan with a reddish brown mane, white with a tan mane. Their body mould is the same as the others, but their heads are new (PS: It’s not possible to separate the heads in any of these animals). Since now it’s possible for our lions to mate, the cubs come pre-ordered. There are two, tan and white – so we know who’s the father :) These cubs use a completely new mould and smaller than their Friends siblings. A black panther cub joins the kids in 2022.
Our newest big cat is the one released in the summer 2024 City sets. It uses the newest LEGO color, reddish orange, and its head is different this time, reflecting its chin fur better. If you liked the first tiger, you’ll definitely love this one!
Special Characters
The first LEGO big cat figure to represent a special character is Rajah, Jasmine’s tiger from Aladdin. Even though the tiger cub of 2014 has been used to represent him before, the 2022 version uses a new mould and it’s the first LEGO Friends big cat. Rajah is orange and for now, appears in only one set. The second one is Parce from Encanto. He’s Antonio’s jaguar, and he has two figures, one using the cub mould (2021), the other using the adult mould (2024). Both are bright light orange and can be found in one set each.
The biggest difference that separates Friends big cats from their System siblings is the gap on their backs. You can place a Friends saddle piece on this 2×2 gap, or close it with either a plate and a 2×2 curved slope (30165) or a plate and two 1×2 curved slopes (37352). This gap prevents them from having a hinge like the others. Also, the Friends cats can’t move their heads, while the others can.
LEGO DUPLO Big Cat Figures
There are five big cats listed on Bricklink, sometimes using the same mould, sometimes a different one. These are lions, tigers, panthers, leopards and jaguars. Since they look alike, I got curious, decided to ask Google the difference between a leopard and a jaguar. Apparently, jaguars are larger, their spots more distinct, and they live in America. Leopards are skinnier and have smaller spots, found in Africa and some parts of Asia. A little unnecessary information for you :)
We open up shop in 1990 with three figures; a lioness, a male lion, and a cub. There are three different colors for the lioness and the cub: Bright light orange, medium orange and earth orange. They continue to show up in sets until 2005. The male lion is only made in earth orange, last seen in 1996. The adults can move their heads. The cub appears in 18 sets, the lioness in 12 and the male in 5. The cub, like others from those years, sits on a plate. The plate-less version is released in 1991, in earth orange, however I’m not sure of its existence, since its set shows it with a plate. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any information on whether the animals are fixed on the plate or can be removed.
The tigers are from 1990, too. There’s one adult and one cub, both yellow with black stripes. The cub uses the same mould as the lion cub, and it has two versions, too, with and without a plate. The adult tiger has the same body but a different head. The adult is found in 12 sets until 2002, the cub in 22 sets until 2005.
We get an adult panther in 1994, a cub in 1995. The adult uses the same mould as the lioness, and the cub uses the same mould as the other cubs. Both are black with yellow eyes, and continue to appear in sets until 2001.
In 2001, a mama leopard comes with her cub. Both use the previous adult and cub moulds. They are both made in medium orange, a retired color. The leopard family comes with only one set, together.
There’s one figure released with Dora the Explorer sets in 2004. It’s listed as lion/jaguar cub on Bricklink. It uses the cub’s mould from before, made in earth orange and can be found in only one set.
2005 seems to be a milestone for LEGO DUPLO big cat figures. The cub mould is changed, and every cub after that uses that mould. There’s a new male lion mould, too, which can be found in more recent sets (2022). The lioness also gets a new mould, but it’s last seen in 2016. Either it’s changed, or will be, or there haven’t been a set that could include her – although there have been too many DUPLO animal sets lately, making it more likely that the mould is either changed or discarded.
The cubs shown above: Lion (bright light orange, 2005 & 2019), tiger (orange and white), leopard (bright light orange), panther (black), and jaguar (bright light orange). The lioness is bright light orange, both male lions are bright light orange with reddish orange manes. The only difference is their eye print.
There’s an adult leopard released in 2006. It looks exactly the same as the lioness, but has a different mould ID. Unfortunately, I don’t have either of them, so I can’t say for sure.
The newest LEGO DUPLO big cat is the tiger from 2009. Released in orange and white, it appears in 12 sets until 2022.
The big cats released after 2001 can’t move their heads.
That’s it for today!
Big cats aren’t uncommon in the minifigure world, either. It’s possible to find them in themes like Fabuland, Chima and CMF series. Sometimes the figure wears a costume, sometimes a unique head mould is made for it. Below, you can find a few Chima cats along with some big cat themed minifigures I stole from other pages.
And of course, some comparison images!
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These are all the big cats so far. If there’s any I missed, let me know and I’ll add it. See you in the next article!
Image Sources
I borrowed the images of animals I don’t have from Bricklink, Brickset, Rebrickable, Brick Fanatics, Decotoys, Steinpalast and eBay. The image showing the difference between a leopard and jaguar is from Panthera.
Some girls play with Barbie dolls, while others create small worlds with LEGO minifigures and continue to do so when they grow up. You can probably guess which group I belong to :)
