LEGO Mixels was a collaborative franchise and toy line from The LEGO Group and Cartoon Network that ran from 2014 to 2016. The theme centered on small, colorful, buildable creatures that could mix and combine their parts to create new characters.
Theme Overview
The Mixels franchise featured both LEGO building sets and an accompanying animated television series on Cartoon Network.
Core Concept: Mixels are colorful creatures living on Planet Mixel. They are organized into 27 different "tribes," each characterized by a specific elemental property (e.g., fire, stone, electricity) and color scheme.
Mixing Mechanics: The primary feature of the toys and show was the ability to "mix" (combine parts of two different Mixels) to form useful new creatures, "max" (combine all three Mixels from the same tribe to build a larger figure), or "murp" (a failed, messy combination).
Enemies: The Mixels were opposed by the monochrome, evil Nixels, led by King Nixel, who sought to stop the colorful mixing.
Innovation: The theme was the first to introduce small "miniball joint" elements, which provided greater articulation and movement for the characters and are still used in many LEGO sets today.
Packaging: The sets were typically small, affordable, and often featured a transparent window in the packaging so buyers could see the pieces inside.
Tribes and Products
Over its run, 81 different Mixel sets were produced, released in nine waves (called "series"). Each series introduced new tribes.
Notable Tribes: The initial tribes included the fire-based Infernites, the stone-based Cragsters, and the electricity-based Electroids.
Other Tribes: The range expanded to include the Frosticons, Glorp Corp, Orbitons, Glowkies, Lixers, Klinkers, Weldos, and Munchos, among many others.
Collectibility: Since the theme was discontinued at the end of 2016, these sets are no longer available in standard retail stores. Collectors often find them on secondary markets.