Banana Guy

Banana Guy is one of the clearest examples of the Collectible Minifigures line discovering the comic power of the costume figure. Instead of merely printing a banana on a shirt, LEGO wrapped the entire minifigure in an oversized fruit-shaped shell while leaving the smiling face peeking through. The joke was so successful that food, animal, and object costumes became a recurring subgenre of collectible figures. Beneath the silliness is clever product design: a standard minifigure can become something wildly different through one removable molded piece, preserving the system while dramatically changing the silhouette.