White Fang always does a great job of reviewing the CMS. Thanks for linking it since I just don't have time for EB. The new photos have given me some more thoughts on the series.
1 - The Barbarian - He's alright. I wish he looked more like the Heroica barbarian. I wouldn't be disappointed if I ended up with him.
2 - The Scarecrow - I still love it. The hat, the crow, the torso and leg print, all awesome. Even the head is ok. He can still be evil in a manacial way.
3 - Bavarian Lady - Love the torso and hair piece. A pretzel is cool, but a cup for some Swiss Miss hot chocolate makes more sense to me. The big question is why the cloth piece as opposed to printing? There are a few in this series alone that could have used cloth waist apparel.
4 - Evil Mech - Cool minifig - I like the continuation of the Blacktron theme.
5 - Tiki Warrior - Really cool minifig. The face looks pretty good.
6 - Gingerbread man - I have to get at least one for my wife.
7 - Holiday elf - I wouldn't mind having a few of these. Time for Brick Fortress to come out with some new mini-legs.
8 - Yeti - Looks great. I need at least one. I hope that Popsicle is Trans medium blue so it glows in UV light. I still can't help but wonder how he'd have looked with a normal head and an over part like Hagrid's beard?
9 - Mountain Climber - I like the head. The rest is boring. The coil rope is nothing special. I'm sure a custom vendor will make a better piece down the road.
10 - Welder - Just a cool all around minifig. I especially like the face and helmet.
11 - Scientist - Love it. The hand color is kinda rare to me. I wish they'd have given her different hair or at least a different color.
12 - Jazz musician - Love the torso and nice to have a sax.
13 - Diner waitress - She's not all that bad. I am hoping to see someone make an appropriate MOC since I'd never get around to it.
14 - Grandma - She's ok. I wouldn't mind having just one, but I'll probably BL for her parts.
15 - Constable - Neat minifig. He's not really my thing, but still cool to see done.
16 - Lady Robot - Other than a Jettson's Moc, I don't care about this minifig.
This series has a nice assortment of pieces and parts. When you see how some of the figs go together from others series, it makes you want TLG or TLC (whichever they are calling themselves these days) to make sets around the characters. However, when seeing some of the sets they come out with, it makes me happy they just make the minifigs.
Army Building: You're doing it wrong, TLG!
Army Building is way overrated dude
Good thing we have BL and custom vendors to make up for marketing and research blunders.