Although not minifigures themselves, I felt these minifigure-scale owls deserved a little bit of attention.
The molds for these owls are new, the former piece being part 40232. What really sets them apart are the prints that have been added as part of the 2010 Harry Potter lineup. There are three owl designs in all - A snowy white owl with yellow eyes and a ruffled feather pattern, a dark blueish gray owl with yellow eyes and a vertical feather pattern, and a reddish brown owl with yellow eyes and tan chest feathers.
There's nearly an owl in every 2010 LEGO Harry Potter set, save Freeing Dobby and Quidditch Practice. Early pics would also suggest that the 2011 set, Diagon Alley will feature at least two of the three owls.
Here's to hoping that these new printing techniques continue to be used to update many of the classic LEGO animal designs.
(Picture via FBTB's Flickr stream)
