Collecting Star Wars minifigs: how did you start?

[aabdguy87]

Hi, I'm new to the star wars lego world, I only have the new TFA millennium falcon and the 75094 shuttle, I was wondering if you can give me some tips on how to start collecting sw minifigs.

Obviously the most efficient way would be buying sets, but there are not really a lot of sets I like honestly, I mean from the system world, I bought those 2 I already have because being non-ucs I think they are really beautiful for displaying purposes and I wouldn't buy one set only for the minifigs. The ucs ones however are cool and I'm probably going to get the slave I ( the others are by now too expensive for me unfortunately.). Also another way would be buying some minifig from bricklink, but being so many I don't really know where to start, can you suggest some kind of order starting from the cheapest ones? Every advice you can share on the matter would be really useful. Thank you guys.

Edited February 1, 2016 by aabdguy87

[Sucram]

Make sure you get all the core characters from your favourite trilogy first.

[HawkLord]

With Star Wars you really can play the waiting game with main character minifigures. If you're patient, you'll get all the characters you're after and probably some dupes just from buying sets

The falcon was a good buy because of the main characters included and there are some other good options this year, like the Carbon Freezing Chamber for Boba Fett and Han. The trick is to just keep a list going and try for sets with the most bang for your buck. Plan the year of purchasing strategically, since Lego has shown almost everything that's coming out this year.

[jdm44]

I think the cheapest way to acquire minifigs is to buy sets and sell them on eBay without the figs. A lot of people are on the other side of the fence and just want the sets to build and don't care too much about the minifigs. I actually bought both the Falcon and Kylo's shuttle without the minifigures. You have to do some research to find out how much you'll get for each set. Some sets without minifigs like the Tie Fighter and Poe's X-Wing are worth a higher percentage of the retail cost compared to sets like Battle on Takodana. Be sure to carefully remove the minifigs from the numbered bags and tape them back up. I would also recommend selling just the bags and the instructions with no box to cut down on shipping costs. That might sound like a lot of work but I see it as part of the hobby.

[Sucram]

I think the cheapest way to acquire minifigs is to buy sets and sell them on eBay without the figs. A lot of people are on the other side of the fence and just want the sets to build and don't care too much about the minifigs. I actually bought both the Falcon and Kylo's shuttle without the minifigures. You have to do some research to find out how much you'll get for each set. Some sets without minifigs like the Tie Fighter and Poe's X-Wing are worth a higher percentage of the retail cost compared to sets like Battle on Takodana. Be sure to carefully remove the minifigs from the numbered bags and tape them back up. I would also recommend selling just the bags and the instructions with no box to cut down on shipping costs. That might sound like a lot of work but I see it as part of the hobby.

/\ Good advice.

[AndyRiley8]

You need to create yourself a list of what, or rather who you want in your collection, then find out the easiest/cheapest way to get them. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy a complete set because of the number of figures you get, and the extra bonus of the set that comes with it. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy the figures separately. The key thing here is to do your research and find out what each character will cost you. I usually stick to Bricklink and ebay for the valuations. Once you know the rough cost of each figure you want to add to your collection, the fun starts with the task of getting that figure for the price.

As advised you can get some figures cheaper by buying the set the come in, and selling the rest of the set and figures you don't want. I have managed to get a couple of 'free' figures this way.

Another good tip is to search ebay for collections of minigifs that contain some figures you want. Work out what your wanted people cost, then how much you can make by selling the rest back on ebay. Again I have managed to get a lot of figures for much less than you would pay for them by buying the set, or the individual figure on Bricklink.

Know what you want, set a price limit for each figure, then go hunting good luck!

[Robianco]

If you're in the UK you can pick up the updated Character Encyclopaedia for between £5 and £7 which includes a white prototype Boba Fett minifig so maybe go for that and get that figure with it. From there you can see which figures you want... and then make a note of any variations (such as the Jedi Luke from ROTJ having the Ewok Village and Final Duel slight differences).

You can actually pick up parts form licensed figures from Lego and Bricks and Pieces, although go through the 'Buying Pieces' part rather than the replacement or broken section. You can pick up the parts for Luke from the Final Duel for around £1.40.

Bricklink can be great but it can also be a bit overwhelming. My process can be a long one but I like it and I actually get most of my figures for very little in the process... I go through B&P from Lego and buy parts for figures that I know I can sell on eBay as well as for figures that I want. I then source any missing pieces from BrickLink with parts that I also want for new figures... this way you're building up items you can sell at the same time as getting the items you want. I then sell the figures I bought for resale on eBay and generally make a profit as well as having things that I wanted in the process. This generally helps with saving on postage etc as that can bump up the cost of orders.

As others have said eBay can be good for a listing containing a few figures as well as for some things that fly under the radar and you can pick up cheap... otherwise you'll almost certainly find things cheaper on BrickLink... just be aware of any import duty on things you buy from abroad as that can be nasty shock and wipe out any savings you make.

Also.. look out for the recent advert Calendar and make sure you pick up the next one. They have some nice figures in them too.

Be warned... I started with the 9493 X-Wing and then thought about getting the rest of the rebel pilots... which grew into all rebels... which grew into rebels and imperials... which grew into everything other than PT or Clone Wars figures...

Good luck with your collecting.

[took9]

Take care of the fakes on ebay. You can get a fake from almost eyery minifig (and set) from Ep.VII, there are also fakes from white Boba Fett...

[Captain Britain]

Agree with all of these - all great advice!

My most recent method has been buying the sets in full, removing all minifigs then reselling the sets on eBay as jdm44 described. If you're based in the UK then you can get a bit of a result when Argos do their 3 for 2! I picked up all the Age of Ultron sets and the DC sets that were out at the same time and got a few sets for free. I also second exactly what Robianco said about eBay. I've found it to be quite expensive with some items (Captain America from the Helicarrier set for example) here in the UK but on Bricklink he is cheaper by a HUGE amount. Even with shipping from the US I still saved a bunch on what he would have cost me here. You can definitely find some great deals on eBay if you keep on top of it - but definitely be careful of the fakes. Both Bricklink and eBay have been great for me to pick up the one or two missing minifigs though where I don't want the whole set/anyone else who comes with it.

The list idea is also good advice. I created a list myself on Excel (I browsed through Bricklink and got all the details I needed) and then as I get the minifig I tick them off. A nice simple way to keep track of who I have, who's on their way and who I've still got to get!

[aabdguy87]

A lot of great advices in here, thank you very much!

[Robianco]

If you see TFA figures for very low on eBay then there's a good chance they're fake. Some of them are actually very good... but they're still fake so beware of those. You're not getting a Lego Kylo Ren for £2 or so no matter how lucky you are.

You can spot other fakes pretty easily as the bootleggers have never really done a good job of the PT and OT figures. There are also an increasing amount of bootlegged Rebels sets to go with the TFA ones so look out for those too.