To Minifig, or not to Minifig...

[k_peek_2000]

Something I have found out over my recent rediscovered passion for legos and all these fan sites, is that there are alot of fans who buy set's just for the minifigs. I have been able to get alot of really great sets for insanely cheap prices just merely because they didn't have the minifigs, so here is my question. Do you buy lego sets just for the minifigs to collect them or do you not really care for them like me?

[UserNameInvalid]

Minifigs are good.

I like them and have a weakness for them.

Having a minifig in the set is not an absolute must though.

Usually a minifig does complete the set I think.

The sets I would buy are either because of the design, the parts (space skulls) or the minifigs.

[Raven Brickroft]

I love minifigs.

I remember when I was young that I hated playing with JUST bricks.

Just like basil and tomato, I like them when they're together or when they're on their own.

I like acquiring minifigs but most of the time it's not the sole reason why I would buy a set.

[Jipay]

Except from the really great sets (ie green grocer), I'm mainly buying sets for the minfigs and minifig accessories.

[DarthSion]

I only collect star wars, and i don't care, i want every set, minis do play a small part which one i will buy next, but like i said i will get them all eventually.

For the most part i just buy what ever is in stock when the shops have 15 or 20% off, with the exception of the rouge shadow, which i got because of Starkiller, and the ISD because its just awesome.

[Sandy]

Minifigs are an essential part of my LEGO hobby, and I certainly wouldn't buy a used set that would normally come with minifigs without them. Building is fun, but I guess I'm still stuck on playing with dolls on some level, since I don't build anything without minifigs.

k_peek_2000, if you want to, I'm more than happy to take all of your pesky minifigs to my care. I'll even pay the shipping.

[Saint]

Yes, minofigs are a great part of my hobby... I collect SW-figs as much as possible .. Some of them are quite rare, but mostly,

I collect them because their cool !

Another part is that I collect Blacktron 1 figs... that said and done, I want them all with differend heads ! So I've got around a 400 Blacktronians and some 100-120 differend heads stuck on them.

Al nicely placed on a display ... one for SW-figs, one for Blacktronians ... and a large tub for the rest.

[Peppermint_M]

A bit of both. I'm not much of a fan of the creator and mini racers, most likely because they don't have minifigs but then again I do get fed up of my multiple character figures. The way I decide what to buy next is a: Do I have this minifig already? or b: Do I need the parts? So I have plenty of Exo-Force Lego because I wanted the parts and the minifigs came as an extra bonus but then I bought the Power Miners under £10 sets purely for Rock Monsters and the minifig parts.

On ebay I bought a pile of Insectiod minifigs but I won't buy a set with missing figures.

I have lots of minifigures and until recently I had them all assembled but changed my mind and now I am in the process of sorting them into head, torso,legs and accessories to make my own customs and all except my favourite figures (the best of the Exo-Force figures and all my alpha team and agents figures) are staying in one piece.

[legotrainfan]

To minifig or not to minifig.......... are you sure you quoted Shakespeare's Hamlet correctly?!

I don't care so much about the minifigs. I usually look at the set as a whole. So I also like the Creator sets even though they would need one or two minifigs. But having hardly any minifigs in other sets would be bad indeed! I don't want my LEGO city to be underpopulated.

[Eilif]

I don't buy sets just for the minifigs, but they are a huge part of the equation. There are a number of sets that I wasn't sure about, but the minifigs tipped the balance. I don't sell off the parts though, as you never know when you will need them.

Also, I like to use original and mix and match figs in my displays. Thus quite often, I will buy a set that I already have if I see it on-sale and the minifig parts are useful ones.

I'm also with Jipay, in that I think that minifig accessories are essential to a realistic display, and can definitely be a large factor in set selection.

[Erdbeereis]

Like most have said, they play a large role in whether I like a certain set.

For example, I thought the Agents Turbocar Chase was a pretty nice set, especially for pieces, but I already had at least one of each of the minifigs included so I decided against it. I feel that unless a set has at least 1 minifig that I don't have, it's hard to pick it over something else.

That being said, if a set has great pieces for MOCing, even if it doesn't have the best minifigs I'll still love it.

Overall, they definitely matter to me.

[blueandwhite]

Depends on the set.

I certainly won't purchase a $60+ set simply to nab a couple of must-have minifigs. If anything, I'm more interested in the parts selection. A good minifig is a great finishing touch to a masterful MOC, but the bricks are where it's really at. A perfect set (Market Village) has an essential combination of excellent figs and amazing parts at a good price.

[Ricecracker]

I'm pretty much with Eilif on this one. I go for sets that have good parts to MOC with, and if they have great Minifigures, then that's a bonus. On the other hand, a set like Shanghai Chase was bought mainly for the Minifigs, though there were some useful parts. Also, MF accessories are essential to a good setup (IMO), and they can also be a deciding factor on a set.

[Athos]

I tend to stick mostly to sets with minifigures in them. Though I've made exceptions for the creator houses. Sometimes I'll buy a set just for the figures, assuming its not too expensive (less than $20). I've got enough bricks to build almost anything I could want. So when I buy sets, I'm mostly looking for either a really good model (green grocer) new parts or old parts in new colors or a particularly liked theme (castle, pirates).

Steve

[CP5670]

Minifigs are cool, but they aren't the main attraction in most sets for me. I often buy minifig packs or standalone minifigs off Bricklink to populate my models, but see them as a part of the models and not things to collect in themselves. I'm also big into large scale themes like Technic and Creator, which don't use minifigs.

I have been able to get alot of really great sets for insanely cheap prices just merely because they didn't have the minifigs, so here is my question.

Yes, I've been in the same situation once or twice. I got a brand new Aquashark 6190 last summer for very cheap off ebay because the captain fig had been shoplifted and was missing.

Edited April 11, 2009 by CP5670

[Algernon]

This is very much a case-by-case basis for me. I have, in the past, picked up cheap ($10 and under) sets just for the figs and parts if they catch my eye. However, if I'm going to buy something more than twenty bucks, I have to have some kind of motivation besides the figs. I can always get them cheaper on BL and forget the set.

[Eskallon]

Well I think the minifig just specs up a set. I will always prefer to have the minifig but they are not completely essential for me if the set is good. I would buy a set if the set is ok but the figs are awsome but I don't like buying a set that is terrible but has great figs. The only time I would go back on this is where the set is either very small or very cheap. Anyway if i really want some figs I can almost always find them on bricklink or ebay. Though I am normally tempted to get a set if it has good figs I always know whether I will really enjoy thebuild which for me is a main part of the set.

[k_peek_2000]

k_peek_2000, if you want to, I'm more than happy to take all of your pesky minifigs to my care. I'll even pay the shipping.

Do you like Space Skulls?

[Ricecracker]

Do you like Space Skulls?

I'll take care of them.

[mania3]

Invariably, I buy nearly every set in every theme. But the sequence in which I buy them I find to be greatly influenced by what minifigures are inside the set. In fact, I think it is the most enjoyable part of the building process when you get all of your figure pieces together and get to assemble and examine the figures. These enjoyment is exacerbated in Star Wars sets as you really have to hunt for the minifigure components. So I don't really buy just for the figures, but they are absolutely one of my favorite parts of collecting LEGO.

[Cavannus]

About old sets:

If the overall price is correct, I will buy the set with its original minifigs; otherwise it is a better deal to buy them separately on BL.

For me the minifigs are important in the old Castle sets (i.e. 375-383-677) because they include their own; other themes use more standard minifigs so that you can find them separately.

About recent sets:

I don't pay attention on minifigs, I prefer considering the overall set design. If I'd love a minifig but not the set, I think I could buy it on BL for a couple of bucks, if it doesn't exist in a dedicated set or through PaB (for instance I bought the Castle Battle Pack because I liked the new soldiers, and I will buy the classic spaceman torso at PaB).

[MarcusV3]

I usually buy sets for all types of reasons I might buy them for minifigs, parts, or just me liking the set. Sometimes a set with good parts will have good minifigs too, but sometimes a set that I like will have horrible minifigs. Usually minifigs don't make or brake the set but they're always good to have.

[Zorbas]

I think that minifigs play a big role in a set. For me though it's not the crucial factor to make me buy a set. The only note here is that i'm only refering to the themes that i collect (City-Pirates). So, when it comes to City (mainly) and Pirates the decision is not based on the minifigs.

The only time i'm willing to buy a set just for the minifigs is when i see a cheap set from another theme that has some interesting little yellow people in it.

For example, I've bought the Dwarves' Mine Defender and the three castle impulse sets (5614-5615-5618) just for the minifigs because i wanted to have some new castle minifigs and also, i was a bit curious on how they look.

[gravysam]

lego would not be the same without minifigs.

but i build star wars armys but also love building mocs so for me its definatly 50/50 (apart from battle packs ect.)

[Oky]

I'd say it's 50/50 for me too. Even though minifigs are a big factor for me in the decision to buy a set or not (especially for SW sets), it's also important to me how well the set is designed and how useful its parts are.