LEGO Collectable Minifigures General Discussion

[Delta 38]

Has anyone noticed the printed arms on some of the minifigs, such as the mime?

This may mean we'll see the return of printed arms! Or maybe printed arms are exclusive to this collection.

[RileyC]

Has anyone noticed the printed arms on some of the minifigs, such as the mime?

This may mean we'll see the return of printed arms! Or maybe printed arms are exclusive to this collection.

Oh wow I didnt notice that. It looks great and I would love for lego to bring back arm printing in some cases. I wouldnt want them to go crazy with it but for things like this would be nice to do.

[Sammael]

With just a few months until release, do we know for sure whether minifig parts are randomized or not?

[Cutty]

It was revealed through people on other sites (I guess on 1000steine.de someone received two unopened packages early, containing the zombie and gunslinger in a complete fashion!) that the figures are NOT randomised. Period.

While reading through this discussion I hardly found that rumour to hold any kind of potentiality in it, ever. Whoever set up that information was either badly misinformed or misunderstood what he was told entirely. And please, do NOT try to come up with what you believe to be arguments in favour of randomised parts. I did read through this all and found not a single sound one.

Be well all,

Cutty

Edited February 19, 2010 by Cutty

[BigDumbWookiee]

It was revealed through people on other sites (I guess on 1000steine.de someone received two unopened packages early, containing the zombie and gunslinger in a complete fashion!) that the figures are NOT randomised. Period.

While reading through this discussion I hardly found that rumour to hold any kind of potentiality in it, ever. Whoever set up that information was either badly misinformed or misunderstood what he was told entirely. And please, do NOT try to come up with what you believe to be arguments in favour of randomised parts. I did read through this all and found not a single sound one.

Be well all,

Cutty

So are you saying the parts are definitely not randomised, or both the parts and the figures themselves are definitely not randomized? First you said the figures are not randomised, but then you mentioned randomised parts so I wasn't sure which...

i.e.:

Case 1: You open a pack, it contains one complete mini figure with all its correct accessories, but before you opened the pack you didnt know which figure you were getting

Case 2: You open a pack, it contains one complete mini figure with all its correct accessories, and you knew beforehand which figure you were opening because the package was marked

[Rick]

Case 1. Case closed

[Cutty]

Okay for clarification:

The figures inside the blind-packaging are random, as in: you won't be able to tell by sight, feel aso. what exact figure you will get. The packages are supposedly flexible yet sturdy enough to prevent parts detection by feeling.

Mentioned figure however WILL BE a complete figure, one of the 16 of those featured on the display box, the shown artwork etc.

Everything else wouldn't even make sense, because showing complete figs for blind-packaged random parts could be viewed as false advertising.

Speaking of which: I hardly feel this line will be that breakthrough everyone hopes it to be. Why? From what I read at other fora, those people with vitamin B, connections to retailers etc. are already trying to monopolize on entire displays, which are, by information from german 1000steine forum, SCARCE (!). It has ALSO been mentioned their ARE definitely different levels of rarity of the figures in either line, example: the diver might be way more common than, say, the cheerleader.

What does that lead us to? Most people won't probably see them in smaller stores, but prices for those cool figures will skyrocket on the secondary market in a heartbeat. I guess Lego will indeed generate a mighty stream of income, yet the real fortunes go to those shady characters who get to sell them out-of-the-box on BL or Ebay...

I did not make this up folks, it's just every snippet of info I could get combined. And though, I still HOPE I am WRONG on the last paragraph's forthcoming.

Greetings,

Cutty

Edited February 19, 2010 by Cutty

[angel1802]

Has anyone noticed the printed arms on some of the minifigs, such as the mime?

This may mean we'll see the return of printed arms! Or maybe printed arms are exclusive to this collection.

Except the Mime i don't see any other one

[Fugazi]

Speaking of which: I hardly feel this line will be that breakthrough everyone hopes it to be. Why? From what I read at other fora, those people with vitamin B, connections to retailers etc. are already trying to monopolize on entire displays, which are, by information from german 1000steine forum, SCARCE (!). It has ALSO been mentioned their ARE definitely different levels of rarity of the figures in either line, example: the diver might be way more common than, say, the cheerleader.

What does that lead us to? Most people won't probably see them in smaller stores, but prices for those cool figures will skyrocket on the secondary market in a heartbeat. I guess Lego will indeed generate a mighty stream of income, yet the real fortunes go to those shady characters who get to sell them out-of-the-box on BL or Ebay...

It all depends on the total production figures. As this is a kind of pilot experiment, and TLC may not know what kind of sales to expect, the initial production levels may be low, and could disappear from the retailers quite fast -- with the consequence of reaching horrendous Bricklink prices. However, if TLC are confident and production levels are high, then maybe there will be a balance between offer and demand, and everyone interested in gambling will be able to get the minifigs from retailers at MSRP without having to resort to buying them on BL or eBay.

Also keeping in mind the quality issue which is still largely unknown, and will affect demand as well, I think it's very hard to tell how this will all turn out.

[vexorian]

Okay for clarification:

The figures inside the blind-packaging are random, as in: you won't be able to tell by sight, feel aso. what exact figure you will get. The packages are supposedly flexible yet sturdy enough to prevent parts detection by feeling.

Mentioned figure however WILL BE a complete figure, one of the 16 of those featured on the display box, the shown artwork etc.

Everything else wouldn't even make sense, because showing complete figs for blind-packaged random parts could be viewed as false advertising.

Speaking of which: I hardly feel this line will be that breakthrough everyone hopes it to be. Why? From what I read at other fora, those people with vitamin B, connections to retailers etc. are already trying to monopolize on entire displays, which are, by information from german 1000steine forum, SCARCE (!). It has ALSO been mentioned their ARE definitely different levels of rarity of the figures in either line, example: the diver might be way more common than, say, the cheerleader.

What does that lead us to? Most people won't probably see them in smaller stores, but prices for those cool figures will skyrocket on the secondary market in a heartbeat. I guess Lego will indeed generate a mighty stream of income, yet the real fortunes go to those shady characters who get to sell them out-of-the-box on BL or Ebay...

I did not make this up folks, it's just every snippet of info I could get combined. And though, I still HOPE I am WRONG on the last paragraph's forthcoming.

Greetings,

Cutty

It would definitely be a great success for LEGO if your predictions go true. As for this being a success for resellers as well that's exactly how collectibles work in general. I doubt so many people will monopolize whole boxes. A whole box of 60 fix costs 120 bucks and there are much better LEGO things an AFOL can get for that price.

[Cutty]

It all depends on the total production figures. As this is a kind of pilot experiment, and TLC may not know what kind of sales to expect, the initial production levels may be low, and could disappear from the retailers quite fast -- with the consequence of reaching horrendous Bricklink prices. However, if TLC are confident and production levels are high, then maybe there will be a balance between offer and demand, and everyone interested in gambling will be able to get the minifigs from retailers at MSRP without having to resort to buying them on BL or eBay.

Also keeping in mind the quality issue which is still largely unknown, and will affect demand as well, I think it's very hard to tell how this will all turn out.

I do not think TLC would launch such a line without exerting a serious amount of intelligence in the marketing-concept they're trying to run with. Designing such a thing around the iconic minifigure in the first place shouts "We KNOW the demand is high!". I strongly believe the scarcity of displays IS deliberately manufactured and known to TLC. Why would they satisfy a market they, most likely, plan on milking subsequently with ever more collectible lines, if the first one generates enough profit?

Be well,

Cutty

[Fugazi]

I do not think TLC would launch such a line without exerting a serious amount of intelligence in the marketing-concept they're trying to run with. Designing such a thing around the iconic minifigure in the first place shouts "We KNOW the demand is high!". I strongly believe the scarcity of displays IS deliberately manufactured and known to TLC. Why would they satisfy a market they, most likely, plan on milking subsequently with ever more collectible lines, if the first one generates enough profit?

Be well,

Cutty

I'm sure they have studied the case extensively, but there are always unknowns. And obviously TLC will only derive profits from the fixed price of the retailer sales, not from Bricklink or eBay. So since this is a limited run, if they can't satisfy demand their profits will simply be lower than if they do. Of course the next waves will be as (or more) succesful, but it's still the same problem.

[vexorian]

I'm sure they have studied the case extensively, but there are always unknowns. And obviously TLC will only derive profits from the fixed price of the retailer sales, not from Bricklink or eBay. So since this is a limited run, if they can't satisfy demand their profits will simply be lower than if they do. Of course the next waves will be as (or more) succesful, but it's still the same problem.

But you miss that there are going to be multiple series on it. If series 1 reaches crazy prices on BL it will be free marketing for series 2 and can only be good for LEGO.

[Joebot]

I do not think TLC would launch such a line without exerting a serious amount of intelligence in the marketing-concept they're trying to run with.

I see your point, but I think you're giving TLC's Marketing department WAY too much credit. After all, these are the same geniuses who implemented the grey / bley color changes, completely oblivious to the havoc they were causing.

It's a tricky line to walk with a "collectible," as opposed to a mass market toy. A collectible (which is what they seem to be going for with these new mini-figs) must have some level of scarcity in order to drive up demand and buzz. If piles of the things are available in every Target and Walgreens in the world, they would saturate the market, and the product would languish on the shelves. There'd be no secondary market demand, because everyone could easily find what they wanted at retail. On the flip side, if you make them TOO scarce, then TLC doesn't sell enough to cover their manufacturing costs (which must be pretty steep given all the new parts and prints). The secondary market would flourish, but TLC doesn't see a dime of that.

Should be interesting to see how it plays out!

[Delta 38]

Except the Mime i don't see any other one

Hmm, you might be right. I thought the disco minifig may have had printed arms, but I think the angle of the photo confused me.

So the pieces aren't randomised (the pieces inside the bag)? That's really helpful. It'll be disappointing to miss out on minifigs simply because other parts were more common.

Does anyone know if the pieces are pre-assembled?

[vexorian]

Hmm, you might be right. I thought the disco minifig may have had printed arms, but I think the angle of the photo confused me.

So the pieces aren't randomised (the pieces inside the bag)? That's really helpful. It'll be disappointing to miss out on minifigs simply because other parts were more common.

Does anyone know if the pieces are pre-assembled?

At least series 1 figs don't come pre-assembled, and there is a sort of "instructions" piece of paper that has enough info to build any of the figs in the series. There is a pic of it in one of the many brickshelf galleries we found yet that had pics of these guys.

[JimBee]

It was revealed through people on other sites (I guess on 1000steine.de someone received two unopened packages early, containing the zombie and gunslinger in a complete fashion!) that the figures are NOT randomised. Period.

While reading through this discussion I hardly found that rumour to hold any kind of potentiality in it, ever. Whoever set up that information was either badly misinformed or misunderstood what he was told entirely. And please, do NOT try to come up with what you believe to be arguments in favour of randomised parts. I did read through this all and found not a single sound one.

No one was making up facts or stating any. They were all just speculation, and I don't remember anyone saying that they were for sure randomized.

Everything else wouldn't even make sense, because showing complete figs for blind-packaged random parts could be viewed as false advertising.

Speaking of which: I hardly feel this line will be that breakthrough everyone hopes it to be. Why? From what I read at other fora, those people with vitamin B, connections to retailers etc. are already trying to monopolize on entire displays, which are, by information from german 1000steine forum, SCARCE (!). It has ALSO been mentioned their ARE definitely different levels of rarity of the figures in either line, example: the diver might be way more common than, say, the cheerleader.

What does that lead us to? Most people won't probably see them in smaller stores, but prices for those cool figures will skyrocket on the secondary market in a heartbeat. I guess Lego will indeed generate a mighty stream of income, yet the real fortunes go to those shady characters who get to sell them out-of-the-box on BL or Ebay...

Scarce? That's a shame, but what would the point be to make all of the new molds and prints just to have them not be widely available? I'm pretty sure the giant retailers like Toys R Us, Target, etc. will keep stock of these sets, even if they get cleared out quickly.

And you can bet on the fact that the online sellers will hoard these on the day of their release and sell them for exponential amounts. Not that that's anything new, we see this every time a new a set comes out. I don't think they're "shady", though, because it's perfectly legal to do something like that. If I can't get these as soon as they're released, I'll just sit back and wait for the hype to die down, and check for availability when I can.

Good luck to anyone who's buying these off of BL.

[MrTools]

I may use the heads, but depending on the quality i may buy a shelf to put them on for display. I think they would look nice in a display case. Either way am going to get the weather i buy them myself or get them as gifts (no doubt)

[Piranha]

So as I read along there are 2 things, one the figs come in a bag that you do not know what it contains. Well I already knew that

2nd the figs won't be easy to find in all stores? Is this so or did I misread?

Because that would be a shame, there is only 1 store I can find impulses at where I live and there selection is about 2

[vexorian]

So as I read along there are 2 things, one the figs come in a bag that you do not know what it contains. Well I already knew that

2nd the figs won't be easy to find in all stores? Is this so or did I misread?

Because that would be a shame, there is only 1 store I can find impulses at where I live and there selection is about 2

The whole scarcity thing has not been upgraded from "rumor" yet. I really doubt it. I bet that at least S@H and LEGO stores will have lots of them. (Where lots should just be read as enough) I can also picture bags being given away at events and promotions.

Remember, they are using the China factory, they are seriously mass producing here.

[prateek]

The whole scarcity thing has not been upgraded from "rumor" yet. I really doubt it. I bet that at least S@H and LEGO stores will have lots of them. (Where lots should just be read as enough) I can also picture bags being given away at events and promotions.

Remember, they are using the China factory, they are seriously mass producing here.

They might not even sell these on S@H, considering they are like trading cards, so to speak, found at convenience stores.

[vexorian]

They might not even sell these on S@H, considering they are like trading cards, so to speak, found at convenience stores.

Well, it would be a mistake for LEGO not to include them at S@H and I doubt they would not . They are in the middle between trading cards and impulse sets.. I actually think most people will just get one or three bags on each S@h order they make. They are like the super-impulse.

Edited February 20, 2010 by vexorian

[NorthernKnight]

Good luck to anyone who's buying these off of BL.

BL prices will probably depend on how rare they are and how much people like them. The "duds" will no doubt be very cheap. I for one like the crash test dummy which seems to be one of those that few people like. I hope to buy a lot of them really cheap to be able to build a moc called "Car crash town"

[Omicron]

They might not even sell these on S@H, considering they are like trading cards, so to speak, found at convenience stores.

They could as a full box set.

-Omi

[Blackheart Brit]

So, last night I popped into my local LEGO store and had an interesting conversation with the worker there and he had an unusual insight into these little minifigs. He said and was pretty confident that these are not only randomly packed but each pack will also be random. Meaning every bag will have a head, torso, legs and accessory but which will be totally random. So to get that Spartan you might have to buy 50 packs to get the pieces you need. At first I was shocked and appallled, after all I just want buy the ones I want and be done, but now I will have to buy a lot to get the few pieces I need. After getting over it, he and I got to thinking how it makes Kids(you know their real market) and AFOLs talk to other people and trade around pieces, you know be a little social or spend a bazillion bucks. So I can't just feel the package and get the one complete figure, we will probably end up with a forum set up just fro trading segments around.

He could be wrong, but he was pretty sure he was right.

I did not read all 62 pages of this topic so if this has been stated already, oh well.

Edited February 25, 2010 by Blackheart Brit