LEGO Collectable Minifigures General Discussion

[posades]

That is the exact same assortment as my box and Whitefang's box(es).

Interesting...

Not so much interesting as that's what it is for everyone.

I'll probably stop by my local TRU tomorrow and see if they have them in stock. As opposed to some others all I want is 4 or 5 figs, not the full set. Hopefully they won't mind me matching barcodes and feeling bags...

[petero]

Not so much interesting as that's what it is for everyone.

I'll probably stop by my local TRU tomorrow and see if they have them in stock. As opposed to some others all I want is 4 or 5 figs, not the full set. Hopefully they won't mind me matching barcodes and feeling bags...

My local TRU doesn't mind me matching barcodes at all. The first day, before I'd created my barcode list, I just compared them by eye. The staff wondered what I was doing, but left me alone. I explained about the barcodes, and they though it was neat.

The second morning, I came back with my list, and made another set matching the list. When I explained to the cashier that I'd scanned all the codes, matched them to the figures, and created the list, he thought I was nuts So I just told him hey, I'm an IT guy, so this is what I do for fun.

Today I noticed about a half dozen unopened boxes on the overstock shelf above the regular Lego aisle, so I could probably get a full box if I wanted to.

Peter

[Iron Moose]

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=30091

...since when does this have an axle hole on the underside? New mold?

[BrickPerfection]

It's definitely odd. Some people swear it's great quality, and others say it isn't.

I think it also depends on if you try to combine them with regular minifigs!

They certainly are of a different quality; some parts are better (more detailed, like the clown's trumpet) some are much worse (like the zombies shovel made of extremely cheap plastic)

If you however change the heads, regular production heads don't always sit tight on these torsos which is a shame, really!

Other than that it's a great idea of TLC and possibly the best in 2010 so far!

[Mac-K]

I'll probably stop by my local TRU tomorrow and see if they have them in stock. As opposed to some others all I want is 4 or 5 figs, not the full set. Hopefully they won't mind me matching barcodes and feeling bags...

My TRU put the first set out 2 days ago. Not having remembered to take a picture of the barcodes (duh ) I was, no joke, there for about 45 minutes feeling all of the bags. I don't know if every store will let you do that, but the employees at mine didn't care. Well, they cared insomuch as looking at me like I was a freak. Whatever, I got my Forestman and Cheerleader. Totally worth it.

Edited May 24, 2010 by Mac-K

[JAYMATIK]

Fortunately for me. I have 3 TRUs that are fairly close to me. 1 barely a mile away from where I live. I think, to me, the easiest to grab a bunch and look at the barcodes at home. But then again, like I said, I have 3 TRUs close to me...

[Oky]

Good news everyone! Just found Series 1 in the Lego Store in Downtown Disney, along with all the Kingdoms stuff. Check your local store, just in case they started early too!

OWK out!

[Blondie-Wan]

I just got back Sunday from a weekend visit to Orlando that included some quality time at the LEGO Store at Downtown Disney (woohoo!), and as others here have said, they told me these minifigs are due (in the LEGO Store, anyway) June 21, but I stopped by TRU after work yesterday and they were out! Huzzah! They weren't by the register or anything; they were simply hanging on pegs in the LEGO section, right alongside the leftover Christmas Creator polybags.

Think I'll go back and get more tomorrow - TRU has a nasty habit of initially selling Lego at MSRP and then jacking up the price about a week later. I have no proof that they'll do that with these collectible minifigs - I'm just sayin'...

I've noticed the exact same thing on multiple occasions, and even mentioned it yesterday to my girlfriend, before seeing this post. I naturally just spent a lot of money on LEGO at the store in Orlando, but given this observation about TRU, and also considering I don't know how long these will last in stores (or whether I'd be able to cherry-pick at stores other than TRU), I caved like a house of cards and decided to try for a complete set right there. I compared the non-UPC barcodes on bag after bag until I was sure I had found sixteen different ones, and bought them, and... one of each minifig! Success! Huzzah! I'll try to post a detailed review sometime, camera permitting...

[Lordofdragonss]

I get 3 minifigs today (yay they are in Poland now too!)

Quality is really great, its really impresive- nothing break, siringes are hard plastic...

BUT!

I found no Robot torso in Robot bag

My Cheerleader have 2 paint-spots on back of her legs.

[Blondie-Wan]

Good news everyone! Just found Series 1 in the Lego Store in Downtown Disney, along with all the Kingdoms stuff. Check your local store, just in case they started early too!

OWK out!

D'oh! I was there Saturday and Sunday, and they told me they'd get them the 21st of next month. If only they'd had them one or two days earlier, I could've gotten them there and gotten the VIP points.

Then again, going through the baggies to cherry-pick a full set would probably be much more difficult in the chaotic environment of that store than in Toys 'R' Us...

[BearHeart]

I'm going to a store in my area this afternoon that sells the minifigs individually. Will I be able to feel through the bag what figure is inside or are the bags designed in such a way that there is no way of telling?

[Oky]

D'oh! I was there Saturday and Sunday, and they told me they'd get them the 21st of next month. If only they'd had them one or two days earlier, I could've gotten them there and gotten the VIP points.

In case you can't tell by the location under my avatar, I was talking about the one in Anaheim here in California, so no reason to fee bad (though it is possible that the Orlando store has them by now too).

And yes, I imagine it pretty difficult cherry-picking the bags, even at my store. The box was right next to the cashier.

Edited May 25, 2010 by Oky Wan Kenobi

[FinalFeature]

I went to the Lego store yesterday and they had 3 boxes. They limited it to 5 per a customer. I spent about half an hour checking the figures with barcodes and feeling the bags. To me the figures look like great quality. Going back to the store today to get more.

LegoGalactus

[escortmad79]

I'm going to a store in my area this afternoon that sells the minifigs individually. Will I be able to feel through the bag what figure is inside or are the bags designed in such a way that there is no way of telling?

The bags are quite rigid.

[Blondie-Wan]

I'm going to a store in my area this afternoon that sells the minifigs individually. Will I be able to feel through the bag what figure is inside or are the bags designed in such a way that there is no way of telling?

For some accessories it may be possible to make good guesses sometimes, but on the whole it's not a remotely reliable way to tell; the material the bags are made from is quite tough and a little less flexible than the usual LEGO polybag, as well as being completely opaque. Honestly, I think you'd have a better chance of figuring out what minifigs are in what bags by weighing them than by feeling them, if that gives you an idea.

However, judging from my experience yesterday they do indeed have unique barcodes on the back, so it is entirely possible to figure out which figure a bag contains simply by looking at the barcode, provided you know what the barcode for each figure looks like. And if you're not trying to get only specific figures but just want to complete a set, you don't even need to know that much - you can just compare bags against one another until you've found sixteen different barcodes, and you'll get one of each, as I did yesterday.

:)

Edited May 25, 2010 by Blondie-Wan

[posades]

Well, my local TRU didn't have the minifigs, though they did have the new Kingdoms line. For anyone who has purchased them at an American TRU, where were they located?

And I'm sure this has been answered before somewhere, but the selling price for these is $1.99 USD correct?

[Blondie-Wan]

In case you can't tell by the location under my avatar, I was talking about the one in Anaheim here in California, so no reason to fee bad (though it is possible that the Orlando store has them by now too).

Ah, Ok, thanks. Still, though, it seems as though a bunch of US stores all simultaneously got them in just the last couple days, so I wouldn't be surprised...

And yes, I imagine it pretty difficult cherry-picking the bags, even at my store. The box was right next to the cashier.

At the Orlando store I think it wouldn't be particularly practical - not because the staff would necessarily try to stop you or anything like that (they all seem very happy to help people out, in fact), but just because the store is so incredibly busy; at least, it has been each of the few times I've been there. The place seems to always be packed, with hordes of children, their parents, AFOLs, you name it, all making noise and bumping into each other and picking stuff up and marveling at all the merchandise and so on. I get the impression that if one tried to pick out a set of minifigs, half the bags would get accidentally moved around, picked up and carried off by other shoppers and so on before one could finish. It would probably be easier if one were simply looking for certain figures, though, assuming one had copies of the particular barcodes one needed, or were using something to read them like the iPhone application some have talked about...

[not-in-use-anymore]

The bags are quite rigid.

Can anyone tell me how hard it is to find a peice?(For example: a top hat can't be felt through, but a skateboard can)

[crazyjay]

Well, my local TRU didn't have the minifigs, though they did have the new Kingdoms line. For anyone who has purchased them at an American TRU, where were they located?

And I'm sure this has been answered before somewhere, but the selling price for these is $1.99 USD correct?

I found the minifig single packs up in the front buy the registers. They were with a small single shelf lego setup. 2 Boxes of the minifigs and some of the kindoms impulse asst. As well as some of the unsold pirates sets.

[Blondie-Wan]

Well, my local TRU didn't have the minifigs, though they did have the new Kingdoms line. For anyone who has purchased them at an American TRU, where were they located?

I imagine different stores will all have their own way of displaying / offering these minifigs, but for what it's worth the LEGO aisle at my TRU has a pegboard over the shelves at one end, which they use for anything LEGO-related that comes in packaging that can be hung on pegs - the small Creator polybags offered at Christmas, the Santa magnets, the LEGO-licensed walkie talkies and MP3 players, etc. The minifig bags are on some of those pegs in the main LEGO section, not up by the registers or anything like that (at least, not unless they've put them in more than one location; I didn't see any up front when I went to make my purchase, at any rate).

And I'm sure this has been answered before somewhere, but the selling price for these is $1.99 USD correct?

Correct. Of course, as we've already mentioned, TRU seems to frequently offer new LEGO products at the standard MSRP for a few days or so and then jack the price up, so it's quite possible that TRU will sell them for $2.49 or $2.99 or more in a week or so, but for the moment they're $1.99, which is the official MSRP.

Can anyone tell me how hard it is to find a peice?(For example: a top hat can't be felt through, but a skateboard can)

I'd say it's pretty hard - maybe not impossible for some of the accessories, but definitely tough. Note also that some of the accessories are similar for more than one figure (both the forestman and the Native American hunter come with both a bow and a quiver, for example), and some of the accessories are quite small (the syringe, the feathers, the robot's claw hand, etc.). On the whole, it's just way easier to go by the barcodes.

The luchador's cape deserves a special word of caution here, incidentally - it's a thin piece of fabric, after all, and unlike the capes in many regular sets it doesn't come in its own little box, but is instead just floating around loose in the baggie along with everything else. It's therefore essentially impossible to feel at all through the bag. One could very easily wind up accidentally cutting right through the cape when cutting the bag open. Ideally, one could just tear the baggies open to avoid this, but they're really too tough - you pretty much have to cut them open. I suggest that before cutting the baggie, you grab it by the seal where you want to cut it and shake it first, like shaking a restaurant packet of pepper or sugar, to get the cape away from the end you're going to cut.

Edited May 25, 2010 by Blondie-Wan

[not-in-use-anymore]

I wanted to see how hard it was for myself by putting bricks in a bag and seeing if I could feel them, can you tell me(with parts not from the figs) what type of parts are easy, medium and hard to find?

[Dunjohn]

I have three sealed packs beside me, I haven't opened them because I know (from the barcodes) that they contain a cowboy and two dummies and I don't particularly need those right now. And it's really hard to tell which one is the cowboy.

It's not just the packaging that's the problem. That's made of thick, metallic plastic. Think of those big bags of jelly sweets (Do they sell Haribo worldwide?) and imagine something slightly more rigid and completely opaque. Then, each pack contains a folded paper slip listing all the minifigs, and that makes it very difficult to feel through to the parts.

It is possible to try and jam an accessory down in one of the corners and feel what it is. I've managed to find the cowboy by isolating his gun down there, but it could be easy to mistake for a syringe. The Cheerleader's pom-pom could easily be mistaken for a hairpiece, if you could even get something that big away from the paper. You could probably spend five minutes per pack doing it this way, but it's not impossible.

[tiggerkiddo]

Well, my local TRU didn't have the minifigs, though they did have the new Kingdoms line. For anyone who has purchased them at an American TRU, where were they located?

And I'm sure this has been answered before somewhere, but the selling price for these is $1.99 USD correct?

I'm way out here in CO and they're available here. Kind of wish the Lego store had them because I want the VIP points...

Also too was a bit shocked at the packaging. I too wanted to try to feel test but they're too sturdy for my patience.

[Maegnus]

For the record, the touch and feel method is extremely reliable. I spent a half hour in Wal-Mart with two friends feeling/guessing, and we ended up being 21/21. Yup, PERFECT. They aren't even lego fans in any way, and were able to figure them out by touch.

It was actually a ton of fun, three twenty-somethings standing in the lego aisle feeling up bags. We did get one "you guys aren't opening those, are you?" question from a semi-concerned employee, but that was all.

It's very rewarding and a lot of fun this way! My friends had a blast building the minifigs in the car after.

[jonwil]

I used the "feel the bag" trick today and got 4 for 4 (nurse, astronaut, skater, diver)

Now I have a co-pilot/gunner for my new space fighter MOC :)