REVIEW: 8683 LEGO Minifigures Series 1

[k_peek_2000]

I NEED THE ROBOT AND ZOMBIE!!!!! :D

[Omega 8]

Thanks White Fang!!

This news of the case assortmant is good I think, It's nice to know you are assured 3 full sets, I just wish there was a more randomized way of filling the box......

[Capt. Thomas Foolery]

Phenomenal review! Thanks for taking the time to so thoroughly review and share!

I can't wait till these hit the US. SO MANY MOC opportunities!

Thanks again for the generous review and enjoy those minifigs!

[jaredchan]

Thanks Whitefang for this thorough review!

I can't stop dreaming of armies of zombies and cheerleaders (dreaming only)...but they are all sold out in Hong Kong and I am still waiting for my box to arrive!

[Masked Builder]

You have definitely convinced me to get all 16 mini figures! They all look great. Thought I don't think I'll spend $120 on a full set.

Now i just have to suffer though this month...

Masked Out

[Lord Arjay]

What you said makes sense, I just "hope" your wrong.

Same for me but I feel as though my hope is being sapped away with every peice of evedince that presents itself.

Aagh I want to find 5 cheerleaders in a box not 3!

[Holodoc]

Thanks for the review WF!

I have seen all the figures myself at our event, so there wasn't too much news for me.

The percentage figures don't do it for me, because I will get certain minifigs by the codes.

I don't understand though why so many people are eager to get the complete box.

What's so cool about having 5 divers or dummies or a lot of other figures you don't really need?

I'll get the figs I want, what is going to end up in about 20 figures, paying 40€ and that's it.

These are my poll decisions:

Rate of the complete series: 4 - beacuse of the not-so-great-figs like the diver, forestman, ninja,etc. (sorry - my taste)

Is the Data & Probability Analysis helpful in your purchase?: No (see above).

[BlueBard]

Incredibly helpful and informative review, really! Thank you very much, WF!

[Peppermint_M]

Well, Whitefang, that was very useful

I will have to add my stats to yours once my box arrives (as of now it has a status of Despatched ). Thank you for this comprehensive review.

[The Cobra]

Thanks, White Fang! You did a terrific job.

I only rate this series 4/5 because I'm not totally happy with some of the faces.

As for the statistics/spoiler, that's fine with me, since I was already planning to buy a box, keep a complete series for me and sell the rest on ebay

[ZO6]

Thanks Whitefang for this incredibly in depth review! Very useful indeed

I haven't fully decided if I'll buy an entire box or not. Most likely I'll just aim for getting one of each, and then perhaps some duplicates of my favorites. These minifgures are a great move by TLC and will be the most popular thing since *insert something uber popular*.

[paanjang16]

Looks like you guys across the causeway managed to get it first.

I am glad that there is 3 complete set of the mnifigures and not a random set of minifigures in varying quantities. I used to play those collectible miniatures games like Mechwarrior Dark Age and trust me, it is extremely frustrating to spend money on an entire case (48 boosters) and NOT get the figures you want. Might as well go on eBay to get the figures I want and not buy the case from our local game shop. Little wonder Wizkids went belly up with their marketing plan.

If everything is random as it is, with the cheerleader in 1 box or less, expect the cheerleader price on Bricklink on Ebay to sky-rocket and thus killing this line. I do not think I can afford to keep buying and buying till I get the figure I want and worst still, end up with lots of zombies Already suffered that when playing a collectible miniatures game, do not want it to happen to my Lego hobby.

Now to bug our local Lego store to bring this in...

[fred67]

Thanks, very nice... nice to see the stand close up, too; if it's been shown before (close up) I've missed it. Easily replicated with a black 2x4 plate and four jumpers (or two jumpers and two tiles, which would look even nicer).

Anyway, this coincides with what I read a while back, that in any given box there'd be at least three of each, and I think that's awesome if you can get your hands on a box. I'm still skeptical; I don't know any "insiders" and too many managers of stores I've met lately give me the "we can't let you do that" attitude.

I'm doubtful, after buying a whole box, I'd even want to give or sell any... I can think of a number of great street scenes, as well as other uses... so to answer the question of why'd you want so many, the fact is, for example, divers don't normally dive alone; clowns often work in groups or at least pairs, sporting events have more than one cheerleader...

Still trying to figure out if anyone in the states is allowing pre-ordering at cost, I'd love to hear about it. The only ones I've seen had a substantial markup.

[Mofo Jones]

These look awesome! I've always wanted a bunch of different people for a MOC I've been planning in my head for a couple of years, and this would be a good way to do it!

[Ras 74]

A very, very, very good review Fangy!!

Very funny to read and a very usefull guide of all the figs.

[Rick]

Indeed, very elaborate guide to all the figs. Thanks Fangy!

[Dr Kilroy]

Hello after a long break. :)

I love the magician and his torso - beautiful tuxedo with a cummerbund.

Regards, Dr

[Joebot]

As you noticed, the bar-code on the left are meant for tracking the type of minifigure behind the bag. However, I must emphasis that going the way of scanning every other bags to get only the minifig which you want for the sole purpose of selling is not right. The bar-code are meant for quality control in terms of packing individual boxes to ensure we get the best variety instead throwing all of them together. Imagine one day, when someone scanned everything and take the good stuff away, leaving only crash dummies in there, I will be very devastated. Instead, I enjoy the process of squeezing the packet and feeling the parts in there. I know it's hard but I can assure you it's definitely achievable and this is all part of the buying sensation.

I appreciate what you're trying to say here, WhiteFang, but I think it's a hopeless cause. The scalpers and hoarders are going to scoop these things up like crazy.

And really, can you blame them? Are they doing something morally or ethically wrong?? It's just capitalism. If there's a second-hand market for these things, then there are going to be scalpers willing and able to provide them with the product. You're never going to stop it, unless people simply stop buying off the second-hand market, in which case the demand dries up, and the scalpers move onto something else.

The only real argument against scalping is "won't someone PLEASE think of the children!" and that's just not going to carry much weight, unfortunately.

The better solution is for TLC not to sell these things blind-packaged. That would solve a lot of the problems if people could simply buy the ones they want. If there are three figs that I want, I'd love to be able to walk into the store and buy those three figs. Instead, I have to guess. Or buy ten figs in the hope that I get the three that I want. Or ... cruise over to ebay and buy them from a scalper.

[gunm]

Awesome review/preview! I don't know if 1 box is a reasonable yardstick of random probability in this case, but it's interesting to note nonetheless!

I do hope ninjas really are a high chance, as I'd love a little ninja army.

A little worried I'll end up with too much of figs I'm not so interested in though (crash dummy army...meh).

[Flatfoot Thompsen]

I want these soooooooooooo much!!! When will the be available in the U.S.?!?!?

[fred67]

I appreciate what you're trying to say here, WhiteFang, but I think it's a hopeless cause. The scalpers and hoarders are going to scoop these things up like crazy.

And really, can you blame them? Are they doing something morally or ethically wrong?? It's just capitalism. If there's a second-hand market for these things, then there are going to be scalpers willing and able to provide them with the product. You're never going to stop it, unless people simply stop buying off the second-hand market, in which case the demand dries up, and the scalpers move onto something else.

The only real argument against scalping is "won't someone PLEASE think of the children!" and that's just not going to carry much weight, unfortunately.

The better solution is for TLC not to sell these things blind-packaged. That would solve a lot of the problems if people could simply buy the ones they want. If there are three figs that I want, I'd love to be able to walk into the store and buy those three figs. Instead, I have to guess. Or buy ten figs in the hope that I get the three that I want. Or ... cruise over to ebay and buy them from a scalper.

The coincidence is that, as I was commuting home today, I was thinking exactly the same things. The Chrome Vader giveaway (in the U.S. anyway) last year, for example... I guarantee you that 90% of those figures were gotten by people working at stores and friends of those people, and I was wondering "well, what should be done?"

And then the recent Chrome Stormtrooper giveaway at TRU; I wanted two but couldn't get a second one even though my wife was there and could have made a separate purchase... but I promise if I was friends with the cashier I'd have gotten as many as I (reasonably) wanted.

TLG could have put slips of paper redeemable for the figure, including a "sorry, you didn't get one" in the other boxes, which would have made the weight identical, but then they'd have the overhead of having to redeem all of these coupons, extra shipping, etc., etc., all because store employees refuse to give the general public a "fair chance."

But then I though, so what if I worked at TRU or a LEGO Store, or if I was good friends with an employee there... would I take advantage, too? And the answer is: while I wouldn't greedily grab as many as I could, I'd be down for one or two, certainly. But then if I'm an employee, and I find two cheap sets with the Vader, for example, and I set them aside for me, would I stop? No... because, if I was 20 and had other LEGO enthusiast friends, I'd likely be setting aside sets for them, too.

TLG can tell LEGO Store managers to look out for this and not let it happen, which might help... but it doesn't help when the store is TRU or WalMart or Target. If they have a problem with it, they really need to take the incentive away...

And honestly, the way to do it with these collectibles is A) Put them in a box instead of polybags, and B) Not have ANY indication on the outside of the box.

Even that wouldn't help... people open up LEGO boxes all the time. It's just really a shame, but maybe the model of having it be "fairly" random is just not tenable.

[crazylegoman]

What I'm wondering is how much is a whole box?

But those 'figs are win.

[Lord Startender]

I am wondering as well how much a whole box or how much each individual bag will be here in the US. Also will these be available in stores such as TRU, or only on Lego.com?

[jimmythefly]

I'm wondering about the license plate (with crash test dummy) and the medical chart (with nurse). Surely the number and names on those are some inside-joke at Lego? Anybody know?

[pedro]

Thanks for sharing this great review with us WhiteFang.

These new minifgs are so sexy/cute/cool! Your nice photos, appraisal and your informative analysis shows us exactly what we can expect and it won't be disappointment! I was curious as to how randomly the bags would be packed and it's nice to see there is a fair distribution in every box. I'll almost assured to pick up a box of these.