Surging minifig popularity?

[Carbohydrates]

I love figs! LEGO is such a terrific building medium that I love seeing other characters and things I enjoy immortalized in brick form. Half the fun of building something cool is occupying it with the appropriate figs. Some of them I just have for the sake of having, like the Joker, which I got from a set years back. I wouldn't pay the current asking price of $40 to have it, but I'm not gonna sell it now that I do, either! I'm glad I don't care about Star Wars or I would be very broke chasing down chrome plated this and exclusive that. Oh, and I have 5 sets of the series 1 collectible figs. Love 'em.

[vexorian]

Really?! Do you honestly think TLG would have started selling battle packs, vintage minifigure collections, collectable minifigs, build-a-minifig packs in their own stores, magnets with detachable minifigs or even the chess sets if there hadn't been a real demand for getting just minifigs? Because all these products started appearing only about five or less years ago, and to me, at least, they prove that as the variety and details in them have grown, minifigs have become increasingly popular.

I think "battle packs" were around since long ago. At least I can tell I've seen space sets with only 5 minifigs ever since futuron days.

[JRBricks]

I voted for the brick - even though it's probably the least popular I voted for it since my favorite is building sculptures, busts, etc.

[Sandy]

I think "battle packs" were around since long ago. At least I can tell I've seen space sets with only 5 minifigs ever since futuron days.

Those minifig sets weren't called battle packs, though, and they were pretty much the only way to get just minifigs back then.

[Dunjohn]

When I first started checking out the online AFOL community about a year ago, I was very surprised at the attention most people give to minifigs. I wasn't too bothered by them myself, my focus was entirely on what I could build with bricks and I'd assumed that that would be the norm. I am starting to see the appeal, though, and the Collectible Minifigs honed right in on my strong collector instinct that has, up to now, mainly been fed by Magic: the Gathering cards. I still pay much more attention to the brick content and display aesthetics of sets, but I no longer store my minifigs in a ziplock bag.

[Toth]

I have to admit that lately, I buy mainly sets for the minis.

When i was young, Minis were really similar from one set to the other. Remember the Blacktrons. Only 1 type for all the sets, same with M-tron... or the forestmen. only 3 types of torsos and 2 hat colors for all the sets. At this time, I was buying a set only for a new building.

But lately, look at those aliens from Space Police!!! it's giving heat in the head! So much cool characters. So much creativity!!! and the Castle fantasy line!!!

I think Lately, Lego is much more creative with the minis than with the buildings.

For exemple with "Kingdoms", it's the come back of the main big classic castle, then the little tower and then the carriage and to finish a little catapult.

For an old Lego buyer like me, I feel like I saw those sets again and again since the crusaders.

I understand Lego can't do something else than those sets as they are what kids are looking for, but for me, except the new minis with new hats and new prints, those sets don't have so much interest. 1 more castle...mmh.

Maybe Lego needs to do a set for AFOLs in each new theme. something never seen before like a medieval port or a medieval fortified farm.

A set like Medieval Village is interesting for both buldings and minis for exemple!

in the castle fantasy line, a lot of sets were interesting too like the dwarves'mines! :)

I think it's the main reason I collect Lego more for Minis lately.

[Cutty]

Really?! Do you honestly think TLG would have started selling battle packs, vintage minifigure collections, collectable minifigs, build-a-minifig packs in their own stores, magnets with detachable minifigs or even the chess sets if there hadn't been a real demand for getting just minifigs? Because all these products started appearing only about five or less years ago, and to me, at least, they prove that as the variety and details in them have grown, minifigs have become increasingly popular.

In fact I do not see any "surge" quality or a special increased demand. The lack of accessibility to individual minifigs appears to me as a shortcoming on TLC, which is based on underestimation regarding the 'figs overall popularity. I did however state that in paraphrase in my first post here...

[ZO6]

Very topic. There are certainly a lot of interesting points that cover a lot of different angles. I don't really have a lot new to bring to the table, but these are my thoughts anyways.

When I was younger, minifigures were much less important to me. Sure I had my favorite figs picked out in my collection, but at that time it was all about the sets themselves. I'd swoosh anything swooshable, drive anything with wheels, put bases into action - it didn't really matter if there were figs present or not, I just had a blast playing with the models anyways. It was always a bonus to have cool minifigures to populate everything, but my focus wasn't on them. It was as if all the vehicles and structures had lives and personalities of their own.

As years passed and I grew older, the minifigures also became more detailed and visually appealing. Lots of the figs got individual names and even stories behind their characters. As this happened, minifigures started to become a more important factor in a set. Though I still don't let minifigures dictate what sets I do or don't buy most of the time, their charm is undeniable and it is harder and harder to resist them.

I also think I know why minifigs have increased in popularity: they've become more and more detailed, varied and complex. They're not just a smiley face on a monochromatic torso and legs, now we have dwarves and aliens and children and cheerleaders, and with a little mix'n'matching and customizing, you can have just about any person, character or creature you want. There's just so much more to get enthusiastic about with minifigs nowadays.

Kids (and people in general) are much more drawn towards something or someone they can relate to. Though minifigures have always played a key role in the popularity of Lego, these modern hyper-detailed figs are just so much more appealing to many. One has so many customization options for their fig that they are bound to find something that they like.

I like minifigs, but I basically collect them for the purpose of populating my models. They are an important part of the models, but they aren't the main focus for me and would be of little use to me on their own. I would generally rather have a well designed set with too few or boring minifigs (as I can easily add more or replace them) than a crappy model with a good minifig selection.

This is basically still my attitude as well. While I can sometimes be sucked into buying a set almost exclusively for the figs, the majority of the time I get something because I like the main model. If I've got a handful of minifigures to throw in a spaceship - great, there are now some guys at the controls and I can go on with whatever I am doing.

I love figs! LEGO is such a terrific building medium that I love seeing other characters and things I enjoy immortalized in brick form.

This was really the biggest draw for me with some recent licensed themes. For example, I did not start collecting the Indiana Jones stuff until one day mid way through 2009 when all of a sudden I though to myself "Hey, I'm going to regret it down the line if I don't pick up a couple Indiana Jones sets". I wanted to have minifigure versions of some of those unforgettable characters from the films. Of course when I actually started collecting the theme I fell in love with the models themselves too, but those minifigures were pure gold!

[Artanis I]

Really?! Do you honestly think TLG would have started selling battle packs, vintage minifigure collections, collectable minifigs, build-a-minifig packs in their own stores, magnets with detachable minifigs or even the chess sets if there hadn't been a real demand for getting just minifigs? Because all these products started appearing only about five or less years ago, and to me, at least, they prove that as the variety and details in them have grown, minifigs have become increasingly popular.

I disagree...

I think "battle packs" were around since long ago. At least I can tell I've seen space sets with only 5 minifigs ever since futuron days.

In fact I do not see any "surge" quality or a special increased demand. The lack of accessibility to individual minifigs appears to me as a shortcoming on TLC, which is based on underestimation regarding the 'figs overall popularity.

...I very much agree... and I think minifigs have always been very popular, it's just that they are marketed a lot more than they were previously. Lego marketing was originally all about "wow look at the creative aspect of building this set out of bricks - and we've thrown in some figures too, they're pretty nifty" (they're actually quite plain but we all thought they were awesome at the time, and the model is also very disproportional) but over time it's evolving to "wow look at all the cool figs and the things this set does" (and the figs are a lot more awesome than they were, the model looks more realistic but uses a lot of specialised parts).

I originally thought I was a set buyer for the model until I looked at all the Lego I'd bought (or asked for) before I became an exclusive collector of specific themes. I considered one-by-one and realised a lot of the sets I bought were mainly because I liked the minifig or the accessories that came with it. (On the other hand, a lot were because I liked the colour scheme of the theme and I could afford that particular set.) I don't want to bore you all with a big long list, but all these sets are from the 80s & early 90s when minifigs weren't all that special compared to today's. And I used to get those boxes of 5-6 minifigs in preference to a set, except that there was always a new set with a new fig you couldn't get in those boxes.

Someone else mentioned castles and the way the new sets look the same as the mid 80s ones (my words, not theirs). What's different about them? The figs are nicer & less plain, the accessories are better, the new pieces are less blocky, and the colour scheme is different. I was looking at the old castles and noting how the figs were dull as a bus ride into town. The knights were the same for both sides apart from the shield.

Having said that, I REALLY love Blacktron and how they are all identical nameless faceless evil cool dudes.

[Legoist]

I have to agree. While I build almost exclusively in what I describe as 'real minifig scale' I still find myself wondering when exactly the average Lego 'builder' became a minifig collector.

It must have happened gradually, as Lego increased the variety of minifig parts, particularly heads and torsos.

Those who've been kids in the 80s have played with minifigs that all had the same face, and the torsos variety was much less... Being one of them, I am not especially interested in collecting figs. However I do understand why many MOCers (those who create scenes with their MOCs) nowadays collect minifigs: having lots of variations means to create more realistic scenes, where no two people are identical. That obviously doesn't apply to army builders who want the minifigs in one army/division to look identical (although heads don't need to be).

[charlieboy]

If it's a small impulse set, I usually look at the figs first. If it's a medium set, the figs are more important, but the model has to be good too. For big sets, it's all about the model, and the figs are just a bonus IMO.

That is very much the same for me, I couldn't have written it better myself!

I've bought many smaller sets because i wanted the minifigs, I have three of the smaller 7569 Desert Attack sets from Prince of Persia purely for the minifig torsos and weapons for use in some castle mocs.The Flesh heads/hands end up in a box and are rarely used outside of Star Wars in my house.

Minifig collecting is something i've really only started recently, my dark ages lastest for quite some time. I only got back into Lego last year and really was quite surprised with what was on offer. I grew up in the 80's and had a huge collection as a child that I passed on to my little sister, who then passed it on to our next littlest sister who then passed it onto my son! Since then our (my ) collection has grown very quickly due in no small part to the range of figs available. Whilst my son is happy with any and all Lego i am quite a bit more selective, I do have favourite themes but if I see a fig I like in a set i'll buy the set to get the fig so long as its not too pricey, otherwise i'll grab it from Bricklink.

I have a nice minifig collection myself, inc complete sets of both new minifig collectibles and many figs streching across many themes that i keep in a display case well out of reach of my little boy. My mates do wonder where the attraction is, ive been the butt of many jokes and freindly banter due to having a Lego room but i dont care, as the minifigs get better and more detailed i'll continue to buy them.

[legomama]

I personally love to collect the unique minifigures, but I love them both equally. The minifigures are just so easy to put in a shadow box or printer's tray to display. My children love both as well, but it's not the same playing with your bricks without a minifigure to imagine the "world" with!

legomama

[pbk420]

Minifigs and bricks seem to form a symbiotic relationship cant truly enjoy one without the other in most cases. But with awesome sites like brickforge and brickarms out there is hard to deny the power of the minifig. Sadly due to tough times i was forced to sell my collection i may buy more down the road but for now im content with programs like LDD and LDRAW/MLCAD to fill the void and hopefully once LU comes out there will be more minifig fun madness to be had.

[FilmGirl27]

To be really honest, I prefer the minifigs more than the actual sets. I collect them moreso than the models, and unless the set is really great I usually buy them only for the figures to add to my minifig collection. For some reason they're the thing that make me excited about the sets, not the actual bricks. But there are models that are exceptions (an example being The Burrow this year. I'm buying it for both the building and the minifigs equally).

Minifig loving on!

[GRogall]

I love Spartans more than anything!

[legogirl19]

If it's a small impulse set, I usually look at the figs first. If it's a medium set, the figs are more important, but the model has to be good too. For big sets, it's all about the model, and the figs are just a bonus IMO.

I agree and I personally love minifigures, and I think the popularity has always been there for them, but only recently has Lego made them available outside of a "set" thus making them seemingly more popular! I think there wasn't as much demand in years past, circa late 80's early 90's because most minifigs were repeated throughout several sets. Most males had the classic face, the sunglasses head, or the "waiter" mustache. Female minifigs had only one head but 3 different hair colors in 1 style. As Lego's themed sets expanded, so did the minifig selection!

I feel that a great Lego set can be made, but it is the minifigs that bring it to "life" or add that "action" factor to it!

[BrickTango]

I got out of my dark ages which was over 20 years due to a minifig I saw online! For me, minifigs is the main attraction. Only sets I've bought for the set up to now have been the 3 modular building sets! All of the others were bought for the minifigs.

Apart from the modular buildings, I build the new set I buy once, keep it around for a number of weeks, dismantle it and store away the bricks and leave the minifigs as the only part of the set for display purposes!

If lego stopped making unique minifigs today, I'll continue collecting the minifigs I do not have and would stop buying sets once I had most minifigs. I'd only need to make purchases from Pick a Brick or BL to get the bricks I want for MOCs.

[Erynion]

Great discussion topic.

I too have felt that minifigs are overly popular these days - IMO LEGO should be primarly a building toy (like it was in my dad's day before the cute little smiley-faced plastic people showed up on the scene...) and the figures, while greatly increasing the playability, should be secondary.

But... it's kind of hard to explain this... I don't actually live this out anymore:P.

When I was young and really into LEGO (I pretty much lived LEGO), building was HUGE for me (just the way I am - I love building). I would build great creations and always be out of pieces. That being said, I also loved playing with stuff that I built...

However, recently I got a bit interested in LEGO again. I've built a few MOCs over the past year, but mainly, I'm into the figures now. I feel sort of hypocritical, but, well... that's what's fun for me now. I don't really have a large piece collection to make some of the beautiful detailed and color-coded MOCs I see around here and I seldom have time to build anyways. I haven't bought any sets since my re-interest in LEGO truth be told there aren't many I'm interested in getting - IMO the sets are too focused on specific 'special' pieces and don't come with enough good building bricks - one of my main issues with TLC today. (I'd consider buying a few of the exlusives like the Tower Bridge or Space Shuttle or stuff that comes with a lot of good pieces that I could have fun building, but I don't think I could justify spending the money on them afterwards cause I'm not THAT into LEGO and I don't know what I'd do other than put them on display...)

So mostly I'm into collecting minifigures now (due to time, money, interests, etc - I just never feel fulfilled after building anymore). They're fun, and probably one of the main reasons that I would buy a set today (if I actually bought any!). I've purchased a few specific figs on Ebay or BrickLink over the past year or so. The new collectible minifigs are great and I'm excited about getting a few of them.

I use my minifigures whenever I possibly can - they mostly stand on my shelf looking cute or goofy or cool or w/e; but whenever I play a board game that I can replace pieces with minifigs (i.e. Monopoly pieces, or the Barbarian/Robber/Pirate from Settlers of Catan) I always do :).

Wow, sorry that got really long-winded... this is a topic I've thought about quite a bit and I had a lot to say...

Edit:

I got out of my dark ages which was over 20 years due to a minifig I saw online! For me, minifigs is the main attraction.

Yeah, come to think of it, that's what probably did it for me too - during my 'dark ages' I got really into Robin Hood and stuff, and I was looking through an old LEGO catalogue and noticed... a LEGO ROBIN HOOD HAT?!? That got me started on it again as I began looking up forestmen and all of the old sets with them and finding stuff on Ebay... yeah... forestmen FTW... (see my avatar and sig :P).

Edited September 2, 2010 by Erynion

[wolfwing]

Blind post here, but I've always liked minifigs back when I joined, one thing I almost remember though may just be old memory failing me, but I'm pretty sure back when I collected during the days of classic space, you were lucky to get 1-3 figs for a really big ship it was more the bundle packs that were all minifigs and gear that gave you more, now it seems that a small little ship gets you 2-3 easily and the biger ones have far more.

Though in all honesty I guess it depends on what your going for, and what your aim is with minifigs.

[Vindicare]

I haven't read through every post yet, so excuse this(I'll edit if true). But, there's a few sets, new Airport and Emerald Night the pat have too few minifigs. They both have 3 minifigs with each set, but that's only one passenger for each mode of transportation featured in the aforementioned sets. That's a bit weak. I know if adding 2 or 3 more minifigs to the lot would bump the price up a bit mire.

[Erynion]

I remembered a few more thoughts I had on this...

I'm not sure what the big deal over 'minifig variety' is. For example, I've people disappointed when reviewing old Castle sets or something, that came with 9 minifigs but only 6 unique torsos. I actually dislike 'variety' in this sense - if I'm going to build an army, I want the men to be uniformed in relatively the same armour and colours and coat-of-arms etc. Face print variety is fine in this sense, but for army building, I'd really rather have my minifigs look mostly the same; this seems more realistic to me...