LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series 3 discussion

[rakky]

Does'nt collecting count as a past time or a hobbie, unless you get paid to collect of course?

These look quite good, especially the baseball player, i can one day hopefully create my favourite scene from the film 'the warriors'

Also that elf argument earlier was really funny.

[LegolasAzazel]

Picture deleted!

Edited September 21, 2010 by Stash2Sixx
Picture removed because we don't show pics marked as 'confidential'

[Mrlegoninja]

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We have already seen them and you can't post the pics here any way.

[prateek]

NO DEEPLINKS!!!!!! Ahhhh!!!!!!!1

[Vindicare]

Okay... so you're basically assuming that the majority of buyers (or at least, a substantial amount) are AFOLs or net-savvy kids. And perhaps you're right. But if those people stop buying these (and I doubt they will), I guarantee you that kids will take their place-- kids who don't necessarily care whether they get an army of Spartans, but who instead just enjoy the fun of getting a new minifig to go with their LEGO sets.

When LEGO first used the barcodes, they didn't expect people to identify the minifigs by the barcodes. The fact that they didn't intend this is evident in that they're removing the barcodes. Assuming that they had prior research and focus group testing to indicate that the collectible minifigs were a feasible idea to begin with, that means the figs were expected from the beginning to be profitable with or without barcodes. I see no reason to assume that the figs would never have sold to begin with if not for the barcodes, and I likewise see no reason to assume that the barcodes are necessary to selling the figs.

I'm undecided on series 3. Because of the no barcodes, I'll either stay away or just buy a box and call it a day. I did use barcodes before, only to obtain one full set, not hoard. Or I may just call it quits completely. If it came down to it, I'd rather spend my money on sets.

[sok117]

well, seeingas I havn't gotten my hands on ANY collectible minigfigs, because everytime I go there never to be seen. I do have to say that I love that gorilla and Elf, seems to me the elf will be the army builder this time around. To bad Lego never made an elf line, then I could have one. They all look pretty good to me, especially the rapper, baseball player, mummy, and fisher. A lot of reused parts though.

[jonwil]

Is the snowboard new or is it the same as in the Gravity Games sets?

[Itaria No Shintaku]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's going to have a certain threshold for how much money to spend on these before giving up on frustration. I'm not going to get stuck with 8 cyborgs just trying to get the last of the collection or something. This round could certainly be telling for the future of the entire CM line.

The best way still is: grab 2 friends and share a box!

[prateek]

Is the snowboard new or is it the same as in the Gravity Games sets?

To me, it looks more like a Luge/Skeleton board than a snowboard.

[JamesBenjamin]

To me, it looks more like a Luge/Skeleton board than a snowboard.

I got one of the "old" snowboards in a used mixed lot, it was two types of plastic with a metal screw holding it together and it was HEAVY as though the inside was lead. I doubt it will be the old type.

Edit: just in case there is more than one "old" snowboard, this is the one i'm talking about:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=46203pb06c01

Edited September 21, 2010 by JamesBenjamin

[Jargo]

I really hope the boombox turns out nice and funky. I'm only interested in Angler, Mummy, Rapper and pilot. Admittedly that's going on preliminary pictures but this assortment doesn't tickle my fancy like series two of which I've got eleven. Though series one didn't tickle my fancy much either. I was only interested in five from that assortment. Still from Lego's point of view I suppose that constitutes quite high interest overall.

[Ignited_Impulse]

So much hate for the racecar driver. I'm gonna go against the grain and be open with my feelings. I like him.

[David Thomsen]

I'm a bit sad the elf argument has ended. Normally I can't stand internet arguments, but this one was about something so amazingly trivial that it kind of transcended to another level.

It's a toy company's interpretation of a mythical creature with no definitive appearance. You can choose to hate it, you can choose to like it, but... to argue about it is just hilarious.

A more worthy debate is the one about how many parts got re-used from series one and two. Personally, I approve of it - these are unique moulds, it's nice to be able to get the ray gun in silver, black and steampunk bronze. And we'll also end up with gold, silver and bronze minifig trophies eventually. The lance is now in grey and brown. The maracas are also a new colour, so with them and the poncho I'll be able to form a Peruvian folk band. (Though I think if the maracas appeared a third time, fans will storm the Lego castle and hang someone)

Incidentally, I actually think these are the final minifigs - the preliminary images we saw for series two were way less polished than this. Nothing in these pictures says 'temporary substitute', and although the race driver doesn't get a utensil, he does get hair and a hat, which kind of makes up the piece count.

Edited September 21, 2010 by David Thomsen

[Fugazi]

Incidentally, I actually think these are the final minifigs - the preliminary images we saw for series two were way less polished than this. Nothing in these pictures says 'temporary substitute', and although the race driver doesn't get a utensil, he does get hair and a hat, which kind of makes up the piece count.

I agree with you here. Only time will tell, but I strongly believe what we see now is what we'll get. And why not? While some other 2011 sets may still be in pre-production stages, in order to have the minifigs ready in time for late-December or January their production is likely already underway.

[Klaus-Dieter]

Thank you all very much for the further information and the pics!

Hawaii Girl

nice, but she absolutely doesn't fit anywhere (why not a girl in a regular bikini which would fit in every beach scenery or even on a sun chair in the garden?!)

plus again maracas is a shame (why not a guitar etc.?!)

Native American Chief

awesome torso design and headgear

but I hope that in the final version he will have a regular and not a Hoplite's lance

Samurai

looks great, very classical

Pilot

looks good, but do we really need one?!

Fisher

really like the new fishing-rod, the beard looks amusing

Half Robot Half Human

ugly

Female Snowboarder

great torso design, great snowboard

Ferrari Driver

nice, but he absolutely doesn't fit anywhere

Rapper

torso, cap, golden micro (?) and booster look great

but his face looks ugly

Elf

really kiddish - but many surely will be happy to get one (I don't need these creatures)

Sumo Ringer

the Wrestler was already enough (of uglyness)

there are so many other ideas for excellent minifigs - does TLG really have to release another half-naked (and to boot fat) man?!

Alien

really kiddish - but for those who want one (I don't need these creatures)

Mummy

ugly

Female Tennis Player

awesome torso design and tennis racket

Baseball Player

great cap and basball bat

Gorilla

looks funny but nice

To summarize:

All in all I must admit that I'm a bit disappointed. After the excellent series 2 (which is imo the best series until now - it was even the series of which I bought more minifigs than of series 1 and surely even than of series 3) I was sure that the next series will be as great, too. But although there are some amazing minifigs included, there are even a huge number of nowhere fitting and ugly minifigs included.

Imo it's the quality which makes the minifigures series amazing and not their quantity. So better only one series per year with really awesome minifigs than two til four series per year of which the half of the minifigs is only average or even below average.

There are so many ideas for minifigs (even at least posted in our forum) - so why has TLG to release some characters which are really useless or ugly?!

The clear winners of series 3 - and so the minifigs which are imo really amazing and which I'll try to get - are:

-Native American Chief

-female Snowboarder

-female tennis player

These three minifigs are really amazing!

I really like that TLG (even if it's only a bit) heightened the number of female minifigs in this seriers.

So I hope that in the future we'll see more female minifigures. And even some kids would be nice to get. In general I hope for more different every-day and civilian characters than only special characters (of course some of them are great to get, too).

Klaus-Dieter

Edited September 21, 2010 by Klaus-Dieter

[Fugazi]

K-D: This just goes to show that you can't make everyone happy! Some of the minifigs you dislike are among other people's favourites, and the opposite is true. Add the young kids in the mix, and I'm sure this series will sell just as well as the previous two!

[David Thomsen]

Hawaii Girl

nice, but she absolutely doesn't fit anywhere (why not a girl in a regular bikini which would fit in every beach scenery or even on a sun chair in the garden?!)

Grass skirt... lei... black hair... that doesn't sound at all familiar to you?

She's an updated Islander! I'm kind of surprised I'm the only one that seems to see this.

Edited September 21, 2010 by David Thomsen

[Itaria No Shintaku]

K-D: This just goes to show that you can't make everyone happy! Some of the minifigs you dislike are among other people's favourites, and the opposite is true. Add the young kids in the mix, and I'm sure this series will sell just as well as the previous two!

I really hope so, so maybe they can go until serie 20!

[David Thomsen]

I started doing a map of the figures with lines between the figures to show how they were connected thematically, but somehow it ended up as this continuity arc instead. Starting at the bottom left, every minifig is somehow kind of an evolution of the previous one until until it ends at the bottom right.

In some places the connection is tenuous and you probably have no idea what I was thinking, in other places there's a clear progression from one fig to the next and then on to the next.

[Itaria No Shintaku]

I started doing a map of the figures with lines between the figures to show how they were connected thematically, but somehow it ended up as this continuity arc instead. Starting at the bottom left, every minifig is somehow kind of an evolution of the previous one until until it ends at the bottom right.

In some places the connection is tenuous and you probably have no idea what I was thinking, in other places there's a clear progression from one fig to the next and then on to the next.

Well man, I'd really wanna read about the connection between caveman and weightlifter!!!

[vexorian]

Agreed. YOu see kids going in to the store and looking for the CMs, but they are never there. Now if the AFOLs stop hoarding them, the kids will just buy them up.

Either that or more adults will buy whole boxes now that there are no bar codes.

[Marckeyh]

If there are no barcodes, it's probably best to buy a whole box and share the cost between mates.

In this series there's not one figure I would like to get multiples of to be honest, unlike the spartan, zombie and forestman

from previous series.

[vexorian]

Is it me or is the snowboarder female? Perhaps TLG heard the complaints about the roles chosen for female figs.

Gorilla and Sumo could really use a bulkier torso. It is time for TLG to try making one... The sumo I think will improve over time, but nonetheless the hair piece would at least be useful for people wanting to do accurate Japanese soldiers.

I don't really like that the Alien, the "Cyborg" and the Space man all have basically the same accessory in different color. Even though getting those guns in many colors is great, it would have been nicer to have different accessories.

I think I will really try to make a pact to buy a whole box, because I'll really need plenty of cyborgs and samurais. I'll just have to find more local AFOLs, which I know exist but never really interacted with any :/

Edited September 21, 2010 by vexorian

[BearHeart]

I'm dissapointed with Series 3. The only figures I want to get is an elf, mummy, samurai and chief; and only one of each this time.

Maybe thats a good thing, given the fact that these things are so hard to find, now have no barcode and are made of cheap plastic.

[LegoDad42]

I'm not too jazzed about Series III either...but there are a couple I'd like to pick up...

-The Samurai looks good but they should've done the sword in chrome.

-Native American Chief's head-dress looks good but instead of the plain spear (which is the same one from the Spartan?)make the feathers accessory from the previous Native American be able to clip onto the spear to give it more uniqueness.

-I like the Cyborg but the pics I've seen I can't get a real good look at his face through the helmet visor.

-Somethin' with the Female Snowboarder(?)looks off. Like the helmet? Is that how it looks for snowboarders? The snow-board itself is cool though.

-The Racecar driver should've had like a bottle of milk accessory or a racecar trophy.

-The Rapper looks off to me. Again, low rez pic but the face looks off. The boombox is cool though.

-Elf Warrior looks very cool. Especially the shield.

-Sumo is a big failure. Why not make a more stoudt, thick body for him. That's what's unique about a sumo-wrestler in the first place. Plus the 'diaper' they wear should've been molded and be able to snap into the larger torso. There are some decorative ones I've seen that would've been very cool and unique.

-Really, really disappointed in the 'alien'. I was so looking forward to a new-unique design for this. Something cool, scary...or just plain interesting. This is (and anyone correct me) the same head as Squidman or Squidtron(?) from Space Police. This is a terrible figure to include in this line.

-Like the Mummy but maybe a Scarab beetle accessory would've been cool.

-Tennis Player is cool for the racket.

-Baseball player looks excellent...can't make out what it says on his uniform. Love the bat accessory.

-Gorilla is ok...more like a guy in a gorilla-suit. They should make a thicker body that snaps over the torso ala' Chewbacca to give it a better look.

-Hawain Girl is good but maraccas? Why not a small guitar?

-Pilot looks good. Fits into a 1930's/40's theme. Like his bomber jacket torso.

-Fisherman has a cool new rod accessory.