LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series 3 discussion

[Aanchir]

Thank you very much for this clear picture of minifgure series 3, grogall!

There is not much to say since the prelims weren't changed much to the finals.

I really like the printed baseball caps and the snowboard.

I really dislike that the Native American Chief gets a Spartan lance .

Klaus-Dieter

Note, though, that the Tribal Chief's lance seems to be a different color than the Spartan's. Specifically, the Tribal Chief's lance has a shaft in 308 Dark Brown rather than 316 Titanium Metallic (the new dark silver that appeared this year in Kingdoms and other themes).

Meanwhile, I don't really mind LEGO's plan of having four series per year (if that is truly what they're planning). I'm not a completionist, and while I missed out completely on Series 1 (never even so much as seeing them on store shelves), LEGO seems to have learned their lesson in the States so I should have plenty of opportunity to get the figs I want most. And any I miss out on are no big deal-- if I must have them, I can pay the aftermarket price; if not, I can just accept them as a missed opportunity and just try to get the figs I want from the next series down the line.

[Little Brick Man]

I noticed Japanese writings (hiragana & katakana) being used in the catalog.

Anyway I loike the veteran pilot in that brown bomber jacket.

[blueShinyApple]

I'm pretty sure he has a usual tan (, but they're usually not in tan) backpack piece.

maby on of these:

(on the theifs back)

[Flare]

So that's why the gorilla looks funny... it's actually a guy in a gorilla suit, did'nt think of that. Get two of them and you can make a "Pink Panther" MOC!

Or get lots and make a Planet of the Apes scene

[Mrlegoninja]

Or get lots and make a Planet of the Apes scene

Or you can just make a scene of King Kong!

[The Yellow Brick]

Or you can just make a scene of King Kong!

You could do, all you need to do is get the 21002 Empire state building

[Delta 38]

I personally think 2 waves per year is enough. Does anyone know if Lego plans to release 3 or 4 waves a year? guess s1 and s2 were 3 months apart, right? That would be about 4 series per year... *grumble*

Yeah, two is definitely the maximum for me. I completely missed series one, but surprisingly I've found a small pocket of series two over here. I got five different minifigs, and one duplicate due to lack of attention.

Series one and series two were fairly close, but then again, the second series was probably a little rushed because the first series was released late. I expect there to be one wave of minifigures for each major wave of sets (i.e. summer and winter waves).

Anyway, back to the minifigures, there are definitely some useful parts. If there will be no way to distinguish minifigures apart, it will be hell to collect them. In this wave, though, multiples might not be too big a problem.

[Legoist]

I personally think 2 waves per year is enough. Does anyone know if Lego plans to release 3 or 4 waves a year? guess s1 and s2 were 3 months apart, right? That would be about 4 series per year... *grumble*

I have no idea what are TLG plans with these, but let's also keep in mind that KFOL are always the main target for retail shops "sets", and KFOL's time perception is different compared to AFOL's 6 months is a long time for a kid... of course what matters is not really the time between 2 series but between completing the first and see the second coming out.

Also, it might get harder later to design more unique minifigs, so TLG should probably not go too fast in these series releases. I have seen this happen with Dungeons & Dragons collectible random minis: after a few series (I think they were releasing 3-4 per year, each of which had maybe 60 figures; I don't really remember the right numbers but this is just to get the point) the minis became repetitive and they started to make "new versions" of the older ones. TLG minifigs are only 16 per series, but keep in mind also that D&D has literally thousands monsters and characters to base their minis on. TLG is at the same time more free in their design (there is no limit to what a Lego minifig could represent) but at the same time they actually have to come up with ideas (while D&D minis designer can just pick their ideas from hundreds of books published in the last 35 years).

I think they can continue with collectable minifig series for still quite a few years, but perhaps they don't want to cause inflation to their own design.

[Aanchir]

I have no idea what are TLG plans with these, but let's also keep in mind that KFOL are always the main target for retail shops "sets", and KFOL's time perception is different compared to AFOL's 6 months is a long time for a kid... of course what matters is not really the time between 2 series but between completing the first and see the second coming out.

Also, it might get harder later to design more unique minifigs, so TLG should probably not go too fast in these series releases. I have seen this happen with Dungeons & Dragons collectible random minis: after a few series (I think they were releasing 3-4 per year, each of which had maybe 60 figures; I don't really remember the right numbers but this is just to get the point) the minis became repetitive and they started to make "new versions" of the older ones. TLG minifigs are only 16 per series, but keep in mind also that D&D has literally thousands monsters and characters to base their minis on. TLG is at the same time more free in their design (there is no limit to what a Lego minifig could represent) but at the same time they actually have to come up with ideas (while D&D minis designer can just pick their ideas from hundreds of books published in the last 35 years).

I think they can continue with collectable minifig series for still quite a few years, but perhaps they don't want to cause inflation to their own design.

Note something else about repetitive designs, though: they merely reinforce a point I'd already made, that being that you don't have to collect all the figs. The supposed Series 4 list includes on it a "Surfer Girl" and "Skateboarder", after all, which implies LEGO intends to find ways of reusing even the more specific collectible minifig molds in future series (we'd already seen plenty of reused accessories in Series 2 and 3, what with the ray guns, afro, maracas, and other accessories that made repeat appearances). So perhaps "repetitive designs" might not be a bad thing at all.

Whether from a marketing perspective it would work, I have no idea. But as I often have to point out with regard to the City theme (as well as the collectible minifigures), some people may have missed out on earlier themes or sets. In fact, that's what many people are complaining about with the frequency of minifigure series-- that too many a year will cause them to miss their chance to get many of the figs. But if the figs do start reusing ideas (albeit in fresh variations like a "surfer girl" rather than a regular surfer), then that could quite possibly make up for missed opportunities in previous series.

[Lordofdragonss]

Maybe Lego is going to make a female + male pair of almost all ideas? I think this would be amazing!

Just imagine Cavewoman, Emo-skateboard/ rollerblades girl, Wizard...

You know what I mean right? :D

[Aanchir]

Maybe Lego is going to make a female + male pair of almost all ideas? I think this would be amazing!

Just imagine Cavewoman, Emo-skateboard/ rollerblades girl, Wizard...

You know what I mean right? :D

I doubt it will be nearly that systematic. As I said, chances are the reason they're doing this is to get as much novelty as they can out of the new molds that have been created for the collectible minifigures. Steel molds are expensive, and if LEGO can come up with a new fig to use specialized molds like the skateboard and surfboard, and they can make it feel like it's not just a rehash, it's no surprise that they'll jump at that opportunity.

Of course, this discussion probably belongs in the topic about the rumored Series 4 figs. I just was bringing it up here to point out a possible advantage of many series per year, even if it requires repetition. For someone trapped in the collect-them-all mentality, the apparent frequency of series next year will still pose many problems. But for others, better to aim for just a few figs in each series that you don't think you could do without, and then possibly get more if you find leftovers hanging around on store shelves after-the-fact. There will always be more minifigs coming out that you find just as appealing, and if the pattern of collectible minifigures so far is any indication, even the accessories you miss out on might be making repeat appearances.

If I had to guess at a Series 3 accessory we'd probably be seeing once and only once, I'd expect it to be the Hula Girl's grass skirt. I don't foresee many other official uses of that, whether in collectible minifigs or in mainstream themes. But even I can't predict that sort of thing with certainty.

[Legoist]

Note something else about repetitive designs, though: they merely reinforce a point I'd already made, that being that you don't have to collect all the figs. The supposed Series 4 list includes on it a "Surfer Girl" and "Skateboarder", after all, which implies LEGO intends to find ways of reusing even the more specific collectible minifig molds in future series (we'd already seen plenty of reused accessories in Series 2 and 3, what with the ray guns, afro, maracas, and other accessories that made repeat appearances). So perhaps "repetitive designs" might not be a bad thing at all.

Whether from a marketing perspective it would work, I have no idea. But as I often have to point out with regard to the City theme (as well as the collectible minifigures), some people may have missed out on earlier themes or sets. In fact, that's what many people are complaining about with the frequency of minifigure series-- that too many a year will cause them to miss their chance to get many of the figs. But if the figs do start reusing ideas (albeit in fresh variations like a "surfer girl" rather than a regular surfer), then that could quite possibly make up for missed opportunities in previous series.

I think it's too difficult to sort out TLG strategy details about these series. Probably even they don't know.

In fact there are at least 4 types of people who are buying these minifigs:

- those who try to "collect" the complete series

- those who buy a small bunch of them at random

- those who cherry-pick only those which they want (but sometimes dozens of them) with barcodes

- those who just buy a case

Each of these common types (and of course there's combinations of these too) have different desires from the series, and they also will have different endurance before stop buying the upcoming series. "Case buyers" of today may slow down a lot if there are too many frequent releases or recurring figures and parts.

I am myself in the 3rd group, and I wouldn't mind re-releases or variations of older figures at all, but with the disappearance of barcodes I don't even mind because I most likely won't buy any of these again (but then I bought so few that I don't really qualify as a target for TLG strategies). As a quite average AFOL, I use these minifigs in the same way as all the others from the sets. I certainly would like to see the best new accessory/hair molds used in future regular sets as well, but if TLG starts regularly doing that it would certainly piss off the collectors who want exclusive parts and prints to increase the reasons for spending 60-80$ to complete each series.

It would be reasonable that the 1st group is the real target for these series, but I wouldn't underestimate how the 3rd group (so far, since it's not going to exist anymore at a statistical level) and the 4th group have allowed sales to go so well.

Edited November 15, 2010 by Legoist

[Lordofdragonss]

If I had to guess at a Series 3 accessory we'd probably be seeing once and only once, I'd expect it to be the Hula Girl's grass skirt. I don't foresee many other official uses of that, whether in collectible minifigs or in mainstream themes. But even I can't predict that sort of thing with certainty.

It could be reused for new Islander!

Edited November 15, 2010 by Lordofdragonss

[The Green Brick Giant]

I think a list is hard to judge anything from, if it's real or not. I'm sure we will see another cheerleader too, repeating ideas isn't bad, more so because I haven't bought any of the minifigures yet.

I'm hoping Series 3 has a ton like series 2, which just recently sold out on S@H in the USA, but I want to buy them in stores, which I haven't seen them for the real price. ($4 at Borders is insane, but people paid for that, because they are going quick.)

[vexorian]

Time is longer for Kids , but kids seek novelty. I really think that keeping 4 series per year but making each have 8 figs will be best. Kids will still get to experience novelty 4 times a year. And the figures will be easier to collect. Whether you want all X figs or just 1, collecting becomes much easier the lower X gets. I really think that this will also help TLG not to run out of ideas as easily. For now, it is just 4 series, but think what would happen in 2012 with other 64 minifigs, that's 64 ideas to have. And although repeats are nice with variations, there is just so many variations you can find before the whole idea and not just the figure gets old.

Of course, this discussion probably belongs in the topic about the rumored Series 4 figs. I just was bringing it up here to point out a possible advantage of many series per year, even if it requires repetition. For someone trapped in the collect-them-all mentality, the apparent frequency of series next year will still pose many problems. But for others, better to aim for just a few figs in each series that you don't think you could do without, and then possibly get more if you find leftovers hanging around on store shelves after-the-fact. There will always be more minifigs coming out that you find just as appealing, and if the pattern of collectible minifigures so far is any indication, even the accessories you miss out on might be making repeat appearances.

After the removal of bar codes, it is not going to be possible to just focus on getting a single figure.

[The Green Brick Giant]

Time is longer for Kids , but kids seek novelty. I really think that keeping 4 series per year but making each have 8 figs will be best. Kids will still get to experience novelty 4 times a year. And the figures will be easier to collect. Whether you want all X figs or just 1, collecting becomes much easier the lower X gets. I really think that this will also help TLG not to run out of ideas as easily. For now, it is just 4 series, but think what would happen in 2012 with other 64 minifigs, that's 64 ideas to have. And although repeats are nice with variations, there is just so many variations you can find before the whole idea and not just the figure gets old.

However, like City, LEGO repeats themselves every few years because kids won't remember that there was another surfer or cheerleader.

However I agree with you. I think it would be better if they did 4 sets of 8 minifigures a year. It's still collectible, but easier to do. Plus I think it would be great to have seasonal items. If one series is around Halloween, make a ghost, werewolf, witch. Then have a Santa with the new beard and a printed torso. Summer series can have summer minifigures, winter ones have snow balls and such. For fall they could have a new rake piece. Sure Aussies would be screwed up with the different seasons, but no one pays attention to them anyways.

[Haltiamieli]

Time is longer for Kids , but kids seek novelty. I really think that keeping 4 series per year but making each have 8 figs will be best. Kids will still get to experience novelty 4 times a year. And the figures will be easier to collect. Whether you want all X figs or just 1, collecting becomes much easier the lower X gets.

On the other hand, as the number of the different figs gets lower, it gets more likely that you will get duplicates (even of that exact figure you did not want). Getting two of the same from the pool of 8 is twice as likely as from the pool of 16. Back when I found Series 2 I picked two bags and got two cops I had absolutely no interest in. If I wouldn't have heard of the barcodes later, I would probably have given up on the series completely. If the amount of differing figs is dropped, this might happen more and more often.

Imo three series of 16 figs a year would sound more or less perfect. But that's just an opinion.

[Aanchir]

After the removal of bar codes, it is not going to be possible to just focus on getting a single figure.

Sure it will be. Feeling the bags has always been an option, and a very viable one if you build with LEGO a lot and are used to what size parts should be relative to a minifigure.

Even if you don't have the patience to feel the bags, there's also the option of "hoping to get a certain figure, but being happy with whichever one you get". Obviously the feasibility depends on your personality, your preferences, and how much you're willing to pay-- for some people, anything other than their first choice is "worthless", while others might feel that the next best thing is just as valuable. And once you've done that, of course, you've got the choice of whether it's worth your time and money to try again.

Four sets of eight minifigures is an OK strategy, but that's operating on the assumption that LEGO risks running out of ideas otherwise. And we have no reason to believe they will. Obviously there are whiners every series saying LEGO already has run out of ideas, or at least run out of good ideas (for some people, only their most favorite theme ever is any good, and everything else is crap, never mind all the people who actually like the figs of the new series). In my personal opinion, I imagine LEGO will rethink their marketing strategy if it becomes likely that it won't be sustainable. But saying they should is of course assuming that you can predict when they'll run out of ideas better than they can-- and since they're the ones with the ideas, they're the ones who can make those predictions most effectively.

Also note that with sixteen minifigures in a series, LEGO has the potential to appeal to more people with the collectible figs. A box with sixteen vastly-different minifigs on it will be able to appeal to fans with a greater variety of tastes. If there's only eight figures, you have less variety and therefore a greater chance that one group of fans might have no reason to be interested. Sure, once the buyers are interested they may have a harder time getting the figs they want. But establishing that interest in the first place is the most important step in marketing the collectible minifigures-- once the interest is established, only then do you stand a chance of turning "interested fans" into actual buyers.

[den7]

Someone is selling the rapper for US16.99 on ebay (as a Japanese packing version)

with description:

Takara Tomy ARTS LEGO JP minifigures P 3 Ver B Rapper

not even december yet...

Edited November 16, 2010 by den7

[prateek]

Someone is selling the rapper for US16.99 on ebay (as a Japanese packing version)

with description:

Takara Tomy ARTS LEGO JP minifigures P 3 Ver B Rapper

not even december yet...

Link? Why does the description say Tomy and Takara?

[Mrlegoninja]

I doubt it. Its probably some guy who is trying to sell it and the in tiny writing it says "Pre-order this fig for 16 bucks".

[David Thomsen]

Link? Why does the description say Tomy and Takara?

Takara Tomy seem to distribute Lego in Japan, according to my cursory googling.

It could be legit - a few years ago I got Unverse Prowl two months before anyone in the rest of the world because a store accidentally broke the embargo. Unfortunately I didn't realise this at the time, and failed to make a fortune by selling it on eBay.

So yes, it has been known to happen.

[den7]

Takara Tomy seem to distribute Lego in Japan, according to my cursory googling.

It could be legit - a few years ago I got Unverse Prowl two months before anyone in the rest of the world because a store accidentally broke the embargo. Unfortunately I didn't realise this at the time, and failed to make a fortune by selling it on eBay.

So yes, it has been known to happen.

Here is the link guys:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Takara-Tomy-ARTS-LEGO-JP-minifigures-P-3-Ver-B-Rapper-/170567000297?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b695e0e9

If cannot check this link, go to Ebay and search "Takara Tomy ARTS LEGO JP minifigures P 3 Ver B Rapper"

It says it is "BUY IT NOW" and free postage.....

Edited November 17, 2010 by den7

[David Thomsen]

Here is the link guys:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Takara-Tomy-ARTS-LEGO-JP-minifigures-P-3-Ver-B-Rapper-/170567000297?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b695e0e9

If cannot check this link, go to Ebay and search "Takara Tomy ARTS LEGO JP minifigures P 3 Ver B Rapper"

It says it is "BUY IT NOW" and free postage.....

It also says 'pre-order', as Mrlegoninja had guessed.

[prateek]

I'd rather wait instead of preordering for $16

BTW, how much are these figs in Japan?