LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series 4 discussion

[Ralph]

Like so many others that have already posted... I want them all... every one of these is must have.

Ralph

[escortmad79]

Sorry if this has been answered, but when are these due to come out? 2011 Spring maybe? Thanks!

-Santhor

April

[MicroJow]

We're also missing the invisible man from the 'classic Universal Monsters'. Would love to see that in Series 5. He could have two heads - one all bandaged up, and the other clear transparent!

- MJ

[David Thomsen]

The Three Musketeers. The Punk's guitar covered most of the torso, so I had to guess what it looked like from what I could make out in the other image. The collar might be completely wrong. I thought the Samurai and the Forestman would be the most suitable choices for the other two Musketeers.

Edit: Here you can see what I think the complete torso looks like:

Edited December 8, 2010 by David Thomsen

[Joebot]

The Three Musketeers. The Punk's guitar covered most of the torso, so I had to guess what it looked like from what I could make out in the other image. The collar might be completely wrong. I thought the Samurai and the Forestman would be the most suitable choices for the other two Musketeers.

Nice work, and good choice of minifig heads. However, there are actually FOUR musketeers in Dumas' "The Three Musketeers." Everybody always ignores poor D'artagnan.

[Omicron]

Nice work, and good choice of minifig heads. However, there are actually FOUR musketeers in Dumas' "The Three Musketeers." Everybody always ignores poor D'artagnan.

Hence the title "The Three Musketeers". :P

-Omi

[Aanchir]

Nice work, and good choice of minifig heads. However, there are actually FOUR musketeers in Dumas' "The Three Musketeers." Everybody always ignores poor D'artagnan.

Pokémon didn't, if that's any comfort.

[Blondie-Wan]

Gordon Freeman, i want

Heck, i don't even have series one complete, only a couple of figs from series two.....

I do however have an complete caveman tribe and enough ninja's to build an dojo :P

I have at least two of everything from Series 1 & 2, but not nearly as many of everything as I'd like, and I know it's going to be tough to get lots of them. I do wish I had more cavemen and ninjas, certainly (particularly cavemen, as well as forestmen, robots, spacemen, tribal hunters and zombies), but then I wouldn't mind at least one or two more of each one. I've gotten a lot more of Series 2, but even there I could really use a lot more.

I'm particularly worried about the price increases. At TRU it's pretty much expected, but even Target starting marking them up 50% above MSRP a few weeks into the Series 2 release, and TRU's prices seem to soar ever upward. It's going to be terribly expensive to get multiples of everything, especially those like baseball players for whom one might want a slew of copies...

[Drakon]

I'm particularly worried about the price increases. At TRU it's pretty much expected, but even Target starting marking them up 50% above MSRP a few weeks into the Series 2 release, and TRU's prices seem to soar ever upward. It's going to be terribly expensive to get multiples of everything, especially those like baseball players for whom one might want a slew of copies...

I know. The good thing is as long as Lego keeps the MSRP at $1.99 then that is what Walmart will keep it at. Of course that's if you're lucky enough to find them at your local Walmart. Or if you live in the Pacific NW and are near a Fred Meyer, one of the few other stores that have kept it at $1.99. (I'm looking at YOU Target)

[KyleJohnson11]

I know. The good thing is as long as Lego keeps the MSRP at $1.99 then that is what Walmart will keep it at. Of course that's if you're lucky enough to find them at your local Walmart. Or if you live in the Pacific NW and are near a Fred Meyer, one of the few other stores that have kept it at $1.99. (I'm looking at YOU Target)

I've got bad news for you, Fred Meyer has jumped the price to $2.99 as well. For the first week they were $1.99. :(

[Cinderbike]

Why are people jacking up the MSRP?

[Drakon]

I've got bad news for you, Fred Meyer has jumped the price to $2.99 as well. For the first week they were $1.99. :(

Wow, that sucks. FM was one of the last hold-outs for not jacking the price up. If Walmart doesn't have Series 4 I just might have to get the 2-3 I like most and skip the rest.

[Joebot]

Why are people jacking up the MSRP?

Because consumers keep buying them. If TRU can sell just as many figs at $4/each as they could at $2/each, why WOULDN'T they jack up the price?

[Zeya]

Why are people jacking up the MSRP?

Because they sell out almost instantly. If you owned a store, you would raise the price on it once you caught wind that there is a high demand and limited supply. Basic economics.

[Cinderbike]

Because they sell out almost instantly. If you owned a store, you would raise the price on it once you caught wind that there is a high demand and limited supply. Basic economics.

I was not aware the demand was that high. I had just assumed scalpers were hoarding them and that is why they were always sold out.

[MicroJow]

I REALLY hope the Toys-R-Us warehouses get choked with Series 3. I was willing to accept the $1 price increase since they were willing to let the "buy one, get one 50% off" sale apply, but to double the MSRP is unforgivable in my book.

- MJ

[rakky]

Agreed it's clearly because people have been buying whole box loads, they know they are popular so will price them veen higher as they think they will still get bought, which I'm sure they will.

[MicroJow]

Oh, I don't know about that... buying a couple at $3.99 each isn't THAT tough on the wallet, but consider these numbers:

A whole box at $1.99 each is $119.40.

A whole box at $2.99 each is $179.40.

And a whole box at $3.99 each is $239.40.

The cost REALLY creeps up on ya. I'd sooner wait until they show up at the Lego Store and buy them there. Hopefully, others will do the same and show Toys-R-Us we're not going to play their games. This is why stores go out of business (K*B Toys, anyone?)

And considering there aren't even three full sets in one box any more, I don't see buying an entire, sealed box as an option anymore.

- MJ

Edited December 8, 2010 by MicroJow

[Zeya]

A whole box at $1.99 each is $119.40.

And considering there aren't even three full sets in one box any more, I don't see buying an entire, sealed box as an option anymore.

Good analysis.

I have a local flea market person near me that sells boxes for $130 apiece, at least that was his price for series 2. That's not a bad price if you want to buy a whole box. But considering there are only 2 fisherman per box taking you below the 3-complete-set scenario, that kind of kills the appeal of buying a box. I was going to buy a box and sell the complete sets I didn't want to recoup some cost.

I'm really thinking I'll just buy a set of 16 from BL or eBay, especially considering I would have to go through this every 3 months like clockwork going forward (series 4, 5, 6 etc).

I'm still hoping someone will open a MISB box of figs and tell us that the 2 fishermen per box doesn't hold true for all boxes. Maybe those count stats were based off of a picked over box or something.

[Archer]

I almost wonder if Lego broke up the 3 complete set trend so that less people would buy an entire box. I mean it sounds like a poor way to sell the product, but I think it's been beyond proven that these guys will sell out fast.

This has been asked before but does anyone know if we have news of moving on to a series 5?

[vexorian]

And considering there aren't even three full sets in one box any more, I don't see buying an entire, sealed box as an option anymore.

- MJ

Actually, if TLG ever manages to make the bag contents truly unidentifiable then buying a box will be a much better option if you want a complete set. It guarantees two sets. Meanwhile, if I remember correctly, doing random purchases you would need around 59.something purchases of series 1 and 2 minifigs and for series 3 it was larger than 60 in average before you get a complete set...

[MicroJow]

Unless they put them in boxes instead of bags, or unless they start packing figures without identifiable accessories, it will always be possible to identify the figures. I didn't use the bar codes at all for Series 1, I went by touch, and correctly identified the bag's contents every time.

- MJ

[XimenaPaulina]

I'm really thinking I'll just buy a set of 16 from BL or eBay, especially considering I would have to go through this every 3 months like clockwork going forward (series 4, 5, 6 etc).

Sorry if I'll reply to a bit-off-topic, but here's my 2 cents on this matter. I believe purchasing from BL/eBay is simply the most practical way of getting a complete set of 16 instead of random buying at your local stores. I got my Series 1 back then @ $2 each = $32 for the complete set + $8 shipping = $40. Not bad right? I'm pretty sure one will spend more if they randomly buy these figs.

Edited December 9, 2010 by KielDaMan

[tazosaure]

Unless they put them in boxes instead of bags, or unless they start packing figures without identifiable accessories, it will always be possible to identify the figures. I didn't use the bar codes at all for Series 1, I went by touch, and correctly identified the bag's contents every time.

- MJ

Or they put them behind the register where you neither can check barcodes/dots nor feel through the bags. That's what they do at my Borders and I can tell you that even though my local TRUs are aleady out of the series 3, there are boatload of series 2 still available at most of the Borders around me.

(local for me is the san francisco bay area peninsula)

Personnally I kind of like to know these various distribution mode coexists as it gives a chance to both collectors and casual buyers to get access to these figs. My main complaint is that Borders still charges a premium on the figs rather than the MSRP.

I'm willing to pay the premium at TRU since I can pick and choose but paying a premium and still play the chance game, no way!!

[Clone OPatra]

My main complaint is that Borders still charges a premium on the figs rather than the MSRP.

I'm willing to pay the premium at TRU since I can pick and choose but paying a premium and still play the chance game, no way!!

Why can't you pick and choose at Borders? I could just fine at mine. Even at $4, which is a bit high for a single figure with one accessory or two, to my mind it's still alright to get those one or two figures that I especially want for whatever reason. If I wanted all 16 or more, I wouldn't be happy paying such a markup.

By the way, does anyone have experience buying these at LEGO stores? Do LEGO employees usually mind if you are using a "cheat sheet" or not?