LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series 4 discussion

[kevin1990]

Hey kevin1990, those pics you posted don't work

[prateek]

Thanks for posting those. Now we know the dress's template.

[Dunjohn]

Uhm, I'll admit to not having read the previous 35 pages in their entirety, but.. do we have news as to whether TLC went back to barcodes for these, stuck with hard-to-read and sometimes-inconsistent bumps or something else entirely ? I don't always feel comfortable feeling up packages for 15 minutes when the boxes are at the counter of the shop I visit :-D

They didn't go back to the barcodes. They don't want people to be able to tell what's in the bags. The dots system largely seems to be working, so chances are they'll stick with that for the foreseeable future.

[Brickdoctor]

Hmm... how do they decide what to put on the front-center of the bag? I mean, S2 made sense; Spartan and Martial Arts master; but S3 was the Rapper and Alien and now S4 has the Punk and Frankenstein. Those don't sound like they would be the most popular 'figs. (well, for S4 that remains to be seen [sorta], but for S3 it's pretty safe to say the Space Alien was not on the top of the list)

[General Armendariz]

That jockey player makes a perfect football player!

[Aanchir]

Hmm... how do they decide what to put on the front-center of the bag? I mean, S2 made sense; Spartan and Martial Arts master; but S3 was the Rapper and Alien and now S4 has the Punk and Frankenstein. Those don't sound like they would be the most popular 'figs. (well, for S4 that remains to be seen [sorta], but for S3 it's pretty safe to say the Space Alien was not on the top of the list)

They just arrange them so the group is aesthetically pleasing, I think. Popularity isn't necessarily a factor (although admittedly I know a lot of people who really like the rapper and space alien, myself included).

[Brickdoctor]

They just arrange them so the group is aesthetically pleasing, I think. Popularity isn't necessarily a factor (although admittedly I know a lot of people who really like the rapper and space alien, myself included).

Yeah, now that I think about it, if the Elf got a center spot, his shield would block one of the minifigs in the front-right spot.

And I just meant popular overall; obviously there are fans for every minifig, just not as many for some as for others.

[streifen]

I thought Series 4 is the best series so far. very likely i would get more than 1 set. lots of potential for use in mocs!

[greg]

They didn't go back to the barcodes. They don't want people to be able to tell what's in the bags. The dots system largely seems to be working, so chances are they'll stick with that for the foreseeable future.

yeah. I wonder though; as a shop vendor, I wouldn't be too happy if my customers came in and felt up all the packages (gross and potentially breaking small parts), where as barcodes... I don't know what percentage of customers most shop had using them anyway. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one at my shop, my vendor seemed to have no idea what the hell I was doing until I showed him my cheat sheet just the other day.

[Aanchir]

I suppose where I differ from a lot of AFOLs is that I don't really ascribe myself any dignity that I might lose by feeling for the figs I want. I fairly frequently get into discussions about a children's toy line with my twin brother. On a college campus a person like that can't be too sensitive about what other people think.

Last time I was at a toy store feeling for minifigs (at the counter, no less), the man at the counter asked why I didn't use a cheat sheet (he obviously was pretty minifig-savvy). I pointed out that the dot pattern isn't always consistent with cheat sheets, and then had him double-check the minifigs I picked out against a cheat sheet. Sure enough, the Elf's pattern was not consistent with the original dot pattern. Perhaps LEGO hasn't made the system foolproof yet, but they've sure made most ways of "cherry-picking" figs dreadfully inconvenient. Feeling the bags, however, remains reliable.

[Gregorovich]

Thanks for the pictures, kevin1990! The orange packaging looks lovely - my favourite package colour yet. Although the se are lovely, could you please post pictures of the actual figures? Or better still, do a review? Thanks!

Edited February 11, 2011 by Gregorovich

[Dunjohn]

I'm pretty sure I'm the only one at my shop

That's what I thought, too... until Series 3 released and every single shop I go into has badly felt-up packs in the boxes.

[fred67]

That's what I thought, too... until Series 3 released and every single shop I go into has badly felt-up packs in the boxes.

I feel them up, but I'm not that brutal with them... if I can't tell what it is, I toss it back in the box and pick another one, but I understand where you're coming from. I still don't feel bad about doing it.

[UsernameMDM]

Are the hockey player and Savage Opress wearing the same body armor?

[Aanchir]

Are the hockey player and Savage Opress wearing the same body armor?

Quite possibly, yes. The hockey player's armor is also pretty much the same as the hockey body armor piece from 2004 (although almost certainly a new mold). The only really obvious ways in which it's "new" are the color and the print.

On that note, in Series 3, I have so far encountered two parts that are not new molds to the collectible minifigures: the Hula Dancer's hair and the Space Alien's head. The alien head I wasn't really expecting to be a new mold, since the Squidman head was already produced in China and already featured printing on all the same surfaces. But the Hula Dancer's hair was a surprise, since not only does it feature a new print, but it was not previously on any made-in-china figs to my knowledge (the part number indicates it was released at the same time as a bunch of other 2009 Indiana Jones parts, so this is definitely the same mold that's been used for this hair piece since the beginning).

Edited February 11, 2011 by Aanchir

[thelegomaster100]

HEY I was just on a site called brickipedia an found out that the bags will be light blue!

[Brickdoctor]

HEY I was just on a site called brickipedia an found out that the bags will be light blue!

Uh, no, the S5 bags are light blue; the S4 ones are orange.

[SurfPenguin]

The more I see of these 'collector' minifigs, the more and more impressed I get. These things are simply awesome, and this series is the best I've seen yet: The kimono girl, punk, musketeer and mad doctor all make me shout "THEY MUST BE MINE!"

[ralkon]

If you look closely, you can see that the werewolf has RECOLORED ELF HAIR!!!!!

[Peanuts]

If you look closely, you can see that the werewolf has RECOLORED ELF HAIR!!!!!

Great sighting, I think it matches the werewolf rather good.

One question: Is the code of this series known yet?

[prateek]

I don't think it could be known yet, as they are not in stores or available for preorder anywhere.

[Gregorovich]

I don't think it could be known yet, as they are not in stores or available for preorder anywhere.

Well the person who is hosting the FOUR Raffle must know, so someone could ask them.

[Miss Kyle]

Oooh, series 4 has the best selection so far, at least for me :D

I am getting a bit obsessed with these little bastards...

[Aanchir]

Well the person who is hosting the FOUR Raffle must know, so someone could ask them.

Not necessarily. You have to know which figs are in which bags to know what the bag codes mean. Owning the unopened figs isn't enough, unless you spend the time feeling for which fig is which inside.

[Gregorovich]

Not necessarily. You have to know which figs are in which bags to know what the bag codes mean. Owning the unopened figs isn't enough, unless you spend the time feeling for which fig is which inside.

No, I meant you could ask them whether it has dot codes, bar codes or something different. Sorry for not being very clear.