LEGO Collectable Minifigures Future Series Rumours

[Subnautica]

4 hours ago, Karalora said:

And I might as well bring up the fact that I have never seen children rummaging through a box of CMF bags, groping for a telltale accessory.

I've seen kids doing it at the LEGO Store (Pre-COVID, haven't been since) and often saw the adults who were looking for themselves offer to help any kids find the one they really wanted.

[Robert8]

I also feel that at some point the regular CMFs will be all unnumbered. Just random Minifigure series. 

Mostly because this is meant to be a collectable item. If you start buying these right now, you'd already missed 21 series, which gives you the feeling there is not point on collecting all of them. 

Also because 10 y.o. children weren't even born by the time Series 1 came out. Rebooting the theme with unnumbered series will allow them to revisit or re-release archetypes from early series. I wouldn't blame them if they release a ninja or a vampire or a cowboy in the next CMF series 

[SirBlake]

10 minutes ago, Robert8 said:

I also feel that at some point the regular CMFs will be all unnumbered. Just random Minifigure series. 

Mostly because this is meant to be a collectable item. If you start buying these right now, you'd already missed 21 series, which gives you the feeling there is not point on collecting all of them. 

Also because 10 y.o. children weren't even born by the time Series 1 came out. Rebooting the theme with unnumbered series will allow them to revisit or re-release archetypes from early series. I wouldn't blame them if they release a ninja or a vampire or a cowboy in the next CMF series 

I’d be fine with that too. Tons of great CMFs have been new takes on previously done concepts. New ninjas, vampires and cowboys with new colors, prints and occasional new parts would be great companions for the older versions. Just look at how many knights they’ve done. I have bought and enjoyed all of them. I’m ready for more colors, heraldry, armor and shields. 

[Roebuck]

8 hours ago, Karalora said:

And I might as well bring up the fact that I have never seen children rummaging through a box of CMF bags, groping for a telltale accessory. In other words, the people most likely to be damaged by the gambling aspect aren't the ones who can most easily take advantage of methods to avoid it.

I think it is mostly adults that do it yes, however it is probably easier for kids to swap them with friends if half the class collect them..

4 hours ago, Subnautica said:

I've seen kids doing it at the LEGO Store (Pre-COVID, haven't been since) and often saw the adults who were looking for themselves offer to help any kids find the one they really wanted.

I think Lego stores see a lot more of this activity so even kids will pick up on it. When I do it in normal stores, I prefer to do it in the morning or late evening when there is not so many customers around I have have helped other customers get their minifig and even the employees in the Lego store learning them to find the figs a couple of times..

8 hours ago, Chedder_chandlure said:

Fortunately it turns out series 23 will still use the blind bags which means it might be the last series to do so... not exactly the grandest conclusion tbh

I think it is September in 2023 so probably 3 more series the old way..

[MAB]

3 hours ago, Robert8 said:

I also feel that at some point the regular CMFs will be all unnumbered. Just random Minifigure series. 

Mostly because this is meant to be a collectable item. If you start buying these right now, you'd already missed 21 series, which gives you the feeling there is not point on collecting all of them. 

Also because 10 y.o. children weren't even born by the time Series 1 came out. Rebooting the theme with unnumbered series will allow them to revisit or re-release archetypes from early series. I wouldn't blame them if they release a ninja or a vampire or a cowboy in the next CMF series 

Changing from 16 to 12 didn't get here either. Later series look like you have missed some if you display by series. 

I'd like them to reduce the numbers to maybe four characters per series, but have them themed within a series and multiple series out at once in different packaging. That way, they are still blind and (not) cheap impulse buys but you know you are going to get a character you are likely to want. 

So they could do 4x warriors in one series, 4x fairies and pixies,  4x animal suits, 4x skaters, 4x robots, 4x aliens, etc

Although this is coming from someone that uses them in MOCs and often wants multiples rather than displaying otherwise unrelated figures as a whole series.

[Karalora]

11 hours ago, Subnautica said:

I've seen kids doing it at the LEGO Store (Pre-COVID, haven't been since) and often saw the adults who were looking for themselves offer to help any kids find the one they really wanted.

That's fair. I didn't mean to imply that kids would never do this, only that to me it seems much less likely. Kids don't tend to have the leisure to spend a long time squeezing bags, because their movements are controlled by adults.

If anyone decides a gamble isn't worth it at five bucks a pop (or however much it's raised to in the future), that is totally valid and I will not criticize your decision. All I'm saying is that there are upsides to this move too, and one of them is that it makes things more equitable for people who don't have the time and inclination to feel bags.

Maybe the ideal situation would be including some kind of code on the packaging like there were in the earliest waves of bags. That favors research rather than time-dumping for those who really want to guarantee a given figure. It could take the form of a printed code applied to the box at the same time that the minifig parts are put into it, so the boxes themselves could still be identical (saving the production costs of several different ones).

[Lion King]

18 hours ago, brimbolet said:

It's always good to cut down forests, so the company management can claim they're sustainable and cash on state subsidies...

And it spells “deforestation”.  So yeah, i got ya. 

[Umbra-Manis]

I've gotta say, I'm very disappointed in the move. I've been feeling bags with a 100% success rate since Series 9, and it's always been about picking out the fantasy or sci-fi figures I actually want, I have no use for city figures. I definitely won't be buying packets in stores without an identification method, and congratulations Lego, as your sustainability effort pushes more people to the secondary market, the product has to be shipped an additional time, producing even more emissions and using more mailing products that have plastic in them. 

[brimbolet]

8 hours ago, Roebuck said:

I think it is mostly adults that do it yes, however it is probably easier for kids to swap them with friends if half the class collect them..

How common is it for kids really to swap minifigs among them? I've read somewhere that even Lego stores had some day per month where fans were allowed to do that but I've never witnessed it myself. Or is it just a practice in the US?  

[Kim-Kwang-Seok]

I'm all for organizing against this move. While not being the core consumers we do have a certain power in the community and we should make a smart strategy for expressing that we prefer not to get 4 "Pineapple costume guys" that we didn't want only because we would like one cool Samurai figure. And for 2 desired figures I don't want to spend 100-200 bucks for a whole box full of figs I dislike.

As pointed out there are many ways - codes, stickers, offers to buy individual figures in whole sets directly via Legoshop. If it's only about environment there are ways to still provide us with what we got before.

CMF's were the only Lego product I'd purchase but this way I'm out completely. Other companys to way better for half or 1/6 of the price. Not Shi**** on Lego - they are a company looking for profit. But it ain't my product anymore that way. Vidyio boxes in German stores were 50 cent in the end.

[leafan]

There's a toy shop in a town that I sometimes visit who just open the bags and sell the figures for RRP.

They also have some still in the bags, so I think they just fill up the board with enough to let those who wish to choose pick what they want, do so , and leave some bagged for anyone wanting a surprise.

[Lyichir]

21 hours ago, brimbolet said:

It's always good to cut down forests, so the company management can claim they're sustainable and cash on state subsidies...

I want to push back against this. Lego's goal to transition fully to cardboard and paper packaging by 2025, as stated on their website, is to have all packaging produced with renewable or recycled material and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (a non-profit that audits the sourcing of paper and wood products to ensure that they are being sourced sustainably). Existing cardboard/paper packaging is ALREADY FSC-certified. It makes zero sense to act like switching from non-biodegradable plastic packaging (which not only relies on harmful oil extraction and refinement at its source but also creates pollution at its end of life) to sustainably sourced paper is anything other than an environmental net gain.

Edited June 28, 2022 by Lyichir

[AFOLguy1970]

I am all for being friendly to the environment.  Unfortunately, this new format for blind bags does not seem appropriate given the price and the audience.  At the very least, I would like to see an option to purchase a complete collection (1 each) or have some other way such as a bar code to identify the bag.  

As far as being the "great equalizer" and making the in store process more fair by having it truly be blind, I do not see much of an advantage.  Take the Muppets for example.  Some people are not trying to get all 12.  They might just want Kermit and Miss Piggy.  These people have a 10 out of 12 chance of getting something they do not want.  Others will want maybe 6 of the "A-listers" or so.  Some of us do want all 12.  Having it truly be blind now means I just went from a 0 out of 12 chance of landing Kermit at Walmart to a 1 out of 12 chance.  At $5 a pop, that is going to be a no from me.  Had I not felt the four bags yesterday, I would have ended up with 3x Janice and 1 Waldorf for $20.  There has to be a better way.  

[brimbolet]

53 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

I want to push back against this. Lego's goal to transition fully to cardboard and paper packaging by 2025, as stated on their website, is to have all packaging produced with renewable or recycled material and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (a non-profit that audits the sourcing of paper and wood products to ensure that they are being sourced sustainably). Existing cardboard/paper packaging is ALREADY FSC-certified. It makes zero sense to act like switching from non-biodegradable plastic packaging (which not only relies on harmful oil extraction and refinement at its source but also creates pollution at its end of life) to sustainably sourced paper is anything other than an environmental net gain.

Greenwashing is still possible even if products are FSC certified, as reported e.g by Greenpeace and others. And even if it's not the case here, which I hope, it still would be better to replace traditional foil packs with biodegradable ones, like in the supermarket. Paper, cardboard boxes etc. are highly energy consuming, water polluting (even when recycled) compared to biodegradable foils or bags. Making everything out of paper (eg. bags inside Lego sets) because it's "sustainable" in the eyes of the public, doesn't mean it's good for the environment. And that should be the ultimate goal.

Edited June 28, 2022 by brimbolet

[TeriXeri]

23 minutes ago, AFOLguy1970 said:

  At the very least, I would like to see an option to purchase a complete collection (1 each) or have some other way such as a bar code to identify the bag.  

If LEGO adds some code back to packaging, they should just sell CMF figs seperately on their website as well (Limit 1 when the series releases) so people can get a specific figure or a set directly from LEGO.

Right now a lot of the reactions on sites like brickset etc, make it seem every CMF buyer is a "feeler" , but there are many people who don't have access to stores that sell CMF nearby.

Edited June 28, 2022 by TeriXeri

[DannyPowers]

Hopefully they will see everyone's concerns and take this as an opportunity to adjust their release style for CMF. I'm still surprised that they haven't come up with a way for collectors to just buy one full set directly though them.

If I were in charge, I would kind of stagger the sets into a few different SKUs.

1: A loose case of 36 packs (equal distribution, no short packed figs). This would be mainly for retail and/or resellers

2: One full set of 12 figures, separated into two different presorted sets of 6 ("Mix A" and "Mix B"). Why like this? Wellll....

3: One presorted set of 6 figures. These would just be the SKU above, but able to be purchased separately. Perfect for those that want a chunk of figures, but don't want to buy a full set.

4: One random minifig. You get what you get.

Since they already have the presorted 6pks available online, they would just have to adjust it to separate them into two distinct mixes, and then combine those into one SKU to complete the set. It's really not that much extra work, and would provide a good solution for those of us that want a full set, but not want to buy a full case or take the chance on doubles/triples/quadruples...

[Roebuck]

3 hours ago, brimbolet said:

How common is it for kids really to swap minifigs among them? I've read somewhere that even Lego stores had some day per month where fans were allowed to do that but I've never witnessed it myself. Or is it just a practice in the US?  

I am not sure, however Lego stores should really start with this big time. Either have open figs that people can buy or they can buy a fig, if they do not want it just swap it with one they want. If they do it they must make sure only to swap mint CMF with mint CMF not like in Legoland where kids (and adults) can just grab the worst one they have and swap that so after some time it is only trash left..

[MAB]

1 hour ago, DannyPowers said:

Hopefully they will see everyone's concerns and take this as an opportunity to adjust their release style for CMF. I'm still surprised that they haven't come up with a way for collectors to just buy one full set directly though them.

If I were in charge, I would kind of stagger the sets into a few different SKUs.

1: A loose case of 36 packs (equal distribution, no short packed figs). This would be mainly for retail and/or resellers

2: One full set of 12 figures, separated into two different presorted sets of 6 ("Mix A" and "Mix B"). Why like this? Wellll....

3: One presorted set of 6 figures. These would just be the SKU above, but able to be purchased separately. Perfect for those that want a chunk of figures, but don't want to buy a full set.

4: One random minifig. You get what you get.

Since they already have the presorted 6pks available online, they would just have to adjust it to separate them into two distinct mixes, and then combine those into one SKU to complete the set. It's really not that much extra work, and would provide a good solution for those of us that want a full set, but not want to buy a full case or take the chance on doubles/triples/quadruples...

Remember not everyone wants them as a series. I often go for multiples of one figure and zero of the rest. There are some that LEGO must know will be popular, I'd prefer them to skew the distribution of those.

2 hours ago, AFOLguy1970 said:

As far as being the "great equalizer" and making the in store process more fair by having it truly be blind, I do not see much of an advantage.  

Everyone is equally disadvantaged!

[DannyPowers]

1 hour ago, MAB said:

Remember not everyone wants them as a series. I often go for multiples of one figure and zero of the rest. There are some that LEGO must know will be popular, I'd prefer them to skew the distribution of those.

That's where the six fig options come in. You'll still likely get stuck with a few that you don't want...but then you can aftermarket them, and try to use those funds to buy others you want.

It's not great, but at least it's an option where there's a known quantity of what you'll get.

[MAB]

34 minutes ago, DannyPowers said:

That's where the six fig options come in. You'll still likely get stuck with a few that you don't want...but then you can aftermarket them, and try to use those funds to buy others you want.

It's not great, but at least it's an option where there's a known quantity of what you'll get.

If you are only after a specific one and will be selling on unwanted ones, you might as well just buy random packs one at a time stopping when you get it.

[AFOLguy1970]

17 hours ago, MAB said:

If you are only after a specific one and will be selling on unwanted ones, you might as well just buy random packs one at a time stopping when you get it.

At that point, the only cost effective way to go would be to Bricklink or a reseller.  The odds just are not in anyone's favor, especially if they are targeting a specific minifig.  

[MAB]

1 hour ago, AFOLguy1970 said:

At that point, the only cost effective way to go would be to Bricklink or a reseller.  The odds just are not in anyone's favor, especially if they are targeting a specific minifig.  

The problem is if it is a sought after figure by many people, then reseller prices will be high. At least in a store, you know resellers cannot remove all the high value ones by feel. But that then turns all buyers into resellers if you sell on the figures you don't want to get the ones you do want.

[MicroJow]

On 6/28/2022 at 1:35 PM, MAB said:

If you are only after a specific one and will be selling on unwanted ones, you might as well just buy random packs one at a time stopping when you get it.

But what if the box you're pulling from has, say, 18 packs left in it but doesn't have any more of that figure you're looking for? Then you'd have 18 figures and none of the one you wanted. If you'd purchased a 6-pack that definitely included the one figure you were looking for, you'd be better off with 5 unwanted spares instead of 18 unwanted spares and still not having what you wanted.

- MJ

[MAB]

8 hours ago, MicroJow said:

But what if the box you're pulling from has, say, 18 packs left in it but doesn't have any more of that figure you're looking for? Then you'd have 18 figures and none of the one you wanted. If you'd purchased a 6-pack that definitely included the one figure you were looking for, you'd be better off with 5 unwanted spares instead of 18 unwanted spares and still not having what you wanted.

- MJ

If they are truly blind figures, then (probabilistically) taking 18 figures from that box is no different to taking 18 from a new box, as you cannot know what was removed and nobody else would have known which ones to remove. It changes slightly if you see someone open boxes from that box, since if they open figures from that box that you want, chances go down, but if they get ones you don't want, chances go up. Assuming box contents are not mixed up with other boxes.

Statisically it is better if they sold half sets of 6 known figures if the series was 12, since you'd have a 1 in 12 chance of picking randomly but guaranteed in a buy 6 get 1 you want box. You would have to sell more if you picked randomly from a series if 12  than  if you had to sell 5. But then it is even better if they sold known boxes of 4, better still 3, better still 2 and better still 1. 

If they did a complete set of 12 or random boxes of 36 (guaranteed three full sets) and you wanted multiple of one figure, it would be better to find a new box and pick one, buy it, open it and stop when you get three of the figure you want. At most you'd need to buy 36 figures to get three, whereas you are guaranteed to have to buy 36 if complete sets.

[SirBlake]

You guys can slice and dice probability all you want, but no matter the details of that math, the conclusion is still the same: 100% blind packaging sucks.