[rant] LEGO sets missing minifigs

[Lego Otaku]

I needed to vent my frustration but while parting out a set to sell on Bricklink, one box, which for all intent appeared to be factory sealed was in fact previously opened and the minifigs, all 9 of them were missing. This was the 3rd box this year that I've bought that was missing minifigs. In all 3 boxes I've bought, the seal were original and not cut so it looks like someone was able to peel them off carefully, open the box, pilfer the minifigs, reseal the box, and return for full refund.

This kind of thief can be harder to catch than the thief who uses fake bar code to get lower prices but if I find out who did it, I'll fill their answering machine or voice mail with sound of crying children and mail them picture of childrens crying because the brand new LEGO set they got were missing pieces thanks to thieves. Then just for giggles, I'd get valve stem remover tool and deflate all 4 of the thief's tires. The thief would have to put the money they earned selling stolen minifigs to fixing tires.

LEGO could do something about the seal to make it harder for thieves to tamper and pilfer parts then return it as sealed for full refund. Or find a way to get stores to keep close track of returns and start refusing returns if the customer has unusually high return rate.

[TimeCruiser]

If you bought all 3 of the affected sets from the same store, then unless the thief paid cash, the store should be able to cross-reference who returned those 3 sets. Convincing the store that doing so is worth their time may be difficult, since the thief could simply claim that the sets were already missing the minifigs when he or she purchased them. In the unlikely alternative that the theft actually occurred in the store, without the sets being bought and returned, then finding the culprit would be harder, but the case against him or her would be stronger.

If you get another set with the minifigs missing, you could try to lift fingerprints, but even that might not hold up in court (chain of evidence?...). So, I suppose the best you could reasonably hope for is that the culprit be restricted from returning sets or get scared away from the store upon being contacted by them, since the store likely would not want to risk the legal issues of telling you who has been doing it.

Alternatively, you could assume that the minifigs were taken to be sold, and check Ebay, Bricklink, etc. for any sellers that are from your region, and have listed all of those particular minifigs. Still, there would be no way of confirming who is guilty, short of a confession, and the list of suspects could be long.

[Faefrost]

If you purchased them from the same store then let them know about it. Ask to speak to a loss prevention officer, and show them what you found. While you will never hear about the outcome, they do take this stuff seriously and will investigate. Chances are if they are from one store, or from several local stores than there is one dude doing it, and he has worked out a trick. It's not like there are numerous Lego minifig gangs out there. If you let them know, they will catch him.

We also sort of brought this on ourselves. We are so disdainful of the older glued boxes with the thumb tabs. But those prevented this perfectly.

[Lego Otaku]

If you purchased them from the same store then let them know about it. Ask to speak to a loss prevention officer, and show them what you found. While you will never hear about the outcome, they do take this stuff seriously and will investigate. Chances are if they are from one store, or from several local stores than there is one dude doing it, and he has worked out a trick. It's not like there are numerous Lego minifig gangs out there. If you let them know, they will catch him.

We also sort of brought this on ourselves. We are so disdainful of the older glued boxes with the thumb tabs. But those prevented this perfectly.

All sets with missing parts were from 2 stores within a few miles apart so it is probably 1 person doing it. As for lifting finger print, this is probably not practical as there's no way of knowing how many people handled the box or the bags inside not counting the thief.

I wonder if I checked eBay for a seller who sells out of the city where the missing pieces are from, maybe I could figure out which one is the thief? The city has only about 5,000 residents so there can't be many LEGO thiefs.

[kaykay]

I needed to vent my frustration but while parting out a set to sell on Bricklink, one box, which for all intent appeared to be factory sealed was in fact previously opened and the minifigs, all 9 of them were missing. This was the 3rd box this year that I've bought that was missing minifigs. In all 3 boxes I've bought, the seal were original and not cut so it looks like someone was able to peel them off carefully, open the box, pilfer the minifigs, reseal the box, and return for full refund.

This reminds me of an weekend episode of Wongfu Productions - they purchased 3 star wars 8085 sets to have a building competition only to find out when they got home, one set had empty bags and a full bag or something.

[fyrmedhatt]

I hate these people that do this, but I do think the retailers do carry some of the responsibility for restocking the shelves with returned merchandise. I believe Lego has a policy against this, and I would think they have a program to replace the returned merchandise from stores. I have currently been on a Lego building hiatus so I have a large number of sealed sets to be built. I really do hope these sets have not been pilfered, although most of the sets have been bought online or at the Lego store so they should be safe.

I wouldn't be surprised if Lego returned to the more tamper-proof glue-sealed boxes either, as something needs to be done. Today's method of splitting the minifigures into separate bags is not obviously working, and with the surge in popularity of licensed minifigures with correspondingly sky-high Ebay prices this is likely to become a much bigger problem. Lego's reputation is tarnished each time a little kid opens their sets only to find the minifigures missing, and the parents are much less likely to buy another Lego product given the hassle of dealing with customer service, not to mention dealing with their kids' disappointment.

[Faefrost]

I hate these people that do this, but I do think the retailers do carry some of the responsibility for restocking the shelves with returned merchandise. I believe Lego has a policy against this, and I would think they have a program to replace the returned merchandise from stores. I have currently been on a Lego building hiatus so I have a large number of sealed sets to be built. I really do hope these sets have not been pilfered, although most of the sets have been bought online or at the Lego store so they should be safe.

I wouldn't be surprised if Lego returned to the more tamper-proof glue-sealed boxes either, as something needs to be done. Today's method of splitting the minifigures into separate bags is not obviously working, and with the surge in popularity of licensed minifigures with correspondingly sky-high Ebay prices this is likely to become a much bigger problem. Lego's reputation is tarnished each time a little kid opens their sets only to find the minifigures missing, and the parents are much less likely to buy another Lego product given the hassle of dealing with customer service, not to mention dealing with their kids' disappointment.

Where the policy fails is the stores can restock merchandise that has been returned as sealed and unopened. If the seals are intact they can restock them. And there really isn't any feasible away around it. Simply not restocking sealed returns costs too much for the merchant. It costs them merchandise with a slower reimbursement.

The best we can do is be very cooperative with the stores loss prevention officers. Let them know what is going on. They have the resources to investigate and get the police involved when ready. The worst thing you can do is to attempt to confront or follow a suspected lego thief. Dont play Scooby Doo. Just let the nice retired cops from Loss Prevention do their jobs. It really does work.

As far as protecting yourself. Look carefully at the sets you buy. Do the top and bottom seals match? Do they seem to be the same tension? Is one much looser than the other? Ive found that the fake / recreated seals are often not as tight as the originals.

I hope this helps.

[MsRowdyRedhead]

I have had this happen some months ago.. and since then I now "weigh" several boxes of the same set against each other, and go for the heaviest feeling box.

[fyrmedhatt]

For my wedding anniversary I decided to surprise my wife by giving her the Seaside House with a necklace hidden inside the box. In order to do so I had to remove the sealing stickers, then I sealed up the set again and it's virtually indistinguishable from a factory sealed set. The only signs of the seals being off is a slightly matt look to the stickers as they are no longer as transparent as they were, but it's really hard to tell. I was also able to seal up the box flaps as tight as they came originally, the only sign that I have opened the set are that the tapes have loose tips where I originally started peeling them off.

I'm now of the firm belief that lego either needs to change the glue in their tape so that it "fuses" with the box and cannot be peeled off without removing the print, or abandon the set-sealing tapes entirely and only use the glued thumb tabs. Today's solution is entirely unsatisfactory, and I will have a very hard time trusting that the boxes on the shelves at Target, Wal-Mart and Toys R'US have not been tampered with.

Edited June 1, 2012 by fyrmedhatt

[natesroom]

For my wedding anniversary I decided to surprise my wife by giving her the Seaside House with a necklace hidden inside the box. In order to do so I had to remove the sealing stickers, then I sealed up the set again and it's virtually indistinguishable from a factory sealed set. The only signs of the seals being off is a slightly matt look to the stickers as they are no longer as transparent as they were, but it's really hard to tell. I was also able to seal up the box flaps as tight as they came originally, the only sign that I have opened the set are that the tapes have loose tips where I originally started peeling them off.

I'm now of the firm belief that lego either needs to change the glue in their tape so that it "fuses" with the box and cannot be peeled off without removing the print, or abandon the set-sealing tapes entirely and only use the glued thumb tabs. Today's solution is entirely unsatisfactory, and I will have a very hard time trusting that the boxes on the shelves at Target, Wal-Mart and Toys R'US have not been tampered with.

Well if the changed their solution you wouldn't have been able to surprise you wife in the way that you did... Lego was looking out for you!

[AwesomeStar]

I agree with the suggestion that Lego goes back to the thumb-tab box designs. I imagine they might be a bit harder/more expensive to produce than the current sealed-tape boxes but they are much more secure and trustworthy.

Not only that, but they're more fun! I remember as a kid my favourite part of getting a new Lego set was pushing away that thumb-tab

~A.S.

[adventuresinlego]

This makes me feel ill - Defintely tell both stores, this is a security/police matter and it will put both stores on alert that someone is doing it, then, next time they do it at one of those stores, they will know to check, sorry it happened to you :( people are pigs sometimes :(

[Vindicare]

This really is sad...I just read over on FBTB that all the figs in 6868 Hulks Helicarrier Breakout were gone. It is partially our fault, AFOLs as a whole, because the secondary market for figs is insane. I don't get many of the CMFs I want because the prices.

[Combee]

This happened to me about a year ago. I had received a snow trooper battle pack and didn't notice anything suspicious. When I opened it I saw that the bags had all been opened, the minifigs and accessories were removed and the bags were stapled shut. The box showed signs of being resealed with hot glue I called Lego and they replaced all the missing parts but it's very frustrating knowing that this is a rising problem and I feel bad if a kid had gotten this set instead of me and they didn't know that you can get Lego to replace the missing parts

[natesroom]

This makes me feel ill - Defintely tell both stores, this is a security/police matter and it will put both stores on alert that someone is doing it, then, next time they do it at one of those stores, they will know to check, sorry it happened to you :( people are pigs sometimes :(

My "gandalf arrives" set has the perforated thumb tab... and the box sides are hard to pen without damaging the box sides

[fyrmedhatt]

Well if the changed their solution you wouldn't have been able to surprise you wife in the way that you did... Lego was looking out for you!

Haha, that's a way to look at it in a positive light...

My "gandalf arrives" set has the perforated thumb tab... and the box sides are hard to pen without damaging the box sides

It's pretty much impossible to open one of those without damaging the box. I love keeping my boxes nice, so I have tried by using a box cutter and there's always something that tears. The thumb tabs are horrendous for box collectors, but worth it if it means the box is tamper-proof.

[______]

I never realized this was even a problem! Nothing like this has ever happened to me, and I have certainly never heard before about this happening. It's slightly worrying.

If you know this is happening, simply tell the police.

[The Blue Brick]

This really is sick. I can only imagine how a child would react when he would open up the box to find no minifigure.

That was always my favorite part as a child. This has never happened to me, but I still feel disgusted.

I bet the culprit has done it to more sets that people bought for their children too, not just the three.

I'm guessing he has done a lot as you've gotten three boxes already.

[MsRowdyRedhead]

It's my feeling that if people do not report these to LEGO (without asking for replacements) and explain the seal situation, a fix will not be implemented.

Each incident should be reported to the merchant and to TLG.

Unfortunately, there is a huge and profitable market for minifigs,one which LEGO has not satisfied.

An secondary benefit of reporting the issue may be that LEGO eventually decides to make more minifigs available without sets, possibly at an increased cost or through a club.

[ZO6]

We've definitely brought this upon ourselves. All this fuss over minifigures to make them more detailed, rarer, and more desirable. It seems everyone and their grandmas are part of the minifig craze, and it's really no surprise that people are (unfortunately) taking to theft to acquire them. It would seem an ever-increasing amount of people know the resale value of lots of these figs too.

I've fallen victim to buying a set whose minifigs had been stolen. It was the Space Police 3 base, the last set that I wanted from the line. SP3 was discontinued and I hadn't seen that particular set on shelves for a while. One day at TRU I found two copies of the set on the shelf - I grabbed one and immediately noticed that the tape had been sliced on one side of the box and lazily tapped over again. I put that copy down and examined the other box - it too had obviously already been opened and resealed. Being early January, I hoped that by some chance these really were just returns from Christmas and that stuff hadn't been stolen from inside. I decided to take my chances and buy the set regardless of the condition of the box. Upon exiting the store, I opened the box. It seemed all the bags were there, though a couple had been opened and glued shut again. I spotted parts for two of the minifigures, and I figured the rest of the figs were somewhere amongst the other parts/bags. Satisfied, I went home. When I went to build the set, I quickly found that the two alien figs had been stolen, but the two police were left behind. Also, some of the more interesting stickers were missing from the sticker sheet. I contacted TLG and explained everything, and they were kind enough (as per usual) to send the missing figs as well as a new sticker sheet.

I fear there is little that can be done to properly prevent the theft of minifigs. As long as people have a desire to steal things, they'll figure out ways to do so.

I'm now of the firm belief that lego either needs to change the glue in their tape so that it "fuses" with the box and cannot be peeled off without removing the print, or abandon the set-sealing tapes entirely and only use the glued thumb tabs. Today's solution is entirely unsatisfactory, and I will have a very hard time trusting that the boxes on the shelves at Target, Wal-Mart and Toys R'US have not been tampered with.

I'm really torn about changes like these. It's so nice with the current style of boxes to be able to slice through the tape on either end of the box and open it without inflicting any damage. It's clear that TLG has designed the boxes for people who like to collect them (easy to slice/remove tape, and the ability to fold them down). Sure there are exceptions in the box designs, but a good chunk of them are the collector style ones. I'd really hate to get to the point where ALL the boxes are ones that can only be opened by damaging them through irreversible means - just to deter theft. Ultimately it comes down to whether you'd rather have all the pieces and figs in the set that you've paid for, or if you want your boxes to be in tip-top shape. I know I like my sets to be complete!

[Sam892]

Luckily this has never happened to me, but I'm always on the lookout for boxes that don't look right. If the box is damaged even in the slightest way I avoid it. On the point of Lego removing the celotape tabs on some boxes I have to disagree. Whenever I get a big set with the tape at the bottom I know that it's going to be a luxory set. It's part of the image of big expensive sets. It feels and looks like even Lego want the box to last a good few years. Maybe there should be another fail sake on the inside. Like a card board sheet that you have to pop off to get in.

[Faefrost]

Luckily this has never happened to me, but I'm always on the lookout for boxes that don't look right. If the box is damaged even in the slightest way I avoid it. On the point of Lego removing the celotape tabs on some boxes I have to disagree. Whenever I get a big set with the tape at the bottom I know that it's going to be a luxory set. It's part of the image of big expensive sets. It feels and looks like even Lego want the box to last a good few years. Maybe there should be another fail sake on the inside. Like a card board sheet that you have to pop off to get in.

It wouldn't work. Whatever the seal is has to be visable and intact on the outer box, otherwise someone would still buy it, only to bring it home and find the inner seal broken.

[TimeCruiser]

Perhaps TLG could start using perforated or scored seals, like some price tag stickers are. They could still be peeled off fairly easily, to avoid damaging boxes, but it would be harder to realign the seals to mask tampering.

[Destroydacre]

All Lego really needs to do is put some kind of tamper evident seal tape on their products instead of the normal tape that they use now. The kind of security tape that leaves words behind when lifted. It doesn't stick after it's been opened and it's damn near impossible to line it back up again.

Something like this would work:

[Marty McFly]

Is there a difference in boxes between territories? Apart from Architecture, all the sets I've bought locally in Australia have had the ends glued shut.

But recent imports (Black Pearl from UK, Joker's Funhouse from USA) have both had the taped/stickered shut ends.

I toss out/recycle my boxes anyway, so much prefer the 'peace of mind' of the glued ends.