Playability is a consideration for me but not when I'm buying for myself. It's only important when I'm buying for my young nephews.

While minifigs are the greatest draw for me personally (I collect them), fleshies are a real turn off especially fleshy parts that don't have a yellow equivalent such as Legolas's hair/ear-piece.

I do sometimes keep packaging either because I like it - such as for the CMFs - or for storage.

While minifigs are the greatest draw for me personally (I collect them), fleshies are a real turn off especially fleshy parts that don't have a yellow equivalent such as Legolas's hair/ear-piece.

Despite the fact that I personally prefer fleshies, I do see your reasoning. However, I'd say there is a yellow equivalent of Legolas's hair/ear-piece - the CMF Elf!

Yellow people. I know hate me if you wish. Once they went fleshy they should have stayed fleshy. I like having the diversity of our world reflected in our toys. For far too long the “West” (can't speak for anywhere else) has been a Caucasian dominated product environment. Can we say, “nude colored stockings” and “skin colored Band-Aids.” (PS: I love clear Band-Aids.) Too me, even having "everyone" yellow perpetuated that issue. I live in a rainbow; I want to play with rainbow.

So the least important aspect for me is maintaining the "yellow people" tradition.

Edited September 24, 201212 yr by Rook

Yellow people. I know hate me if you wish. Once they went fleshy they should have stayed fleshy. I like having the diversity of our world reflected in our toys. For far too long the “West” (can't speak for anywhere else) has been a Caucasian dominated product environment. Can we say, “nude colored stockings” and “skin colored Band-Aids.” (PS: I love clear Band-Aids.) Too me, even having "everyone" yellow perpetuated that issue. I live in a rainbow; I want to play with rainbow.

So the least important aspect for me is maintaining the "yellow people" tradition.

I don't know; I remember when the first proto-minifigures first came out in the '70's (the slab bodies with fixed legs, bumps to imply arms, no hands and no face printing). I'd recently read Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven and the first thing that jumped to mind about the fact that everyone was uniformly yellow was, "Hey, Legoland must be the world without racism that George Orr would have dreamed up if he'd only been a little cheerier to begin with" (in the book everyone is light gray).

I'm not quite sure why, but to this day I think of that episode and that book every time the debate of "fleshies" vs. "yellows" arises.

With respect to it as an "important aspect" of LEGO, for me, it's a moot point, I'm just not a big mini-figure person in general.

I don't know; I remember when the first proto-minifigures first came out in the '70's (the slab bodies with fixed legs, bumps to imply arms, no hands and no face printing). I'd recently read Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven and the first thing that jumped to mind about the fact that everyone was uniformly yellow was, "Hey, Legoland must be the world without racism that George Orr would have dreamed up if he'd only been a little cheerier to begin with" (in the book everyone is light gray).

I'm not quite sure why, but to this day I think of that episode and that book every time the debate of "fleshies" vs. "yellows" arises.

With respect to it as an "important aspect" of LEGO, for me, it's a moot point, I'm just not a big mini-figure person in general.

Amen.... the first minifigs that came out in 1975 were what I call "minifig stiffs"... no arms/legs.... just upper and lower torso's with faceless heads. The first non-yellow minifig head was one of those faceless ones that was in the 215 Indian Set of 1977 (part of the semi-Homemaker "Lego Sets With People)... it was a papoose with a red head.

One of the most interesting LEGO set variations consisted of the 1970s Coast Guard set... the European 369 set came out in 1977 with the minifig stiffs... and when they came out in North America in 1978, the set was the 575 Coast Guard Set with the "new" regular minifigs. An interesting pair of sets.

But I grew up with LEGO back before there were figurines, and it was just an architectural toy. It has sort of evolved from that more to a "dollhouse" type toy today... most sets seem to have a need for inside/outside fixtures with minifigs... and today sets that contain minifigs are more like "Hollywood movie lot buildings"... a facade and some walls... but nothing in the back....

Edited September 25, 201212 yr by LEGO Historian

For me, it's Duplo.

Ditto, I totally agree as well....I have heard of 12 year old kids playing with Duplo, hope their friend's don't find out !

Plus overly <insert that tiresome argument> sets unless it serves the purpose of getting the right shape, etc.,.

Then there is TownJr sets....oh, dear what's more to add than that !

For me its pointless play features. Flick fire missiles and catapults to me are pointless. I also don't really understand why they exist? When I was first starting out with LEGO about 17 years ago, I didn't need silly missiles to have fun. I used my imagination and used my hand to make minifigures jump. If LEGO lasted 45 years without these things surely it could last another 45 without them.