Bricktober 2012

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

Curious to see what sort of information EB users have gathered about Toys R Us's annual BRICKTOBER promotions for 2012.

So far all I've heard was these tidbits (I am assuming these are USA events):

There will be a Dracula, Duplo pumpkin, or Friends free kids build in the second weekend of October.

On the weekend of Oct 13-14 there will be a MINIFIG EXCHANGE event. Supposedly you can bring in old minifigs and they will give you new ones. No details on the figs, rules or fine print, but it sounds very odd that there is no purchase required.

Details in this image here:

EDIT by Staff:

From TLG:

"It’s time to celebrate Bricktober at participating Toys “R” Us® stores! This October, make a qualifying LEGO® purchase in a Toys “R” Us store and you’ll be able to take home an exclusive vintage minifigure collection! There are a total of four unique volumes; a different set available each week during October. Collect all 20 vintage minifigures!

Take a trip down memory lane with the opportunity to bring home four volumes of the vintage minifigure collection! Each collection features 5 unique and famous LEGO minifigures from the past. Venture into space with the astronaut, explore the Wild West with the cavalry colonel, sail the seven seas with the pirate, and even protect the castle with the brave knight! There are lots more classic minifigures ready to join your collection. These friendly, smiling characters have always made building fun! Quantities are limited and will only be available in October from participating Toys “R” Us stores. Please note that the exclusive vintage minifigure collection is only available in participating stores during the month of October while supplies last. A qualifying purchase is required and this product is not available for individual purchase.

For more details please visit your local Toys “R” Us Store."

Second edit:

The USA Events

Edited September 27, 2012 by CorneliusMurdock

[Drock]

Actually, the image below is from Canada. Look closely under "Toys R Us" in the lower left and it says "Canada.". I haven't heard whether the same promos will be offered in the US or elsewhere.

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

Actually, the image below is from Canada. Look closely under "Toys R Us" in the lower left and it says "Canada.". I haven't heard whether the same promos will be offered in the US or elsewhere.

Great catch-- that's not my pic, I just found it while sleuthing on Google. Wonder if the promotion will be global or focused just in Canada??!

[prozac]

The minifig exchange sounds a lot like the pin trading that goes on at Disney parks.

[posades]

The minifig exchange sounds a lot like the pin trading that goes on at Disney parks.

Hopefully there is some control over it; what I noticed at Disney World was there was a ton of those cheap, multipack pins floating around that were all the same and no one wanted. Theoretically, people could make minifigs with old/plain torsos and heads and then get themselves a new minifigure; hopefully the system isn't abused (assuming they do it in the US).

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

Okay.... so 9 days until October and all we've seen is an advertisement from a TRU Canada flyer. Beginning to think there's not going to be much of a "Bricktober" this year!! Anyone else heard anything?

[Darkdragon]

The USA Events

[Multiverse]

Is this a US only thing, or is it available in European countries as well? Namely Denmark? =)

[Brickadeer]

Is this a US only thing, or is it available in European countries as well? Namely Denmark? =)

At least, it's not available in Germany. But that's not a surprise; for some reason, such promotions NEVER take place in Germany *sigh*.

[Holodoc]

At least, it's not available in Germany. But that's not a surprise; for some reason, such promotions NEVER take place in Germany *sigh*.

On the other hand: Who wants a minifig from that extremely superfluous collection?

At least this is how they get rid of all the sets nobody wanted to waste money on.

[paul_delahaye]

mmmmm, that slightly devalues their original collect-ability.

How annoying

[Brickadeer]

On the other hand: Who wants a minifig from that extremely superfluous collection?

At least this is how they get rid of all the sets nobody wanted to waste money on.

The minifig exchange event sounds interesting. I'm rather curious how it'll be handled exactly.

[Darkdragon]

mmmmm, that slightly devalues their original collect-ability.

How annoying

Well these are not the say Vintage Minifigure Collection sets that were out before the CMF came out. At first glance they look the same but they are not. So, while it devalues the old minifigs slightly (though not totally as these are not exactly the same figs either), it shouldn't devalue those sets at all.

[SirBlake]

Well these are not the say Vintage Minifigure Collection sets that were out before the CMF came out. At first glance they look the same but they are not. So, while it devalues the old minifigs slightly (though not totally as these are not exactly the same figs either), it shouldn't devalue those sets at all.

Fair point. Still, though I never plan on selling her, it's a little weird to see the forest woman there. On the other hand, I'm very glad to preserve the collectibility of the green ninja.

[Huntleyfx]

I am looking forward to a few of these, there is no such thing as too many Pirates, Ninjas, or Forestmen (and Women.) I admit I am not sure about the minifigure trading idea. I feel like there might be more value in the figures being traded in rather than being received.

[Blondie-Wan]

Fair point. Still, though I never plan on selling her, it's a little weird to see the forest woman there. On the other hand, I'm very glad to preserve the collectibility of the green ninja.

"Collectibility" isn't necessarily perfectly synonymous with "rarity," of course. If a minifigure is available in one of these collections, it's still collectible; indeed, it's arguably even more collectible, since it's more easily collected. Anyway, for those of us for whom LEGO is first and foremost a construction plaything and only second (if at all) an investment, it's much more useful to have figures be readily available.

That said, it'd be nice to know what the quality of these is like, and nicer still if it were known the figures would be available at TRUs everywhere, though from this thread it's starting to look like it's a Canada-only thing. Ah, well.

Edited September 27, 2012 by Blondie-Wan

[Flipz]

Does anyone know exactly how much a "qualifying purchase" for these vintage minifig sets would be? I really want the black-box one, but I need to be able to plan my budget (since I'll already be making some larger purchases directly from LEGO thanks to the double VIP points promo).

[Darkdragon]

That said, it'd be nice to know what the quality of these is like, and nicer still if it were known the figures would be available at TRUs everywhere, though from this thread it's starting to look like it's a Canada-only thing. Ah, well.

The four collections are in the USA for sure. The two events I posted are USA.

I'd hazard a guess that these figs will be same quality as the previous Vintage Figures collections, which were very nice. The forsestwoman print from the previous collection is a slightly different shade of green when compared to the original figure.

[legomonk]

I am personally pumped about these collectible sets. Only thing is releases currently aren't anything I really want.

The cost I bet will be 40$ a week. I think that's how much it was last year.

[TheLegoDr]

I'm always excited to see what is available for Bricktober, but I've never participated (mostly due to the higher costs). I think these vintage figures are neat, but there are a select few figures I'd want out of each set and I'm certainly not buying enough to get all four series.

I haven't stepped into a TRU since maybe early this last winter. SO I may have to stop in just to see what is available.

[medib]

I have heard that you need to spend $60.00 US in the US stores and $75 Canadian in the Canadian stores... not officially sure though.

I hope there's going to be some remainders at the end of the promotion. Last year and the year before with the magnets, there were tons of leftovers. I think it took until the Summer before I

stopped seeing them.

(crosses fingers)

Edited September 27, 2012 by medib

[Ferrik]

These promotions sound great, but I just hope they'll have something like this in Australia too...

[Artifex]

I hope I can get at least 1 of each box.

Sometimes it just hurts too much to live in Brazil =(((

[posades]

Does anyone know exactly how much a "qualifying purchase" for these vintage minifig sets would be? I really want the black-box one, but I need to be able to plan my budget (since I'll already be making some larger purchases directly from LEGO thanks to the double VIP points promo).

Last year it varied from week to week, but I believe the average was anywhere from $25 to $50. Seeing as how last year's freebie was only one minifig and this year's you have several, I wouldn't be surprised if you had to spend more like medib mentioned.

[RednWhite]

On a side issue, I picked up the newsletter for October from the Lego Westfield store and from the 26th to 31st October there is a free gift to any children turning up in a Halloween costume. I wondered whether the gift could be the polybag on the TRU poster