LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series 12 Rumours and Discussion

[Jared]

Seems everyone is fine with the new msrp?

Oh no, did it go up again?!

[SweetiePie88]

the 4 bucks a pack thing? I'm not! 4 bucks for simpsons i could MAYBE understand since they are licensed but series 12 is no in my book. The only reason lego's selling them for this much is that they include some code for that lego MMO. I MIGHT be able to accept that IF i actually liked the game but i don't. I'm trapped in the pirate cove unable to beat the pirate captain in the pirate trials and i know from my closed beta days that the other area is pretty much impassible unless i get a crew of people and i've never seen more then 2 or 3 other live humans in the area. And from the other things i've seen in the game, i'm not really impressed with it overall.

[SirBlake]

Seems everyone is fine with the new msrp?

No, but we've already whined about it and it isn't going to change, so what to do about it but buy less/none?

[fred67]

I am not that enthusiastic about this series to be honest, I feel I will mostly be collecting them just to keep a complete collection.

I pretty much feel the same way... my series 11 (not Simpsons or Movie) figures have been waiting for me to build a display, which I need two series for (if you've seen the CMF display threads, you'll know what I mean). But my interest in CMF at all has wained, and after seeing close up (renderings, anyway), I'm not all that thrilled. I won't go through each one explaining why, but there are very few that I'm interested in for anything besides collecting. I guess it'll be better on my wallet in the long run.

No, but we've already whined about it and it isn't going to change, so what to do about it but buy less/none?

And TLG is happy either way... you can buy less, they have to work less for the same profit. Or you can buy more... even better!

I think TLG has one of the highest profit margins in the business. I'm glad they're not in financial difficulty anymore, but still...

But that's what happened - they got you addicted with $2.00 minifigures, then once you're hooked, like any good crack dealer, they jack up the price!

[Hythonia]

I can't wait for these to be out. I'm a bit disappointed they're keeping the $4 price, but I've accepted it. I'll be getting for sure:

Wizard

Princess

Battle Goddess (yay, Athena for Wonder Woman!)

Surfer

Dino Tracker

Genie Girl

I may end up getting the Spooky Girl because I like Wednesday Addams, and maybe the Swashbuckler for my boyfriend. Oye, and maybe the Jester for the Castle theme sets. I guess I'll just buy 'em all.

[Fritzy]

For those bothered by the price, I'm curious if the double-points event in October will make this easier to swallow. Or is the principle of the matter too hard to overlook? Thoughts?

[Robert8]

I'm just going to say this: The MMMO is really silly. Wait for the Lego.com bio to find out more about Spooky. And she has regular legs with printed stripes under a skirt. LEGO has never endorsed putting leg pieces into bricks.

Her bio is already out since the MMO and Lego.com use the same one

"“Do you want to come play with me?”

The Spooky Girl likes everything that’s creepy, crawly, icky and eerie. She loves having bad dreams and watching scary black-and-white movies. She loves taking long walks through old graveyards, hearing the wind howl at night, and seeing dry leaves fall off of trees. She loves rats and bats and snakes and spiders, and they love her, too.

Because of all that, the Spooky Girl tends to come off as just a little bit…different. People don’t always understand her point of view, or her sense of style, or her habit of suddenly appearing behind them in mirrors when they don’t know she’s in the room. But she can’t help being spooky; it’s just the way she is!"

[8BrickMario]

That's great. Definitely going for the Addams Family vibe, a spooky person who connects with the dark things, has creepy toys, and doesn't understand why she's different. And it explains cleverly why she's monochrome, since it's blatantly obvious that she's a Wednesday clone, and the show (and apparently Spooky's favorite films) are black-and-white.

[fred67]

For those bothered by the price, I'm curious if the double-points event in October will make this easier to swallow. Or is the principle of the matter too hard to overlook? Thoughts?

Since I won't be buying direct from LEGO, double points is meaningless. I suppose at the fixed price of $4 that it doesn't matter where most people buy from, and points are an incentive, but since I can't buy a case from TLG to be sure to get complete sets, I sure as heck am not going to buy 60 of them directly from TLG and pray.

My problem is that I believe CMFs to be the highest profit margin items that TLG sells, and they DOUBLED in price in four years... and it's almost all profit.

Yes, I believe in capitalism, and hey, it's LEGO, nobody makes us buy it, but that doesn't mean I need to be happy about the price.

And honestly... I don't need to hear from Europeans complaining about U.S. prices... you should be complaining your prices are too high, not that ours are too low.

[stackables]

The fact that these are blind packs doesn't help at all. I am not the type of collector who likes to feel up packs at stores so the chance I could spend $4 and not get a fig I want is going to be a big deterrent from me. I don't imagine many parents are comfortable with that price too. Imagine a child spending their allowance on one fig and getting the one they hated the most.

[Clone OPatra]

I am not the type of collector who likes to feel up packs at stores so the chance I could spend $4 and not get a fig I want is going to be a big deterrent from me.

Honestly it just sounds like you're doing a disservice by being unwilling to feel the packs for what you want. Nearly every time I've bought CMF in the last couple years, wherever it might be, packs have already been felt by someone. It's just a commonsense thing to do, even from the perspective of an employee in a store - it's a blind pack, and the customer is trying to figure out which one it is.

That said, I don't like the creeping price either, and I'm probably still going to buy some of these. It's just starting to seem like a lot of money for just a single figure. LEGO would still be raking in the cash if these were priced at $3 (heck, even $2). It's starting to feel not so worth it, or at least making me be a lot more choosy about which figures to buy. I was never a completionist to begin with, but the days of getting even as much as half the series will be over since I'll have to really like a fig now to get it.

[Blakstone]

I have been getting better at feeling the packs but I get bored if I do it too long. I wish the price increase did not happen. However, I sat out Simpsons wave 1 (except for the Maggie new torso) and I will set out the Simpsons wave 2. This means I will spend less on CMF, not more.

[Joebot]

The price hike has definitely put a damper on my enthusiasm. I own every figure through series 11, and I generally like everything in series 12, but ... $4 is a mental stumbling block for me. My collecting days are over.

It's interesting, the same thing happened when comic books went from $2 to $3 to $4 in a very short span. It totally killed my interest in the hobby, and now I haven't bought a new comic in years. I suspect the same thing is going to happen with the CMF series. I assume Lego knows what they're doing, and the increased profit on each fig will offset the potential decline in overall numbers sold. Still sucks though. I really enjoyed collecting these figs, but at $4, I have to tap out.

[TheLegoDr]

Exactly. Cheaper is better. LEGO has to make money, but it can be tough to swallow with it going up double over the span of the series.

They are putting out some neat figures and part of me wants to "get them all" but another part really only wants to pick up the few that REALLY interest to me to save money. 2015 is going to be expensive enough as far as I can tell.

[klinton]

Huh. I just assumed that people bought these by the case. I didn't even think to 'feel' for the one's I'd want, and I have the worst luck with just random grabs (or so my legion of 'Taco Tuesday' guys can attest, hahaha).

[8BrickMario]

Buying by the case isn't a practical or easily attainable method for many people. I always prioritize a few figures and feel them out, while filling out the series after I get my tops. (For instance, I'm seeking out Spooky and the Jester, or the Genie if she has the long hair, and then perhaps getting the Wizard, Princess, and Pizza Guy.)

Edited August 30, 2014 by 8BrickMario

[klinton]

Buying by the case isn't a practical or easily attainable method for many people. I always prioritize a few figures and feel them out, while filling out the series after I get my tops. (For instance, I'm seeking out Spooky and the Jester, or the Genie if she has the long hair.

Aye. I'm def going to try the 'feel' method. I don't need three sets of these (one of each will suffice), like I have of the Simpsons.

That's an insane savings. I actually feel like a bit of an idiot right now.

[8BrickMario]

The picture on the box is your best friend when feeling. Good luck when they come out!

[Robert8]

or the Genie if she has the long hair

In the CGI it looks to me the "bun" has a different color from the rest of the hairpiece. But we need to wait until WhiteFang review is out (hopefully this monday! )

[jonwil]

I for one always do the "feel" trick when buying my CMFs. There are retailers out there who dont like it (or keep their CMFs behind the counter so you cant feel them) but if you encounter those just buy from elsewhere.

[m0dulo]

And honestly... I don't need to hear from Europeans complaining about U.S. prices... you should be complaining your prices are too high, not that ours are too low.

I think the next time Americans and Europeans discuss differences in LEGO prices, they should first discuss holiday time, end of year bonuses, paternity leave, etc.

[tafkatb]

In the CGI it looks to me the "bun" has a different color from the rest of the hairpiece. But we need to wait until WhiteFang review is out (hopefully this monday! )

She has long hair - what you're seeing in the render is the gold hairband that ties off her ponytail.

[klinton]

I think the next time Americans and Europeans discuss differences in LEGO prices, they should first discuss holiday time, end of year bonuses, paternity leave, etc.

It's not about anything like that. It's litterally about volume sales and import taxations.

The USA is a society based on mass consumption of luxury goods, with a very dense population.

The unit price of an item is inherently lower, as it's guaranteed to move bulk volume.

No other country can keep pace with the American market, and so the unit price is reflective of the market conditions.

I'm in Canada, like right next door. Prices are consistently higher here on identical products. This is perfectly acceptable because we just can't provide a market to rival our southern nieghbors (I think the state of California has more people than our entire country). We also have higher taxes on incumbent products than Americans choose to impose.

I don't understand why people take issue with this seeming discrepency? It's not about LEGO or thier desires. It's about the market, and what it allows. The LEGO Group doesn't set out to price things all over the map, but responds to what any given market will support. :D

[m0dulo]

It's not about anything like that. It's litterally about volume sales and import taxations.

I didn't go into much detail but I think we're on the same page. They are different markets and a lot of factors contribute to it. I can cross a city line a mile away and be faced with radically different situations, such as culturally, politically, economically, etc. As you said:

I don't understand why people take issue with this seeming discrepency? It's not about LEGO or thier desires. It's about the market, and what it allows. The LEGO Group doesn't set out to price things all over the map, but responds to what any given market will support. :D

[Robert8]

They are already in the streets! I love them! :drool: