Series 3 code list cracked - FBTB gets to break the story!

[that guy]

I don't know any of you, and you obviously don't know me but yes I cracked the Lego code for series 3 and in my angst and excitement to be the first in the world I probably handled it the wrong way and I wanted to apologize to all of you for that. I don't care about anyone here actually buying it, I just wanted people to see what I did, and didn't expect it to spin that way but I guess it's too late for that. I don't want to be a jerk to the people here because I actually have a great respect for many of them and will share the premise of the code to you (see below). I love this website and what it offers and have been an honest contributor thus far and want to continue doing so which is why I'm reaching out to all of you. I can assure you I have indeed cracked it, and would love the notoriety across the Lego forums but please understand that after loosing my corporate job to the economy, selling Legos here and there is one of my only sources of income right now and I would ask that you don't judge me. I'm a huge Lego fan, and a solid contributor here on a regular basis but I wanted to send you this because despite my user name, I'm not 'that guy' all the time.

Deciphering the code is based on a series of minuscule raised bumps embedded in the heat sealing band at the bottom. They are near impossible to see in most situations but once you match up several packs you will see the pattern. It is 100% accurate despite some quirks such as how the gorilla is coded and the accuracy with with you need to have between a few of them as well as not all of them having as deep a dot as others. The Indian Chief and Samurai are among the toughest to code.

And they said it couldn't be done

-I have a photo of all 16 and where the marks are but suck at posting photos here. (yes I realize the irony)

[onions]

do you have a flickr account? i could post the photo on fbtb's flickr account for you. email me if okay: no_onions@yahoo.com

edit: i don't think anyone's going to judge you negatively. the fact that you are sharing the secret will be a relief for many. i'm glad you came out with it, i have a lot more respect for you now. don't you feel better?

and i have to say, it's quite ingenious on both LEGO's part and your ability to crack it.

[cas]

I really wonder what the fine folks at Lego are thinking right now, or will be very, very soon. Good work, that guy, good work. I'm glad I wasn't going nuts inspecting the packaging trying to figure out if those indents where deliberate.

[dhaas06]

Wow, that's interesting; thanks for sharing!

I don't think it was wrong of you to try to make a buck off the idea, because you put through the effort after all to crack the code, figure it all out, and put the list together. Making some money would be a just reward. Now that you've come clean about it, I bet some people would still be willing to pay $5 or so to have a good, organized list to save them the trouble of making it themselves. Either way, thanks for sharing your find!

[onions]

posted: http://www.fbtb.net/2010/11/18/series-3 ... e-cracked/

[Nannan]

Great news indeed. Now I wonder if there'll be Euro and US versions

[SDIronClaw]

I wonder if Lego will change the marking pattern now? Awesome deduction though...impressive...most impressive.

[that guy]

Great news indeed. Now I wonder if there'll be Euro and US versions

That's an excellent question but my guess is that they used the same formula to create both versions (if they make 2 this time) so in theory there should be identifiers on the Euro packs in similar fashion albeit in different patterns.

[JD4M]

Well that didn't take long!

[AbstractedIdeal]

that guy, the LEGO community thanks you. Your name will go down in history.

Yes, I can see it now...

"that guy did such wonders for the LEGO community."
"Which guy?"
"that guy."
"No, which guy?"
"that guy."

In all seriousness, I had only intended to find a Mummy from CMFv3 up until now, but this makes me want to reconsider and try for a full set.

Big thanks to that guy for sharing the find.

[Chief]

Holy crap.

[DarthMC]

Ok, some random thoughts on how it works

1. Computerized imaging systems are relatively cheap and could pick out the a bump pattern.

2. The bumps could be magnetic particles that could be scanned but that seems too expensive.

Are the bumps an embossed feature or are they something placed in between the edges before the heat sealing?

DarthMC

[J30spiff]

This was unexpected. I was leaning towards skipping Series 3 but this has pushed me back to the other side. "that guy", thanks for sharing your discovery with all of us.

[MisterFubar]

that guy is all right in my book.

Thanks for cracking the code, now I just need LEGO to ship some to any of my local stores.

[Model Gal]

This code thing sounds interesting, but in all honesty I'll be doing the same thing I did for Series 2 -- the "feel" method. I found that at least for me it was much faster to just feel what figure it was than either the barcode scanner or the barcode sheet. I was just at LEGOLAND the other day and in the same time a lady scanned two, I could tell 10 or 12 different figures. (This was series 2 mind you) Its relatively easy to tell what distinctive item is for each figure -- i.e tennis racket, banana, snowboard, etc.

[popnfresh]

so these bumps are for the US versions?

[GIR3691]

I threw this together. Thought I'd share, until a better chart comes along. Tried to match the dots best I could based on those reference photos.

[that guy]

I threw this together. Thought I'd share, until a better chart comes along. Tried to match the dots best I could based on those reference photos.

Very nice and definitely far more functional than mine . Let the fun begin!!!

Also, please note that the gorilla IS NOT dots but is instead a weird 'melted' look but it's very consistent and is in the location of the dots.

[onions]

thanks rick! :-D posted the image to the main page

[condor]

That's awesome! Now to find these at the store. Thanks for sharing that guy!