Collectible Minifig Packs No Show @ Toy Fair

[jedi_master_sal]

Okay, so of these what are your guesses folks as to which ones will be common, uncommon, and rare?

Here's my guess:
Common
• Lifeguard - why common? can fit in with some sets and will go easily with the surfer and body builder (think Muscle Beach out in California)
• Body Builder - why common? can fit in with some sets and will go easily with the surfer and lifeguard
• Adventurer - why common? Plenty of adventure sets out there and Indy Jones too.
• Karate dude - why common? basic enough figure that can fit in some City sets
• Surfer dude - why common? can fit in with some sets and will go easily with the lifeguard and body builder (think Muscle Beach out in California)
• CHiPs Patrol - why common? An easy City set figure, nice change to all the other police minifigs
• Mime - why common? Again, another City type minifig
• Skier - why common? Yep you guessed it, City

Uncommon
• Spartan - why uncommon? Okay this might be a rare instead, but I think LEGO is smart enough to know people are going to want this minifig. So they'll make it harder than finding a common, but not so hard as a rare.
• Witch - why uncommon? Not too many sets it can go with, but a fairly unique type of figure. Works well with the Halloween sets from a few years back
• Ring Master - why uncommon? While he'll be a good City figure, not too many Circus sets out there that I know of.
• Egyptian - why uncommon? This one could be a rare too. Like the Spartan though he'll draw people to buy him, but hopefully LEGO won't frustrate us by making him rare.
• Disco Stu - why uncommon? Great City fig, but do we really need this to be common? But he is generic enough that he shouldn't be rare.
• Mexican - why uncommon? Nearly the same answer for Disco Stu here.

Rare
• Pop Singer - why rare? Okay, how many people need a ton of this minifig? One will suffice and I'm guessing not everyone is going to want one of her anyways. (I don't)
• Dracula - why rare? Well, IIRC he's ben done or close to it, in the Halloween sets from a few years back. But the torso deco is different. You really only need one Dracula...

So there are my prediction. 8 common, 6 uncommon and 2 rare (with maybe 2 of the uncommons being rare instead)

Anyone else care to guess?

[Jabba the Taff]

Uncommon
• Spartan - why uncommon? Okay this might be a rare instead, but I think LEGO is smart enough to know people are going to want this minifig. So they'll make it harder than finding a common, but not so hard as a rare.
• Egyptian - why uncommon? This one could be a rare too. Like the Spartan though he'll draw people to buy him, but hopefully LEGO won't frustrate us by making him rare.
• Disco Stu - why uncommon? Great City fig, but do we really need this to be common? But he is generic enough that he shouldn't be rare.
• Mexican - why uncommon? Nearly the same answer for Disco Stu here.

Rare
• Pop Singer - why rare? Okay, how many people need a ton of this minifig? One will suffice and I'm guessing not everyone is going to want one of her anyways. (I don't)
• Dracula - why rare? Well, IIRC he's ben done or close to it, in the Halloween sets from a few years back. But the torso deco is different. You really only need one Dracula...

Anyone else care to guess?

I'd basically swap those two lists around. You seem to be thinking that Lego wants to help us build cities. They're going to make those with the highest demand (regardless of how they fit into themes - and the witch would go with castle btw!) the rarest. Dracula will be common because it's already common. Basically, the Mexican is going to make junkies out of us all!! Have you seen the clamour for it already?

[Daz Hoo]

Like Jabba the Taff, I too think that LEGO is in it to make a buck, so it's most likely that the most sought after minifigs will likely be the rarest.

Personally, I would put the Spartan, the Witch and Dracula in the rarest category, since there will be most likely the most popular among this collection.

[fredjh]

I think they won't do all the sought after ones, because that would just piss everyone off; I think they'll make one popular one (The one's Daz mentioned) be VERY rare, but I don't think they'll make all of them that rare.

I may just be optimistic.

[Tyrant]

I think the question to ask should be, important to who? For AFOLs, sure we want legions of Greeks. Kids, the ones likely involved in any kind of focus groups, maybe or maybe not. In most action figure lines the focus groups tell them that kids want a small number of named characters, not tons and tons of the faceless legions (Stormtroopers, Cobra Vipers, whatever). I suppose LEGO is a little different in that they actually do make army building sets (for Star Wars anyway). So, assuming the level of desire for these figures was actually a factor in deciding which would be rare, one needs to figure out who's desire they are concerned about.

Alternatively, the rarity could mainly have to do with new accessories, types of accesories, etc. For instance, the Mexican figure features a large sombrero and a poncho. His hat is, so far as I can tell, the largest LEGO hat ever which means they likely cost more to produce than any other LEGO hat. Things like that are something to consider.

I honestly believe it will be a combination of the two. The Greek, for instance, has a unique helmet, a different spear than the standard spear, a cloak, and will likely be desired by all parties so I assume it will be rare. The mime appears to have multiple heads, I assume he will be rare. And so on and so on.

Or we could luck out and LEGO will make the ones they think are more sought after easier to get. Personally I doubt that outcome but at this point, who knows.

[crna2011]

Where will these minifigs be sold?

[Daz Hoo]

They will be available in stores in single opaque poly bags (meaning, you won't know which minifig you're getting until you open your bag) for $1.99 each ($2.99 in Canada).

[Solo]

Why is everyone so certain they won' be making equal quantities of these?

[Tyrant]

Why is everyone so certain they won' be making equal quantities of these?

This article, in the last paragraph, states that some will be rarer than others.

Relevent quote: "Last but certainly not least, the collectable minifigs were on display: both series one and two. They are just so awesome and series two has just as many very cool figs as series one. Nearly every one features something unique be it a printed torso or an accessory which hasn't been available before and (I'm told) won't be used elsewhere. I learned some other facts about them: They will cost £1.99 in the UK. The yellow outer box will contain 60 minifigs. Some will be rarer than others. They won't be available in newsagents like WHS but from normal stockists. Series one will be out around May and series two in September-ish, so that gives us a reasonable time to collect them all. You can't really tell what's in the bag by feeling them as they are quite stiff. And, as the title of this article suggests, the cheerleader has a nice pair of pom-poms :-)"

[DemoGoblin]

You can't really tell what's in the bag by feeling them as they are quite stiff.

First thing I thought of. Now Im wondering if you could feel the shape of really unique parts, say the witches hat or the spartans long spear?

[Mister Ed]

The differing rarity thing is really turning me off. I know they are a business, and they want to make money, but while I can stomach this sort of thing for collectible card games and the like (since they are really selling the GAME, and often rare cards can't be used in multiple, or aren't truly NECESSARY to play or enjoy the game), and even for action figures where you can at least SEE what you are buying, this just strikes me as obnoxious. At the very least, I hope they at least TELL us which figures are rarer. Card games at least do that. That way I can make an educated decision about whether it is even worth bothering. If the figures I am most interested in are rare, and the ones I could care less about are all common, I probably won't bother. I'm not going to pay for a glut of skater dudes and cheeleaders in hopes of MAYBE getting a caveman or robot.

I can't imagine, say, Star Wars figures being sold blind with differing rarities. Can you imagine people opening their figure hoping for Han Solo, and getting yet another Jar Jar Binks?

[Draykov]

I can't imagine, say, Star Wars figures being sold blind with differing rarities. Can you imagine people opening their figure hoping for Han Solo, and getting yet another Jar Jar Binks?

I can imagine build-a-figures with separate parts being included in other figs (some of which you wouldn't really want to buy otherwise). Kind of a similar thing if you ask me. The cool thing, as we've talked about a bit already, is that these little figs won't stay blind for long. I'm sure some folks will have a rare or two they'd be willing to trade for some other rare or two.

The pros outweigh the cons. Unique, spiffy new minifigs? Sold individually? For $2 a pop? Things could be a lot worse.

[Mister Ed]

The build-a-figures aren't blind, though, are they? And you don't have to get MULTIPLES of the less desirable figs to get them, only one. (And as far as Star Wars goes, the build-a-figs are all droids that seem like they would only really interest a completist anyway.)

And sure people will have rares they will trade for rares. But unless I'm willing to invest quite a bit, I'm likely to only have extras of commons, aren't I?

Yeah, things could be worse, but if the figs I'm interested in are rare, they ain't gonna be $2 a pop, in practical terms, unless I'm real lucky.

So I hope they let us know what's rare, so I can just give it a pass from the get go if it's the ones I'm most interested in.

[Draykov]

The build-a-figures aren't blind, though, are they? And you don't have to get MULTIPLES of the less desirable figs to get them, only one. (And as far as Star Wars goes, the build-a-figs are all droids that seem like they would only really interest a completist anyway.)

My only point was that alleged "shady" tactics to "force" someone to buy something they wouldn't have otherwise exist in the collectible action figure market as well.

[Daz Hoo]

Well, maybe some people will be after the more common ones also. Just by the conversations over at QuéLUG, I've noticed that while I may be fond of some of the minifigs in the collection, other members are going for complete different ones.

For example, personally, one cheerleader will be plenty for me, but one guy in my LUG wants 12 of them because he plans on making a football field. So I'm guessing that, if I get more than one cheerleader, I might be able to trade them to him for astronaut and robot minifigs.

And don't forget that those minifigs pack will be in limited quantities and available for only a short time. So whatever minifig you might get will probably gain a lot of value over time.

[Daz Hoo]

[Professor Farnsworth's voice]

Good news everyone!

[/voice]

Although some minifigs will be rarer than others, the boxes of 60 WILL NOT BE FILED RANDOMLY.

At least, that's what Steve wrote :

each bag comes with a complete minifig like Cagri said. Each box has a set amount of figures in it. There's no 60 figures total in a box and there's no fewer than 3 of any figure in the box. the packing of the cases will not be random, its just a mystery which one you happen to be grabbing out of the case.

Steve

So, if you happen to be the first one who picks from the box, your odds are 1 to 20 to pick up the minifig that you want.

[GIR3691]

I'm kind of glad it's being done the way it is. It's fairer to everyone to have them all randomized than to have them labeled. I'd go crazing going to store after store to see someone has horded all the zombies and clowns. I want my zombie clowns.

[fredjh]

Maybe I'm just dense, or it's a misquote, or a misstatement...

"Each box has a set amount of figures in it. There's no 60 figures total in a box and there's no fewer than 3 of any figure in the box."

I'm guessing it's "There's 60 figures total." If that's the case, then if there's 20 different kinds, and there's 60 figures in a box, and no fewer than 3 of any given figure in the box, doesn't that mean there's EXACTLY three of each?

That statement has me confused... should that be "there's no fewer than 60 figures total in a box? That would seem pretty odd.

[bigospedros]

Maybe I'm just dense, or it's a misquote, or a misstatement...

"Each box has a set amount of figures in it. There's no 60 figures total in a box and there's no fewer than 3 of any figure in the box."

I'm guessing it's "There's 60 figures total." If that's the case, then if there's 20 different kinds, and there's 60 figures in a box, and no fewer than 3 of any given figure in the box, doesn't that mean there's EXACTLY three of each?

That statement has me confused... should that be "there's no fewer than 60 figures total in a box? That would seem pretty odd.

to me, the statement looks wierd because of the "no" in front of the 60.

There are 16 different figures in each collection and 60 figures total in each box.

If there are at least 3 of each, then that's 48 catered for, so the other 12 will be probably more duplicates of the more common figs.

This thing seems simple to me, if you want 1 of each. Buy a case. Sell the ones you don't want. Yes, you'll have to find £120 / $120 in the first instance, but I suspect you'll get your money back or have plenty of options for trading.

[Prince Kahuka]

Best news ever! I've been planning on buying a box and hoping to get at least one of each, but to have a guaranteed minimum of 3 of each is just what I would have wished for (well, exactly four of each would have been slightly better). Now I won't have to worry about getting 10 of the ones I don't like as much and just one of the ones I do like, and by extension I won't have to buy multiple boxes to ensure multiples of the ones I like. It's enough of each fig to assemble one properly and mix and match others for fun.