Minifigure Series 3 Spotted At TRU

[Model Gal]

I found them at my local TRU. They were $2.99 and BOGO 50%. There was also no limit, at least not there. There was only half a case, but I managed to find 13 different figs and 7 extras by feel. The only ones Ididn't find were the race car driver, the hula girl, and the rapper.

[dylla]

So only West Coast have got these so far? Anyone not on the West Coast get these yet?

[Peyote]

So only West Coast have got these so far? Anyone not on the West Coast get these yet?

As I mentioned, I found these at a TRU in Austin. Incidentally, out of the two near me, only one was carrying them or had them out yet.

[hassmyster]

I went by a toyrus here in maryland and found three unopened cases and one opened one. I managed to swipe two of each. Good times. I also spoke with an assistant manager today at a Lego Store. Indicated to me that this series will have a very wide distribution. He said people should not have trouble finding the minifigs.

[GIR3691]

Ugh. I just got over Series 2. Never found them at retail once, had to order off S@H and get a friend to pick up the rest for me. My local TRU never had Series 2 at all, and told me they aren't expecting S3 either. So bizarre, since it's the only toy store for at least half an hour in every direction.

[liquidcross]

I've gotten all of mine at Target or Borders. Hopefully they'll get series 3 soon.

[UOldPirate]

Series 3 figs have also made it to all the Western NY TRUs too. They've all had multiple boxes out and in some cases, sealed boxes right under the opened ones. The only thing I've noticed different this time is that instead of being at the outside edge of service desk like before, they've moved them up by the service desk registers. More control over the selection process maybe?

[SonOfSolo]

Went to TRU last night and got 16. The first 11 were all different. Went back a few hours later and got 12 more. All i am missing now is the mummy. Not bad. The dots are way hard to read on some figs. Some looked almost smooth without any dots at all. Mine were 2.99 with BOGO which is about 2.25 each. I can't believe I found the fisherman and the hula dancer. I like the man in monkey suit way more than I thought I would.

[Kevblee]

Yeah, good luck with the dots, and I hope you have lots of time to kill in the store. I went thru an unopened box for one hour. Bought 12, 11 were different. Missing 5 now including the Monkey, Pilot and Race Car Driver. Some of the packs I saw had NO dots at all. NO tilting or feeling the bottom strip showed anything at all. One of my packs did not line up with the cheat sheet at all....not even close. ( I thought it was the Chief by feeling the pack, and I was right.) I'm glad we have the sheet,....but man do I miss the barcodes! Also, many TRU's still dont have them. Any the SKU and TRU numbers posted here....just get blank stares from the TRU employees....who say, "those numbers are not in the system."

[that guy]

Yeah, good luck with the dots, and I hope you have lots of time to kill in the store. "

It was never promised as a perfect system, and I've commented that the dots need a little tweaking to get the exact positioning. HOWEVER, I can tell you that it goes much faster if you hold the bag at the top with the dots facing away from you. Then use the glare on the bag to spot the dots, and yes even I have occasional trouble with it but I can do a case of 60 in about 30-40 minutes at this point. You just have to start with the easier ones and weed them out and then work on the tougher ones. Also, for those having issues with the Ape, there are no dots as I stated before, it's the only pack with a weird melted look in the area of where the dots should be.

[Kevblee]

Yeah, good luck with the dots, and I hope you have lots of time to kill in the store. "

It was never promised as a perfect system, and I've commented that the dots need a little tweaking to get the exact positioning. HOWEVER, I can tell you that it goes much faster if you hold the bag at the top with the dots facing away from you. Then use the glare on the bag to spot the dots, and yes even I have occasional trouble with it but I can do a case of 60 in about 30-40 minutes at this point. You just have to start with the easier ones and weed them out and then work on the tougher ones. Also, for those having issues with the Ape, there are no dots as I stated before, it's the only pack with a weird melted look in the area of where the dots should be.

Like I said, I am happy you discovered the dots....it sure beats no system at all. I was just able to cruise thru barcodes pretty quick. I did tilt and try to do the "glare" technique in the store to discover those little guys. Some of them do jump out. But I was finding "dots" on mine that seem to be additional, and really throwing me. My Elf for instance, the package has 3 extra dots far left of package...and one at the bottom...and these seem to be smaller than the others.

Thanks for the info on the Ape....he was one I picked up and chucked back because I could not find any dots.

[MicroJow]

I know everyone's going to hate me for saying this, but I've just about finished finding all the Series 3 figures I wanted! One more Fisherman and perhaps a spare Tennis Player and I'm DONE.

Went back to TRU this morning and they let me root through a fresh box. They increased their limit to 15 per person because they received even more cases last night. Something tells me the deluge is about to hit and by the end of the year, TRU is going to be BEGGING people to buy full cases just to get them out of their stores!

Agreed that the dot system isn't perfect, but it does help narrow things down and then I can usually finish up the ID with the touchy-feely technique.

I'm still extremely surprised there are only 2 Fishermen per box. I wonder if they're going to adjust that amount in future refresher cases. It was bad enough when there were only 3 of a particular figure in a box but at least that allowed for three full sets per box.

- J

[turtle1173]

Found a box in the lego section at TRU here in Missouri. It took me about 15 minutes of using the "glare method" to come up with the two I was hopeful to get. I wasn't feeling very confident but I took them back home to give one to each of my kids. Sure enough, it worked out well. I got the bogo half off and managed to get the fisherman & the elf. Let's just say, the "good knights" are happy to have an elf on the team, LOL. Oh, and the fisherman is roughing it trying to catch the big one on the frozen pond next to the bakery

[Morgan19]

Found some at the Newark, DE TRU as well. They had a few boxes in various states of fullness and emptiness, off in the special holiday/gift section up at the front-side of the store, not in the regular LEGO aisles.

No limits per person that I could tell at this particular store, and the BOGO50% is applied to them as well.

m19

[sumwon75]

Found them at TRU in Columbus, OH. Bought 16 after trying to match the dots I gave up and just went for as many that didnt match , opened them in my car - got 2 duplicates - went back in and searched or additional elf and fisherman, plus the 2 I needed for the set. Most fun was talking with the 3 boys and mom who were also on the hunt and helping each other decipher the dot codes...

Cant decide as a whole which series I like best, as a lifelong castle fan the elf certainly tips the scale towards S3.

[dylla]

Found them in Winston-Salem, NC TRU. I found the one I was looking for, the elf, after looking through a couple boxes for 10-15 minutes. The dots were hard to see, but it would have been much, much harder without the key. Thanks that guy! I knew it was the one by feeling the longbow inside of the package, just to be sure. They had four open boxes, relatively untouched, sitting right next to the holiday stuff just inside the doors. I wasn't expecting to see them there, so I was really happy. Although sorting through the bags with other customers walking around me wasn't fun, it was still totally worth it.

[MisterFubar]

Best series yet.

Stopped in my local TRU in Olathe, KS to take advantage of the SW BOGO coupon and there were two fresh boxes sitting at the customer service desk. I was in a bit of a hurry so I just grabbed 10 random ones, managed to get half of the series with my only duplicates being the gorilla and a mummy. I'll probably swing through later to grab another 10 or so and try my luck to get the rest of them. With the BOGO still going on they only cost me about 2.25 each. Well worth it.

Grabbing random ones and blindly opening them when I got home was so much more fun than standing there trying to decipher the bumps or read barcodes. Although I noticed when I got home that the bumps are very easy to distinguish.

[pharmjod]

I saw something very disheartening the other day at my local meijer... there were a ton of series 2 minifigures and about 1/3 of them had been opened (presumably to determine what was in it). I hope this doesn't become a trend with the series 3 as well since they will have wider distribution. I would hate for retailers to give them a shot only to decide not to carry them anymore due to pilfering and damaged goods. looking forward to finding the series 3 eventually though (soon hopefully)!

[Zyfot]

I found series 3 at two local Meijers. I got a case minus one figure. I was relieved to still find to fishermen.

[DarthMC]

Stopped in my local TRU (MD) this morning and they had a brand new carton out. I found a few that the employees wanted first (they did not know about the dots) then started to pick out all the ones I was missing. From the register I hear the dreaded words "HOW MUCH!!! This can't be right" from the cashier. They were ringing up at $4.49 each. The manager was surprised and found that they raised the price last night. Needless to say, I put them back (except for the 2 fisherman which at BOGO was not bad)

Also they are online at TRU for $2.99 (thanks ToysNBricks for the info) BUT you can only BOGO one and it is not a free shipping item.

DarthMC