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Lego needs to not focus on the minifigures!

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Is it just me, or is Lego releasing more and more sets that focuses on the minifigures? One example is the Corporate Alliance Tank Droid- no one really wants the actual set, they buy it for the minifigures. Another one would be Droid Escape- no one cares about the pod, they just want C-3P0 and R2-D2 and the sandtroopers. Personally, I want better sets, not just the usual obscure set with 4 minfigures. DAE agree with me?

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Is it just me, or is Lego releasing more and more sets that focuses on the minifigures? One example is the Corporate Alliance Tank Droid- no one really wants the actual set, they buy it for the minifigures. Another one would be Droid Escape- no one cares about the pod, they just want C-3P0 and R2-D2 and the sandtroopers. Personally, I want better sets, not just the usual obscure set with 4 minfigures. DAE agree with me?

They seem to try and do a mix of such sets. But there is no mistaking that the distinct unique or wanted Minifigs drive set sales. Some sets are very much Minifigs plus some basic meh thing for them to do. Others are much more focused on the set itself. The Sail Barge, Jedi Defender, Republic Gunship, Jedi Defender and ATTE seem to be the standouts in terms of actual focus on the set. And yeah they are also the pricey ones.

Although to be fair, it is not always limited to the upper end. There were some surprisingly good little sets at the lower price points in this last wave. A Wing, Clone Walker and Barc speeder come to mind.

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Hullo, I just signed up after watching this place for a long while now, and I intend to have my opinion on this. I'll be posting in the welcome thread soon enough.

In response to the two sets you mentioned, I actually was convinced to buy Droid Escape after seeing the nifty little hoverspeeder one of the Sandtroopers has and seeing clearer pictures of the pod interior :grin: The Corporate Alliance Tank Droid is on my must-buy list also because of the build, the minifigures are important as they were in Droid Escape, but I do love the Tank Droid's design.

I do see your point, but some of the builds in sets are fantastic and I don't quite get why you wouldn't want awesome-ly detailed minifigs such as the lovely new design of Boba Fett. But some more detailed sets would be nice.

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I think it's inevitable that some of the focus is on the minifigures for the licensed sets. People will always want to collect their favorite figures, and it's smart marketing to include limited edition figures in only a few sets so that people will buy them. If all of the popular minifigures are available in a single set, or in a figure pack, sales of the sets will go down. I don't think this is the case with Lego's own IP, it seems like those are more focused on design and less on minifigures.

I agree that some of the set designs are lacking. The escape pod is an iconic scene, but it just seems a bit boring here. I think if they depicted the pod buried in the sand, it would come off a lot better (and probably have some interesting build techniques showcased). It would be nice if they offered plain old stormtroopers, droids, rebel troops, etc as battle packs though in case you want to build an army. I think there's some licensing issue though, as they can't sell "action figures."

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I disagree. Though some sets have boring builds I think you can do both a good build and good minifigures. And honestly I'm sick of all my duplicates. I often can't get a minifigure I want unless I buy a set which I don't want anything but that minifigure. Make that happen less by making every minifigure a bit unique :P.

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Hi, I can understand your point and another example would be palpatines arrest where people brought it for the minifigures. But I think that Lego will focus on the sets more particularly in episodes 7,8 and9.

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It may indeed seem that TLG focuses on the minifigs alot and this has been discussed already. While i too can imagine that minifigs sell sets to many, i personally do not decide on this alone. The figs are (important) elements of a set but not the only one. If the combination of design/color/build/size/topic/minifigs/price does not fit, i will easily pass a set.

Still, redesigns and improvements and new minifigs add attractiveness to a set. Let's take the new A-Wing for example. No SW collection is complete without at least one. Getting Han Solo, an unique pilot and Admiral Ackbar do make up for the price (to some degree) and can make owners of an older version catch interest in the new version, either.

Speaking of the Corporate Alliance Tank droid - i want to have at least one. It's a great PT CIS vehicle. Getting a long awaited Jango Fett and some ado makes the set almost perfect (the flaw remains the price in Europe: You pay the equivalent of 35.76 USD - that is 178% of the price in the US). I do not wonder that Lego sells better overseas. You can get almost two there for the price of one here. And furthermore, there are tremendeous sales in the US (3 for 2 and stuff like this...). And we have not yet spoken about our Aussie fellows.

But let's stay on topic. I'd buy a tank droid without Jango or an A-Wing without Han and the Admiral. But the minifigs improve the selling proposition and sometimes they turn the tide for some people to buy or not. You can always debate about a design or design details of vehicles, buildings and sceneries - but bad minifigs do definitely deter from buying in their own right. Cartoony eyes for example make me shrink away and take a long way around a set.

And Savage is right. The license is running it's 14th year. Virtually everything has been there already. To keep things running smoothly (SW is TLG's best selling line ever) until 2022, they believe to be required on redesigns and improvements on the minifigs. As i said, i decide on the whole of a set, the combination of content. I, for example love the new X-Wing. It doesn't have the whole croud of heroes as had it's predecessor - i bought a bunch of this set for the vehicle itself. Others wanted it for a new Jek Porkins and a slightly new Luke... To each his own. :wink:

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Personally I like the minifigs; I was frustrated at trying to find good ole Darth in a set (I actually have two now with a third on the way :classic: ).

But Lego really is catering across the board here, there are most certainly several stunning Star Wars sets that don't focus on the mini-figs or where the build and the minifigs are compelling...

I honestly believe that it has been Lego's focus on the mini-figs in this line that has kept it as popular as it is with those battle pack type sets designed to help kids get a few extra figs to complement their collection for play.

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They focus on the minifigures because they are running out of set ideas from the prequel/original trilogy.

yup, I agree you can tell they are running out of ideas but then again Lego has really hit every major vehicle, starship and location, shown in the classic films outside of the mon calamari cruisers and the random speeders show around mos eisley

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Is it just me, or is Lego releasing more and more sets that focuses on the minifigures? One example is the Corporate Alliance Tank Droid- no one really wants the actual set, they buy it for the minifigures. Another one would be Droid Escape- no one cares about the pod, they just want C-3P0 and R2-D2 and the sandtroopers. Personally, I want better sets, not just the usual obscure set with 4 minfigures. DAE agree with me?

I actually bought the Droid Escape just for the pod. :grin:

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Hi

that is a good discusion comming up.

I see that e.g. normal creator or city sets are more made for building experience than role playing. You do not know much about the "excavator driver".

Star Wars figures and licensed figures in general add a whole background story for each figure. More complex and deeper roleplaying is possible.

Secondly rare and unique and printed parts make each set more valuable, especially for collectors than sets with general bricks. The most unique and most detailed part on a Star Wars set are the figs.

One good example: I bought recently a brand new in seal bags 7965 Millenium Falcon, without figs. The MRSP is 149€, 129€ is the average low price in internet stores. I got 98% of this set for 70€, just one bag opened where the figs have been. Funily i will get all figs (charcters) of this set when i buy the Death Star - my next purchase this year :)

Dino

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They do need to focus on their minifigs, and they should make more playsets to put them in :-)

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I agree that LEGO should focus on the set itself, but it does need quality minifigures to complement the build process. I typically buy Licensed sets for the figures and use the pieces to build other things. Rarely do I find a Licensed set that is worthy of display, even though there are a lot of quality sets out there. However, there are a lot of great looking figures available. I try not to buy too many sets just for the figures, but it ends up happening that way anyway. I usually hope for the set to include some pieces that I can use in a different project. If I only want one figure out of many, then I try to ebay/bricklink it instead of getting the full set.

But with that said, I don't think LEGO should quit focusing on the figures. Figures do help sell sets. Just look at the collectible minifigure series. Clearly, minifigures sell sets since those fly off the shelves. With the newer printing available and minifigure accessories, the future looks bright for them. I love minifigures and display them more than actual sets. And since I don't play LEGO, I only build, I don't usually get too many of the play-sets, or I mod out the play feature.

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I am with Darth Dino here - sets tell stories, and for the main part these are told by the minifigures. In many themes they are specifically important, as they have a background, or a character from other media. This is most often the case for licenses, but also for e.g. Ninjago, where a TV series contains the characters.

Still, we all have different reasons to be happy or unhappy about the current direction for LSW, and we can only deal with what we get from TLC, and not make any decisions. If they are focusing on the figures, then we all have to make the best out of it, and while I understand the concern about certain decisions, in the end it's us who can manage our hobbies according to what we get. For the record, I once had an almost complete LSW collection, but I started losing interest and sold the biggest part in the past couple years. Nailing it down on the minifigures and TLCs policy to keep them rare and desirable would be just too easy to say, since I have very specific reasons, which are a mixture of being unhappy with all the re-designs, the line getting too big, prices, space and many other reasons - including issues with the minifig availability. A good example is the new Hoth Battle set, which contains nothing particularly new except one minifig. It's just a mixture or old and old and for a collector of older sets it's disappointing to see so few new things, and only slightly updates on Snowspeeders or the Luke minifig. I want new things, not little updates. But that's just me.

And while there are probably people like me, who lost interest due to these same reasons, there are others who exactly appreciate all this. Or in short - you cannot change the system, but your approach towards it.

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But with that said, I don't think LEGO should quit focusing on the figures. Figures do help sell sets. Just look at the collectible minifigure series. Clearly, minifigures sell sets since those fly off the shelves. With the newer printing available and minifigure accessories, the future looks bright for them. I love minifigures and display them more than actual sets. And since I don't play LEGO, I only build, I don't usually get too many of the play-sets, or I mod out the play feature.

I agree. Minifigs sell sets, and new minifigs are a great way to interest fans in remakes or more obscure vehicles. (And the theme has gone on for long enough that most of the options for sets either fall into the category of 'Remake' or that of 'Obscure Reference'.) I'm an MOCer, so when I buy sets, I'm not looking at how accurate or good-looking the model is -- even if I like to critique TLG in those areas, because I still want to see them get better -- I'm looking at the parts I can use and the new minifig parts that I don't have. The collectors and the MOCers will both buy for the new minifigs. If you're stuck in the middle, wanting the new minifigs to collect but also dissatisfied with the quality of the set, then you're probably going to eventually find out that TLG has to make a lot of compromises in the design of their System sets, and you should start MOCing.

That being said, I still support the critiquing of TLG's set's build quality, because even if it's not what I look for when deciding what to buy, I still like to see TLG improving their builds, and it's not as if any of us wish for TLG to do badly when designing a set.

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OP: I see your point, however I feel that the majority of the sets that have been coming out are well thought out and well designed. I really like the pod in Droid Escape, and while I don't really want the tank droid I do want Jango Fett so I'll likely get the set.

If you compare sets in the last couple of years to set 6-14 years ago I think there's a big difference, the newer ones are just better. Having new and detailed minifigures is icing on the cake for me.

Bottom line is that LEGO is a business, and they will market their wares for maximum profit. I bet there are a lot of meetings to decide which figures to put in which sets. If a set isn't deemed very strong (tank droid) then they will put a strong and desirable minifigure with it. I find nothing wrong with that. And what is there really to complain about? Even if you don't like the set remember you are getting LEGOs... build something else with them. ;)

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It's pretty clear lego have been focusing on the minifig (today they're key to the sets) look at all the effort to improve the overall quality, especially the printing it's been a huge leap, which is great. Lego has done a great job increasing the overall quality.

I love set building and a key ingredients in any set, to me, is playability, hidden features and look.

It's now time for Lego to focus on set quality. Imagine the sets the could produce if Lego put as much effort into them as they did with the minigures.

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Personally I like the minifigs; I was frustrated at trying to find good ole Darth in a set (I actually have two now with a third on the way :classic: ).

But Lego really is catering across the board here, there are most certainly several stunning Star Wars sets that don't focus on the mini-figs or where the build and the minifigs are compelling...

I honestly believe that it has been Lego's focus on the mini-figs in this line that has kept it as popular as it is with those battle pack type sets designed to help kids get a few extra figs to complement their collection for play.

Yeah for such an integral character Vader seems to have taken a back seat from sets recently. I had to get mine in a non- glued magnet set where he had been updated on the face. You can only get him at remotely decent price in the falcon nowadays unless you want to shell out for the star destroyer ucs or the imperial shuttle ucs. I'd like to see him in a cheaper set soon. I say remake the final duel with the new luke from the ewok village a new emperor and darth vader.

Personally I like the minifigs; I was frustrated at trying to find good ole Darth in a set (I actually have two now with a third on the way :classic: ).

But Lego really is catering across the board here, there are most certainly several stunning Star Wars sets that don't focus on the mini-figs or where the build and the minifigs are compelling...

I honestly believe that it has been Lego's focus on the mini-figs in this line that has kept it as popular as it is with those battle pack type sets designed to help kids get a few extra figs to complement their collection for play.

Indeed Vader must reappear perhaps with blue buttons on his control panel rather than green. I want to see a cheaper set of either Luke vs. Vader (empire)or the final duel (return). That would be fantastic!

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I wouldn't still be buying the sets if the focus wasn't so much on which figures come with the set, the only vehicle I really love that I have is the new Tie fighter. Everybody is different, some people love only UCS ships and statues, personally I would rather buy a more accurate plastic kit than spend that much money on one Lego set. For me Star Wars is chock full of amazingly designed costumes and creatures most of which translate into awesome figs, the vehicles are all awesome too but the resemblance isn't always perfect for me to keep sets built.

EDIT: not a dig at TLG as there's only so much detail that can be accomplished with our beloved bricks

Edited by ablake90

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Lego do need to make great minifigs... But they need to stop giving special figs to "special" people ala Comic Con etc...

I know its most bin a Super heroes thing....

But in Generel, we need the full package, great figs with new sets, or more creativ version of old sets :)

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Lego do need to make great minifigs... But they need to stop giving special figs to "special" people ala Comic Con etc...

I know its most bin a Super heroes thing....

But in Generel, we need the full package, great figs with new sets, or more creativ version of old sets :)

Agreed.

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Lego do need to make great minifigs... But they need to stop giving special figs to "special" people ala Comic Con etc...

I know its most bin a Super heroes thing....

But in Generel, we need the full package, great figs with new sets, or more creativ version of old sets :)

Don't forget they shouldn't make figs that everyone wants as exclusives to be given away at special events -hint hint- clone LT >:| NOT COOL LEGO NOT COOL what about us army builders who wanted an LT to complete the collection >:| ruined the AOTC line for me

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Lego do need to make great minifigs... But they need to stop giving special figs to "special" people ala Comic Con etc...

I know its most bin a Super heroes thing....

The problem is not really just the "special figs to 'special' people", it's a problem of TLG's choosing to use minifigs that could be in sets as those exclusives. Shadow ARF, Chrome Vader, Chrome TC-14, White Boba — those are all 'figs that in all likelihood are too obscure or too specialized to be put into a set, and you'd probably be okay with not having them for your MOCs. But minifigs like the Clone Lieutenant and the Hoth Han, those are more useful in MOCs and could easily have fit into regular sets.

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