NO Mini-Figs in Box...:(

[LegoDad42]

New poster here...hopin' someone can help me out.

Picked up set 8969, 4-Wheeling Pursuit. Loved the 4 Wheeler...ok on the helicopter, but after I finished the build, I noticed no mini-fig parts at all.

The box was sealed. The bags inside were sealed but no Agent fig or Dr. D Zaster. Has anyone opened a sealed box and found there were no mini-figs.

First time for me. I'm a new collector and have roughly 70 sets and it's the first time it's happened.

I contacted Lego about it but the only missing parts on their replacement list was the Agents head and hair and Dr. D Zasters head. No body, legs or D Zasters hair.

Anyone have this problem and did Lego replace the figs? Any help would be appreciated...thanks!

LegoDad

[Grimmy]

I've heard people talk about this rare occurrences but it's never happened to me though I just got back into Lego building. One thing that is kinda weird though, I'm suprised that you didn't notice until you build everything else. When we pour out the bags from the box, the first thing we at my house notice is the coolest parts of the set which is the figures heads and body parts. It's the first thing we put together just like in the instructions. Me and my niece just built 2 agents sets today and first thing we noticed was the figs especially in the agents sets because the bad guys are so kool. I bought my brother the 4 wheeling one you got, for Christmas but he hasn't put it together yet. The car looks really nice with the suspension. It's a nice big car too.

I don't know what else you can do if you have already called the Lego company. It's strange that the minifigs would be missing specifically. Are you sure no other pieces were missing? Did you get extras of any other pieces? I actually film my unboxings so if that ever happened I'd go back over the tape. lol I'm editing video to make reviews.

[Tinn-man]

Sadly, this sounds similar to what happened to Demonator, who bought a set that had all the minifigures missing. I believe that he said some one had bought the set, used a box cutter to open the box and the bags, took the minifigures out, resealed the bags and boxes with glue, and returned the set to the store.

So someone probably stole the minifigures out of it. Sorry .

As for a solution, I would try taking the box back to the store. Some stores might or might not take it back. A similar thing happened to me at walmart, where the a lot of the pieces and the minifigure was missing, and they took it back after I explained the situation with no questions asked. However, store like Toys R Us will not take any boxes back that have been opened, as I've heard.

Getting you're minifigures pretty much boils down to where you bought the set, and a little bit of luck.

[ILikePi]

If what Tinn-man suggested does not work, I would just go to LEGO Customer Service and describe that the minfigs are missing (there's a place to do that after you type in the set number - there's some fine text under the bricks that says "If part you need is not shown then click here"). I recall that someone else on EB said that he was missing a whole bag from a set, and he requested for all of them (about 100 pieces) on LEGO Customer Service with no questions asked.

Edited January 2, 2010 by ILikePi

[RileyC]

Lego seem to be pretty good with providing great customer service for matters that could potentially hurt their reputation.

I recall that someone else on EB said that he was missing a whole bag from a set, and he requested for all of them (about 100 pieces) on LEGO Customer Service with no questions asked.

You would think that someone would try to exploit their generosity (if they were that sick minded).

[soc399]

You might try calling Lego rather than using the online form. Lego does watch for people taking advantage of the replacement parts service, but you won't have any problem if you talk to a representative directly. I was missing a bag or two from my Green Grocer, and they didn't fill my second online parts request. I called them after not receiving the replacements, and the person at customer service said my request had been flagged because I ordered so many parts. Once I explained the situation, he had the parts sent right away. If you are missing more than a single piece, calling customer service is far superior to using the online system.

[LegoDad42]

Thanks guys.

Yeah, honestly...the tape on the box was the official tape seal you see on Lego boxes and all the bags were brand new sealed. So I was puzzled too.

I did get the odds and ends extra pieces but I had all the pieces plus stickers to build the 4 Wheeler and the Helicopter. I contacted Lego via email with the whole description. I'll take the advice if I don't hear back to call and relay my problem to a live operator and hopefully they can send the mini-figs.

But other than the missing figs...the 4 Wheeler is great! Love the whole look and independent suspension. The helicopter is hit and miss but still fun.

Thanks again guys...glad also to be onboard!

[jonwil]

Once I was in a K-Mart and there were 2 copies of the 8455 Backhoe loader on the shelf. Both had clearly been opened and possibly tampered with.

Took one up to the service counter and asked to look to see if it was complete. Saw that it wasnt. Went and grabbed the other one, wasnt complete either. Ended up taking some bags from one and some bags from the other to make one complete set (which was 100% complete)

[Captain Zuloo]

Once I was in a K-Mart and there were 2 copies of the 8455 Backhoe loader on the shelf. Both had clearly been opened and possibly tampered with.

Took one up to the service counter and asked to look to see if it was complete. Saw that it wasnt. Went and grabbed the other one, wasnt complete either. Ended up taking some bags from one and some bags from the other to make one complete set (which was 100% complete)

Did you get any sort of discount?

[bamaker]

I had this happen to me on an Indiana Jones Race for the Stolen Treasure set. I won the set in an eBay auction, and the box arrived sealed, even the baggies were sealed; but when I started opening the baggies the seams were a little off, as if they'd been heat sealed. Anyway, all the pieces were there except the Indiana Jones minifig and one of the rifles.

I called customer service. The individual I spoke to was very nice, very professional. I simply described each piece that was missing using the part number found in the inventory list at the back of the instructions; then I had to supply a serial number that was on the very back of the instruction booklet. This number allows LEGOGroup to know which production run the set came from in case there were any problems with that particular run, and it also serves as evidence any caller is actually looking at an instruction booklet and not making up a story. About a week later, my Indiana Jones and rifle pieces showed up in my mailbox.

[jamtf]

That is really disturbing. If the box came fresh from TLC without someone else involved, that is a bad situation. Imagine that a certain percentage of the boxes would contain flaws such as missing pieces, minifigs and all that... that is really bad for a company's reputation. And bad news for MISB collectors as well since you might be collecting incomplete sets due to failures such as these. A good thing for employment since customer service department will have a day job resolving this sort of problems.

I happen to know that Lego works with a weight system. This seems to be quite sophisticated since the smallest weight problem (with a small brick or 2 missing) would result in the box being taken out for inspection. If your Agents sets should contain 2 or more minifigs, it is strange that this (weight) problem has not been detected at the end control.

Lego seems to have more and more trouble coping with quality and demand. Many stores here in The Netherlands do not get their supply of Lego in time. It is bad if a new year begins and the store gets a load of (almost discontinued) 2009 sets delivered (since these were on back order) while customers ask for the newest items which they did not get. Also, the "China syndrom" has resulted in worse quality of parts (for example the Pirates Tic-Tac-Toe sets and maybe there is more that I do not remember). Lego is quite busy saving money by using all sorts of different production plants in locations all over the world (Czech Republic, Hungary, China, etc.) which somehow seems to cause all sorts of trouble (inferior quality and incomplete sets). In the end, all that counts is customer satisfaction. If I had to call customer service each time after receiving another incomplete set, that would be quite annoying (problem will eventually be resolved but it takes a lot of time and effort to get things right that should have been right from the start).

[The Green Brick Giant]

LEGO is great and will send you the pieces out real quick. I have never heard of this mistake through, so much for weighing the boxes.

[filip skywalker]

It's sad when these things happen. But you're lucky, Lego has a very good customer service!

Sadly, this sounds similar to what happened to Demonator, who bought a set that had all the minifigures missing.

You know, it's Dennimator At least if we are thinking of the same Calamarian-missing FOL*.

*No, not fool, Fan Of Lego.

[Legoliner Pilot]

LEGO is great and will send you the pieces out real quick. I have never heard of this mistake through, so much for weighing the boxes.

The minifigures were stolen and the set returned, probably. LEGO had nothing to do with this issue except for the manufacturing of the product.

Edited January 3, 2010 by Legoliner Pilot

[Zapper Brick]

I had a similar thing happen to me. I got Darth Vader's TIE for X-Mas, but, when I opened the box, the sticker sheet was missing! E-Mailed Customer Service, and they're sending me the sheet with no questions asked.

[Darth Legolas]

I had a similar thing happen to me. I got Darth Vader's TIE for X-Mas, but, when I opened the box, the sticker sheet was missing! E-Mailed Customer Service, and they're sending me the sheet with no questions asked.

There's a huge difference between a sticker sheet and a minifig, they're not even close. Losing a piece of paper is an honest mistake, especially a tiny one like Vader's sticker sheet. I bet if you flap out the pages of your instructions you'll find it right there.

A minifig missing has to be a huge error, or thievery.

[Zapper Brick]

There's a huge difference between a sticker sheet and a minifig, they're not even close. Losing a piece of paper is an honest mistake, especially a tiny one like Vader's sticker sheet. I bet if you flap out the pages of your instructions you'll find it right there.

A minifig missing has to be a huge error, or thievery.

I built the thing. I would've seen the sticker sheet.

It's pretty much the same thing on a smaller scale.

[escortmad79]

Sticker sheet wasn't/isn't stuck in the bottom flap of the box is it?

Built a set the other day & thought the stickers were missing but discovered them when I looked in the box, under the unopened flap!

[Big Cam]

As missing figs is definetaly possibler but highly unlikely, you have better chances of the figs being cleverly stolen than not actually in the box.

But however you got a box with no figs, I'd call LEGO, they should help you out.

[LegoDad42]

Hey Guys...to follow up, I went online to let Lego know I was missing the mini-figs from my Agents set (8969) about 2 and half weeks ago, and I just received my missing Agent Chase and Dr. D-Zaster. Now, they mistakingly forgot to include Dr. D's hair piece (evil wig) and instead gave me another Agent Chase's wig. I called them up and their customer service is fantastic, thorough and extremely pleasant. They corrected the order and will be sending me out the wig piece to arrive, roughly, a week and a half from now.

Great customer service. Now as a customer, it really makes you feel good that if you purchase a piece and anything is not right, they'll do their best to correct it.

MAKE MINE LEGO!