Minifigures VIP-Only Set

[CM4Sci]

Does anyone remember the email that got sent out to VIP Members back in July? Let me refresh your memory:

"We know how much our LEGO® fans love their minifigures! That's why we're giving your little VIPs the chance to tell us their number one character from the LEGO Minifigure Series 1 - 3. Simply click on their preferred minifigure below to register your vote. We will then turn the most popular characters into an exclusive LEGO Minifigure set, only available to LEGO VIPs!* Choose wisely, you only get to vote once! Voting closes July 30."

And in tiny text under the voting chart:

"Voting closes on 30 July 2011 and is restricted to one vote per registered VIP Member. The top 5 minifigures will be announced in the November email newsletter and the set will be exclusively available to VIP Members to purchase in 2012, and at this time terms will be announced"

I emailed Customer Service, and got two responses, hoping for answers. Again, I let my hopes get too high:

"Dear Cody,

Thanks for getting in touch with us regarding the LEGO Minifigure Series contest!

I'm sorry that you have not heard the results yet. I know that this is disappointing for you, as well as frustrating.

I can assure you that the winners will be announced shortly but you'll just have to sit on the edge of your seat and wait anxiously!

I have passed along that you're curious to know what the winners are but, unfortunately, we won't be able to release that information until it becomes available to us! Hang tight, Cody! You'll find out soon enough!"

and

"Dear Cody,

Cody, thanks for getting in touch with us about the top 5 Minifigures promotion.

I do apologize that the results weren't featured in your November Newsletter. I will pass your comments along and see if we can release the results this month. We appreciate your patience and understanding. We never want to disappoint any our loyal LEGO fans."

A lot of us have been anxiously waiting for a while, and it's nearly the end of the year. Where are the results? I know that it's Christmas, and that LEGO is busy, but I've kind of been wanting answers.

What do you all think of this?

-Sci

Edited December 20, 2011 by CM4S

[Etzel]

Yeez, what's the big rush?

They've answered you that the results will be made soon, cool down and have some patience.

If you can't wait for the set to come out you can always buy the S1-3 figs of Bricklink or Ebay, not all are that expensive. Heck, I know some stores that still has them in stock here in Sweden.

[GuntherThePenguin]

Thank you for bringing this up!! I too was gettin quite anxcious and I am glad to see I'm not the only person who wants this set! I began to wonder if Lego simply forgot about this whole promotion....

[The_Box]

Maybe the Monster Fighters theme coming out in the summer is the result of this contest. I hope its not because I was really looking forward to getting the S1 Zombie and Robot since I never got a chance to grab them when they were out.

[Nightshroud99]

Thanks for reminding me, I had forgotten all about this lol.

I don't even remember who I voted for!

But LEGO will release the results eventually, they seem to have been bust with all these new Licenses.

[Phyre]

I'm also anxious to find out the results... I'm really hoping the Zombie, Spartan, and Elf were among the top-vote getters.

[andhe]

Yeez, what's the big rush?

They've answered you that the results will be made soon, cool down and have some patience.

If you can't wait for the set to come out you can always buy the S1-3 figs of Bricklink or Ebay, not all are that expensive. Heck, I know some stores that still has them in stock here in Sweden.

I don't think he was after the figs, it's just a bit odd for LTG to say they'll announce something in November, and still not have said anything by the middle of December.

I think I voted Spartan and Zombie and I can't remember the others. If those two are in there I can see people trying to buy multiples (but had an vague memory that they said one per customer?).

If the figs are in the monster fighters theme, the idea of collectible figs is being a bit misused, especially with the cheerleader and skateboarder in the calendar and pieces turning up in B-A-M bins.

[Blondie-Wan]

If the figs are in the monster fighters theme, the idea of collectible figs is being a bit misused, especially with the cheerleader and skateboarder in the calendar and pieces turning up in B-A-M bins.

How is it being misused? First of all, there's no indication the Minifigures monsters will be used in this theme; indeed, it's virtually certain they're used in those preliminary photos as placeholders for the figures that will come in the final sets. Undoubtedly the final figures will occupy the same archetypal niches, e.g. mummies and vampires and so on, but they'll undoubtedly have their own prints, colors, etc. that distinguish them from the so-called collectible ones, just as the latter were distinguished from the mummies and vampires and so on in other themes before them (or even out at the same time, such as the mummies in Pharaoh's Quest and the ones in Minifigures Series 3).

Second, "collectible" doesn't automatically mean "limited edition" or "limited availability." It certainly does sometimes carry that connotation, but not necessarily; it really need mean only that something lends itself to being collected, and the minifigures certainly do that. Red 2x4 bricks are pretty darn common and not remotely limited, but that doesn't mean they're not part of my LEGO collection.

Third, even if this weren't the case, the minifigures are still pretty limited, compared to lots of typical minifigures in other themes. Each series is produced and available for a limited time, as opposed to most other figures who are found in sets that usually stay around for several months or even a year or more (and may even be in multiple sets, often ones produced over a period of years).

Fourth, technically the figures in the calendar and elements in BAM kiosks aren't the same as the minifigure sets - they lack the overall package, including the 3x4 base tile/plate and the little posters and all. If you get the brick calendar, you get a cheerleader and a skateboarder, but you don't get the whole cheerleader package or skateboarder package that you get if you buy a packet of set 8683 - the calendar doesn't have the figure base (or the poster/leaflet).

And fifth and finally, TLG doesn't even actually use the word "collectible" much (if at all) in describing the figures anyway - the official name of the theme is simply "Minifigures," not "Collectible minifigs" as they're typically referred to here. They do speak of collecting them all, trading with friends, etc., but either don't use the word "collectible" at all, or use it so infrequently you have to dig around to find it. How are they misusing something they're not using?

Edited December 22, 2011 by Blondie-Wan

[andhe]

Thank you for your comprehensive reply.

Perhaps I should have used the word misleading rather than misusing.

But I still look forward to hearing which figs were voted for as the superstars.

[Blondie-Wan]

So do I! I actually intended to vote in that myself, but never could quite decide which ones to vote for.

(I hope I don't come off as rude in my previous reply, BTW, and apologize if I do. In fairness, you were simply one of a handful of posters here who'd said similar things about TLG diminishing the "collectibility" of the minifigures, and I've always taken issue with that stance, and I wound up pouring out into that one post nearly everything I had to say on the subject.)

(That said, if I'd remembered at the time, I also would have noted that the first two series in particular were produced in much smaller quantities than the later ones since TLG didn't originally anticipate the tremendous demand, and so it was possible that they were making up for this by offering parts from just those two series in things like BAM and the calendar and this phantom VIP-only set and so on. I don't know whether that's the case, but I do know that all the Minifigures minifigure elements I've seen in BAM so far have been from the first two series.)

Edited December 23, 2011 by Blondie-Wan