LEGO Collectable Minifigures Series 20. Rumors and discussion

[Gobias1234]

22 minutes ago, leafan said:

They could sell 2 types.

1. As it currently is. A parent can pick up a random figure for their kid and be happy (although I do believe that they're pricing themselves out of that market now).

and 2. They sell a 'set' of the complete series at a slight discount to buying individually, for those wanting to just complete their collection and be done with it.

I totally agree that they are pricing themselves out of the impulse buy market.  In general, under 10 dollars is what I consider impulse buy territory but the price creep on minifigs is making them unreasonable for the general population.

Said the Mom that spent more to buy the ones I/ my kids wanted of Bricklink and just quarantined them for a week or so before I gave them to my kids.   But that is only because I'm a more engaged Lego fan than a lot of parents.  I'd be annoyed to spend that amount of money and get something my kid was disappointed in.  In general, I think blind bag culture is making our children entitled, chronologically disappointed little monsters so we just don't engage with it as much as we can beyond the occasional small treat.

[leafan]

3 minutes ago, Gobias1234 said:

I totally agree that they are pricing themselves out of the impulse buy market.  In general, under 10 dollars is what I consider impulse buy territory but the price creep on minifigs is making them unreasonable for the general population.

Said the Mom that spent more to buy the ones I/ my kids wanted of Bricklink and just quarantined them for a week or so before I gave them to my kids.   But that is only because I'm a more engaged Lego fan than a lot of parents.  I'd be annoyed to spend that amount of money and get something my kid was disappointed in.  In general, I think blind bag culture is making our children entitled, chronologically disappointed little monsters so we just don't engage with it as much as we can beyond the occasional small treat.

And even though the logical thing to do is stop buying them when the price gets silly... we Lego fans are afflicted with FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). I know I am.

[koalayummies]

1 hour ago, AmperZand said:

I suspect that the vast majority of purchases are made by those who are happy to buy blind, i.e. kids or adults buying for kids. Of the rest, I suspect that most AFOLs prefer to know exactly what they are getting. I reckon that the proportion of buyers who are AFOLs who in an ideal world would hope to get blindly a mix of popular and unpopular CMFs (e.g. in boxed packaging, not bags) is very small. 

This is anecdotal but every time I see these things actually being looked at, whether its the Lego store or Target, parents and their kids alike are feeling up the bags. I've never seen someone just grab some and go; always standing there in front of the product and feeling it up.

Ditch the blind bags, Lego.

Edited June 4, 2020 by koalayummies

[TeriXeri]

Blind bags are the main reason I'm not into collecting CMF.

And I'm saying that while I bought Nexo Powers and Extra DOTS packs online.

I also have never seen a single CMF bag/box in a store unless it was the official LEGO store, and Polybags seem pretty rare as well.

Many Toy Shops are closing down here, and there are no Walmarts or Targets type shops here, most sets are simply much cheaper to buy online.

Blind bags just won't add anything postive to buying online, physical toy shops are closing down here over the years, and even polybags and other small impulse sets seem hard to find in stores here.

Feeling or being forced to the secondary market are not solutions imo.

I do buy some of the Magazines, which are €1 higher priced compared to a CMF, but aren't a blind bag.

I love the small-set segment, and LEGO does a great job on Xtra sets like food and plants as they are massable, but I wish that other theme polybags were easier to find here, or sold via LEGO.com 

I have to admit I do miss the €10 Starter sets with 3-4 City figures, or the €7 mini-boxed sets disappeared, but since 2019 the small sets segment changed a bit (Benny's Space Squad excluded), having 2 figures at most now, instead selling 4-figure Blister packs for €13.

City had 1-2 larger  People Packs per year as well from 2016-2019 with 14 or so figures, but no sign of anything for 2020.

Edited June 4, 2020 by TeriXeri

[Lucarex]

On the subject of blind bags, I remember some other collectibles the kids wanted a few years back (Finding Dory characters, Bandai I think) and the bags actually had a very small transparent window on the back so you could check who was inside beyond feeling, yet without ruining the blind experience if that's what you wanted. Best of both worlds? Before that, there was the bump codes of the early series CMF.

However I won't hold my breath for a change despite the obvious pitfalls and virus risks. In a supermarket last week, packs of series 20 was put out into acrylic dividiers along with other small toys. Asked the assistant if they had unopened retail box out back but sadly not. I explained the issue and she agreed. My youngest with me was sad but understanding. I was sent out again last night alone for a few bits and noticed they hadn't sold a single one so it seemed, whereas normally a new series would have been cleared within a few days.

10 hours ago, koalayummies said:

This is anecdotal but every time I see these things actually being looked at, whether its the Lego store or Target, parents and their kids alike are feeling up the bags. I've never seen someone just grab some and go; always standing there in front of the product and feeling it up.

Ditch the blind bags, Lego.

 

[TeriXeri]

8 hours ago, Lucarex said:

On the subject of blind bags, I remember some other collectibles the kids wanted a few years back (Finding Dory characters, Bandai I think) and the bags actually had a very small transparent window on the back so you could check who was inside beyond feeling, yet without ruining the blind experience if that's what you wanted. Best of both worlds? Before that, there was the bump codes of the early series CMF.

Extra DOTS have a little transparent part on the packaging.

I know random printed 1x1 tiles aren't the same as CMF "collectible" but the packaging exists that way. 

But since Friends Play Cubes are on the market as well, which are purely random colored animals (5 different colors of a specific animal per set, per series), I don't see CMF change.

I guess the real AFOL collectors would use Bricks and Pieces for those animals instead, which can't be done for all CMF parts afaik.

Still, I'd rather buy something like a People Pack type set myself, even if it doesn't have exclusive colors of parts, as it's a "one and done" thing, no randomness involved.

Sets like Dragon Boat Race can show it can even include a build at a good price (but part of the reason might be because of the multiple uses of the same torso prints, leg colors etc)

Also if it weren't for COVID, Build-a-Minifig was a good alternative for some figure building, and is more customizable. (for the people with a LEGO Store in travel distance of course).

But still, overall, I'd personally would like to see CMF become non-blind, and directly purchaseable, but some collectors/sellers likely wont agree.

Edited June 5, 2020 by TeriXeri

[K_Tiger]

They ought to just number them like Fisher-Price does (did?) for their Imaginext blind bags, Hasbro does for the Transformers Botbots singles, and Mega does for any number of their "blind" products. I kind of like the test of tactile acuity, but there I just want to grab the one figure I'm looking for and just go.

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by K_Tiger

[Karalora]

Rumpled bags (and disease transmission) aren't the only problem, of course. With any sort of identification, you would still get people showing up as soon as the new ones are stocked and snapping up all the chaser figs. Any ability to see what the package contains would have to be accompanied by some kind of purchase limit.

[MAB]

21 hours ago, AmperZand said:

If, like me, you want to make an informed purchasing decision, it was a lot better than now. You could save yourself the huge amount of time required to feel packets. For S1 and S2, I learnt the bar codes of the ones I wanted, went into shops and quickly got them. I did get funny looks from shop staff when I told them I could read bar codes, but that is balanced by the funny looks I got up to S19 from other shoppers as I stood there feeling packets.

Yes, by better than now I meant for those wanting to buy blind. I was very similar to you, you only needed to learn the last few bars of the bar code to be able to pick out the ones you wanted. Same with the dot codes, I still remember some of those from 8 or 9 years ago, they are implanted in my brain.

5 minutes ago, Karalora said:

 Any ability to see what the package contains would have to be accompanied by some kind of purchase limit.

While that might work in a LEGO store, it is unlikely other stores. Most stores want to sell cheap consumer products rather than limit them.

 

[Karalora]

I was assuming the policy could only apply in the LEGO Store itself. It would be better than nothing and better in the current situation.

[Lucarex]

8 hours ago, Karalora said:

With any sort of identification, you would still get people showing up as soon as the new ones are stocked and snapping up all the chaser figs.

But this is no longer an issue.

After the Mr Gold debacle, there’s only been the mystery highwayman and the original policeman. 

The fact they didn’t have a chase minifig (or even a special one, don’t get me started on that stupid green brick...) for series 20 says it all.

Edited June 5, 2020 by Lucarex

[Karalora]

I was using "chaser" to mean any minifig that is popular/in high demand. Think the Spartan, the Elf, etc. Was that an incorrect usage?

[koalayummies]

7 minutes ago, Karalora said:

I was using "chaser" to mean any minifig that is popular/in high demand. Think the Spartan, the Elf, etc. Was that an incorrect usage?

Doesn't bother me, I understood what you meant, but for the pedantic types the 'chase figures' refer to any figure in irregular distribution like the classic police figure (only one per box) or that dumb gold figure which was random and limited distribution.

1 hour ago, Lucarex said:

But this is no longer an issue.

After the Mr Gold debacle, there’s only been the mystery highwayman and the original policeman.

And Percival Graves in the Harry Potter series (one per box). And some considered Huey Louie and Dewey to be chase figures as well since there were only 2 each per box while the other figures were 3 or 4 per box. I think there were a few other figures that were only 2 per box as well though.

The highway man wasn't actually a chase figure as there were 5 per box, it was a 'mystery figure'.

[Digger of Bricks]

I know the last couple Series were already subpar enough, but seriously: Once the blind bag system goes, any chance of expecting more particular, niche archetypes will be very little to none. From then on, I'm certain that the Collectable Minifigure theme would become nothing more than an expansion line for City. 

[Faefrost]

On a slightly more positive spin than most of the doom and gloom of the last few pages. I picked up a few at Target while traveling (I'm one of those Unicorns that just takes random bags, no squeezing, just to see what I get). I got the Karate Guy (he's okay, and I have a spot for him. The Kid with Pinatta who is amazing, the Rocket Girl, Great shirt and hair, The 80's Keytar player (interesting and I have a use for him) The Drone Pilot (dullest of the series. Nothing interesting in torso, head or anything) The Raven Knight (decent, but others have been better. Great Torso for Castle) The Pirate Queen (Great Figure) The Green Brick dude (pointless) and my Favorite the Red Sentai Hero. I had not realized that Lego Red here is a really nice homage to the original Super Sentai Team he's based on Sun Vulcan Red. Not the later and more modern Power Rangers. 

[Vindicare]

Does anyone who has open LEGO stores(modified versions) know whether or not the employees would feel the bags for the desired minifigs? Seeing as customers can’t even get the boxes they want, I was just thinking about that. Within reason, of course & depending on the amount of people inside... There’s still three I want to get & Target/Walmart have been dry for well over a month. I’m hoping my stores will be walk in open by August 1st & I’d like to grab those remaining figs. 

Edited June 6, 2020 by Vindicare

[MAB]

4 hours ago, Faefrost said:

The Drone Pilot (dullest of the series. Nothing interesting in torso, head or anything)

For some people, the link back to a classic set of the past via the logo on the shirt is excellent, just like getting a shirt with a classic space or blacktron logo.

[Karalora]

11 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

I know the last couple Series were already subpar enough, but seriously: Once the blind bag system goes, any chance of expecting more particular, niche archetypes will be very little to none. From then on, I'm certain that the Collectable Minifigure theme would become nothing more than an expansion line for City. 

Care to elaborate on why you think this?

[Lacdaran]

The blind bags mean that Lego doesn't have to do the very difficult marketing task of determining the popularity of each figure.  

No blind bags in this series and you find the first army builder that walks into a store buys every Viking and they are sold out everywhere on day one, and then a bunch of the green brick dude sits on shelf for months pissing off retailers.

[The Cobra]

Despite wearing gloves, I was able to feel the bags. It wasn't even that hard.

[koalayummies]

8 hours ago, Lacdaran said:

No blind bags in this series and you find the first army builder that walks into a store buys every Viking and they are sold out everywhere on day one, and then a bunch of the green brick dude sits on shelf for months pissing off retailers.

How do blind bags prevent gluttony? They just feel up your vikings blind bag or not. Also this product box takes up 1' of shelf space or fills in impulse hooks at checkouts so I'm guessing ::insert giant mega retailer:: doesn't have any feelings about that shelf space concern.

An alternate method would be allowing people to get the exact figures they want direct from Lego. Then you can hoard all the vikings you want. End blind bags.

[Faefrost]

On 6/6/2020 at 5:03 AM, MAB said:

For some people, the link back to a classic set of the past via the logo on the shirt is excellent, just like getting a shirt with a classic space or blacktron logo.

I get that. Although the logo is a little obscure even by Lego fan standards. It’s still a cool little nod. But honestly the printing on the torso is lousy and looks awful. The white and red printing is translucent over green plastic. 

[Clone OPatra]

On 6/7/2020 at 8:04 AM, koalayummies said:

How do blind bags prevent gluttony? They just feel up your vikings blind bag or not. 

Blind bags might not prevent it entirely but they certainly create a barrier. Scalpers and army builders are going to scalp and army build, but when the bags are completely blind it's quite a time consuming process which I think ultimately gives the "rest of us" a chance to get what we want. If the minifigs were identifiable then those very desirable ones would be more likely to be gone in an instant and you'd have to quite literally get lucky that you arrived at a store when new stock is put out to find anything.

This is an interesting discussion about the blind bags in light of Covid. Personally I haven't ventured out to buy any of Series 20 in light of the circumstances, though now that the risk is significantly reduced here in Australia, I'm feeling more comfortable going out to buy some and just taking precautions like washing my hands very thoroughly afterwards.

Even in light of Covid I bear no ill will against LEGO's completely blind method in principle and don't think it has to change. I hope they never do a one (or less) per box figure again, and I personally haven't been enthralled with the products themselves as much lately, but the minifigures being unidentifiable besides through feel seems fine to me.

[koalayummies]

9 hours ago, Clone OPatra said:

Blind bags might not prevent it entirely but they certainly create a barrier. Scalpers and army builders are going to scalp and army build, but when the bags are completely blind it's quite a time consuming process which I think ultimately gives the "rest of us" a chance to get what we want.

Look at everyone here posting how easily they feel them out, there is no barrier. The blind bags prevent none of this; but they do introduce the possibility for a child who wants a complete series or specific figure from possibly getting what they want. If their parents don't feel up the bags with them, if they've only recently gotten into Lego (as Lego's business model is entirely reliant on new kids coming in knowing that many outgrow Lego), I bet the minifigures have resulted in a lot of disappointed kids and or extra money spent to get the right figures. That's whats slimy and scummy about this approach.

Adults who have man-handled every series for the past ten years don't have any problem of finding exactly what they want. Many here are have blind bag feeling accuracy of 100%.

9 hours ago, Clone OPatra said:

If the minifigs were identifiable then those very desirable ones would be more likely to be gone in an instant and you'd have to quite literally get lucky that you arrived at a store when new stock is put out to find anything.

This is the problem with quoting a section of a reply while ignoring the rest:

On 6/6/2020 at 3:04 PM, koalayummies said:

An alternate method would be allowing people to get the exact figures they want direct from Lego. Then you can hoard all the vikings you want. End blind bags.

 

[koalayummies]

9 hours ago, Clone OPatra said:

Even in light of Covid I bear no ill will against LEGO's completely blind method in principle and don't think it has to change.

"As we've noted before in discussing the Ooshies phenomenon, collecting is attractive to children. While an estimated 30% of adults collect something, more than 90% of children do so. Collecting appeals to children's natural curiosity and is also a way of understanding the world through gathering and categorising.

The blind bag business model weaponises this collecting impulse through the gamble of the lucky dip. It combines the pleasure of reward with the element of surprise, which is both compelling and addictive. It taps into the same psychological mechanism that results in gambling addiction - namely intermittent reinforcement."

Blind bags: how toy makers are making a fortune with child gambling

"There is a special place in hell reserved for people who put toys for kids under 12 in blind, randomized bags. They may think they’re evil marketing geniuses and joyfully contemplate their sales increases, but all it makes me want to do is never buy anything from them again. EVER. Ben doesn’t understand that randomized packs of collectibles are a great way to sell more product; he just knows that he really wants the mummy or the wizard or whatever. That’s why he has a very light piggybank and five of the race car driver Imaginext figure. Even my beloved LEGO and Playmobil have fallen to the dark side. It’s spreading. Warn the people!"

http://www.mommyish.com/10-things-resent-buying-kids/

"They come out with a new [expletive] season every five minutes 

The evil geniuses at Moose Toys come out with a new season of Tiny Plastic Crapkins every other minute. No sooner has your preschooler pestered you to purchase 5000 blind bags in their quest for the Ultra Rare “Maxed-Out Credit Card” Shopkin, and those [expletives] have already brought out an entirely new range – just when you thought you’d finally caught up.

There are hundreds of these mofos. Literally. HUNDREDS.

BUT, the inherent and perpetually-frustrating contradiction of Shopkins is that despite there being thousands of the [expletives], no matter how many packets you buy you will keep getting multiples of the same 20 characters over and over again." 

I think this link might be broken but it was another mother ranting about the morality of blind bags. https://hugzillablog.com/2016/10/10/five-reasons-why-shopkins-can-go-megabluck-themselves/