LEGO Collectable Minifigures General Discussion

[squiz]

It certainly didn't take TRU long to jack up their price. At mine, they were initially $2. While they haven't got in any more, the price in their computer is now $2.50.

thats still cheaper than in the uk. they are the equivalent to $3 over here !

[jamtf]

thats still cheaper than in the uk. they are the equivalent to $3 over here !

In continental Europe (i.e. Germany where I found mine) they are priced at € 1,99. I think that is a decent price for a special minifig including some one of a kind accessories.

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

Price isn't really the issue. The main concern here in the States is availability. After stumbling on an entire box the first day, I've barely seen more than a few since then. Also, I think Toys R Us wouldn't be raising any prices if anyone else had them-- that's what puts them in the position to charge whatever they'd like.

[Wout]

@ Lego Hero: last week, when I tried to buy all minifigs, I didn't had already, I forgot the diver. But I want him too, he looks nice enough.

@Natelite: I read somewhere else about the smell, and some people thought it was of the ink on the instruction inside.

I found some of the pieces also a bit less quality, but I like the figs so much I will accept this. And I'm afraid Tlc don't make a new wave 1 with better quality.

[meyerc13]

Anywhere besides Toys R Us and Borders carrying these in the US? I've read back over the past few pages, but didn't see any others listed. We don't have a Borders anywhere near us and of the two Toys R Us stores, one had them once, but at the one closest to me I've never seen them.

Interesting debate on whether using barcodes is cheating. When I first saw these, I picked up five blindly. Two were for my nephew's birthday, one for each of my kids, and one for me. Got the dummy (for me - my least favorite of the 16, of course), the magician (nephew), the skater (nephew), the woodsman (daughter), and the cowboy (son). I'd love to keep buying them blindly until I complete a set, but to do that I'd actually need to see them more than once. If I ever see them again, you can bet I'm using a cheat sheet because I'm not going to buy 100 (I'd like to give the next guy a chance to get some, and frankly can't afford it) and since I don't know if I'll see them a third time I want to pick up a few that my kids really want (son: wrestler, nurse; daughter: clown, cheerleader).

It's a shame the distribution on these is so poor. For my ~5 year old son I can always pick up a Hot Wheels car for $1 when we are at a store, but for my 2.5 year old daughter there isn't a similar $1-2 toy. The great thing about these is both my kids love mini-figs. Shame I can't pick one up on each trip to Target/Wal Mart/Toys R Us because they aren't there to buy. Also an interesting fact, I can go to these same stores and pick up one of the dozens of pig farmers, so clearly these were either produced in much lower quantities or they are a much bigger hit... maybe both.

By the way, yes I know these are 3+ year toys due to choking hazards, but my 2.5 year old daughter has never put things in her mouth (unlike her brother who is twice her age and who still puts things in his mouth constantly). So while I do buy them for my daughter who I know well, I would not universally recommend them for children under 3 years old.

[not-in-use-anymore]

I can't leave for 3 days without a billion posts. I'm going to Borders later, but I doubt any will be there. Why are only the S3 not getting barcodes? Is it really too late for S2?

One thing I hate is that the stores don't get enough. We should get a month to buy them, but in reality it's only 2 days and someone buys the whole box. :cry sad:

Edited June 14, 2010 by indianajones

[FinalFeature]

I can't leave for 3 days without a billion posts. I'm going to Borders later, but I doubt any will be there. Why are only the S3 not getting barcodes? Is it really too late for S2?

One thing I hate is that the stores don't get enough. We should get a month to buy them, but in reality it's only 2 days and someone buys the whole box. :cry sad:

TLG probably already started producing the figures and it would also probably cost more to reproduce them in a different packaging when they already started making them. If that makes any cents(or dollars ).

LegoGalactus

[Aanchir]

Not so sure about this part. I have thousands of dollars in my Lego collection, and you're telling me I'm not the "real target audience," simply because I'm 36 years old and not 10 years old???

I stood in a Toys R Us yesterday for 15 minutes, painstakingly going over my barcode list to the find the 6 mini-figs I was still missing. I found exactly the 6 that I wanted. To characterize that as "abuse" is off-base in my opinion. I simply want to buy the things that I want. TLC intentionally tried to prevent that with their packaging. The fanbase found a work-around. I don't see that as "abuse." If anything, TLC is abusing their consumers' good will with the blind-packaging nonsense.

The "target audience" comment isn't meant to say that AFOLs aren't legitimate fans or anything. But besides a small percentage, most of LEGO's money is put towards getting kids to buy the sets. Thus, kids are the ones they're "targeting", and the fact that an adult population has interests that overlap with those kids is a large reason AFOLs exist at all.

And Lego is making profit using a fairly underhanded marketing tactic at our expense. I refuse to believe in this idea that Lego implemented that decision based on the benevolent hope of providing children with the excitement of a surprise. It's a company, and they try to make money, plain and simple. And if people found a totally legitimate way around it? Good on them, I say.

Why is it an underhanded marketing technique? You may not have known about this, but BIONICLE had blind-packaged collectibles from 2001 to 2005. When those went away in 2006, there was an outcry from the online community-- fans wanted those sorts of sets. Yes, LEGO is about making money-- it's always been about making money, as have almost all companies. But the happiness of the surprise aspect of blind packaging is one of the reasons people pay money for blind-packaged products. And if people are willing to pay that money, isn't that a form of satisfaction?

Meanwhile, there's nothing wrong with feeling the bags-- anyone can do that, whether they're a web-savvy teen, an AFOL, or an enthusiastic kid. But the fact that the system can be abused by certain well-informed individuals is against LEGO's intentions for this set, and against the spirit of collectible items in general. If people want to take advantage of the barcodes, there's nothing stopping them, just as there's nothing stopping people from coming back over and over again to a free sample tray in a way that avoids suspicion. But it's still against the intentions of the product, and thus it's LEGO's right and responsibility to try and put a stop to it.

[JAYMATIK]

I refuse to believe in this idea that Lego implemented that decision based on the benevolent hope of providing children with the excitement of a surprise. It's a company, and they try to make money, plain and simple. Hear, hear!

Obviously, that's your belief and you'll stick with it. I attended a LEGO convention months back where Mads Nipper (Executive Vice President Market & Products) was the keynote speaker and he did talk about the figs a bit and actually gave away some that were suppose to be destroyed because the legs were not the same length. He did emphasize that LEGO did want it to be a collectable thing where it was a mystery on who you would get. In a way, as mentioned earlier, just like sports cards or role playing cards. And the target for these were young children, it was and will always be the target audience. He also mentioned that may have produce too much or not enough. They were somewhat comfortable with the production run considering they weren't sure if these would do well or not and obviously they have done really well. There's a reason why they labeled these 'limited edition'.

If LEGO really was just about money, then they could have easily priced these a bit higher and most if not all of you who are complaining would still buy them. There's no doubt about that. And if LEGO really was just about profit, then don't you think they'd be offering an IPO by now???

[lightningtiger]

Here in Australia or at least in my little part, AVAILABILITY is the problem, they are exclusive to TARGET. TOYWORLD and TRU, but not all Targets have them, likewise only Toyworlds in the mid-year toy sale promo have them in small amounts and TRU......well that's anyones guess......not even their own customer service line knows where and when they be popping up.

Anyway, I'm a conformist! !

[vexorian]

Several people have purchased full boxes. The breakdown of figures is the same between each box. For the most part, none of the figures is particularly rare (at least in series 1).

BTW: The current distribution makes it so you'll need 58.1549 bags on average to complete a set (without "cheating" (please notice the quotes) ) whereas if all minifigs were equally available the average number of purchases required would be 54.0917

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

UPDATE: My own Series 1 is complete. Stopped at Borders after work today, and was able to peruse their two boxes to find the 5 I was missing.

REPEAT-- Confirmed sighting and purchase of Minifigs at U.S. BORDERS. The retail bookstore, not the geographic boundary.

Some thoughts on Borders: They were up on the front desk right by the register. Nobody cared that I went through them looking for the barcodes (I didn't have a checklist on me, and memorized the codes of the remaining 5 I needed), nobody told me anything about what I could or couldn't do, nobody told me how many or few I could buy, nobody really knew what they even were actually, or what the big fuss was all about... and at first no one even knew how much they were.

For the record, they were $2.99 each. An entire 50% markup per unit in one month... wow. BUT I got what I was looking for, and probably more than made up for that extra money in what I'll save on gas alone trying to track down the rest.

AND, for the record, I LOVE the caveman. And the skater boy is cooler than I thought he'd be. Very satisfied shopper right here...

Edited June 15, 2010 by Mr. Elijah Timms

[natelite]

In all honesty, this isn't the case with the 20 I've personally had contact with (19 of my own, plus one I gave my girlfriend). If you'll pardon my asking, are you actually reporting your own experience with these, or simply what you've read in others' posts here?

I don't have a lot of the magnet minifig releases, but I do have the Santa Claus one, and I can personally attest that a) the plastic quality of the Santa minifig in the magnet set is, unfortunately, vastly below LEGO's usual standards, and b) fortunately, the collectible minifigs are vastly superior to the magnet set Santa, and are much more comparable to regular minifigs in general quality. I personally will have no problem using any of the collectible minifigs in conjunction with ones from other sets, whereas I wouldn't want to use the magnet Santa.

personal experience. i bought 7 complete sets and opened one set.

definitely subpar when compared to the normal sets. the surface is also matte in texture vs glossy in the normal sets.

For the record, they were $2.99 each. An entire 50% markup per unit in one month... wow. BUT I got what I was looking for, and probably more than made up for that extra money in what I'll save on gas alone trying to track down the rest.

AND, for the record, I LOVE the caveman. And the skater boy is cooler than I thought he'd be. Very satisfied shopper right here...

you could have used the 25% off everything coupon and save yourself some money. it would just be $2.24 ea. or if you are the patient type, you can wait for a 40% off one item coupon and repeated sign up and buy just 1 item ea.

[natelite]

@Natelite: I read somewhere else about the smell, and some people thought it was of the ink on the instruction inside.

I found some of the pieces also a bit less quality, but I like the figs so much I will accept this. And I'm afraid Tlc don't make a new wave 1 with better quality.

it's not the ink because i tried washing them to get rid of the smell but couldn't. i have bought smoke stained lego before and washing with liquid handsoap was able to get rid of the smell. not this time. the smell is from the brick itself. can't get rid of it. you can mask the smell if you use perfumed soap but after the smell dissipate you get smelly brick again.

the limited availability is about the only thing keeping these figures inflated in price. if TLG starts to introduce any of these in regular sets you can start throwing these away. the quality of these is like the fastfood toys, which you throw away after a few months.

i think series 1 and 2 (and possibly 3) are the only series with quality problems. recall that TLG didn't anticipate the huge demand for these and even retailers were reluctant to carry these to begin with as they were untested. now that they were proven successful, you can be sure TLG will invest a little bit more into these and the quality (hopefully) should improve. -- i.e. if the estimate was that these end up in $0.99 stores, selling for like $0.25 ea, you wouldn't want to spend a fortune using quality ABS material to make these. but if you know they can sell at a premium (i.e. $2.49 when mrsp is $1.99), you wouldn't mind spending $0.50 or even $0.99 quality ABS pallets to make these.

and i don't think this has anything to do with china made goods. this has more to do with the quality of the material used. TLG probably used cheaper plastics and cheap labor in china to cut cost way down to about $0.25 ea. including shipping, printing, marketing, etc. just think... if customer service is asking you to return the figures to the retail stores and get a new packet for any quality-related issue, you know they would rather you throw the figure away (or give you another) than for them to waste postage _AND_ send actual quality parts from PaB to you.

[blueandwhite]

The "target audience" comment isn't meant to say that AFOLs aren't legitimate fans or anything. But besides a small percentage, most of LEGO's money is put towards getting kids to buy the sets. Thus, kids are the ones they're "targeting", and the fact that an adult population has interests that overlap with those kids is a large reason AFOLs exist at all.

Just to play devil's advocate, if we AFOLs are such a minor entity in the grand spectrum, then why should it matter if there are barcodes on the packages? Afterall, if only a small minority of purchasers are using them how does it negatively impact the market? The argument that AFOLs don't matter because they represent a small precentage of sales has never really done it for me. If that was the case, then why has LEGO gone to such lengths to humour us in the first place?

Why is it an underhanded marketing technique? You may not have known about this, but BIONICLE had blind-packaged collectibles from 2001 to 2005. When those went away in 2006, there was an outcry from the online community-- fans wanted those sorts of sets. Yes, LEGO is about making money-- it's always been about making money, as have almost all companies. But the happiness of the surprise aspect of blind packaging is one of the reasons people pay money for blind-packaged products. And if people are willing to pay that money, isn't that a form of satisfaction?

Meanwhile, there's nothing wrong with feeling the bags-- anyone can do that, whether they're a web-savvy teen, an AFOL, or an enthusiastic kid. But the fact that the system can be abused by certain well-informed individuals is against LEGO's intentions for this set, and against the spirit of collectible items in general. If people want to take advantage of the barcodes, there's nothing stopping them, just as there's nothing stopping people from coming back over and over again to a free sample tray in a way that avoids suspicion. But it's still against the intentions of the product, and thus it's LEGO's right and responsibility to try and put a stop to it.

Blind packaging isn't an underhanded marketing technique. Then again, using barcodes isn't cheating either. The idea that using information available to you to get what you want is somehow underhanded is absurd. How is that any different than feeling the bags to try and find specific parts (and possibly damaging some of the softer plastic pieces while you're at it to boot)? With truly blind packaging that isn't possible either. I accept that LEGO can change the packaging if they choose to do so. Just don't be surprised when wealthier buyers just up and buy the entire box instead of picking the figures they want. The unwanted figs can always be unloaded on ebay.

As I see things, this still comes down to the fact that many AFOLs are not really into spending $100s of dollars on collectables. Certainly a builder who wants a specific figure or two probably doesn't enjoy dropping a small fortune just to get the Spaceman and Robot; the only figures from the line that he will ever use. The funny thing is, if these were theme-specific I couldn't care less about blind packaging. If it were castle for example, I would be content with pretty much any figure. Conversely, if the entire line was space I would probably forego the line intirely. The difficulty is that as builders we are always looking for that one element or figure to enhance our MOCs. I just don't feel like forking out a small fortune for a single figure. If blind packaging comes along, I'll either stop collecting these, go from bricklink or buy a few boxes from the shelves and liquidate the remaining figures to recoup the cost.

[Mac-K]

Why is it an underhanded marketing technique? You may not have known about this, but BIONICLE had blind-packaged collectibles from 2001 to 2005. When those went away in 2006, there was an outcry from the online community-- fans wanted those sorts of sets. Yes, LEGO is about making money-- it's always been about making money, as have almost all companies. But the happiness of the surprise aspect of blind packaging is one of the reasons people pay money for blind-packaged products. And if people are willing to pay that money, isn't that a form of satisfaction?

Perhaps underhanded was too harsh a description. Let's just say that I am flat out not a fan of blind packaging whatsoever. I did not, however, know about that fact of BIONICLE. Thank you for sharing that Aanchir.

I know people should be held accountable for what they buy, especially a product with random chance included as a factor. Inherently there's nothing wrong with that. What I have a problem with is its targeting of younger children. You mention the "happiness of the surprise aspect", as if it's a widely shared feeling. I'm not sure I can agree with that. Surely most children have varied interests, and would naturally prefer one, or two, or more minifigs over the rest of the bunch. What happiness is there in being continually disappointed when you draw the one you don't want? Even if you remove the factor of AFOLs possibly taking an entire type of fig from a box, there's still a distinct chance that a kid will not get what they desire. To me, the process feels like it inspires luring back to the product if you don't get what you want. That smacks of taking advantage, in my opinion.

Edited June 15, 2010 by Mac-K

[JimBee]

REPEAT-- Confirmed sighting and purchase of Minifigs at U.S. BORDERS. The retail bookstore, not the geographic boundary.

For the record, they were $2.99 each. An entire 50% markup per unit in one month... wow. BUT I got what I was looking for, and probably more than made up for that extra money in what I'll save on gas alone trying to track down the rest.

That's great, thanks a lot for the news. Did you happen to see if buying an entire box was marked up 50%, as well?

[Artanis I]

BTW: The current distribution makes it so you'll need 58.1549 bags on average to complete a set (without "cheating" (please notice the quotes) ) whereas if all minifigs were equally available the average number of purchases required would be 54.0917

or 16 if you "cheat"

As I see things, this still comes down to the fact that many AFOLs are not really into spending $100s of dollars on collectables. Certainly a builder who wants a specific figure or two probably doesn't enjoy dropping a small fortune just to get the Spaceman and Robot; the only figures from the line that he will ever use. The funny thing is, if these were theme-specific I couldn't care less about blind packaging. If it were castle for example, I would be content with pretty much any figure. Conversely, if the entire line was space I would probably forego the line intirely. The difficulty is that as builders we are always looking for that one element or figure to enhance our MOCs. I just don't feel like forking out a small fortune for a single figure. If blind packaging comes along, I'll either stop collecting these, go from bricklink or buy a few boxes from the shelves and liquidate the remaining figures to recoup the cost.

I collect space. I wanted a spaceman and a robot. No way I would try and get these "without cheating", on average it would take 16 tries. That's 14 figures I don't want (and won't use) x$4 (for some reason Lego is more expensive here) = $56 extra. I could buy another Undercover Cruiser + Raid VPR with that (on special this week that is).

I know people should be held accountable for what they buy, especially a product with random chance included as a factor. Inherently there's nothing wrong with that. What I have a problem with is its targeting of younger children. You mention the "happiness of the surprise aspect", as if it's a widely shared feeling. I'm not sure I can agree with that. Surely most children have varied interests, and would naturally prefer one, or two, or more minifigs over the rest of the bunch. What happiness is there in being continually disappointed when you draw the one you don't want? Even if you remove the factor of AFOLs possibly taking an entire type of fig from a box, there's still a distinct chance that a kid will not get what they desire. To me, the process feels like it inspires luring back to the product if you don't get what you want. That smacks of taking advantage, in my opinion.

Unless (as many kids do with collectibles and similar toys) you trade with someone else for one you want. I didn't like trading, and always regretted it later.

[vexorian]

or 16 if you "cheat"

And that's the problem. The barcodes ruin the whole game. Getting a complete set SHOULD be difficult. In order to get a set you should either have to spend a fortune, be VERY lucky or be capable at trading your duplicates (Which is a game of social and financial skill) or to the least have a super human sense tact or psychic powers.

I collect space. I wanted a spaceman and a robot. No way I would try and get these "without cheating", on average it would take 16 tries.

Nope, spaceman + robot would take 22.5 on average :)

That's 14 figures I don't want (and won't use)

That's the reason this theme is not for you. You better spend on something else when series 3 comes out.

I do want specifically the robot and the spaceman and these will probably cost 3 dollars when they arrive to my store if they do. I don't plan buying a smart phone and looking ridiculous scanning the packages using it (plus it is a small store so it ain't happening) so the series WILL be random for me. I'll have to live with it.

The thing is, that chances are I am not going to manage to get my robot or my space man. But it will still be fun and I'll get many figs anyway. There's always use for minifigs.

This system is not meant for you guys to just go get the fig you want easily. It is meant to be difficult. It is meant to cost. That's what makes the collectibles more valuable to people. And as afraid of "frustration" as you would be - It is exactly the frustration of not getting the fig you want after many tries which makes getting it feel very good. There is also the aspect of finding out that the fig you got and didn't want is actually good and you are glad you got it. That's how it works.

It is of course not for everyone, but chances are that series 3 figs will appear in bricklink for top 3x the cost (which is still less expensive than buying tons of bags until you get it). So, it is not a big deal... If you consider you have better uses for your money, then go ahead and buy those other sets/products.

Unless (as many kids do with collectibles and similar toys) you trade with someone else for one you want.

That's the point :/

I didn't like trading, and always regretted it later.

Well, then you should really just get the "Undercover Cruiser" 2011 equivalent instead of series 3 when it comes. ^^

Edited June 15, 2010 by vexorian

[Raven]

Does anyone have the Walmart item number for the Minifigs?

I just tried to track them down out here on Vancouver Island using the barcode (5 702014 602304) and they need the Walmart item number for them to be able to look into their fancy scanner guns and tell me which store has any in stock.

[Asterios]

well my local TRU just got another box in, they seem to be coming about 1 a week since this is the third box, sadly no money at this time to buy the box.

Edited June 15, 2010 by Asterios

[Artanis I]

And that's the problem. The barcodes ruin the whole game. Getting a complete set SHOULD be difficult. In order to get a set you should either have to spend a fortune, be VERY lucky or be capable at trading your duplicates (Which is a game of social and financial skill) or to the least have a super human sense tact or psychic powers.

Nope, spaceman + robot would take 22.5 on average :)

That's the reason this theme is not for you. You better spend on something else when series 3 comes out.

I do want specifically the robot and the spaceman and these will probably cost 3 dollars when they arrive to my store if they do. I don't plan buying a smart phone and looking ridiculous scanning the packages using it (plus it is a small store so it ain't happening) so the series WILL be random for me. I'll have to live with it.

The thing is, that chances are I am not going to manage to get my robot or my space man. But it will still be fun and I'll get many figs anyway. There's always use for minifigs.

This system is not meant for you guys to just go get the fig you want easily. It is meant to be difficult. It is meant to cost. That's what makes the collectibles more valuable to people. And as afraid of "frustration" as you would be - It is exactly the frustration of not getting the fig you want after many tries which makes getting it feel very good. There is also the aspect of finding out that the fig you got and didn't want is actually good and you are glad you got it. That's how it works.

It is of course not for everyone, but chances are that series 3 figs will appear in bricklink for top 3x the cost (which is still less expensive than buying tons of bags until you get it). So, it is not a big deal... If you consider you have better uses for your money, then go ahead and buy those other sets/products.

That's the point :/

Well, then you should really just get the "Undercover Cruiser" 2011 equivalent instead of series 3 when it comes. ^^

First bit gets a bit sarcastic at times. Beware.

1&6. Hey, no need to disagree with everything I say just because some of it is of a different opinion to yours, in summary of MY situation. You talk about yours too if you want, that's fine with me. That's what this place is for. But if they're not breaking any law you CAN'T tell someone they're not buying something properly, or cheating at the game if there's no written rules. (Is Lego selling something properly? Legally most certainly. But it's a pain in the backside for some! No reason enough to cry foul, but certainly enough to have a rant, as many have done.) It's all opinion, there's no right or wrong here. It's not written in the Bible or on the bags "thou shalt not use barcodes, for it's cheating the little kiddies out of their fun surprises" or "this is how it's MEANT to be played" but you know what? Apparently (I'm told) the kids are happy when they "play the game" ie (buy a bag & open it) -regardless of whether they get what they specifically wanted- because they still got a fun surprise, so if they missed out they get another one which is also a wonderful joyful occasion and open that to maybe find another one they didn't quite want (or they did want) & so on. So basically Lego wins because they have the kiddies' money, the kiddies are happy because they had fun & "got their cool surprise" & their amazingly awesome specialised minifig that can be used for so many varied applications, the evil AFOLs are happy because they got the figures they wanted via barcodes... Who's unhappy? The goose who wants to collect the series (or some of it) the hard way. (Which is actually easily rectified.) So what's the problem then? Barcodes can make everyone happy. No need to complain.

2. Haha is it? I got my probably wrong estimation in a few seconds, based on the surely-not-far-off assumption they're equally available, didn't think it would be that far off. I think I only checked 10 or so before I found both anyway.

3&7. most themes are not for me. Depends what series 3 has. I'm not getting any of series 2, because none of them fit the space theme. If there's one or two from series 3 I like I'll try to find them online. Unless the price is ridiculous, then I'll wait a few years, since the price really only goes up for sealed boxes/bags or for pieces/figs that are only in 1 set. It doesn't worry me, I'm not saying it out of protest, I'll just probably be happier doing it that way.

4. You don't need a smart phone or barcode scanner. You can use your eyes and your memory. That's what I did. I was really really hoping I'd got it right, but couldn't find out until much later when I opened them, so it was very tense! Very exciting, and a huge relief when I was right. Phew! No cheerleader. Ahh breathe. (Would've been REALLY p*ssed if I'd got it wrong, haha!) I bought them from a small toyshop (only place I've seen them so far), the already opened box was right next to the cash register, 2 ladies standing behind the counter watching me curiously. School holidays were on, so a few kids there with their mums. Incidentally, if you were to get your 2 figures by "playing the game" you'd spend an extra $61.50 (3x 22.5-2) for a bunch of figures you don't care much about & 30 seconds of not looking ridiculous. That's pretty expensive? I personally think you'd look more ridiculous continually going back for more figures until you get what you want. I know I'd feel more ridiculous being diddled out of my money!

5. That's fair enough for you, if you want to do it that way.

8. Don't know why you said that, nor why I got a ":/" ... I thought Mac-K had some good points there, (probably forgot to say that) but added that for some kids it's not relevant.

9. Yeah I'll get what I want if I can, if I can't then I won't. If I don't want something, I won't get it. If no series 3 minifigs appeal to me I won't touch them. If there's more SP3 I'll probably go after it anyway, but thanks for the recommendation!

Happy building/collecting whichever you do. I do a combination of both, but under strict purchasing guidelines. Gotta draw some lines, or there's no money left for food on the table haha!

[Inconspicuous]

I'm sorry if this has been brought up before; if it has can someone steer me in the right direction?

I'm looking to buy a complete box. My local Toys R Us and Lego store won't let me buy one (if they even had them in stock), and the local Targets and Walmarts don't carry them either. Any ideas on where I could get a complete box?

[Asterios]

I'm sorry if this has been brought up before; if it has can someone steer me in the right direction?

I'm looking to buy a complete box. My local Toys R Us and Lego store won't let me buy one (if they even had them in stock), and the local Targets and Walmarts don't carry them either. Any ideas on where I could get a complete box?

I'm surprised your local TRU won't allow you to buy a complete box since I've bought 2 from my local TRU and would have bought a third today if I had the money.

Also on a side note TRU has a policy not to place purchase limits on products in store.

Edited June 16, 2010 by Asterios

[Blondie-Wan]

It sounds to me like a policy of that specific store near Inconspicuous, or one or more individuals working there. Given the diverse opinions expressed in this thread about what's appropriate buying behavior and what's not, it seems likely to me that some individual store personnel would have strong opinions on whether buying entire boxes is acceptable or not, and that at least some might disallow it (presumably unaware of the TRU chain's policy against purchase limits if they indeed have one).

Inconspicuous, I think there are a few things you (or anyone else trying to find these things, or trying to get more of them than you've been able to so far) might try. First of all, be aware that they are still new, and a lot of stores simply don't have them yet but can be expected to get them sometime in the next few weeks; I suspect this is the case with Target, Walmart, etc throughout the US. Secondly, remember that LEGO is sold at other stores beside just the big box mass-market chains. I occasionally buy my LEGO stuff from a couple of small independent toy stores here in my own city; as it happens, neither of these have the minifigures yet, but people at both stores have informed me that they've ordered them and should get them. Finally, remember there's always the internet. Someone here at some point noted one could preorder boxes of series 1 figures from Entertainment Earth; they're sold out now, but it might be worth keeping an eye on them in case they get some more, as well as checking out other online vendors.