Blondie-Wan

Thanks for that comparison pic, Brickwild! I missed out on nearly all the western sets as they came just as my dark ages were drawing to a close, so I don't have any of those other chiefs. The collectible minifigures line accounts for the entirety of my Native American minifigure population (so I really hope they give us some more in future series!). Hey there. Maybe it's a regional thing, but I do know Series 3 is still readily available in lots of places. I still see it at the Toys 'R' Us here, for example. LEGO also still offers it through Shop at Home, if you don't mind buying it completely randomly.

I voted "other," even though the Spartan is the one I've gotten the most of by far (27) - there are lots of these I'd like to have a lot more of than I've been able to get. All four of the specified figures are marvelous indeed, and I'd really love to have more of each of them (currently have four forestmen, twenty-seven Spartans, six or seven elves and three musketeers [heh]), but really, there are lots more figures from all four series I could stand to have several more of. Are we using "army building" here specifically in reference to literal armies (i.e., fighting forces), or are we including any / all of the minifiguress that we want scads of? I'm inclined to think the latter, given the discussion of cheerleaders. Anyway, in retrospect, I think the minifigure I would most like to have absolutely huge quantities of would actually be the robot, though I managed to get "just" three (though I do realize that's a lot more than some people got, and I'm lucky to have any). I would also really love to have several more spacemen, tribal hunters and cavemen (I have three of each of those as well). I'm surprised more people aren't talking about the various team sports figures. It seems to me that if one has any interest in these at all, one would likely naturally want enough to make at least one whole team for whatever sport it is. I'm going this way, and I'm not even a sports fan - I simply can't help but think having the various sports teams available will give me some lovely options for filling out the LEGO City I intend to eventually build with nifty scenes of regular everyday life including sporting events. I've therefore gotten a whole bunch of baseball players already (and may pick up a few more), and intend to do the same with hockey and football/soccer players (ironic, given that I personally don't really care much for sports at all).

I've noticed these for a little while now, but this is the first time I can remember seeing them discussed here. I was meaning to bring it up myself, but hadn't gotten around to it. I think I first saw the revised piece (without the little pins) in the Indiana Jones set 7196 - Chauchilla Cemetery Battle, which was released in August of '09, though I didn't get my first copies of it until months later (I mention this because for a small part detail like the one at hand, it's possible some copies of a set might contain different versions of the element). I've noticed that the instructions for not only this set, but also some later sets that also include the piece, depict it with the old pins, even though the actual parts included are the newer style without pins. The PAB wall isn't even the same in a given store from week to week, much less from store to store. I believe they do tend to draw largely upon the same "pools" of elements and there should be plenty of overlap from one store's PAB inventory to another, but they're certainly not really identical.

I actually like the crash test dummy a lot. I understand it's not necessarily the most useful for most builders, but I think it's one of the more desirable, in that the very idea of it is inherently amusing - hey, it's a crash test dummy minifigure! "Rage?" Really? "Mild disappointment" I could understand even without sharing your assessment, but "rage?" I mean, honestly...

Cool, thanks - it does indeed! Interesting. So far I've seen Series 4 at Toys 'R' Us and a couple smaller indie stores (part of franchises, but independently owned), but given the other information in the thread I do now fully expect to see them in the other places I haven't seen them yet but which have had the previous series. The only odd thing remaining for me is that of the five Walmarts here, only one has ever carried any of the minifigures as far as I can tell; it's had Series 2 and 3, and I now expect it to have Series 4 soon if it hasn't just gotten it already. I'm just mystified as to why the other four stores here apparently never carry these. From Davey's post, it sounds like we don't have to worry: Thanks for the tip! It sounds to me like it'll be at Targets everywhere, then, as Series 2 and 3 both were. Certainly given the way these things tend to sell, it's hard to imagine any store chain (especially one that's always carried LEGO anyway) opting not to carry a given series after having easily sold all their stock of previous series... _______________________________________________________ Man, Series 3 is an absolute wallet-killer. All the series have been to some extent, but this one seems particularly bad, because there are so many "army-builder" type figures one might reasonably want lots of, or even lots and lots of - the musketeer, the hazmat guy, the sailor, the soccer player, the hockey player... it just goes on and on.

What? I certainly haven't seen that! Do you (or anyone else) have a pic handy?

All right. I have to say I think simply feeling for parts is a heck of a lot easier and more reliable than trying to use the dot system. I do admire the effort, though!

That's what I would have expected, and indeed, the most boxes I've ever seen of any of the series at once has been of Series 4, in TRU - at one time they had four or five open boxes out simultaneously. It's just that for whatever peculiar reason, I haven't seen any S4 at any of three different chain stores that I've seen carry both S2 and S3. Perhaps it's just something about my area - or could it be that Series 4 is still fairly new, and just hasn't made it to all the other stores yet?

Really? I didn't think Series 2 was still sold in stores... I did however, happen to see two boxes of Series 3 at my local TRU. I don't know, are Series 4 going to be leaked early like Series 3 was? It's not, for the most part; it's almost completely gone everywhere, but my local Borders does still have some - I just confirmed it with another visit barely half an hour before posting this, and they have two partial boxes apiece of both Series 2 and Series 3, side by side - one box of each near the registers at the front of the store, and another partial box of each in the small LEGO area in the children's section near the back of the store. There are still quite a few S2 figures left there, even a Spartan that no one has claimed yet. As I mentioned earlier, I think the high price combined with the fact most people don't necessarily think of Borders when thinking about places to buy LEGO is what's kept them there so long. Just to follow up on my observations from the local Borders a month ago, I was there again a couple days ago and they still have some Series 2 (!), though they're finally dwindling away; they were down to just fifteen of them when I was there two days ago. They also had plenty of Series 3, but still no Series 4 just yet. My goofy dream of seeing Series 2, 3 and 4 being sold simultaneously in one store, side by side, may not come to pass... but then, this is already a lot closer to it than I ever really expected to see. In fact, I've so far seen Series 4 only at Toys 'R' Us, plus the same two smaller stores I've seen get every series since the beginning - Learning Express and Hobbytown USA. I have not seen Series 4 at Target, Walmart or Borders, even though I've seen both previous series at all three of those. Is Series 4 somehow not getting as widely distributed as the previous ones? It seems profoundly unlikely, but...

Thanks!

"Within a day," "within a month"... same thing, right? Apologies for the delay in updating, but I do intend to get to it this week if I can. I'm a bit surprised Aanchir hasn't checked into this thread yet. I hope my gentle ribbing in the initial post didn't put him off. Aanchir, if you're reading this... any comments? Additions? Corrections? Criticism?

Huh, that's peculiar. Once a set is finalized and in stores for months like this one was before they made the white packaging available, they presumably wouldn't change something like that on the box unless they had a very specific, intentional reason for doing so. I doubt they actually redesigned the model's construction (though I know they do such things sometimes, so who knows); perhaps the original piece count was wrong? If the new count were one fewer (having a difference from the original count of five instead of six), I'd half-wonder whether they decided to count the stickers...

Whoops. Reading comprehension FTW. I've read the three series "in the middle" (2nd, 3rd and 4th) were indeed more comparable to (some of) the magnet figures in quality than to other figures; I don't remember the exact thread, but I seem to remember reading somewhere around here that it was a noticeable drop from the first volume, and that the fifth one (the all-female one) was subsequently a step back up in quality, albeit still with the "different" plastic (or molds). I haven't touched the three in the middle (in part because of a hesitancy after seeing those quality complaints, and in part because I just never manage to get everything I want anyway), but I do have Volumes 1 and 5. I do agree the figures in Volume 5 are pretty much like the collectible minifigures - a softer, matte-type finish and possibly a different plastic, but nowhere near the horror of the Santa magnet minifigure. I find the volume 5 minifigures entirely satisfactory (and personally am very glad to have the set, since I don't have any of the sets the originals come in, alas). The minifigures in Volume 1 (which I see still hasn't been reviewed here; perhaps I should review it myself) don't even have the minor differences of Volume 5 and/or the collectible minifigures - they have the same shiny finish, the same look and feel of minifigures from regular sets, everything.

In particular, some protesters have expressed concern over the launches of certain unmanned vehicles with their own nuclear reactor technology electrical generators, specifically Galileo, with the thinking that some sort of launch or orbital accident might result in radioactive material being dispersed throughout the atmosphere. I think the Galileo protests would actually be the greatest part of the real-world basis for a minifigure like the one shown here, though I think that would be a little too specific and obscure for TLG to do even if the political content weren't already enough reason for them to want to stay clear of it.

Thanks, but I believe those are pre-production mockup packages. I believe the packaging that ultimately shows up in stores will be some other color. (I see that was your first post. Welcome to Eurobricks!)

I'm sure I'm not the only Star Wars fan here who's thought of using the Werewolf (or at least the head and hair/ears with a different legs and torso) as a patron in a certain cantina. Actually, given that TLG seems to be using some of the new elements created for the Minifigures line as "early releases" for elements appearing in other sets later on, I wouldn't be too surprised if they used the sculpt for another mold for the hairpiece for a figure appearing in an actual new Mos Eisley Cantina set somewhere down the line.

I must respectfully disagree with the second part of your statement (though certainly not the first, alas). I do have the Santa Claus magnet set and at least two of each minifigure from all four series of Minifigures, and I agree the plastic used for the torso and legs in the Santa Claus magnet set is terrible - totally undeserving of the LEGO name, frankly - but I think the collectible minifigures are much, much better. I was a little perplexed at the CMF quality when I first got some, as there was definitely something different about them, but at the same time the quality was clearly substantially better than that of the Santa minifigure in the Christmas magnet set. After much consideration of both my own observations and the various discussions here, I've come to the conclusion the perceived differences between the plastics used for the minifigures line and those used for minifigures (and other elements) in "regular" sets actually have more to do with differences in the texturing of the molds than of the actual plastics. I do accept that there may be some slight differences between the plastics as well, but I think these differences are not so great as some are making them to be. I think the "matte" finish of the minifigures throws people off. Yikes! I'm sorry to hear it, and those definitely sound like quality issues, but I have a bunch of Sheriff Woody figures from various sets as well as two of the Series 1 clowns, and none of mine have those issues. I suspect your problematic parts are isolated bits of bad luck rather than endemic issues affecting the entire runs of those figures. Have you tried contacting TLG's customer service to obtain replacements for the Woody figure elements?

Behold!

In my experience it varies depending upon whom / where you ask. I've been to three different LEGO Stores so far, one of them multiple times and the others just once apiece, and whenever I've asked about it I've sometimes been told I can get any fifteen parts I want, while other times I've been told I need to put together three complete figures from five parts apiece (legs, torso, head, headwear, accessory). It appears to be up to individual stores, or possibly even the whims of individual employees. Once I even had an employee ask me why I didn't put visors on the helmets I'd put on some of the figures I'd assembled, and I noted that it would make them two pieces (presumably the visor counting as the "accessory") and I was trying to stay within the five-pieces-per-figure rule, and that it wasn't a big deal because I had plenty of extra visors anyway since it's one of those pieces that usually has a spare copy in most sets that include it. He said it'd be ok to consider it part of the helmet and put visors in with all my helmeted figures, and then after a moment's reflection decided to give them "spares" as well, and so gave me extra visors. So I see! I got one of those torsos myself on my last visit to a LEGO Store, and I must confess I don't recognize it. What is it from? Also, what are the printed dark red legs next to it in the picture from?

Indeed. Actually, I'd say the easy way would have been to use stickers rather than printing on bricks at all. Given that this is almost surely a very very small production run (small enough that the sets were packaged by hand than machine, most likely), it's really remarkable to me that they have printed bricks. Just how many of these are there? I know most of these limited sets promoting store openings have runs somewhere in the hundreds...

I would have suggested pushing it out from the other side using a similar Technic pin, but if it's not a regular pin but instead is something special as Aanchir suggests, my next suggestion would be to ask TLG themselves for guidance. If it's designed to be removable at all, they should be able to help.

Perhaps you've seen this by now (I know my reply is a bit late; there's a lot of stuff I miss in the EB forums sometimes), but if not, this photo shows the skier on his skis in one of those compartments - sideways, of course, but still.

I had to stop working on it late last night, but as noted I intend to add more to it; I should have some more elements on it within a day or so. Could a mod change the title to "The Amazingly Useful, Life-Changing EB List of Minifigure Elements," please? I'd be appreciative. I wanted something longer but didn't know how much would get cut off, and I don't seem to have an option to change the title myself.

A while back our esteemed OCD parts wonk Aanchir posted a request to help him catalog the part ID #s from the various new elements (and old element designs in new molds) in the minifigures line, and I unwisely eagerly stepped up to the plate, doing my best to fill in the gaps in his already amazingly extensive list of part numbers for all the elements (for which numbers could be found) in Series 1 & 2. Clearly encouraged by his initial success in recruiting a sucker to help facilitate his own descent into madness cooperatively contributing to the AFOL community's collective body of knowledge and lore regarding LEGO elements, he recently asked if I'd be willing to do the same for Series 3, and I foolishly agreed jumped at the opportunity. Alas, being a serious procrastinator I have put it off until now, but to make up for lost time I'm going to take a stab at listing not only all the new part numbers I can find in Series 3, but those in Series 4 as well. And I've also realized it'll get lost if posted in the old threads. Here, then, is an ongoing list of parts found in the minifigures line with their corresponding part ID #s; I'm making it its own discrete post / thread so as to keep from cluttering larger discussions of new series, or bumping an old thread and dragging all the unrelated old posts in conversations no one is presently following to the front of the forum every time we want to update the list. Anyone wishing to contribute to the list is welcome and encouraged to do so; I'll try to update this initial post whenever new information comes up, whether from someone else posting numbers or me finding them on new parts myself. And I'll offer this disclaimer that at some point I may come to my senses and abandon this particular endeavor, at which point someone else will be encouraged to take it up if there's still interest. For now, though, just call me Aanchir's enabler. So... here we go! Asterisks denote what are essentially new versions of already-existing parts (some identical except for the part number, others having minor sculptural tweaks and deviations from the originals); minifigure names given are those used by LEGO on their product site for the Minifigures line; parts listed in color have the same part #s as in other sets; this is not complete as I have to abandon it, but I'll return with additional numbers as soon as time permits: 2524 Backpack (Pilot) 30169 Scorpion (Mummy) 46304 Snow Visor (Snowboarder) 64647 Plume (Musketeer) 85947 Squidioid Alien Head (Space Alien) 85974 Glamour Hair (Hula Dancer) 87989 Syringe (Nurse) 87990 Ponytail (Nurse / Tennis Player / Surfer Girl) 87991 Hair (Skater / Surfer / Soccer Player) 87992 Helmet (Robot) 87993 Ray Gun (Spaceman / Space Alien / Space Villain) 87994 3M Bar (Spaceman / Magician / Weightlifter / Space Alien / Space Villain / Viking) 87995 Afro (Circus Clown / Disco Dude) 87996 Horn (Circus Clown) 87997 Pom-Pom (Cheerleader) 87999 Hair/Beard (Caveman) 88001 Club (Caveman) 88408* Swim Fin (Deep Sea Diver) 88409* 2x2 Tile (Nurse / Disco Dude) 88410* Fedora (Cowboy) 88412* Top Hat (Magician / Ringmaster) 88413* Quiver (Forestman / Tribal Hunter) 88415* Helmet (Deep Sea Diver / Snowboarder / Race Car Driver) 88417* SCUBA Tank (Deep Sea Diver) 88418* Long Hair With Headband (Tribal Hunter) 88420* Katana (Ninja / Samurai Warrior) 88422* Skateboard (Skater / Street Skater) 88423* Small Wheels on Axle (Skater / Street Skater) 88425* Hair with Side Part (Magician) 88426* Long Ponytail (Cheerleader / Lifeguard) 88429* Feathers (Tribal Hunter) 88430* Ninja Wrap (Ninja) 88431* Shovel (Zombie) 88432* Turkey Drumstick (Zombie) 88489* Pointed Cap (Forestman) 88510* Helmet (Spaceman / Space Villain) (very hard to read this one; it could be 88570, but I think not) 88630* 1x2 Tile (Demolition Dummy / Traffic Cop) 88631* Wrench (Demolition Dummy) 88646 3x4 Minifigure Base 90301 Maraca (Maraca Man / Hula Dancer) 90307 Sombrero (Maraca Man) 90370 Microphone (Pop Star / Rapper) 90386 Beret (Mime / Artist) 90392 Spartan Helmet (Spartan Warrior) 90394* Bat (Vampire) 90395 Floatation Device (Lifeguard) 90396 Long Wavy Hair (Pop Star) 90397 Surfboard (Surfer / Surfer Girl) 90398 Trophy (Karate Master / Sumo Wrestler / Soccer Player) 90460* Pointed Hat (Witch) 90461* Receding Hair (Karate Master / Vampire) 90462* Nemes Headdress (Pharaoh) 90509 Ski (Skier) 90510* Aviator Cap (Traffic Cop / Pilot) 90512* 1x2x2 Slope Brick (Witch / Kimono Girl) 90514 Ski Pole (Skier) 90541 Beanie (Skier / Street Skater) 91049 Weight (Weightlifter) 91735* Handcuffs (Traffic Cop) 91884 Shield (Spartan Warrior / Viking) 93217 Hair With Bun (Sumo Wrestler / Kimono Girl) 93218 Snowboard (Snowboarder) 93219 Baseball Cap / Trucker Hat (Baseball Player / Rapper) 93221 Boom Box (Rapper) 93222 Fishing Pole (Fisherman / Lawn Gnome) 93223 Beard (Fisherman / Lawn Gnome) 93227* War Bonnet (Tribal Chief) 93228 Gorilla Mask (Gorilla Suit Guy) 93230 Hair With Pointed Ears (Elf / Werewolf) 93551 Palette (Artist) 93553 Fan (Kimono Girl) 93554 Cavalier Hat (Musketeer) 93555 Ice Skate (Ice Skater / Hockey Player) 93557 Sailor Cap (Sailor) 93558 Hair with Elongated Forehead (The Monster) 93560 Sports Helmet (Hockey Player) 93561 Sports Helmet Mask (Hockey Player) 93562 Hair With Flair (Ice Skater) 93563 Mohawk (Punk Rocker) 93564 Electric Guitar (Punk Rocker) 93565* Sports Padding (Hockey Player) 93566 Hazmat suit (Hazmat Guy) 93666 Floppy Hat (Garden Gnome) Note that for the first block of tweaked molds - all the ones for parts included in the initial 16 minifigures from Series 1 - TLG used a big block of part ID #s from 87989 to 88646, and except for that very last number (88646, the number for the new 3x4 plate / tile used as a display base), there's a neat division somewhere between 88001 and 88408, where all the numbers before it are for totally new pieces debuting in this line, and all the ones after it (except that very last 88646) are for new molds for existing pieces (sometimes with slight re-sculpts, sometimes not). Also, there are several parts neither Aanchir nor I could find part ID#s on. Some of these do have what I believe to be mold numbers - numbers which indicate which specific mold out of several molds molded that particular part (I hope someone will be good enough to correct me if I'm wrong!) Some parts with such numbers do also have a notice like "© 2009 LEGO," though this isn't on all of them, either. Notably, the Elf's longbow has a LEGO copyright and a number below that, but it's so tough to read I can't even be sure of how many digits there are, and whether it's the part number or one of those mold numbers. Perhaps more notably, the Explorer's binoculars have a "LEGO" notice as well - nothing unusual there, except that the 'regular' version of this part doesn't, so there's a visible difference between the part here and its counterpart in regular sets even though they're the same shape and neither version has an engraved part number. Starting with Series 3, some existing parts have the same part numbers in this line as they do in other sets; I'll try to indicate these in green or something, though I may miss some if they have numbers outside 8xxxx or 9xxxx (I'm probably not going to look up every single one of these). And as I noted in the other threads, I sometimes use the functional magnifying glass that comes with the Explorer (and Sleuth?) to read the part numbers on some of the other elements.

Well, blast it. :( I was really looking forward to checking out some of the online Exo-Force material when I finally get around to putting together the remaining sets I have still in boxes, and more fully delving into the theme. Is there a particular reason they wouldn't want the old material kept up, even in some archival capacity?