Series 3 Minifigures Have Reached the East Coast

 

  • Series 3 Minifigures Have Reached the East Coast

    Posted by yellowcastle, 01 Dec 2010 01:21. Filed under Shopping (USA).

    Well, it didn't take long for Series 3 minifigures to reach the East Coast.  I've just got back from our local Toys R Us (Northern Virginia) where they had a couple of picked through boxes.  I managed to get one of each figure and can confirm that each packet does indeed have identifying dimples on the bottom flap.  However, the dimples are very difficult to differentiate even at home, let alone in the store.  Additionally, the inital cheat sheet, so to speak, is helpful but in my opinion, incomplete.  It will probably be a good idea to put together a revised one.  It's also disappointing to note that you don't receive any spare pieces, unlike with the first two series (e.g. syringe, maraca, pistol, feather(s), ski pole, microphone, sword, etc).  I would say the Elf, Rapper, Hula Girl, and Fisherman are definitely the best of the bunch.  :o)  Lastly, with LEGO raising the price of impulse sets to $3.99, and with Series 3 starting out at $2.99 at both Fred Meyers and Toys R Us, is it possible that this will be the new MSRP for the collectible minifigures?

    UPDATE:  I've created a new Series 3 Cheat Sheet that I think is more accurate.  Let me know what you think!


    165 comments, latest one posted 29 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 02:19

I had a really hard time reading the bumps myself, so did my husband and son. I ended up with some extras. Over all I was pretty happy with what I got. Still need a hula girl myself.

Posted by Matthew in United Kingdom, 01 Dec 2010 02:52

This is why I love Brickset. I read all the articles, then go to bed at night. First thing in the morning there are more! It's because there are news posters all over the world. So even if the news isn't very relevant to me I've still got something to read! keep at it all of you: Huw, bluemoose, yellowcastle, MINIFIGHQ, Sorry if I've missed anyone, those are all I can remember off the top of my head.

Posted by brickzone in Ireland, 01 Dec 2010 03:11

Are the minifigs always in the same order in a box? With each one next to its duplicates? So for example, will taking every third bag from a new (full) box give you almost one of each (I'm guessing the fisherman if there are only two would prevent you from actually getting one of each using this strategy).

Posted by yys4u in United States, 01 Dec 2010 04:44

@brickzone - I was thinking the same thing the other day! If the boxes are arranged in the exact same order, you could simply count and differentiate between different figures, of course you would have to get the first crack at the box, someone with multiple boxes should test this theory out.

Posted by Redbricker in United States, 01 Dec 2010 05:45

I still need three snowboarder, mummy, and baseball player

Posted by kademark in United States, 01 Dec 2010 07:20

Yellowcastle which TRU did you find them?? I'm in Northern Virginia also and have been looking in every store (Target,Walmat, etc) as well as every TRU I pass lately. I actually have to go there today for an exchange so I'll of course look, but there are maybe 4-5 TRU stores around and with my luck I'll go to the one that doesn't have any. I haven't bought any from S1 or S2 there so I may be missing them. Are they normally shelved with all the other legos or are they displayed somewhere else? Oh- if you know anyone in the area still looking for series 2 the Borders I was at last night had 2 full untouched boxes. Hope to hear from you soon. I really appreciate it!!!

Posted by Carnigee77 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 08:22

Ya there is a Borders by me in Minnesota that still has 3 boxses of series 2. still no series 3 though!

Posted by spency13 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 08:39

Any in AZ?

Posted by Mr. Timms in United States, 01 Dec 2010 08:42

I've read some comments on Eurobricks about people finding them at their TRU despite calling and being told they didn't have any in. How wrong is that? I just don't have enough time in the day to drop in at the TRU every day on my way home-- so I've been calling pretty much every day since Black Friday, and half the time the kid on the other end isn't even aware of what I'm talking about.

No sign as of yet, and I am also East Coast... and I'm hoping they show before the BOGO sale goes off, obviously.

Posted by mikeyob in United States, 01 Dec 2010 08:49

Have any made it to WI yet?

Posted by bernsa in United States, 01 Dec 2010 08:51

Well I went to two TRU in the Northern Virginia area - Springfield didn't seem to have any. Didn't ask any of the store representatives though. Went next to Woodbridge which had two boxes. Started happily to go through looking for the bumps, and found them incredibly difficult to detect let alone decode. So I decided rather than dealing with that nonsense I picked up the unopened case. BOGO50 applies and so got them for about ~2.25 each.

Posted by kademark in United States, 01 Dec 2010 08:53

Was that yesterday? Tuesday?

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 01 Dec 2010 09:20

I found mine in Sterling, VA and I believe they had received only a couple of boxes and within the past 24 hours. As both boxes were picked through, I am unable to confirm box complement. Additionally, they had to scan each pack so I'm also unable to confirm relative box location. :o( Lastly, the boxes were at a register and customer service and the BOGO50% deal did apply.

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 09:25

@spency13: I found them at the TRU @ 35th ave & w Dunlap in Phoenix. Others have found them in Mesa and Goodyear as well.

Posted by voypro in United States, 01 Dec 2010 09:26

This goes for this and any future release of Minifigs.

At $1.99 I will buy at least 2 case, and numerous duplicates of figs which i think are cool.
At $2.99 I will complete the set, a get a couple extra figure of what think is cool
At $3.99 I will not buy any.
At $4.99 I will hire a gypsy to curse the Lego Group CEO with an embarrassing itch.

Posted by beefygrefe in United States, 01 Dec 2010 09:57

I found some at my local TRU in the twin cities area in MN. Went in on a whim and was pleasantly surprised to find them, but I'll admit I bought both of the available boxes since it was BOGO half off. It feels good to be done hunting for this series already.

I'm also surprised that the US saw series 3 released before Europe. I'm not complaining but I figured I'd have to order my 2 boxes from across the pond.

Posted by UKver2.0 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 10:47

@beefygrefe -- Which TRU?

Posted by KJM72 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 11:02

I might be heading off to Carle Place, NY TRU in a little bit. But it's very crummy outside and I might decide not to go. We'll see. I'm not really expecting to see them there, but sort of hoping. I just skipped Series 2 and only got a few from Series 1. Is the cheat-sheet really that hard to use?

Posted by beefygrefe in United States, 01 Dec 2010 11:12

@UKver2.0 - Both Bloomington and Burnsville are cleaned out. I hit Burnsville for their boxes then went up to Bloomington to try and get another fisherman to round out another set, but they were cleaned out too. If this series truly is being being mass produced, it would be my hope that we should see another shipment next week along with more than the standard two boxes per store.

Posted by jeffjcc in United States, 01 Dec 2010 11:37

I kinda wish they would have waited for January for the S3 release. Holiday shopping at TRU is complete chaos. Makes the minfig search experience that much more crazy being the Holiday season

Posted by lovelyuba in United States, 01 Dec 2010 11:54

I just got back from TRU in BAileys Crossroads, Va. I agree that some bumps easy to see and some not.
..Anyway, I didn't get Hula Girl and some other. Just didn't have time to look at those bumps!I hope Lego didn't make it rare or may be they did? I agree with Yellowcastle, the bump-codes need to be revised. When I was looking at the packets, the bumps were at the different place. (not all of them) May be thats why I couldn't find Hula girl?

Posted by gamerguy90 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 12:14

I want to thank the person(s) who decided it would be funny to turn in half a box of S2 witches and cops and leave 1 packet of S3 at the TRU in Gaithersburg, MD. Now I know that there are some sneaky people who live around me who use the information on this website and give nothing back. All I have to say now is: GAME ON! and may the best Lego Fan win.

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 01 Dec 2010 12:16

The S2 cop is actually one of my favorites so far so in my opinion, SCORE! :o)

Posted by cvillone in United States, 01 Dec 2010 12:26

Found them at Rochester Toys-R-Us after calling 800 # and then store to make sure they were there. They were picked over. Yes them dots are hard to read and the associates wouldn't let me feel the bag cause they thought I would break something. Was looking for the gorilla and elf but after getting to the car and feeling the bags properly, I've got the Indian Chief and Samauri. Oh well, hopefully Target/Walmart will get them before x-mas On a good note I got Freeing Dobby for a total of $4 at Borders. 13.99 - 33%off - Free $5 in Borders Bucks, grand total $4 with tax. They also had a bunch of Series 2 minifigs for $3.99 a piece.

Posted by Mr. Timms in United States, 01 Dec 2010 12:38

Interesting concept: Cygnet over at Ugly Duckling at Bricklink has created a Google map to track all of the various sightings of Series 3 figures in North America and beyond. What a great idea-- if you find them in your location, put up a pushpin and then we'll all be able to observe the spread of the S3 distribution. The link is here:

http://uglyduck-bricklink.blogspot.com/2010/12/tracking-series-3-rollout.html

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 01 Dec 2010 12:50

Yknow what? I think Ill just pay the difference (forget BOGO50) and wait and hope they make an appearance at TRU.com soon.
I am tired of taking time off of work during the week to go hunt for these things when the store opens and potentially have to fight over them, not to mention the traffic and congestion in the store as it is Christmas.. Even if there is a BOGO50 deal I really do not care.. I wish I had the time to go from store to store, but I just do not.. unless I do not want a job that is.
So Here is to hoping they show up on TRU.com and soon.. 2.99 per pack stinks but I do want a set or two...

Posted by chicagorando in United States, 01 Dec 2010 13:13

I can understand your frustration, madforlegos. And I think your approach might be pretty good. I fought traffic to get to my TRU yesterday and didn't have time to spend interpretting the bumps at the store. There were only 26 left so I just bought all of them and sorted through them at home later. I got nearly a complete set (missing the baseball player and space cyborg). I'll either return the duplicates to TRU or trade them for the two missing minifigs. It's MUCH harder to identify the packages without the barcodes. You have to use the bumps to get a good guess as to what's inside, then feel the bag to be sure (it's nice when they have parts that are clearly identifiable by touch, like the indian's headdress or gorilla's banana). Anyway, I think my approach from now on will be to buy a bunch of packets and sort them at home, then return or trade any duplicates.

Posted by legoDad42 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 13:18

I can easilly see Lego raising the Series III price to $2.99. When you buy the Build A Mini-fig pack, it's 3 figures (w/hat or wig and one accessory) for $9.99 and mostly these are common city pieces (unless you can dig out a Ninja torso here and there).
I always thought $2.00 was a great price, especially for kids to purchase with their allowance money. Hopin' they won't raise it...

Posted by gamerguy90 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 13:20

@yellowcastle: I've got 5 S2 cops still in packaging if you want to trade for any of S3 except the pilot.

As for determining the dimples/dots on the packaging, I found it quite easy. From what I've read on hear most people are looking at the package as a whole and that is why they are finding it difficult to read and determine the fig inside. I would suggest splitting the package in half at the seem. Determine half of the package and use process of elimination to reduce possibilities then work on the other side. With this process I was able to determine what fig I had by the time I got to the register (<1min.).

Also an update from Target: the packs are still not in their system, however I was told that they recieve trucks/shipments every night but don't know what it on the truck. I give it about a week or two before you stat seeing them in Target and probably the end of the month for Walmart. (this is just my assumption, not to be taken as fact.)

Happy hunting all

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 13:35

To this day I have yet to see s2 in ANY Walmart in AZ!!

Posted by avoiceoreason in United States, 01 Dec 2010 13:37

Well, after searching all over the KOP TRU in PA, I finally wandered down the pre-school toy aisle and low and behold! Sitting there on a cart in the middle of the aisle with a bunch of other inventory were two unopened boxes. I bought one and left the other.

As a side note, it seems we (or Lego) has found the pricing threshold for these things which is $2.99. All the Borders around here have multiple boxes of S2 minifigs still sitting on the shelf with at the $3.99 price.

Posted by kademark in United States, 01 Dec 2010 14:09

Found S3's at TRU in Woodbrigde, Va. Took one look at the bumps and quickly decided not to bother. Choose 20 at random and ended up with the entire set and have 2 Hula girls and 2 gorilla's extra. At least I think... The bumps are hard to see in the store but at home the were alot more definded in the better lighting. Only thing is you can count me as dissapointed that LEGO's didn't include any extra parts like S1 and S2.

Posted by Texslot in United States, 01 Dec 2010 15:41

Finally, S3 comes to North Texas via TRU today. The stock person told me they just got them in last night and they have already sold a complete box by the time I got there at 10AM. Luckily, the stock person brought out two more complete unopened cases for me to purchase. The manager limited me on the number of packs I could purchase for the day, but she told that there were two other stores in the area that also has them in stock. $2.99 for one and $1.49 for the second one because of the promotion.

Posted by podgi237 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 15:56

Tried at the TRU in Chicago, they had a bunch of unopen Lego boxes but did not have any Series 3 Minifigures...

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 01 Dec 2010 16:19

@gamerguy90 - I said I really liked the S2 cop. I didn't say I hadn't hoarded my fair share already. :o)

As for the dimples, there appear to be both solid dimples and very faint dimples. Additionally, a couple of figures have what I can only describe as a cluster of 3 dimples which I will now refer to as the PREDATOR spot from the awesome Schwarzenegger movie. :o) And while the dimpling pattern was the same on each like figure, the level of the dimples seemed to vary based on the cut of that specific bag. I was pretty thorough but still ended up misidentifying 2 figures. I'll probably put together my own cheat sheet and see if anyone sees what I'm seeing. Perhaps my mind is just playing tricks on me. But I am going to step out on the ledge and say that these dimple codes will likely help less than 5% of minifigure hunters. Thus, I'm guessing people will either give up and just grab a random sampling from a box or simply buy larger numbers of minifigures to sort through at home. I think it could go either way.

Posted by chicagorando in United States, 01 Dec 2010 16:41

@yellowcastle: I agree with your categorization of solid dimples, faint dimples, and "predator" dimples. I've noticed the clusters as well (I think the gorilla has a cluster if I remember correctly). An updated cheat sheet might be nice. But like I said before, I just use the dimples to get a rough idea of what's in the packet, but still rely on feeling the bag to confirm my dimple-based hunch.

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 17:02

Does anyone have an extra hula girl you are willing to trade for an elf or fisherman?

Posted by jarom_moroni in United States, 01 Dec 2010 17:05

One figure has different patterns. The Gorilla has the predator dimples sometimes and other times it has large and small clusters made of smaller dimples. The Indian was the hardest for me to identify followed closely by the Samurai and the gorilla. Other figures may turn up with different codes at different times. Who knows.

Anybody have any zombies they are willing to trade for credit in my bricklink store?
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=jarommoroni

Posted by spency13 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 17:59

@starfire2, thanks, but i live in yuma! But i am going to phoenix this weekend.....

Posted by LobsterWarrior in United States, 01 Dec 2010 18:46

Yeah! They reached here! My mom two days ago saw it, and today she bought me five!

Posted by Acadia in United States, 01 Dec 2010 19:06

I went yesterday and today to TRU and got a total of 23 for the buy one get one half off price.

Posted by Mr. Timms in United States, 01 Dec 2010 19:32

I can confirm another East Coast purchase :)

It was hard to try and pick them all out, so I actually bought 18 and tried my best to find what I could by using the dimple crib sheet method. Long story short, I am VERY PROUD to announce that out of 18, I received every one except the Space Villain and the Rapper, and received a second elf and a second hula girl. In fact, I even checked them again once I got home (and before I opened them) and was able to identify an extra sumo and an extra pilot-- so I was able to not open them, and can return those two and perhaps grab the rapper (I'm not sure I even want the cyborg to be honest).

SO... long story short, the dots work if you have a sharp eye for detail. I was actually very short on time and was able to accomplish this in just over ten minutes in the store. AND, with the BOGO 50% sale, I paid only $42 for the whole batch. Very pleased with my Series 3 experience-- and to all a good night!!

Posted by wildcherryp3psi in United States, 01 Dec 2010 19:34

OK so this was how I managed to get 7 individual minifigs in one swoop without using the cheat sheet but still using the bumps/dimples.
Just make a selection (I could only afford 7, although wanted to get a complete set) and just ensure that each pack you choose has the bumps/dimples in different areas on each pack. It's not that hard to do, just take your time.

Posted by Thrund in United Kingdom, 01 Dec 2010 19:37

@jarom-maroni: If that's the case, then it may be that the patterns are specific to a batch or production line. That would allow them to be packed correctly in the factory without making them easy to identify at retail, and would explain why they're still consistent within a box. Good for avoiding duplicates, but not for knowing exactly what you've got.

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 19:43

Mr Timms: would you consider trading your extra hula girl for my rapper? If so contact me through Brickset.

Posted by schvatts in United States, 01 Dec 2010 20:41

@legoDad42 - I agree it is possible for Lego to raise the price and the build-a-figure idea is a solid point. My only gripe is that the build-a-fig parts are good quality Lego elements. If they made the collectible ones of the non-China plastic sure I would pay more. As it stands now and having gotten some S3 figures the plastic quality seems to have gotten worse! The tan and brown are more translucent and not quite right. Plus the legs are must looser.

@starfire2- I plan on getting a several more figures tonight, if I get a Hula want a trade for the elf?
Also, I did fined the S2 figures at Wal-mart on Grand and Bell about a month after the frenzy. The box was a different style and on an end cap display in the toy area. The box was hanging, six shelves, three packs wide, and five packs deep. When I saw it, it was untouched. I got a spartan and a surfer out of it.

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 01 Dec 2010 21:03

@schavatts : absolutely!!! You can contact me through Brickset .

Posted by wildcherryp3psi in United States, 01 Dec 2010 22:04

@schvatts I agree the legs are a lot looser

Posted by Oboe in United States, 01 Dec 2010 22:14

To my MN friends, I went to the Maplewood store about 2pm. They had 2 open boxes about 3/4 full each. I only bought 4 figs for my kids stockings. I believe I got a fisherman, alien, baseball player, and racecar driver.

Posted by husher180 in United States, 02 Dec 2010 00:49

Called a bunch of TRU stores this morning and it seems that the stores that got their trucks in today and Tuesday had at least some minifigs in stock, but the ones that get trucks on Thursday and Friday didn't have any in stock. Since most stores are opening and 7 or 8 am, call and ask if they have item# 577997 in stock and how many they have.

Stores that claimed that had some in stock this morning:

Manassas, VA (60)
Fairlakes, VA (20)
Woodbridge, VA (wouldn't say how many)

The only store I can verify having them in stock today was Winchester, VA as they had just come off the truck and had 240 pieces. They still had 2 full boxes and some extras on pegs this afternoon.

I also scanned a wrapper at Target and Walmart and neither has them in their systems.

Posted by cara in United States, 02 Dec 2010 00:50

With the fisherman dots. On my packets the very first dot often has a cluster of small ones to its right. Then I think a 4th dot is missing from the sheet, I see dots below the 3rd/4th number or letter B in the code that is pressed into the packet on he right hand side.

The Baseball player, I agree with what someone else mentioned. All of mine have one or two small dots vertically between the two dots that are on the left hand edge of the pckage.

Posted by MiniFever in United States, 02 Dec 2010 09:47

I have an extra zombie/mexican/ to trade

Posted by Bookpodder in United States, 02 Dec 2010 09:59

And they've reached Maine... Haven't checked everything I bought yet, but have managed to open one of everything so far, except for the fisherman and the mummy. So far, I have a few extra sumo wrestlers, hula girls and elves. Now I can go away on vacation and not obsess about these things!

Posted by atmail35 in United States, 02 Dec 2010 10:56

Any sightings in Massachusetts? I called one MA Lego Store and they still are saying January and I called a local TRU and they said it is "an active item, but sold out at the moment".

Posted by vynsane in United States, 02 Dec 2010 10:57

Anyone see these in the NYC area? I'm thinking of checking out the Times Sq. TRU, but on second thought it's December and it's Times Sq... and they're probably selling them for $4 at that location at this point. I'm also thinking we'll see these at LEGO Stores before the new year - it's completely foolhardy of them to not have these out for Christmas - what better stocking stuffer could there possibly be???

Posted by 44CHRIST in United States, 02 Dec 2010 12:57

Another East Coast confirmation in Northern New Jersey at the local TRU. There were (I took one and another guy took another) four boxes in a display. The 50% BOGO applied and that coupled with the find put a big smile on face!!! :-)

Posted by beefygrefe in United States, 02 Dec 2010 13:11

From the past history I've seen at my local Lego Brand Store, as other have said already, I'd be willing to bet that we'll see S3 show up at Lego stores in the next couple of week (or at least before Christmas). I'm just hoping that, if they are TRULY mass produced, they'll keep in stock and there won't be a limit on them...but I'm not putting my hopes too high on that.

At least we've seen things improve so far. From series 1 to series 2, we saw the limit go way up and at our Lego Store they were kept in stock for noticeably longer. I'm really hoping that Lego is doing a better job with their supply chain this time around and we can all be knee deep in figs (or however deep you'd want to be).

Posted by vynsane in United States, 02 Dec 2010 13:36

No joy at TRU Times Sq., NYC. They haven't received any yet.

Posted by kylejohnson11 in United States, 02 Dec 2010 13:44

@MiniFever what series 3 do you need for the Zombie? I have some to trade. Please contact me off site; kylejohnson11@gmail.com Thanks!

Posted by Jakesmom05@gmail.com in United States, 02 Dec 2010 13:47

I bought an entire box of 60 because I wanted to get al the guys and didn't have the patience to figure it our in the store. They were 3.99 a piece plus $5 to ship it to you. It was a new case and all I did is take out the 16 for my son. I am not really a collector but my son who is only 4 is really getting obsessed!! I'm not trying to make money just get paid for the ones I'm not keeping.

Posted by lovelyuba in United States, 02 Dec 2010 15:44

@yellowcastle. Thank you so much for updating the cheet sheet! I think it looks great. All the additional dots make more sence . Thanks again!

Posted by brickupdate in United States, 02 Dec 2010 15:58

I just got back from Toys R Us here in New Jersey, there were two boxes of series 3 mini figures on the shelf. I was there last night and the manager said that they hadn't got any in yet. I asked when the next shipment would be, and he said last night, confirming that they would go out today if any arrived. I got to the store around 2, and the boxes were already picked through a bit. As others said it is REALLY hard to distinguish the bumps, using the feel or glare method. Some packs are better than others, but in the end, it's all very confusing.

I picked out about 18 packs, trying to avoid dot patterns for figures I knew I didn't want. Who knows what I'll end up with! I don't think there were any Elves left, I went through each pack in the box. I imagine all the elves, baseball players and fishermen are gone. No idea though.
They did qualify for B1G150%. The local Target DID NOT have an in stock. Thanks!

Posted by GV357 in United States, 02 Dec 2010 17:34

Carle Place, NY TRU has them. Saw 2 boxes out. I tried to buy a whole one but they said my limit had to be "within reason"
I bought 30 of them about 30 min ago. Probably plenty left.

Posted by ThisIsMyCup in United States, 02 Dec 2010 18:05

went to my tru this morning in gainesville, fl had 2 boxes out. one was picked thru, the other untouched. was able to get complete set except for the mummy...accidentally got 2 pilots. willing to trade pilot or maybe some from series 2 if anyone if interested.

Posted by Nickds in United States, 02 Dec 2010 18:12

Just got back from my TRU only had 5 left. Got them, and they were BOGO 50%. Going to run around to other TRU later tonight.

Posted by Captain Blockbeard in United States, 02 Dec 2010 18:28

This morning, just before lunch time, I went to one of my local TRU stores in southeastern PA and found 2 untouched-but-open boxes in the Lego aisle. A pair of Lego representatives were still there checking the store's inventory of 2011 Legos, and they told me I had arrived only 10 minutes after the boxes were put out. (That made me glad I arrived later than originally planned!) After an hour of carefully checking dimple patterns, I left with 17 (plus a polybag set) for the BOGO 50% deal. Unlike with Series 2 at this particular store, there were no limits placed on purchasing Series 3 figures. My observations:

1. Yes, same figures seem to be packaged together in the box. As I went through the box, row by row, I found all of each type together, starting with the mummy at the front of the leftmost row. (Sorry I can't remember the exact placements of the others.) I remember encountering all of the aliens together. Same for the pilot, baseball player, snowboarder, and race car driver.

2. Even with the initial dimple pattern cheat sheet being incomplete, I found nearly all of the figures to be easier to identify than originally expected (from what I read on here and Eurobricks). The only two that were too difficult to judge were the Indian Chief and the Gorilla Suit Guy. The third figure with a dimple pattern similar to those two is the Samurai, but fortunately, the dimples are clearly placed farther up on the packaging than for the other two.

Posted by Nickds in United States, 02 Dec 2010 21:16

I just came back from the Whitestone NY TRU. They have four boxes out. The cheat sheet did help a little. I had a better time identifing the figures by fealing the bags. After a hour and half of groping polybags and some odd looks from employee's I went home with a full set and 10 Elves.

Posted by Sword2211 in United States, 02 Dec 2010 23:21

I am willing to Take offers for series 3 trades with spartans or any other series 1 or 2 (I have all unopened packs from series 1 and 2):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300468145889&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300494775934&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
Just send me an IM on eBay

Posted by GV357 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 05:44

@yellowcastle calls them predator dots, this things are very difficult to identify!

Posted by gamerguy90 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 06:58

As of 6:56 AM Eastern Time Toys R Us. com has S3 minifigures online and in stock at $2.99 BoGo 50%
lol no more store hunting for me

Posted by pizzicato in United States, 03 Dec 2010 08:28

I tried to place an order of 40 minifigures online at TRU, the stupid system put 39 of them at regular price and only 1 for 50%. I called the customer service and she said that's how it works, if I want BOGO 50%, I will have to place 20 different orders. I am not going to place 20 different orders and pay 20 shipping fee. Anybody knows a way around this?

Posted by dandantheman in United States, 03 Dec 2010 08:43

I went to my toysrus last night and was able to get 13 out of the 16 minifigures using the decoder sheet! I got 2 extra hula girls, 1 extra monkey man, 1 extra sumo, and 1 extra samurai. Im going to by thee last 3 off ebay. Its probably easier than by more repeats. Had trouble finding the Indian Chief, Pilot, and race car driver! But at my toysrus I was lucky enough to open a brand new full box of them and bought 20 in all. Ten for half Price! They only had two boxes! If any one has the missing ones i need please let me know. Also I can sell my extras to if you need those ones!

Posted by pizzicato in United States, 03 Dec 2010 09:01

I am also missing a few to complete the set. It was very hard to try to see the dots in the package. I think one of I couldn't even see any dots, anybody know which one is that? A few of them, I'm guessing as well. The dots seem to be consistent on the duplicate ones that I figured out.

Posted by i like guitars in United States, 03 Dec 2010 10:03

anyone in southern California see these anywhere???????????

Posted by JELJ1s in United States, 03 Dec 2010 10:46

Colorado Springs TRU near the Citadel Mall on Galley and Academy has 1 box left as of 8:10 this AM. I bought a box! BOGO50% applies! More than MSRP but not too bad. Good luck!

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 03 Dec 2010 10:50

TRU.com has them on their site. but the shipping is horrendous

Posted by suckerpunch83 in Canada, 03 Dec 2010 10:55

I hope these hit Canada soon......

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 03 Dec 2010 11:10

I wish I could find these magical TRU stores that have boxes of these.. I cannot even find one in the Chicago Area.

Posted by gamerguy90 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 11:22

Got to my local TRU on Rockville Pike(MD) when it opened(8:00AM) and got my pick of 2 full boxes. Picked 10, got 7 with 3 duplicates (2 racecar drivers, 1 baseball player). I went back at 11:00 AM, 3 hours later, both boxes have vanished. Looks like LEGO has forced desperate people to desperate measures.

On a side note, the dipples are the hardest code system I have ever seen. no 2 of the same fig are alike from the ones I have. Looks like, to me anyways, the best way to find out what's in the bag is the grope the bag till you find the one piece that is exclusive to that figure. Anyone have any insight as to what works best? Because I obviously don't.

Posted by Captain Blockbeard in United States, 03 Dec 2010 11:32

That new dimple cheat sheet looks accurate for most of the figures from what I found. However, the new version of the Elf's code looks more like what I found to be true for the Baseball Player on the left end where there is a set of 3 dots making up part of a "+" sign.

Posted by rhinobucket in United States, 03 Dec 2010 11:39

had 4 boxes in warwick ri, now theres only 3, didnt have time to go through so hoppfully its like s2 were you got 3 sets and some left over, moron tru employee ripped the tops off the boxes thanks

Posted by JELJ1s in United States, 03 Dec 2010 11:55

Sooo....I broke open the box...tried to sort through the minifigs using the "cheat sheet" above...IMPOSSIBLE. On a couple i'm fairly sure i know based on the dots, but it is really difficult to tell what is a dot and what is just an accidental crease. I'll try a bit more when I'm not sitting at my desk at work, "working"!

Posted by cardas1 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 12:01

TRU.com wants $86.09 for shipping 60 of them to me...that is insane.

Posted by cardas1 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 12:06

I guess I should further clarify that the $86.09 is just for shipping, and does not include the actual cost of the minifigures.

Posted by UKver2.0 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 12:09

Strike three, I'm out.

I called 1-800-TOYSRUS and was given the inventory counts for three stores. All were gone by the time I got there (1-2 hours after opening). At one, they said they had two boxes this morning -- one person called and had a box held for them and another person came in and bought the other.

So I tried TRU.com... HAHAHA!

@cardas1 -- Shipping is $5.85 for the first, $1.36 for each additional figure. Compare that to $4.58 for the first, $0.085 for each additional figure for Series 2. Add that to the "buy 59 get one 50% off" deal and you pay $263.99 for something that would cost ~$134.55 (+tax, +gas) in store. Nice.

Posted by legogirl19 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 12:37

I got excited when I found out that TRU.com has the minis, but then after discovering that you only get 1 mini for the BOGO deal, and shipping for just 2 minis is 7.21, 60 is 86.09 (as cardas1 previously stated), I guess I'll just wait for the Lego store to get them!

TRU you have stooped to a new low, by not including these in the Free Shipping promo!!

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 03 Dec 2010 13:19

Wow, so I called TRU via the 800 number, after some holding time I got them to drop a blistering 20 off of the total for shipping. UGH.. You have to be kidding me Because I know that TRU will put them all into 1 box to send out for 10 dollars...
I guess I will wait until Lego.com has them...
Hopefully they will not limit them online (especially if they are running them for one 1)

Posted by i like guitars in United States, 03 Dec 2010 14:32

Can't find the figs on the toysrus.com site is it only me?

Posted by GV357 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 14:54

TRU is the worst

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 03 Dec 2010 15:12

Look up Lego Series 3, they should pop up in a normal search

Posted by minifigureandy in United States, 03 Dec 2010 15:15

TRU Woburn, MA had them this morning. I got 22, not sure about the dots working out for me, they were pretty faint. two boxes out, which is all they were scheduled to get yesterday. Probably had a box and a half left at 10:15.

peabody, ma TRU sold out as of yesterday, though their inventory said they had more, they searched and were unable to find the box.

TRU express in stoneham did not have any despite the 800 number saying they did. 800 number also said that Saugus, MA, Framingham, MA and Salem, NH had some, but that was yesterday and I am sure they sold out.

Good luck!

Posted by beefygrefe in United States, 03 Dec 2010 15:29

I stopped by the local TRU's today and its a lost cause...between the crowds the sales are drawing and the lack of knowledge most associates have on the figs, I get the impression there's not much hope of finding any if you didn't get out early in the day.

Posted by UKver2.0 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 15:58

@beefygrefe -- The Bloomington TRU held 60 for a customer that called in to the store this morning. I didn't know they would do that.

Also, where in the store were the ones you found in Burnsville? I couldn't find the empty slot. Both the Minnetonka and Bloomington stores have an empty spot labeled for them.

Posted by kylejohnson11 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 16:19

Guys, I've got promising news! A local Toys R Us sold out earlier this week. I called 1800 Toysrus and they said they got more in. I called the store to confirm. They have 120 more that arrived today on a truck and should be out soon! :)

Posted by skherbeck in United States, 03 Dec 2010 16:31

It's interesting how each TRU comes up with its own arbitrary limit on minifigs... I went to one local TRU today and the girl at customer service limited me to 5 minifigs; I went out to my car, went back in and a different person was at the customer service desk; he was going to let me get the remainder of the box (35 minifigs)... just then, someone else came in behind me asking about minifigs; I didn't want to be too greedy so I split the box with him! Then i went straight to another TRU, and they limited me to 10 minifigs. I'll be going back to both stores after work to give it one more try!

Posted by GV357 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 16:40

@skherbeck - the lady told me "no limit" so i asked for the whole box
then she radio'd a manager. he said "there's no limit but it has to be a reasonable amount"
so that would mean there IS a limit then right?
anyway i left with 30. SMH
The ignorance at TRU is beyond acceptable

Posted by Captain Blockbeard in United States, 03 Dec 2010 16:42

I returned to the same TRU today in search of a Gorilla and found the boxes had hardly been touched since yesterday morning. From what I'm reading here, it seems as though I must be lucky to be in an area where the demand is for the figures is low, despite the BOGO 50% sale. I know I'm not the only one aware of their availability in my area since I've encountered many customers on both days looking for the figures, but most seem to buy only 2 or 3 at most.

The new dimple code mad it much easier to differentiate between the Gorilla, Indian Chief, and Samurai. However, I left with what I thought were 3 elves and found one to be a fisherman. I've carefully checked the dimples and can swear the dimple pattern is identical for all three wrappers. Is it possible for a figure to have been mislabeled with the dimple imprint?

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 16:46

I had that same issue. My husband, son and I went in to TRU and the person behind the customer service desk said we could only get 2 per person per day but let us rifle through the box to get what we wanted. He also said they only got 1 box but when we went around to the exit my husband noticed 2 boxes behind their counter. I went back later with my 2 older boys and the guy behind the counter was a different person and said there was no limit and let us go through both boxes, though it didn't matter. I still mixed up 2 of the figures. I was tempted to buy the box but decided not to. My kids and I only liked a few of the figures anyways. So has anyone noticed some of the figures have almost been like hints of series to come like the ninja, the Pharoah ? Could the elf mean a new line of castle stuff with elves?

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 16:50

@captain blockbeard : I agree with you . I too thought the dimples looked the same. I thought I had picked up 2 elves but 1 was a fisherman.

Posted by Uno Brick in United States, 03 Dec 2010 18:17

I recently called my local TRU in Silicon Valley, CA, and the associate told me they had over 100 in stock, for $2.99. She said if the BOGO 50% was online, it should apply to instore purchases as well. Wonderful! :)

Posted by schvatts in United States, 03 Dec 2010 18:26

@legogirl19-earlier to day the S3 figures did qualify for free shipping up to $20 and the price was still half or more the cost of the figures ordered.

I also noticed that the S2 figures have been limited to only 5. This morning it was unlimited and the shipping for them was free and not all jacked up.

@madforlegos - thanks for letting us all know what you did. That saves me the time on the phone arguing the insane shipping.

FYI**** You can order your S3 figures online at the actual TRU store. If you do the shipping is free according to the manger at the store I spoke with.

GV357-"TRU is the worst." AMEN to that!!

I remember about two years ago seeing some prelim pictures of elf sets... I will look to see if I still have the pictures on my hard drive.

Posted by beefygrefe in United States, 03 Dec 2010 18:51

@ UKver2.0 - The boxes I found in Burnsville were by the buckets of bricks. I went back today to check out if they had gotten more and saw the place holder for them was gone. Same goes for Bloomington (as far as there not being a place holder). I think they pull the place holders at the end of the night when they restock if they're out. BUT it is total BS that they held, probably, their entire shipment for someone...I mean, if it comes down to fist call gets to hold them all, that puts everyone at a huge disadvantage.

@ schvastts - those elf pics, while exciting, were proved to be a hoax. I think someone came forth saying they photoshopped them and that they had the files to prove it. Also, if you looked closely the tops of the boxes you can see they are from the Fantasy Era dwarf/orc sets. With a little luck, we might see some elf or forestman sets after this current round of Kingdom set, but I doubt it'll be the ones we saw pics of.

I have to agree with everyone else on the limit pains...if they're going to instate a limit, it needs to be uniform...and it is nice for there to be a limit since it allows for more people to be able to get them. But at the same time, I'm also someone who bought a box and a half, and is glad to be done hunting for these little delightful pains...even if I'm still hunting for my buddies.

Posted by RPMKris in United States, 03 Dec 2010 19:31

Hey Midwest!! Meijer's in OHIO (specifically Dayton) Series III, & Series II, $1.99. found 10 series 3 packs someone hid behind the series 2 display. Located in stocking stuffer aisle. Happy Hunting. Havent opened mine, but if they are all space related ill be pissed

Posted by camoran in China, 03 Dec 2010 20:24

@ Uno Brick - Does silicon Valley means Sunnyvale or Santa Clara?

Posted by jgrahl in United States, 03 Dec 2010 20:48

The updated cheat sheet is great. The packages are not, as some are cut short, angled, and dimples where the numbers are. So, it's still hard to identify.

Posted by jjfan in United States, 03 Dec 2010 22:52

Just got back from my local Meijer store here in Ohio. They had 1 almost full box minus 1 minifig and I only paid $1.99 each. They were in their box behind a Series 2 box that was on the top shelf in the stocking stuffers aisle. I did pretty well considering it was opened as I got almost 2 full sets minus 1 pilot. It would be funny if that was the one that was missing out of the box. LOL!

Before opening my sets, I tried using the Dot Code Sheet, and it does work all except 1. The only one I found to be different from the code sheet is the gorilla. There is 3 dots on the left, but on the 2 bags I have the dots don't form a .: shape. They form an upside down triangle '.' and also there are 2 dots on the right side. There is 1 above/in the 8 of the 538BO code.

Posted by xena6296 in United States, 03 Dec 2010 23:07

@jjfan - Lucky you! You got what you want n paid exactly what it worth!
The only TRU nearby me - San Mateo, CA, selling $3.99 and out of stock!

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 04 Dec 2010 01:37

We visited another TRU today and happily ran across 2 picked through S3 boxes as well as 1 partial S2 box. I hadn't really had a chance to memorize the patterns yet and of course forgot the cheat sheet. But I did remember the "paw print", so to speak, for the Elf and surprisingly enough found one in the batch. I chose 3 others just by feel and got 2 out of 3 correct. Some of the figures are really easy to spot with the dimples such as the mummy, alien, snowboarder, and baseball player. I still can't identify the fisherman well, though. While I'm sure my new cheat sheet above is still not perfect, I definitely feel it's more exact. I wonder if the European patterns will be different...

Posted by Uno Brick in United States, 04 Dec 2010 01:42

@Camoran: Yes, around those areas, but never mind, to my extreme frustration, I visited my local TRU to find that the"more than 100" they had from the afternoon had diminished to but 4 minifigures, none of which the associates could find. The LEGO section, was an absolute mess, and there was no evidence it had actually been there, no cases, no labels, nothing. So, another associate checked their database and found the next nearest TRU carried 120 of them. I took the 20 minute trip there, and to my disappointment, they had 0, nada, nothing. The associate searched everywhere, really everywhere, even in the stockroom and other highly unlikely areas. He told me because their database is updated approximately every few hours, there may have been a chance they were sold out, or someone involved in that part of their system messed up. In other words, this one hour of minifig hunting left me with 0 minifigs, and unfortunately, much dissatisfaction.

However, I may add, while the associate at my local TRU scrolled through the list of TRUs carrying them, I believe I spotted one in East San Jose. It may be false, but maybe it'll be useful news for you. :)

Posted by sinfanti in Taiwan, Province of China, 04 Dec 2010 04:29

Not that this will help many, but if there are any other Taiwan AFOLs out there, I went looking in the TRU in Taichung on WenXin Road and to my great surprise at the register there was a newly opened box of Series 1 minis. I've already got all the zombies, ninjas and cheerleaders I need, so I decided against being greedy and left them be.

Posted by cardas1 in United States, 04 Dec 2010 10:34

Does anyone want to do any trading in the U.S.? I am looking for the Hula Girl, Elf, Fisherman, and 2 Indian Chiefs. I have all of the other ones available for trade. Let me know.

Posted by pizzicato in United States, 04 Dec 2010 10:41

yellowcastle - I also have hard time with fisherman. I think Space Villain is also very hard to tell.

Posted by cardas1 in United States, 04 Dec 2010 11:09

This is what I have to tradeif anyone is interested: Mr. Maracas, Pop Star, Lifeguard, Downhill Skier, Witch, Disco Stu, Spartan, Surfer, Pharoah, Sumo Wrestler, Mummy, Alien, Race Car Driver, Pilot, Cyborg, Gorilla Suit Guy, Baseball Player, Snowboarder.

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 04 Dec 2010 11:26

@Uno Brick: This is what I am talking about.. Driving all over 'Timbuktu' looking for these things and finding nothing, or very few. This is not only frustrating that supplies are low and you have to try to contend with people who have no job at 8am-10am where they can go on the 'great minifig hunt', it is infuriating at how inept much of the staff is at TRU's (which I should expect as most of the people at TRU just go there to punch their time card).
I hope these are hitting Target's soon, or Walmarts...
That is how bad it has gotten for me and TRU, I would rather check Walmarts!

But I am really hoping that the other rumor is true, which is that Lego is making these for along run than the others so we get all the frenzy of Christmas out of the way so we can actually find these in a store..
I was checking around by me. There was a TRU store about 15 miles away, and a pain to get to, that had them; but not a full box, and of course they said that had no boxes (which I wonder if they also do that to discourage someone from coming in and buying a whole box). Nevermind the arbitrary limits on packs that each store has.
That and Tru.com's ENORMOUS shipping fee attached to these online is just wild.. and they will not buckle on that price.. after haggling the rep on the phone said we can give you 20$ off... of an $80 shipping/handling fee!!!
I mean I would love to get these at BOGO50 prices, but I just do not have the energy to run all over the place looking for these especially now when I am sure they are LONG gone since it is Saturday.
I wish TRU would also put these out at like 6pm or 9pm or something instead of 8am and let EVERYONE be able to try to get these.

Lets just hope Lego not only lists them for 1.99 a pack, but has a larger limit on these, because 16 packs works... if the warehouse guys would take 16 random packs, not just a row of them so I get, say...5 vampires out of 16 packs. Which happen to me when I ordered from Lego when they had series 2.
Sorry, I will end my rant now.

Posted by jeffjcc in United States, 04 Dec 2010 11:41

I just got back from my TRU here in Baton Rouge LA... They had 4 boxes out! I'm glad I showed up around 8:20 because they were pretty slow at that time. I spent about an hour and forty minutes feeling up minfig bags! The cheet-sheet is OK, and takes a while to get used to.

I'm pretty sure I got all 16, and a few extras that I wanted. I'm haven't opened yet, so we'll see!

One of the nicer managers in the store passed me by, noticed I was feeling and said, you know about the barcode scanner right??? HAHAHA... to her suprise, I explaied to her this was S3, and you have to read the dimples. No barcode scanner this time. She said "they're getting smart!" She also had pulled her phone out by that time, and told me that for S2 she was scanning in her phone and helping people get the ones they wanted! Hilarious!

Posted by voypro in United States, 04 Dec 2010 11:56

Attention MI IL IN OH KY - Mejier has ser 3 in stocking stuffer section next to Christmas trees, for $1.99

Posted by jeffjcc in United States, 04 Dec 2010 11:58

Oh yeah... forget to mention TRU price $3.99 :-(

Posted by bmwlego in United States, 04 Dec 2010 12:10

Massapequa TRU hasn't received S3 figs yet.
Anyone willing to trade a complete Series 2 for Series 3? I'll even throw in 2 extra Spartans!

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 04 Dec 2010 14:21

@voypro-that's really great news as it likely means the Price point is probably still $1.99. I had been concerned these were all migrating to $2.99...

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 04 Dec 2010 14:52

@voypro: Im not so sure ever store has series 3. I did not see any mention of them at the meijer where I live. Series 2 I saw for 1.99 a pack, but no boxes, no display, just thrown into a bin on a shelf by the stock stuffers...

Posted by voypro in United States, 04 Dec 2010 15:49

First off there are none at the Lexington KY Meijers, one had 60 packs, the other had 36 packs but had the display box, i bought all. Yep, i was too worried I would see $2.99 but they had them for $1.99... at least in my area.

They had not updated their price sticker on the shelf which was odd because it read: Lego Series 1 & 2.
Series 1??? Yeah Right!

@madforlegos go back often over the weekend and see it they have restocked them. Or ask person in charge of that area. If they have have a load of Ser 2 they may not put out any Ser 3 (if they have them in the back).

They also, had a cool set for $3.49 in the same area, it was "7567 Traveler"
http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=7567-1

I just noticed he has s Space emblem on his jacket... Just where's this dude traveling too? (maybe should be called Space Traveler)

Posted by lovelyuba in United States, 04 Dec 2010 16:05

I was at Baileys Crossroads, VA TRU today. I saw 2 full boxes of minifigs and was happy to find some that I was missing . And then at the checkout my total was ... Anyway, they sell each for $4.49!!!!!!! I returned them and bought a candy. Feel better! Does anybody else in Virginia experience this price hike???

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 04 Dec 2010 17:04

@lovelyuba: The TRU's in this area raised the prices as well. But I think that was done due to the TRU Buy one get one 50% off sale (which conveniently knocks the price back down to 2.99)

After much debate I decided to go out to hunt for these, and I am glad I did because I did find a box at a TRU in the Chicagoland area. They were 4.00 a pack, but again were buy one get one half off (of course the goofs behind the counter opened my sealed box and took out each pack to scan it to pay)
So I think once the BOGO50 sale expires these will go back down in price to 2.99 again...

I did not want to go out hunting but I really did not want to keep feeling like if I did not then I would not be able to get a box, so I did and the store still have other boxes sealed but, after seeing this, the assistant manager (who also said that these were not included in the BOGO50) asked the floor person to go and pop the others open as well .

Posted by lovelyuba in United States, 04 Dec 2010 17:25

@madforlegos :I guess its just TRU is always charging extra... Just couple days ago it was 2.99 and it was I think reasonable. With these minifigures and prices, and crazy toy stores during Christmas time I develop Love Hate relationship for Lego.. Forgot to mention traffic!

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 04 Dec 2010 19:15

@lovelyuba: agreed.. Plus there is snow in the area and whenever people see even a snowflake they automatically do 15-20 under the speed limit... It is amazing how people forget how to drive in the snow in the span of 6-8 months...
But TRU wanted their pound of flesh, so to speak, with these and apparently are determined to get it.
Hopefully lego.com has them for 2.00 each and does not limit them to 16, or if they do, they pick em better than for series 2, where I got 5 vampires out of 16 packs.

Posted by kylejohnson11 in United States, 04 Dec 2010 19:15

Oregon Toys R Us stores are charging $3.99 now... they were $2.99 3 days ago

Posted by schvatts in United States, 04 Dec 2010 19:39

TRU is the master at poor customer service, pricing, and anything else dealing with the retail business.

I was at a TRU today (75th ave and W Bell rd in AZ) and asked the lady if they had some S3 she had two boxes, one full the other with 52. I asked if there was a limit she said "no", so I wanted the unopened box. She stared to ring me up and another employee came by and said, "You can't can do that it's a limit of five". The lady helping me then shrugged her shoulder and canceled my order. Good thing though because as I bought the five I could I saw the price was now $3.99. I then laughed at the lady and told her no thanks keep them and the price was absurd.

I then asked if hey could order it for me online (2.99 online) and ship it to me..... wow, I thought I was speaking another language. They had no clue. Finally, three employees later and manager they said "Oh, babys r us does that we don't". I just did an online survey and at the end it told me that TRU now does free shipping with online orders made in the store. RETARDS! I really dislike almost hate TRU. I wont get started on the 1 800 TRU problems those are just as bad. Lets all just stop buying from them.

@lovelyuba- $4.49 WOW, that is criminal you need to call the cops.

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 04 Dec 2010 19:42

@kylejohnson11: Again I think they are doing this only because of the BOGO discount on them, which would knock them down to 2.99 if you buy two. Once the BOGO is over I have a feeling you will see them in the store for 2.99 again

Posted by Stash in United States, 04 Dec 2010 20:51

@schvatts - How did you get to order them online at the store? When I went today the manager was actually almost hostile about the minifigs, stating that only some stores can allow you to order in store and that he has nothing to do with online issues. He told me that the minifigs are collectors items and if I wanted them I would have to show up and get lucky because he doesn't get involved, he just puts them on the shelf. I had 0 luck placing an in-store order for the figs even after explaining the system problems with doing it from home.

Posted by lovelyuba in United States, 04 Dec 2010 21:11

@schvatts- I like the idea. We need Lego Cops. We already have Lego Ambassadors !

@madforlegos Thank you for understanding! Do you know by any chance when is BOGO50% off ends?

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 04 Dec 2010 21:35

@lovelyuba: The sale ends tonight.

Posted by lovelyuba in United States, 04 Dec 2010 22:09

@madforlegos. Thanks again! I'll keep checking on that 4.49 price tomorrow. what happens, which way it will go. I doubt that they will lower the price, since these minifigures only available at TRU for now. may be the price drop when series 3 is available everywhere. May be Yellowcstle is right, new low price is 3.99 and up.

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 04 Dec 2010 22:25

@schvatts, Stash:
Y'know what amazes me is that these employees treat customers so poorly you have t wonder what they are thinking sometimes. I mean yes some customers can be a pain but you would think that they should treat people with respect, especially if they are a manager.
Their job is to solve problems and end arguments; not create them...

@voypro: struck out again at a Meijers in IL. So I am not sure that all of these Meijers have these.. It would be great if they did. Id get a box there for 120 and return the one that I got from TRU.
Also,
The Traveler fig is sold out at lego, as well as the wizard, so I would say if you want one TRUs still have them in the store.

Posted by chicagorando in United States, 04 Dec 2010 23:16

@madforlegos: Which Meijer did you go to? I don't want to pay TRU prices either and I'm hoping some Chicagoland Meijer gets them soon...

Posted by schvatts in United States, 05 Dec 2010 00:00

@Stash- Find a TRU Babies r us that is combined. Some employees say that is why and the one by me is the only one that has done it. So, I asked the lady at customer service and she was actually nice and explained how they do it. Apparently she logs into the web site under her employee account places the order to the store, no shipping charge, and 7-14 it arrives under costumers name, customer is contacted for the pick up. Some items are excluded to this service as well. She said if it was a very large item or if the item does not generally get stocked at the stores are the exclusions.

Further FYI that is just play funny if you wish to continue reading is:

The whole retarded shipping price has really gotten under my skin so I called 800# again for the third time this time I had a plan. First, I told the customer service lady to place 120 clone trooper battle packs in my cart. I asked her to now write down the shipping price (about $30) and note the BP comes with four figures and a small vehicle. She was puzzled at first then complied. Next after clearing out the cart, I asked of 120 S3 figures. I then heard her giggle. I asked her if she just saw the shipping price. Her answer "yes" and that it was very odd the shipping was $169. She put me on hold and for a while the came back stated the manager told her the S3 weigh more that is why the shipping is more. Really, one S3 pack weighs more then one clone trooper bp? The nice girl, and she was, said that cannot be right said the best she could do was talk $50 off the shipping leaving shipping at $119. I passed of course. She was still unhappy with the answer her manger gave her and went and looked up the weight of the two different items in their system and the S3 figures DO WEIGH MORE!!!!

More stupidity from good old TRU.

I have had my fill of TRU. I think I will just stop into the Lego store that I am so lucky to live by and place the minimum order everyday there because they do ship for free to my house.

Posted by beefygrefe in United States, 05 Dec 2010 00:38

I hate to say it, but I talked with some Lego management today (some folks fairly high up in the chain) and it sounds like Lego is going to push their price point to $2.99 on S3 through their stores and online. I'm not too upset since it is usually 3.99 for an impulse set and to build a mini, they're usually 3.33 a figure and you have to buy in packs of 3, but it's always tough to not feel ripped off when you were paying less before for the same type of product. Bottom line, if you see them for $1.99, scoop them up now while they're still cheap.

I wasn't able to get too much information as far as if there would be better availability but it sounds like the same 16 figure limit is going to stick for S3.

Posted by legokenny in United States, 05 Dec 2010 00:38

I stopped by my local TRU on my way home from work friday and found two boxes of S3 mini's. I was soo happy! But I had to get home and the dots were hard to read, so once I found an elf and a tennis player (two that I wanted the most) I just got those two and went home. They were BOGO50% at $2.99, so I got one for 2.99 and one for $1.49. The other reason I only got 2 was because I did not want to make my wife mad. When I got home I told her about it and she thought they were cool (she kind of looks a lot like the tennis player) and she told me I could get some more if I wanted. So I went back today and they raised the price overnight to $3.99! I only got 4 more. I am going to wait till I can find them for $1.99 to get any more.

Posted by rhinobucket in United States, 05 Dec 2010 01:38

just call up and ask when the delivery is and go the the next morning
saw s3 came out on here knew when my store got the truck each week early thursday
went and found 4 boxes bought 1 box and got my b0g050 deal sweet
but the 4.49 a pack thats stealing

Posted by Uno Brick in United States, 05 Dec 2010 01:54

@schvatts: Ditto. I wrote about my experience above, and I do admit, the instores associate did take a good several minutes to search through the store, which I'm grateful for. The one thing that left me a *very* unhappy customer was the fact that when my local TRU (that had only 4 impossible-to-find figs left in stock) called the next-nearest TRU, and they confirmed they had 120 figs. The lady from my TRU asked them to "physically check" for the figs instore, and they said they had them. Upon arriving at the store, I found not a single associate had any clue another TRU just notified them a customer would be driving over for a product they claimed to have.

The fact my TRU specifically told them to "physically check" and they still said yes, while they really carried none, has quite unfortunately, taken away most of any trust I had in TRU's. I'll likely wait for the LEGO stores (even if they're $2.99), Walmart, Target, or elsewhere, but I'll be avoiding TRU in the future if I'll have to use phone calls, customer service, etc. to purchase Lego.

@Rhinobucket: Might I ask, can you confirm the minifigures are clustered in the same group types as mentioned before in the case, such as the 3 cyborgs all next to each other in the row?

Posted by cara in United States, 05 Dec 2010 03:08

I have searched through a few unopened boxes and while you may have a few close to each other I have not found the figures to be grouped together by type.

Posted by lovelyuba in United States, 05 Dec 2010 08:24

Well, looks like TRU online price for series 3 is $3.99 now. And one of our local TRU in VA, still charges $4.49 a piece (just called them and confirmed). I think its all because we've all figured out how to tell whats in a pack! little lego punishment :) lol especially, if company itself will raise the price!

Posted by bmwlego in United States, 05 Dec 2010 08:37

Found the last 1 at Carle Place, NY last night. Even at B1G1 50% Off they were marked up 50%! $4 cost me $6 on sale!!! I'm glad they didn't have anymore. I'll wait for the LEGO Stores or Target to get them in stock. I'm going to my local TRU (Massapequa) today though to buy the USB Minifig Flash Drive so I'll check to see if they are in stock but I WILL NOT pay $4 for a minifig!

I WILL NOT PAY $4 FOR A MINIFIG! I don't care how much others will let themselves be ripped off but I will not let myself be ripped off like this. I am too smart a consumer to knowingly pay a markup that is double the retail at a retail outlet. This isn't Bricklink or ebay, it's freaking TRU!

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 05 Dec 2010 12:18

@lovelyuba: I saw that.... WOW.... I cannot believe TRU is doing that!! Actually... I guess I can... Well now they better have them up front cause people will be ripping them open looking for the figs that they want....
Well Since we are hearing that Meijers is selling them for only 1.99 (unless they are screwing up the pricing and losing money because they are charging series 2 prices for series 3) that Lego themselves will still have them at 1.99.. But since I was wrong already it is doubtful...

@BWMlego: I understand your frustration but they were actually $2.99 after all is said and done with the BOGO50 last night.
This morning however will be 4 a pack, which is just completely ridiculous....(whereas the 2.99 was only slightly ridiculous)
But people will still go to TRUs and cherry pick the fisherman unfortunately (or just rip open the packaging) so I think TRU will eventually get the idea that they are not selling... Or they will only sell them whenever they have a BOGO50 going on.

I mean I really hope some magical store puts these out there for 1.99, but I just did not want to take that chance and miss out on these.. I am hoping to see a store put out boxes for 1.99 per pack so I can try to make 4 complete sets.
But nothing is guaranteed that Target will not also have them for 2.99, or WalMart, or anywhere else....

Posted by rhinobucket in United States, 05 Dec 2010 12:23

did not go through the box had my kids do the dots for me but got the 3 sets and some left over
going back to the warwick ri tru and my receipt in hand hopefully they raised the price
i like to get mad

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 05 Dec 2010 12:36

@beefygrefe: Thanks for the input... It sucks that Lego is deciding one fig is 3 bucks, but I think you explained it well. That Lego has figs in the store that cost 10 for 3 so I guess they think it is not too big of a stretch, BUT then again you know what you are getting for that 3 dollars.. If you buy one of these packs and find a duplicate of a figure you have you burned through 3 dollars.... So either Lego needs to put little windows in the pack to see what you are getting or you are still getting as bum deal.
All this 3 and 4 dollars a pack is going to do is get a bunch of people to start ripping these open if they are not by a counter (which I know a lot of TRUs are not doing, at least by me).

Also it does not help when the employees seem to take a dim view of the people looking for these in TRU's as it seems like I was irritating the employees for simply wanting to buy a lot of items in their store(see my above posts) .. you'd think they be happy.. I just helped pay their salary...

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 05 Dec 2010 12:42

I guess ultimately it is the people who go buy 2,3,4 boxes of these and clean out entire stores that are partially to blame, the other was Lego making such a small amount of series 1 then feigning surprise when they sold out everywhere and were hugely popular (I mean people were screaming for these 6 months before the release and lego couldn't figure it out?!) that when series 2 came out, even with larger numbers, the people came out and immediately bought as many boxes that they could get their fingers on before anyone else. Thereby telling TRU that it would be ok to bump the prices as people will buy them anyway.... Same with Series 3.. now they are 4 bucks, and as much as people complain, they will buy them... I think 4 is going to be the number that will ultimately stop this insanity, and settle back to 3 after Christmas, especially if Lego has them at 3, even with the cost of shipping for Lego (which I am sure will not be 86 dollars).. Especially if Lego is serious about pumping out large numbers of these to quell demand, which should drop the prices.
The one thing I did notice was no wholesalers on eBay trying to sell box and box of these. This tells me either Lego is not distributing them to these smaller wholesalers , that the larger store all bought out the stocks before the wholesalers could get any, OR that Lego has not yet unleashed the rest of the product to these wholesalers.. If that occurs then any of these guys will make a killing on eBay if they sell for under 3 bucks a pack.

Posted by rhinobucket in United States, 05 Dec 2010 13:48

all out in warwick ri 4boxes

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 05 Dec 2010 13:58

I think for all of you experiencing bad customer service at TRU by employees and managers. You should ask them their full name and position in the store and ask for the phone numbers for their district and corporate offices. Then call them and let them know in a calm voice what happened and that everytime you go in for the mini's, that you are being treated this way. Let them know that the manager is treating you ill as well.
As for the price gouging. Try calling the BBB or your local state's attorney General. What TRU is doing is called price manipulation. They continue to do it because no one ever complains to the right people and because despite being disgruntled at the price increases people still shop there.

Posted by wildcherryp3psi in United States, 05 Dec 2010 14:34

Anybody seen them in the UK yet, my mum is on the lookout for them so I will post when she tells me!

@starfire2, you have a very valid point, TRU are monopolizing the situation and need to be turned in, maybe we could get a petition going here.

Posted by Stash in United States, 05 Dec 2010 14:37

well, its a bit late now, but here is what happened when I called TRU customer service. I had a very nice employee to whom I explained my situation and how badly the store manager treated me. He checked and saw how bad the shipping was and I had him talk to a supervisor who offered me either BOGO 50 on my order (I was trying to order 60 total) but would pay shipping OR free shipping on my order but at full price (3 per pack) which would clearly be better. I declined because I did not want to risk having to go into TRU and fight to have my receipt adjusted for the 50 percent off on half the order, but I managed to make a bit more progress than others it seems.

I always use honey before vinegar as I have found it works wonders on customer service. Of course when honey fails I have no problem screaming either when I have to. I learned quite a bit from watching my parents tag team CS over the years. Unfortunately I did not get to talk to the supervisor directly, I might have had better luck.

Posted by R4-G9 in Canada, 05 Dec 2010 14:58

pictures for series 4!
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Kevin1990/Minifigs/Collectablesserie4/8804-12.jpg

Posted by beefygrefe in United States, 05 Dec 2010 15:25

OH SNAP R4-G9 (!); nice find on the pic. I was a little sad we never saw a pic like this for series 3...and we haven't seen a pic for series 3 of all the figs put nicely into rows (like they had for series 1 and 2 that eventually ended up in the gallery here on Bricket).

@Madforlegos - I have to agree with you, I would be more okay paying $3 a fig if I didn't have to deal with the possibility of doubles...heck, I might be even willing to deal with TRU's $4 price point.

Posted by R4-G9 in Canada, 05 Dec 2010 15:27

^ here is that picture:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Kevin1990/Minifigs/Collectablesserie4/8804-2.jpg

Posted by Sword2211 in United States, 05 Dec 2010 15:28

Another skateboarder? Overall they are awesome

Posted by R4-G9 in Canada, 05 Dec 2010 15:37

i count 23 new peices in this series!

Posted by Texslot in United States, 05 Dec 2010 23:30

So I have nine extra aliens that I bought during the BOGO promo last week at TRU for $2.99 (& 1.49). If I actually return the unopened package to TRU now, does that mean I can actually make a profit since they are $3.99 a pack. Hmm, I guess these really are collectable minifigures. In addition, I would really enjoying watching the customer service person or manager use the dot cheat sheet and/or groping the packaging only to deny me returning it because they are all aliens. Of course I wouldn't do this, but the thought made me laugh.

Posted by dinotrexbricks in United States, 06 Dec 2010 01:58

I was pleasantly surprise to see S3 at Dublin CA TRU. There was a 5 item limit which I didn't mind...but turned them away when I found out that they were selling for$3.99 each and no BOGO.50. What a a rip-off.
I'll wait to buy them at LEGO Store or Walmart.

Posted by gamerguy90 in United States, 06 Dec 2010 12:20

I know this is a thread on S3, but I noticed on Walmart.com they have S2 minifigures still in stock and ready to ship. However they are charging $3.97 a piece not including tax/shipping. So this may mean that those of you who are hoping to see S3 at Target or Walmart @ $1.99 maybe out of luck if they get wind of what TRU is doing.

Posted by kumasawa in United States, 06 Dec 2010 14:17

Has anyone heard when Lego Stores are supposed to get series 3? Will it be sometime before Christmas?

Posted by husher180 in United States, 06 Dec 2010 16:31

@kumasawa -- Call your store and ask.

Posted by kumasawa in United States, 06 Dec 2010 16:42

@husher180. I did already and they didn't have any information. That's why I asked if anyone else had heard anything from other parts of the country.

Posted by mommylego in United States, 06 Dec 2010 17:43

@lovelyuba--We paid $2.99 each during the BOGO at the Bailey's Crossroads TRU on 12/1 and the Fair Lakes TRU on 12/3. We were able to get one complete set and are 3 figures shy of a second complete set. They must have raised their prices right after that. Maybe we won't end up with that second complete set after all. I'm not paying $4.49 for one minifig!

Posted by lovelyuba in United States, 06 Dec 2010 21:44

@mommylego I also bought few on 12/1 at Bailey's but didn't get complete set. So , when I got back few days later they raised the prices. Good to know that Fair Lakes TRU had minifigures at $2.99 because most of the people see the price increase. Though Fair Lakes store is little too far for me. I agree $4.49 is too much. It is also very nice to meet somebody from the area and keep each other updated! Thanks, Mommylego!

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 07 Dec 2010 14:21

@Texslot: You will only get that if you stand outside of the store and sell them to people walking in:

When you return you get the credit for what you paid, not what the price is currently.

Posted by wildcherryp3psi in United States, 08 Dec 2010 22:59

Anyone in AZ got a Samurai to trade? I have 3 Tribal Chiefs, 1 Sumo Wrestler, 1 Racecar Driver and 2 Pilots.

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