So Much For the Series 3 Cheat Sheet...

 

  • So Much For the Series 3 Cheat Sheet...

    Posted by yellowcastle, 27 Jan 2011 13:21. Filed under Brickset.

    8803: Fisherman
    Collectable Minifigures/Series 3, 2011
    More details...
    ©2011 LEGO Group

    At this point, I'm not sure if the dimple patterns have just changed once or if they're not nearly as static as we first thought.  But I just picked up a couple of extra figures from Target and can confirm that the old Hula Dancer pattern is now a Rapper and the old Alien is now a Hula Dancer.  The Fisherman, however, was unchanged.  I'll see if I can't visit Target later in order to reconfirm more (if not all) of the remaining new dimple patterns.  My initial thought is that the patterns changed when the box assortment was revised for more Fishermen.  But for all I know, the patterns change for each production run, etc.  Let me know what you're seeing out there and perhaps we can revise the cheat sheet in such a way that it will still be helpful.  I'll be honest, though, that I'm starting to rely on the old "feel the bag" method.


    142 comments, latest one posted 27 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by cowbug in United States, 27 Jan 2011 13:50

I found the dots too hard to read from the begining and I have been 100% correct so far using the feel method, it might take a bit longer in some cases, but it works.

Posted by asteciuc in United States, 27 Jan 2011 13:54

I find this strange because I picked out absolutely every single one of my minifigures with the dot method from my local Target and they were all 100% accurate. I did double check by feeling the bags but they all matched up in the end.

Posted by i like guitars in United States, 27 Jan 2011 14:00

I didn't do the dots at all getting series 3 it was to much of an uncertain thing for me. Went the feel method and I hate it cuz it looks stupid standing there and groping the bags. Got all the ones I wanted except the samurai if anyone in so cal has one extra let me know.

Posted by Lizardking in Austria, 27 Jan 2011 14:13

Here in Germany there are not dots at all on the bags.
And it seems TLG removes them just before boxing, because the bottom of the bag has a different texture as the top.

Posted by Pulpdiction in United Kingdom, 27 Jan 2011 14:20

I bought some today in John Lewis, I can't even see any dots, I just randomly got 6 packs, if I can't tell what they are I'm probably not going to buy any more, I'm not spending stupid money just to get a complete set.

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 27 Jan 2011 14:20

@asteciuc - Perhaps that Target had boxes from the first run? I am not sure and I doubt if TLG is willing to address these manufacturing artifacts with us. The funny thing is that I picked up an Elf from Walmart back before Christmas and it too had a different pattern. I didn't think much of it at the time, though, and simply chalked it up as a bag malformation. But that taken in conjunction with the Hula Dancer and Rapper I just picked up tell a different story. Additionally, while groping the bags in Target (and feeling like a moron doing so), I am sure I identified a mummy yet the pattern, which was previously easy to identify, definitely appeared different and all together new. I guess we'll know for sure soon.

Posted by timbutnice in United Kingdom, 27 Jan 2011 14:21

I agree that the dots have changed - the elf has gone from 'dimples' to 'concentric circles'. The feeling method is the way to go, even if it is time consuming.

Posted by skherbeck in United States, 27 Jan 2011 14:24

My method works every time... buy a bunch of figures, x-ray the bags, and return the ones you don't want!

Posted by Xiaolong in Belgium, 27 Jan 2011 14:34

I started last week here in Belgium. Some of the patterns are correct and some not. If there have to be two or three spreaded dots they more or less match but I have never seen three dots in an angle as for the chief or gorilla.
I agree that feeling is the most certain way to go. But a sheet with the minifigs helps to recognise the accessories.
But I still got surprised: I was absolutely sure to feel a banana but it turned out to be the cyborg. Till now I opened 14 bags and have 14 different ones. The other two I will change this weekend.

Posted by The Beast in United States, 27 Jan 2011 14:37

I just use the feel method but when I used the feel method I was only missing the Samurai and twice I thought I felt the armor but it was the parachute for the pilot and so now i have 3 pilots, I used the dot thing for the Smurai and for another fisherman although. This was at The Learning Express.

Posted by dingmah in Canada, 27 Jan 2011 14:38

I bought a box of Europe minifigs, and a lot of the dots were different, or just downright hard to see. After the 5th one, I just resorted to feeling the bag. It takes a lot of time to feel each bag, but that's the only way to know before cutting it open.

Posted by Doctor Leg O'Brick in United Kingdom, 27 Jan 2011 14:49

Feeling the bag is much easyer than them dots. Lets just say Im grining my hart out looking at my two fishermen thanks to the old method.....

Posted by crazyawesomeyeah in United States, 27 Jan 2011 14:52

u guys can find them at Target in the Valentines section

Posted by Tervlon in United States, 27 Jan 2011 14:52

I guess the joke is ultimately on us for thinking we had a sure thing with the dot code. Oh well, at this point I feel them all up. But I'm pretty much done with Series 3 though I'd like a couple more Cyborgs and Elves (but who wouldn't!).

Posted by Evil_Do0d in United Kingdom, 27 Jan 2011 14:57

Went to my local TRU here in Ipswich (UK, btw), and none of the S3 packets have any dots on them! It seems TLG have removed the dotted code entirely here :(

Well, at least I managed to get an elf by feeling for the shield.

Posted by doodguy in United States, 27 Jan 2011 15:00

I bought a box from Target a few days ago, took it home and used a combination of dots and feeling. The yellowcastle dot method seemed fairly reliable, but there were some dot patterns that were completely wrong (details escape me right now). However, once I successfully identified a unique part by feeling I would closely inspect dot pattern then all other occurrences of that dot pattern in the box were 100% identifiable. So the feeling method tok a bit longer, but then I could rely on dot pattern and other bag sealing anomalies to pick out the remaining ones from the box. For example all the Chiefs has an odd little non-dot pattern in the very upper right. Perhaps some scratch or defect in the sealing device used at the factory?

Posted by Hemixam in France, 27 Jan 2011 15:01

The minifigs i've found here in France are not indentified by dots. I check twice, but definitively no dots...

Posted by MinifigureMan in United Kingdom, 27 Jan 2011 15:03

Hmm odd, in the UK I went for an Alien and got a Rapper instead, the codes didn't seem to match up with the sheets that much but luckily I got 5/6 I hoped for.

Posted by KeeZor in Denmark, 27 Jan 2011 15:08

Just compeleted series 3 last week by using the dots, and then confirming by feeling the bag. All the dots matched with the sheet on this site, 16 out of 16 matches, and complete S3 for me :)

Btw. This was in Kvickly in Denmark.

Posted by xena6296 in United States, 27 Jan 2011 15:15

@doodguy: Which Target were you in? Thanks.

Posted by Brickmaster7500 in United Kingdom, 27 Jan 2011 15:18

@Evil_Do0d
Odd how your packs had no dots on them, yet in Peterborough (UK) at my local WHSmiths, the dots are on the packages. As most others have said, it is generally easier to feel the packaging (with certain exceptions). Some pieces that you'd think would be easy to feel are actually very hard. In my second pack, I got the Mummy and felt the scorpion, but because its shape was so strange and stuck out slightly, I couldn't figure out whether it was a scorpion or Indian headress. It may just be me though.

Posted by xcrossx in United Kingdom, 27 Jan 2011 15:21

In my local Argos yesterday I was also a bit confused as to why some of the packets didnt seem to have any dots on them at all. Some did however and I managed to get 4 Elves ( sorry to rub it in ), I didnt even bother with the feeling method after the first one. I always look for the Bow and Arrow which is easy to identify!

Posted by Freezdried in United States, 27 Jan 2011 15:23

I've used the feel-the-bag method from day one on this series, and it has served me pretty well. The only one I'm missing now is the race car driver, and I'm not too sad about that. The other day I found two boxes at Walmart and left with 5 elves and 4 fishermen. It almost makes it worth the embarrassment of fondling plastic bags in front of curious shoppers.

Posted by HQuiff in Ireland, 27 Jan 2011 15:28

Well, I've been real lucky so far - because I've just picked out all random packs and have got 10 in the last two weeks without a single repeat. If you're feeling the packet then the Gorilla is easiest because of the banana.

Posted by native1 in United States, 27 Jan 2011 15:31

@Freezdried
I also use the feel the bag method and found that it is usually easier to just buy the whole box or what ever is left if you can afford it. Take them home feel for the figs you need and then later return the ones you don't need. I have some extras of series 2 and 3 if anyone is willing to trade.

Posted by Farmer_John in United States, 27 Jan 2011 15:44

I bought 40-45 individual packages from Target over the last week and here is my observation...

1) The dimple method is hit or miss (at least for these boxes). For example, the tennis player, samurai, Indian chief and mummy still appear to be consistent with the original guidelines regarding dimple location. However, the others seem to be interchanged with each other. For example, the elf has the same dot location as the rapper (street punk) from an earlier batch from Lego. Also, the fisherman has a very similar look to the tennis player. The baseball player is very close to the original hula girl.

2) The content of the boxes is also different (or I got unlucky). Target had two complete boxes available, and I probably bought all my packages based on the dots (don't want the Target employees to think I'm molesting their products). Anyway, I ended up 6 fishermen (which wasn't my goal) and several elves (also not my goal). I was shooting for the hula girl and pilot, and only found one out of the 40 I bought. The hula girl is so much like the rapper (street punk) that I ended up buying another hula girl on eBay to complete my set and give my child one.

3) I also purchased 30+ directly from Lego and true to form they sent me multiples of the same ones, which also happens to be the ones I didn't care for (street punk, sumo wrestler, tennis player and gorilla).

Anyway...this is just my experience.

Posted by s01n in United Kingdom, 27 Jan 2011 16:01

Did anyone else notice the packet for the fisherman being a very slightly different colour in the UK ? The packet seemed to stand out from the others. Generally, it seems to me that the run with number 243B0 at the bottom has a different pattern set but with some similarities to 538B0. I am therefore guessing that different runs have different variations of the patterns.

I must admit to being very embarrassed as I spent ages trying to work out what bumps were on the packets while beside the queue for the tills in TRU. I couldn't get to grips with the 'feel' method.

Posted by Farmer_John in United States, 27 Jan 2011 16:29

The feel method is the easiest ONCE you find the particular item that sets the package apart from the others. For example:

1) The statue for the sumo wrestler,
2) The tennis racket for the tennis player,
3) The banana for the gorilla,
4) The spear for the Indian Chief,
5) The maracas AND no stereo for the hula girl,
6) The microphone AND stereo for the rapper (street punk),
7) The fish or fishing pole and/or string for the fisherman,
8) The sword for the samurai,
9) The goggles and backpack for the pilot
10) The bow OR shield for the elf,
11) The scorpion for the mummy,
12) The laser beam AND head (with two round eyeballs) for the alien,
13) The laser beam AND regular head (and perhaps the claw hand) for the cyborg,
14) The snowboard for the snowboarder,
15) The baseball bat for the baseball player,
16) The three round objects (head, helmet, and hair) for the race car driver.

Sometimes these objects are hard to find, but thanks to Lego you will get good at it very quickly (although molesting minifigures is probably illegal in most countries).

Posted by doodguy in United States, 27 Jan 2011 16:30

@xena6296
Pinole Hilltop Mall area

Posted by Nelly7072 in United States, 27 Jan 2011 16:32

I have found two additional variations of the Elf dots since the original dot sequence as found on the cheat sheets. These were either at TRU or Target. However, dot patterns at LEGO stores seemed to be consistent.

I think most of those I found were from shipments received last week. But I felt completely defeated at TRU as the dot patterns I had memorized, and learned to be true two weeks prior, did not match the 'feel' method.

Posted by Farmer_John in United States, 27 Jan 2011 16:41

I know what you mean...I memorized the dot pattern for the hula girl from a pack I got from TLG and went to target to complete a set. I intentionally purchased a few of that pattern to make darn sure and ended up with nothing but elves (not a single hula girl). I then went back and did the "feel" approach and eventually found one hula girl, which I promptly brought home to meet the family. ;-)

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 27 Jan 2011 16:45

I have the Pilot, and I didn't know it was dimples, so I did the trusty (well not really) "feel the bag", and I thought it was the Samurai. :O

I have all but two in Series 1, and no Series 2. I won't get anymore probably. I don't like mystery bags.

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 27 Jan 2011 17:04

At the Target I got mine at, I noticed in the brand new boxes 4 fisherman and 2 elves. I don't do the dot thing anymore, I like looking weird feeling up the bags. I was 100% right on the 9 I bought there.

Posted by lovelyuba in United States, 27 Jan 2011 17:04

I was in local Lego store couple days ago and could not identify any of the bags. All the dots were different and did not match original cheet sheet. When I found some at Target, it was according to the cheet sheet. However, I still do not have my samurai. And I don't want to buy any more doubles of these. Giving up. I don't like mystery bags either.

Posted by yys4u in United States, 27 Jan 2011 17:17

BUST! I usually use the feeling method but now that I'm going for dubs of a couple i use the dots just to narrow it down and feel the rest for what I need. I was at target the other day and they had 2 almost full boxes and I tried using the dots to narrow down the elf's but I didn't find anything but samurais. So I pretty much gave up, now I'm bummed because there could have been elf's there...
Needless to say I have extra samurai's now.
@I like guitars I live in socal so if you need a samurai hit me up, I'd be down to trade.

Posted by Bee815 in United States, 27 Jan 2011 17:33

I stick with the feeling method. An entire Lego store I visited once had just recieved 6 or 7 boxes of Series 3, and the employees, customers, and myself as well were searching for the ones I wanted. As prior stated, The feeling is the best, and the dots are unreliable.

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 27 Jan 2011 17:52

Come to think of it, I never reverified the "batch" number on the bottom right of the bags. Perhaps the patterns will be consistent with these "batch" numbers. If that were the case, then we would just need a cheat sheet for each batch. :o) The funny thing is that I'm already good to go with S3 but I feel obliged to correct or supplement the cheatsheet. I see a disagreement with the wife forthcoming... :o)

Posted by crazyawesomeyeah in United States, 27 Jan 2011 18:25

well, its OK. u guys tried ur best to "interpret" the packets.

Posted by crazyawesomeyeah in United States, 27 Jan 2011 18:26

either way, the cheat sheet was pretty accurate. for me, it was. cuz i wasn't looking for the flawed ones, if u new what i mean.....

Posted by jeffjcc in United States, 27 Jan 2011 18:46

When I picked up mine, I got all except the Pilot. Combo of feeling and cheat sheet.
Isn't this the way Lego wanted it!?!? buy, open and trade. Like baseball cards.
Can't go wrong with the feel method.

Posted by wildcherryp3psi in United States, 27 Jan 2011 18:52

How much $ were they at Target?

Posted by xena6296 in United States, 27 Jan 2011 19:02

@doodguy: Thanks.

Posted by Archytaz in Belgium, 27 Jan 2011 19:33

Went to get my set last week here in Belgium,
2 tries, 10 + 6 => 16 out of 16 (2x15min),
had to go to work so not enough time to do it in 1 time :(
The dots worked perfectly here, but it asks some good eyes.
The easiest trick to determen them, is to look for dots and mark them, then check the sheets.
And watch out for little air bubbles != dots (shape isn't as nice)

Posted by cjg in United States, 27 Jan 2011 19:47

Luckily the elf is one of the easiest to feel! :D

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 27 Jan 2011 20:04

@ skherbeck: Yes, because everyone can misappropriate X-Ray machines to use for seeing into Lego minifigure packs...
Hey, how much are the packs at Target? Are they $2.99?

Posted by brickupdate in United States, 27 Jan 2011 20:42

I stopped trying to figure out the dot patterns. Too difficult for me to see. Really made me feel old!

Posted by Com161 in United States, 27 Jan 2011 20:58

That explains why the dot pattern on one bag didn't match any of the patterns on the cheat sheet (it turned out to be the baseball player).

Posted by TBOC in United States, 27 Jan 2011 21:10

@madforlegos: Yes, they are $2.99, at least at my Target.

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 27 Jan 2011 21:29

Struck out at 2 Targets and a Walmart tonight. Will try again this weekend...

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 27 Jan 2011 21:56

@TBOC: Thanks

If they are still 2.99 regardless of where you go now Ill stick with occasionally looking for these at TRU's.
I still find these are TRU's on Fridays, I managers to pick up 10 packs for .99 cents each with my rewards 5 dollar coupons I had left (since they did not have much of anything else right now in stock)
and wound up doing ok, with very little duplication.. except for 2 sumo wrestlers...

Posted by Farmer_John in United States, 27 Jan 2011 22:04

Mine were $2.99 at Target in Tennessee. I was only going for a set, so they still have a lot more. They put them in the Valentine's section of the store, and it appears that nobody has found them yet (at least at the store I went to).

I usually try to get a cheap one on eBay or from Lego and scan the bar code. I then walk into stores with a copy of the bar code and hit the first scanner I see to determine if the store has them. I hit Walmart this past weekend and it said they had them for $2.97; however, I couldn't find them anywhere and finally gave up looking. I decided to hit Target on Monday on the way home from work and struck paydirt...two new boxes. I only grabbed what I needed to get a set and to have some as gifts for the kids, etc...

Posted by Zordboy in Australia, 27 Jan 2011 22:09

Here in Australia, I had good success with *most* of the dots. I was able to identify and buy about 10 of them with no trouble.

But the fisherman, elf and gorilla didn't correspond to the dots. With the fisherman and elf, I got lucky -- and I agree with an earlier poster. Finding the gorilla is easy if you feel for the banana. As a piece, the banana is unmistakable.

I also had a hell of a time finding the Race Car Driver. I eventually just felt for the helmet (and if there was no snowboard, it was the driver).

But no, it wasn't easy. I'm a bit scared as to what they're gonna do with series 4. Raising the price is bad enough (they're about five dollars each here in most Australian stores. While I was sitting in the aisle, I actually heard a mother walk behind me and say, "Five dollars for just one little person?" Which I agree with. But anyway).

Posted by starfire2 in United States, 27 Jan 2011 22:10

@wildcherryp3psi: They were $2.99 at the Target @ Beardsley.

Posted by crazyawesomeyeah in United States, 27 Jan 2011 22:48

@TBOC-----THEY'RE ALL $2.99! thats Lego's new prices.

Posted by jackmcar99 in United States, 27 Jan 2011 23:01

I gave up on my first try at my local toys r us back in NOV, with the 3rd series bump codes on the bottom of the bag.

I think honestly that its a safer bet to feel for the MAIN accessory that accompanies that mini-figure, then you're guaranteed to get the one you wanted. I thing its actually easier than using the 1st and 2nd series barcodes, to be completely honest.

2ND SERIES: And by the way if anyone has been looking for the 2nd series still, last week my local borders STILL HAD THE 2ND SERIES with probably 30 bags left, they had a few piled in some clear box, and several still in the mini-figure cardboard box, i grabbed a few, and moved the rest of the bags out of the mini-figure box and brought it home for display. I figured that borders would have eventually thrown it away anyways.

If there are several mini-figure boxes on display at TARGET/WALMART, take advantage and grab the box. The cashiers are more than willing to let you have it for free! (:

Posted by cjg in United States, 27 Jan 2011 23:16

^Yeah, I need a box for S3. I have one for S1 and part of one for S2. (The lid part is torn off)
How much were they at Borders? Expensive?

Posted by jjfan in United States, 27 Jan 2011 23:24

As far as the dot code method working, it does sometimes. Meaning the dots are in the same similar area as they are on the dot code sheet, but not are not exact to the sheet.

On a side note: My local Target has these in their Valentines aisle and they are $2.99. I was checking what I thought was the only 2 boxes they had until I was told the next aisle over had half a shelf full of these. And there sure was, total I counted about 127 FULL Series 3 boxes. It was so awesome to just stand there in amazement of how many there was. Of course, I really don't think someone is going to go in and buy all of them but one thing is for sure they are not going to run out anytime soon.

Posted by shootvolio in United States, 28 Jan 2011 00:03

Finally found the Gorilla thanks to the feel for the banana method at a Meijer in Metro Detroit. When I got home and cross referenced the cheat sheet it didn't match up at all. In an updated cheat sheet with the dots numbers and fold of the package awhile back the 5 digit # at the bottom was also different from when I found the Baseball Player at the TRU I work at. Maybe each production run has a change in dimple pattern.

Posted by Benzo in Canada, 28 Jan 2011 00:16

yup the cheat sheet was useless for me.. spent half an hour at walmart feeling bags!

Posted by AJD08 in United States, 28 Jan 2011 00:20

I got the Snowboarder from my local LEGO retail, thanks to the cheat sheet method. I felt after seeing the dots it just to be sure.

Posted by voyanui8768 in United Kingdom, 28 Jan 2011 02:47

I heard rumers that the elf didn't have any dimples and when I was in Argos I found a packet with no dimples where as others did. I felt it and felt the rounded top of the elfs shield. I got it home and it turns out what I felt was the snowboarders board :D

Posted by Delatron in United Kingdom, 28 Jan 2011 04:30

The cheat sheet was a bit of a wash out for me, gave up pretty quickly as they looked nothing like the ones on the bags. Instead I just picked them every 4th or fifth one in the box (WH Smiths in Derby by the way, 243B0 batch ref) until I had 10 or so, did a very rough check by eye that the dots were different and took the risk. Got 10 different figs from 11 bags and the duplicate was the hula girl so quite happy. Will need to do some pack groping to find the missing six now though or trust random chance as my buying power won't support the purchase of a whole box.

Posted by Corellian Engineering in Belgium, 28 Jan 2011 04:45

No "dot patterns" on the series 3 packs that I was able to buy. So used the feel method, which turned out to be rather accurate. Out of the 10 I bought, I only had 1 unwanted fig (the hula girl instead of the rapper) and 1 fig double; the alien. I did feel clearly the gun, but in the 2nd packet I didnt distinguish the typical head, so I thought I had the cyborg too... well, no problem I wanted to get a couple of aliens anyway. I prefer this version over the SPIII squidman...

Once at home I double checked with the sheet to see if I could spot the dots, so I could eventually use it for future shopping, but no luck. Even using a good light and magnifying glass, no dots were visible. Only some random air or glue enclosures on some of the packs..

Well, I guess I will still have the chance to pick up the ones I am still missing... The minifigs dont seem to be that popular here, still a lot of stock in the shops. I guess (due to the ridiculous price sometimes???) there arent that much AFOLS here, and most people just dont seem to be willing to pay 2€ for a pack containing an unknow minifig..

There are even still boxes of series 1 & 2 to be found in the shops... which gave me the chance to still pick up a handfull of additional robots and hoplites (spartans) this week..

Posted by Brucewaynelego in Germany, 28 Jan 2011 05:23

Hallo to everybody!!
I bought a Box in Berlin - Germany...and the"dot patterns" are everytime different. i think....they not only changed it...
i got 3 different kind of patterns on 3 Fishermans.....and 4 differnet patterns on the Gorilla Guy....
and like i said..in one Box with 60 figures.....
and for everyone who didnt see it till now...i always make Stop Motion Movies of the Minifigures where you see some details...
the link to minifigures Series 3 :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5__zqN6-Dc

Greetings to everybody,
Brucewaynelego & Toyshansolo

Posted by plantbit in Australia, 28 Jan 2011 05:48

I bought all my minifigs using the cheat sheet and I only got 4 wrong. I did notice that there were some packs with different dots to the cheat sheet. I wouldn't be able to tell you which. The hardest one for me was the elf. I couldn't tell one set of dots that exactly matched, so I just "felt" for the bow.
I did also find a couple of packs with no dimples. The dots didn't match anything on the cheat sheet, so I just bought it anyway.
I can't wait to see how Lego will code up Series 4. There are some awesome ones in that set.

Posted by Farmer_John in United States, 28 Jan 2011 08:02

Lego could code the series 4 the same as the series 3 and get away with confusing the buyer. They are probably laughing at our posts on how the dot code didn't work. However, I don't see how they could get away with keeping us from getting what we want by feeling the bags (unless they start pulling the arms and legs off).
JMHO.

Posted by scoopi68 in Australia, 28 Jan 2011 09:08

The cheat sheet was great at Big W, Perth, Australia...but I did feel the bags at home to double check and got 100% correct. I couldn't find any samurai or Indian chief dots and didn't have time to feel in the shop, will be back tomorrow with more time to feel for them!

Posted by wildcherryp3psi in United States, 28 Jan 2011 09:13

@starfire2, thanks for the info!

Posted by Tzi in Canada, 28 Jan 2011 09:25

At my first visit to one of my local Wal Mart, It became obvious right away that TLC had a couple of trick in the sleeves, since apart from 2 figs (fisherman and ...) none had the same dot then the cheat sheet.

I went back yesterday to stock on elfs, found 4 and the 4 had different dots. They came from a box and a couple of loose, probably from a previous box. I haven't open any yet but the feel and touch method was the only way I could find what I was lokking for. Hopefully I have my full set plus the extra I wanted. I did spent quite some times, to pick up every of the 16 minifigs.

Went I was exiting the store, I saw a woman trying to return 3 minifigs, out of 4 bags, she had only one fig ( 4 pilots ), she was trying to return the 3 others. Walmart refuse saying that they were consider ''surprises'' and you couldn't just return the unwanted ones, just like any ''eggs'' that you buy in the vending machine at the entrance of any store.

The touch method is annoying but as long as they let us 'feel' the bag I don't have any problem but would surely love to have an easier and faster way to find what i'm looking for.

Posted by Mr. Timms in United States, 28 Jan 2011 09:35

It's weird... I've been checking, and none of the Targets (there are 3 separate stores) in my area have the figs. I can't really complain, because I've had the entire series before Christmas, but I was hoping to add to my foursome of elves w/o breaking the bank at TRU.

Already gearing up for Series 4--- VIKINGS AND WEREWOLVES AND HOCKEY PLAYERS, OH MY!!!

Posted by MasterOfPuzzles in United States, 28 Jan 2011 09:36

We're only missing the space villain/cyborg and had been feeling for the light saber blade as Farmer_John suggests, when my sone pointed out the peg leg. Feeling around just for the legs was really quick, but we still didn't find one at our local Target.

Posted by fingol in Slovakia, 28 Jan 2011 10:10

I don't know if this is the correct topic to do so, bu I have just a small note in mind for some time to help those fellow LEGO-fans still missing Series 1 and Series 2 figures - our local store still has a plenty of them for 2 EUR each, so I could probably help, buy and send them to anyone interested, under some conditions of course:

- the best way is to buy the whole set (the store offers this possibility)
- to buy a single minifigures is also possible, but with maximum of one unique fig per order (store rules) - if there will be too many requests for the same (most popular) figs, I won't be able to do that as the owner doesn't allow much "selective picking" that leaves his boxes with unpopular figures - I reserve the right to refuse the request in that case...
- I am not reponsible for mis-packed figs (with incorrect code)
- you will pay the shipping as charged by our post (conditions can be found here: http://www.posta.sk/en) + handling (not much, up to 1 EUR usually, depending on the package)
- if you want to have the package insured, there is an additional fee (usually 1 EUR) and I'm not responsible for non-delivered packages (I've had such problems only very rarely)
- the payment have to be send either to the bank or Paypal account, no other methods are allowed (unless you visit me personally, in which case you can buy the figures by yourself ;-) )
- I won't send off-world - Earth is the limit :-)

Series 3 is available as well, but due to the above mentioned hardness to find the correct minifig (no feel method is allowed), I can't guarantee anything...

This offer lasts only until the store will allow me to do so (meaning basically there are still figures in the store or there will be a decision the owner needs to have some figs in the store for the locals...)

Anyone interested should contact me pesonally - no spamming here...

PS1: If someone would be interested to check my credibility, I can provide either Bricklink or Ebay account references...

PS2: I apologize should the admin consider this off-topic, but I felt need to do so ;-)

Posted by Swift~ in Canada, 28 Jan 2011 10:18

Does any one know if the TRU's have then in Calgary yet? On Sunday the clerk said they would get like 320, and CRoss Iron would get alot more. Anyone spotted them yet?

Posted by Brickbuilder0937 in United States, 28 Jan 2011 10:36

I got a box of 60 and identified all but one by the feel-the-bag method (it took two hours). This was after I realized the cheat sheets were almost worthless.

Posted by madforLEGO in United States, 28 Jan 2011 10:58

I literally just picked random packs..
I feel too ridiculous sitting there feeling up Series 3 packages or trying to turn the package to see how the dots look..
All in all I have not had many duplicates.. especially after they fixed the Fisherman quantity in the box.. What is funny is seeing people still charging 5-10 bucks for a fisherman on eBay and fools crazy enough to pay it...

Posted by Tupperfan in Canada, 28 Jan 2011 11:12

Found them in only one store in Montreal, a Renaud-Bray bookstore. But a local toy store owner told me he should get some soon. Didn't rely on the dots at all, went for the classic feel 'em, which, on my second visit made me look like a fool as a customer looked at me like I was retarded. First time wasn't as bad as my girlfriend was also feeling them up, and two people doing a ridiculous thing is usually better than one...

Posted by Tzi in Canada, 28 Jan 2011 11:37

For Tupperfan
If you are still looking for place to complete your collection.
They are available at Anjou and Montreal North Walmart and St-Bruno as well. With this sample of Wal Mart they should be around every Walmart. I know that Omer De Serres in Anjou use to have serie 1 and 2. Wonder what will happen to Zellers since they have been bought by Target in mid-january.

Posted by LuvKernow in United Kingdom, 28 Jan 2011 12:23

All the packets in local WH Smiths had no bumps at bottom at all. We've been sussed...

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 28 Jan 2011 14:31

Alrighty, I'll need some help here. The first batch of S3 figures here in the U.S. were stamped 538B0. The new batch of S3 figures I found in Target were stamped 446B0. Has anyone come across any other stamp numbers for S3 and if so, where and when did you find them?

Posted by Zacherano in United States, 28 Jan 2011 14:43

I have not, but I can say that I think the feel method is a lot quicker because the dimple method requires additional verification. Once I have an elf or a fisherman, I know.

I currently have multiples of every S3 fig except the mummy and race car driver, which I am missing entirely. If anyone has a race car driver (or mummy) to trade, I am willing to trade multiple sumo wrestlers, aliens, baseball players, tennis players, cyborgs, samurais (lots of those), and men in gorilla suits. I'll also trade an elf or tribal chief, but since those are much rarer and more valuable, I will only make the trade for extra money.

Thanks!

Posted by R4-G9 in Canada, 28 Jan 2011 14:49

Swift~ i'v only found them at the lego store, but some people have found them at chapters, and walmart

Posted by Toadtorrent in Canada, 28 Jan 2011 14:58

Mastermind on Mt. Pleasant in Toronto has them, but with batch number stamping: 344B0.

I found lots of tennis players and gorilla suit guys...but couldn't find any hula dancers...yet!

Posted by lovelyuba in United States, 28 Jan 2011 15:03

@yellowcastle I found batch #345BO at local toy store( Virginia) in the beginning of January. They matched the cheet sheet

Posted by Toadtorrent in Canada, 28 Jan 2011 15:05

I've heard of 5 or 6 different bath numbers with overlapping dot patterns (meaning, the dot pattern for the samurai in batch number ABC might be the pattern for the gorilla suit guy in batch number XYZ). Of the duplicates I have, the dot patterns are consistent within the batch numbers (e.g. the samurais had the same patterns), and the 2 boxes I looked at had consistent batch numbers in the boxes as well (same batch numbers for the 2 boxes).

Posted by The_Rizulli in United States, 28 Jan 2011 15:10

Had this problem last weekend with the dot method. Thought I was getting a cyborg, alien and elf; wound up with a hula dancer, gorilla suit guy, and racecar driver. That was an unwelcome surprise.

Feeling the bags worked much better when I went to Target the next day. The trick is to go right when they open; there aren't as many people around to judge you. :-)

Posted by Rich69 in United Kingdom, 28 Jan 2011 15:19

Yellowcastle

The early box that I got from Argos here in the UK had a batch code stamp of 139B0. The distribution was 2 fishermen and 5 Aliens.

I ordered 2 boxes from a bricklink store in Germany these have a batch code of 441B0, these have 4 fishermen and 3 Aliens.

I have found the DOT code really reliable for some figures across both batch codes, however some are not there at all or are different from the DOT code cheet sheet. Here is my summary

Fisherman - Dot code very little help had to feel the packet for the lure and the fish

Pilot - Dot code reasonably consitent across both batches, however the dot on the far left does not seem to be there on most packets.Feel for the back pack to be 100%

Chief - Dot code reasonably reliable, however the cluster of DOTs on the right is sometimes not there, however just feel for the headress and you are sorted.

Samurai - DOT code a waste of time, DOTS inconsitent across batch codes and very little help. I find feel for the tunic with the lapels works best.

Snowboarder - I find the DOT codes are there and easily identified or no DOTs at all on the packets. Feel for the snowboard and you are sorted.

Space Vilian or Cyborg - Dot code pretty good however don't see the 2 dimples on the right hand side, sometimes 1 but usually non at all. Feel for the peg leg and helmet

Sumo - DOTs clear and very consistent across both batches matching hte cheat sheet, feel for the trophy to 100% confirm

Mummy - Dots clear and consitent across the 2 batches and matching the cheat sheet, feel for the Scorpion to be 100%

Elf - DOT codes waste of time, I cannot see the DOTs as per cheet sheet, you just feel of the shield and Bow and arrow, also compare dots across batches and they seem different.

Tennis Player - DOTs clear matches the cheat sheet, no problem. Feel for the racket if in doubt

Race car Driver - Dots consistent across batch codes just do not see lower dimple on the right only one dimple for me.

Gorilla - Dots inconsistent from packet to packet as per the Chief. The cluster on the left this time is sometimes there or not. Feel for the banana to 100% confirm.

Alien - Dots consitent across batches and match the cheat sheet, easy to recognise. Feel for the Alien Head to confirm if required.

Hula Girl - Dots consistent easy to read sometimes difficult to see the dimple on the right only the raised DOT. I feel for the hair and she is the only one with Long Hair.

Rapper - DOTs as per cheat sheet sometimes the dimple on the right is hidden in the batch code so difficult to see. If in doubt feel for the Hat or boogie box or Mic.

Baseball player - DOTs as per cheat sheet easy to identify from the DOTs on both batch codes.

Hope this is of help.

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 28 Jan 2011 15:19

Hmmm. With 139B0, 441B0, 537B0, 345B0, 344B0, 538B0, 446B0 and counting, it appears that tracking by "batch" is going to be a non-starter. Our local Lego Store has loads of these, so I'll pick up a handful from them and Target. As far as I can tell, there are just two possibilities here. Either the dimple patterns POTENTIALLY change with each "batch", or the dimple patterns changed once when the box assortment was revised to 4 Fishermen. Assuming it changed just once, then there might still be an opportunity to use a cheat sheet with this and perhaps forthcoming series. Otherwise, any current or new cheat sheets will only yield partial success. I'd be happy either way, but I'd like to be sure before we just walk away from the dimples. :o)

Posted by Zacherano in United States, 28 Jan 2011 15:39

@The_Rizulli - Would you be interested in trading your racecar driver for an alien or cyborg?

Posted by Rich69 in United Kingdom, 28 Jan 2011 15:47

Yellowcastle

I feel you could spend hours to try and perfect the dimple/dot cheat sheet and still find people not being able to use it. I find the current cheat sheet a very good starting point so thanks for producing it.

All the figures I have identifed have been in the comfort of my own home, apart from about 6 at my local TRU. It is much harder to see the DOTS in store, probably becuase I felt under pressure from the various checkout staff looking at me wondering what I was doing.

As a possible solution, it did not work for me, I do not have the software. Once I knew they were dots and dimple codes I looked on the web and found you can get double sided braille and single sided braille readers. The software just uses a standard scanner connected to your PC. It looks like you get a filter for the scanner to attenuate the light, but you just put sheets of single sided braille or double sided and the computer decodes it. I thought about using this for the DOTs on the packets. It didn't work for me but someone out there may have this software and be willing to try it to see if it works on the packets. A long process but it may help perfect the cheat sheet.

Posted by BrickManBrick in United States, 28 Jan 2011 16:06

You really should feel the bag. It's less confusing!

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 28 Jan 2011 17:05

@Rich69 - I agree that this might be a lost cause and many people have had basic difficulties with reading the dimples anyway. That being said, I'll give it the ole college try one more time. :o)

Posted by jackmcar99 in United States, 28 Jan 2011 17:13

CJG, they were 3.99 a bag, so yes they were expensive, but im not sure if any are left at other borders :/

Posted by Orange Lemons in United States, 28 Jan 2011 17:47

I'm sick of these figures right about now. Feeling the figures in store makes me feel foolish for trying to save money, and I don't find buying a box and identifying for two hours to be very fun either. Nobody should have to put out blind money for these packages, and I think it would be more fair to either put the figures in sets or put a 'window' on the package so you can see what you're getting. This would also eliminate the unwanted (for the most part) figures and show what kind are popular, in turn, allowing even better figures to be produced in the future. Also, with the randomness taken out of the picture, eBay sellers cannot sell these for $5+ per figure depending on rarity. I believe this has gotten out of hand and I realize everybody likes the figures themselves, but are you willing to pay excessive prices from sheer demand and spend hours indentifying?

Posted by Farmer_John in United States, 28 Jan 2011 17:50

Yellowcastle...I have found the dot method to definitely be useful for a given batch. The dots were fairly consistent in the two boxes I found at our local Target. Furthermore, the dots were consistent in the packs I received from TLG. However, the two were not consistent with each other. Therefore, it seemed to work to use the "feel" method for a given box and then check and use the dots after that. It definitely saved me from purchasing a zillion mummies. Best regards.

Posted by Unknown User2596 in United States, 28 Jan 2011 18:14

445B0 for the Target over here. Though I have to admit that some of the figs still have the same patterns on the cheat sheet. There was a pilot in the 14 I bought that was almost unidentifiable.

Posted by Zordboy in Australia, 28 Jan 2011 20:06

Hehe. I was sitting on the floor in my local Target, working through the packets by feeling them, and a father came over to me and asked, "Clearly you work here, do you have any more Lego?"

I had to politely tell him otherwise. He must've thought I was stock-taking or something.

Posted by voypro in United States, 28 Jan 2011 20:30

All of us, so crazed for these little toy people.

Lego, may I suggest a Series 5 minifig.... The Therapist, with a pencil, notepad and a couch.

Posted by Buckbrick in Singapore, 28 Jan 2011 21:14

Report from the far east... I downloaded the cheat sheet from this site. We used to get the European version of the packs for the previous series, so I was not sure if the dots tally at all. It seems like I was always hitting the tennis player/mummy pattern in an entire box. To make matters worse, the wrinkling of the seal on some packs made it hard to discern the dots, and some dots were flattened.

So needless to say, the exercise exhausted me and I gave up on the cheat sheet and used the touchy-feely method. And I got 100% of what I wanted. I feel tired already just thinking of series 4!

Posted by graymattr in United States, 28 Jan 2011 21:56

I finally found these at my Target last night. I tried using the cheat sheet but the dots are hard to discern from random bubbles between the foil. I would feel for specific pieces to make sure of the fig. I did this for an hour and then quit, feeling like I had wasted a lot of time. My kids were so bored they were rolling light-up bouncy balls from the back of the store to the front.

My kids and I love the minifigs but at this point I'm tired with the scheme. The foil wrappers make it extremely hard to identify pieces. Taking off the barcodes was not fair play. I wish these were in clear poly bags like the chrome trooper, Toy Story alien & soldier, etc. Just let shoppers pick the fig(s) they want and be happy. Make enough figs that focus groups say will be the most desired (spartan, cheerleader, whatever) and take out the eBay speculation factor. The whole thing is overdone and has become obnoxious. The irony is that there are more Series 3 figs I want to get and Series 4 has more figs I want than previous series; I clearly want more but I just can't bring myself to stand there for hours.

Posted by broomhandle in United States, 28 Jan 2011 23:04

Im horrible with the feel method. I thought i got the samari and got the worst one, the alien. I just want the fisherman!!!!!

Posted by LukeSkywalker in Ireland, 28 Jan 2011 23:30

The best way to find a samurai is to look for the armour, if you think you've got it, press on it and if it bends downwards, you've definitely got one. The helmet and sword can be confused with other accessories, so the armour is your best bet. And for the fisherman - look for the cap (very round), or the fish, fishing rod or string.

That said, I find the dots/dimples method very consistent, they're very faint but the patterns are fairly distinctive from figure to figure. They haven't changed in my local stores even after a few deliveries - in my opinion, you just need to be very observant and hold the packet up to the light the right way. Feeling the packet afterwards isn't always necessary but can be reassuring when trying to find figures with similar dot patterns to other figures. Also, if you just focus on one code at a time, you can quickly glance at each packet and pick out the figure you want very quickly. Finding figures from the dots (dare I say it) can potentially be just as easy, if not easier, than the barcodes! From looking at the dots, I think the elf is actually one of the easiest figures to find (!), along with the snowboarder, tennis player, baseball player and mummy. This is just my opinion, I know many will disagree, so please don't kill me! :)

Posted by wildcherryp3psi in United States, 28 Jan 2011 23:41

Anyone wanna trade something for a spare unopened Series 3 Fisherman?

Posted by voypro in United States, 29 Jan 2011 00:26

Here is the easiest method. If you find a untouch (or little touched) box... Buy all of it. Take it home. dimple pattern / fondle them at your leisure, pull your set then take the rest back to the store for a refund.

The big problem is not finding out what is in what bag. It is looking like some weirdo loitering it the toy section for extended periods of time. Personally, I loath the stink-eye I have gotten from employees leering at me like some sort of shoplifter.

Posted by adam_fozz in Spain, 29 Jan 2011 03:24

Anyone know of or fancy setting up a swap forum thread? I'm sure most people will end up with a couple of spares in this series and we could just do straight swaps. Postage wouldn't be expensive.

Posted by michaelp71 in Australia, 29 Jan 2011 06:32

I bought a whole unopened box of the minifigs when they arrived in Australia. I found I could not rely on the cheat sheet to tell me what was in each bag, but I did decide to sort using the dot method. I combined the packets with the same pattern and found that the same dot pattern did correspond to the same minifig. It took a lot of hard work and using a range of different light sources to clearly identify the pattern. 2.5 hours later I had them all sorted but it did work.

I don't really find that the mystery bag is a problem, as I do also buy the figs without knowing what is in them because it is simply fun - and on the whole that is what Lego is meant to be! I think it is important to promote these concepts to kids, because in life you don't always know what you are going to get! Afterall, Lego is produced primarily for the kids and the Lego company has never shied away from being open about that!

Posted by hailwind-0 in Canada, 29 Jan 2011 06:32

I can also confirm Rappers and Hulas are totally mixed up with other, saw a few hulas with rapper pattern. Just got back from my local Walmart and got two rappers, they were from the same box but had different patterns, so I don't know if they put old and new batches together or are the patterns just totally mixed up? Either way, definitely go with the feel method.

Posted by michaelp71 in Australia, 29 Jan 2011 06:42

Regarding the hula and rapper pattern here in Oz - or at least in the box I had, the dot patterns are extremely similar, but they are different with a further dot or two on the right side, bottom of the packet.

Posted by tinusv in France, 29 Jan 2011 07:56

Series three has just become available in the Netherlands (at Bart Smit stores). My wife went in the afternoon (in Almere city centre) and got 6 of 16 she was sure they were different (by feeling). At night we went together to get the other 10 (at Bart Smit in Almere Buiten). We went for the feeling option. We only mistook the samurai for the fishermen. But we opened the bags in the store, so we were able to find that one in a second search, so we have a complete series.
Back at home I checked the bags for dots and was able to confirm that the dots matched the cheat sheet, but some were
vague and difficult to see, but they definitely matched the sheet.
No problems here with customers or store staff giving us weird looks. The staff was even helpful in lending us a pair of scissors to open them once we paid for them.

Posted by Farmer_John in United States, 29 Jan 2011 09:23

Mixing the hula girls and rappers is pure evil since both have two microphones or two maracas... :p

I have started looking ahead to series 4 and how to identify those packages, which could be difficult with some of the figs. The Series 1/2 were priced fairly; however, series 3 is definitely borderline high (especially with no extra parts). Personally, I still haven't made up my mind if I will purchase the series 4 due to their high cost. If they ever go above $2.99 in the USA, then I'm definitely out. The Prince of Persia Desert Attack (Set# 7569) has four minifigs AND a horse (plus other miscellaneous parts) and can readily be found for under $10. That is a reasonable price range for me.

Posted by broomhandle in United States, 29 Jan 2011 10:28

I agree about a swap forum, is there one around? and i agree about the price, they are 2.99 USA and should be no more than 1.99 USD. the figures are made in china, correct? they plastics are not the same.

Posted by burakki62 in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2011 12:29

there is a group for trading minifigs on flickr - lego collectable minifigs trading post. I am always looking to trade with people.

Posted by burakki62 in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2011 12:37

@Adam-foss. I am happy to trade, drop me an email if ur interested (o:

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 29 Jan 2011 14:19

@ farmer John - Sadly, S3 figures do not come with extra pieces so the Rapper only has one microphone. But I know what you mean...

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 29 Jan 2011 14:24

@ All - I managed to find all 16 figures last night at that first Target. So, I will build a second cheat sheet and maybe we'll get lucky and find out that all S3 figures match one of the two cheat sheets. It's worth a try. But if it turns out there are more than two sets of patterns later on, you're on your own. :o)

Posted by Town in United States, 29 Jan 2011 15:22

I'm tired of the minifigures. I spent over an hour feeling all of the packets at my local Lego store. People would look at me, pick up one of the packs, and then toss them back once they realized how hard it was going to be to get the figures they wanted. The employees asked me several times if I needed any help, then eventually one of them just found the Fisherman for me to get rid me I think. Maybe I was creeping the other customers out.

Combined with the cheap "Chinese" plastic, I'm not sure this is all worth it to only get the figures I want. In a way I feel duped by Lego because they made it difficult to buy what you want, and now I bought something I don't want and wasted my money. They aren't making it difficult to read the packs to encourage trading, they are a company first and foremost and want to maximize profit.

For Series 4 I guess I'll just buy a box, feel them up at home, and then return all of the ones I don't want. That is of course if they don't go back to the bar codes and stick with the dots or even have no ID at all.

Posted by romdam in United States, 29 Jan 2011 16:30

Why is there still so much hub bub abot these?? They were out before Christmas.

Posted by Zacherano in United States, 29 Jan 2011 16:48

Not for most people.... They weren't around in my local toy stores until a couple weeks ago. It entirely depends upon where you live.

Posted by brixton in Canada, 29 Jan 2011 17:05

I found 13 of 16 mini-figures. It's frustrating because the 3 I want (Samurai, Elf and Fisherman) I don't have. The variety in the boxes seems different from what others have described. Based on the dots it seems like there were 10 aliens in the box I was searching through. For me, the cheat sheet generally worked but it was very difficult to see the dots and determine which mini-figure is inside. I could not feel the dots on the packaging at all. The quality of these mini-figures is poor. I ended up with two pilots - one was normal while the second one had the Indian Chief head. My girlfriend took the Pilot with the Indian Chief head.

Posted by i like guitars in United States, 29 Jan 2011 17:23

How many samurais are in a box I just felt up a bunch of bags and couldn't find any

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 29 Jan 2011 17:46

When I posted my earlier comment., I didn't know Series 4 had pics, so I will rethink that "I won't get anymore" statement. :-)

Posted by 1265 in United States, 29 Jan 2011 17:54

I haven't yet picked up any series 3...but seen them in Target, Walmart, and Lego stores. I tried feeling them up but I feel weird doing so. I'll wait a bit longer and buy a box on Bricklink or eBay to get my set. I've tried feeling the packages for specific ones, but I guess I'm not very good at it. My wife said, "you've always had that problem." What a smart azz.

Posted by Zacherano in United States, 29 Jan 2011 19:57

@ i like guitars - Four samurais to a box. I know because I have gone through multiple boxes, and that's what I have gotten. If you'd like, I'll trade you multiple samurai for a racecar driver. :-)

By the way, I would like to participate in this flickr trading forum, but I don't really get how it works. Could someone explain that on here? Thanks!

Posted by Brickmaster7500 in United Kingdom, 30 Jan 2011 04:57

I've bought nine packs and got nine different minifigures. The dots on the packs I buy are always very easy for me to see, and for me help me pick out different minifigures. For example, I bought 7 packs at my Toys r Us yesterday and by looking for different dot patterns, I got a different figure in every pack I picked up and no duplicates of the two minifigs that I had before.
I have also seen two different batch codes:
the packs at my local WHSmiths in Hampton have a batch code of 239B0
the packs at my local Toys r Us in Peterborough have a batch code of 343B0
I don't know whether the dot codes have anything to do with where you buy the minifigs from or whether it changes in every box.

Posted by DougHnut in United States, 30 Jan 2011 13:40

I also thought the dimple method was effective for about 50% - 75% of the time. I ended up using the grope method and in the end bought around 20 total to get a set of 16. Didn't worry about looking wierd because I bought at Lego store and Play-Well Teknologies (lego only store). Some of the bags were right on with the dots and a few of the newer bags didn't seem to have any discernable dots. After getting the first 3 sets at considerable trouble and run around...I may just overpay and buy a set of 16 series 4 figs on ebay or bricklink. I'm spending more on calls and gas to get a complete set! Series 3 favorites are elf, rapper, mummy, and gorilla suit guy.

Posted by 1265 in United States, 30 Jan 2011 13:41

Found batch code 546B0 at Target. Pulled out four Elfs. Pretty easy to feel for the bow and sheid. The dot pattern for the Elf didn't match anything I've seen on cheat sheets.

Posted by mark44 in United States, 30 Jan 2011 15:43

Meijer sent an employee past me about 4 times as I stood in an aisle feeling the bags. There are no dots or dimples on the packages here in SW Ohio. Since I couldn't find all the ones I needed the first time, I brought my 5 year-old daughter along the next night, put the box of minifigs on the top of my cart, and followed her through the Barbie aisle feeling bags--just returned the box to the shelf after. Just a little less odd than standing still feeling the bags. Really wish you could just buy what you wanted without the extra work...

Posted by romdam in United States, 31 Jan 2011 02:42

Wish you could buy what you wanted without the extra work?? Come on, seriously? So you want Lego to just have a clear pack? And end up with boxes of the figs nobody wants? In baseball card terminology, those are called "commons". I'm GLAD there is no set in stone way of figuring what you will get. Newsflash...THAT'S THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE! Yea, I wish in say 1984 I could just go and buy a pack full of say Dan Marino rookie cards. Doesn't work that way. Obviously if there is 16 figs, you might have to buy more than 16 packs. I bought 16 series 3 packs. 3 ot of the first 5 were mummies. Oh well, that's how it works.
This is as bad as the card dealers who used to go to stores with scales to measure to find the special cards in packs.

Cheats are cheats. Feel proud you went and pulled out all the Trojans and Dwarfs. Bravo. Hope you stood there all day and each time a kid came up to buy one pack you laughed and told him "I hope you get that neat Dwarf figure".

Posted by Staszek in Poland, 31 Jan 2011 14:28

I bought a full retail box (60 pcs) batch no. 143B0 (European). I managed to complete 3 full sets and get 1 extra fisherman, 1 extra pilot, 1 extra samurai, 2 extra sumo, 2 extra mummies, 1 extra tennis player, 2 extra race car drivers, 1 extra gorilla man and 1 extra baseball player. Clearly distribution is much different than some other reported but I am happy to be able to collect 3 full sets.

I was checking two cheat sheets in the process and still 25% of bags had to be recognised manually. Some of the patterns from cheat sheets where applicable to different minifigs (eg. Alien vs. Elf).

Now I have to sell 1 set and some extra minifigs, but looking at auction sites I should be able to lower my average price per minifig singificantly.

Posted by justind in United States, 31 Jan 2011 16:18

I agree with others that just want to buy what you want. The system they have now doesn't work because you can still pick them out by feel if you are careful and so when you do find them for sale all the popular ones are gone. Unless they are going to put the figs in some kind of hard package that hides the contents then I think they should just do away with this random system altogether. I've been looking at them for a couple months now trying to get some ELVES and every time I find a box somewhere they are heavily picked through. I would gladly just pay the retail price to buy them outright.

Posted by EliteLeader99/brickboy2 in United States, 31 Jan 2011 16:39

WHEW! Good thing I picked the alien up before the change.

--Brickboy2

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 31 Jan 2011 19:18

Where is the dot pattern?!?!?!?! I mean I don't see it anywhere, except for maybe on the "3" or someplace similar.

BTW, I got the Sumo Wrestler. My Lego VIP card was pennies away from $100, which would earn another $5 off, so I picked up another one at random. I was afraid it was the Pilot because of the sumo's hair, but the guy at the register was so nice and obviously VERY good at "feel the bag" that he was able to feel the idol.

AT that point, Lego's Customer Service percentage for me went from 1000% to 1005 :-)

Posted by BobaFett2 in United States, 31 Jan 2011 19:38

oocaleb7 (or something similar) has provided a VERY accurate cheat sheet, with a lot of possibilities. Needless to say, it's better than before. Although not great.

Posted by 1265 in United States, 31 Jan 2011 19:50

Yesterday, I posted about batch code 546B0 and found several Elfs. I also picked up one Chief. Today, I stopped by a different Target and they had many packs, but looked picked through. The dot pattern found here did not match the ones I found yesterday. Weird...same batch code but different dot pattern.

I applaud Lego for mixing it up. I believe Lego should offer individual figures.....but it's nice to see they are trying to deter the cherry pickers. Maybe future packs will deter the "feel me up" crowd.

Posted by coolpix in United States, 01 Feb 2011 01:34

In which section can we find them on Wal-Mart?

I went to two Wal-Marts in my area and could not find them by the registers or the toy section.

By the way, TRU has them in my area, but they are $3.99, and I will not pay $3.99 for them. You can get Mini Sets for that price (Farmer, Wizard, Traveler, Manta Warrior, Diver or Jester).

I'd definitely buy a bunch, feel them at home and return what I don't want to the store.

Posted by adam_fozz in Spain, 01 Feb 2011 09:24

If anyone is interested I have a sealed Monkey suit guy and I only need a Samurai guy. If anyone would like to do a straight swap I suggest that you send me the figure and I will send yours on arrival. I am adam_fozz on ebay if you would like to check my feedback (+200) to confirm I am trustworthy. Please contact me if you are interested. (UK only) - adam_fozz@yahoo.co.uk

Posted by Toadtorrent in Canada, 01 Feb 2011 15:52

Well...I went back to the small toy store that I had spent a long time at feeling for the right figs in search of what I found to be the elusive Hula Girl. I got a Sumo Wrestler instead of a Hula Girl on the first attempt (mistook the long hair for the Sumo "bun", and the maracas for the trophy).

I compared the dot patterns to the 344B0 batch number to the dot guide on this site, and there appears to be a lot of overlap - of the 6 that I bought today, there is overlap on at least half. It's hard to tell some of the dots to be honest...but the basic position of at least 2 of the 4 potential dots match and that is relatively unique positioning across the set.

The funny part was, that the first time I was there, the store manager was labelling all the ones that I identified that I didn't want...and today, I found out that all the labelled ones sold right away...so they had no problem with me sitting there checking the bags, and in fact, I had an assistant help me.

So, does the mystery help boost the fun and sales...or does creating the product people want increase the sales?

In other words, what's going to generate more satisfaction from the experience and for ultimately for TLG - more sales: the fun of the search for the figure you want or, making great figurines like the Spartan or the Fisherman with good unique parts and good printing and making those more easily available?

Posted by brixton in Canada, 01 Feb 2011 19:08

The dots don't work. I tried again today. Picked up 6 mini-figures. All but one were duplicates of figs I already have. I thought I finally got a fisherman but no dice. I found the Samurai by feeling the bag. I'm glad I got one new mini-figure. I still need the fisherman and elf but I'm giving up on getting those last two. I already have too many duplicates. 14/16 originals and 10 duplicates.

Posted by Juno in United States, 01 Feb 2011 21:31

I've gotten a couple boxes, and I tried the dots, but it hasn't worked. So far, I have 6 complete sets, mostly by getting them at Target. And I still have a ton left over! I'm going to be returning some to Target. By the way, feeling is the best way to go! :D

Posted by Zacherano in United States, 01 Feb 2011 21:50

I second that. After opening 15 of 16 figures, I realized that feeling is a far more accurate method. It hasn't failed me once after I knew which parts to feel for.

Posted by mrdennings in United States, 02 Feb 2011 11:34

Ok I’m sorry if this is off topic (though not really) but I’m wondering what people are seeing distribution wise regarding the S3 sets, mass quantity not specific figures, I should say. I’m located in South Florida and thus far aside from an empty box in one Wal-Mart and 5 lone packs at another the only other instance of the Mini figs I’ve seen has been the seemingly standard two box’s per Target in their seasonal section (nothing says valentine’s day to me like Lego!) now granted I haven’t been to the local Lego store recently so I have no idea what kind of quantity they have but I remember there being reports that this production run was GIANORMOUS compared to the past two series’ and so far I haven’t seen much more of S3 versus S2, So I’m wondering am I just looking in the wrong places? Have they been popping up at non-traditional Lego retail venues? Or perhaps is it just location?

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 02 Feb 2011 18:44

Seriously, can anyone tell me how the dots work?

Posted by C-Fish in United States, 02 Feb 2011 19:29

This and then the new "unique, one-time-use" Hero Factory codes. Looks like LEGO is finally starting to awaken from its slumber...

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