The Unofficial LEGO Minifigure Catalog is launched

 

  • The Unofficial LEGO Minifigure Catalog is launched

    Posted by Huw, 13 Jul 2011 04:00. Filed under Miscellaneous.

    I mentioned last week that I'd received a copy of this brand new book to review. I'm just putting the finishing touches on the review and I'll be publishing it very shortly. Suffice to say now that it is excellent and a must-have for minifig collectors.

    I've just had word from the author that is is now available at CreateSpace, and will be listed at Amazon in the next few days. You can find out more about the book at its official website, http://www.minifigure.org/

     


    18 comments, latest one posted 23 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by MvdS in Netherlands, 13 Jul 2011 06:05

Nice, But above my budget.

Posted by macmon in Philippines, 13 Jul 2011 06:32

Wow! nice but quite pricey! But nice to consider.

Posted by bluelion3 in United States, 13 Jul 2011 07:53

Wow, $89? Surprisingly high for a 392 page book, even if it is mostly photos. Will it be cheaper on Amazon?

Posted by winter zombie in United Kingdom, 13 Jul 2011 08:54

it looks good but it may of out priced it self. after all you can buy the LEGO Collector 2nd edition for less than half that price.
hopefully it will be a lot cheaper when amazon get it

Posted by Markey in Belgium, 13 Jul 2011 08:59

I'm not a minifig collector (besides the collectable series), but I would buy this book if the price was reasonable, $89 is too much.

Looking forward to the review.

Posted by richselby in United Kingdom, 13 Jul 2011 09:17

Ouch!

Posted by Zacherano in United States, 13 Jul 2011 09:23

Wow! This looks like a must-have, but unfortunately the price does turn me off a bit. Seems like it might be worth it, though - maybe I'll have to overhaul my summer Lego budget.

Posted by sharky in United States, 13 Jul 2011 10:19

I have to agree with everyone on the price. My guess is that the production quantity is relatively low so they have to charge more per book.

Posted by voypro in United States, 13 Jul 2011 10:43

As a self publisher i would like to say something about the price of this tome. It is a reasonable price. I think a first print run of 4000 copies would be a lot on a book this massive. The initial set up fees on a book are Huge. This is not Harry Potter that is going to publish millions of copies. Traditionally the lower the print run, the higher the price. Books like Harry Potter spread the set up costs over the entire print run, so cost per copy is lower. Also, this is a full color book, which adds to the print cost. If the author is also the publisher, i would not expect this to be much cheaper via amazon. Remember the publisher likely spent a bare minimum of $25,000 -$30,000 in printing cost alone, that need to be recovered before he makes his first $1 profit. (I have NO idea his print run or costs, this is just an estimate, it is likely higher.)

I applaud such an effort to undergo such a laborious process. I will buy a copy.

A customer once ask me about cost on a publication of mine, wondering how much it cost to print each issue. I told him the first copy cost $3000, copies 2 through 6000 cost 20 cents each. That is about the way it goes.

Posted by atkinsar in United Kingdom, 13 Jul 2011 11:25

^ A good insight into the likely production costs, he is not going to be shifting huge volumes of this book so the cost was always going to be high and is one of the reasons why many people just choose e-publishing instead. Me, I love the physical media of a good book and I'm not put off by the price. I will try to pick up a copy if it can be shipped reasonably.

Posted by vamproe in United States, 13 Jul 2011 11:38

I'm getting one....
would be nice to see it done binder style, so in additional years you can buy upadtes and not have to buy the whole book again.

but I also understand less money would be made that way.

Posted by doodlebird in United States, 13 Jul 2011 15:22

thanks voypro. i do screen printing, and i make mostly shirts. i get the same questions. people want just one shirt... so i say great. your tee shirt is $60. but the next one is $6, and so on. while you have helped us understand why the cost is high, that doesn't magically put the $89 in our pocket. i suspect it's closer to or over $100 with tax and shipping. if i sell a lot of shirts, who knows... i might just buy myself a copy. :)

edit: standard shipping cost in the US is a very reasonable $3 and change.

Posted by bartneck in New Zealand, 14 Jul 2011 00:32

I am very much concerned about the price of the book myself and I take the points you raise very serious. Although I cannot do much about the print production costs, I decided to create a more affordable option. You can now download the catalog as an eBook from Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/the-unofficial-lego-minifigure-catalog/16255455

I hope that this helps...

Posted by mikeyob in United States, 15 Jul 2011 07:18

Is the PDF version high or low res? Would you be able to print it out or is it just for viewing?

Posted by voypro in United States, 15 Jul 2011 11:29

@ bartneck
Are you familiar with any applications for the ipad that will allow viewing of your opus? I have a couple of pdf viewing applications on my Ipad that work with various pdf files.

I looked at "What devices can I view my eBook on?" at: http://connect.lulu.com/t5/Digital-Media-eBook-Downloading/What-devices-can-I-view-my-eBook-on/ta-p/31639

And see the glaring absence of the IPad, with a million units sold, it would seem essential to have it available for that device. I am buying the pdf now regardless.

Posted by bartneck in New Zealand, 16 Jul 2011 00:26

The eBook is not supposed to replace an upcoming app. Please give us some time to work out the best strategy for an app.

Posted by Erinlyn80 in United States, 18 Jul 2011 12:05

Wow I'm impressed!

Posted by voypro in United States, 21 Jul 2011 22:04

@bartneck

since it will cost you nothing extra, a free or discounted ipad app download would be appreciated to us early loyal ebook customers.

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