New minifig books

 

  • New minifig books

    Posted by Huw, 04 Apr 2012 12:08. Filed under Book review.

    New minifig booksChristoph Bartneck, author of the excellent Unofficial LEGO Minifigure Catalog that we reviewed last year has published three new books:

    The 2011 LEGO Minifigure Catalog
    As its name suggests, this contains pictures and details of nearly every minifig released in 2011, all 415 of them. Christoph has sensibly decided not to re-issue the full catalog every year but to publish books like this annually so that you can keep up to date for a small incremental cost.

    The 2011 LEGO Minifigure Catalog

    The format has been improved significantly and now all relevant details about the figures are included in the body of the book, together with images of the head and back. There is also a price guide for each figure, showing new and used prices in USD, as taken from BrickLink.

    The Harry Potter LEGO Minifigure Catalog and The Star Wars LEGO Minifigure Catalog follow the same format. They cover every minifig in their respective theme, to the end of 2011. Both books are organised in chapters corresponding to the movies and within each chapter the figures are ordered by their number. That perhaps, is the only criticism I can make about the books: finding a particular variation of, say, Boba Fett, requires a bit of digging around. It might have been better to order the books by character name.

    Notwithstanding this minor point, the books are excellent and well worth buying if you're a collector of either of the themes in question. The 2011 catalog is likely only to appeal to those with the full catalog, but these two stand alone as useful references in their own right. Highly recommended!

    The Harry Potter LEGO Minifigure Catalog The Star Wars LEGO Minifigure Catalog

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    They can be ordered from Amazon.com. Only one of them is available at Amazon.co.uk at the moment, it seems.

     

     


    19 comments, latest one posted 13 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by vwong19 in United States, 04 Apr 2012 13:59

Interesting. Looks very nice, but the price is a bit high for me. I see prices, new and used, are listed for each minifigure. Where does that come from and why is that there?

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 04 Apr 2012 14:04

^ BrickLink I believe. The prices on the pages in my proof copy of the books are in NZ$ and not US$, I am told. That may be why they don't look right to you.

Posted by pyrokld in United States, 04 Apr 2012 14:07

It is also available on lulu.com for $19 USD and they usually have a 30% coupon every other month or so. While it does have "Adobe Digital Editions" drm, that can be easily removed if you don't want to have to use their horribly bloated readers.

Posted by Steverd in United States, 04 Apr 2012 15:28

I think it said on page #2 that the prices are in USD.
Look at the preview on Amazon.

Posted by shaase in Canada, 04 Apr 2012 15:36

Huw, would you consider adding scans from the book of the minifigs to replace the ones currently on the site, or do you still prefer the method you've been using on the collectible minifigures

Posted by homelesshomie in United States, 04 Apr 2012 15:42

i would buy them but they don't come with limited edition minifigures. Which is why i only buy the DK books.

Posted by vwong19 in United States, 04 Apr 2012 16:01

I think Huw's minifigure pictures are as good if not better than the books. Huw's background are at least consistent. For the collectible minifigures, I wouldn't mind seeing them with and without their accessories. Adding prices to the book seems unnecessary because the values are constantly changing. If there was an MSRP, then that would be ok or a general category for pricing (i.e. $ to $$$$ for common to rare or in demand) that might make more sense long term.

Posted by Thomson & Thompson in Canada, 04 Apr 2012 17:05

They look VERY good. These will be better than Standing Small! Does anyone know if you can get these anywhere else than Amazon?

Posted by Steverd in United States, 04 Apr 2012 17:53

I personally do like the price idea! Maybe because I am a pretty new collector.
Also as mentioned, you can get the digital copy from Lulu.com cheaper.
Looks like the Star wars one is only $15.

Posted by bartneck in New Zealand, 04 Apr 2012 17:55

@ Thomson & Thompson: The books are currently available from Amazon.com, CreateSpace and Lulu (eBook). Soon other resellers, such as Barnes & Nobles will carry the book.
@ homelesshomie: The Star Wars Character encyclopedia only shows around 200 of the more than 400 Minifigures. This book does include limited edition minifigures. It includes all star wars minifigures up to and including 2011.
@ Stevered: The books shown in the pictures are proof prints. I corrected the error of showing the prices in NZD. In the available books they have been transformed to USD. This is what proof prints are for, getting a grip on once own stupidity. :-)

Posted by Steverd in United States, 04 Apr 2012 19:37

Thanks Bartneck.
Buying a digital copy tonight when I get home! (the Star Wars one)

Posted by The Unbeliever in United States, 04 Apr 2012 20:34

When will the android app be updated?

Posted by bartneck in New Zealand, 04 Apr 2012 20:38

@The Unbeliever: We hope to have an alpha version ready this week.

Posted by voypro in United States, 04 Apr 2012 22:33

I am an early supporter of the book. I bought the digital copy, which was a mistake. I did understand that I could only read it on my computer and not be able to use it on my ipad

When the app came out, i got it too, The apps terribly needs an update, as in current form it is totally unusable.
The thumbnails are too small to identify one minifig from another (each maybe 1/3 of an inch tall),
I like my thumbnails to be at least the size of my thumbs nail.

@Bartneck, just saw your response... WOO HOO! Can't wait to see it. I am sure it can be perfect with a few tweeks.

Posted by Steverd in United States, 04 Apr 2012 22:48

I did just purchase a digital copy (Star Wars) tonight from Lulu, and it really "pops" on my iPad.
Each minifig ZOOMS up great on the iPad without lost of detail.

You should be able to read it on your iPad (I am right now), just search Google on how.

Posted by Zacherano in United States, 04 Apr 2012 22:52

These books sound great, as a proud owner of the Unofficial Minifig Catalog. Thanks for letting everybody know!

Posted by bartneck in New Zealand, 04 Apr 2012 23:42

@voypro: this might not be clear in the interface, but you can click on the image in the detail view to bring up a full screen view of the minifigure. The Bluefire reader allows you to also read the book on an iPad. I hope this helps.

Posted by leongsteven in Singapore, 05 Apr 2012 03:07

A bit of offtrack here, i purchased the Android app but there were no updates since it was released. Example: Minifigures Series 1 and 2 are only available.

Posted by voypro in United States, 05 Apr 2012 20:29

i just tried to re install adobe digital edition on my computer, so I could read this minifig book that I already bought. It brought back all the pleasant memories I had installing it the first time. I am running to authorizing problem. Warning to all who decide to buy a digital book, before paying hard earned money on a new software concept download the software and find a free book to download first before purchasing. Because if it does not work you better have a bunch of free time on you hands for tech support. For me it is not worth it, I will just consider it a lesson hard earned. Too bad it is a great book.

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