Exclusive parts in build-a-minifigure bars
Posted by Huw,
The build-a-minifigure bar is a popular attraction in brand stores at which, as its name suggests, you can build minifigures from a wide range of parts and purchase a pack of three figures plus an accessory for each for £4.99.
Recently LEGO has started to introduce parts that are not available elsewhere in order to spice it up a bit and I understand that a new selection will be added every quarter.
The latest arrivals include some excellent Halloween-themed pieces.
Unless you are an expert in the latest minifigures -- and I certainly aren't any more -- you might struggle to know exactly what's new, so I'm indebted to New Elementary for posting a list recently so I knew what to look out for in the Southampton store yesterday.
The stand-out pieces are the 'Harley-Quinn' hairpiece in black and orange, and these seasonal prints on the torso and legs.
This hairpiece is new in cool yellow. It first appeared in 71010 Tiger Woman, in dark orange.
Below are the three figures I assembled. The terrier dog is new in black and the witch's head is a new version of the one in 71010 Wacky Witch, but with pink printing instead of green.
The pumpkin-head print on the right is also new. I think it looks pretty gruesome when used as a head but it makes an awesome minifig accessory.
Take a look at New Elementary's article for a more thorough look at these, and other new parts that were added to the b-a-m recently.
On the face of it a fiver for three minifigs sounds expensive, but compared to collectable minifigures it's good value, particularly if you can now make up figures that are not available elsewhere.
I look forward to availing myself of the b-a-m bar more often now that, as of yesterday, I'm close to a store!
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so that whole no more exclusives thing lasted a while then....
I've already managed to get a few of these via Bricklink but hope to get more over the weekend, the aesthetic is right up my alley. Bring on more spooky bricks and figs!
No way am I putting my hands in the germ breeding ground that is BAM
I must admit I never paid attention to the BAM bins before as I thought those were only there for LEGO to get rid of probably overproduced parts in a cost-effective way.
Don't know about the price in Euro but going by the current exchange rate I would guess about 5.99 Euro, perhaps 6.99. In any case, I think I might nip round there and keep an eye out for those new parts. Some of them look really cool and useful.
@Sandinista, I'm usually the same but yesterday was the first day the shop was open so it wasn't an issue :)
@Huw and @Sandinista: plus there's always the choice to wash the parts in some kind of germ-killing detergent back at home.
;-)
This is a really smart idea. Took them long enough
Coming from Ireland where there are zero Lego stores and not travelling abroad in years, these kinds of exclusives are a bit frustrating. It would be nice if the parts could be made available on the VIP rewards section on the website. At least everyone could have the opportunity of getting hold of them then.
They could restrict the numbers you can order to prevent scalpers too.
But... we can't add them to our collection, can we??? Oh the horrors of an incomplete Minifigure collection on Brickset. ;)
There is also a cat girl face that seems to be the same as in the monsters series
For anyone in Brisbane, the new store in Chermside has the pumpkin girl, cat girl and black dog pieces but not the witch pieces or the grey cat.
I need about a hundred of those pumpkin heads. They're so cool.
The LCS stores in Malaysia don't have these parts (and they work out at £10 for three figs anyway), so I'll have to hope that the Sheffield store still has some when I'm back in the UK next month...
@Sandinista This is why I use hand sanitiser and wash them after purchase with washing up liquid/water.
@Paperballpark You want to hope they have plenty of additional stock out back. I went last Friday to get my fill and some parts were tricky to find in the BAM station. Both hair types and the terrier. Best to call beforehand like I did.
I love that black-and-orange hairpiece :o If I get a chance to visit a Lego store before they all get snatched up, I'll definitely see about buying a minifigure with that hair.
Still waiting for the Lego store in Ottawa, Canada to open (this fall); hopefully this feature will be available at the new store. I look forward to taking part events like this, that I've missed out on since we never had a Lego store in Ottawa
Excellent
We do not have a Lego store in Norway, but I love that Lego have started to make unique animals for the BAM-towers.. It is possible to get them on BL or if you know someone close to a Lego store, maybe they can buy some for you ;) That is animals we would most likely not get anywhere else, some of the other parts are also nice to see :)
@David1985
In Poland it costs 15$ :P
@Huw
The first found unique BAM item was the black Chimpanzee:
"Chimpanzee with Reddish Brown Face Pattern" on BL.
I don;t have any proof but I remember reading it about it on EB in 2018
How are people finding them on places like bricklink or brickowl? We don't have part numbers for them, do we?
I am so interested in creating new figures and I want to go to a LEGO store!!!!
Nice.
My store has a set of three preassembled. The new parts were not available in the regular kiosk :(
My daughter and I always love the BAM feature in LEGO stores. I always manage to have my pre-negotiated and approved amount I'm allowed to spend in store, and then "slip in" the extra 9.99 for the 3 pack Minifigures... My excuse being that my daughter wanted them so badly, but really half the pieces were picked by me lol. Always looking forward to more Minifigure parts :)
@Resistian: The only "no more exclusives" thing I can recall is the decision to no longer produce regional exclusive sets (or at least, to make them available worldwide at a later date).
These build-a-mini parts aren't even that—as far as I'm aware they're available at Lego Brand Retail stores worldwide. There is no regional exclusivity involved, other than the limitation on what countries Lego Brand Retail operates in.
Summer last year brought Blue afros and Turquoise hats (scarecrow style) to BAM.
The witch is from this time last year along with vampire torso (same as the one from Monster Fighters with purple detailing instead of red.) A pink webbed female vampire robe was also available (similar as to CMF S14)
Spring this year brought the Earth Blue wizard robes and hat.
The point is, this effort isn't new but very much welcomed. It's the thing that draws me to a store.
Well done, LEGO!
I wish I could get these
I got some of these on Oct 4th for Triple Force Friday but they didn't have this new pumpkin head piece at all. They had about 10 of Jack O' Lantern headgear covers on some pre-assembled figs hanging in the BAM cases so I removed three and bought them.
Is there a way to know when stores get new BAM pieces besides going or calling? I live an hour away from the closest store and suspect a lot of people are in the same boat.
@David1985 , I'm getting a bit fed up with your attitude and lack of respect. You could have politely brought the facts to my attention, like others do when I am mistaken, which I admit I often am, but you chose a different approach.
So, for now, I will prevent you from posting any more comments on my website and remove the most recent while I'm at it.
^Well done @Huw! It was long overdue.
Since there seems to be a trend of bringing up other new build-a-minifigure elements, I have seen some discussion on Eurobricks of a new print for the long triangular shield piece. It appears to take inspiration from the early castle Crusaders faction.
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=18836pb03 T=C&C=86
I'm not that much into those hairpieces, but I definitely want some of those torsos and legs, just because of the collectability factor. I also recently saw the Butterfly Girl's neckwear (33647pr0003/29591pb01) in BAM bins, which gave me the inspiration to build a MOC around it. Guess I'll have to go to my nearest LEGO Store soon.
@Unikittius
Yes! I got that shield just last weekend. I was going to try to take a picture and post a link here, but that bricklink link is better. I was very surprised to find it. I don't know that I've even seen that larger shield before, but this will go very nice with classic castle. I wonder where all those bricklink sellers got them though....
Halloween last year was the first time I really paid attention to the minifig bin as I went to the store with my family and we noticed all the festive parts and torsos. While some I could tell were variations of previous prints, they were unique and not in any sets. For example, a recoloring of spider lady cmf - purple instead of red:
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=973pb3320c01
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3678bpb114
I’m not sure if this was an error or not, but I saw a Lady Liberty hair piece in the bins the other day at Disney Springs store. It seemed really random since it’s a very unique piece that wouldn’t fit in with much else. It’s very interesting to see what parts are there nowadays.
Guess I gotta pay bricklink markup for these parts, fun...
@cathyVT
I just figured out some of the part numbers on Bricklink...
Witch's Head, 3626cpb2238
Orange printed pants, 970c00pb1015
Black/orange Harley Quinn hair, 28798pb01
Light Yellow Hair with Ears, 20592pb02
Printed torso, 973pb3678c01
Jack-O-Lantern Head, 3626cpb2485
White Skirt, 36036
Snowboard, 18746pb005
Terrier, 26078pb003
(please correct me if I got any of these wrong)
Most of them don't have any US sellers yet, but there are some in other countries.
Thanks to @huw for the heads up. I'd seen the orange pants, but not the other new exclusive pieces yet.
This is unfair and totally unacceptable.
LEGO, I demand that these parts are made available in territories without a LEGO brand store!
@Resistian Lego never said no more exclusives. They said no more regional sets, ie. a set now released in China would be available in the US.
There are plenty of items that can only be got through Lego Stores. Gifts with purchase, etc. This is just another.
These are so cool! I wasn't sure when I'd be able to make it to a Lego store and somebody was selling one with all the accessories/parts I was most interested in so I bought that, and turns out I'll be hitting up a Lego store tomorrow. We'll see if they have the parts there, if so won't hurt to get some more!
I get excited for a moment and then I remember the nearest LEGO store is 3 hours away. Hopefully if they keep making more of these BAM exclusives I can pick some up when I go there this winter. Some christmas exclusives would be nice.
@monkeyby87, that little oddity has been around for at least a couple years I'm thinking. Pretty sure we got it at the Columbus store quite awhile back. I've yet to find a purpose for it, but hey, still glad I have it :) @Huw, well done sir!
This looks very interesting. I haven't been to a Lego certified store in Singapore in ages, but I hope they have a similar attraction as well. I would sure like to build some medieval minifigures.
Also living in Ireland so don’t have access to LEGO stores, but ah well. Would anyone be kind enough to buy me a few of each of the new coloured parts to send to Ireland and I would reimburse all expenses? :)
These look really cool, but not cool enough for a two-hour drive in my worn-out gas-guzzler for the chance that the might be available. Wish there was a way to buy these from Lego without the drive.
@lordofdragonss:
Oh, these go back quite a bit more than 2018. The earliest BAM exclusive element I'm aware of (and I have no idea now when it appeared) was the bright-light-orange snowboard with the snowflake print from the dark-blue snowboard that came with the S3 Snowboarder (all other sources for BLO snowboards have them unprinted).
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=93218pb01
There was also a single-sided version of the dual-sided head from Galaxy Squad's Ashlee Starstrider, but I just discovered that it also appeared in the Musicians collection from the 2016 Bricktober packs at TRU. This time I actually have better info on release timeframe. The head was added to BL's catalog back in 2014, so until Germany's Bricktember in 2016, it actually was a BAM exclusive.
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3626cpb1208T=C&C=3
@CathyVT:
Simple. They exist, therefore they can be sold once obtained. Bricklink gets a bit funny about listing stuff for sale based on announcements, but the hard and fast rule is that as soon as it is purchasable, and they have quality images submitted, they will approve catalog entries. The tricky thing is, for a lot of these parts, they will never be tied to any set inventories, so tracking them down can be very tricky if you don't find out about them right away. Some of the other oddities I remember from last year are a Christmas elf cap printed in red (all appearances of this part in sets have it printed in bright-green), and one of the various vampire heads printed single-sided on light-bley instead of double-sided on white. There's an acoustic guitar in a unique color, as well. Currently, the best source of info on these is New Elementary, where a guest-writer has submitted at least two fairly comprehensive articles on all the previously unreleased parts that have shown up in these quarterly refreshes. Besides the ones Huw found in this wave, they also released a completely new print on a lime snowboard, and unprinted versions of some dual-molded legs and a white skirt. Interestingly, it's actually possible to get at least one of every unique item from Q4 2019 into a single BAM purchase, since the most they released of any single item type is three sets of legs.
@datsunrobbie:
There's not, but you can always buy them on the secondary market.
I love these! Will have to resort to Bricklink, sadly, as no Lego stores here, but these are some very fun parts!
Saw these tonight at local store, pumpkin head is def cool
Here's hoping I find these bad boys on Bricklink. A number of people such as @sbpyrat and @domboy have been posting the part names or links to them and I applaud you, you're doing us a huge favor!