Another word on rare minifigures
Posted by Huw,
Last month we posted an article on rare minifigs by samiam391. Evgeniy, aka legoman_russia, gives us his take on the subject in today's guest author article:
Everyone who is fond of LEGO has their own specific collectable preferences. I chose minifigures. Not all of them, just the rare ones.
But what exactly constitutes a 'rare' minifig? I will explain what I consider to be rare in this article.
Mr. Gold. Is he rare?
Any minifigure that is included in a regular LEGO set can be considered as common, even those like Mr. Gold.
In addition, those that are made available to the public through other means, like the San Diego Comic Con ones, are not particularly rare either, although, like Mr. Gold, there are not many in circulation so those that are command a high price. However, If you're prepared to pay, you can obtain them easily.
A picture by LowMango on Flickr
So, exactly which minifigures are rare, then?
One thing that differentiates rare ones from regularly available figures is a lack, or complete absence, of information. There is no catalogue listing them all and usually they are discovered by accident when someone stumbles across one in an auction, a Billund thrift shop, or somewhere like that.
For example, have you ever heard of the LEGO World BID (Building Instruction Developer) 2015 minifigure that was discovered recently? We have no idea how many were made but it's certainly going to be rarer than Mr. Gold and definitely a minifigure collector's item.
A picture from Minifigspriceguide website
A good place for information about such minifigs is the MinifigPriceGuide blog, run by Shawn, a collector of rare figures in the USA. Here, he attempts to rate figures based on rarity, inaccessibility and the market price. Unfortunately he also discusses custom printed figures, which makes some of the information there unreliable.
Nevertheless, Shawn provides more information on rare minifigures than anyone else. His website is a sort of handbook for every collector but unfortunately it's just a narrative on them and doesn’t really give us any useful classification of rarity.
Employee business cards. Are they rare?
Many LEGO employees have minifigures for business cards, and they are an interesting branch of collecting. But are they rare? They are not easy to obtain unless you have contacts in the company, particularly as they are not traded on BrickLink, but there have been many thousands of them made, so not particularly. Those produced for employees who do not interact with the AFOL community will be harder to obtain than those that do.
A collection of Business cards from my friend
Most business card minifigs are similar, with plain white torsos. However, Carsten Rasmussen's is like no other, and I've never seen it come up for sale anywhere.
A picture from Minifigspriceguide website
Departments within LEGO also have minifigs printed for them from time to time, for example this one for the Engineering and Quality Department.
A picture from a friend
My definition of rare minifigures
My own experience in collecting truly rare LEGO minifigures and communicating with a dozen collectors around the world has shown that such minifigures are created for:
- Regular events held by LEGO
- Events supported by LEGO, but organised by others
- Internal events
- For third-party partners.
So, let's look as some examples from each category:
Regular events held by LEGO
Minifigures are produced for the annual LEGO World in Copenhagen and also for other events like Brick Korea Convention.
LEGO gives away thousands of LEGO World torsos, and they can be obtained for a decent price. They look really nice all together and are worth collecting.
A picture on my Instagram
Another event organised by LEGO was the 5k Monterrey Family Road Run between 2013 and 2017. A male and female minifig was produced each year, and they are limited to 1500 each, so can be hard to get hold of.
I don't have two of them so my collection isn't yet complete.
A picture from Minifigspriceguide website
The minifigs from the annual Brick Korea convention are particularly elusive.
A picture by legoman_mysterio on Instagram
Events supported by LEGO, but organised by others
This includes the early Skaerbaek Fan Weekend minifigures and those made for the annual Cologne FanWelt.
The Skaerbaek fan weekend was officially supported by LEGO until 2014 so the minifigures given to attendees prior to then can be considered official. Those given away after that were custom printed but nevertheless a full set makes a nice collection.
A picture by legoman_mysterio on Instagram
More interesting than the SFW figures are those from the FanWelt convention that is held every two years since at least 2008 in Cologne.The founder of the event is local German AFOL community, but the convention is supported by LEGO from what I can tell.
Although the FanWelt minifigures are printed by a 3rd party they are granted permission put the LEGO logo on the torso, and I’m pretty sure 2008 minifigure was printed by LEGO in-house as it’s a pad-printed.
A picture from Minifigspriceguide website
Internal events
Internal events give us a great number of rare minifigures, for example the LEGO Inside Tour minifigures, LEGO Idea Conference minifigures, LEGO Manager’s Conference minifigures, any type of LEGO Grand Opening Store minifigures, LEGO HUB minifigures, LEGO Grand Factory Opening minifigures, and so on.
Inside tour 2014 minifigure, from minifigs.blog.
Here's an interesting one known as the Blue Kladno minifigure. It was given to employees of the Kladno factory when it opened in 2000.
A picture on my Instagram
Third-party partners
LEGO is often invited to different events by third-party partners. Last year we could see amazing LEGO Comic Book torsos as a part of a promotion at San Diego Comic Con.
LEGO is a partner for the Google Science Fair giving us one of the rarest minifigures ever.
A picture from Minifigspriceguide website
Hopefully now you now have an idea of what minifigures are truly rare and where they come from. I estimate that there are around 150 such minifigures around.
Finally, I want to raise the issue of solid metal LEGO figures. Do you think solid metal figures are minifigures? I don’t, and here’s my opinion.
A LEGO minifigure is a small plastic articulated figurine produced by The LEGO Group. A basic minifigure is composed of several separate essential LEGO pieces: head, torso, hips, arms, hands, and legs; and are usually packaged as three separate parts in LEGO sets: head, torso and legs.
Solid metal LEGO figures look the same on the first sight but because they are one-piece, they are not the same at all.
A picture by legoman_scotland on Instagram
In my opinion, solid metal figures are not true minifigures, which should only be made of plastic. Despite them being commissioned and distributed by LEGO they are produced by third parties. Also, solid metal figures, besides material they're made of, don't have standard six pieces to be a minifigure though they look like similar.
So, solid metal figures are rare, collectable and highly desirable by many, but they are not, in my opinion, minifigures!
Which minifigures do you consider to be rare? What is the rarest minifigure that you own? Let us know in the comments.
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60 comments on this article
Nice article, always interesting to hear what focus fellow collectors have.
I'm only collecting Star Wars and the rarest I'm looking for, has got to be the fabled George Lucas prototype minifig.
There exist a number of pre-prints and prototype prints of say Darth Vader, his helmets or of C3P0 in transparent versions, that you can get your hands on on the more shadier side of the net. But do they count for you?
Where does your collecting madness stop? ,-)
That's in interesting point. There's a difference between minifigs that are intended to be distributed, e.g. all those featured in the article, and those that are not, like the ones you mention.
I guess it depends on if you are prepared to seek items that potentially have been obtained by nefarious means or not.
Great article. I wonder what Criteria Lego use to make a minifigure ? I assume its not worth setting up for a production run of 10 of anything...... Is Mr Gold the least Production run officially mass released figure? Does that imply that even the very large and expensive sets, assuming they contain an exclusive Minifigure, would be produced in more than 10,000. I'd be interested to see if Lego would produce facts and figures (maybe 2-3 years behind) of sets they made that are now out of production. So every figure you own which is only in one set you would know how many they made..... it could be millions. Lego must know how many of each set they sold?
What is the Minifig beneath the Boba Fetts in the last picture?
Incredible article! I sure learned a lot!
Really cool article, thanks for posting. It was enjoyable to read. I had no idea employee business cards were lego minifigs; makes you want to work for TLG!
What is your favorite minifig in your collection? And is there a minifig that you have been searching for and yet to add to your collection?
I believe the rarest (probably non-existent) minifigure is the one of the employee or department in charge of double or triple checking the products for not spreading mistakes in building instructions, in the pictures, in the press release or products.
Great article, by the way!
^ Second only to the one for the employee responsible for preventing leaks :)
@Huw said:
"^ Second only to the one for the employee responsible for preventing leaks :)"
Yeah, well they were all fired for their awful cover-ups and threats of legal action. Their minifigs were collected up and burnt :)
I was joking in my head, it is more logic a disgruntled employee resign and in his last hour of work launched the news to Brickset and others that The Lego House is available to be sold worldwide in 23 April, than a big company like LEGO with so many departments to make such bloomer after bloomer action in just 10 days.
The funnier was that the person who wrote the article commented to me he didn't had prior information from LEGO so no one is to blame from LEGO. He just wake up some day and wrote about the availability of the exclusive sets.
That is also a rare premonition minifigure.
I am content with trying to complete my collection of monofigs. I do have some of the rarer minifigs that came in official sets and are now worth quite a bit, but I don't collect any rare ones on purpose. I was quite amazed to see how expensive Ahsoka Tano from 75158 Rebel Combat Frigate is. As I have never built the set I still have her in mint condition. Does anyone know why she commands such a high (the cheaper ones start at more than 100 Euro) price? I mean, the set she came in wasn't particularly rare or anything and none of the other minifigs in the set are worth much.
I have mostly Star Wars minifigures. But, I'm pretty sure the 2 most rare that I own are the smooth hair Princess Leia figures. One in a Hoth outfit and the other in a white dress.
I always wonder this too! Sometimes it feels quite random - it is a combination of the following factors - exclusive figure not available in any other set, exclusive head piece mold never used again by Lego, unusual Lego theme Star Wars Rebels was quite niche, not many have ever been sold / come to market, collectors want a complete set of all Jedi, she looks VERY COOL and is a fan favourite character.
@AustinPowers said:
"I am content with trying to complete my collection of monofigs. I do have some of the rarer minifigs that came in official sets and are now worth quite a bit, but I don't collect any rare ones on purpose. I was quite amazed to see how expensive Ahsoka Tano from 75158 Rebel Combat Frigate is. As I have never built the set I still have her in mint condition. Does anyone know why she commands such a high (the cheaper ones start at more than 100 Euro) price? I mean, the set she came in wasn't particularly rare or anything and none of the other minifigs in the set are worth much. "
I could either pursue these or remain married...
Fascinating article and pics, thank you.
@James2506 said:
"I always wonder this too! Sometimes it feels quite random - it is a combination of the following factors - exclusive figure not available in any other set, exclusive head piece mold never used again by Lego, unusual Lego theme Star Wars Rebels was quite niche, not many have ever been sold / come to market, collectors want a complete set of all Jedi, she looks VERY COOL and is a fan favourite character. "
Thanks for the heads-up. I didn't know her character at all. I bought the set solely as a parts pack because I got it (two actually) dirt cheap, something like 50 or 60% off. Haven't even assembled the minifigs to be honest. I just used some parts of the set for my Venator.
Thank you for publishing this well-written article! Very interesting! Now, I want to collect them all!!!
I get what this article is going for, but it's a shame they wrote off anything that isn't extremely exclusive as "rare." Everything has a different level of availability, and even among rare items some are more rare than others. For example, getting a Elytra in Minecraft takes a lot of work so it's considered rare, while the Ender Dragon Egg also takes a lot of work so it's considered rare, but you can only ever get one Dragon Egg per game but multiple Elytra. The way most systems deal with discrepancies like this is they have a tier system for rarity, with each tier being more difficult to obtain. Going back to the Minecraft example, the Elytra is considered "Uncommon" while the Dragon Egg is considered "Epic."
I suggest a similar system be implemented to categorize minifigures, for example:
Legendary - Minifigures that only one or two were ever produced of, often as a gift or promotion.
Epic - Minifigures that are produced in limited quantities and only distributed at special events, such as everything discussed in this article. Prototype figs could be considered Legendary or Epic depending on their individual rarity.
Exclusive - Minifigures that are distributed at publicized events but in limited quantities, such as all the Comic Con Figures.
Elusive - Minifigures that are produced in limited quantity, but are released to the general public. The most famous of these is Mr. Gold, but there were a few similar promotions involving C-3PO as well.
High-Collectors - Minifigures exclusive to sets over $200.
Collectors - Minifigures exclusive to sets over $100.
Limited Edition - Minifigures who had a shelf life of less than one month, or who were only released to select regions. For example, the May the Fourth promotionals and the Team GBA CMF.
Uncommon - Minifigures exclusive to sets over $50.
Common - Minifigures available in sets Under $50.
Massable - Minifigures available in sets Under $10.
And of course, other factors can come into play, such as how many of a figure are included in a set or how many sets they come in.
I didn't know minfigs were peoduced for such occasions. I've heard of minifig business cards but not of tje others. Thanks for sharing.
@AustinPowers said:
"I am content with trying to complete my collection of monofigs. I do have some of the rarer minifigs that came in official sets and are now worth quite a bit, but I don't collect any rare ones on purpose. I was quite amazed to see how expensive Ahsoka Tano from 75158 Rebel Combat Frigate is. As I have never built the set I still have her in mint condition. Does anyone know why she commands such a high (the cheaper ones start at more than 100 Euro) price? I mean, the set she came in wasn't particularly rare or anything and none of the other minifigs in the set are worth much. "
Her price has greatly increased recently (+ ~$60 from what I’ve seen) almost certainly as a result of her role in the final season of The Clone Wars. Phase 2 Rex has increased similarly
Great article. This is an area of collecting that I'm not that familiar with. Long been aware of, but just not familiar with. I think the first point about about separating the concept of highly desirable, limited release minifigure (ie expensive) from rare is a very important distinction.
That said, I don't think I've got an minifigures that are rare or even semi-rare in my collection. A few that are highly desirable and can command a premium, like the Cloud City minifigure. It also isn't area I plan on getting into. Really interesting to read about and see photos for, but not something that personally excites me as a collect. Once again, great article.
Interesting read. We are all entitled to our own opinions and definitions but I think this article tends to contradict itself at times. If LEGO prints thousands of prints for LEGO World or the 5K Monterey Run then how is that rare? Isn't this similar to SDCC in terms of acquiring one?
In regards to events like FanWelt, if a third party prints the images even with TLG's permission is that or should that even be considered canon? Also, if there's no listing or info regarding the minifig, how or what determines the authenticity? Are we naive enough to think only LEGO has a quality pad printing process?
@MTBrickHouse said:
"Interesting read. We are all entitled to our own opinions and definitions but I think this article tends to contradict itself at times. If LEGO prints thousands of prints for LEGO World or the 5K Monterey Run then how is that rare? Isn't this similar to SDCC in terms of acquiring one?
In regards to events like FanWelt, if a third party prints the images even with TLG's permission is that or should that even be considered canon? Also, if there's no listing or info regarding the minifig, how or what determines the authenticity? Are we naive enough to think only LEGO has a quality pad printing process?"
I think that’s the point of the article. There were 5,000 Mr. Golds printed and they demand a higher price than minifigures that have less printed. Price doesn’t make something rare.
What you consider legit, the next person might not. The author and a small group of us regularly discuss the origins of minifigures. In our eyes, if LEGO gives permission to an outside party to print, they are official. The LBR Manager Conference minifigures pull a hefty price and are on the rarer side. What most people don’t know is that they were printed by an outside party on an UV printer. They are still considered official in our eyes because they were sanctioned by LEGO.
We know people and companies have pad printers (I own one myself). But the cost/amount of time it takes to setup a pad printer doesn’t make it cost effective to make small batches. Additionally copying a minifigure exactly is a lot harder than one would think. With selling anything expensive you will eventually have people trying to fake them. Up to this point we have been able to point out/decipher which are fake and which are not. We have run across very few, if not any, that were fake pad printed minifigures. When they are fakes, they tend to be UV or digitally printed.
Oooh... I have the LEGO Inside Tour 10th anniversary one and I completely forgot...
Need to dig it out. LOL.
@Cooliocdawg said:
"What is the Minifig beneath the Boba Fetts in the last picture?"
The 1 of 5 LEGO Solid Gold C-3PO Minifigure.
@Chills said:
"What is your favorite minifig in your collection? And is there a minifig that you have been searching for and yet to add to your collection? "
Nice question. I have a few favourite minifigures but I do like LEGO Experience Tour minifigure most of all. I even was gifted a t-shirt with this minifigure printed. My wife did that for me.
As for minifigures I have been chasing I can say LEGO Skaerbaek Fan Weekend 2009 minifigure is my holy grail. Though there are loads of others but Skaerbaek 2009 always eluded me
@DarthWalle said:
"Now, I want to collect them all!!! "
I'm afraid no one is able to collect every LEGO brand minifigures I posted about. There're almost always new ones are spotted on. And loads of those are quite unobtainable and never were shown in circulation. I know only the one collector who has almost everything but 3 or 4 minifigures
Fantastic article. Loads of information I didn’t know.
I doubt I’ll ever get any of the ones you mentioned, but I’m happy collecting regular minifigs (currently 4589 of them)
I count my rarest by current Bricklink value.
In which case it’s Boba Fett from my original 10123 Cloud City set, that I got for Christmas 2003!
@Bricktastic_builder said:
"However you don’t consider special LEGO-commissioned figures such as the metal figures as minifigs"
Well, I consider solid metal figures doesn't match minifigure category. But why not to come up with different classification? They are just other LEGO figures. We know different types of LEGO figures, such as Duplo, Technic, Microfigures, Mini-doll, Building figures. LEGO solid metal figures are just the same another group of LEGO figures
@Bricktastic_builder said:
"I would be very interested to hear the writers views on prototypes and unreleased minifigs/parts"
I will do another one post about it
Is the Darth Vader with medal rare? I really need to know!
@GSR_MataNui said:
"I suggest a similar system be implemented to categorize minifigures"
Great suggested classification system by the way. I would think of it
@TheWackyWookiee said:
"Is the Darth Vader with medal rare? I really need to know!"
Definitely not. There's loads floating around though it's one of the greatest SW minifigures
Thanks for the write up! Really interesting to see the Google Science Fair figure. Do you happen to know anything about this one?
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&pub=5575106321&toolid=10001&campid=5337711434&customid=&icep_item=143556466075&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg
I have one at my desk at work but I’m not sure if these were custom printed by Google or if they are authentic LEGO minifigures.
I think the real point of these articles, and the comments underneath, is that when it comes to the niche market of ‘rare minifigures’ the definition and perceived value is really down to the individual collector not the general market.
While later years saw expanded production, at least the first wave of SDCC minifigs were produced in lower quantities than the 5k Monterrey Family Road Run. Herein lies the difference between a minifig that is rare, and a minifig that is difficult to obtain. SDCC minifigs have a known market, as does pretty much every SDCC exclusive. It's very common for people to get their hands on one and immediately start the process of posting it on eBay. The race minifigs are more likely to go home with the recipients and never see the light of day. That has nothing to do with actual rarity, and everything to do with what they are and how they are handed out.
Carsten Rasmussen (who may be a distant relative of my mom's cousin's deceased husband) may have picked up on Kevin Hinkle's idea. Kevin got a minifig budget which was fairly high (having regular contact with the community, he was expected to go through a lot more than someone who stays at HQ all year), but the options left a lot to be desired. Everyone pretty much gets plain white torsos with black print, and monochromatic legs. The head and hair selection aren't much better. So after a few rounds of going the traditional route, Kevin realized that the budget didn't require him to stick with the official selections, so he started having his custom-printed by someone else. This allowed him to pick a non-white torso (black), two toned arms (printed black short sleeves), and printed legs (pleats and belt buckle), along with a custom face that's designed to look a lot more like him than the stock options. The result is a minifig that looks pretty similar to how he'd be dressed at any fan events he attended.
As for the solid metal minifigs, they are officially termed minifigs by the company. Yes, this violates their old guidelines, but those were from a time when before they really started doing sculpted heads, and before they'd have to explain why R2-D2 didn't count as a minifig.
@rustenrat:
Not all prototypes were obtained by nefarious means. I actually have one in my possession (prototype yellow Hau mask from Bionicle, but with the code printed on the outside of the forehead rather than the inside), which the Bionicle design team had someone at LEGO Direct send me. So, however rare, some have been given out as gifts.
@Lego34s
Mr. Gold may be the rarest minifig sold at regular retail, but it's not the rarest one officially released to the public by a long shot. No SDCC minifig has been produced in quantities as high as the 5000 Mr. Gold minifigs that they claim exist (a number which is almost certainly not 100% accurate, as they probably retained several for archival purposes)
@Cooliocdawg:
On the left at the top is a set of three Boba Fetts. Below them is a fourth Boba Fett. On the right are two different R2-D2's. Below all of them is a C-3PO. The latter you can clearly read is solid 14k gold (they gave out a few of these). The Boba Fetts look like they might include the white polybag version, but the other three versions are three different precious metals (gold - probably 10k or 14k, sterling silver, and bronze, given out in different amounts over two giveaways). The R2-D2's are sterling silver and are probably tied to the giveaway they ran last year for people who qualified for the VIP Black card.
@AustinPowers:
The other two versions are from the Clone Wars line, and have those gigantic anime eyes like everyone else from that theme (except the droids). The one you have is from the Rebels theme, and has a more "live-action" look to her design. As popular as the show was, a lot of people don't really like the look of the Clone Wars minifigs.
@MTBrickHouse:
Bricklink has listings for the LEGO Brand Retail managers conventions, some of which command incredibly high prices (the zombie LEGO Store employee, for one). Those are all printed by an outside source, with the intention that they all be used internally.
And no, pad-printing isn't exclusive to LEGO minifigs. The earliest custom minifig printing (stickers don't count) started out as engraving, which is very simplistic in terms of what you can produce. Next, many of those printers switched to pad-printing, but it's very expensive so it seriously limited the range of minifigs anyone could offer, or the amount of detail they could pack into one design (every color in the design requires another pad to be cut, and another step in the printing process). Now the standard for custom minifigs is UV printing, where you can print a full-color design in one step. But there are still people who pad-print their minifigs. There just aren't many.
@Lego4life:
That's...not entirely true. The year they did the zombie LEGO Store employee, they also did a non-zombie version. Managers got one or two zombies, and a pile of non-zombies, with the intention that they give out the non-zombies to all of their employees. Our late store manager gave me one of the non-zombies, and it's most definitely pad-printed. However, I was able to buy some zombie versions through last year's charity event which are UV printed. Either they're repros of the original, or the printer switched to UV printing after the original zombies were produced.
And if you haven't seen many fake pad-printed minifigs, maybe you should check with Deadpool. He's like the Manuka Honey of minifigs.
@Lego4life said:
I think that’s the point of the article. There were 5,000 Mr. Golds printed and they demand a higher price than minifigures that have less printed. Price doesn’t make something rare.
What you consider legit, the next person might not. The author and a small group of us regularly discuss the origins of minifigures. In our eyes, if LEGO gives permission to an outside party to print, they are official. The LBR Manager Conference minifigures pull a hefty price and are on the rarer side. What most people don’t know is that they were printed by an outside party on an UV printer. They are still considered official in our eyes because they were sanctioned by LEGO.
We know people and companies have pad printers (I own one myself). But the cost/amount of time it takes to setup a pad printer doesn’t make it cost effective to make small batches. Additionally copying a minifigure exactly is a lot harder than one would think. With selling anything expensive you will eventually have people trying to fake them. Up to this point we have been able to point out/decipher which are fake and which are not. We have run across very few, if not any, that were fake pad printed minifigures. When they are fakes, they tend to be UV or digitally printed.
"
Yes, I understand that was one of the points that price doesn't always guarantee rarity but I wanted to point out that there were a handful of contradictory statements made in the article (e.g. FanWelt) and also the solid minifigs not being legit because one of the many issues is that it's made by a third party.
As far as pad printing goes to spot fakes, if you have an example to reference of course it's easy but what if there's a lower batch run with no examples readily avilable to reference? Like the article mentioned, many rare ones are not cataloged or talked about. I understand pad printing can be extremely expensive but let's not be naive in thinking it's impossible for some other than LEGO to make quality minifig prints. When there's a will to make tons of money, there's a way.
@Bedevere said:
"Thanks for the write up! Really interesting to see the Google Science Fair figure. Do you happen to know anything about this one?
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&pub=5575106321&toolid=10001&campid=5337711434&customid=&icep_item=143556466075&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg
I have one at my desk at work but I’m not sure if these were custom printed by Google or if they are authentic LEGO minifigures. "
They're definitely custom printed by Google but not official LEGO minifigures
@MTBrickHouse said:
" I wanted to point out that there were a handful of contradictory statements made in the article (e.g. FanWelt) and also the solid minifigs not being legit because one of the many issues is that it's made by a third party"
I didn't mean to say solid metal figures are not legit. I just don't consider those are minifigures but they happen to be other LEGO figures
@Lego4life said:
"I think that’s the point of the article. There were 5,000 Mr. Golds printed and they demand a higher price than minifigures that have less printed. Price doesn’t make something rare. "
Exactly so. Price doesn't matter the rarity. But only quantity of production and appearance in circulation do
@Minifig_Jez said:
"I doubt I’ll ever get any of the ones you mentioned, but I’m happy collecting regular minifigs"
Some minifigures from regular sets have unique torsos we can't see elsewhere. I'm also pretty sure some older sets give us limited in circulation minifigures as there're not that much in mint condition by present. Some minifigures are shown only a set and are never multipled. They're nice to collect as well.
Curios what your thoughts are on the totally transparent minifigs that have been popping up lately that seem to have been made with genuine molds. Here's two examples Ive come across in the past few days:
https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/glmvts/translucent_monochrome_minifigures/
https://imgur.com/gallery/6GYuKYr
http://blog.livedoor.jp/legolego05/archives/53172674.html
@magmafrost said:
"Curios what your thoughts are on the totally transparent minifigs that have been popping up lately that seem to have been made with genuine molds"
First of all you probably know those pieces come from Monterrey factory.
I don't count those as minifigures. But I would think officially made unproduced prototypes drop into rare minifigures category. I mean such as Green Futuron recently popped up, Sea Tron, Orange and Grey Supermen. Though they're sorta different types of collectable items. More likely being just prototypes not a minifigure itself as the final LEGO products. I have an idea those should be classified as others figures same to solid metal figures on this point
@legoman_russia said:
“They're definitely custom printed by Google but not official LEGO minifigures"
Thanks for the reply! How can you tell that’s the case? Found one more instance of this online if it helps:
https://twitter.com/lukwam/status/1060220240955666437
@Bedevere said:
"How can you tell that’s the case? Found one more instance of this online if it helps"
Companies are in a habit using authentic lego torso pieces to print custom souvenirs for their purpose
By the way, I know someone interested it this piece if you are free to let it go
As a general rule LEGO does not print company logos/names on minifigure torsos and recently has gone out of its way to stop custom printers doing so too. However, some still do, of course, so we can be fairly sure that the Google one is custom printed.
@Huw said:
"As a general rule LEGO does not print company logos/names on minifigure torsos and recently has gone out of its way to stop custom printers doing so too. However, some still do, of course, so we can be fairly sure that the Google one is custom printed."
Exactly! I can't recall any granted minifigures for any companies if only LEGO made those for its own purposes
But sometimes LEGO does it for private persons. Remember of G. Lucas prototype (though it was a minifigure not a prototype) and as an example Kasper Schmeichel minifigure or Will.I.Am minifigure
There are also the De Bouwsteen / LEGOWorld (Zwolle) minifigures; I have a few of those. I don't know if that's continued since the re-organisation and move to Utrecht but that show pre-dates other 'LEGOWorld' shows.
@Joefish said:
"There are also the De Bouwsteen / LEGOWorld (Zwolle) minifigures; I have a few of those. I don't know if that's continued since the re-organisation and move to Utrecht but that show pre-dates other 'LEGOWorld' shows."
Quite right. But I wasn't going to call every minifigures. Although I like blue De Bouwsteen torso so much
I collect minifigs and collect just official Lego minifigs. Do not support custom prints. When would start collect custom prints minifigs there would be no end to it. For one minifig, like Deadpool, there's a hole bunch different custom prints, on ebay. So official or non.
And do not like prototype parts of minifigs or minifigs. If is not part of set or promotional do not see them as official, like monochrome minifigs.
Edit: thanks for article, informative
@Snazzy_Bricks said:
"I have a Boba fett minifig that isn't in the database, it came with the Boba Fett watch. Brown paudron, printed legs, not in any database."
Yes, I believe its a variant of the one that came wiht the original set. I have several watch Boba's with or without printed legs, with different heads, different attention to print detail etc. that are variants of the ones that came the same year in a set. Send me a picture and I'll see if I van identify it. Some are plain misprints and some are indeed unique to the watch.
@Huw Is there any way to view my minifig inventory and see which ones I have are owned by the fewest other people?
I can already see my rarest sets...which surprised me as being 10913, a Duplo brick tub I got for my son at Target a few months back. It's a new 2020 set and Duplo, so maybe that's why only 26 others have it. Second rarest is 853908, a plastic drinking cup I got for my son at my last Lego Store visit before the pandemic. My son used it for a month and then the printing started coming off and he bit through the straw.
@Kynareth said:
"I think the real point of these articles, and the comments underneath, is that when it comes to the niche market of ‘rare minifigures’ the definition and perceived value is really down to the individual collector not the general market. "
You're wrong. I just want people are aware of the minifigures showing up but not popular or well-known. And I'm trying to systematise such minifigures as it gives me and hopefully others the way to collect and seach.
Nice read, but I am pretty sure the Monterrey Race ran for longer than 2017 as it was ran last year.
I really want those Brick Korea ones and a lot of lego business cards but they are hard to obtain....
Hey thanks for this article! It made me realize I have a rare minifigure: the 2014 Google science fair (gsf) minifigure. I never realized how rare it was and it's actually in like new condition because it has just been stored for the past five years in a zip lock bag with some of my other fig pieces. I can do into more detail about how I came about it if anyone is interested.
After reading this article, I'm tempted to sell it, but don't have any idea how much it would be worth or where to post it. I would think eBay would be the place, but I'm not sure if it would be better to seek out an individual buyer.
Anybody have any thoughts or suggestions? Or any more info they'd like to share about them? I'd love to hear from you guys.
@Lego_dutchie said:
"Nice read, but I am pretty sure the Monterrey Race ran for longer than 2017 as it was ran last year."
You are right. But there's no more unique minifigures after 2017 sadly but common torsos. The only ones interesting was a pair of 5k Enfield run, though torsos look like from regular City theme but texted on the back
@Lego_dutchie said:
"I really want those Brick Korea ones and a lot of lego business cards but they are hard to obtain...."
Yeah, Brickorea is difficulty collecting. I'm still chasing after a couple for my own. But they're amazing
@builderbrad said:
"Hey thanks for this article! It made me realize I have a rare minifigure: the 2014 Google science fair (gsf) minifigure. I never realized how rare it was and it's actually in like new condition because it has just been stored for the past five years in a zip lock bag with some of my other fig pieces. I can do into more detail about how I came about it if anyone is interested.
After reading this article, I'm tempted to sell it, but don't have any idea how much it would be worth or where to post it. I would think eBay would be the place, but I'm not sure if it would be better to seek out an individual buyer.
Anybody have any thoughts or suggestions? Or any more info they'd like to share about them? I'd love to hear from you guys."
I'm interested in GSF 2014. My email bel-advice @mail.ru or text me on Instagram legoman_russia
@legoman_russia said:
" @Lego_dutchie said:
"Nice read, but I am pretty sure the Monterrey Race ran for longer than 2017 as it was ran last year."
You are right. But there's no more unique minifigures after 2017 sadly but common torsos. The only ones interesting was a pair of 5k Enfield run, though torsos look like from regular City theme but texted on the back
"
DO you know how many enfield minifigs there are?
@builderbrad said:
"Hey thanks for this article! It made me realize I have a rare minifigure: the 2014 Google science fair (gsf) minifigure. I never realized how rare it was and it's actually in like new condition because it has just been stored for the past five years in a zip lock bag with some of my other fig pieces. I can do into more detail about how I came about it if anyone is interested.
After reading this article, I'm tempted to sell it, but don't have any idea how much it would be worth or where to post it. I would think eBay would be the place, but I'm not sure if it would be better to seek out an individual buyer.
Anybody have any thoughts or suggestions? Or any more info they'd like to share about them? I'd love to hear from you guys."
I would love to buy it aswell. Please contact me on instagram lego_dutchie or lego_dutchie @outlook.com