Collectible Minifig Series 3

[Bruce N H]

Hey all,

These have been leaked over and over, so you've probably all seen them already, but we've been deleting threads based on leaked photos. Now, however, Series 3 figs have arrived in stores, or at least in one store. So the seal is officially broken and let's go ahead and talk about these. Here's Hillel's analysis of the cases he bought, complete with many pictures, including the much-desired elf.

Bruce

[Azaghal]

Looks good to me - there is, in my opinion, an overabundance of town/sports figs in which I have no interest, but this is made up for with the fact that pretty much every other fig is at least mildly interesting.

The highlights, for me, are the elf (naturally), the fisherman (or, more precisely, his beard), and the ape-suit guy. I'm a bit surprised that it turned out to be a guy in a suit rather than an actual gorilla, but that makes no difference at all for my plans to amass an army of ape-men for some pulp-fantasy and pulp-adventure antagonists. For this reason, I'm also glad they're so high on the distribution list.

[sirJacob]

Wohoo
Finally!! The new minifigs looks amazing!!
I love the new caps even thoug i would never use them
And obviously the elf is stunning, i guess i have to build an elf army

How is it, will there be any barcodes available?

I have a feeling that i've heard that there won't be any barcodes on the 3rd edition, am i wrong??

[Kosh]

I have a feeling that i've heard that there won't be any barcodes on the 3rd edition, am i wrong??

The early pictures from purchases Confirm that there are *NO* ID barcodes on the sets (there's a UPC but that's common to the whole assortment).

[architect]

The series three code has been cracked by a fan on www.fbtb.net

Ben

[nanuck95]

The series three code has been cracked by a fan on http://www.fbtb.net

That absolutely and completely cracks me up. I may end up getting the couple that I really wanted now assuming they are more widely distributed and much easier to get.

[Forestboy]

Man, dots are a lot easier to read than barcodes! Thanks Lego!

EDIT: The same guy on brickpop who scored 11 cases of minifigs is not only giving a full set away, but in the comments he confirmed the dot code...sweet. Check out the contest here for those who are interested.

~FB~

[plums_deify]

The new figures are everywhere in Washington. It's great.

I was able to pick up a mixed case last night, for me and some friends. I'm pretty excited.

For those around a Freddies, It's my understanding that they're getting multiple cases every day, and have lots of stock available. I'd imagine most people in SEALug have already gotten their fill, so by all means, there should be plenty of Series Three to go around.

[Athos]

Anyone got any leads on these in northern California?

Steve

[Azaghal]

Flickr user cjdc has just posted some pictures of the new figs, including this one that shows the printing under the Samurai armor. It's actually pretty cool.

[Frank_Lloyd_Knight]

The series three code has been cracked by a fan on http://www.fbtb.net

Ben

This is more fun than the codes they give on the Pharaoh's Quest site. Thanks, Ben, for posting the link. Does anyone know yet if the code is consistent between the European and the North American releases?

I think the fisherman's beard would be great for a Santa Claus figure.

[jdarlack]

I scored all 16 and a few extra fishermen, elves and Sumos at a Massachusetts TRU (BOGO50%).

I'm ecstatic about the elves. I like the pointy-eared hair mold and the new bow (I wasn't expecting a new bow). Woo hoo! I'm loving the fisherman's beard, and the Sumo's hair will make a nice prudish-school-marm fig with her hair in a bun. I'd love to see that hair-mold in light bley. The hula-girl's skirt will make an excellent kilt pattern. And now, with the Sumo's torso, my bare-chested (male) minifigs don't have to be "ripped" like the Series 2 surfer. (I can much more identify with the Sumo's physique.)

FWIW: I went to the TRU with the 'cheatsheet' from FBTB in hand. I found that the dots were virtually useless. They were not nearly as easy to use as the barcodes. The 'dots' were very very faintly dimpled into the plastic on the two boxes I went through. It was kind of strange standing in the middle of the main aisle in TRU, feeling my way through the boxes... during the busy holiday toy-shopping season.

[Ye Olde Republic]

Has anyone found that this series has a quite a few pieces that are easy to identify by feeling the packet and which items are easiest to zone in on?
Chief- find the head dress or the spear.
Samurai- the helmet has the clip on the front making it easy to tell.
Sumo- difficult to tell as with the karate champ those trophies are hard to feel
Snowboarder- the snowboard
Tennis player- may be hard to tell but look for the racket
Race car driver- virtually impossible
baseball player- the bat but it could feel like one of those 3L bars in the space fig packets
Mummy- the scorpion should make this one easy to tell
Hula dancer- feeling for the hair can be hit or miss and the maracas can fool you into feeling like trophies
Fisherman- the fishing pole is the longest accessory of any of the figs
Cyborg- tricky one, it could feel like the samurai or the race car driver
Alien- pick out the distinctive head
Gorilla suit- see notes about the Cyborg
Rapper- has that 1x3 brick
Pilot- see notes about the Cyborg
Elf- Finding the bow may be your best bet.

I'll be interested to put my theories about this to the test.

[ffilz]

I didn't have the codes with me when I first found these, so I started feeling them. I was only in search of elves (tight budget). I'm pretty sure I identified the tennis player (racket seemed easy to identify). I actually identified the elf by the shield, but was able to confirm with the bow. Then, after feeling some more, I decided to try the bumps. It turned out the elf's bumps were actually easy to see since two distinctive bumps weren't under printing. A few of the others are probably easy, unfortunately not the hula dancer or the fisherman which I was looking for another time. Feeling them out took a lot of time, so my 2nd run, I left without any figs (though did find at least a couple more elves, but didn't have the budget for more).

At least I got some. I never saw series 2 in the store, and couldn't justify buying a case.

Frank

[jdarlack]

I've commented (in red) on Ye Olde Republic's notes.

Chief- find the head dress or the spear. The headdress was by far the biggest giveaway.
Samurai- the helmet has the clip on the front making it easy to tell. I found the armor was the giveaway here. It's the only item that's "springy" to the touch. I wish I had picked up a few more. I like the torsos.
Sumo- difficult to tell as with the karate champ those trophies are hard to feel The trophy was the giveaway for me. It's the only item that is small and 'flat-ish' with a stud receptacle at the other end.
Snowboarder- the snowboard Yup. Agreed.
Tennis player- may be hard to tell but look for the racket The racket did the trick for me. Not to hard to feel given the screened texture of the netting surrounded by the hoop.
Race car driver- virtually impossible I figured mine out because it's the only one in the series (as far as I can remember) that has two head pieces (a helmet and hair), and they're relatively easy to feel.
baseball player- the bat but it could feel like one of those 3L bars in the space fig packets The bat (in my experience) was quite easily discerned... Look for the ridges that separate the handle from the smooth parts of the bat. Also, the handle has ridges that you can feel through the plastic. The hat was helpful too. The baseball dude's the only one with the baseball cap other than the rapper, and the rapper has the 1x3 brick.
Mummy- the scorpion should make this one easy to tell yes. The scorpion was the ticket!
Hula dancer- feeling for the hair can be hit or miss and the maracas can fool you into feeling like trophies the maracas were the giveaway. For me, the biggest chance of mixup is with the 'rapper's' microphone, but keep in mind that the rapper has a modified 1x3 brick that makes the package easily discernible, also the rapper's microphone has a ridge around the 'ball' that helps differentiate it from the maracas... And there are two maracas in the package.
Fisherman- the fishing pole is the longest accessory of any of the figs I found this one to be trickiest. The fish was the biggest giveaway. The fish's tail can be easily felt.
Cyborg- tricky one, it could feel like the samurai or the race car driver The helmet is bulkier than the snowboarder or the racecar driver. The peg leg gave it away for me.
Alien- pick out the distinctive head Yeah, just feel for the ginormous eyeballs.
Gorilla suit- see notes about the Cyborg The big thing to feel for here is the banana. Though, it's important to feel for the smooth bulky texture of the banana to differentiate it from the visors on the other figs.
Rapper- has that 1x3 brick The microphone helps too... but the brick does the trick.
Pilot- see notes about the Cyborg Biggest giveaway was the backpack for me. The backpack is 'hollow' on the underside (against the minifig's back).
Elf- Finding the bow may be your best bet. The bow was by far the biggest giveaway. I had a hard time feeling the shield because of the baseplate.