Collectable Minifigures (Sold Out?)

[Username]

At this point, it seems the discussion has veered far away from the fantastic minifig line and into serious off-topic territory.

Should you wish to continue your off-topic discussions (trades, capitalism, etc), I invite you to take it to PM. This thread is for the minifgs, and if it continues to be off topic, I'll lock it.

Thanks!

Apologies. Since the this is a series a collectible minifigs, I thought talking about the collectible aspect would be welcomed.

[Aliencat]

Which makes me wonder if thses figs aren't going to be China-made quality. Has there been any official word on whether or not they will be?

Official word is the issue with the lower quality figs from China was tackled as soon as it was first brought up in the tic tac toe and vintage minifig sets, and has since been solved.

[Robin Hood]

Official word is the issue with the lower quality figs from China was tackled as soon as it was first brought up in the tic tac toe and vintage minifig sets, and has since been solved.

Oh good. That makes me extremely happy to know. Many thanks.

Well, I'm sold.

Dan

[Traveler]

I'm a little late on this topic, but I'm really excited about the new forestman fig.

What I want to know is if his plume, which looks like the old style small plume, will come in a wheel of three like it always used to.

If not, TLC has made a new mold for just the one plume, which I hope is not the case.

Also, it looks like the plume may be dark red (though it may just be the way it's photographed), which would be a new color for that part.

[Funnyham]

I'm most excited about the vampire from the second wave, my studios one is currently very lonely!

[Sir Nelson]

Official word is the issue with the lower quality figs from China was tackled as soon as it was first brought up in the tic tac toe and vintage minifig sets, and has since been solved.

I'm sure it's true, but it's still nice to read the original source. If it's not a secret, it must have been posted somewhere public, right?

The quotes here are relevant, as the latter indirectly also pertains to the former. I would hope that fans would be able to see an 'official' announcement from TLG regarding this, since there have been a number of complaints/discussions on the quality of these minifigs on various fan forums, and fans would be curious to what this 'solution' is.

Please feel free to split this thread if needed, moderators.

[Blueandwhite]

Well this is what a lot of us have been waiting to see; Robin Hood.

Somebody called nori has posted pics of the Robin Hood collectable figure. While the figure itself looks wonderful, it is disappointing to see some of the markers synonomous with the lower quality figs people have been so disappointed with. The arms again have the unsightly inprint on them and the neck is yet again missing the paint strip along the front. The new hat mold for the forestman's cap is also a bit of a letdown as it looks disappointing when compared to the original. I really want to like this guy, so I'm noping that the quality issues that plagued the pirate tic-tac-toe set don't show up here. Personally, I 'm going to take LEGO at their word and hope that the plastic itself is of a higher quality on these figs.

The figure itself is actually quite attractive. I really like the new face, and the torso print is probably the nicest we've seen for a forestman. More than anything, it's nice that he fits in so well with the classic forestmen figs. Nori also has an unmoderated gallery for the collectable figs, so perhaps we'll see a few more of these in the near future. Waiting for June's release date will be tough.

[nanuck95]

Awesome! My first thought was, looks like they designed him after Errol Flynn. IMDB: Robin Hood

I wondered the same thing when I saw the dents in the arms about the quality issue, but I suppose the problem before was with the plastic itself and not necessarily the mold (as far as I understood it anyway) so the fact that there are similar mold marks doesn't necessarily mean anything. I'm not an expert on plastic mold injection, but I do know even if you have the same mold and all the same raw materials, but you just don't have the machine set up right with the correct temperatures, injection rates, etc, you can still get a bad product. I going to assume at this point whatever was wrong has been fixed as well.

[Username]

I thought he was supposed to come with a dark brown bow and quiver. Disappointed in that. I also agree the older forestman hat looks better, but everything else on the minifig looks good to me. May swap out his green legs for some dark green ones though.

[Aliencat]

Official word is the issue with the lower quality figs from China was tackled as soon as it was first brought up in the tic tac toe and vintage minifig sets, and has since been solved.

I'm sure it's true, but it's still nice to read the original source. If it's not a secret, it must have been posted somewhere public, right?

The quotes here are relevant, as the latter indirectly also pertains to the former. I would hope that fans would be able to see an 'official' announcement from TLG regarding this, since there have been a number of complaints/discussions on the quality of these minifigs on various fan forums, and fans would be curious to what this 'solution' is.

Please feel free to split this thread if needed, moderators.

The source of my statement is LEGO Community Development representative Steve Witt, and with his permission I quote:

okay, so I actually have some final product for minifigures on my desk (as in I opened pre-packed bags and hoped for the best) and they are great quality. I've seen the whole line out of the package and it looks really good.

the second part of this answer is to explain something having to do with the china/quality complaints. The lower quality stuff you've seen (magnets, keychains, etc) was lower quality because it was being made by an outside agency for a purpose outside of the normal LEGO product line. It was part of what we call extended line and wasn't watched over as closely by Quality Assurance until we started realizing how bad some of this stuff was looking. We are now looking at extended line much more closely.

Minifigures is part of the LEGO Product line (not extended line) and therefore is held to much higher quality control than extended line. The reason some things are made in china is because that's where we have the technology to do complex printing on figures now.

The theme is don't focus on "where" something is made focus instead on "why" something is made. The minifgures are coming out of a different factory because its so radically different both in packaging and product to normal boxed LEGO product, but since its part of the main LEGO Product line, its being watched very closely and I assure you its really fantastic.

If it wasn't sitting on my desk staring at me, and yet still fantastic I wouldn't say this to you

[Username]

Looks like they will be $1.99:

A new collectible concept delivers 32 never-before-seen LEGO Minifigures in blind packaging so LEGO fans can build their populations ($1.99 each).

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases ... 32952.html

[Forestboy]

Looks like they will be $1.99:

A new collectible concept delivers 32 never-before-seen LEGO Minifigures in blind packaging so LEGO fans can build their populations ($1.99 each).

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases ... 32952.html

Sweet! Only two bucks. That's no too bad. I think I have a way to bypass the system though. All you have to do is know what figure you want, and it's distinct accessories. Then when you go to the Lego store, use your hands to feel the parts inside. I hope the material will let you do so though...

[nanuck95]

All you have to do is know what figure you want, and it's distinct accessories. Then when you go to the Lego store, use your hands to feel the parts inside. I hope the material will let you do so though

Heh, this has been brought up many times in this thread already (see page 4). I don't know if anybody knows for sure yet, but the rumor is that they will be packaged in a way that you will not be able to feel what's inside. I'm willing to bet that was the first thing the people at Lego thought of as well.

Here is a picture of a case of them, I'm assuming it's a mock-up and may change. It's hard to tell, but they do look like some kind of cardboard box. They certainly don't look like the thin plastic polybag materials that you'll be able to feel around. We'll have to wait and see I guess, but I wouldn't get your hopes up.

[Forestboy]

All you have to do is know what figure you want, and it's distinct accessories. Then when you go to the Lego store, use your hands to feel the parts inside. I hope the material will let you do so though

Heh, this has been brought up many times in this thread already (see page 4). I don't know if anybody knows for sure yet, but the rumor is that they will be packaged in a way that you will not be able to feel what's inside. I'm willing to bet that was the first thing the people at Lego thought of as well.

Here is a picture of a case of them, I'm assuming it's a mock-up and may change. It's hard to tell, but they do look like some kind of cardboard box. They certainly don't look like the thin plastic polybag materials that you'll be able to feel around. We'll have to wait and see I guess, but I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Yeah, I better not. Thanks for the link though! I can't wait to see what it will be like...

[Ye Olde Republic]

Thanks for relaying that information AC. Remember folks Steve Witt is a LEGO nerd just the same as we are so if he thinks they're OK, I will take his word on it. I'm curious as to why the "China mould" has that rectangle on the inside of the arms though. Is it a way for the company to reference the differences or it just to save that little bit of plastic to save* on shipping costs?

*save on shipping costs in the very long term.