Lego Minifigures Series

Olympic Lego Minifigures

Lego have launched new minifigures for the XXX Olympiad in London 2012. All 9 are representing Great Britain and have collected their gold medals. You can make out the GB logo on the boxer. Unusually, there are only 9 sporting minifigs in this series which has been dubbed Lego Minifigures Series 9 despite the fact that Lego Minifigures Series 8 will not be released until after the Olympic games. Of the 9 Olympians chosen for Minifigure status I prefer the boxer the best but the entire set of 9 is sure to be a collector item. Although they look different in size all the minifigures are 2 inches tall. 

The set includes a Pirate Captain, Vampire, a Robot, Businessman, Conquistador, Deep Sea Diver, Female Alien, Ancient Thespis, a Football Player,a Trader, Skier, Cheer Leader, Bavarian Boy, a DJ, Cowgirl, a Fairy and even Santa Claus himself. Each minifigure character has their own accessories, tools, newspaper, guns etc. The 3 images here show the Pirate Captain, the Businessman and Conquistador. Each figure is sealed in the "random" bag so do make sure that your friends collect them too as this allows you to swap your duplicated ones. These are 16 to collect in Lego series 8 minifigures.

My 4 favourite minifigs from Series 6 are shown opposite. i especially like the Cowboy with his two guns. He consists of 8 separate Lego pieces which include his red bandana and black cowboy hat. Some of the others in the series of 16 have less pieces but the minimum count is 6 items of Lego.

How many Lego Minifigures in each Series?

Each of the Lego Minifigures Series consists of 16 figures. So far there have been 7 series of wonderful characters from all walks of life and the popularity with collectors is increasing. Lego has announce both a Lego Minifigures Series 8 and a Lego Minifigures Series 9 to follow during the year.

The latest Lego minifigures Series released is the seventh such set from the ever popular toy manufacturer. The 16 characters from Series 7 are shown opposite and are available in the mystery random bags from your local stores. you may get the same figure twice or even more times so the best advice is to trade with another collector.

Trade your minifigure swaps

Try to encourage your friends to collect them too as this will allow you to get a full set with additional expense. It is possible to buy just 16 packs and trade your way to a unique collection. Buying the mystery packs and trading works out cheaper than buying direct.

There are several theories about which Lego character figure you might get but the actual facts are that it is completely random. Conspiracy theories that Lego withhold one Minifigure from each set is pure nonsense Equally, that they might produce one particular figure in limited numbers has no substance whatsoever.

Lego minis availability

All of the figures are available on Amazon and Ebay and with well over 100 characters already issued over the past 5 years there is no shortage of any particular figure. Other girl Lego figures, just like the Geisha opposite, to look out for are Viking Woman, Bride, Grandma Visitor and Rocker Girl, all of which are from the Lego Collector Series 7. So, get collecting now!

Such is the popularity with pink girly Lego that a whole new range of Lego Ladyfigs have been released by the company. These sets are branded as Lego Friends but the Ladyfigs tag seems to be sticking. These Ladyfigures are bigger than minifigures and are more realistic and Barbie like in appearance.

Another weird notion is that you can feel through the package before you buy it. Most retailers will not be too pleased to see their customers manhandling their merchandise. Simply put, you cannot tell which character is inside the packet by feeling it.

Bumps on packs

Fans of the Minifigures Series may have heard about the codes, which are believed to be able to tell you what is inside the mystery Lego minifig packs. It is believed that the code, consisting of bumps on the random bag, indicates what is inside the bag. The number of Braille like bumps at the bottom of the packet are supposed to be of some significance. No such code exists.

All Lego minifigures are not the same. The older Minifigures Series sets are just as collectible now as they were when first issued. They are still for sale, too, and are really cheap Lego minifigures to get you started if you want an instant collection. The best known, or most popular of the minifigs from each series might be rarer now and slightly more expensive but you can still get them, especially in the random packs. These mystery bags are still available from previous sets or you can select 'loose' minifigures to buy. With new Lego mini figures arriving all the time, do not overlook the older minifigures series like this shown here from series 4.  I have selected a single Minifigure from each of the first 6 series below.