All that glitters is gold
Today is a special day for me, as it’s the 10th Anniversary of my post announcing that I had found Mr. Gold from Series 10!
I technically found Mr. Gold on the 22nd of May, but I only posted about it on the 23rd of May, announcing that I had found the 19th Mr Gold and 434th in the world at the time.
Here was my Facebook status from that fateful day!
I regularly keep Mr. Gold in a display frame, which has been his home for 10 years now, but with one of the most infamous LEGO Minifigures ever turning 10, I thought it’d be a good idea to take him out to get some air and take some new photos – mostly because I have better cameras now to let people appreciate and get a better look at Mr. Gold.
But first, let’s rewind the clock and tell the story of Mr. Gold, which will come in handy for those that are new to LEGO or have only gotten into the hobby recently.
What is. Mr Gold and why is he such a big deal?
Back in 2010, LEGO introduced the LEGO Collectible Minifigures theme, which at the time was incredibly popular amongst collectors, kids and adult LEGO fans.
It’s now a long-running theme (the latest being the Disney 100 series) but back in the day, it was a massive milestone for the theme to hit a decade of series, and to celebrate, LEGO thought it would be a good idea to introduce a special promotion in Series 10.
Taking a leaf out of Willy Wonka’s golden ticket, LEGO introduced a SUPER RARE minifigure in Series 10 – Mr. Gold, kicking off a worldwide hunt urging LEGO Minifigures fan to find the elusive minifigure.
Only 5,000 Mr. Golds were made, and they were distributed randomly into LEGO Minifigures Series 10 blind bags. You could of course “feel” the blind bags, which kicked off a modern day Gold Rush of crazed LEGO fanatics trying their best to find their Mr. Gold.
Oh, and these aren’t actually made of gold – just a regular minifigure sprayed with a layer of chrome gold paint!
Huw, founder of Brickset dubbed it “Goldgate” and what was originally meant to be a fun marketing promotion and celebration of the 10th LEGO Minifigures series quickly erupted into a global scandal that forever scarred LEGO so much that another attempt at an ultra rare minifigure like this was never attempted again 42 different series of LEGO Minifigures later.
The global Mr. Gold Hunt
To make the promotion extra special, each Mr. Gold minifigure was numbered, and came with a leaflet containing a unique Mr. Gold VIP Code that you could enter and “register” your Mr. Gold, if you were lucky enough to find one.
Every LEGO Mr. Gold was “logged” and registered on a map, so you could technically see all the Mr. Golds being found and registered across the world, further adding to panic as the number of “remaining” Mr Golds began to dwindle – causing serious FOMO.
You can use the Wayback Machine to go back in time and view the LEGO Minifigures Website around this time, and navigate the map at different points in time.
Here’s a look at the special leaflet containing your unique Mr. Gold number (mine is 2836/5000) and the VIP code.
Thankfully, I had the foresight to document every step of the way of what happens when you enter the code in.
Here’s the congratulatory screen that announces that you found him, and to register your first name and country.
You also received a cheesy digital diploma with your name on it that you could print out.
And here’s the screenshot logging your location on the map. My Mr. Gold that I registered was the 19th in Australia, and 434th in the world!
The LEGO Fan Community explodes in rage
Like any rare collectible, the rarity and limited edition nature of Mr. Gold sent LEGO fans and collectors into a frenzy, and I still remember the seething rage from LEGO Minifigures fans that were upset at what LEGO have done.
There has long been a strong distaste whenever LEGO indulges in “Limited Edition” releases (see San Diego Comic Con figures), and Mr. Gold was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Until then, the LEGO Minifigures theme was a fun thing you could collect, but the introduction of Mr. Gold all but assured that most people would not have a complete collection given how rare it was.
I also had the good sense to take a screenshot of Ebay listings on the day I found him, and at the time, this was a ludicrous amount then, and I chuckle to myself now seeing how much they’ve increased in price.
You can see people covering the VIP Codes in the listings, which at the time was a big deal because codes were single-use and could only be registered once.
Nowadays, it’s not so important as the Map Functionality doesn’t exist any longer, but there are some people that still feel precious about the codes.
If you want to relive and learn more about community sentiment in 2013, it’s a really cool exercise to read threads, and article comments from this time:
- https://forum.brickset.com/discussion/10289/mr-gold-hunt-thread (this one is 23 pages long!)
- https://brickset.com/article/6381/mr-gold-is-down-under
- https://brickset.com/article/6352/mr-gold-found-in-the-uk
- https://brickset.com/article/6257/mr-gold-on-ebay
- https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/1di8pa/i_have_found_two_mr_gold_minifigs_in_two_days_i/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/1th93n/son_just_pulled_a_mr_gold_out_of_a_minifigure/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/1esgrm/have_you_been_keeping_tabs_on_mr_gold_while_youre/
Another great time capsule of the time is Just2Good (popular LEGO Youtuber) filming his Mr. Gold discovery! Super wholesome. Just2Good also makes a cameo in the Brickset Mr Gold Hunt thread announcing his find.
I really enjoyed just how upset Huw was at the time.
Here’s what I wrote myself at the time:
Final Thoughts: While I absolutely love that Lego did something special to commemorate Series 10, which is a HUGE milestone for the Collectible Minifigures series, I feel that they botched the execution hard. A Willy Wonka inspired ‘Golden Ticket’ hunt sounds great in theory but in practice, it kinda fails when you’re able to physically feel out the golden tickets. I’m pretty sure the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would deviated hugely from its original form if people were able to ‘feel’ out the golden tickets to Wonka’s factory. For one thing, you’d see adults instead of kids getting the once in a lifetime chance of visiting Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Which leads me to my point. A LOT of Mr. Golds are being snapped up by adult Lego collectors, who are aware of his rarity and financial value. Searching boxes and boxes of Series 10 minifigures in stores, while little Jimmy who comes in with his mum and is maybe allowed to buy one or two minifigs has close to a zero percent chance of being surprised by a Mr. Gold when he gets home and opens his minifig bags.
Personally, I feel that Lego should’ve made getting Mr. Gold completely random. They managed to insert in unique codes on the character sheets. Why couldn’t Lego have printed special codes on the sheets, which would eliminate the option of people feeling for them. You get the code, yell for joy at how lucky you are, go to the website and Mr. Gold would be shipped to you anywhere in the world. I’m pretty that postage for 5,000 minifigs would be a drop in a bucket for their finances. That would’ve probably ensured that AFOLs, scalpers and Little Jimmies all have an equal chance of finding Mr. Gold. I admit that by doing that, it sort of eliminates the “hunt factor” and instant gratification of finding out you’ve gotten a golden minifigure, but at the end of the day, kids are losing out when people like me are going across the state checking Targets, Kmarts, Big Ws and every other store that sells Lego for Mr. Gold. I also would’ve been at peace knowing finding Mr. Gold was completely out my control, and no effort on my part would bring me any closer to him.
Mr. Gold and what it means to me 10 years on
Fast forward to today, here’s a couple of photos I just took of Mr. Gold.
As I rarely take him out of his case, I only noticed that his butt isn’t sprayed fully, and there’s also spots behind his shoulder that are missed.
10 years on, Mr. Gold is still super shiny, and looks as great as ever. I did remember debating whether to remove him from his inner plastic bag, but decided then to do so, to allow me to document the process and take proper photos of him, and I’m glad that I did.
He technically is worth less because he’s “out of the bag” and not in mint condition, but I don’t really care as he’s mine, and it’s a Mr. Gold that I found all on my own. The hunt itself was thrilling, and I did give up before somehow finding him against all odds.
You can read my full account of finding Mr. Gold to see the lengths that I went to to get him, and why it was such a frustrating deal for so many fans.
Mr. Gold has such an infamous reputation because of its history, but mostly is a source of fascination because of how much he’s worth. Nowadays, it’ll cost you a few thousand dollars to buy one on Bricklink, and looking at eBay sold prices gives you a general idea of how much people are paying to get their hands on one of the rarest and most sought-after LEGO minifigures ever.
Pretty crazy stuff, especially when you compare it to eBay prices in May 2013.
That said, with fakes and counterfeits getting so good these days, I think you’d need to really trust the seller to ensure that you don’t get a fake version..
No wonder they say LEGO is a better investment than gold. Or should I say, Mr. Gold is a better investment than LEGO, which is a better investment than gold.
I am of course, very proud to own a piece of history, and it’s a really nice ego-boost to boast that you have a minifigure that costs thousands of dollars.
Value-wise, it’s not the most priciest thing in my collection (it’s probably not in the Top 5 even), but to me, it holds more sentimental than monetary value, because I found mine, and didn’t just buy one off eBay.
I still stand by what I said, that LEGO overplayed their hand and botched the promotional campaign, and in some ways, I am glad that they didn’t repeat it with a Mrs. Gold or something for Series 20.
Maybe if LEGO eventually gets to Series 100, I can see them doing something extra special, but that’s probably 20 years off, so LEGO have plenty of time to plan it and get it right.
That said, looking back, despite the community uproar, all the drama surrounding Mr. Gold did solidify its position in LEGO’s storied history, and I do think it was a bold thing to do then, and something that really made a lasting impact with fans – especially when you look at how Mr. Gold is perceived today, and how he can still command thousands of dollars on the aftermarket.
Would I like to see LEGO do something like this again? I and so many others would be unreasonably incensed if LEGO were to repeat this, and cause Goldgate 2.0 again, but I would be lying if I didn’t want to see more LEGO drama play out again like this, and for the next exciting chapter of LEGO Minifigures to be written.
However you may feel about Mr. Gold, you can’t deny that it was at the very least, a really interesting thing for LEGO to do for its time.
Happy 10th birthday, Mr. Gold!
What do you think of Mr. Gold and the debacle surrounding its release? 10 years on, do you think LEGO did the right thing? Oh, and if you own a Mr. Gold, whether by buying or if you were lucky enough to find one, let me know your story in the comments!
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LEGO is still addicted to artificial exclusivity, their approach is just more subtle now. Every limited-time/high-spend-limit GWP or VIP-only set is an example of artificial exclusivity. Nearly all of them would work perfectly fine as $10-$30 Creator/Classic sets, but nope!
The simple reality is this: Modern LEGO is only partially a toy company. They are undoubtedly a collectibles company. Sure, some new sets are toys, but not all of them. Many of their products are explicitly *not* toys. They are all collectibles – some more explicitly so than others. If you balk at any of this, I encourage you to turn around and look at your collection of Star Wars display pieces, or Ninjago, or Harry Potter, or Minifigs, or whatever else. Consider how the growing complexity of LEGO’s parts catalog complicates compatibility between parts, while simultaneously generating exclusivity and rarity of individual pieces. Collectibles companies survive on finding clever ways to jack up the resale value of their products. LEGO’s licensing deals and multimedia franchises play a part in their approach, but these cycles of short-production-run minifigs play a big part, too. That includes, but is not limited to, Mr. Gold.
Dear Evan,
I too came to this comment section to turn the spotlight on pointless artificial scarcity, and the way LEGO too often makes use of it, but you said it better than I could; well done on your wise words.
The only way to win their silly game is, of course, not to play. Completionism and chasing their unjustifiable “limited” edition sets is a fool’s game (making this minifigure literal Fool’s Gold…)
(The other way to win is to cheat! I bought a Mr Gold for £3…)
I have seen many photos of Mr. Gold and I think it has a low quality gold layer. All those tiny bubbles and bumps… I would like to have Mr. Gold, but not at the current price, which is about ten times what it was 2 years ago. // Please delete previous comment. I accidentally left out one sentence there.
This was right around when I started getting into the CMF game. I’ve never been a completionist, and the design for Mr. Gold–while fun–wasn’t amazing enough that I was dying to add him to my collection. It would have been fun to have found him, but I wasn’t bothered that I never did.
Overall, I don’t mind when Lego makes minifigures super hard to come by–as long as it’s not a massively appealing design or a sought after licensed character.
I completely understand the position of anyone holding ill-sentiment towards this for the prime 2 reasons of the feeling spoiler cheapening the odds game and the complication in completeing a collection BUT
I personally love it and a ‘chase’ livens up all collecting spheres. If we all had unlimited funds and we could all have everything just by walking in to a store or logging in to a site it wouldn’t be thrilling and would lose appeal because admitted or not that’s basic psychology.
I was not as glued in to up to daily scene back then so this is all literal news to me. Cool story, thanks for sharing!
I used to collect Star Wars TVC figures- but once I had all the originals and Hasbro started pumping them out en masses again and everything was easily acquired I lost interest and sold it all off- which turned into A LOT of LEGOs- win win 😀
Amazing that you own one Jay, and it’s one you found yourself! Congratulations!
I also like the online registration and cheesy certificate!
I don’t own a Mr Gold – and never will – but I don’t mind the fact they did it (I think it’s cool), and everyone should stop being so b**thurt that “LEGO did this to them”, and “how dare they”!!
Humans in particular have a massive FOMO… but LEGO AFOL’s are the worst!
We don’t all have a RIGHT to own every cool or unusual LEGO item ever created! Half the fun is in the rarity and the chase! And if you don’t own Mr Gold or another rare LEGO minifigure or set …. Then tough luck!! It’s not the end of the world! You won’t get sick or die!
People need to learn to deal with it.
I hope they release a Mrs Gold in a couple years, with perhaps a different release method – no blind bags that you can feel, but these are obviously being phased out very soon.
Having said all this, the most important part of your post was where you said that Mr Gold – despite being worth perhaps A$8,000 or more! (Which is just CRAZY, as there are other much rarer LEGO items, such as SDCC release where FAR less than 5,000 were made, that aren’t worth anywhere near $8K!) – is NOT in your top-5 most valuable LEGO items!!!
I’m a massive and well-read LEGO AFOL, and I’m struggling to think of a single LEGO item worth more….. how can you have FIVE or more!?!
You need to please tell us all WHAT THESE ARE!?!?!?
Thanks 🙂
Did Lego marketing and management not read / watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and how it’s a story of 7 deadly sins?
And by them making the ‘Golden ticket (minifig)’ they are creating a scenario for people to show negative traits and feel bad emotions.
I wish I knew about Mr. Gold when it was possible to find him. Now the price is ridiculous.
Lego exclusives are good and bad
Lego promised they would stop doing regional exclusives, yet they still do them.
I think the good type of exclusives are GWPs. Similar to the Lego house promo, Lego should make exclusives available to everyone, even if it might be a little hard to get.
Lego messed up with Mr. Gold, as well as the Ulysses Space Probe, I’m lucky I have the latter, I wish I had Mr. Gold.
Maybe Lego should make a Mr. Silver and make it more widely available
Mr Gold !!! Turns 10. Nice Article Jay. Very well written and love your attention to detail. I love reading your reviews and comments. So informative, keep up the great work.
MR Gold was one of my first purchases back in 2013 and this is what started my obsession with collecting and buying and selling Lego.
One day☝️in the hope of opening Hobart’s Biggest and Best Lego / Museum shop.
$860 well spent in 2013 from Germany !!! Lol mines number 2005/5000. Everyone thought I was nuts 🥜 back then. No one had any confidence in me except for Dad and I think he even hesitated on the side of caution ⚠️ Lol 😆 Lego was nowhere near as popular as it is today.
SBGames was born and opened its first Lego shop on 1st October 2015 😀 First Floor, 109 Elizabeth Street Hobart.
For the record my MR Gold is still sealed in its original bag complete with, certificate 2005 / 5000, unused codes (I never got around to registering mine as I always thought it would devalue it lol 😂 , and has all the original packaging 😆 Even the rubbish that you are supposed to discard. The dot codes even match on the back.
Museum quality and only 5000 World 🌎 wide in existence. Makes at least two we know of lol 😂 I wonder how many were chewed or destroyed by kids not knowing what it was back then. Ha ha scary to think.
But something similar did happen in Willy Wonka with the golden ticket…..Verruca Salt did not actually find a golden ticket herself. Her rich father bought chocolate bars and had his employees opening them until a ticket was found. Roald Dahl knew a lot about human nature.
If I remember correctly, the biggest “scam” was all the ebay sellers guaranteeing an unopened bag had either a Mr. Gold or I think it was a witch or something that was easy to feel.
The whole debacle pissed me off enough to not purchase a blind minibag for years. In fact, this year I finally bought one. It was the Mickey Mouse I wanted and only because I felt him so knew it was Mickey.
I say get rid of blind bags. Just a cheesy marketing scam to get people to buy crap they don’t want.
I hate blind bags, but I understand why it’s done.
Lego create a collection of figures, but they don’t know for sure when manufacturing what the demand will be for each individual figure. Using blind bags the demand is equal for each figure, and they are not stuck with 1000’s of the less popular units when it’s retired.
Is there an alternative? If the packaging has a window so you can see the mini. Then use a live demand pricing model. Keep the overall collection price static, and as one fig. sells more it gradually goes up in price, while the fig that isn’t selling drops in price. Constantly adjusting price to level the demand for each.
Assuming that will be technically possible to do in the near future, Is that beter than blind bags? It’s like how many markets work, and how the secondary minifig market works where supply/demand dictate price.
Thanks for the retrospective Jay, it was fun to read. I became an AFOL a couple of years after this, so I missed the original soap story. It makes me smile to see that you were never tempted to sell Mr Gold.
But I feel that it shows that the LEGO corporation can be fairly cold hearted sometimes with their choices. BAM pieces can be impossible to find if army builders live in your area, even if you’re within reach of a LEGO Store, so that’s the law of the jungle. They could solve the scarcity of certain pieces, like a knight’s helm visor, and stop pointless profiteering online… if they wanted. And despite the improvements, Pick-a-Brick services get drained by BrickLink resellers, forcing many fans onto the secondary market, even though a quick analysis of pricing and demand would allow LEGO to make more (and cheaper) parts that builders of all ages want. Manipulating scarcity for maximum profit is not the easy, breezy actions of a humble, down-to-earth toy company.
So, Mr Gold… hopefully a one-off mistake, and not the beast’s true colours!
I probably made a similar post back in the day, but can’t pass up the opportunity to make another one.
Mr Gold is one or the crappiest things Lego has ever done to their fanbase. They know how passionate Lego fans are. They know people are collecting all of them. So to make something ultra rare is just about the biggest FU Lego could possibly do to people. Never mind the fact that creating a $700 plus minifigure (at the time) is just not right on so many levels. It ridiculously expensive for fans, but it also opens up fans to getting ripped off and cheated. Not to mention a creating a figure that was too expensive to play with/use and goes against all of Lego’s beliefs about playing well.
And let’s not pretend there wasn’t an easy solve. Just make the figure available for purchase from the website. Yes, it would have been that easy, and not taken away from people who found one.
I understand the appeal of Charlie’s “golden ticket”. But in the book we get to follow the one kid who gets a ticket. In real life 99.99 percent of fans got live the story where Charlie doesn’t get the ticket.
Anyways, it was one of the biggest slaps in the face I’ve ever received from a brand I’ve been loyal to, and wish they’d have been more responsible.
So what are the top five priciest things in your collection???
Mine… I don’t know… will have to check it out!!!