We’re about a week into the release of LEGO Marvel Minifigures Series 2 and the transition from blind bags to blind boxes has… not been pretty.
Update: LEGO seems to be trialling the sale of complete sets of Collectible Minifigures in Denmark.
There have been countless reports and photos of these new unidentifiable boxes ripped open, inspected and just left strewn across toy aisles, mostly in stores like Walmart, Kohls and Asda in the UK.
I have to state unequivocally that this behaviour is unacceptable and really reflects poorly on LEGO fans.
While the shift to blind boxes has been overall a disappointing experience for long-time LEGO Minifigure fans and those of us who dislike the principle of introducing a pseudo-gambling element into LEGO Minifigures, it does not excuse theft and damaging of products just to get a Marvel minifigure you want.
This is why I advocate either using a sensitive scale and use a weight guide or trying to find a complete set of minifigures online, because, let’s face it, damaging product/theft is not cool, no matter how you feel about this change.
I asked on Facebook and Instagram to ascertain if these cases were isolated incidences, but it’s clear that it’s becoming an issue in stores like Walmart, Kohls and Asda where minifigures are placed on shelves away from the counter.
From NearlyHeadless-Brick on Reddit
From Elizabeth on Instagram (Walmart, Texas)
From @Nate5516 on Twitter (Kohl’s)
From Naomi on Instagram.
And there are also plenty of reports without photos, such as this one early on from fourstud on Instagram who was one of the first to report of incidents of theft.
I can’t imagine that retailers (or LEGO) will be happy about this, and just like Trading Cards and other high value items that are magnets for theft, they’ll likely end up sealed in these plastic cases, or be kept under lock and key at the cash registers/counters.
I can’t see this happening at LEGO Stores, as Minifigures are usually kept near the counters, and it’s much harder to be discrete about commiting crimes when you’re in a small store with plenty of observers, but as retailers begin to notice lots of theft and damaged goods, it’s not going to make things easy for those of us looking to
That said, with this being the first time a highly anticipated blind box series is released to the public, it’s not that surprising for long-time LEGO fans who may have noticed this happening with Vidiyo and the Mario Figures, which also come in blind boxes, but didn’t have a large enough fanbase to see the effects of this.
Plus, highly sought-after minifigures like Moon Knight, who is commanding high resale prices will no doubt be alluring to thieves.
As a long-time LEGO Minifigures fan, this is really disappointing to see people do this, and this behavious should be roundly condemned by LEGO fans – the vast majority of whom do not stoop to such petty practices just to get a minifigure.
Please don’t do this. We as LEGO fans should be better than this.
Now that we’re a week into the launch of LEGO Marvel Minifigures Series 2 in the US, UK and Europe, have you seen these blind boxes been broken into at stores?
For a slightly more reliable way of finding the minifigures you want, check out my weight guide or opt for buying 6-packs on Amazon.com [affiliate link] which should contain unique minifigures in each 6-pack, which is a good way to start your collection, and either buy the remaining on eBay or Bricklink.
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Maybe Lego needs to stop selling a product that teaches children to gamble. I haven’t ripped any but I might start..
Lego deserve it
O the humanity.
WHO Didn’t SEE THIS COMING!
I took my kids to the Lego store a few days ago – it’s a large, high-traffic store in California; they had the Marvel minifigs displayed near the registers. I started chatting with one of the employees. I asked him what he thought about the new boxes and he shook his head. “They’re not selling at all.” He said people would look at them briefly, but at $5 a pop for a “mystery box”, it was pretty easy for people to just shrug and move on to something else.
By comparison, they used to sell a lot of the poly bag minifigs – he said it was pretty common for a customer to say, for example, “I just want a Pinocchio.” … “No problem, I’ll find one for you!” … and as he was feeling through the bags: “hmm, nope that’s Jiminy Cricket” … then the customer: “oh, wait, Jiminy Cricket? Maybe I’ll get him too.” … “oh that one’s Mulan? Cool, I think I’ll get that one too.”.
Just knowing what was in the bag made it a little more enticing. Someone would come in for 1 and end up getting 3 or 4.
If this is representative of what’s playing out in other Lego stores, corporate is going to take notice.
LOL at we as LEGO fans ‘should be better’. Stop weighing childrens toys you weirdo, who cares if a box gets ripped
Sad, sad article
I got the very last one at my local Walmart and it was discounted because it was open. I purchased it and when I opened it, there was a sealed captain America Keychain in it. All the pieces to Agatha were there too. They sold out quick though.
I agree with everything you said, such actions reflect poorly on us fans, myself being an AFOL, I’ve collected a good majority of the Lego CMF series. I still miss a few from the last Disney series and with the current Marvel series I am missing only 2. That said I do not like these boxes, I’m all for suitable materials that can be recycled better, however there must be a better way that boxes.
So far I’ve gotten 3 dupes, which normally does not happen as I’ve always felt out the figures I’ve needed, but the only way to guess now is to weigh the boxes which I’ve found is not 100% reliable, and I don’t have any real way to get rid of dupes as selling them is not really my thing.
Thankfully I’ve not seen any open boxes where I shop here in France, but I hope that Lego will introduce a better way to identify contents without all the extra hassle that ensures.
I agree with what you said. I get my excitement from opening them for the surprise. Those greedy people that ripped them open don’t realize it said it ruins the experience for all the other LEGO fans as well as raising our prices. I go in and purchase mine blind. I don’t squeeze a package I don’t rip open a box I just go and get them if I get a duplicate figure, I trade it for something else, it’s not that hard and that way it’s fair to everybody. Thank you for bringing this to our attention and I appreciate you getting the word out to everybody Karen.
Not condoning theft and property damage but LEGO essentially tried the gambling loot box feature in real life.
They (not the retailers) kind of deserve it, as well as the scorn and shame.
While I can see both sides of the argument quite clearly, and even agree with most points? Vandalization isn’t the answer, and bootlicking REALLY isn’t the answer.
Direct your ire at LEGO themselves, because they thought of going all EA on us by making lootboxes A REALITY. If Hasbro’s starting to understand that nobody likes to have a Cheetor or Soundwave on the shelf with a missing head because of eco-corporately-enforced packaging that welcomes any passer-by to sabotage the product before someone else purchases it because of “environment friendly packaging”, then LEGO ought to listen up and go back to bags as well.
Sure, we in North America had been dealt a bad hand before with Bionicle mask packs being locked away in boxes while the rest of the world were given bags, yet most of us were far too young to understand the concepts of lootbox-based gambling, especially since it hadn’t pervaded video gaming in the early 2000s (thank God)! But this is inexcusable, and even justifying being suckered into buying from a scalper that should be paid with their skull being caved-in instead of extortionate amounts of money for their scumbaggery is far beyond the solution to this issue.
Vote with your wallet, and let LEGO themselves know that nobody on either side or walk of life is going to put up with this, and if they think they are, prepare to shed a few jobs and stock points.
Sorry, but that’s how it’s gonna be. :/
Fcuk Lego, if they want to chest with this rip off sales method, why can’t customers do the same
This is ridiculous, who in their right mind would do this. I think that should start selling then only behind the counter.
What a miserable turn of events that would be
I think Lego should listen to the masses and end this silly cardboard box nonsense
No one likes it
If they insist on still using the boxes at least they should go back to putting them in the box in the same order
I get that they are blind boxes – but that’s a kids game – AFOL’s are been ignored.
If the AFOL’s ignore Lego they’d be screwed
Anthony says
September 12, 2023 at 11:54 AM
I don’t rip them open… I don’t buy them at all I prefer the sets or odd things like the Voltron and the Nintendo. Please stopp harassing me about opening packages, I only replied to someone’s post because they said something about imagine if they did that to trading cards… And I said they wouldn’t because that is the whole point you trade them with others and everyone tries to make their set or just get fave players… Blind bag is not the same with toy because you would rarely trade Legos with another child in the first place, so it would be weird unless they bring them to school together to trade which probably isn’t allowed in classroom anyway. I do not see the positive for parent or shield in this venture.
That being said I am NOT going to rip up a bunch of boxes OR bring a scale into a store so that security can be like look at this weirdo weighing all the Lego bags like an asshole… Who has time for that!?! I mean seriously just make small sets of figures at once like all gang of Scooby Doo or something not hunt for the extra extra rare scrappy do! NO! Just put him in the dam set with the others people WILL BUY them then because they will be getting something a child may enjoy like imagining a Scooby Doo episode for the day as opposed to buying 6 blind bags getting one fred, three Velma’s, shaggy, and then shaggy with blue shirt variant that he never wore ever always in the green shirt… Every time it’s called keeping on model (sheet) in animation to create consistency in a character that will eventually be recognized by that specific outfit or image. When you take that away and say put Kermit the frog but purple would the child not maybe think Kermit’s cousin instead? It breaks the illusion and is only really for money to company and collector ocd to need the variant there’s a reason someone made the phrase “oldie but a goodie” meaning you maintain that same charm as when you first had it. It’s becoming too many licences and money that the children are really losing out on the experience of a great toy…sorry such a long rant but I don’t like being interrupted doing something by phone alert from Lego.com saying “please stop destroying our packaging”
If this is the real problem try a different marketing strategy…🤔
I used to collect mini figures bag and this cardboard box devalued my expectations experience. LEGO better come to their senses to either get back to bag or come up with better way that we can identify on what is inside without break the seal. They already lost my business from this messy new package design.
That’s just wrong, they usually have numbers on the back.
While I do not condone this behaviour, it’s really not surprising that it’s happening. Blind bags do have a place for those who want genuine surprises or small gifts. But for those who want a complete set or specific items, you’d have to keep buying and hope you get what you want. There’s no reason both markets can’t be satisfied.
And *I* have to state “unequivocally” that your patronising, moralist perspective can screw all the way off. (I have to acknowledge off the hop that this is a trivial issue with trivial consequences, ultimately, about a toy; otherwise, some absolute twat sander will try and invalidate what I’m about to say by responding with some inane drivel along the lines of ‘iT’S juSt a tOy, BRuh.’.)
Everyone in this comments section already knows that this particular rash of vandalism is almost certainly driven in large part, although not exclusively, by greedy scalping dickheads who buy up this kind of stuff in order to further exploit already deeply exploited fandoms. Those people can get absolutely stuffed just on principle but the larger idea that responding to exploitive, anticonsumer business practices, including things like blind packaging, with unambiguous forms of rejection like this kind of vandalism is “unacceptable” is equally contemptible.
The reality is that the sort of solutions proposed by corporate apologists and other witless cowards like “speaking with your wallet” just don’t work in affecting behavioural change in corporate entities. If you’re hoping that the purchasing decisions of lego fans will impact the company’s choice to stop engaging in exploitive blind packaging practices then you’re living in a fantasy land. Compared to the scalpers and retailers who will happily buy up whole boxes for resale at disgusting markups, your handful of purchases as an actual fan of the property don’t amount to a fistful of steaming deuce to the bean counting machine.
So the only way to loudly reject this kind of nonsense is to COST the company money. One of the most direct and simple ways to do that is by vandalising the product. It’s not a pretty way of doing things, or morally tidy and, like anything, it has consequences but in systems so monstrously stacked against the end consumer monstrous response is often all you have in order to be heard.
At risk of hearing from the drooling maws of the ‘iT’S juSt a tOy’ crowd, I have to point out that corporations and regimes alike love flaccid, passive perspectives like this one because it helps them continue on without fear of any messy reprisal by the people they’re exploiting. It doesn’t matter that this is a trivial example, it’s still an example of really pathetic, unhelpful discourse.
Oh, and with regard to the “weight guide” nonsense, cram it. Weighing packages is impractical and inaccessible to most people. In particular, to children who, lest we forget, are the ones whose experiences these toys are meant to enrich. While blind packaging might occasionally be exciting to some kids it’s no less exploitive.
I agree whole heartedly
Yeah nah, vandalism and damaging property is the wrong way of sending a message.
Imagine being this entitled.
So what would your actionable protest solution be?
Emailing Lego? Where they can just ignore or reply with corporate speech?
Not buy the product? Given ‘vote with your money’s has been empirically proven to not work.
Oh, write a politician about it?…🤣🥸 no….
Opening packages in a store is Civil disobedience it’s non violent, and unless you commit theft, non criminal.
And as for pushback, the bags at least had the compromise that you could feel them, boxes shift right into anti-consumer practice.
Blind bags, loot boxes and other forms of operant conditioning have had criticism from a lot of community’s since, let’s be real, it forms gambling tendencies and addictive behavior, and the effect is stronger on kids as their brains are still developing.
And as someone who profits from this system, you decided to write a deeply bootlicker based post, no hint of criticism towards the Brick, not even an attempt to be objective.
You should feel ashamed.
Ok
Yeah kinda thought that would be your pathetic response.
Well, it’s still less pathetic than supporting vandalism.
Your criminal behaviour apologism (destroying the packaging of a product you don’t buy IS a criminal offence) is frankly staggering, if you don’t like the way someone sells their product, don’t purchase it, at least it’s the honest thing. And how is selling a product in whichever format of packaging you want as a company predatory, sounds like good business decision to me to make it almost required for customers to purchase multiple copies.
Now you claim this will create gambling tendencies amongst kids, but I doubt most kids have parents that are willing to let them spend so much on toys. And it’s not like kids haven’t had collectible toys for a while, have they started gambling or have they instead traded for the ones they wanted from other people?
And as someone who clearly dislikes free-markets, you decided to do a bootlicking post defending criminals, no hint of criticism towards these thieves, no attempt to be objective.
And then you have the nerve to say that he isn’t being objective, your definition of objective is probably “THIS SUCKS” and not something actually o bjective…
Isn’t it a stretch to call package opening in a store as vandalism?
If I spray paint a slur or nonsense on the wall of a store- sure.
Opening product packaging to verify its contents in a store is actually not a crime in most if not all states in US. I do it in Home Depot all the time. I even eat a grape before I buy a bag to make sure it has more flavor than sugar water, *gasp* The concept of tarnished collectibility has no weight in the legal argument, that is a false construct by the producer aided by consumer complacency and the emotional fulfillment of owning limited items. The idea of sealed package sanctity is truly a corporate initiative to preserve and serve inflated valuation.
You want to preserve the sanctity of emotional fulfillment of collectability of a product marketed for that, I want to preserve the sanctity of my money that I work for and offset my waning possession of it. Just because its marketed as collectible doesn’t change the ethical consequence of removing that by opening in store. Is truly consumer discretion whether to abide by producers intent or not.
Actually, opening “blind bags” in the store without paying for them IS criminal. Part of the value of these types of things is that you don’t know what you are going to get. It’s just like trading cards – you pay for the potential, not the specific contents. The blind box IS the product, not just what is inside it.
He made a valid point on cause and effect and expectation of results without individually praising or endorsing the act of destruction of product packaging (not the product),
You criticized him as Entitled for expressing views beyond blind consumerism and simply considering the ethical questions which is entirely separate from encouraging the action. it may be that some of us have to buy all our own LEGO that perspectives differ?
It sure seems like a blatant move to force more purchases by negating the possibility to identify by feel. The excuse of paper being more degradeable seems like a convenient cover. How can a producer of an exclusively plastic based product that is probably the highest profit rate by volume of that material in the planet besides anything space travel related call a change to paper packaging a globally conscious move?
“Our most unique decorative plastic people are now sold in firm paper packaging! You just gotta buy more to gett the only one you want and there’s NO Way to remain respectable and tell what’s what before you give us your $$$. Youre welcome, no thanks necessary.”
I love LEGO. But love of a product does not make a corporation infallible. And when you get too greedy, some otherwise well mannered consumers start cutting corners which can be behaviorally understandable whether or not it is shared practice.
I would not open blind boxes before purchasing. But I wouldn’t buy them outright either, I’d just save myself time and unwanted ownership and buy the ones I want on ebay before the series discontinued when they’re still reasinably priced.
He’s a corporate sell out. Of course he’s going to rush to the company’s defence. He gets all of his Lego for free.
I don’t know that the label fairly applies until you start calling other people Entitled for legally arguing/working against foul marketing practices of the corporation your blog serves.
Maybe instead of showing his hand so blatantly next time he will stay in character rathe than alienate more people who suffer through all these awful add banners to read his LEGO news and chime in.
“So the only way to loudly reject this kind of nonsense is to COST the company money. One of the most direct and simple ways to do that is by vandalising the product.”
Except this is not a response to Lego engaging in so-called exploitative blind buy packaging, because that began in 2010 and hasn’t changed. The only thing that has changed is that the new packaging prevents certain AFOLs from using their workaround. Therefore, this righteous vandalism is not any sort of stance against exploitative practices, its simply personal outrage at not being able to get what they want.
I hope you feel justified in this rant…and that it gave you some sort of satisfaction within your soul. You must know that very few people will read to the end of your vomit filled rant.
Condoning people stealing, tearing open boxes, and ruining kids fun is abhorrent. Legos are expensive, yes, but you name me a toy that will last well over 40 years and can still be played with…how much is that worth?
Here’s a crazy idea: why don’t you folks //actually// vote with your wallet instead of just buying it from a scalper?
Because your average person doesn’t actually care? Than you can get stuffed. It doesn’t excuse criminal behavior, which is what this is. You don’t own the product, you don’t get to ruin the product.
Actually vandalism isn’t the answer. STOP BUYING FROM SCALPERS is the answer. if people continue to pay 10x over the cost of a single one it contributes to scalpers vandalizing. Your the one dreaming if you think its some form of protest only people doing this is solely the scalpers and the greedy. If scalpers toss $$$ and then can’t move the product at all it’s a loss for them and they are forced to discount to unload. And if big toy can no longer rely on scalper money to buy them out they inevitably have to deal with he actual consumers thus changing tactics.
I hope Lego gets the message. Blind bags have always been a source of contention, and the new packaging just doubled down on all the problems with them.
I’m just gonna say it: The weight guide isn’t practical for most people and it doesn’t work. There’s always going to be minor differences in the weight of the cardboard and how much glue is used. The weight of the packaging isn’t going to be consistent.
Hate to say it but Jay’s weight guide was way(weigh if you want a pun) off. I actually did a video with my son opening 24 packs. Only a couple came out right but then got dupes that were off. I used a more accurate scale and bought weight standards to make sure it was right. Check it out on my channel if you want to see for yourself.
Damaging property is never justified. But I do understand the frustration. I have all the baged series since series 1 plus many duplicates I chose to have. Identifying the items by touch was half the fun with these. I will not be getting any of these ones!
Just stay away from these items and hopefully Lego will come to its senses and go back to the bags. Or better still sell complete sets for those interested. Any news on whether going back to bags will be happening?
Damaging property never justified. I have all the baged series since series 1 plus many duplicates I chose to have. Identifying the items by touch was more than half the fun with these. I will not be getting any of these ones!
Just stay away from these items and hopefully Lego will come to its senses and ho back to the bags. Any news on whether this will be happening?
Compare a guy feeling every bag for specific pieces vs. Dropping them on a scale real quick…both are odd things to see but both are quite easy when you know what to feel for or the weight guide….I’ll take seeing that over ruined products any day. There’s no need to be so cutthroat when it comes to packaging and a minifigure!
As there’s money involved, I guess most of the perpetrators aren’t Lego fans, primarily…
(Although I guess there might still be Lego fans attempting to buy some on the secondary market… It might be harder to spot on auction sites, though…)
I agree
My first time seeing these minifigures in the wild: shelf was empty other than 2 opened boxes
Honestly I hope this helps send the message to Lego that blind boxes were a big mistake
I don’t collect things like this, so maybe I’m wrong here, but isn’t the sale of blind bags/boxes just a move on suppliers’ part to sell more product, as folks likely have to buy *lots* of boxes to get the *one* item they want? Why not just sell the minifigs openly so people can get the one they want (which you could do on secondary sites, anyway!)? Maybe they don’t sell as many, but you wouldn’t have all that torn-open packaging, either (or the rigmarole of trying to figure out what’sin the bag by codes or weights or whatever). From a non-collector point of view, the whole blind bag system just seems really greedy on the part of the producers, and they shouldn’t be at all shocked that people are ripping open boxes to get around their “sell more” system.
I agree it’s tough sometimes to budget money for toys let alone one where you have no control over what you may get, so the first person to see them buys most or all of them and forces you to pay more on a secondary market. I was over it when the Minifigures still came in the bag because I (stupidly on two different occasions) bought three or so hoping to get a figure I preferred…. This was in the muppets set I think one time purchased from a Walgreens so was more than even in a target or Walmart but you could not find them…the first was ok I got the rolph I wanted, but then 2 Janice in a row (one would be fine) and one gonzo. The second time I straight up got 3 miss piggy’s the second time. I don’t have the time to buy extra figures of the same damn figure when the store only has 5 or 6 on the rack! Like what marketing is that? And its not like I could return them and say “hey I got three miss piggies” cause the whole concept is you may end up with that! But ridiculous indeed and I am not surprised good for kids who cannot get arrested for it
Earlier I was actually thinking about how selling the minifigures openly would be affected by scalpers.
There’d definitely be some that are gonna be hard to come by, especially right after the release of a new wave, but I think scalping as a whole is gonna go down, especially of they allow backorders.
But yeah, the only justification for blind boxes so far has been that one super rare golden minifig they did, everything else is just corporate greed to make people buy more boxes to get what they want.
Case in point:
I used to pick up a Bandmate pack here and there and when they retired bought a batch on sale for a total of 20.
Out of the total of 12 different minifigures, and I wish I was making this up, I now have 4 duplicates, 4 triplicates and am still missing the last 4.
I genuinely used to enjoy opening blind boxes because I like surprises, but that kinda killed it for me
I don’t know how it works outside Norway, but in Norway you can get a completed unopened serie in 1 second.
Just have to open a box. The serie comes in box of 12 who contains a completed serie.
This right here is infuriating – it is obviously the right decision and apparently possible. Sell the set for those who want it and for those who want the thrill and excitement and mystery of buying without knowing what you get sell the blind boxes (and honestly I have no idea who these people might be but according to certain apologists in this thread they exist and are being HARMED! by open boxes). The apparent fact that Lego does this in Norway means they have the capability to do to and have chosen not to – which is just insulting.
I say punish them more, run wild and savage that loot box mentality until it’s gone forever. I don’t advocate theft, jus close examination of what you plan to purchase.
While a Lego fan I’ve no particular interest in the Minifigures and I really detest gambling style promotions. So I’d even say that the people ripping open boxes may be serving a public good, to encourage Lego not to do this kind of product line again.
I can’t actually believe some comments are saying Lego had it coming or that ripping open sealed packaging is ok as it’s a customers right to know what’s inside. You do know what’s inside, a lego figure. Figures have always used blind packaging, the plastic bags were still blind to an extent and many shops did not allow you to feel them. Myer would take them off you if you tried to feel them. Can’t believe how selfishly these people are acting, they have just ruined all that stock that someone else would have and would have purchased.
The shop is legally allowed to charge you for tampering with it as you have destroyed and opened it and now technically they cannot sell the tampered with item.No customer is permitted to open a products packaging. You open it, you pay for it.
I buy dozens of blind box toys a month and I’m sorry but you are not entitled to open them, if you tried doing that at Zing or Popmart you’d be thrown out, possibly barred from entering again and made to pay for the items. Technically it’s stealing, as they cannot sell the item once opened, they are in their rights to charge you for the item. Even the use of scales is prohibited at the stores that sell blind boxes.
If you don’t like it don’t buy it. The only way to show a company you are unhappy with a product is to not buy it.
I am not sure what country you are replying from but at least in the US it isn’t illegal or stealing unless you leave the store with the item unpaid for – it may be against store policy and any store here can certainly ask you to leave for any reason they want – but they can’t make you pay for it and it isn’t technically or factually illegal to do so. At all. The idea that you wouldn’t be allowed to feel the bag when actual Lego store employees would be happy to feel the bag for you and tell you which was which is ridiculous. You may buy dozens of blind box items a month but you don’t speak with any legal authority at all for the US. It is also likely a way to show a company you are unhappy with a products packaging is to have their valued retail partners expressing disatisfaction that their idiotic packaging choices have resulted in more work/less profit for them. YMMV of course but you also seem the corporate accommodating not really worried about money kind of person too and your legal advice is suspect as best, so there’s that.
America is not the only country and this is an Australian blog! So I was talking about Australia. I live in Australia where we do have such rules, every country is different. The whole point of blind toys is that they are blind, that’s the whole fun of them. I’m sure every country has it’s own rules. Here even at my own local Lego store you get some staff that do not let you feel the bags. A lot of toys shops here don’t even put out the bags you have to ask for then and but then first, some toyworlds do this, they are sick of people squeezing them. Generally as a rule most people respect that the item is not yours to tamper with unless you buy it. If the USA had different rules then ok, but to me they are very strange accommodations. Who wants to then but something that’s been opened?
Yeah…so my saying that “I don’t know what country you are replying from but in the US…” sort of indicates my understanding that the US is not the only country in the world. You do realize the internet crosses all kinds of boundaries right? And, also, since this Australian blog was reporting on what was happening in the UK and not in Australia I have no idea why you have your panties in a wad about you obviously being from Australia. Guess what? I was sharing that everything everywhere all at once isn’t exactly as you decided to pronounce as ‘the way.’ You could have taken it as an opportunity to learn that not everything is the way you proclaim but that doesn’t really seem to be your style. I mean did you even read the post before you decided to lock-step in here? And also, “They are sick of people squeezing them?” Why? Seriously? And you condone that? Good grief you are more of a bootlicker than I first thought ..and I definitely thought you were a bootlicker.
You keep making this claim that it isn’t illegal, but you are wrong. Opening a blind box, like opening a pack of Pokemon or other type of trading cards (which has already been proven illegal in court IN THE US), is reducing the value of the product, because part of the value comes from not knowing what is in the package.
I mean since you said it IN ALL CAPS it has to be true right? Lol. Look I have worked in loss prevention in retail IN THE US and no it is absolutely not illegal to open a box in a store. Again it is likely against store policy and they can ask you to leave or ban you if they so choose but you aren’t breaking any US laws opening a box. I would love to have you cite the court case IN THE US (see, fun, I can use caps too!) that dictates opening a package in a store without removing anything or leaving with anything out of it is illegal. Lol.
What do you not get about this? Are you really as dense as you are acting here? The blind box is not the packaging for a product – it IS the product. A store can close up a toaster oven box you opened to look at to make sure it wasn’t damaged. They cannot do that with a blind box because the value is gone. Seriously, this is such an incredibly simple concept that even someone like you should be capable of understanding it.
Do they ban all the folks who taste a grape to see if they are worth buying?
You are allowed to see the condition of what you are buying
So any stores that are banning people for opening Lego boxes are just plain wrong
Blame Lego – Stores should send the boxes back to Lego for refunds
It’s actually not against the law to open a package in a store for the purpose of verifying the contents are suited for your purpose of purchase and then not buy it if it isn’t. Gross malicious intent would have to be demonstrated in a court for any minor charge to stick.
The Blind Buy concept finds itself in a grey area of scale because of this. Its a marketing tactic with a crude work around that is technically entirely legal. I’d be blown away to see any court prosecution of an in store blind box opener that went through to conviction. As a consumer, we have every right to see the product we are purchasing first. The argument of the ‘experience of surprise’ being what I am purchasing is not going to hold up under ivy league scrutiny.
You keep making this claim that it isn’t illegal, but you are wrong. Opening a blind box, like opening a pack of Pokemon or other type of trading cards (which has already been proven illegal in court IN THE US), is reducing the value of the product, because part of the value comes from not knowing what is in the package.
Legos are expensive as hell, people trying to complete a collection don’t want to have to buy a product 10 times to get that rare one, blind boxes and blind bags like this are just plane stupid. I don’t condone them being opened up and pilfered like this but then again Lego, you get what you get for trying to pull this when they are $10 a bag (Walmart.com) I for one will NEVER buy something like this and not know exactly what I’m buying.
Saw this in Walmart today, there were minifig boxes opened all over along with some of the bags. Either some undisciplined kids or adults without a lick of sense.
The weirdest thing was when I found ripped-open boxes at Kohl’s, one of them had Moon Knight inside. He was missing his cape and base but all other pieces accounted for – my son was thrilled.
I would actually write to LEGO’s customer service on the missing cape and base, and I’m sure they’ll gladly send it over to you to complete your Moon Knight.
If the box had already been opened, I’m not sure if it would be possible…
Maybe someone just snagged the cape…
It’ll be out of stock so many will be doing it
The rationalizations here are insane. Look, I don’t need to like LEGO for doing this, and I always had mixed feelings on the blind bags anyway (even while being very adept at the “feeler” method), but that doesn’t make vandalism acceptable. They aren’t yours until you buy them — presuming we’re all adults here, stop acting like entitled children, angry that mommy won’t buy you that shiny new toy. This is LEGO, not food, y’all aren’t the modern-day equivalents of MLK.
And again, while I don’t like being pushed into this situation precisely, resellers on Bricklink will do the middleman work legitimately for a slight upcharge. I got Hawkeye and Kate Bishop for $6.45 and $6.25 respectively — worth it because I really enjoyed their 2021 series.
FU to the person writing this article and defending this awful practice. Calling people to do better rather than LEGO, got off your high horse.
I hope this backfire enough so that they stop this circus.
Who knew calling for people to not resort to theft and vandalism was a contentious topic.
Doesn’t putting them in individual plastic cases defeat the environmental purpose of changing to cardboard? Buying blind is not fun, it’s only frustrating. Frustration is also the feeling I get when I see open boxes. I ought to be leaving a store with a brand new Lego purchase feeling excited!
Those plastic security cases are reusable tho.
I remember seeing this way back when Bionicle was first introduced and had the collectible masks in boxes.
Maybe the problem is the companies promoting gambling/chance and not the people just wanting a fair chance at purchasing a toy.
For all of you saying that lego is “greedy” and that gambling is not good for children, stfu because if you dont want to buy the minifgs then dont but dont rip open the boxes and ruin the expierience for others who actually enjoy getting random minifigs or just want to start their collection without seeing who theyre going to get. And for those who are saying that are using children as an excuse, tell me, who is ripping apart the boxes? Children or adults? Because perhaps children like the boxes and dont mind getting duplicates. You cant speak for them.(sorry for the typos my keyboard is relly wonky today’)
Short answer NO
Stop telling people to spend more money when you get your free
The LAN life is a short one so near that in mind
Sorry I’ think Lego are getting what they deserved
They need to think again on this one
Dreadful change
I get what you’re saying. But the people being punished the most are the store clerks that have to clean up the messes and, to a lesser extent, the back room managers that have to process the extra paperwork to document the theft/damages. Why should they bear the brunt of a terrible corporate decision?
Perhaps they should just sell a complete set
imagine going to the section of the store with magic cards and finding them all ripped open with just lands sitting around
This
They are TRADING cards! you can TRADE them with others who you play the game with for cards you don’t have or better ones!! This is totally different you are not going to casually ask anyone in reality ” oh hey man you know those Lego figures, like I I got so many doubles of these figures and I wanted to know if you had any and maybe we can swap?” Cause one, it is reckless to think that most of the people who are buying these can afford to buy 12-15 just to HOPE they get the character figure they want…. With something ambiguous like lego animals or movie tropes like a a vampire or a wizard that is not dracula or Harry Potter then I don’t think it would matter so much but when you throw names like wolverine into the mix that is a huge deal breaker for the kid that only gets one and LOVES Wolverine and gets the wasp…think about that Lego…
Perhaps LEGO should make CMF’s available only in LEGO stores and LEGO.com in countries where there is widespread product vandalism and theft.
Having said that, I cannot think of a single good reason for LEGO to not offer a purchase option of a complete set. But since they clearly have some reason and choose to treat their Adult fans like children, they should not be surprised when those Adult fans throw a tantrum.
Oh wow this takes me back… This use to happen with the lego bionicle mask boxes.
I completed my set today. I bought the mini kitchen scales from Amazon for just over £6 to use to weigh each figure. It was a great purchase.
I got the whole set with only 2 duplicates using the weight guide and that was because I rushed one purchase of 4 figures in Smyths.
A Wolverine that was on the lighter side when I was hoping for Beast.
And a Hawkeye Clint which also weighed a bit less than stated in the guide, which I thought was Goliath.
The weight guide works. Don’t rip open the boxes! If every store puts them in lockable cases, we lose the best chance we have of identifying by weight for future series.
Found Jay commenting on his own post
I really do not have time to astroturf my own posts, lol
This was always going to happen. People do not want to waste money on the chance of getting the mini fig they or their child wants. It’s already expensive little pieces of plastic, and blind boxes just makes it worse. Blind boxes is a despicable marketing ploy to extract more from the consumer which just leaves disappointed children. I refuse to buy them, many would to.
Going to the secondary market is not an answer. Using scales to measure weight is even more ridiculous. I can only hope that Lego learns from this and scrapes blind boxes all together. It hurts everyone: consumers, retailers and Lego.
hurts Lego??? you mean the 1% profit loss that the big wigs have to eat. ohhh poor poor lego… please don’t take from the hungry mouths of billionaires children… gtfoh…
I found using the mini digital scales way more efficient than spending time feeling bags, and I had a better success rate.
“I have to state unequivocally that this behaviour is unacceptable and really reflects poorly on LEGO fans” Bloody hell @jayong. It’s ‘RLFM’ not ‘slurp slurp, work the shaft, cradle the balls’ have some integrity and a touch of objectivity and realize that operate conditioning isn’t a ethical way to sell toys, and that instilling gambling habits into kids is a bad thing. Google ‘skinner box’ before you clap back.
I went to an Asda in Bournemouth area, and I point out to the staff that the boxes had been ripped open. They said there’s nothing they can really do. I said Tesco would have them in alarmed dvd cases, and the Asda employee said that ‘customers’ would just walk out the door with them.
This is exactly what happened when hasbro moved Transformers and Marvel Legends into plasticless packaging. It’s just easier to rip accessories out, the whole figure, the head off. Walmart and Kroger out here have multiple figures on shelf sans head.
I honestly don’t know what lego was expecting.
Alittle unfair saying it reflects poorly on Lego fans chances are it is a small minority or worse yet scum of the earth scalpers taking them all to put on eBay at inflated prices
Well said!
For real! PLEASE bring a roll of tape and tape them back up so it’s easier for the next person to check out who’s inside/keep the pieces together!! LMAO!
But seriously, can’t say that about 10 million fans all said this would happen. LEGO is either trying to tank the CMF or they’ve gone completely daft. I”m certainly not going to buy 72 in order to get 12. I also don’t like other people touching my minis (I know totally OCD of me but you know different strokes for different folks….) so secondary market of OOP never appealed to me.
Serves them right frankly. I hope I gets so out of control that stores simply stop carrying them.
I have no pity for a billion dollar multinational getting punished for greed.
Totally agree with your comments. Lego have been price gouging since covid hit and it serves them right. Let’s hope that the current global cost of living crisis bites hard for Lego and forces them to reassess their pricing system, the greedy bunch of toe rags.
I don’t think anyone is condoning theft – but if folks wanted to open every box thus allowing me to see which fig I am getting? I am all for that. I remember visiting the Lego store in Chicago on a business trip and some wonderful employee had marked each bag with the name of who was in it – and I couldn’t have appreciated that more. On a Florida busniess trip I stood there and watched while they helped an avid collector go through all the Disney minifig bags and feel up who it was they wanted to complete their collection (I onlly wanted Prince John so when they got to two of those I pounced) but anyway the point is let us buy what we want right? This isn’t like Pokemon cards (or magic or whatever) where there is a built in system to getting rare cards and building a competitive deck by chance and capitalism.
I would gladly buy boxes opened by staff to inspect contents and then closed again. Win for all consumers. I do not support random consumers picking through boxes and leaving them in shelves with contents spilled out.
I’m in no way defending these actions. I even saw some boxes busted open in the Lego store itself, and I’m worried about the consequences. If a store goes to plastic casings or putting them behind glass, the hunt for certain figs will only become harder. You’d have to constantly harass an employee to put away/take out a bunch of figs at a time, and casings will throw off weight even more.
I don’t find the weight guide too reliable either. Wolverine and She Hulk are the exact same weight, so how do I know which one I’m getting? I’ve noticed that the weights are different depending on how you set the box on the scale (face down, upright, etc).
At this point, I think that getting them second-hand is better since it’s less gambling, and you’d probably spend less money from getting duplicates anyway.
My local toy world in Melbourne also opens each bag (box), labels them (and tapes up the opening) so customers are in control of which figures they choose to buy. The owner of the franchise told me that people often drive from 1 hr or more away because they’re so happy to know in advance which figure they’re guaranteed to buy.
I feel like commenting to say that the people doing this are probably not the kind of people frequenting this blog. Hence it’s comes off as preaching to the choir.
Blind-packaged toys have proven psychological detriment to children. They’re a scummy psychologically manipulative practice and I see no moral failing in circumventing it. When I was in charge of a toy department probably 80% of our cmf (and other blind-packed toy) sales were on opened packages. I started just repackaging any easily opened blind toy into clear cellophane bags; and basically everyone who encountered them was absolutely delighted about it. We also ended up reordering the repacked toys about 2x as often as the things I couldn’t repack. (Which was anything that needed scissors or otherwise couldn’t quickly be opened by hand.) There was also less shrink; a lot of people would rather pocket a few little packets than drop like $12 on things that may not be what they want.
Complain to Lego directly about these blind boxes.
https://www.lego.com/en-us/service/email-us/details/Products/Products%2FOther
The people doing it are clearly the ones selling “complete sets of minifigures online”. So for you to encourage people to purchase from them, you are encouraging the boxes to be opened.
I won’t do this, but I’m not sure I agree with the assessment here either. Theft is clearly wrong, so I’ll just set that aside. Opening the box to see what’s inside? That seems way more thorny. Lego is attempting to manipulate and take advantage of people. I think people are arguably in the right to push back against these tactics. A scale isn’t reasonable, especially not for the the average consumer. I get that for a collector a torn box qualifies as damaging the product, but the reality is the box isn’t the product. The minifig is and the minifig isn’t going to be damaged by being looked at.
Lego doesn’t have to do this. They’re a VERY successful company and I believe they could sell minifigs without dirty tricks that turn their products into gambling.
I understand that you might make an argument that people should use other tactics to fight back, but sometimes if you want to resist something you have to actually RESIST. Buying pre-opened sets of minifigs or bringing a scale isn’t resistance. A boycott might be, but 99.99 % of boycotts are entirely ineffective because getting enough people to act as one is incredibly difficult even on life or death issues, let alone about how toys are packaged.
Unlike all those other things, packages being torn open is something LEGO will see, it is a visceral and undeniable act of resistance against their decisions. Honestly I still don’t think it will change their behavior, but I do believe that the consumer has a right to know what they’re purchasing BEFORE they purchase it.
Baseball cards have been sold in this format for over a century. It’s not any customer’s right to rip open packs of baseball cards in a store looking for the card they want.
‘Resistance’ as a form of civil disobedience or protest is only admirable when it comes at a cost to the individual. This is just entitled people saying ‘screw Lego, Imma keep getting what I want’.
They are TRADING cards! you can TRADE them with others who you play the game with for cards you don’t have or better ones!! This is totally different you are not going to casually ask anyone in reality ” oh hey man you know those Lego figures, like I I got so many doubles of these figures and I wanted to know if you had any and maybe we can swap?” it is reckless to think that most of the people who are buying these for their kids or themselves can afford to buy 12-15 just to HOPE they get the character figure they want…. With something ambiguous like lego animals or movie tropes like a a vampire or a wizard that is not dracula or Harry Potter then I don’t think it would matter so much but when you throw names like wolverine into the mix that is a huge deal breaker for the kid that only gets one and LOVES Wolverine and gets the wasp…think about that Lego…
Blind boxes and trading cards are the exact same thing. You are paying for the unknown. You can trade and resell minifigures just as easily as you can baseball cards – actually, minifigures are much easier to sell than the 30th “random bench player” card you get. Seriously, if you can’t see that they are the same thing, there’s no hope for you.
I would like to think the people who are opening these things don’t read this blog.
**IF** “throwing the tea into the harbor” is the message LEGO needs to get to change their plans, then while I don’t think you should “throw tea into the harbor”, I am conflictingly buoyed by the vandalism due to the increasingly likely potential to “get the message” to LEGO.
I have resorted to the centigram scale and have a 50% success rate due to the glue issue, which seems to introduce a decigram variance into the weight, making it unacceptable as a full substitute for feeling. The only way I see for LEGO to explicitly allow this is to throw extra pieces in the boxes (spending LEGO’s money here) until all figure weights are separated by 0.3g, since increasing the glue tolerance might be too much to ask (by spending more of LEGO’s money on manufacturing quality that is of questionable value).
I personally think a multi-step “decoder ring” process would be acceptable, perhaps from printing on opposite sides of the box to prevent machine-learning automation via a single photo, but that may not be feasible.
———-
Ultimately, I believe identifying blind boxes represent to LEGO an attempt to cause them an inventory problem, which is to say, certain minifigures will clearly be more popular than others, and near the end of the run, a glut of unpopular ones may stack up. Possibly, this creates a dissatisfactory experience for “normal” blind box customers as their chances of obtaining a desirable figure go down, resulting in a negative product experience that LEGO does not want. Identifiers also might have a dissatisfactory experience, as their desired figures will be out of stock and require repeated hunting that may be annoying.
A third party such as Bricklink doesn’t solve the problem, as it increases costs by pushing the inventory problem on to them (have to buy a lot of boxes of stuff nobody cares about if you’re only selling Moon Knights).
Selling specific minifigures directly from LEGO.com would solve the problem for ALL customers, but then LEGO gains the inventory problem they probably do not want. However, they are the most capable of managing the problem, being able to dynamically adjust production and even gauging it with pre-orders or surveys. Unfortunately, their decision process is not simply “give the customer what they want”, but hopefully they’re thinking about leaning towards it more.
“I would like to think the people who are opening these things don’t read this blog.”
I mean, I would have thought so, until I read the comments. I don’t tend to like taking the side of a company worth $10B+, yet here we are.
LEGO group is going through the same ESG virtue signaling Hasbro just did with eliminating plastic from their Black Series line. Hasbro realized the problem and changed it back immediately. I see LEGO doing the same thing. As a consumer you only have a few options. While I don’t agree in tampering with the CMFs, LEGO can’t ignore human behavior. I am perplexed that toy corporations don’t really listen to their consumers until there is backlash. I wish the relationship could be better. I think toy producers see the gaming industry as the gold standard in contempt for the consumer.
My comment isn’t about the idiots who are stealing toys. Why would I want to spend or gamble my money on a product that I don’t know what I’m getting in return? Even in Vegas, gambling, you know what you could win. But I’m “entitled” because I want to know what I’m buying? Why can’t Lego label their package? They label all their other toy boxes. Selling a “blind” box, the customer must gamble with their money because there’s different value in what you get as a prize. Minifig A is worth than Minifig B as an example. Therefore no one under legal age can buy this toy. Doesn’t seem to be Lego’s core principle. Not selling a toy to a child.
No, you’re not entitled because you prefer to see what you’re buying. That’s just a preference. We all have preferences and they inform what we purchase. You’re only entitled if you damage stock because you feel you’re somehow ‘owed’ the opportunity to purchase the minifigure you want at the lowest possible price.
I’m 100% fine with someon opening up the boxes. Just be neat about it and pleace put them back in an orderly manor. That way the next person can simple find the ones they want. This is not theivery like some seem to think. I’ve done the same thing with other products (like at the hardware store) to insure the contents are correct. This is no differnt.
This is ridiculous. So you get a random figure and can’t discern what it is until you’ve paid… so what? People need to do this over $5?
I swear, I love Lego but sometimes the fans are just terrible. Disney Adult level terrible.
I agree.
I can’t believe people are upset that they can’t figure out what “Lucky Dip” she prize they will get. It’s the collectors that have screwed this as they are the ones who must have the performed valuable ones.
In the end they are just ABS plastic toys.
Lego were told this was almost definitely going to happen and they did it anyway. Frankly it’s their own fault for doing something so anti consumer. Not advocating, but also not saying I haven’t done it myself (i havent ripped open the boxes fully, but just opened up the tab on one side and peeked in to see whats in there). The cmf has always had an element of gambling/lootbox to it, which for a product aimed at CHILDREN is unacceptable.
Also, it’s apparently been confirmed that even with a sensitive scale, you might not end up getting the figure you want because the glue can vary from box to box. So there isn’t a single way to correctly identify them 100% of the time.
Lego have dug their own grave on this one. All they had to do was put a way for people to identify what was in the box anf this wouldn’t happen. Instead they were stubborn and people are letting them know what they think
I just went ahead and bought a full pack on ebay and then hunted down a few duplicates of figures I want. This is what lego have forced us to do. Buy full sets second hand. I’m lucky, I got someone on ebay selling at cost. Some websites are marking up horrifically. Firestar toys here in the UK are selling a full set of 12 for £65, and the individual figs for £7.99. That’s a disgusting mark up and you can see why people just open up the boxes.
Again, not advocating, but also not blaming people who choose to do it
So you admit to damaging goods anyway?
Goods aren’t being damaged
Packaging is
Speaking as someone who works in retail distribution the value of the goods very much includes the intact packaging, as damaged packaging even if sealed up again with contents checked cannot be sold without a discount. The packaging should only be removed once the whole package has been paid for, and preferably disposed of responsibly.
That said, I have never liked blind bags, and in the past have bought complete runs of various waves from reputable traders online. If the option of buying 12 minifigs for the price of 12 is there, rather than trying to find 12 for perhaps the price of 20 in the long term, then that would reduce damages to minimal levels.
You’re calling this gambling where tons of other kids toys also do similar blind things. Ever heard of Pokémon cards and kinder surprise eggs? Not everything is meant to work for you. At the end of the day, this is a children’s toy, and children don’t care about feeling through a box.
Many kids also want to know what they are getting. If my kid wants Beast, I’m not going to take a chance he’ll get something he doesn’t want. Especially if he is spending his money. “Sorry bud, better luck next time” is a terrible thing to say to a child. And don’t give me that “life lesson” BS. That’s not good parenting.
Lego can eat a fat one for this. Just because other toy companies do it, doesn’t make it right. What we’ve come to accept as okay is pretty frightening.
Companies aren’t obligated to sell things you want the way you want. People need to grow up.
Yes, only grown ups should gamble.
Exactly.
Children need to grow up? Is that what you are really saying!? A child does not have a five or six figure job that they can leisurely throw away money on a chance, anyone with a child knows how they can get excited when they see something in a store … Can be one of the joys (or horrors) of parenting to buy (or not) the toy they want … But when you have to buy 5 or 6 and Don’t get the one they want it blows and you do not feel like going back and getting six more… Like make a way for parents to know but maybe keep blind bag/box for the rich adult who is really careless and wants the thrill of probably getting something they don’t want and doesn’t have to worry about the price
Children are almost definitely not the ones opening up blind boxes to find the ones they want. This is clearly manchildren that think they are more important than anyone else.
Here is a revolutionary idea: don’t package or sell them “blind” in the first place. Customer should be able to see and choose what they are buying. Don’t complain about a problem the manufacturer/retailer is causing.
Customers are not forced by any means to buy blind packages. Lego keeps doing it BECAUSE some people are buying it the way they are.
I knew this was going to be a problem. That is why i got together with a friend and we bought a case. Instead of the $4.99 price, we paid 169.95 for a case which ended up being 4.73 each… A much better alternative and we know we’ll get three sets (unless Lego goes back to the random boxes – in which case, I’ll probably stop collecting). There are “fair” retailers out there and you don’t have to get gouged if you have a friend or two to go in together for a case.
I agree that stealing is not the solution, and isn’t right. But how is pirating a game helping the developers? It’s literally stealing. Same as this.
Yeah but you’re saving the planet and isn’t that what matters (sarcasm). What did they think would happen, same with new windowless packaging for Transformers. Nothing but these companies pandering to a few with platforms.
LEGO: “The anti-consumer practices will continue until morale improves.”
I do not condone this behavior… BUT… Lego definitely could have come up with an eco-friendly packaging that can still be felt through. Either that, or put something identifiable in the barcode. I hope I’m not legitimately expected to carry a little drug dealer scale into Walmart just to find the tiny plastic person of my preference.
This article is actually asking you to carry a whole scale inside Walmart – to find figures they may recieve for free as an affliate – and asking you to buy a whole set.
Look I don’t like or buy minifigs. I won’t be crawling through a lego bin anytime soon. I greatly pity retail workers. But this article is simping for Lego on gambling. It’s gross.
Privately, the stores will deal with it as they deal with any gambling like initiatives: front of the store or hard plastic. Pity the individual stores, yes – but not Lego. They chose a gambling system: deliberately, to enhance markup.
There are blind box systems that do not involve gambling. You print an identifying code (usually a related image that can be looked up) to the cardboard. To the average observer – the box is still blind (but not on closer inspection).
Let’s stay critical. There’s some rep at Walmart who’s having a really bad day. That rep needs love. The kid looking for a minifig needs love. Lego – making the decision – does not.
Lego needs to remove gambling elements. They produce a children’s toy: allegedly as a “wholesome” brand. Gambling is often as destructive as theft.
I agree. I usually enjoy the chase of “blind” products, but for things that cost as much as Lego minifigures, there should definitely be some kind of identifier on the packaging for those in the know to utilize IF they so choose.
I love Lego, but I do believe they, as a corporation, get enough love every time I buy a set that tells me what I’m getting on the box (often at uncomfortable prices.)
And yeah, I’m not about to carry a scale into a retail store – enough people think I’m weird the way it is. XD
“This article is actually asking you to carry a whole scale inside Walmart – to find figures they may recieve for free as an affliate – and asking you to buy a whole set. “
Couldn’t agree more
Jay get his stuff free -he forgets his readers don’t
Shame on him
His comments have at least provoked a backlash thank goodness
Jay works very hard to produce his blog, and does not deserve such backlash, no matter what we think about the subject. Everyone, please focus your ire on either Lego, the people ripping open packaging, or the nature of capitalism (all three being at fault), but not our host whose only sin might at worst be considered an apologist.
Everyone, please focus your ire on…. the nature of capitalism…
Yep, everyone knows that the Soviets had the best minifigs.
He has honestly stooped pretty low. Lately he sounds like a corporate shill.
I saw these for the first time in Kohl’s a couple weeks ago and in examining the boxes noticed they seemed to have differing codes the few boxes I examines. Has anyone found if these “codes” are unique to each figure, in which case, solves the identity dilemma of each if a collective effort was made to document each code to figure?
These codes have been debunked as unreliable. They simply refer to batch, manufacturing, and distribution numbers.
I believe Jay debunked this as an ID method. There may be a breakable code in there somewhere, but it looks very unlikely.
They heard the backlash and still chose to go ahead with the change. They claim its for the environment but everyone knows it’s because they want people to have to buy more packs because it’s now fully a gamble since you can’t feel the package. While the situation is unfortunate, I can’t say I entirely blame people for sending the message to Lego that this switch wasn’t ok
Surely the appropriate message is simply not buying the product.
Surely you know that’s a very disingenuous reply
No, it’s just a reply you don’t agree with.
Your child will not want to hear you are not buying legos to “send a message” Tristan nor should they have to. Lego is a great product with many creative possibilities with the larger sets. But the blind bag figure things is just for cash there is no other tactful or deflecting answer you can say about it.
CMFs have _always_ come in blind bags. Grown-ass adults are just outraged that their workaround doesn’t work, and pretending their outrage is some sort of moral stance.
The “workaround” was always what made them stand out from ‘LOL surprise’ and their ilk.
And as for the morality of blind bags?
Operant conditioning is at it’s core unethical. So, Loot boxes/Blind bags are as well. See Belguim and The Netherlands for an easy example.
The comments section is disgusting. Call a company greedy all you want, your entitled ass does NOT have the right to these figures or to openly commend thievery. Toys are a luxury item morons, not a right. Do you leave our door unlocked when you go to bed? You should, because thievery is okay in your eyes if it’s justified. Guess what? You don’t like it? Don’t fucking buy it! Fake fans is all you are.
This is just like the gaming industry and morons who think buying a game used hurts the developers because the “fan” doesn’t like what the developer did. That’s not how that works. You’re entitled, and buying the game used, pirating it, borrowing from a friend, etc still supports the developers. Simply don’t play it! Same goes for scalpers, you want this to end? Stop encouraging the thieves!
How are you people so stupid and shortsighted to put all the blame on LEGO instead of your own greediness?
You are so cucked it’s not even funny. I don’t blame people at all for this. Lego is the number 1 grossing toy company in the world but they continue to fuck over fans left and right. I’ve loved lego my whole life but I’m at the point where I don’t even care when new shit is released because the Lego Group killed their own product to me. This was a shitty business decision and this is the back lash they get for it. I preordered my set on ebay like a month ago and paid more then I should so I wouldn’t have to fight for these in the wild because it was easy to foresee that this was going to be a mess. Lego made a shitty decision and people didn’t want to have to buy a scale to figure out what character was in each box and I honestly don’t blame them. Fuck Lego for this.
Again, I don’t support vandalism, but please, allow me to play you a sad song on the world’s smallest violin as a massive corporation loses exactly 0.2 shekels.
Couldn’t agree more Greg. Why 8bit whatever is supporting corpo greed is beyond me. We all agree theft is wrong. But what about blatant disregard for choice for the consumer? There was never anything wrong with blind bags. The blind boxes were a slap in the face to the collector community in general. Don’t act shocked when this behaviour happens.
Bars. Literally I don’t know what else Lego was expecting
The entitlement is real. How dare a company do something I don’t like! Rather than act like an adult I’m gonna vandalise stuff!
And then complain about the fact that Lego have ruined my hobby
This only reflects baddly on Lego for greediness.
I have no interest in Marvel minifigures, but why should i have to buy a full set from a re-seller or ebay? This affirmation is so ridiculous.
I hope this is the end of minifigures.
Minifigs are one of my, and many peoples, favorite part of Lego. I certainly don’t hope that this is the end of CMFs or minifigs as a whole, but I do hope that the open boxes is enough of a message to have them reverse the change
This is Lego’s own fault, they have been around for many many years and they should know how people act. Replacing blind bags with blind boxes especially blind boxes that aren’t very secure and don’t have anything protecting the minifigures inside was a bad decision. I shouldn’t have to buy a scale in order to get minifigures that I want, I also shouldn’t have to go to third parties to buy open minifigures and pay extra. I hope all of these open boxes and the lost profits open Lego’s eyes and they go back to the bags. it’s smart of them to start blind boxes with a marvel series because people are going to go crazy for them. This is a good test and it failed.
While this behavior is disappointing to some, namely collectors with disposable income & reviewers who were gifted complete sets, this is a direct result of a greedy industry tactic to force people to play a lottery. Much like micro-transactions in games, just because some people accept it as the new way of doing things doesn’t mean it’s right for a company to milk it’s fan base for even more money especially considering the already inflated retail prices for Lego. Bottom line is Lego bricks are toys and should be accessible to more people rather than some select group of elites in the know.
Agree with you fully. There are too many things for average normal Lego fans, ones with normal jobs and not infinite amount of money, to worry about already. Scalpers, people hiding product and retailers doing a poor job of keeping things in stock or on the shelf. Having open product and stolen product is just going to push more and more people out of the hobby and it’s already gotten to that point with the price increases.
I was about to say that I’d be happy to see them in blister packs so people could see the content, but that’s back to plastic again, so why not just identify them on the package so people can buy which one they want, with a complete bundle at a slight discount for those who wants a complete collection. As you say, blind boxing just requires people to spend more (or resort to crime).
This behavior should come at no surprise. As a child of the 80s, I have collected many different lines of action figures and toys throughout the decade. In that era, the package clearly stated which character you were purchasing. Let’s just stop the greedy, corporate practice of blind boxes or bags. It may be hard to find the one you want, but at least this savagery may cease.
That’s great that you suggest that you use a sensitive scale and the weight guide to find your desired figure. I bought a 0.00 sensitive digital gram scale just for this purpose. What you’re not saying is that, due to differences in packaging, namely the amount of glue used to seal the package, the weight guide is totally useless. The blame falls swuarely on LEGO. These aren’t packaged in cardboard to save the planet, LEGO had falling profits last quarter. This was done solely so you buy 8 wrong packages trying to get the very last one. If you are such a big LEGO fan and believe in a code of conduct, buy them all up, and sell them at a reasonable price on EBAY or whatnot. The packaging weighs far more than the old blind bags, thereby makes way more trash. Its also made from paper which invariably is made from plants, plastics are made from byproducts of oil production. More climate mumbo jumbo. The idea that a company that makes 100% of its product from plastics is gonna save the universe with cardboard boxes is childishly naive
It seems like you bought a not so accurate scale. I just went to the local toy store with my trusty ACAIA Lunar coffee scale, and found myself 6 Moon Knights for me, and some friends and family. Each one of those weighed exactly 19.4 grams, as Jay determined in his weighing guide. Do I like having to do this? Nope. But in a way it was easier, more accurate and quicker.
This serves lego right! There was nothing wrong with the original bags which were good. Now we get cheap paper boxes. If lego wanted to be “sustainable” then they should have made the bags paper like Woolworths Lego did
Yes! Paper bags much better than boxes.
It does reflect poorly on Lego fans, and this is shameful and disappointing. At the same time, it was entirely predictable and avoidable. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, Lego.
I hope this isn’t directed at us Australians!
We still haven’t got our figures yet!
The same thing happened when Hot Wheels brought Mystery Cars back in 2009.The first issues of those had totally blind packaging no way to tell what was in it. People would tear the bubble away.Hot Wheels went to a small window on the back so you could see the car a little and eventually the bag which had a code number for the car inside. The people doing this stuff are just low to begin with.
Or, maybe, just hear me out, Lego might get the hint that this change is unwelcome and maybe just maybe actually respect the wishes of those who buy their product and not make this whole thing just a boon to the reseller market. I mean let me buy the figures I want…after I ended up with 4 gonzo digs (I hate him) I just stopped and got the ones I want off of eBay. This can’t be the experience we or they should expect. I even enjoyed.going into the store and having the Lego retailexperte feel up the bags and help me get exactly who I want – now even that only reason to drag me into a brick and mortar is gone. This doesn’t reflect badly on Lego fans it reflects badly on the company. I would think that is the drum you should be banging rather than the oh please don’t show Lego how this completely predictable outcome of your stupid decision is…but ymmv
Facts!
Not doing this myself but I gotta say I could care less of people are doing this to Lego’s child gambling product. Blind boxes are disgusting and should be illegal. You know you are selling something people value and the contents matter to them, making it a forced gamble is just greed and it’s gross. Rip them up I say.
So you say that of Kinder? Of Pokemon or other style collectors cards? Or is this because you can’t get your wait in getting what you want?
I take it your of an age when you remember lucky dip prizes, and his is this different? Remember these are primarily for kids, who love the idea of getting something unknown for a little pocket money cash.
We all hope
I believe these actions are of a very small minority which does not represent the actions of the more ethical fanbase.
Perhaps lego can consider a gacha system or a random scratch ticket (lottery system) which generates a random minifigure to prevent ripped opened packaging.
This is something Lego can fix EASILY by producing minifigs in something like paper packs..
Also: “Told ya.”
I’ve seen this in the distribution centre where I work, so people are obviously nicking them from there. This is going to undermine the attempt to move away from polybags 🙁
I’m not that into the minifig only range, but when I bought the Muppets and Looney Tunes collections I just ordered off an online dealer who opened and resealed packs to sell complete bundles, and I bought the Castle female Falconer on eBay. It’s not difficult to buy what you want.
For how much of a markup though? Plus, I don’t have to pay shipping if I find it in person.
There are multiple eBay vendors selling sets for $10 above retail (shipping included).
What grubs!
Truth.