LEGO considering next steps for Collectible Minifigures packaging
The LEGO Group has outlined the next steps for the packaging of its Collectible Minifigures, including when we can expect to see any changes to the current cardboard boxes.
The Collectible Minifigures range finally made good on its promise to move away from flexible foil bags to rigid cardboard boxes with 71039 Marvel Series 2 in September, which has led to widespread dissatisfaction among collectors used to feeling out each character in a series. Some shoppers have expressed their frustration by tearing open boxes in stores, causing a predicament for the LEGO Group.
In a recent panel with Brick Fanatics and other LEGO Fan Media in Billund, Denmark, the sustainability team responsible for the development of the new packaging discussed their initial reaction to the release of 71039 Marvel Series 2, their current position on cardboard boxes, where they’re planning to go from here and how soon we can expect to see any changes implemented. Here are the key takeaways from that session…
Putting a code on the box would defeat the purpose
It didn’t take long for the suggestion of popping some kind of identifier on each box to surface – whether that’s a secret code alluding to the minifigure inside, or (as one attendee proposed) taking advantage of AR technology to show the contents of the boxes. No matter the format, though, the sustainability team said the same: revealing the minifigure inside would defeat the purpose of Collectible Minifigures.
According to the team’s representatives, the intention has always been for Collectible Minifigures to be a blind purchase, even when they were in bags. Putting a code on the box means it’s no longer a blind purchase, nulling the entire point of the range from the LEGO Group’s perspective. The team did democratically say they haven’t ruled it out altogether, though…
They’re still weighing up what to do next
At the time of our session, 71039 Marvel Series 2 had been on shelves officially for nearly a month (and in some regions, even longer than that). But the sustainability team had not yet made any concrete decisions about where to go from here: instead, they’re still figuring out the precise direction to take Collectible Minifigures packaging.
One suggestion floated in the room was to make the boxes more difficult to open, potentially reducing the ease with which people can tear them apart while standing in a store. But that solution, like so many others, would apparently only introduce another problem: in this case, making the boxes more difficult for their intended target audience (five-year-olds) to open, too. The aim during development was to make sure kids could open the boxes, and the team doesn’t want to move away from that.
Don’t expect change any time soon
Change doesn’t happen overnight. Case in point: the current cardboard boxes took approximately five years to develop and implement, with almost entirely new equipment required for packing them. And with that timeframe in mind, we won’t be seeing any changes to the new style of packaging for the Collectible Minifigures in the immediate future. Any changes to the packaging could require adjusting equipment or even investing in new equipment, which will take time.
In fact, the sustainability team confirmed that it will take at least three to four series to implement any changes decided based on feedback to 71039 Marvel Series 2, so we’re likely stuck with cardboard boxes throughout the entirety of 2024, and perhaps even into 2025. (The Collectible Minifigures team generally launches three series per year.)
For more on the future of LEGO Collectible Minifigures, hit play below or head over to our YouTube channel.
Featured image backdrop: Chelsea Bowyer
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All the retailers round me have stopped stocking the minifigures, presumably because they were losing too much money on the ripped open ones.
I gave never agreed with the whole “blind bag” ethos whichever “collectible”, Lego or not. The example of Pokemon cards doesn’t stack up: each pack has multiple random cards so the likelihood of already having all the cards in that pack is less likely. Paying £5 for a minifigure you probably already have is rip off. If anything it is introducing children to gambling: paying money for a random result.
I firmly believe that if people were able to buy exactly the figures they wanted, MORE people would buy them. I do not buy blind bag collectibles because I don’t want to buy the same thing multiple time. If I could get what I wanted I would buy them.
As a parent who likes Lego but isn’t particularly keen on spending needlessly on Toys for their kids I can see both sides. If it’s a one off buy in the supermarket in a Saturday then the surprise can be fun. If they want a specific figure then not as fun if you don’t get that one. If they are collecting them all then, no chance I’ve not got that level of spare cash to gamble on trying to get a whole set.
Call me crazy but here’s a thought. Put them behind the shop counter so people don’t get the chance to finger the boxes.
They are supposed to be blind FFS it’s not difficult.
Also, 5 years to design the boxes? really???
lego severely missed the mark when it comes to their “collectible” minifigures packaging. they also missed the mark when it comes to who is actually buying their minifigures. their only aim was to make it harder thus forcing their customers to buy more…as if lego’s prices weren’t high enough already!
I like the surprise, but having the option to finish a collection is also helpful. It’s meant to be a lucky dip for the single boxes but if they sold the full collection that would solve the problem with collectors and allow those that enjoy the surprise and just want one or two to still enjoy themselves.
I’m curious how many customers actually want it to be blind, AFOL or not. If none do, Lego are just annoying their customers, and what’s the point of that?
The reason I buy them is because I want to collect them all, not because I enjoy an hour standing in a shop trying to figure out what I’m buying. I have felt bags before and will continue cross referencing codes against weight if they stick with boxes because I don’t want duplicates.
If I were Lego I would just recommend to their retailers to keep the boxes near the cashier so people can’t get away with theft and vandalism.
I don’t see the harm in having a tiny little window in the box, only a few centimeters in size, to let people tumble the figure about and try to catch a peak at color and shape to guess at the figure inside. Alternatively, the window could be a shred bigger, but not transparent, meaning only shapes could be potentially determined. There’s still the surprise factor, especially if you guessed wrong, but those who want to put in the effort might figure out what’s inside and the boxes can still be easy for kids to open.
One word. Genius. You can also just decide not to look in there, so if someone at Lego sees this, pleas make it happen
Unpopular opinions coming…
I always feel there is a bit of an echo chamber on this subject as the non-AFOL buyers of these products don’t frequent websites such as this. How do we know children aren’t buying these?/having them bought for them? I am really looking forward to enjoying CMFs with my children if the series are still going when they are old enough. I can’t imagine a company such as LEGO has no idea about who is buying their stuff. Sorry, I just don’t think that that is reality.
I personally enjoy the blind aspect of minifigures. It reminds me of all the collectible things of my youth. Football stickers, pokemon cards, MtG, gogos, pogs, etcetc. Cereal free gifts, PG tips cards, even Sainsburys had a random collectible set of coins for the team members of the England 1998 world cup squad. These days though I have access to many online markets to sell my duplicates. There were and still are so many of these types of things and the majority of people haven’t grown up to be gambling addicts.
Collecting anything gets expensive and nobody is forcing you. If you think it is outrageous then stop.
Lego is right, putting an indicator or code on the boxes would entirely defeat that purpose of the CMF’s. Why do so many of you think you’re entitled to know the contents of a product that is marketed and a blind box? How is what Lego is doing here any different from buying blind packaged pokemon cards? So entitled!
Part of the fun of the blind bags was that you still had a chance of finding the right box if you put a bit of effort into it. Standing around at the store trying to locate the right figure by touch was for a certain set of fans. If they were willing to put in the time and effort I think giving them the bonus of being able to find the figure they were looking for helped increase sales and increase the fun of the hunt.
Without any way of telling what you get it could very well end up losing quite a few sales. So since it WAS possible to find the figures you wanted why not do so in some other way, but not going as far as actually stating what’s in the bag. For instance, they could use the QR-like code and have tiny differences that would indicate different figures. This is a very small code and not that sharply printed so it would still take a bit to find the right one. At least until someone cracks the code and puts something online so that you can just scan it. But there’d be ways to make that harder as well as you could make it so that you’d need a combination of a code and a number sequence or something.
The thing is that people have gotten used to there being a way to find what you’re looking for, unlike the Pokemon cards, so doing this changes the product and a lot of people who bought these figures believe this change makes it an inferior product. That’s not intitlement, that’s just customer dissatisfaction.
Because it’s not a “surprise”, its a flat out gambling aimed at making extra money – and even worse considering it’s largely aimed at children. if you enjoy the “surprise” aspect of it, how will a code on the bottom even affect you?
People need to stop using euphemisms and call it what it is. Gambling. its a “collectable” series, meaning they expect people to “collect” them. but they also want people to waste money gambling on whether they get the minifig they want.
I think that the teams response that it defeats the object of a collective miniigure series need to look at who’s really buying the figures. So yes a few individual figs will be bought by kids and parents with pocket money and as impulse buys. But it’s AFOLs that are the real collectors and we are buying boxes full of figures at a time. it’s also a bit delusional of Lego to keep repeating this trite response. As CMFs have increased in price over the years there is probably some dara to show that kids are buying less and less if each series and so it becomes even more important to get the right one or two they actually want. it’s all driving profit to the secondary market, but then again Lego makes more profit through Bricklink sales when the figs are resold so clearly it’s in their interest to hide behind the cloak of the blind box crap as that’s more profit end of.
What a whole lot of horse crap! Clearly, this lot has not yet understood that while it was their idea from the get go that Collectible MInifigs would be a gambling buy (sorry a blind buy), the consumer (i.e. those who give their money to Lego) do not want that AT ALL. How simple is that? Put a freaking label on the box and just say that you blatantly misjudgedthe market but, at least, you redeemed yourself by taking corrective actions.