Minifigures - general discussion

[BricksBrotha]

On 1/12/2024 at 11:43 PM, fossilrock said:

These minifigure boxes are a pain, IMO.  I saw full racks of these at walmart, but the qr code wasnt working when I tried using the app.  

I did read somewhere the little codes were less likely to work. But there were few who did have success. I also read this in the comments section from the Jay's Bricks article linked above.

'Just a small correction – this is a Data Matrix code not a QR Code so may need an app that can read Data Matrix codes'

 

Edited January 15 by BricksBrotha

[Tonka858]

Our first shipment of these cases and they where all small codes and did not scan, I have another pallet coming and they should be bigger codes

[Thanos75]

Walmart near me had a fresh box. The top half of the box had the big codes and the bottom had the small ones. Weird.

[Phil B]

Received my Series 25 order from MinifiguresPlus yesterday. Kudos to them for their excellent service, as always.

Here are my findings from sorting through these:

- both boxes had European production codes
- the Data Tag scanning (using the Brave browser on Android) worked great and gave perfect matches.
- Somehow, each box of 36 had ~5 minifigures in it with the small tag, so I couldnt use the data tag to identify them.
- I used my precision scale to weigh the packages, but weights didnt line up with weights published on the internet (Jay's brick blog or Reddit). Looking at relative weights I was able to pick out a few boxes that I was quite sure were Goat Herders, but that only allowed me to identify 5, not the full complement of 6. The other boxes had very similar weights, and even scanning the weight of data tag identified figures gave quite the range of weights (e.g. the Harpy had most boxes in the 17.5-17.7g range, but one was 17.3g :-/)
- Finally took the plunge and used my heat gun to give one of the bottom side flaps a short (5-10s) burst of hot air. This was enough to melt the glue so I could peek inside and then stick the flap back to make the box reseal itself without any trace.

Turns out the distribution of figures in my 2 boxes was not ideal (and sadly for me, I have one less goat than expected - my main driver to buy 2 boxes) :-(

Here is what I got:
- 6 of each figure, except:
- 5 Vampire Knights
- 5 Goat Herders
- 7 Mushroom sprites
- 7 Harpies

I thought the heat gun trick was pretty neat - hope others have better distributions and can use my tricks above to identify theirs.

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[Brick_Dude]

One box of 36 from MinifiguresPlus. 

3 of each character.

Bricksearch app read all the codes on the box without issue as all had the larger tag.

[fossilrock]

I got a complete set of these shipped to me today, using the brick search app all the codes worked and we opened the set the figures were correctly identified from the app.  So thats good that they can be identified that way.  

[Billy Brick]

I got my box from Minifigures Plus today woohoo! THANK YOU! 3 Complete sets after scanning and some minimal weighing. about 8 of the figures had the smaller codes for some reason, weights were lighter than what was previously posted by some online, not sure if it was glue or box quality. Thanks again

Edited January 23 by Billy Brick

[Captain_Obvious]

My Wally had the small QRs, so I had no other choice than to take one for the team and dust off the old college scale...

Ah, the things I do for anything related to Castle lol. I set up shop right on the shelf and proceeded to go through 30+ boxes (Week 42) only to find out that someone had already penetrated the boxes with that micro camera.

I assumed they were going for the Goatherd and didn't give up because I'd be cool with the Vampire Knight. I found 3 that weighed "19.94 grams" and pulled the trigger. To my surprise, I hit the jackpot and got 3/3 Goatherds.

I guess the other guy was in it for the Vampire Knight. Today when I took the pics, they all ended up weighing "20.00 grams" or "20.05 grams".

What's interesting is that I received the Vampire Knight directions instead of the Goatherd?

[Pseudoty]

1 hour ago, Captain_Obvious said:

What's interesting is that I received the Vampire Knight directions instead of the Goatherd?

Not saying a thing about the scale or the "penetrated' boxes, but those instructions are the same in every box, they only provide them for figs that require some more "advanced" assembly. I need more goats for the soon to be released Medieval Market but not sure if I will bring my scale to the store, hope to find some that or scannable, but the endoscopy is pushing it for me. 

[Phil B]

Not saying a thing about the scale or the "penetrated' boxes, but those instructions are the same in every box, they only provide them for figs that require some more "advanced" assembly. I need more goats for the soon to be released Medieval Market but not sure if I will bring my scale to the store, hope to find some that or scannable, but the endoscopy is pushing it for me. 

I am bringing my heatgun and a 100ft extension cord next time I go in ....

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[TheBrickClique]

2 hours ago, Phil B said:

I am bringing my heatgun and a 100ft extension cord next time I go in ....

Sent from my SM-A326U1 using Tapatalk
 

This might be quicker than waiting for the glue to melt.  It appears to have wheels so you can roll it right on back to the toy department. 

It's an x-ray machine off of alibaba.  What could possibly go wrong?

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Airline-Grade-X-Ray-Scanner-Machine_1601007870758.html?s=p

[Phil B]

https://www.amazon.com/Performance-Tool-W2082-Li-Ion-Cordless/dp/B08L8D8RHB

[lodibricks]

I'm really missing the sorting basket discussions.

[exciter1]

10 hours ago, lodibricks said:

I'm really missing the sorting basket discussions.

 

[oneknightr]

12 hours ago, lodibricks said:

I'm really missing the sorting basket discussions.

Don't forget the 16-pocket apron!

[fossilrock]

8 hours ago, oneknightr said:

Don't forget the 16-pocket apron!

With the ability to scan boxes with your phone - what used to take a skilled smoosher 6 seconds to identify a bag, now takes 2 seconds per box.  You could hit a fresh box in 90 seconds flat and have them sorted into your apron...

[gmpirate]

2 hours ago, fossilrock said:

With the ability to scan boxes with your phone - what used to take a skilled smoosher 6 seconds to identify a bag, now takes 2 seconds per box.  You could hit a fresh box in 90 seconds flat and have them sorted into your apron...

That's what I thought the process was as I witnessed it at the Lego Store.  Today, however I found a new technique.  This guy brought a tiny camera in on a prod and inserted it into each box.  The image was displayed on his iPhone.  The guy went through a case in no time.  I mentioned to one of the staff that it was the first time I've seen that.  His reply was "me too, and it may be the last".  😮

[Tonka858]

23 hours ago, gmpirate said:

That's what I thought the process was as I witnessed it at the Lego Store.  Today, however I found a new technique.  This guy brought a tiny camera in on a prod and inserted it into each box.  The image was displayed on his iPhone.  The guy went through a case in no time.  I mentioned to one of the staff that it was the first time I've seen that.  His reply was "me too, and it may be the last".  😮

the store let him ruin all the boxes like that?

[Captain_Obvious]

Are you guys having trouble finding Series 25 at Walmart? I had one stuff the whole display on the top shelf, and when I went back, it was gone. Same thing for the next store.

Is there an area in the store outside of the toy section where you’ve seen them?

Thanks in advance!

[cladner]

1 hour ago, Captain_Obvious said:

Are you guys having trouble finding Series 25 at Walmart? I had one stuff the whole display on the top shelf, and when I went back, it was gone. Same thing for the next store.

Is there an area in the store outside of the toy section where you’ve seen them?

Thanks in advance!

yeah these are poofed or pilf'd in a jiffy at all stores.

 

[Captain_Obvious]

When you guys sell a single minifigure on eBay, do you send it in a flexible mailer or an envelope to cut down shipping costs? If so, have you ever had a buyer complain? These small boxes are hurting my margins.

[Pseudoty]

Just now, Captain_Obvious said:

When you guys sell a single minifigure on eBay, do you send it in a flexible mailer or an envelope to cut down shipping costs? If so, have you ever had a buyer complain? These small boxes are hurting my margins.

 Bubble mailer for singles/CMF never had an issue. When I sell all of the minifigures from a set I use a small box. 

[Billy Brick]

12 minutes ago, Captain_Obvious said:

When you guys sell a single minifigure on eBay, do you send it in a flexible mailer or an envelope to cut down shipping costs? If so, have you ever had a buyer complain? These small boxes are hurting my margins.

I have been using lightweight small boxes for the new ones, if they under 5 oz I think the difference is marginal, but yeah its lame.

[scatttcat]

When you guys sell a single minifigure on eBay, do you send it in a flexible mailer or an envelope to cut down shipping costs? If so, have you ever had a buyer complain? These small boxes are hurting my margins.

Almost always a bubble mailer for me. If there are more than 5 and/or the figures are higher value ($20+), I’ll use a small box.


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[Huskers1236]

21 hours ago, scatttcat said:

Almost always a bubble mailer for me. If there are more than 5 and/or the figures are higher value ($20+), I’ll use a small box.


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Also if the figure is fragile like a General Grievous or something, it gets boxed, but I'm pretty much along these lines.  Small packages are priced the same whether a box or bubble mailer, so shipping safer doesn't cost you any more in shipping, though the box itself may be pricier by a certain % over the mailer depending on how much bulk you buy in.