LEGO Has A Minifigure Problem

The original pilot episodes all together in one place! (Timestamps below)
Originally I developed the LEGO Has A Minifigure Problem as one entire video, but split it up so we could focus on specific themes. Now it has been made whole in its originally intended form.

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#lego #legominifigures #legosets

00:00:00 The LEGO Minifigure is Iconic
00:01:22 A Brief Look at the LEGO Minifigure
00:02:27 The Shift In Appeal Towards Minifigures
00:04:45 The Minifig Problems People Recognize
00:07:03 The Minifig Problem People Don't Consider
00:07:56 LEGO Star Wars - Example 1A
00:21:43 LEGO Friends - Example 1B
00:23:07 LEGO Marvel - Example 2A
00:35:18 LEGO DC - Example 2B
00:37:24 LEGO Ninjago - Example 3A
00:48:42 LEGO Monkie Kid - Example 3B
00:51:31 LEGO Icons - Example 4A
00:57:23 LEGO 18+ as a Whole - Example 4B
01:00:07 Conclusion

[LuluTheCorgi]

The most iconic thing about modern Lego is how they can keep increasing the price while quality takes a deep dive and the marks will just buy it anyways

[shroomzzz]

Without mini figs, whatever would drive to predatory Lego scalpers?

[tithund]

In the olden days there used to be character packs for all themes, I still have a bunch of 90s space and castle packs, as well as small sets with just a great fig with a horse or a small build, instead of making them all exclusive to huge sets.

[Finnl-qele]

If Lego stopped making figs the global economy will collapse

[indescentUK]

I believe that the perfect example on how to do minifigures is Lego Sonic. It sticks to a reasonable amount of figures for each price, side builds for each non-focus character and immaculate detail throughout, without compromising the theme budget, allowing for really good builds

[darwinwinchester]

Ive always thought that they could make millions and make fans very happy if they sell minifigures like funkos. A bunch of franchises that might not need a sets, and even adult ones like game of thrones or breaking bad, and that we get only the minifigure of the character with a few accesories, like the cmf but you know what character youre purchasing.

As a fan I would definitely obsess collecting Minifigures of my favorite characters and shows, besides the fact that you can customize them by switching pieces, they are compatible with any Lego set and they are smaller and easier to storage than funko

[ahdumbs]

As a brand new AFOL, I find it a little frustrating how pretty much all mini figs you can buy in stores, meaning without buying separate pick a brick parts and making your own (which I ended up doing) are either Star Wars related or some other kind of superhero—which, as a toy aimed at children, I understand, but as someone who wants to just build MOCs of buildings in my neighborhood, having a Yoda/Boba Fett/Luke Skywalker/etc. mini fig kind of breaks the idea lol

[ProfessorPug]

The solution to the Lego minifigure problem is simple. Replace every minifigure in every theme with Legacy Kai. Lego's annual profits will reach One Zillon Dollars instantly!

[spanishfish]

I miss the older themes (such as castle and space) that were not nearly as centered around a few specific heroes and villains, or had hundreds of different side characters. Army building was so much easier and cheaper. If I wanted a few to become medics, engineers, outlaws, or the faction leader, I could just slap on a different color or type of helmet/hands/weapon or whatever.

[fusionspace]

When I was a kid, there were no characters in Lego, period. There was Space Guy in blue or Pirate with hook or Knight with shield. I used my sets to build the base bullds, but that was day one, eventually they all joined in the same large bin, and to rebuild an old set meant hours of finding the pieces first, but that was the fun. The entire point was to break free of the box designs and design your own creations, and we played with action figures the same way. All these sets may have sold a lot of plastic, and I'm sure you've had fun with them, but what cost you've paid in the endless freedom of dreams is the price you won't even know to miss.

[MikeisaMenace]

One thing that I seriously care about in a selection of figures is design consistency. Like I got a DC set with Batman and Aquaman in it. Batman had really good torso printing with complex detailed shading, but Aquaman just had flat outlines for the muscle detailing. Idk maybe I'm just autistic

[MichaelKean-kl]

Long ago, LEGO used to make character/battle pack sets for each different theme and/or sub-theme, for "supplemental purposes". The better ones have characters that are not already in sets. I myself have bought some of these. Why they don't do this anymore is beyond me. It would solve a few of these problems. Those who want/need more minifigures to bolster their numbers, and those who are only interested in minifigures for collecting purposes can benefit from this.

[owainlloyddavies]

I miss the inclusion of generic figures, i.e. plain clones troopers, b1 battle droids, or regular just normal figs

[oKnuTo]

the minifigure and brand recognition are the only things they have over its competitors. i always find it funny whenever a new Lego product is released that id consider buying i just hop on ebay 3 days later and buy it new without minifigure and safe like 30% if its a Star Wars set with special figures i can go up to 50%

[joshmagosh]

I am tired of LEGO hyper fixating on one character from each franchise (Batman, Ironman) and giving us a million slightly different variants when they have a Bible’s worth of other characters to pull from. I get they’re popular so you want to give people ample opportunities to get some version, but it just leads to other characters equally as popular being overlooked. We also need more just plain average filler characters, It’s impossible to world build when you’ve got 15 different Batman and 0 citizens.

[jfwfreo]

Regarding Padme in the Clone Wars gunship, I can see 3 possible reasons why they re-used the outfit instead of doing one more faithful to the scene. One is that the better outfit might have been more expensive to produce (e.g. required printed legs or a more complex torso print or something). The second is that the rights-holder made the decision for whatever reason. And the third is that LEGO decided that the particular outfit they used would make the set more appealing somehow.

Oh and another possibility is that at the time the designs were made, LEGO didn't have all the information they would have required to produce the minifig with the scene-accurate outfit.

[StickFreeks]

My favorite minifig as a kid was a plain smiley face guy with a red shirt and blue pants. If I felt really fancy, I'd put the hat on him.
My brother and I would make "farms" and have a whole little economy. We rarely used the licensed characters, unless we needed somebody to come cause trouble. (Ninja turtles often got repurposed into villains)

I don't actively search out Lego, but I don't remember the last time I've seen a plain smiley face guy in a set. :(

[Eta_Hoyimi]

You're absolutely right in the cultural value/impact of a minifigure versus a standard brick or even set. Something like the millennium falcon set made an impact when it was released, but the lego star wars game series, when the minifigs were put front and center as playable characters, has endured far longer and enjoyed basically ubiquitous popularity since its release

[Toshiro]

The issue of having made monkie kid sets almost unobtainable outside the Asian market is doubly absurd, considering that another original Lego theme - Ninjago - is based on the whole context of Far Eastern fantasy, of which one of the representatives is the novel Journey to the West.

[shadowfax]

It also baffles me how some people put so much value on mini figures. Like do people actually like the figures or are they just hoping it’ll be valuable in the future?