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| source: Google |
As we all know it, those tiny people in Lego shape is called Lego minifigures. The above logo, Minifigures also known as Collectible Minifigures is one of Lego theme introduced in 2010, with the first series (Series 1 Collectible Minifigues (CMF)) released in May 2010. To date, there are 13 regular series (series 1 to 13) and 3 special series (Team Great Britain Series, The Lego Movie series and The Simpsons series). There are 16 unique and exclusive minifigures in each series (excluding series 10 (that come with super rare and exclusives Mr.Gold) that make it 17 figures in total for series 10 and Team GB series which come with only 9 unique figures)
I myself start collecting these CMF quite late.. if i recall correctly, i found Series 8 CMF in local Toys'R'Us somewhere in October 2012. That's when i realised, "oh my god, oh my god. i need to start collecting them IMMEDIATELY before its too late!". After some research, i decide to buy the previous series (series 1 to 8) in one shot because that's the cheapest and easiest way to collect them. Bam! Paid RM1,550 ($445) inclusive shipping for complete set of series 1 to 8 and after some simple math, it's about RM1,550/(8 set x 16 fig) = RM12.11 ($3.47) per figure.
It's amazing how much the value go up in such short period of time. I know i paid premium for it because at that time, one pack of cmf only cost RM11.90 ($2.99). . but getting them separately even by series is not feasible at all. In October 2012, one complete set of 16 of Series 1 cost about RM500 ($145) on ebay.
You may read the info about these CMF from Brickipedia or Brickset. Everything you wanna know about them is there but for us Malaysian, the price listed is in US dollar. So i did some quick reading on some forum and group discussion about them from May 2010 to date and extract the retail price in TRU Malaysia. It's time consuming but not that hard after using search function in those forum =). So here's what i get:
To read these info, i use this format:
lego code - name - date available - price in RM - price in USD
8683 - Series 1 - May 2010 - RM9.90 - $1.99
8684 - Series 2 - September 2010 - RM9.90 - $1.99
8803 - Series 3 - January 2011 - RM9.90 - $1.99
8804 - Series 4 - April 2011 - RM9.90 - $2.99
8805 - Series 5 - August 2011 - RM9.90 - $2.99
8827 - Series 6 - January 2012 - RM9.90 - $2.99
8833 - Series 8 - September 2012 - RM11.90 - $2.99
8909 - Team Great Britain Series - July 2012 - NA (only available in UK) - GBP1.99
71000 - Series 9 - January 2013 - RM11.90 - $2.99
71001 - Series 10 - May 2013 - RM11.90 - $2.99
71002 - Series 11 - September 2013 - RM11.90 - $2.99
71004 - The Lego Movie - January 2014 - RM11.90 - $2.99
71005 - The Simpsons - May 2014 - RM12.90 - $3.99
71007 - Series 12 - October 2014 - RM14.90 - $3.99
71008 - Series 13 - January 2015 - RM12.90 - $3.99 (price drop from previous series yeay!)
I'm not sure if you're still interested.. but i'm dying to know how much premium exactly i paid for series 1 to 8 that i bought in October 2012.
I paid RM1,550 for 8 series that i bought on ebay.
Cost of those 8 series if i'm on track and bought them from TRU = (RM9.90 x 6 set x 16 figure) + (RM10.90 x 16 figure) + (RM11.90 x 16 figure) = RM1,315.20.
Premium paid = RM1,550 - RM1,315 = RM235 ($67) for those 8 series (128 figures).
To be honest, it's quite scary how much those older series are being sold now. I did a quick search on ebay for just 16 figure of series 1 and here's the result:That's 18% premium from the cost price.
Roughly $310 (RM1,081) for 16 figure.
Curious to know more? I try to search complete set of Series 2 and these result appear:
Roughly $171 RM560 for complete set of 16 series 2 CMF.
How crazy is that? Price for some of the individual figure is crazier. Especially zombie from Series 1 and minifigures wearing mascot suit (chicken suit guy, bunny suit guy, bumblebee girl). Just look at these image. How can price for bumblee girl from series 10 that was released in May 2010 can get even to Zombie from Series 1 and Bunny suit guy from series 7? Yeah, i know the answer.. its demand vs supply but wow... just wow..
Have you ever wonder will these figure get cloned by any china brand?
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Clap clap. Bozhi did it. Yup, they are the first to imitate lego collectible minifigures series 1. Look at what i just bought!
This is it. This is just the beginning. I'm sure there are more to come. I'll do extensive comparison to the original figure in my next post.
You didn't answer your title question ! Is it finally possible to be cloned ?
ReplyDeleteI think I will collect the Simpsons CMF. I bought three packs today, so I have five minifigures in my collection.
Hehe =). The clone for all the series will be available before we know it.
Deletesimpsons cmf? When you mention them in pack, i assume its original then. =). Great! Hehehe
They now have series 2, the animal suits (in a pack of 6), simpsons, the movie. I'm not sure if any clone hrands will make more. Hope this helps, although you might have already known.
Deletehi there, thanks for visiting this blog :). yup, I also do not believe they can imitate so far. Luckily I also have the original figure therefore does not feel guilty so much buying the imitation... *for study purposes of course*wink*wink*
DeleteThe clone of CMF must be stopped.
ReplyDeleteThey made by the brick cultists who claimed to be made by LEGO, but as LEGO said they did not.
I believe they are cults who likes to take their money.
Umm.. Ive bought over 450 "clone sets" for resale on ebay. Not once have i come accross (or described) a statement that these figures as genuine lego figures. On a side note: many of these clone brands have their own design teams and have released hundreds of non lego design figures. Including 46 iron man marks. Also with 8 "lanterns" (every color in the comics/tv series), superman, spiderman, batman, flash, and tons more. They are much more original that you would think.
ReplyDeletewow, 450 sets! I wonder how the demand for such goods on ebay. What is certain, many people really upset with such imitations or made a mistake placing too high expectations on them lol. I also agree about the patterns of their own. I have two sets of custom ironman suit of superheroes (by DLP) that i really like. JX1001 and JX1002:
Delete[img]http://i.imgur.com/2W4huUh.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/4Ivqoz3.jpg[/img]
i even keep one set unassembled >_<