Series 12: The Lego Movie

The Lego company executives are marketing geniuses. They have so many product lines that include those from licensed characters and their own brands as well. 

In addition they create animated kids shows that are essentially 30 minute Lego commercials. And then there's their theme parks all over the world and indoor discovery centers. 

It's only been over the last couple of years that I realized the enormity of the Lego brand foot print. They advance their brand almost, if not better, than Disney. 

In a few days that footprint will expand into theaters with The Lego Movie. It's a full length film that's a combination of CGI and stop action animation, featuring their mini-figures; some old some new. They are voiced by some "A list" Hollywood stars such as: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neesan, Morgan Freeman, and Channing Tatum. 

As a means of promoting the movie before it's release, in January, Lego debuted a new product line and a mini-figure series featuring some of its characters. 

Mini-figure Series 12 became available at the beginning of January. I started collecting them the first week of the year; purchasing the first blind packs at the Lego store in Nashville. 

I had no idea how to distinguish one figure from the other through the packaging so I just grabbed 5 bags whose contents felt different from each other. I got lucky, getting 5 different figures with only 1 duplicate. 

Over the next week I did my research and studied the pictures of the figures. I made my own set of notes about what to look for when pressing on the packaging. 

I also to try and cut down on the duplicates I used  "bump codes" on the mini-figured packages. These are markings on the back of the blind packs on the bottom seal seam. They are made by the machinery that seal the packs. Each character has it's own specific bump code. 

Using my own best guess based on tactile clues and bump codes I have had amazing success with completing my set. 

Here are the 16 mini-figures included in the Lego Movie series 12 in a display case. 

 This is not the best picture but it does show the entire set. Here's a closer look at some of my favorites.

There's Abraham Lincoln, Tuesday Taco Guy and Panda Guy. I also like William Shakespeare but I don't have a good shot of him. 

So I now have my third complete set of Lego mini-figures. It is by far my most success collecting effort thus far. Using the search methods I did I only had 6 doubles out of 23 blind packs purchased. That's a 70% success rate. 

But I'm not done with this series of mini-figures. Now that I have them all, I need to see what role they play in the Lego Movie. I'll do that some time after February 7 when the picture is released. 

The next blip on the Lego mini-figure radar is scheduled to appear this May. Series 13 is going to feature characters from The Simpsons TV show. I can't wait for that.