Mini-Figure Mission Part Two

After buying a couple dozen blind bags of the new Simpsons Lego mini-figures I completed my set on May 1; the day they were officially released. I also had 10 more for a second set. 

On May 2, I initially planned on going back to Toys R Us and search their stock for the characters I needed to complete that 2nd set. But I didn't want to stand in their store pressing on the multiple dozens of blind bags that they had on their shelves. 

Although I've done it many times, I've always felt rather awkward doing that. So this time, I decided to do something different. 

My plan was to buy an entire box of 60 bags, take it home, and go through them there.  I would sort the packs by the characters I deciphered to be inside using touch and the "bump codes" I found online. 

A bump code is a series of small round raised areas on the bottom of Lego mini-figure bags made as the result of the packaging process. Each character is supposed to have a different bump code. Once Lego fans discover these codes they put them up on blogs and websites for other FOLs. 

Having decided to actually go through with the plan, I took the sealed box of 60 Simpsons mini-figures to the check out. 

Unfortunately the cashier had to scan the packs individually. After she did that she asked if I wanted to save 15% on my purchase by applying for a Toy R Us credit card. 

They've been asking me this same question over the last couple of years and I have refused to open another credit card account until now. This time I decided to take advantage of the discount for such a large purchase.  

It was a rather hefty investment. But by applying and getting approved for the store card I got a discount of 60 cents per pack. 

This past Monday I took a dark blue marker and highlighted the bumps I could find at the bottom of each of the bags. I did this first because I planned on identifying the mini-figures I needed by just using the bump codes. 

But as it turned out the bumps on the packs weren't very definitive and I couldn't use them the way I wanted to. So I was left with the tactile method for identification. In the past it has been less reliable than bump codes. 

But I soon realized that the novelty of Series 13 was not just because of it's characters. The distinct shapes of the characters heads and their unique accessories made identifying them through touch a lot easier than the other 3 series I have collected. 

I won't go into the details for all 16 characters but the perfect illustration of my point is this picture of the last 4 characters in the set. 

The spiked club, ax, megaphone and club, as well as the fishbowl and fuel rod are pieces with shapes that are all exclusive to their characters. If you feel any of them from the outside of a pack there's no doubt that you have that mini-figure. 

After identifying the contents of each of the 60 blind bags the best I could, I had 16 plastic storage bags each with blind bags containing a different character. 

I opened 10 of those packs and revealed each of the citizens of Springfield needed to complete my second complete set. 

Although I was enjoying this process, the goal in compiling an extra set was to resell it in the future. 

As I opened the packs for set #2 I realized that there was almost enough for a 3rd set. The only problem was out of the entire box I had identified only one Maggie figure.  

Reasoning that there had to be more than that, I concluded that I had misidentified some of the Maggies for another character. The only one that could be was Lisa. Here's the comparison.

As you can see they are very similar. 

So I reexamined the packs I had determined to be Lisa. I was lucky enough to have find another Maggie. I opened another 16 bags to make up my 3rd set of Simpsons mini-figures. 

I put each of the 32 extra figures in a plastic snack storage bag along with one of the mini-posters that comes with them. I then put each of the sets in another plastic bags. They are now stored away in the box that I bought. 

Currently on Ebay, complete open sets are selling for between $90 and $100. If I sold them now I would make a nice profit. 
However, I will now hold on to them for a few months. I'm hoping the price will go up.

I brought this mini-figure mission to a close on Thursday. That's when I took the 43 blind bags that I didn't open back to the Toys R Us store for credit. My net cost for the whole "buy a box" experience was about $60. 

Just as a side note; when I took the bags back to the store one of the young ladies working at the front counter got excited about seeing the mini-figures packages. 

She said she loved Legos and The Simpsons and wanted to get some of them. Hearing her say that brought out the "geek" in me. I stood and explained to her how to discover which character was in a bag. She was impressed with my expertise. 

So now I'm finished collecting Lego Mini-Figure Series 13: The Simpsons. It was quick but exciting. 

Now I have to sit and wait for the announcement of the next series and the release date. My guess is that it will be sometime around late summer. 

I will probably try to repeat my Lego Simpsons success. But whether or not my method will work with the next set will depend on the details of the characters. Stay tuned. You know I'll be posting about it when it happens.