History : Collectable Minifigures

In Feburary of 2010, LEGO 8683-0: LEGO Minifigures Series 1 hit our shores. Since then, it has been 6 years and today, we are all looking forward to the release of CMF Disney in May 2016.

Release Date	Description	SKU	RRP	Sets Per Carton
2010 Feb	Series 1	8683	3.9	3
2010 Aug	Series 2	8684	3.9	3
2011 Jan	Series 3	8803	3.9	2
2011 Apr	Series 4	8804	3.9	2
2011 Sep	Series 5	8805	4.5	3
2012 Jan	Series 6	8827	4.5	3
2012 May	Series 7	8831	4.9	3
2012 Sep	Series 8	8833	4.9	3
2013 Jan	Series 9	71000	4.9	2
2013 May	Series 10	71001	4.9	2
2013 Sep	Series 11	71002	4.9	2
2014 Feb	The LEGO Movie	71004	4.9	2
2014 May	Simpsons	71005	4.9	3
2014 Sep	Series 12	71007	4.9	3
2015 Jan	Series 13	71008	4.9	3
2015 May	Simpsons2	71009	4.9	3
2015 Sep	Series 14 - Monsters	71010	4.9	3
2015 Jan	Series 15	71011	5.5	3

Nov 2014 : Met up with one of my friend to pass him his CMF. Yes, i have a group of regulars whom i help form sets of CMF for. They do not bargain with me about the price and in turn, i give them the best price i can. I was puzzled why the introduction of imitation CMF series 1 was driving the the price of CMF up instead of down. This friend of mine is in the financial sector and i hope from his perspective, i can get a better understanding.

Here is my friend's take (in my understanding):
People who start late in CMF are staying just outside the door due to the high price of series 1 and 2. You can choose to move on in later series without series 1 and 2, but completist will opt to not even start.

With the introduction of imitation Series 1, they can overcome this and step into the world of CMF.
However, the evil part comes. Even though imitation LEGO has comes very close, there is still a gap. refer to the link below. Pretty detailed comparison guide.
http://mybrickstore.blogspot.sg/2014/12/imitation-of-lego-collectible.html

When you put the entire series together, one day, the difference in quality will bug you enough to bite the bullet and just go for the original.

Some might think why does the current price of series 1 and 2 differ so much from the later sets? If its due the the first being lesser, shouldnt it only be series 1 that sees the price increment instead of both 1 and 2? Well, as to that series 1 is still ard double the price of Series 2. At the same time, for Series 1 and 2, you wont need to damage the packaging to find out that is the content of the packet. You can just scan the bar code that is printed on the back. LEGO stopped that practise when it came to series 3 and used bump codes instead.

Series 3, 4, 5 made thier way into 7-11 all ard Singapore. An overproduction perhaps and they needed a wider way to capture more consumers. Also the adjustment in assortment really turned up the heat for ppl to complete thier set with as little extras as possible. No one wants to have to pay for close to half a box of extras.

Series 7 and 8 had an unusually short run for some reason.

Series 9 was an experiment to see if they can repackage the series to sell better. In the process of that, they adjusted a carton to hold 2 sets and release half cartons to poor consumers who couldnt find anyone to share a carton. Strangely, the half cartons never came to Singapore.

Series 10 was the killer. The release of Mr Gold has brought alot of unsightly behaviours to the surface. Sadly, I didnt had the chance to get him. It killed off alot of completists collectors who are unwilling pay the secondary market in order to complete thier collection.

When series 11 came, a number of collectors has already fallen off the train.

The LEGO Movie series brought some new collectors into the game. Ppl who watched the LEGO Movie rekindled their feelings for LEGO and went back into the hobby. CMF LEGO Movie was a very good way to get back into the feel due to its low cost.

Series 14 was the first series to have a theme. Monsters. I love it. Goes extremely well with monster fighter theme.

Series 15 sees a price increase. Just before the Disney series is released... *plays conspiracy music*

Along the way, some interesting things happened. Suddenly mascots gain popularity with some of them having a 10x price increase. And with demand, our favourite imitator came into picture! http://mybrickstore.blogspot.sg/2015/01/imitation-of-lego-collectible.html

Some of you might ask if you have miss the release, will you be able to get the character again without paying premium? In fact, the Chicken-Suit Guy was given away as a free gift this year when you purchased $80 worth of LEGO.

4 Minifig packs were released.
http://brickset.com/sets/theme-Collectable-Minifigures/subtheme-Combi-pack
Beach - Everyone remains the same.
Halloween - Witch remains the same, Zombie got a colour change.
Rock Band - Every one gets a colour change!!!

Cheerleader and Skater got re-released in Brick Calendar.
http://brickset.com/sets/853195-1/Brick-Calendar

One theory that i had. CMF and Modulars are 2 opposites. Modulars, in order to have the attention fully on the building, gives all its resident minifigs classic face. CMF wise, gives every minifig a different face along with different accessories.

Hopefully, Disney series will bring a new bunch of collectors into the fray again.