I just thought of a really cool way to completely stop this from happening:
Lego could make it clear what each package contains, then people could buy what they want.
There will still be tons of people that will buy complete sets. And there will be many more happy customers who aren’t duped or cheated by having to buy excessive product for the chance to buy what they want.
So, Lego, you want to be more sustainable? Employ this simple approach, and you’ll create less waste and you’ll have happier customers.
When I heard that were moving to boxes, I had the (I’m sure not very original) idea for LEGO to print codes on the boxes. Determined fans who wanted a particular figure could look up the code and purchase boxes based on this. Fans who wanted the full blind box experience could ignore the codes.
It wouldn’t be anything obvious like “this box contains Wolverine.” Instead, it could say something like MCMF2-3200 and fans would need to decode the numbers to tell which figures had which codes.
For a short time, it looked like there might have been codes on the packages and I was happy that LEGO did this. Then, the codes got disproved.
I still think this would work. Think of it like the alien alphabets in Futurama. That led fans to rewatch episodes over and over to decode the language. This would be the LEGO version of this - only not as complex because there would only need to be 12 to decode.
It’s the trading card game approach tho right. They must be making a good bit of extra cash off of this. Enough where these ripping of bags don’t matter much in the big scheme of things.
Calling it that makes it sound like a fun whoopsy rather than what it is: a tactic to squeeze a few more dollars out of customers, while intentionally obscuring what the buyer is getting. More like gambling/loot boxes. And they don’t care if people at Walmart are tearing up their product. Lego already got paid, it’s the stores that are losing.
Really it’s just a scummy business practice. Add to the fact that they now own bricklink, so they’re making, what, 3% back on each resale?
If it’s not crystal clear, I really hate this practice. And now, with them taking it a step further in the wrong direction, just makes me more okay with buying less. Which sucks, because I really like this series. But I can’t support shit like this.
In my case, it means I’ll be buying less from them. If they were in the bags, I’d have gone to the LEGO store with my older son (who has a 95%+ success rate at feeling figures in the bags) and would have gotten all the figures I wanted.
Now, I’m going to buy a 6 pack (to ensure no dupes) and if I don’t get everyone I want them oh well. Maybe I’ll buy the others from BrickLink, but likely not.
On the other hand, it might finally give me the kick in the rear to start a local “minifigure trading group.” If I got two Wolverines and someone else has an extra Moon Knight, we could swap so we each get closer to a complete set. (It would need to be local because the cost of shipping the figures back and forth wouldn’t make it worth while - not to mention keeping people honest about actually shipping figures instead of getting a figure and then ghosting.)
