by rogue27 » Tue Nov 18, 2014 4:51 am
I was actually reading about the minifig Jambalaya on Merlin's Beard earlier today and I thought it was a an interesting idea. I doubt I'll have time to participate, but I'm curious to see how it turns out.
I think there are a lot of challenges to make a non-themed minifig jambalaya work. You could seed the initial package with dozens of unwanted minifigures, and possibly get nothing you want in return due to the large variety of available mini figures. It's also possible that people would look through the package and not find a figure they like.
The problem is that most people who like Castle also like to dabble in other themes as well. However, it's rarely the same other themes.
One person might like Castle and Blacktron, another person might like Castle and Ultra Agents, Castle and Monster Hunters, Castle and Chima, etc. So if there aren't any blacktron figures in the package, maybe the blacktron guy is disappointed. Then the blacktron guy adds some extra non-blacktron space stuff, but the package goes to the Ultra Agents fan who doesn't care about any of the space figures, etc. There are just so many different themes and figures out there now, it would be tough to keep people happy if you're straying outside of the common theme we all enjoy.
Keeping it focused on a theme reduces this problem. On the other hand, I'd personally enjoy getting odd figures from a variety of themes, so I can see the appeal to having more variety. I think the multi-themed Jambalaya could work if the number of figures was high. Maybe 100, but then shipping costs are a problem. You can get away with much smaller numbers if you keep it focused on a theme everybody involved has a common interest in.
As for the questions:
1. Accessories seem reasonable if they are in a ziplock with the figs they belong to.
2. 2015
3. Probably, otherwise it can take a long time.
4. It might be wise to disallow anything other than standard mini figures. (Anything with the standard minifigure torso.) No friends, technic, jack stone, 70s homemaker figures, etc.
Another question to answer is if the figures are to remain intact. Like, could a person take a torso from one and a head from another, or must the figures in the assortment be taken as a whole? If it's the latter, it might be wise to put each of the figures into a 2x3 ziplock bag like you can find in craft stores (or the craft section of Wal-Mart) to protect them from scratching and keep all of the parts for a figure together in case things pop off during shipping.
All that said, I'm not sure if it's a good idea or that I would want to participate. I'm tossing some thoughts out there because I think it is an interesting idea, but I am not sure if it is practical to do this without being themed. Seems more like the sort of thing people could do when meeting up at a convention or a LUG meeting.