Collectible Minifig Series 4

[Frank_Lloyd_Knight]

I've picked up one or two of these guys whenever they happen to be in the store. The Hazmat guy wasn't the highest on my list to get, but now that I have him, I love him. The suit reminds me of the spacesuits I've seen in the movie 2001, and in some other sci-fi artwork. Maybe someone's already made this observation, but compare the two images:
http://cache.lego.com/upload/contentTem ... 8E6D9F.jpg
http://cdn.mos.totalfilm.com/images/2/2 ... 800-75.jpg.

I hope that this suit isn't just a one-off, and maybe might return in some of Lego's space themes.

[JPinoy]

Scythians had used hats like the gnome wears. In fact its from these Scythian style headdress that the creators of the Smurfs, Gnomish myths, and other legendary/mythic characters with similar headwear have taken that hat design from.

[andhe]

I'm still seeing LOADS of series 4 in the shops, and in some places, still quite number of series 3. I'm wondering if this is going to effect the release/distribution of series 5. As shops may want to clear current stocks before they buy a load of series 5, or at least they may order fewer series 5 so they don't get stuck with loads of stock they can't shift?

[Bruce N H]

My local Target has series 4 figs in one of the 'girl' aisles. I'd missed them before when I just cruised through the LEGO aisle to see if they were in, but when my daughter and I were there this weekend we were looking at toys, and there they were, right next to Tinkerbell. Seemed pretty un-picked-over, too - I got three Musketeers and a punk rocker easily by feel.

I do think LEGO is missing out on not placing these more widely. Imagine if they were in, for instance, the check-out line of the grocery store. As a parent, I'd much rather have my kids pointing to those and begging rather than the candy bars they normally point at (and, unlike with the candy, I'd probably give in every time).
I came out of my dark ages largely due to a little $1 promo at a Shell gas station. These figs are perfect for those little impulse buys of someone who might not be going to the toy aisles.

Bruce

[JoshWedin]

I agree, Bruce. Lego is missing the boat on how they are marketing these.

Talking about finding them in weird places, I found them at my local Fred Meyer's in the paint section. There was a case sitting on the paint counter, next to the paint brushes. Odd....

Josh

[andhe]

In the shops near me (UK) they ARE near the checkouts, even sometimes behind the checkout (??) which may also account for lack of purchase (particularly from AFOL's wishing to have a feel before they buy).

There is obvious a market for cheaper lego sets (judging by the popularity of a recent newspaper giveaway frenzy) I just wonder if the market has reached saturation with the frequency of the series coming out, which may turn shops off constantly buying stock of the new series when they are still struggling to sell the previous one.

I for one, have never seen lego marked down in price just to sell/clear the shelves, I'm guessing because there probably isn't much of a profit margin for the shops, or TLG being quite tight with this.

[Azaghal]

I for one, have never seen lego marked down in price just to sell/clear the shelves . . .

I have, though no Collectible Minifigs yet. Probably different stores have different policies.

Actually, my experiences finding Collectible Minifigs in stores has been kind of weird. My local Wal*Mart got a shipment of Series 3 just a few weeks before Series 4 came out, then a shipment of Series 4 almost immediately upon release. I think - though I don't know for sure - that there were two separate restocks of 3, one of which was after the arrival of 4. Last time I checked, Series 4 was gone, but there were still several Series 3 packets in the display.