When buying Collectible Minifigures.... sealed bag or loose?

TroublesBrewing

When buying  Collectible Minifigures on the secondary market, do you care if they are still in the sealed mylar bag or if they are loose and in a zip-lock bag?

I have seen both listed on ebay and bricklink but what is the general conciseness for the average AFOL?

SumoLego

All of my non-displayed CMFs are in their sealed bags.  

oldtodd33

Sealed in original bag to ward off fake figs.

HokieJoe99

All of my displayed CMFs are in the bag. It really makes it hard to tell which is which in the display case, but they are MISB.  It's also kind of boring looking at 16 of the same bag.

Pitfall69

It is boring looking at 16 bas that are exactly the same, but it is how a lot of people roll. There are many people who buy a set to display and a set to keep NISB. 

CCC

Either for me.

khmellymel

I usually buy one bag of each series to keep sealed (usually any that I can get to keep it cheaper, OR my favourite), and the rest I open and put in small grip sealed bags.  I dunno, for whatever reason my feeling skills aren't that great, and I'd like to be assured that I actually have the full set.  I have yet to buy two full sets of any of the series' tho, except I'm close to having to 2 full Team GB's.

matticus_bricks

Since I know I'm never going to want to spend the money to have a complete set of every CMF, the only ones I buy secondhand are ones I need for MOCs or just really like. So for me, I just buy whatever option is the best deal. When I buy from new series, those are opened and displayed, and bagged individually when I'm not using them. The only time I keep them sealed are the ones I'm saving for investment purposes. 

Pitfall69

^What Collectible Minifigures are you investing in?

Farmer_John

I basically purchase a sealed set and then pick and choose the others I want to actually display. If you purchase the unsealed CMFs while they are available, it is less likely you'll get a knock-off...especially if they come in the original bag with the mini-poster, baseplate and accessories.

mikedotca

I had been wondering if I was ever to resell mine spare minifigs. Some are in the sealed original bags but I'm really guessing I know which they are. Others have been opened (when I've been wrong about the contents). Recently I purchased some secondhand, from one seller they came in new small ziplock bags, while from another seller they were in larger ziplock bags which also included the original bag and poster. I guess it's nice to try and keep a complete sealed set, but for spares I'd sell on, I think I'd want to make sure the contents are correct yet genuine.

CCC

One problem with sealed ones is that the torsos can be scratched to bits in the feeling process.

david325

And if you ever sell sealed expensive minifigures on eBay, be prepared for the item to be opened and somehow be a completely different, lower value figure to what you originally sold. Thus an item not as described case and all that follows. 

Fauch

I've been doing it wrong, I thought those bags were meant to be open :o

anyway, whatever is the best deal for me as well. I dunno why I would keep them sealed, except for investment.

Elune

I'm not a hard-core collector: I buy Lego sets to play with them. I think it's cool to own the box, but that's it. I wonder at people keeping their only copy of one particular set MISB, especially when they don't even intend to sell it. I know that a lot of people collect MISB toys without any intention of ever opening them or selling them, I just don't see the thrill.

So bottom line, I couldn't care less about a minifig bag. It actually makes me anxious to buy one in an unopened bag. I've never had any problem why it, but I'm always worried that that particular "bag feeler" is not as good as he thinks he is (because I'm terrible at it).

B0SSK

Whats a CMF?

GothamConstructionCo

^ Collectable MiniFigure, CMF. :wink: 

SumoLego

^^ It's like a white rangefinder, but gray.

SumoLego

oldtodd33 said:

Sealed in original bag to ward off fake figs.

I dip mine in garlic to ward off vampires.

oldtodd33

^ You will never complete cmf series 2 if you do that.

SumoLego

I was wondering why one bag was empty!

77ncaachamps

Some used sets I buy, I'd rather keep each one complete in the set (if space allows).

If I open up a new box, I transfer the figs, unassembled, into ziploc packs.

monkey

I open all, figs and boxes, including those I hope to sell, and so totally happy to buy either.

Reason is to ward off fakes and substitutions- if its sealed, I'll have no way of knowing as it is much easier to fake the factory seal than the lego. 

For future re-sales, the price difference between sealed box and opened box/sealed contents is negligible, while protection against "not-as-described" claims and similar does increase.

Farmer_John

^I haven't checked the price difference between sealed and unsealed boxes, but I do know the price difference between sealed and unsealed individual sets is substantial.

monkey

^ Yes, basically the small difference between new and sealed box, and new and unsealed box.

But used (even once) will be cheaper.

oldtodd33

^ If you will look, fake figures don't come with a bag that's part of the reason they are cheaper. There are no fake bags. 

SumoLego

I'm sure a diabolical faker could re-use and re-seal a bag.

Pitfall69

I believe it would be much harder to reseal a CMF bag than it would be to reseal a standard Lego boxed set.

Pitfall69

I think the reason why there isn't as much price difference between new sealed vs. opened CMF's because there are a lot of people that are undure of their feeling abilities and it is much easier to just cut open the package. The difference between a sealed box set and a non sealed box set is much greater. It is like driving off the lot with a new car. Even if you change your mind and turn around, you already lost a bunch of money.

DB361

But would it be all that difficult to make a fake sealed bag from new? If the faker already has the right equipment to do such a thing, I suspect not.

For me, I'll quite happily buy sealed from shops if they're on offer, but anything specific I'll buy second hand in shops that sell such things, rather than online.

Pitfall69

^If they could duplicate the sealed bags, how come the Series 1 knockoffs are in boxes?

SithLord196

I've been debating this myself. There is a particular set I'd like to buy, and can't decide if I want them loose or in their sealed bag. 

If they're loose, I know I'm getting all 16. On the other hand, there is a bit of enjoyment in opening the bags one by one.

Loose means more likely to be fake as well though, but sealed could mean getting a duplicate if their skills aren't as great as they think.

Loose opens the possibility of substituted pieces, while needing to returning a sealed set because you didn't get the 16 you were promised could be a huge hassle.

So really, I see cons on both.

CCC

Buy or trade with an established member here. 99.9% sure you'll be fine.

SumoLego

Just x-ray them beforehand.

Simple solution, eh?

SumoLego

Thankfully, Series 1 and Series 2 have the barcodes, thus the most expensive and most desirable sets (arguably) have a simple means of verification.

LordofLego

If you buy them on Bricklink, you are less likely to get fakes.

TheBigLegoski

I lean towards opened bags, when not buying CMF's in a toyshop where you can actually touch ID the packages, or when you are not buying an entire box with 60 figs. The couple I bought from an on line store in NL were loose in a zip-lock baggy, they included all the parts, though unfortunately no leaflet.

The one time I bought some CMF's on Bricklink, labelled as 'new', the seller had opened the mystery packs, and 'resealed' it with scotch tape. It was advertised as such, so I knew. The minifig was indeed new (to my knowledge), and I was and still am very happy with my Spartans.

I think returning and exchanging sealed packages which contain the wrong figs might be such a hassle, I'd rather buy them opened.

I don't know anything about fake CMF's being sold, but I have not bought anything from E-bay in years either. Ever since they asked everyone to change their password, as the site got hacked, I stopped using it.