Would you buy CMFs if LEGO made "feel-proof" packaging?

datsunrobbie

I only recently started collecting CMFs, and ended up buying several clones rather than feeling my way through lots of bags to find only one of each. While buying those, I also picked up several non-LEGO "blind-bag" toys for my grandson, who is quite taken with You Tube videos of people opening these toys. Some were packaged in poly bags, like CMFs, but others are packaged in hard-shell capsules, eliminating any chance of figuring out what toy is in the package without opening it. Now I'm wondering, how would people's CMF buying change if LEGO started using similar packaging?

Yodalicious

For my kids, I would keep buying them regardless. They love the surprise. Well, the oldest loves the surprise. The 6-month-old would rather try to eat them.

For me, I would, but I wouldn't buy nearly as many from retail. As it stands now, I blindly buy a bunch when they come out, then go back and feel for what I'm missing. I feel if they were "feel-proof," I would still buy that first bunch, but then I'd just come here or go to BrickLink to finish off the series.

madforLEGO

At 3.99 USD per pack? Heck no, IMO too pricey for randomness at this point. If they went back down to the price they originally started at (1.99 USD) I probably would, but they would never be that price again..

Ayliffe

Without a doubt, yes. Although the mystery gimmick may be appealing to the target audience (y'know, the kiddies), for me the draw is getting only the minifigs I want without the risk of getting 10 of something I don't want. Removing this assurance of getting the 'figs I like completely would destroy my interest in the line. 

flord

I would still buy a few for my kids, but I sure wouldn't be completing any series.

CCC

Yes. Now distributions are relatively equal again, I prefer not feeling. Just open and see what you get. Plus you don't scratch the parts.

Dtrimpi87

Vendors on sites such as ebay will still open them to confirm the contents before selling them so yes I still would. I'm not into the surprise thing so I would just buy a complete set from a vendor. Most of the time you can get a new complete set from an online vendor for cheaper than if you bought them in a store or retailer, and you wouldn't have to worry about unwanted doubles.

graphite

I'd still buy full boxes and just open them all, selling the extras as new/opened.  Wouldn't like that much but it would still get me my complete set and people would still buy the others.

Mynatt

Echoing some of what is said above about how I would only buy them because I am in search of certain figures. If you could not feel the bags I would not buy them. 

Sure the the luck of the draw is always a fun way to select CMF but I find that out of the 16, there are few that I would be willing to spend $4 on.

MattsWhat

If this happened then it would set a minimum price in the aftermarket for each figure of rrp. Probably a little bit higher. As it stands now I know I can go and feel out the one I want and pay retail, if I couldn't I would pay a premium (albeit only small) for the knowledge.
As a consequence of this, the aftermarket for the current series would be better than it is now. I only buy at less than retail for the currently available minis (and I doubt I am the only one) but that's because I know I can get what I want for rrp easy enough.
If this happened I would therefore buy by the box - open them all, keep a set, and sell the rest identified for a little over the rrp for people to complete their sets. It would actually work out better for me than the current set up. 

tamamahm

I would either not buy or buy minimally. There are multiple people here that want certain ones, and it simply would be too much money and frustration to just grab packs and hope I get them. While numbers may be more normalized, it still ends up every time, that the ones we want the most are the ones that are the least. Every. Single. Time. 

dragon114

I would just buy 5 and the suit guys.

madforLEGO

Dtrimpi87 said:

Vendors on sites such as ebay will still open them to confirm the contents before selling them so yes I still would. I'm not into the surprise thing so I would just buy a complete set from a vendor. Most of the time you can get a new complete set from an online vendor for cheaper than if you bought them in a store or retailer, and you wouldn't have to worry about unwanted doubles.

Yeah, but that is cheating the question a bit IMO. I believe the implication of the original question would be if you personally would go buy random feel proof packs, and not that someone else would purchase them to break them open to sell them. Never mind those people would likely also charge a new 'premium' fee for knowing what the figure is, especially if the figure in question is a sought after one and the packs could no longer be felt to predetermine what the pack held.

BrickHunter

in short NO. only reason I started collecting CMF is cuz I knew I could feel for it and didn't need to waste lot of money on doubles. but I do like blind bags cuz sometimes I buy without feeling it to be a surprise.

Jackad7

I can kind of see the hate but at the same time 3.99 is the same price as a pack of trading cards and people delve deep into those. I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that the unappealing would come in the that most people don't collect full sets (me) and this would result in a LOT of undesirable figures circulating. For example if you have a figure that's a warrior and then the 4 other mini figures that really aren't applicable outside of collecting, people looking in the buy the Warriors off the market, and the rest of the figures will be stuck with whoever was unfortunate enough to open them. This would result in having one or two very expensive ($20-$30) figures and the rest literally unsellable just like trading card games. Would they still sell? Probably. Would people be much less inclined to buy them? Most certainly.

Venunder

If I could not feel them, I would only buy them randomly at massive discounts.

Even then I would get together with a couple of AFOL friends, buy a Full Box or two on discount and split them between us.
If I wanted any extras I guess I would have to buy them from traders here or on feebay.  

SumoLego

Yes, but a know a dentist that wouldn't mind running packs through an x-ray machine.

(Yes, for real.)

willobee498

I would do what i always do... if I like all the figs in a series (like the halloween series), I'll be happy to pick up some randoms. If there are just a few i want, I buy from someone who has opened them to check.

77ncaachamps

Yes.

I think it'd actually encourage more trading and selling/buying on the secondary market.

Farmer_John

Imagine the pandemonium if TLG had put a top hat and walking stick in all the Series 10 packs...

SumoLego

^  Mr. Plastic?

Truly awesome!

Recce

I've never bought any individual packs so far, it's either a whole unopened box or a set of 16 sold by someone else.

legomatt

CCC said:

...Plus you don't scratch the parts.

Of course, the refined method, perfected by the experienced AFOL fig feeler, poses no risk to the parts at all.
(I do hate to see crushed and mangled packets in shop displays, like they've been savaged by an angry mouse). :oP

If parts are not immediately apparent from sight, then a gentle squeeze of the packet (and/or very mild shake) will loosen any little bits to one edge, and hey presto, unique parts id'd with minimal fig interference.
Then, if packet came from a newly opened box, all identical figs in that box will then match the dot code. Plus, if seeking a full set from a single box (assuming not a mixed batch), can just pick out 16 different dot codes, with no feeling required.

:o)

SumoLego

The dot codes...  that I put no faith in!

CCC

77ncaachamps said:

Yes.

I think it'd actually encourage more trading and selling/buying on the secondary market.

I do a fair bit of trading, so that is probably why I am not against getting ones I don't want.

catwrangler

I never knew about the dot codes! Time for a trip to TRU one of these days, I think...

If they made unfeelable packaging I think I'd keep doing what I do now. There are some series where I like all or most of the figures, so I'd buy those anyway and swap any doubles. I like enough different Lego themes that I can usually see a way to fitting less lovable minifigs into a setup, or use them for parts in custom figures.

If there was a series where I only wanted a few figs, I'd just buy the ones I want online, assuming people weren't charging a massive premium. 

ryjay

Yes, but we only buy a few anyway just for fun.   If there is one we want we buy it at toy show, an opened one, too.

Sethro3

I would quit buying them. I am already trying to force myself to quit buying them at the current price, so if they truly made them blind packaging, I would skip altogether and maybe pick up a few in the aftermarket if I can find them for the right price.

I don't know why I buy complete sets now as it is. Seems silly considering I could spend that money on bricks that I would actually use instead of figures that I throw in a box together.

CircleK

Sethro3 said:

I would quit buying them. I am already trying to force myself to quit buying them at the current price, so if they truly made them blind packaging, I would skip altogether and maybe pick up a few in the aftermarket if I can find them for the right price.

I don't know why I buy complete sets now as it is. Seems silly considering I could spend that money on bricks that I would actually use instead of figures that I throw in a box together.

My thoughts exactly. It's as if I wrote this myself. 

deephorse

Jackad7 said:

 For example if you have a figure that's a warrior and then the 4 other mini figures that really aren't applicable outside of collecting, people looking in the buy the Warriors off the market, and the rest of the figures will be stuck with whoever was unfortunate enough to open them. 

I wish I understood this sentence.

SumoLego

Don't take all the Bumblebee Girls and leave me with the Skydivers!

bandit778

If they did this I would probably only pick up the ones I wanted on the secondary market.
The only thing that would change that was if they did a licensed cmf line like Star Wars, where the not so rare figures could perhaps be used as army builders.

JoeMMo

I'd be happy for the packaging to be feel proof if they'll also make the bump codes more legible and less ambiguous

SumoLego

^ I think if TLG made the bump codes deliberately clearer, they might as well go back to the bar codes.

And I think we all know the reason why they jettisoned the bar codes.

Istokg

I was just reading that Ty.... the company that makes (or made) Beanie Babies made $6 billion in profits off of the then collectible craze.  I wonder how many billions the Kristiansen's are going to make before the last of the CMFs come off the line?

Farmer_John

Kind of an interesting side story to the CMF discussion above...

I purchased a couple of opened Series 15 CMFs on BL back in February from a seller here in the USA and the guy sent the original packaging with the sets. Because the packaging was open anyway, I cut out the bar code to carry in my wallet as a quick way of checking whether our local Target had finally got the Series 15 CMFs in stock (and which aisle they were located in). I checked the store a couple times using the scanner in the front of the store and it indicated they didn't have any Series 15 CMFs available. The third time I checked their availability, I decided to head into the back of the store to see if they had any decent Easter polybags available. As I was walking by the Lego aisle to the Easter section I happened to notice that the Series 15 CMF display was up and fully loaded. I started wondering what in the world was going on, so I stepped over to a scanner near the CMFs and again it told me they weren't available.

It finally dawned on me that the US seller I purchased the original Series 15 CMFs from must have bought them from overseas. Sure enough when I got home I looked closer at the packaging, it was not the North American version of the CMF packaging. Doh!

VorpalRyu

Feel-proof packaging? I wouldn't be buying, some I grab multiples of, but there are some I have no interest in & trading ones I'd get that I don't want for the ones I do around Adelaide wouldn't work so well.

CM4S

I always feel packets so if they make feel proof packets they've lost me as a customer in the Minifigure department unless they get a better identification method than the awful dot codes.

AllBrick

If FPP was introduced I'll be waiting for clearance time. I can take more risks when they are 25p.

chuckp

I would still buy if they had FPP, but probably much less. It would put an end to army building for me, as I would never want an army of Clumsy Guys or Motorcycle Mechanics. 

LEGO really started something with the blind bag toys. I was at Target this weekend looking for a few Series 14 figs on an end cap and saw someone doing the same down the main toy isle with some new Disney blind bags. I've seen tons of the blind bag toys since the CMFs launched, but that was the first time I've ever seen somebody feeling non-LEGO bags. 

legobod

I usually only want a few from each series that comes out so I'd probably stop buying. Although... If someone posted the weight of each figure then maybe we can all wander about with little sets of scales looking for those milligrams of difference between the ones we want and the ones we don't. I'm joking but I bet someone is now considering trying it.

CCC

^ it has already been tried, and doesn't really work. You need scales with the same accuracy (or inaccuracy) as the person publishing weights. Weights for the same figure can vary significantly depending on who measures them.

Aanchir

I mean, I'd probably buy some. Maybe not as many, depending on how many figs in the series I'm interested in, but IMO all the figs tend to be well designed, and I have bought some randomly (without feeling them out beforehand) in the past. So I wouldn't be opposed to buying a few from each series at random.

I do wonder whether LEGO would have any real incentive to use feel-proof packaging, though. I doubt they're losing a lot of sales from people feeling out the figs they want. I think it's probably a lot more efficient to pack a box with 30 or 60 foil bags than with as many hard-shell capsules. And of course, LEGO has been trying to reduce the wastefulness of their packaging lately. They no longer even use plastic canisters for the Bionicle theme, a theme where that type of packaging was once a staple. So I think they're probably likely to stick with the foil bags.

flord

Why couldn't Lego just make all minifigs in equal numbers? It seems silly that people buy a case of CMFs, and they only get 3 complete sets out of that. If everything could be found in equal amounts, customers would have few issues getting the ones they want.

Instead I'm stuck with a small army of Goblins from Series 13.

Fauch

there is no way you could get more than 3 complete sets from one box of 60

catwrangler

Well, they don't so much want you to get a complete set as to spend a fortune trying...

LostInTranslation

Tesco have occasionally put individual packets in plastic CD cases and WhSmiths put them behind the till in some stores, thus preventing feelage.  
If it's a series that has just come out and I don't have any or many I might pick up a couple in that way but if it was the norm everywhere I would just buy a box every series.
I usually want several doubles but generally of the female figs that LEGO always shorts in the distribution so I'd rather feel to identify and be sure rather than waste my money on duplicates I have no interest in.  

MrShinyAndNew

The comparison to trading cards is a little weak. Trading cards usually have several in a pack and dozens in a series. So buying a handful of packs often gets you some doubles but there's no chance they'll all be the same. Your odds with Lego minifigs are much worse. You could buy 5 packs and end up with two unique figures. And with my luck they wouldn't even be figures I want. When I used to buy trading cards, it was with an intent to complete a series. With minifigs, I only buy a few that I like.

If I had someone to trade with, I'd consider buying them blindly. But then, I'd also consider just buying a whole box at once at that point, which is something I never do now. The way it is now is best: you can get the figs you want, or buy them blindly.

MugenPower

chuckp said:

LEGO really started something with the blind bag toys. I was at Target this weekend looking for a few Series 14 figs on an end cap and saw someone doing the same down the main toy isle with some new Disney blind bags. I've seen tons of the blind bag toys since the CMFs launched, but that was the first time I've ever seen somebody feeling non-LEGO bags. 

Not sure if you're crediting LEGO with using blind bags or just the bag-feeling phenomenon but blind bag-type collectibles have been around long before CMFs.  Most notably, blind boxes for vinyl figures have been around for years prior.  However, you couldn't really feel for what you're getting since the bags are sealed in cardboard boxes.  I'm sure there are other examples of blind bag/box toys even before vinyl figs were a thing.

KingAlanI

Reminds me of buying Magic the Gathering packs versus singles. Generally it makes sense to buy singles unless you're a dealer or specifically playing with random cards. Cards are feel proof (though the early pack wrappers were translucent), and are easier to ship.

SumoLego

K'Nex did the blind Mario Kart bags for years.  I'm not sure if they pre-dated Series 1.