LEGO George Lucas Minifigure- A Rare Moment to Watch History

samiam391

As a rare minifigure collector, I thought I would share a rare auction that will either thrill and/or nauseate you.



A very rare George Lucas minifigure is currently up for auction (no reserve) in Germany, currently as of this writing at $2,300:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/192173587679?_trksid=p2471758.m4704

The last one to be sold went for approximately $5,000 3 or so years ago. It is unknown how many of these figures exist, but what is certain is that the numbers are incredibly low. 

It first appeared in roughly 2009, making a cameo in the first LEGO visual character dictionary guide listed under the "prototype" heading in the back pages.

Very neat!


However, perhaps the most fascinating part about this minifigure is how common most of it is...


The torso? Winter Village Bakery, in addition to several other sets:
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=973pb0086c01&idColor=63#T=I&C=63


The legs? Sand blue, easy enough to come by:
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=970c00&idColor=55&name=Sand Blue Hips and Legs&category=[Minifig, Legs Assembly]#T=S&C=55&O={"color":55}


The hair? Just ask an aging (and graying) Lockhart or Robin!
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=43751&idColor=11#T=S&C=86&O={"color":86}


So what is exclusive about ol' George?
His head! The face printing is completely exclusive to Mr. Lucas and cannot be purchased anywhere. Although, several minifigure heads can get you awfully close to the design of George's head.


What else is exclusive?

Absolutely, nothing.


So what's the end story?

People are currently paying $2,300+ (my guess for the final price will be roughly $8,000+!!) for a minifigure head. While paying a large some of money for anything plastic is somewhat crazy, paying that type of money for essentially just a head is truly mind boggling. In this day and age, it is all too easy to create your own custom head matching the current listing perfectly. Truthfully, we don't even know if this one is real... scary right?

I hope you enjoyed this little adventure into the craziness of rare minifigure collecting :)

SumoLego

Maybe it is just me, but even if I had the disposable income to purchase one of these, the fact that there isn't any way to verify the authenticity or provenance would make it a difficult purchase.

I had problems enough justifying a Boba Fett keychain.  I couldn't possibly imagine paying UCS MF prices for a head.

bandit778

@samiam391, I heard there were 6 versions of the head. 

The first was a groundbreaking print for the time it was made.
The second was better but the print a lot darker.
The third was a good print but ultimately deemed to cute.
The forth had nice graphics but was also annoying to look at.
The fifth was ultimatly forgettable,
The sixth was a good print but was ruined ny a sound chip that shouted out "noooooooooo"

I had heard that the original prints were sold for extreme amounts of money to a firm that were good with the idea of re doing the the first 3 and possibly more.  ;)

pharmjod

I'm laughing at people paying vast sums of money for a head that looks pretty much like all those ads I see for making your own custom minifig. PT Barnum would be proud.

CCC

Why is he wearing a yellow T-shirt?

In such a rare figure, they could at least make the skin colours match.

bobabricks

So I'm sitting here looking at this photo of this possibly $8,000 minifig thinking wow! I cannot believe this guy would not even dust off the figure before photographing it. Like come on bud, if your gonna sell for $8,000 at least put like $8 of effort into it.

Dedgecko

That's Space dust!

TheBigLegoski

Wow! That is just reee dick you less.

SumoLego

And as an aside, the fact that this figure was jettisoned into the upper atmosphere in a ping-pong ball has nothing to do with whether this is a real George Lucas minifigure.

KingAlanI

@bandit778 beat me to it. I was thinking of saying he should let other people write his dialogue.
5th print makes the 3rd seem better by comparison

samiam391

To add more kindling to the flames of would you really want to spend $3,000+ for a head...

Hmmm....

Legoboy

^ I have to confess, I've actually been considering it these past 24hrs.  :/

SumoLego

(The picture link is broken?  What is the magical $3000.00 head?)

Pitfall69

Legoboy said:

^ I have to confess, I've actually been considering it these past 24hrs.  :/

Interesting...since you were such a cheapskate in Florida ;)

SumoLego

Didn't spring for the $250.00 Kylo Ren Lightsaber?  Stuck with the $35.00 el-cheapo version?

Pitfall69

SumoLego said:

Didn't spring for the $250.00 Kylo Ren Lightsaber?  Stuck with the $35.00 el-cheapo version?

Actually, he went with the free ones that were given to him by the resort ;)

Legoboy

@Pitfall69 - ^^^ Wow, just wow!!

@SumoLego - Sam's $200 spending money didn't stretch that far and Dad didnt want a third 'cheap' version at home.  He was lucky he was trusted with the unexpected handouts we had.  Usually he draws blood.

SumoLego

A lightsaber is also problematic as a carry-on item.

SprinkleOtter

SumoLego said:

A lightsaber is also problematic as a carry-on item.

There are worse things to have.

Legoboy

SumoLego said:

A lightsaber is also problematic as a carry-on item.

Oh I dont know.  Straight down the trouser leg usually works.

SprinkleOtter

Legoboy said:

SumoLego said:

A lightsaber is also problematic as a carry-on item.

Oh I dont know.  Straight down the trouser leg usually works.

"Wow, that guy must be really, really happy to see me!"

Astrobricks

SumoLego said:

(The picture link is broken?  What is the magical $3000.00 head?)

Same problem here. In other threads I've seen the picture show up later, but it's just an empty little square right now.

Legoboy

^ I had that but then put it back into desktop mode and all was clear.

SumoLego

Legoboy said:
Oh I dont know.  Straight down the trouser leg usually works.

Cough... cough... no room in my pants... cough cough.

Pitfall69

^
*facepalm

SumoLego

I'm talking about skinny jeans - what are you talking about?

KingAlanI

Pants that are like a cheap hotel?
.
.
.
No ball room

MaffyD

This thread took an odd turn - down @SumoLego's pants?! And to say I get harangued for going off-topic! :-)

Stvoyager04

Looks like the listing has been removed?

drdesignz

Yup.  It just happened.  I was trying to show a friend.  All of a sudden it was removed.

Legoboy

Here are some of the pictures.

samiam391

And it's back!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/192182559766?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Explanation from the seller:
!!! Attention, this is an auction, which had already begun a few days ago. Unfortunately, I accidentally had an Amazon link in the description, which violates the ebay guidelines, so the auction from ebay was terminated. I have removed the link and set the auction live again !!!

I don't recall an Amazon link being in the description, but perhaps I'm wrong.

10 more days... history takes time.

Legoboy

^ I dont either.  Strange.

SumoLego

Legoboy said:
^ I dont either.  Strange.

Drmnez

I gotta look at mine now. I just might have an expensive head

samiam391

Did anyone besides me watch the exciting finale?

In a matter of 3 bids and 10 seconds the final price went from $4,300 USD to a whopping $11,300 USD!

Not bad for a plastic head.

prevere

There's likely a more than 50% chance this gets relisted because the buyer backs out, having realized while high on coke, meth or shear Star Wars bliss he just bankrupted himself.

1x1

It's not exactly the moon landing or the Berlin Wall coming down is it?
i wonder if the highest bidder will actually pay?

Russell844

SumoLego

Here's the completed listing...


Nuts, if you ask me!
@samiam391 - 28%

Legoboy

My wife is not going to be happy with me.

caterham7

Why €5 shipping?  Surely it can be included free with the amount bid.

BuriedinBricks

I also seriously hope the seller spends more than that amount to ship it, given the price tag of the item.

SprinkleOtter

^ Just put a stamp on it.

Istokg

Well since P.T. Barnum was right... (at least with sober people).... then maybe the buyer can get another crown jewel to their collection.... ;-)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-MINT-CONDITION-1st-Edition-P-V-C-1997-Princess-Diana-Beanie-Baby-Retired/352011213907?_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982&_trkparms=aid=888007&algo=DISC.MBE&ao=1&asc=40130&meid=e04324d582684fb29abc12f8176cda27&pid=100009&rk=1&rkt=2&sd=261541425266

pharmjod

Beanie babies... Haha. Suckers. My parents did well with them back in the day. Fortunately they didn't bet the farm.

CCC

Sean Connery as George Lucas.



I think it looks awful having a yellow neck torso with a fleshie head. I know the auction above had the same thing, yet in the other promotional pictures as posted by legoboy, the neck was fleshie...

mh3490

3000 easily the most i would pay for head..^a

mithridate

CCC said:

I think it looks awful having a yellow neck torso with a fleshie head. I know the auction above had the same thing, yet in the other promotional pictures as posted by legoboy, the neck was fleshie...

Agree about mismatched components being less appealing, but I think this is a prototype. And re some pics have flesh torso, some don’t: I think that’s lighting/distance playing a trick here.

ReesesPieces

mh3490 said:

3000 easily the most i would pay for head..^a

Umm...but you can get it for $50 right around the street corner.....oh...nevermind.

Brainslugged

ReesesPieces said:

Umm...but you can get it for $50 right around the street corner.....oh...nevermind.

£5 and a bag of Revels or I'm out.