Marvel Mega Bloks Collectible Minifigs

vwong19

Before I get flamed for mentioning the inferior competition, I'd like everyone to know that I've been collecting Legos exclusively and their Collectible Minifigs... until I saw a display of Marvel Mega Blok Blind Pack Minifigs right below the Legos. If you've seen the Halo packs, then you know what I'm talking about. Besides being a Lego fan, I'm a huge Marvel fan so I had to see for myself. The packs are $2.50 each and are similarly packed like Lego Minifig Packs. The pack provides a checklist and indicates that there are common and super rares.

Anyway I think the Marvel minifigs are pretty cool. The paint application and articulation are amazing. I won't mix these with my LEGO universe, but they stand alone as cute little versions of the Marvel heroes that people love. If LEGO had the license and made these, it would blow Series 1 out of the water in terms of demand.

If anyone collects, please share your thoughts. Also if someone knows the cheat for the figures that would help me also.... of the 2 packs that I bought, both were Spiderman. :(

Si_UKNZ

[flame] You're mentioning the inferior competition [/flame]

Russell844

If you look at the back of the package, look at the heat seal along the right edge. There should be an imprinted serial number. Each figure has a different serial number.

Huw

vwong, careful using language like megab???ks, it'll get you banned, and Russell, I'm horrified that you even know that sort of detail :-)

Loads of people are jumping on to the blind minifig bandwagon. I've seen Cobi ones too.

zaxter2001

^^^ EXACTLY what I was thinking Huw!

Russell844

I have a friend that bought a box, and I helped him figure the codes out. :D

drdavewatford

Say it quietly, but competition is healthy, even for LEGO..... The main issue is that the competition is, in general, a bit rubbish which means that LEGO can continue to premium price the product to ridiculous levels in some cases.

I'd like the competition to up their game to be honest, as something is needed to put the brake on LEGO prices. There certainly doesn't appear to be much appetite for such moderation from within the company, despite the huge profits they're racking up.

Huw

^^ Ah yes, of course, 'your friend' bought them :-)

jwsmart

Is this the thread where we come clean about our non-LEGO building block purchases? Or deny everything "That's not mine, I was just holding it for a friend!"

I ordered a few of the Dr. Who blind packs from Character Building (I guess they do BBC licenses mostly?) from some amazon.com seller based in the UK, because they aren't available in the US. Still waiting for them to arrive. Very curious about the quality (or lack thereof).

It's a bit frustrating, because if it were a LEGO product - I'd know everything I needed to
know about it before I bought. How it's packed, what kind of plastic it is, how is the quality of the pieces, etc.

vwong19

Thanks Russell for the tip. If your "friend" wants to trade or sell, let me know. For some reason I noticed the stamp on the bag, but still picked up 2 packs with the same coding.... not sure what I was thinking.

I'm all in favor of some competition, especially if it keeps the prices and quality of LEGO in check. Of they competition will never be LEGO.

As for as the Marvel *** products are concerned, the minifig are pretty fun to handle and to me are worth the money. I think they are too different from LEGO to consider them a threat. I wish I had collected the Spiderman series, but the prices are too high now. Also LEGO did not do Iron Man....

Ypres

If you want Megacrap just go on Ebay... they sell like the dirt they're made of. I only got a few blocks in a bulk LEGO lot (the biggest reason I hate Mega). I looked at how bad the blocks were and broke a few with my fingers! It really doesn't take much to brake or put a white bend mark in those blocks. Cheap garbage.

Lego needs high prices. They have lots of growing to do so they can meet the higher demand.

vwong19

Do not be so quick to judge. Agreed Mega**** bricks are crap, but the minifigures are different. I'm never going to say they replace LEGO minifigures, but I'm just saying they could be cool, especially if they continue the Series and example on the Marvel Universe.... avengers, fab 5, etc. I hope LEGO gets the license when Star War expires.

Enbric

I looked up pics of some of these figures, and to be honest I think they look just like their junky brick counterparts, Happy Meal quality. Not that we haven't seen LEGO from McDonald's, but most of it has been junk like this.

I've never liked action figure style toys anyway, so I guess I was destined not to like these.

AETerry

Mmm.... I like Marvel too. I have some of the inferior Mega bricks due to being a fan of TMNT and Mega did a liscense deal with Mirage studios at the time.

I did buy 1 package of the Marvel blind minifigures... I got Green Goblin and I'm rather disgusted with it.

Ypres

Well my friend owned some of the Dragon stone Knight guys (whatever the heck the theme is called). I'd go over to his house to trade Yu-Gi-Oh (back in the days) and sometimes I'd goof around with his Mega*. My friend would get mad because all I did was throw men into the catapult and hurl them across the floor.

So even as an early youth I knew better than to buy Mega* instead of Lego! The figures, having touched the knights, are really stupid. They looked "chunky"... I mean, really over-weight.

jwsmart

I've never liked action figure style toys anyway, so I guess I was destined not to like these.

Never thought of it like that before. They aren't really minifigures the way we know them, they're 2 inch action figures that just happen to plug into bricks.

hans_olo

M#$^ B(*@!& minifigs are by no means whatsoever as bad as you guys say. I am a HUGE fan of Halo and i absolutely love the minifigs they offer. They do the series justice. While M#$^ will never replace Lego in any of our hearts, I think we should keep an open mind and see what Lego's disfunctional distant cousin is trying to come up with next.

pantenkind

I have said it before, as soon as megablocks come out with a set/series/license I like I will be first in line to buy. I will proudly display them right next to my Lego collection and honestly not think twice about it. Is it cool to be a slave to lego? It seems to be a trend around here. We all love Lego. Thats why were here, but anyone who is small minded enough to blow off megablocks as a serious product needs to look at their sales figures. They are also going after licensing rights and are starting to get some good ones. You mark my words on this, in a few years they will be on par, and probably cheaper still to buy than LEGO. Sorry if I rained on anyones LEGO parade. Personally I cannot wait.

Ypres

LOL! Megacrap is penny stocks. Their company took a huge hit during the last two years. Most of their sales come from parents who can't tell the difference and think they're buying Lego. That really is enough for someone to cry over... but if that's not a big deal to any megacrap buyer then call me a "slave to Lego". Megacrap stole their product from Lego... that's like spitting in someone's face. Seriously, what respectful toy company does that?

Fizzlemesexy

I tried two of the series 1 Halo blind packs and I was rather disappointed. These were the only MB's I have ever purchased willingly and I don't plan on doing this again.

The images don't look the same as what you get in the package. Other toy lines are not that different in their displays. I understand that this is supposed to be a cheaper alternative but that is unacceptable. Lego does this too, but the differences are not as significant.

In one large lot of Lego I picked up, I had put all the MBs in the usually bag in a corner except for a magnet set "Mag Warriors 9013 Hawkblade". I think the weight of the magnets makes me believe it is sturdy and it resembles more of an action figure, this is why I gave them a chance. I was wrong to think they might be different. Don't fall for their trap.

drdavewatford

Let's be clear here - while there are clearly LEGO evangelists who will on principle not look at any other plastic construction toy, I'd wager that the reason that most of us here are so disparaging about the competition is because it's such poor quality. Sure, I admit to having a natural aversion to the blatant and shameless plagiarism which characterises a lot of these competition and clone brands, but any successful product will be legally or illegally copied - that's the nature of the beast. It's the fact that the poor quality of the product brings with it a largely miserable and unsatisfying building experience that irks me most. And as for these brands being 'successful', riding on the coat-tails of a successful brand like LEGO will inevitably bring some success, but it's nevertheless extremely telling that despite their much lower prices and increasingly attractive licenses their sales still barely make a dent in the much pricier LEGO brand.

bluemoose

I'll happily admit to occasionally (every 5 years or so) buying a Megabloks set; after all, the only way to be genuinely informed about the 'competition' is to have first hand experience of it. Some of the rabid anti-Megaloks rhetoric in our community saddens me, as it is just fan-boi-ism of the worst kind. Yes, Megabloks' products are inferior to LEGO's ... but, yes, the quality is getting better year-on-year. It's been a while, so maybe now is a good time to 'sample' the competition again, and some of those Halo sets look quite nice ...

I recently bought one of the 'Dr Who' sets (the TARDIS one) and a few of the blind-packaged Dr.Who bags. Although marketed & distributed by 'Character Building', they are actually made by COBI. The quality, for what it's worth, is pretty good. I'm not a fan of the 'style' of the figures, but they are a reasonable quality product.

LEGO, as a company, don't need us to defend them. I am a fan of their products, but I'm not sure I would call myself a fan of the company. They are OK (I don't actively dislike the company, like some people in the community), but I'm not blind to their failings either.

One of the things that does interest me about Megabloks is their willingness to produce some novel brick types that LEGO seem unwilling to pursue. We know that LEGO have explored the use of many of these types of bricks internally, but have decided, for their own reasons, that they don't fit into the LEGO 'system' (usually for 'playability' reasons). From a MOC perspective, this is something we shouldn't be scared of ... indeed one of the most praised builders in recent years, the sadly missed 'nnenn', was a huge advocate of using whatever bricks, LEGO or Megabloks, he needed to create the model he was working on.

So, have I ever used Megabloks elements in a MOC? No, no I have not. The Megabloks sets I have bought are carefully repackaged separately from the rest of my LEGO, and any Megabloks elements I accidentally acquire through bulk purchases go straight in the bin ;-)

jwsmart

I recently bought one of the 'Dr Who' sets (the TARDIS one) and a few of the blind-packaged Dr.Who bags. Although marketed & distributed by 'Character Building', they are actually made by COBI. The quality, for what it's worth, is pretty good. I'm not a fan of the 'style' of the figures, but they are a reasonable quality product.

Interesting, I haven't seen that anywhere in any of the articles I've read about the Dr. Who figs. Good to know about the quality.

One of the things that does interest me about Megabloks is their willingness to produce some novel brick types that LEGO seem unwilling to pursue. We know that LEGO have explored the use of many of these types of bricks internally, but have decided, for their own reasons, that they don't fit into the LEGO 'system' (usually for 'playability' reasons).

Anyone remember the Tyco Superblocks? They had a 1x1 Brick /w stud on one side back in the late 80's, early 90's. As well as a cheese slope type brick, and dome canopy. LEGO will eventually adapt other's designs into their own system, when they see fit to do so.

bluemoose

LEGO will eventually adapt other's designs into their own system, when they see fit to do so.

It isn't an issue of 'LEGO adopting others designs'; the point is that LEGO have experimented with these designs, and continue to do so, but have decided not release them in sets. Based on what I've personally seen & touched, I doubt there is any significant brick design out there today (excluding highly custom bricks, like canopies for specific Halo vehicles), from any other company, that LEGO weren't experimenting with long ago. Elements like inverse tiles, plates with studs on both sides, etc., exist in very limited quantities in prototype form in Billund & have done for many years.

You're right, of course, that things move on & maybe we will see the 1x2 plate with studs on both sides from LEGO in the future ... but I'm not going to be placing any bets on when!

drdavewatford

^ Inverse cheese slope, anyone ?

bluemoose

Would be lovely wouldn't it. Along with corner cheese. Too fiddly according to Design Lab; difficult to show their use in instructions clearly & too confusing for kids.

It would be great if LEGO gave in & did a 'AFOL pack' containing many of our most wanted elements ... http://www.flickr.com/groups/[email protected]/

Orthobotrex

^ I'm glad you showed that... I have been wondering what has happened to a similar thread over at Eurobricks. It would be nice to really see which of those dream elements came into fruition.

^^ I would rather see a cheese slope with a stud (they are different from what you are trying to tell, right?). It would look great for control panels of spaceships.

Ypres

Well if any of you actually bought stock in the Mega brand you'd hate them too!

Yeah, the only thing worse than buying their "bloks" is investing in them....

jwsmart

Elements like inverse tiles, plates with studs on both sides, etc., exist in very limited quantities in prototype form in Billund & have done for many years.

I guess it's sort of impossible to know who had the idea first for the pieces since one of the companies involved is completely defunct, and the other doesn't go around publishing their prototypes...
The point that I was trying to make is this:
The fact that a similar piece was made by a competitor doesn't mean TLG will not ever produce it, but that they'll introduce a piece when they determine the system needs it, and not before.

bluemoose

The point that I was trying to make ...

Yeah, got that the first time, and I agree ... to a degree. There are some bricks (like the ones I mentioned above) that we will never see in sets unless Design Lab change their rules, because currently they are 'out of system'.

pantenkind

I actually like the idea of making a "AFOL" set full of a bunch of moc pieces. This way everyone gets the best of everything. Sets are still kid friendly, and the geniuses (I mean absolutely no sarcasm there, as I believe alot of mocers are) can get the pieces they need to build even better models without having to go to the competition.

I actually owned a set of the tyco superblocks when I was younger, it was a large castle and was the castle space set or something. some of the pieces were inferior and barely held together, but I remember a lot of really cool elements as well.

I love LEGO but it bothers me as well when the fanbois come out to play and just spit their anti-opposition rhetoric. If you look at any industry or product, especially one that has been out as long as LEGO has there will be several companies competing with them. This is never a bad thing! It keeps ideas fresh, prices down (although LEGO seems to be being defiant right now) and a better market for the consumer.

jwsmart

I actually owned a set of the tyco superblocks when I was younger, it was a large castle and was the castle space set or something. some of the pieces were inferior and barely held together, but I remember a lot of really cool elements as well.

From what I remember (I only had a couple of the Space Adventure sets), the weakness of the Tyco sets was the set design, not the clutch of the individual pieces. Stickers were used as both a decoration, and a means to hold the sets together. The models weren't terribly appealing either. The figures themselves were terrible. The individual pieces, however, were quite nice.

In other news, I got the Dr Who Character Building/COBI figures in the mail today - they look quite nice. I'll probably go and buy the 11 Doctors box set (http://doctorwhotoys.net/elevendoctorsset.htm) if it's ever available in the US.

pantenkind

yeah, for some reason they made the gray pieces different than the black, red and other colors. They were horrible and unless you were stacking them exactly on top of each other they didn't hold at all.

duilim

I understand why some people are against M***bloks but at the same time, we should be thankful in a way that this brand exists. Whilst I would never buy it myself, I agree with Dr.Dave in that competition, even lousy competition at least raises the minimum standard whist keeping prices less ridiculous than they already are. I mean, could you imagine what Lego would be charging if they were the only building brick toy on the market? In business, a monopoly is not good for consumers as I'm sure we are all aware. So as much as we all love Lego, let's at least give a round of applause for it's competitors which I am sure make things a little bit more affordable for all of us.

On that note, whilst I don't buy M***bloks for myself, I would consider buying it for kids to see if they are interested in this kind of toy. In the past, I only bought Lego and some kids never got into it - so it was a waste. If I had bought M***bloks instead however, I could have saved myself a fair bit of money. In addition, buying M***bloks it's my little way of protesting against the ridiculous Lego pricing. Now if only M***bloks would improve their quality and designs..... I can just see Lego prices falling across the globe....

vwong19

For an inferior company, they at least have a license with Marvel. If done correctly that could be as valuable as Star Wars, especially with the recent Avengers movie tie-ins.

I'm wondering that since LEGO acquired the license to Disney in early 2009, and then Disney acquired the rights to Marvel in August 2009, would a Marvel line be in the near future for LEGO. I don't know what the terms are for Mega Bloks, but I have to think that when they renew their contract it will cost them a lot more and Mega Bloks could be outbid... Also what what is the deal with LEGO and Star Wars that is supposed to end this year, but rumored to extend until 2016.

Anyway I'm a huge fan of Marvel, probably more so than Star Wars, which I'm growing a little tired of. If Marvel is a fail, then I hope they go back to DC comics or another Batman line....

jwsmart

@pantenkind - That's interesting about the gray. I never had any gray back in the 80's, but I've gotten a fair amount of Tyco in some of my bulk eBay purchases. I'll have to check that out. This thread has actually motivated me to find my all my Tyco bricks and instructions and re-build those space sets. Unfortunately, it looks like the top Google hit for information on Tyco blocks is... dead. I can't even find a picture of the Tyco Space Adventure bucket that the sets came in.

pantenkind

It took me like 4 years to find directions to my set, I will attach it here.

there is not much record online about these sets, I dont know if it was because they were a very limited run or what. I periodically check ebay and amazon for this set, and have never found it. If I ever did I would buy it again simply because its a memory from my childhood. I am not anti megablocks at all and hope they do start putting out stuff I like soon.

LLH8698

I need help with the codes. I was told that these were the codes http://www.spartanbloks.com/marvel-series-1-superhero-packs/. I went to Wal-mart the other day and bought one and it was the Battle Damaged Iron Man. The numbers listed above the upc code box is AX912481. Apparently, I am missing something. Any help would be appreciated, thanks Lori.

vwong19

I believe they should be numbers that are near the seal and impressed along the edge. Kind of the like the bumps on the LEGO packs, but instead they use number and letters. All the Walmarts in my area either do not carry them or are out. Do you know if Target carries them?

brickeroony

i always liked action figures, but not the 1 inch kind that continually break when i try to move their limbs or switch heads

vwong19

Well Mega Blocks had me for about 1 month... LEGO was quick to address my needs with their superior version of Marvel AND DC.

madforLEGO

Megablocks is even more laughable now since it appears Lego announced having the Marvel license coming back :-)

Ypres

Don't worry, I'm sure you can all sell your megabloks minifigures on Ebay and perhaps make a whole PENNY!!!

Yes, dream big!
That's what you get for buying something other than Lego. I'm an adult who buys Lego, not one who is interested in general childrens' building toys!!!

vwong19

^I have no problem spending $20 on Mega Bloks, which is nothing compared to the thousands spent on Lego. I'm also an adult who buys Lego, but I am a Marvel fan also, so anything related piques my interest. I did speculate that Lego would eventually carry the Marvel line.

vwong19

For anyone that cares, Series 2 is now available. I bought a complete set today at my Walmart by picking up 8 uniquely coded bags.... I wish LEGO CMF were as easy. I can't wait for LEGO Superheroes...

vwong19

Ypres said:

Don't worry, I'm sure you can all sell your megabloks minifigures on Ebay and perhaps make a whole PENNY!!! Yes, dream big! That's what you get for buying something other than Lego. I'm an adult who buys Lego, not one who is interested in general childrens' building toys!!!

It's been over 7 years and I unearthed my collection of Marvel MegaBl*ks figures that I assumed was lost after letting my kids play with. Lego Superheroes has since continued its awesome run, ballooning to the likes of Star Wars, which is terrible for minifigure completest like myself. 

Anyway, I started selling off my Marvel MegaBl*ks collection and am pleasantly surprised by how much they have appreciated since, surpassing the over-saturated market of some Lego minifigures. It seems like there is a market for these figures should any of you still have them.