Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Mystery Lego Minifigures

For Christmas Santa gave Jake and Bentley mystery Lego minifigures. They come in a sealed foil packet. You don't know what minifigure you have until you rip the packet open. Each series has 16 different minifigures to collect.

Bentley open up his mystery packet and discovered a pink Fitness Instructor. Seeing as there are only four female minifigures in this series, the odds were against getting one. The Fitness Instructor is probably the least interesting figure in the series.

Jake had better luck and he found a Snowboarder Guy in his mystery packet. Santa didn't leave Viva a mystery packet since she doesn't like Legos.

I had three Lego minifigures of my very own. I offered to trade Bentley for his Fitness Instructor. I swapped him a Detective. I didn't offer my Ice Fisherman. Not that hoarding it did me any good because Jake came along and stole it. He said he NEEDED the fish. So now I have a Snowboarder Guy, a Fitness Instructor, and a Cave Woman. When I get my hands on an Evil Dwarf or a Lizard Man, I am not swapping. Unless, of course, I can get the Ice Fisherman back.

What I fear will really happen is that I will end up with no Lego minifigures and the boys will have them all.

Update: I wrote this post two weeks ago, but didn't get it posted online. It was lost in my drafts folder. Since then I have managed to collect all 16 minifigures in Series 5. I learned how to identify by touch what figure was in the closed foil packet. Bentley swapped me his Detective for an Evil Dwarf. Jake swapped the Ice Fisherman for a Gladiator. (I manipulated the swap with Jake since I opened the wrong packet and ended up with an extra Gladiator.)

When I asked the boys what minifigure from the series that they wanted next, Bentley chose the Royal Guard (he carries a rifle) and then the Gangster (he has a gun). Jake wanted the Zookeeper (for the monkey) and then the Lumberjack (for the axe).

Series 6 comes out this week. I showed the boys online what minifigures are in the lineup. I expected Bentley to continue his warrior/soldier theme. He did--somewhat--but his choices surprised me. I thought he'd want the Roman Soldier and the Highland Battler. He didn't like the rectangular shape of the Roman Soldier's shield. Picky boy! Instead he has his eye on the Classic Alien (he comes with a light saber type gun), the Bandit (B explained that he needs villains to attack his Lego castle), and the Minotaur (he has a battle axe).

Jake's choices are much more eclectic. His number one choice is Lady Liberty. Jake for some reason loves the Statue of Liberty. His second choice was the Clockwork Robot who is pretty cool looking. His third choice was the Roman Soldier. Good choice! It made Bentley rethink his choices, but he didn't change his mind in the end.

Now all I have to do it get good at identifying the new group of 16 minifigures by touch. Seeing by touch is a new skill for me.

I asked Viva if she's interested in collecting minifigures and she said "No." I think they are pretty cool. They fit perfectly in the small printer drawer I purchased 10 years ago in London. I had just about decided to give the drawer away, but now I've found a use for it. It's a good thing to share an interest with your grandchildren. Jake and I are splitting a ten pack of light sabers I ordered. I think the Fitness Instructor will be much improved by the addition of a glow-in-the dark light saber. Maybe Bentley will try to swap her back. He doesn't have a glow-in-the-dark light saber.

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