(Written by William)
The long awaited LEGO The Simpsons minifigures are finally available – that’s the good news. The bad news is that they are more expensive than the previous series ($3.99 instead of $2.99), they are popular (therefore hard to find), and a bit tricky to feel for. Hopefully this guide will give you a fighting chance to get what you want without wasting too much time hunting or breaking your wallet…
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Apu Nahasapeemapetilon: Apu’s signature piece is the “Squishee” cup. If you got Larry the Barista from The LEGO Movie minifigures, then you have an advantage since it’s the same mold. For those who aren’t familiar, it feels like a 1×1 round brick. You will have to make sure it’s not a megaphone or a regular minifigure head. Those are the only other two pieces that feel remotely like the cup. There are three Apu minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Bart Simpson: Bart’s skateboard is the key to locating him. You can find the skateboard, or look for the two wheels – they feel like small dumbbells. Honestly, the skateboard is a much easier piece to make out. Just don’t get confused by the two sets of clips on the bottom of the skateboard where the wheels get attached. There are five Bart minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Chief Wiggum: For those with sensitive fingers, you might make out the Chief’s night-stick. It is short with texture on half of the piece. It is quite small though, so a better choice would be looking for the megaphone. It has a handle and a fairly iconic shape that most people are already familiar with. There are three Chief Wiggum minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Grampa: He is one of the more difficult minifigures to find. Start by locating the 2×2 tile. Then determine if the minifigure has normal adult legs (you can tell this since as the legs can be moved independently). If you find these, you either found Grampa or Marge. For Grampa check the head. It has a roughly cone shape to it. There are three Grandpa minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Homer Simpson: Finding Homer is very simple (the simple guy he is). You will either find a 1×2 tile for the remote, or a 1×1 round tile for the doughnut. Either of these two piece types are unique to Homer so you won’t be mixing him up with another character in the series. There are five Homer minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Itchy: Itchy’s club is what you want to look for to identify this minifigure. The closest minifig he is similar to is Lisa, as they both have large heads and short legs. It’s the club that eliminates any doubts you may have about which one you got. The club is quite easy to identify from its unique shape. There are four Itchy minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Krusty the Clown: Krusty’s head is just strange to feel. It has so much dimension that it’s not easy to make any sense of it. Therefore, it is all about finding his pie. Hopefully you have a set or two already that has the pie so you know how it feels. (The Small Clown from a couple series back also had a pie.) It’s generally shaped like a puck with different textures on each side. There are four Crusty minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Lisa Simpson: Lisa’s saxophone is her key feature. Hopefully you picked up a Sax Player a couple of series back so you know how it looks like. She does have short legs so that can help narrow things down. But you will need to spend some time making sure you found her instrument. There are four Lisa minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Maggie Simpson: Maggie’s body would be ideal to feel for, except that it feels like a distorted minifigure torso. And since you can’t be sure if what you found is her body or a minifigure torso with a piece stuck in it, you will need to look for her teddy bear. It’s the same mold found with the previously released Panda Man, Christmas Elf, and Sleepy Head. It feels similar to a LEGO bat (the animal, I mean) except it has arms instead of wings. There are four Maggie minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Marge Simpson: Marge has a 2×2 tile and standard minifigure legs. However Grampa also has these pieces included. So to verify that you got Marge instead of Grandpa you can try feeling for her purse. Easier part to try to identify though is her head. It feels like a real-life baby corn. There are five Marge minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Millhouse: Now here’s a minifigure that will drive you crazy. For starters, he has short legs and a 2×2 tile – making him nearly identical to Ralph Wiggum. The difference is Ralph’s head feels like an extremely round little bowling ball. Millhouse on the other hand has a lot more texture to his head. So if you don’t think the head feels super round then you found Millhouse. There are three Millhouse minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Mr. Burns: Mr. Burns has a 3L bar. However, this can be mixed up with Chief Wiggums night-stick or Nelson’s baseball bat. So you probably want to find the regular minifigure head. It is the only basic head-shape in the series. You might also be able to tell it is Mr. Burns if his head sticks to the plastic. He has a rubbery face so it doesn’t move around easily. There are three Mr. Burns minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Ned Flanders: Normally the coffee-mug would be enough to pinpoint Ned. However, it kind of feels like Marge’s purse at times. So look for his tool box. It feels a bit like a 1×3 brick. Unlike a brick it has a handle on top, but it is very rectangular and distinct. If you are familiar with the boom-box piece, you may have some luck thinking of it while searching for the tool-box. There are four Ned Flanders minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Nelson Muntz: If it the minifigure you are feeling comes with short legs and something that feels like a bar, then you found Nelson. His baseball-bat does have some texture, but if you have problems making out detail, then just treat it as a bar and confirm it with the legs. No other minifigure has similar combination in this series. There are three Nelson minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Ralph Wiggum: Short legs and a 2×2 tile are where you start when looking for Ralph. From there it is all about finding his very round head. Rub your fingers across it and they should slip off easily. It’s very similar to a marble. If it is not round then you probably found Millhouse. There are three Ralph minifigs in a full box.
➡ LEGO The Simpsons Scratchy: Scratchy’s tail is very unique. Because of this fact, it is both a great part to look for and hard to recognize. Therefore, look for his axe. It will be a bar with a flat section on one end. It is not the normal small axe that has been used for years. This is the more detailed version seen in the old series that had the Woodsmen. So think of the piece as a lolly-pop with a long handle. Both his head and tail are rubbery, so if you have problems moving things around the bag, this might give you a clue to look for the axe. There are four Scratchy minifigs in a full box.
One way to quickly identify the above mentioned parts and accessories is to first shake the baggies so that all small parts fall into one corner. This way you can identify them quickly. It is also a good idea to have a printout of the minifigures with accessories that you can look at as a reference while you are searching for the minifigs you want. You can go through a whole box of Collectible Minifigures quite quickly following these simple methods, and as a bonus you will also improve your tactile skills! 😀
Hope this helps with hunting for the LEGO Simpsons minifigures! They should be available at all LEGO retailers and are also listed at the Online LEGO Shop. If you have your own tips and tricks on identifying them feel free to share in the comment section below! 😉
And you might also like to check out the LEGO Minifigures section for more news, reviews and discussions, or choose from the following posts:
- Guide to Feeling for The LEGO Movie Minifigs
- Guide to Feeling for LEGO Minifigs Series 11
- Guide to Feeling for LEGO Minifigs Series 10
- See Where LEGO Minifigures Mr. Gold is Found!
- LEGO Minifigures Series 10 & Mr. Gold Found!
- LEGO Minifigures Series 9 Detailed Pictures!
- LEGO Minifigure Rock Band Rocks it Out!
First comment! I might try to get scratchy for the axe and tail.
Excellent guide. It was pretty much the same way I spend an afternoon searching through my box. I startet by identifying the legs to narrow down the options. I found Maggie’s torso easier to look for with the combination of a point on the back and the cut on the front. You’re right about Milhouse and Ralph. They were quite troublesome at first but you really get the hang of it feeling for the smooth head of Ralph. Regarding Itchy I found it easier to identify the head. I found his round smooth ears quite uniqe. All in all I agree with these tips. Happy hunting (they are worth hunting for: very good minifigs).
Btw, this is one of if not the first time I have seen an item being cheaper in Denmark than USA. The minifigure collections retail at 19,95 DKK including the S-series which is $3.67. Usually the US prices are 30-50% lower than the Danish, so we usually pay almost double.
*OFF TOPIC*
LEGO really needs to get the rights to make X MEN:DAYS OF FUTURE PAST sets. The sets would be so awesome. The only reason I see why they won’t do this is Mystique (She is a main character, So cutting her out of the sets would be horrible.)
Why wouldn’t they do it because of Mystigue? (Basically, who is she?)
Mystique is a shape shifter played by Jennifer Lawrence,but Mystique is naked(She is blue with scales all over her body)
Ohhhh…….
Why wouldn’t they do Mystique?
She just could be all blue, with some scales details, but no specific anatomic detail.
(and BTW Denmark and Europe in general are less prude than the US).
Or they could have Mystique look like the way she does in the comics (after all, Lego has the rights for the comics X-Men, not the movie X-Men).
Really?
Yes, there’s already one X-Men set out there (with Wolverine, Magneto and Deadpool), and a new one is coming out in June, with Wolverine, Magneto, Storm, Cyclops and a Sentinel. Don’t ask me why we’re getting Magneto and Wolverine again (albeit with different appearances) when there are so many other X-Men to make.
Interesting, I didn’t know that (with the comics license) I thought it was the movies.
I probably won’t collect much if any from this series as I don’t like spending money on Lego I won’t actually use, but I want like 10-20 Homer’s for that donut piece so I can make a donut shop.
Kim, I’m sure you will be able to get some dougnuts on BrickLink. Right now the price is just about a buck each, but I’m sure it will come down as more sellers list it: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=98138pb021
Yay, I guess I didn’t realize how quickly they would show up!
Hey Admin, are there any posts I can write up?
Sure. 😉
Thanks for sharing the guide. I plan to get all of this series.
Strange, I was assuming that the heads would be the easier part of the figure in the bag.
So far, I have only one Simpson minifigure, I bought it on amazon (my local Toys R’ Us doesn’t seem in a hurry to put them on sale, I guess they want to sell most of their remaining Movie minifigures first… they have a lot… I suspect that they got too many and have trouble selling them, especially as the movie wasn’t released in my town – yes, I may be the only Lego fan left on Earth who hasn’t seen it). So back on topic, my first Simpson minifigure arrived in the main yesterday, I felt through the bag first to see if I could guess who it was and I instantly found out thanks to the head: it was Marge. Now with that being said, Marge’s head is pretty obvious indeed.
Thanks so much for posting this. We were able to get a Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie through this guide. Made one mistake where we thought it was a Homer but ended up being Krusty, but everything else was spot on.
Shaun, glad the guide helped. Have fun with your new minifigs! 🙂
Thank You! I was able to find 13 of them at Walmart today!
What stores are carrying the minifigures? I haven’t found any yet!
Kylee, it really depends on the reagon. Technically speaking TRU, and Wal-Mart carries them, and of course LEGO stores, however not yet at every location.
I get mine from Target 🙂
I’m glad they went back to 3, 4, and 5 of each fig in a box. I hope it stays this way too. No more twos or sixes. The mermaid was impossible to find. (because of the numbers; obviously easy to feel for). And who else felt 378 skydivers while searching for Mr. Gold?
Can’t wait to take a morning to go to The LEGO store and find them all.
I’m glad the guide is helping.
About Itchy
For me the head is obvious. However, I’ve watched others feel for more complex pieces as well as rubber ones and they’ve had trouble. But in this case, the ears are the giveaway if you are comfortable in feeling for the parts.
As for LEGO Movie
I believe it’s coming out retail mid June so you don’t have to wait to long.
As for Sky Divers
It took me feeling through roughly 700+ figs before I found a Mr Gold. Yes, it did feel like every other figure was a sky diver. I feel sorry for those who came after me since I was also picking up mass quantities for friends who wanted to build armies. That was a lot of sky divers to avoid.
As for X-Men
I expect the reason they are keeping that particular IP back is to avoid over saturating the market with Super Hero sets. They are already balancing DC along with Marvel. I suspect when they feel the various Avengers line is ready for a break they’ll shift gears and bring out X-Men sets while keeping Spider-Man as a floater. Perhaps we can slowly build a mutant force through other sets. After all, Quick Silver and Scarlet Witch are members of the Avengers and Spidey has done his share of cross overs. Here’s hoping.
Where the figs are sold
As for me, I prefer to get the figs from Target. They don’t restrict you on how many you can find, if you have the DPCI number you can tend to get first crack at them when they pull them from the back, they don’t raise the retail price normally, and with the Target card you can get 5% off which is roughly what LEGO gives with their point system.
Hoping to feel out Itchy and Scratchy today 😀
Good luck with that! Let me know how it goes! 😀
Well, someone looted most of the minifigs at Target. So I couldn’t find Scratchy. But then I decided to find Homer instead. Which i did 😀 And I also felt out Itchy like I wanted 😀
Nice finds! 🙂
I also found stuff on the rumored elves theme.
Easiest way I’ve found so far to ID blind bag sales is to open each one until I find what I’m looking for. If corporations want to trick us into buying dozens of the same product by ‘blind bagging’ it’s only fair, in fact it’s self defense, to make them eat opened packages.
That works too, although some stores may not accept opened returns, so make sure you check with your local store first about their policies.