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Guide to feeling for LEGO Minifigs Series 15

by Thita (admin) on February 5, 2016

in LEGO Minifigures

(Written by William)

With a new series of LEGO Collectible Minifigures released this month, it’s time for the hunt again. So warm up your fingertips and limber up those knuckles. With the price of each Collectible Minifigure sitting at $3.99, buying blindly and hoping to get what you want is likely the last thing you want to do. LEGO brand stores started carrying the new minifigures at the beginning of the month, but if you don’t have one near you, you can also check at other retailers like Toys’R’Us, Wal-Mart and Target. Especially Target has been pretty reliable at carrying them. If you don’t see the minifig baggies displayed you can ask a sales person to see if they have them at the back. The DPCI number for this series is 204001379. With that business out of the way, let’s get to feeling them out. 🙂

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Animal Control Officer: The net with handle is the most obvious piece you want to look for when searching for this minifigure. The net itself may feel like the Janitor’s mop head or the Queen’s hair piece. So when you find a part that feels like a sewing-thimble, make sure it is connected to a handle. There are three Animal Control Officers in a full display-box, so she is considered a rare minifig.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Astronaut: Here you have two simple options to identify this minifigure. You can either find the visor, which is a small piece that feels like a really curved fingernail. Or you can find the oxygen tanks. I would say that the tanks piece is simpler to figure out because it is a bit larger, but both are fairly distinct. There are four Astronaut minifigures in a full display-box.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Ballerina: When you first feel the skirt piece, you may think it feels like a minifigure wing. This is due to the ridging around the skirt. The skirt can also be confused with the minifigure base that comes in every packet, because it is about the same size. The trick is to identify the rectangular opening in the middle of this large oval piece – then you have the skirt for sure. And when you have the skirt, you have the Ballerina. There are only three Ballerinas in a full display-box, so she is one of the rarest minifigures in this series.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Clumsy Guy: For this minifigure it is all about finding the crutches. They literally feel like miniature crutches, which is good, since that’s exactly what they are. Essentially the crutches are a series of bars in an unmistakable shape. So once you find something as thick as a bar, trace it out with your fingers to make sure it is not straight. What you want are curves – kind of like the LEGO bow and arrow piece. There are five Clumsy Guys in a full display-box, so this minifigure is very common.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Farmer: Don’t rely on trying to identify the pig. Yes, it is big, but its shape can confuse your fingers. I would suggest going for the pitchfork. The three prongs at the end are especially easy to identify. There are only three Farmers in a full display-box, so this is one of the rarest minifigures in this series.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Faun: Start by finding a four stud long bar. Once you have that, hunt down the legs. The Faun will have a ridge on the front and the back of the legs. You may want to move the legs around so you can find the foot end where the ridges are. This is a new piece, so take your time. There are four Faun minifigures in a full display-box.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Flying Warrior: Finding the spear is a good starting point to identify this golden mythical warrior. However, you don’t want to confuse it with the Janitor’s mop handle. So when you think you have found the spear, try finding at least one of the wings for verification. There are four Flying Warriors in a full display-box.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Frightening Knight: The mace is in two parts and the spiked ball is rubbery, so don’t go for it. Rather, the shield is a nice distinct option that is hard to mistake for other pieces. The closest equivalent is the Astronaut’s flag, so make sure there is a handle in the middle of the shield and not clips on the end. There are four Frightening Knights in a full display-box.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Janitor: Start by finding the six stud long bar with a stopper at one end. When you think you’ve identified it, try feeling for the mop head, which is a separate piece. Just like the net for the Animal Control Officer, it kind of feels like a thimble, but not as fat. The mop flares out at one end, which reminds me of a tiny Cousin Itt from the “Adam’s Family”. There are four Janitors in a full display-box.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Jewel Thief: The jewel is unique but it’s really small and thus hard to find in a blind bag. That’s why I prefer to go for the megaphone to identify this minifigure. It is considered a grappling gun here, but it’s hard to think of it as anything else than a megaphone when you feel for it. There are only three Jewel Thief minifigures in a full display box, so this is one of the rare ones.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Kendo Fighter: This guy doesn’t give you a lot of options for positively identifying parts. You will need to find the swords. They feel thin and flimsy, but if you can find both of them, you’ll know you have the Kendo Fighter in hand. There are five Kendo Fighters in a full display-box, so this minifigure is common.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Laser Mech: There are two approaches to this minifigure. You can either find the flat sword, which feels like a LEGO flame piece. Or you can find the wings, which feel like a cross between a banana-shaped axe-blade and an oversized minifigure plume. I look for both for confirmation. There are only three Laser Mech minifigs in a full display-box, so it is one of the rare ones.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Queen: The large dress slope – a new LEGO piece – feels very much like a small LEGO DUPLO block. It has a two by four base, which prevents you from confusing it with the Farmer’s pig that is a similar size. There are only three Queens in a full display-box, so Her Royal Highness is quite rare.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Shark Suit Guy: Identifying this minifig all comes down to figuring out the shark portion of the suit. Once I find a large piece, I trace my finger up until I can detect the shark’s open mouth. For confirmation I run my hand down the other way until I find the fin at the back. There are five Shark Suit Guys in a full display-box, so this minifigure is common.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Tribal Woman: The ideal pieces to search for are either the back bracket or the head feathers. The baby tends to be a little too nondescript to identify, plus it is a new piece that your fingers are not familiar with. The back bracket is the basic single stud variety shaped like an “L”, while the feathers feel like a very flat pair of scissors. Both pieces are very small, so make sure you first shake the baggie so that all small pieces fall in one corner. There are only three Tribal Woman minifigures in a full display-box, so she is rare.

➡ LEGO Minifigures Series 15 Wrestling Champion: The trophy is all you need to identify this minifigure. If you haven’t run across one yet, it feels like a cross between an old style goblet and a coffee mug that happens to have two handles instead of one. Either way, it is fairly simple to find. There are four Wrestling Champions in a full display-box, so this minifigure is common.

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 Series 15 minifigs! 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:

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The origins & predecessors of LEGO bricks

by Thita (admin) on February 4, 2016

in LEGO History

When I was a child I was told a story by either my dad or my uncle (I can’t remember) about how LEGO bricks were invented; one fine and lovely day the founder of the LEGO Company was taking a walk. It was after some rain had fallen, so the path was somewhat muddy. He noticed how his boots got stuck in the mud and created a bond. As he lifted his foot, the boot separated from the mud, but left a strong impression with the pattern of the outsole. The founder had an epiphany about replicating this sticking and un-sticking action in construction toys, and thus interlocking LEGO bricks with studs and tubes were born… 🙂

I don’t know if this story was made up by my dad or uncle, or is this something the LEGO company circulated themselves in those days, but for me as a kid it made perfect sense. I accepted it fully as a wonderful idea from a brilliant mind. However as young people growing up often discover, not all stories they have heard as children are as simple, beautiful and heroic as they have been told. There are brilliant inventors and heroes in the real world for sure, but their work often involves a lot of struggle, doubt, trial, error, and even controversy – something childhood versions of their stories tend to simplify and gloss over.

As far as LEGO’s history, fans are often curious about how the company started. You can read the official company version in regards to what happened – which is more like the childhood story I was told. But thanks to the invention of the internet, you can also hear from people who share their own discoveries, research, experiences and memories. And you can see samples of the earliest versions of interlocking toy bricks – carefully kept and preserved by collectors – not all of them LEGO brand. That’s right, LEGO was not the first to make interlocking building bricks, not even the second or third. But they were perhaps better than others at recognizing and utilizing its potential.

In the video below JANGBRiCKS shares some of his own recent research into LEGO’s history, and particularly the history of the basic interlocking building bricks. He was also able to get some really excellent samples of early toys similar to LEGO, as well as various marketing materials. I think it’s quite fascinating, so I thought to share it with you.

Below is a summary of names and dates mentioned in the video for your reference. A nice quote from the early American Bricks product catalog by Halsam Products shown towards the end of the video: “It’s more fun to create a new model than it is to copy.”

Build-O-Brik by Rubber Specialties Company (rubber) – 1934
MiniBrix by Premo Rubber Company (rubber) – 1935
Bri-Plax Interlocking Building Cubes by Kiddicraft (plastic) – 1939
American Bricks by Halsam Products (compressed wood fiber) – 1939
American Bricks by Halsam Products (plastic) – 1946
Self Locking Building Bricks by Kiddicraft (regular LEGO size) – 1947
LEGO Automatic Binding Brick – 1949
Self Locking Building Bricks by Kiddicraft (DUPLO size) – 1953
LEGO bricks with tubes – 1958
LEGO DUPLO bricks – 1969
Mega Bloks building blocks by Ritvik Toys (now Mattel) – 1991
Kre-O building blocks by Hasbro – 2011

As you can see, the history of interlocking building bricks is quite complex, traveling on twisty roads between companies, countries and even continents. What do you think? How did you like the video? Did you know about all the other brands that made interlocking construction toys long before LEGO? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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Guide to feeling for LEGO Minifigs Series 15

The origins & predecessors of LEGO bricks

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