I've sold a few minifigures on ebay and am just wondering what sort of person collects them.

 

I'm talking about the Star Wars ones, or LOTR/Hobbit ones etc. 

 

Do these people not really like building Lego sets? Or do they build too? 

 

Even as a semi-collector of the CMF series I struggle to see the midset behind collecting a whole set of Lego Hobbit Dwarves for example - but then, thinking about it, I guess it's just collecting... collecting is fun and innate in all man kind (not so much women kind!)

Oh yeah, my main query really is how people justify spending so much on just one figure.

Oh yeah, my main query really is how people justify spending so much on just one figure.

 

*Insert ExoBro post here*

 

 

This is what makes this hobby sustainable as a profit creating entity, there are SO MANY different ways for people to enjoy the product; some want a bunch of giant displays, others just want a few exclusive minifigs that they can enjoy... others enjoy staring at a bunch of boxes that they have displayed.

 

Never underestimate people's need to feel special and exclusive.

What's exobro, pardon my ignorance?

Guess it sounds judgemental to question motives! I guess you're right, there are so many ways to enjoy Lego! It's just that most of all I love building!

I guess it's similar to collecting any other action figures from your favourite film franchise! I don't mean to criticise!

I've sold a few minifigures on ebay and am just wondering what sort of person collects them.

 

I'm talking about the Star Wars ones, or LOTR/Hobbit ones etc. 

 

Do these people not really like building Lego sets? Or do they build too? 

 

Even as a semi-collector of the CMF series I struggle to see the midset behind collecting a whole set of Lego Hobbit Dwarves for example - but then, thinking about it, I guess it's just collecting... collecting is fun and innate in all man kind (not so much women kind!)

Sometimes people want certain minifigures that are only found in certain sets, but they do not have the money to buy those sets, so they just buy a minifigure instead.

My husband is in the process of collecting all the R2-D2 style droids he can find. He has no interest in the Star Wars sets, he doesn't want the other droids, he just likes R2 and his bros.

 

A lady a couple days ago bought a Pippin minifig from me. She couldn't give a flying leap about Lego, she just likes Pippin, he's her favorite Tolkien character and she collects everything she can pertaining to him.

Back up the truck!   I love collecting minifigures more than sets, but haven't spent much on high end figs yet.  I did buy a Batman I Penguin a while ago, and intend to get some more stuff on BL.  Here are some dated pics of my minifig collection.  http://community.brickpicker.com/blog/12/entry-179-lego-minifigure-storage/

Thanks for all the replies! Really interesting to hear all these different stories.

Please don't be offended by my initial questioning - I aim to be provocative in order to get a conversation going!

My own minifig collection, accumulated over the past couple of weeks lol. Hopefully soon they will all be sold At least I can enjoy them for a while!

 

 

wow that's a lot of minifigures! and the ssd is massive!

I also collect minifigs, coz they are so cute! easier to display too. I do like building sets as well though.

As long as people collect just minifigures there'll be a market parting out.  That's very good for us.  Use the Hobbit for example, you'll have to buy every set in the first wave to get all the minifigures.  I wouldn't want to display any of those sets personally as they don't look that great to me IMO.  

 

Take my brother for example, his wall would be covered in all 3 stories if he displayed the sets.  He kept all the sets from our childhood in the family and bought every set since Lego was revived by Star Wars.  His old lady would also be very PO if she knows how many minifigures he actually have.  Since he got hitched, he just buys the minifigures and be able to smuggle them into the house with the small bubble envelopes from Ebay.