Lego in most cases is purchased for kids by parents, 

 

This is true right up until the point you get to licensed items, like the Simpsons. Then you cross the LEGO line right into the fandom (for that license) line, especially for fairly cheap, no-real-assembly-required minifigs.

 

There are a few million portly older guys who've been watching the Simpsons for 10 or 15 or so years who won't rest easily at night till they have a line of Simpsons minifigs staring at them from the shelf. Many of those portly older guys aren't LEGO collectors specifically, and aren't going to get a jump on buying the minifigs while they're available at retail, they're going to happen across them for the next few years in the eBay and Amazon stores of, well, me and my brethren.

Where does Walmart put the figures if they have some? I've never seen one in 'our' supercenter, not close to the regular Lego lines at least.

Our WalMart in Texas just sort of throws a box with the top ripped off on one of the shelves in the toy section.  I've seen them sitting next to Angry Bird toys, or right next to all of the other available blind bag type toys, or on the more rare occasion in the Lego section at our store. On the upside, that means they're usually limited to about 4 aisles if they have any.

While the figures look cool, some of you may be over-estimating the popularity of these figures for anyone over than Gen Xer's who are 30+ years old.  Lego in most cases is purchased for kids by parents, and the most popular themes running today are friends, city, castle, star wars and probably soon super heroes.  Profit is being made around the holidays from parents who must purchase at a market because the supply is not available, or from 25+ year old collectors who want to buy the lego sets they couldn't afford when they were younger that may be out of print.  It would be interesting to take a poll of 50 sub 12 year old kids and ask them if they've ever watched even one episode of The Simpsons.. I bet at least 40 would say no and the other 10 would have seen 1 or 2 episodes at most. In the last year or two we've seen the most popular theme become Minecraft.. the game sold over 13 million copies on Xbox marketplace alone and is somewhat of a growing cultural phenomenom like call of duty.  That will continue to be the most profitable theme. 

 

Now while most of us remember the simpsons and grew up with it, kids today didn't.  Most of them spent their youth watching Spongebob, Yugioh, and playing games like pokemon and call of duty from 2000 onward.  They obviously are going to comic book movies with their parents these days so the lego super hero sets will also show up on the Christmas list, but they will bypass these Simpsons items for the star wars, minecraft, and super hero sets.  They will probably even want Chima and Ninjago over these sets.  It's all about what is relevant to them today and what they watch on television/movies or play in video games.

 

I believe the value of these items all comes down to how much lego produces.  If they continue to produce not caring about excess inventory because they want to churn out thousands while they have the licensing then these will not be worth much of anything.  We're talking about plastic here, and ultimately plastic is cheap.  Lego has nothing to lose by overproducing thousands of sets if they have production facility space and can throw excess inventory to walmart, target, or TRU if needed. If they for some reason greatly limit production and only supply the characters for 1 year due to probable lack of demand in regard to focus group results or lego shop at home purchase numbers, then in a few years they will be worth quite a bit when there aren't many available.   I believe the former will occur because of Lego's increased production over the last year, the Lego movie and increased brand recognition of Lego items, and being a profit based business model that has shown us they will produce more and more sets because they have the facilities capable to do that now and the supply chains to offset excess inventory.   If a parent can purchase a lego minifig at $4.50 or a Simpsons house at $200, then see the price of the Minecraft set for $35 which is what their kid always plays everyday and talks about.. it's a no brainer for them to purchase that minecraft set.

 

 

Simpsons were re-introduced to a new generation with that half a billion dollar movie that came out in 2007 - $526,745,137 (Worldwide)

The Simpsons minifigures will be hard to find very fast and stay that way.

These aren't targeted at the kids  but at their parents.  Who will then go out and buy the Simpsons House.

There are 4600 auctions for pvc simpsons minifigures going on right now on ebay.

Comic book guy is a real person.

 

The Simpsons Movie - 2007 - $526,745,137 (Worldwide)

The Lego Movie to date has cleared at most $425 Millioin.

 

So a Movie based on  the TV show that came out 20years earlier out performed the movie that gave us CCP.

 

So what you're saying is that the Lego movie which has been out a little over a month has almost grossed as much as a movie that has been out more than 7 years...

So what you're saying is that the Lego movie which has been out a little over a month has almost grossed as much as a movie that has been out more than 7 years...

So what you're saying is everything is awesome!

So what you're saying is that the Lego movie which has been out a little over a month has almost grossed as much as a movie that has been out more than 7 years...

 

Lego movie has $100 million more to go before it makes it to Simpsons movie box office which would be more than 25% of its current gross much of which is estimated.

The Simpsons gross is from 2007 only not 2007 - 2014.

 

I'm saying Simpsons legos will be very popular, like almost all legos except these will immediately have a connection with an untapped layer of AFOL's.

 

There are a few million portly older guys who've been watching the Simpsons for 10 or 15 or so years who won't rest easily at night till they have a line of Simpsons minifigs staring at them from the shelf. 

 

Hey, I'm not portly!  I'm an obese man trapped in a fat man's body!

Hey, I'm not portly! I'm an obese man trapped in a fat man's body!

I thought the saying was there's a fat girl waiting to come out in every skinny girl.

It's a Homerism

Hey, I'm not portly!  I'm an obese man trapped in a fat man's body!

Naw, you aren't fat; you're 'husky'. xD

Naw, you aren't fat; you're 'husky'.

 

6 Levels of fatness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NliooP_Np5I

My husband and I saw the Simpson house on display the other day.  And while it's very neat, (really it is a cool house), it's not something that's really "up my alley".  So if the next set of mini figures is the Simpson I guess it's a little disappointing for me.  But really it's a great idea for fans of the show.  But not something that I'll be purchasing any of for my kids, so I guess I should be happy about the savings.  

Why do they not make a bartender (Moe), but they make a bully (Nelson)...with a baseball bat??? Lol

Why do they not make a bartender (Moe), but they make a bully (Nelson)...with a baseball bat??? Lol

I know, right? The kid is practically famous for being a bully with his signature laugh and we know Lego's own stance on the subject yet here we are. They also have a rule against cruelty to animals of which Itchy & Scratchy tear down that wall even if they are cartoons.

I know, right? The kid is practically famous for being a bully with his signature laugh and we know Lego's own stance on the subject yet here we are. They also have a rule against cruelty to animals of which Itchy & Scratchy tear down that wall even if they are cartoons.

 

Animal on animal cruelty never counts with the anti-cruelty folks. Except the ones who try to feed their poor cats vegetarian cat food.

Animal on animal cruelty never counts with the anti-cruelty folks.

Oh, okay. Well then say hello to Flippy!

The Brick Fan just posted a guide for feeling for these minifigures:  http://www.thebrickfan.com/lego-the-simpsons-series-minifigures-71005-feel-guide/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LegoEverlasting-LegoReviewsNews+%28The+Brick+Fan+-+LEGO+Reviews+%26+News%29

are these out in the wild yet? 

are these out in the wild yet?

Yes, yes they are.

How are people buying these by the box?  I don't get it.

How are people buying these by the box? I don't get it.

They take the unopened box that the lazy Walmart employees don't bother to open and purchase them.

are these out in the wild yet?

For some it seems although they are not supposed to be available for another month or two.

 

How are people buying these by the box?  I don't get it.

Some places will let you buy a box from storage in the back if you ask nicely.

So are they just appearing at Walmart?  My local Walmarts never has minifigs or at least I haven't been able to find them in the store.

So are they just appearing at Walmart?  My local Walmarts never has minifigs or at least I haven't been able to find them in the store.

From the reports we've heard so far, yes. My Walmarts aren't much better either; rarely do they carry these let alone polybags and if they do, it's for a very brief time. Mine usually sticks them somewhere hidden in the clearance aisle instead of the actual Lego section.

Hello,

 

My wife and I found a full box of the Simpsons minifigures at Wal-Mart. I know, not supposed to be released until May 1st, but anyway we opened the full box up to see the breakdown. Here is a link to our Youtube channel

 

in case you are interested in seeing the figures. The detail is amazing and the accessories are really cool. Lego has outdone themselves with this, the MSRP is a higher for these than previous releases, 3.99 per instead of the regular 2.99.

 

Here is the distribution for those who are interested:

 

Homer 5

Marge 5

Bart 5

Lisa 4

Maggie 4

Krusty 4

Itchy 4

Scratchy 4

Ned Flanders 4

Nelson 3

Millhouse 3

Ralph 3

Mr Burns 3

Grampa 3

Chief Wiggum 3

Apu 3