Thursday, September 1, 2016

Shop Minifig Site Review!!

If you’ve been following my site, you know that I’ve really enjoyed the contests held at the newly opening Shop Minifigs.  As I said on facebook (make sure to like my page to stay current!), I had a tough time at first seeing if this site is legitimate.  I was lucky enough to win one of their daily giveaways, and I received some free samples, and I’m impressed that it is offering official Lego products.

Minifigure Selection

They have a good selection of authentic figures which reinforces that idea, and the owner promises more to come.  I see good classic figures from the 80s, and at least one seems earlier than that.  I also saw products that cover the spectrum of Lego figures all the way to the modern day and peices from the blind bag series. I just did a post where I said how hard it was to get Halloween and Disney minifigures, the site offers both for good prices. I also noticed a few Christmas figures from the Advent Calendars. The site is particularly strong in Harry Potter and Star Wars figures.



Prices

The price is consistent with the aftermarket for official Lego brands. I paid about 15 dollars, for example, for an Indiana Jones after my daughter fell in love with the ride from Disenyland. Those are hard to find because the most recent set was from almost ten years ago.  Most of the Indiana Jones figures comes with additional accessories, so you could say the price of 14.95 to 19.95 (depending on which one you get) on shop minifig is competitive. The price of the figures depends on great deal on its availability and demand. I saw some for 6.95 (hello Star Wars Imperial Guard), and one as high as 49.95 ( good bye Darth Malgus.)  But most range between the very good range of 8 and 15 dollars. 
Of course, in absolute dollars, the prices here are a bit higher than I normally recommend for savings ninjas. If you have lots of kids and want a minifigure for each or maybe a small construction set with figures, I highly recommend the starter sets or the army builder sets.  Those are great at giving you a little bit of everything, something to build, and a good number of figures at a great price. But if your child really wants that one figure this is pretty much your only way to get them. If the set is still currently available, you will thank shop minifigs for saving you the trouble of buying a 40 dollar product just for the Rocket Raccoon it contained.  This is a true story from Christmas a few years ago. I enjoy the Groot, Nebula (the evil blue chick),  but I really just wanted the Rocket, and almost the entire set is in a plastic ziplock bag in my garage.  I wish I had a site like this back then. Yes I probably would have paid a price for just one figure that seemed too high, but it would have been far less than paying 40 just to get that one figure in a set you didn’t want.   



Parts

The site also has a strong collection of minifigure parts.  This is a great way to build your own figures. The prices range between 1.50 and 4.50, with some outlying parts that are even more. You can end up building your own figure for usually about 5 to 9 dollars each,(and they have a grand prize that will give you 1000 pieces!), or you can just grab some extra heads to spice up the minifigs you already have.  If you are like me, you probably have lots of parts and figures in storage, so you don’t have to pay for entirely new ones, but you could grab a few selected heads and torsos to spice things up.  I'm looking at the nice racing jackets and cool leg pieces to make my own Road Warrior minifigure at a fraction of the price. Unlike the Lego store build stations, which are limited to whatever they get supplied with, the variations and parts he has are prodigious!  My daughter would kill me for this, but I almost forgot to mention the good collection of animals as well.  I was impressed by the breadth of the collection as there are some here that I haven’t seen at other sites around the web. The prices here are the best part of the site. Most are just a few dollars or less, and they are excellent add ons if you’re already buying several 10 dollar minifigures anyway. 



Shipping

They have a great shipping policy too.  It’s free for orders of 25 or more, with a bonus figure received at 50. And he charges standard shipping rates.  (It was 3.47 for my sample order, which is the rate the post office charges me when I sell on Ebay.)  Though of course, you should always double check. If you are like me, you plan your purchases so you only have to do it once and you get free shipping. And the site includes a no hassle refund if you are upset.

Bottom Line


Overall the site can be a bit pricey in absolute dollars, but it still has a good deal of value for the saving ninjas.  It can help you find that one piece you really want for your child,  or maybe one that adult fans want to add to their special collection, and give you some good heads, torsos, or animal parts to spice of your collection. I highly recommend you check it Shop Minifigs, and at least enter the daily give aways and the grand prize. Good luck ninjas!