Collectable minifigs in central London

 

  • Collectable minifigs in central London

    Posted by Huw, 10 Sep 2010 14:15. Filed under Shopping (UK).

    8684: Spartan Warrior
    Collectable Minifigures/Series 2, 2010
    More details...
    ©2010 LEGO Group

    As I mentioned below I've been in London on a course (SharePoint, if you're intrested...) so had a bit of time to kill in the evenings. So, I thought I'd see if I could track down some figs, given that I didn't have any. For the benefit of others who might find themselves in London I thought I'd let you know where to look:

    • Argos: No London branches appear to have them yet
    • Game, Oxford Street has a tub of them around the tills, but far enough away that you can rummage without getting in the way. I bagged my first ones there: I didn't bother scanning codes but just looked for as many different ones as I could find. I bought 10.
    • WHS, Oxford Street also has a tub in the queue line but here there's no chance of rummaging as the store is so busy and you'd be right in the way
    • Hamleys: London's biggest toy shop charges extortionate prices for everything and the figs are no exception. Here they are £3. There were plenty by the tills and I suspect sucker tourists still buy them at that price...
    • John Lewis, Oxford Street: The toy depatrment is right up on the 4th floor but was worth the trip. There were at least a dozen boxes of them out on the shelves near the tills. As I'd bought those in Game the day before I knew exactly which ones I was missing so I took one of the least rummaged boxes over to a quiet area of the toy dept. and located the 6 I needed with the help of the Android 'Mini Figure' app. Funny thing was, the box contained no Spartans. Luckily I'd got one in Game the day before (and went back and found another) so I didn't need one but I had planned on stocking up. So, I grabbed another box and looked in it. Still no Spartans. By the time I had been through the fifth box I concluded that someone had beat me to it!

    So, if you're in the area, head for John Lewis. In fact check your local branch as well. You might not find any Spartans but they've probably got plenty of others.

    Finally, someone else was doing a bit of rummaging and fiddling with a mobile phone in JL while I was there (7pm yesterday) but had gone once I'd been through the tills. Was that you?


    27 comments, latest one posted 32 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
    969 views


 
 

Comments

Posted by Doctor Leg O'Brick in United Kingdom, 10 Sep 2010 14:34

Here in birmingham, argos has them.And huw, it was not me.

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 10 Sep 2010 14:53

Not me... Still, nice "hunt" going on now here at Brickset! And it'll repeat over and over again with Series 3, 4, 5, etc.!

Posted by helpme1986 in United Kingdom, 10 Sep 2010 15:13

Doc, which argos had them and can you rummage? I work in Brindley Place so might take a stroll 1 lunch time.

Huw, was the Sharepoint course anygood? My work r thinking about sending me on it but doubt it would be much use as im quite techy and have been working with it for 6 months already

Posted by DrDaveWatford in United Kingdom, 10 Sep 2010 15:21

Your comment about Hamleys is certainly on the mark, Huw - I popped in there last week to kill some time and I was shocked at the mark-up on the Lego there. Definitely one to avoid unless you've got more money than sense, although they did have a good selection.

Interesting to see you found the minifigs in Game - I wasn't aware they stocked them.

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 10 Sep 2010 15:25

@DrDave: I'm suprised too. Doesn't Game usually sell video games?

Posted by DrDaveWatford in United Kingdom, 10 Sep 2010 15:27

@Alemas - correct. Incidentally, Ebay.co.uk currently has set 8880 for sale on a 'buy it now', just in case you're interested :-)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LEGO-TECHNIC-BOX-SET-8880-/250694966588?pt=UK_Construction_Toys_Kits&hash=item3a5e959d3c#ht_500wt_1154

Posted by Doctor Leg O'Brick in United Kingdom, 10 Sep 2010 15:39

@helpme1986, any argos in birmingham has them i think. Best way to know is to go on their site and store check. You put in where you live, (e.g birmingham) check that item with the store near you, if they have it in stock, then go their!! 2nd thing. I think you can rummage, but diiferent stores have different staff. My own experinece is that they are up on a work top to where you pay. Hope i helped.

Posted by lego_nutt in United Kingdom, 10 Sep 2010 16:28

Stewart Millar in Abbeycentre outside Belfast has at least 10 boxes spread around the toy section & tills. But alas, they have not one scanner to check them. I hadn't time to check by eye and i have no Android app.

Interestingly when i called into the two local TRU, they tried to scan them for me but it was blocked - this was also the case in Smyths Belfast, where the barcode would not register on the tills....is this a ploy to stop us cherry picking what we want?!

i was looking for one or two for my friend, but i think i got them by matching the "look" of the bar code versus the bar code sheet downloaded from the home page.

Posted by Firox 5000 in United Kingdom, 10 Sep 2010 16:28

Dont buy series 2 figures at hamleys , Youre wasting £16 which you could buy 8 more at some where like WH S

Posted by lego_nutt in United Kingdom, 10 Sep 2010 16:40

hah!! i just noticed that my comment has been posted from canada!!!! checked profile, and said this is determanied by my IP - it must be because i am logged into my company's VoIP (which is a canadian company) - how cool is that lol

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 10 Sep 2010 17:02

@DrDave: Nope, I want it MISB! Yeah, I'm picky! But anyway, this "8880 business" could go off-topic! It could become a "TV soap" if we continue! Hey, YOU could buy it! £100 is pretty cheap! But it has a missing sticker...

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 10 Sep 2010 18:10

@DrDave, I was tipped off about their availability in Game just before I went to London.

@helpme it was a Learning Tree course 'Sharepoint 2010 introduction'. In 4 days it could only ever cover the basics, but as I'd never even seen the product before it was fairly useful to me.

Posted by DOLEGO1986 in United Kingdom, 10 Sep 2010 20:34

Toys R Us in Swansea had 4 boxes on them when I went their on Sept 1st.
I got the entire set of 16 and a point of sale display box too.
I now have a complete set of series 1 & 2.
My local Argos in Pontardawe (also in Wales, UK) had two boxes of the series 1 figures.

Posted by legomatt in United Kingdom, 11 Sep 2010 02:59

I can confirm they are in Argos (in my local Argos since wednesday, 3 or 4 days ago). I reserved a bunch online and picked them up on thursday. I was really lucky this time and got two full sets... last time all i got was a whole pile of divers and dummies. lol. All good fun. :) Also, when i first saw the images of series 2, i was rather lukewarm on the set - but seeing them close up in all their glory, i've changed my mind - they're great!
The only issue that some may find a turn off is the quality issue seemed more pronounced this time round (it didn't bother me last time) - such as arms not being very stiff, or legs being a very tight squeeze (so much that I fear of a split body over time). But personally, i can live with this, as i'm going to be careful with them.
Edit: How odd, the Argos website doesn't seem to list them now... has my computer been blocked from seeing them, or have they just totally disappeared from the website?

Posted by stu241273 in United Kingdom, 11 Sep 2010 07:21

Anyone planning a trip to the Center Parc in the Lake District? They have 2 boxes on the counter of the toy shop. I've sifted through them a little, much to the amusement of the staff. But plenty remain. Selling price is £2, a outrageous 1p mark up!

Posted by burakki62 in United Kingdom, 11 Sep 2010 10:14

Toys r us in hull has two boxes out by the tills, with 2 spartans left. The boxes have barely changed since last weekend. I picked up a skier and a mexican for my niece today.

Posted by bsmarthen in United States, 11 Sep 2010 10:37

Spartans are rare here in the U.S. Lego needs to release a new line. Ive managed to get 6 so far but it hasnt been easy.

Posted by Ducksrock3 in United Kingdom, 11 Sep 2010 11:13

Just a quick question...I managed to spot them on the Argos website a few days ago, now they seem to have disappeared? Sold out already maybe?

Posted by brickzone in Ireland, 11 Sep 2010 11:26

Showing up on the Argos website for Ireland (search for Lego Minifigure). Stock checker shows them available for collection on Wednesday this week.

Availability seems to vary at Smyths Toys. One outlet I went to had at least one box at every till as well as with the collectables. The outlet I went to today only had one half-empty box with the collectables.

Haven't seen them in Art and Hobby yet, and I checked my local GAME just in case (nothing there).

Posted by BrickBob09 in United Kingdom, 11 Sep 2010 11:31

The two Argos stores by me each had a box of series 1- only one of the stores appeared to have series 2

Posted by voyanui8768 in United Kingdom, 11 Sep 2010 13:04

I went into Game today and they only had ONE FIGURE which was burried under loads of other collectable things. It was a Mexican.

Posted by MisterGeolix814 in United States, 12 Sep 2010 16:59

i guess the spartan is as popular as the cheerleader!

Posted by burakki62 in United Kingdom, 12 Sep 2010 17:30

yeah, i think the spartan is pretty hard to come by as they get picked off first. That's why i left the 2 i found in Hull as i already have 2. I think the tru in Hull is still pretty well stocked with figures too.

Posted by agembala in United States, 12 Sep 2010 23:47

Can someone explain why the minifigs are so hard to come by in the US? I look everywhere that might possibly have them but there are none to be found. I managed to snag one (the last one they had) from the Halloween area in my local Target yesterday but that is the first time I've even seen them.

Posted by lust2luv in United Kingdom, 14 Sep 2010 04:50

My local WHSmith had two new boxes in yesterday, complete with Spartans. Minifigures are only £1.79 each as well, if you received the 10-20% off card for buying anything last week (10% off all toys). Took the opportunity to buy a few figures I wasn't so keen about - the skier is surprisingly good, love his hat.

Posted by Delatron in United Kingdom, 15 Sep 2010 07:29

^ Yep, Smiths in Derby seems to be my best bet (Join the privilige club online - get some money off vouchers!), but they are selling much faster than series 1 so i've been in and they had three left one day, gone in a few days later to a full box. I have had to ask for the box to look through on a couple of occasions, much to the bemusement of the counter staff ("Well all the barcodes will be the same, won't they?"), on others they were on the counter so I just had a rummage.

Spoke to the chap behind the counter in another local store (Midco / Toy planet) who said they are selling much quicker than S1 and that it's primarily kids and parents with kids who are scooping them up armed with barcode sheets - they've cottoned on to the collectable element of them. He said they sold a whole box on a weekday afternoon when they arrived, compared to a week to sell a box of S1.

Our TRU has never had them when I've been in, but The Entertainer had S1 (and were scanning them with a barcode reader to find specific figs for people) so I hope they get S2. My neice told me that Sainsburys had S2 figs(not boxed, hanging in strips) and Asda and Tesco near me both got S1 so i'm keeping an eye out for blue packs.

Not noticed a shortage of Spartans anywhere I was looking - I had a much harder time getting the Disco Guy!

Posted by freston in United Kingdom, 17 Sep 2010 04:22

I noticed yesterday that Sainsbury's has Series 2 -- NOT with the toys, but with the kids' party items.

Commenting has ended on this article.