Lego Minifigures: Misprint Misfortune or Treasure Trove?
Have you ever looked at one of your Lego minifigures and thought, that doesn’t quite look right. Well, whether that happened to you or that minifigure you looked at was bitten by your dog, I promise you that misprints are worth taking a second look at.
In-Set Variants and How to Find Them
Lego has become known for changing minifigures mid-release within many genres, but none more prevalent than within the Lego Star Wars franchise. These collectibles have become known as minifigures with “in-set variants.”
So, how can you even tell if you have an “in-set variant”? Well, misprints are officially recognized by Lego as alterations to existing Lego minifigure designs. Lego has had its fair share of changes in this department with over 400 registered in-set variants and Lego Star Wars makes up a whopping 66 of those misprints. These variants have been made readily available via the Lego partner website, Bricklink, where interested fans can navigate the toolbar to check if they have any of these hidden gems: Home > Marketplace > Resources > Relationships > Minifigures with In-Set Variants. From there you can choose any genre you want to explore and see both the original and variant/s side by side.
Real or Hype?
Honestly, you might think, why should you be interested and why am I even telling you this; well, for collectors like myself, it can be really cool to find two different versions of your favorite figure. But that’s not even the best part.
Because supply and demand so heavily influences the aftermarket value of most Lego products, these variants can often reach some crazy prices.
Money ($) -> MONEY ($$$)
Let’s talk value. To be fair, it is a hit or miss with these variants as it depends on supply, demand, and the overall uniqueness of the variations itself. Take for example the 2008 Clone Trooper Commander Fox (sw0202a) from the 7681 Separatist Spider Droid set, which had a production misprint on the torso, resulting in a unique variant (sw0202b) priced at $700 over the original’s market value. Considering the original figure is of high value, it stands to reason the obscene price increase is expected.
Then there are the more disappointing minifigures like the 2008 Interrogation Droid (sw0211) from the 10188 Death Star - UCS set, which completely redesigned the buildable droid (sw0211a) to add a whopping $1-$2 to the market value.
What Can You Do?
So what can you take away from this? Well, Lego is fun, but it can also be an investment. So two things. One, if you hear about misprints, it’s never a bad idea to consider getting one or two before the market gets a whiff of it. Two, if you find misprints of your own, keep those safe and who knows, you may actually be hitting a treasure trove!
