The Best Small Line

[buttheadsmate]

The case breakdown was fairly common knowledge & the 'Illusive Man' was the elusive short packed figure .  Oddly enough (in my experience) the 'Illusive Man' became fairly easily attainable on ebay ,often comparitively cheap . The 2 figures (again in my experience) that seemed scarce were Garrus & Wrex .    Just saying.

[FightTheDead118]

2 hours ago, Barry said:

The original 4-pack was 2 Sheps and 2 Husks for the ultimate boring 4pk, so we're lucky I was able to squeeze Miranda and Aria out of reused parts.  Much more was designed and even far more than that was planned, but too many cooks in the kitchen killed this line - not poor planning. 

 

 

 

Okay I respect that, that original boxset sounds brutal. I understand Aria as she’s probably the most visually interesting character that could have been made at the time without new parts, not getting Miranda would have made the collection significantly more incomplete 

Its gonna hurt seeing the unused designs but I’m definitely looking forward to it, only really got into Mass Effect last year but I absolutely fell head over heels for the series and the Minimates were probably my first exposure to the series way back when, picked up a few just as a Minimate fan. That bling bag series might be the best designed minimates in my opinion, just perfect translations

Too many cooks makes sense if EA management/marketing was involved in any way, they’re notorious for wrecking anything they get their hands on, just about every problem with Mass Effect 3 is their fault

Edited August 12, 2025 by FightTheDead118

[Navaan]

2 hours ago, Barry said:

This was actually impossible with the way the Minimates were done.  Each case was packed with the same assortment, and believe it or not, in the same box position.  If you got a fresh, untouched case and knew the pack-out pattern, you could pull the character you wanted from the position it was placed.

I'm high functioning autistic. I could tell what they were by shape- but I'm sure most could.

Dome head? Tali

Pokey bits back of the head, small? Liara

Pokey bits back of the head, big? Garrus

Shoulder pads? Shepherd

Hip cap? Ashley

Weird biggun? Wrex

 

And for anyone who may be sitting on Mass Effect minimates, hit me up. ❤️

[cylonchaney]

Blind bags are evil, somehow normalized by the toy industry. Build a figure slightly less so. Exploits the same mental weakness as loot boxes and pay to advance mobile games.

Imagine having to buy 12 cars to be sure to get the colour / options you want. 😜

At least with Minimates you could buy a full box and be guaranteed the chase figure(s) I suppose. But I'd rather pay more per mate and just be able to select the ones I want.

And I'd rather not get the characters the industry claims you wouldn't get without blind bags. If I have to buy 12 undesirables to get one that I want, I'd prefer none of them to get made at all. I can't think of any other industry that could get away with such marketing tactics.

Rant over. LOL

By the way, if anyone has an extra Mac from the Predator line, that's still a hole in my collection that I'd love to trade for. 

Back on topic, I also think the simple 2 pack was enough coverage for Forbidden Planet. I'd have bought other characters. But I'm not longing for any unmade ones. I'm glad there's a Minimate of Leslie Nielsen.  

 

[Padrino]

7 hours ago, Barry said:

This was actually impossible with the way the Minimates were done.  Each case was packed with the same assortment, and believe it or not, in the same box position.  If you got a fresh, untouched case and knew the pack-out pattern, you could pull the character you wanted from the position it was placed.

Thank you. But that was the way DST did it. Who knows how SparklePop would handle this. (I've been burned by blindbags from other companies and it TOTALLY turned me off to them). 

[BuffaloDelorean]

I got pretty good at identifying blindbagged figures by feel from the Lego minifigure line, but there were a few blindbagged MMs, like the Iron Legions and Ultrons, that were sculpturally identical to another release in the same series.

[cylonchaney]

1 hour ago, BuffaloDelorean said:

I got pretty good at identifying blindbagged figures by feel from the Lego minifigure line, but there were a few blindbagged MMs, like the Iron Legions and Ultrons, that were sculpturally identical to another release in the same series.

A comic book shop worker (owner?) got mad at me for trying to identify the Daleks from the Character Building Block blind bags. So I stopped trying and he lost some sales.  I had a tiny army of them by then anyway. But I'd have bought more. They're a tiny bit small to fit with Minimates but I found it workable.

[buttheadsmate]

%@*% were my first foray into Minifigure collecting . @****@*** ,the corporation selling them, in their wisdom, took the boxed & blind bagged option & I bought them by the case, several cases   I can tell you for absolute surety that something was definitely weird about the 'assortment'  . I use the word 'weird' out of politeness I wouldn't use a word like 'crooked' would I ? A couple of years later when @****:@!* folded I was purchasing the previously supposed chase figures from 'an ebay source' cheaply & unboxed , I bought several & was offered more.   The ebay source ,I later realised, was closely connected to the aforementioned (unmentioned ) corporation.

Lesson 1 .....Manufacturers can manipulate blind-bagged assortments , they may even hold back certain figures from distribution even though they have been manufactured/produced.......creating a perceived rarity or scarcity [ my edit ]

Lesson 2. Sealed factory boxes are obviously sealed factory boxes see below....

Medicom sold blind-bagged kubricks , I'll use Star Wars Kubricks as the example.  If you bought 4 cartons of 24 boxed SW kubricks in a sealed case (96) you were guaranteed to get the Chase /Secret 1/96 & 1/48 etc. etc. etc.     It was difficult ,almost impossible,  for ordinary collectors to get hold of sealed cases so ordinary collectors had to rely on getting a carton of 24 from the secondary market .  I soon realised yet again that something was 'weird' ! I never seemed to find a chase ? Bad luck?

By now you might assume that ol'bhm is/was paranoid ....let's just say that I'm cynical.  Medicom go to great lengths with their packaging & the cartons (of 24) had a very obvious 'security ' perforation strip so nobody could tamper with the carton in any way .   I'm an ex-printer ,30 years in the trade , mainly packaging ....I know packaging !!

It became pretty obvious that some unscrupulous secondary market sellers were tampering with the contents by simply ungluing the bottom of the cartons & regluing them, leaving the perforated seal intact , once the 'chase' figures had been removed .  Once you know ...you know & I never bought again & left appropriate feedback . I became banned by one seller ....the truth hurts !

Minimate 'blind-bags' never suffered from this & I have no doubts about the 'integrity' of Diamond .I will say however that blind-bagged mini figures that aren't (also) boxed* individually* leaves the BAM retailer with a huge responsibility to ensure that the figures aren't 'felt-up' prior to they're sale .  Feeling -up blind bags is a God-send to the secondary-market seller of supposed random bags.  I do however think Diamond's decision was extremely naive . Sorry.

** The first 2 examples of miniature blind-bagging were also boxed to eliminate the feel-up.

A long-winded post but I'll stand by every word .

-blindbagshate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 13, 2025 by buttheadsmate
clarification

[Padrino]

3 hours ago, cylonchaney said:

A comic book shop worker (owner?) got mad at me for trying to identify the Daleks from the Character Building Block blind bags. So I stopped trying and he lost some sales.  I had a tiny army of them by then anyway. But I'd have bought more. They're a tiny bit small to fit with Minimates but I found it workable.

Loved that Doctor Who line! My Doctor box set is still a prized possession. Still disappointed that the minimate versions were never made. They would have been epic!

[Padrino]

33 minutes ago, buttheadsmate said:

%@*% were my first foray into Minifigure collecting . @****@*** ,the corporation selling them, in their wisdom, took the boxed & blind bagged option & I bought them by the case, several cases   I can tell you for absolute surety that something was definitely weird about the 'assortment'  . I use the word 'weird' out of politeness I wouldn't use a word like 'crooked' would I ? A couple of years later when @****:@!* folded I was purchasing the previously supposed chase figures from 'an ebay source' cheaply & unboxed , I bought several & was offered more.   The ebay source ,I later realised, was closely connected to the aforementioned (unmentioned ) corporation.

Lesson 1 .....Manufacturers can manipulate blind-bagged assortments , they may even hold back certain figures from distribution even though they have been manufactured/produced.

Lesson 2. Sealed factory boxes are obviously sealed factory boxes see below....

Medicom sold blind-bagged kubricks , I'll use Star Wars Kubricks as the example.  If you bought 4 cartons of 24 boxed SW kubricks in a sealed case (96) you were guaranteed to get the Chase /Secret 1/96 & 1/48 etc. etc. etc.     It was difficult ,almost impossible,  for ordinary collectors to get hold of sealed cases so ordinary collectors had to rely on getting a carton of 24 from the secondary market .  I soon realised yet again that something was 'weird' ! I never seemed to find a chase ? Bad luck?

By now you might assume that ol'bhm is/was paranoid ....let's just say that I'm cynical.  Medicom go to great lengths with their packaging & the cartons (of 24) had a very obvious 'security ' perforation strip so nobody could tamper with the carton in any way .   I'm an ex-printer ,30 years in the trade , mainly packaging ....I know packaging !!

It became pretty obvious that some unscrupulous secondary market sellers were tampering with the contents by simply ungluing the bottom of the cartons & regluing them, leaving the perforated seal intact , once the 'chase' figures had been removed .  Once you know ...you know & I never bought again & left appropriate feedback . I became banned by one seller ....the truth hurts !

Minimate 'blind-bags' never suffered from this & I have no doubts about the 'integrity' of Diamond .I will say however that blind-bagged mini figures that aren't (also) boxed* individually* leaves the BAM retailer with a huge responsibility to ensure that the figures aren't 'felt-up' prior to they're sale .  Feeling -up blind bags is a God-send to the secondary-market seller of supposed random bags.  I do however think Diamond's decision was extremely naive . Sorry.

** The first 2 examples of miniature blind-bagging were also boxed to eliminate the feel-up.

A long-winded post but I'll stand by every word .

-blindbagshate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here is my blind bag/Kid Robot story.  Many moons ago, when Kubircks were a thing, I was at the KR store in Soho. At that time, the Peter Porker Spider-Ham Kubick was the chase figure. I randomly picked up one box and joked with the guy at the counter, "This is the winner." He laughed at me said no one has found one that he knew of. I walked out of the store, opened the box, found my Peter Porker, and pulled a Good Will Hunting ("How do you like them apples?"). Still have it in the baggie in the original box.

[Trekker 42]

I bought a case of Transformers Blokees which is supposed to have one variant per case but also have one of every character. 
The one I bought was missing one constructicon and had two Megatrons. Both of them variants and one of them the 1/144 variant. 
 

I’ve never been luckier with a blind box in my life.