If you’re someone who has spent any amount of time looking into LEGO then you know how expensive it can be to get LEGO Minifigures. These small plastic figurines can be worth thousands of dollars depending on their rarity. And even most average individual figurines can be $15 or more. So why are the LEGO Minifigures so expensive?
We’ve compiled a list of 10 reasons why we believe the LEGO Minifigures are so expensive. In this article, we’ll discuss every aspect you need to know about in order to understand why precisely the price tag for these Minifigs is so incredibly high. Spoiler alert it has a lot to do with Licensing, but there are many other factors that play a significant role in the pricing itself.
We would, however, like to say that price largely fluctuates between individual pieces considerably. There are after all Collector pieces such as the 14K Gold LEGO C3-PO Mini-figure that have an evaluation of $300,000. Whereas there are other pieces such as the LEGO Batman Black Suit Minifig that only evaluates to $13. So take these factors as variables rather than set metrics for why pricing might be so steep for these figurines.
1. The Rarity of Minifigures
Perhaps the primary factor that affects the price of LEGO products and LEGO Minifigures, in particular, is how rare these individual pieces are and how easily one can gain access to them.
It’s no surprise that making these figures takes a tremendous amount of effort and costs a ton. This can be attributed to the LEGO company’s high standards, use of excellent material, and having factories set up in countries with more expensive labor.
So it only stands to reason that if the cost of creation for each individual mini-figures is so high then you cannot simply mass produce these particular toys. You have to mitigate the loss by making sure that only a few exceptional pieces at a good price become available to the market.
It is thus precisely this limitation of available pieces that reduce the overall supply of Minifigures in the market. However, there are many collectors, LEGO enthusiasts, and children who desperately want these figurines, thus establishing a high demand.
Economics would dictate that with such a low supply and such high demand the price of LEGO Minifigures would be considerably increased. And that’s one of the major reasons why LEGO Figurines are so expensive.
2. Licensing Costs A Lot
One of the major selling points for many LEGO sets and LEGO Minifigures is that they depict characters from popular media franchises such as characters from Marvel’s Avengers, Star Wars and DC Comic Universe. In order to be able to produce these LEGO figurines the company has to obtain Licensing, and that costs quite a bit of money.
Licensing is when one company provides temporary authorization to another company to use its intellectual property. This deal is based on a fee that the parent company receives for the other using its intellectual property.
LEGO has many such deals with several top media companies such as Disney, Pixar, Warner Bros etc. Annual reports from 2020 state LEGO spent over 500 million dollars on Licensing alone. So it should be obvious why they would evaluate their Minifigures so highly. It costs a fortune to get the rights off in the first place, and of course, LEGO is going to charge the consumer for every penny.
3. Collector’s Item
Another one of the major factors that have led to LEGO Minifigures being valued so highly is that many of the original figures that were released by LEGO, long ago, are no longer in production. This means that there are only a few thousand pieces of certain figurines in existence and this has greatly increased the price of the LEGO Minifigures.
Of course, the discussion of how they came to become Collector’s items has a lot to do with our discussion earlier about the rarity of a lot of these LEGO Minifigures. However, what we need to realize is that other than simply the cost of production or the lack of more releases it is the nostalgic value of these Minifigures that draws the attention and money of the people.
LEGO Minifigures often remind adult LEGO collectors of a more innocent time in their lives. Free from burdens of bills, family, and work-related responsibilities. It is for that reason that
Many of the LEGO Figurines have become so sought after by the community.
4. Inability to Buy in Bulk
Something incredibly interesting that LEGO as a company has done to make sure the prices of their LEGO Minifigures are always high is that they purposefully never release a set that comes geared with several mini-figures.
There are many massive LEGO sets that you would assume come packed with Stormtroopers or Avengers or various other characters. However, LEGO is very stingy in this regard and often only releases a few new pieces with each set that they roll out.
What this usually ends up meaning is that collectors, enthusiasts, and even some interested children have to buy entire sets multiple times in order to obtain the right amount of exclusive Minifigures to complete their initial sets’ entire presentation.
One of the only exceptions I know of this happening is the LEGO MTT which came packed with a ton of droid Minifigures. However, in most instances regardless of how expensive or how massive their newer sets are they usually do not come with an ample supply of Minifigures.
In fact, many fans have been begging for a tub of low rarity Minifigures and LEGO refuses to release even that. But it’s apparent that LEGO has no interest in releasing any such products that would inadvertently reduce the overall price that their Minifigures can demand.
5. LEGO Minifigures are Detailed
Each Minifigure that is created by LEGO is given a tremendous amount of scrutiny in order to ensure that they are ready to be distributed. There are several experts that work at their factories who ensure that the equipment is making LEGO Blocks that adhere to the strict size, weight, and material standards of the company.
The molds used to make LEGO are one such tool that these experts utilize in order to ensure that their product is accurate to the minutest level. These molds are always accurate to within 0.004mm. This effectively means that the margin of error for the production team is smaller than several times the size of the average human hair.
All of this attention to detail ensures that the product is of premium quality and thus deserving of a higher price point.
6. Excellent Material Quality
Other than ensuring that the size, shape, and structure of the Minifigure are perfect, LEGO also makes sure that the plastic being utilized for the Minifigures in their themed sets is of the absolute highest quality. It is thus to this end that LEGO uses a whopping total of twelve different types of plastic for each of their Minifigures
Many of the standard Minifigures are made from ABS or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, which is both tough and resilient, making it perfect for the purposes of block making. LEGO primarily utilizes this plastic in their construction to ensure a strong sturdy base for their sets providing them that extra bit of necessary stability.
This is why the LEGO bricks and Minifigures are so strongly connected to one another. Both the fidelity in size and the material allow for Minifigures to be far more secure in connection than similar products from LEGO’s competitors.
7. LEGO-style figurine Monopolization
Something that is often not talked about is the influence of LEGO’s intellectual property rights over the current market of LEGO-style figurines. If anyone wants Minifigures with the shape, size, and style of a LEGO Mini-figure then there are no alternatives other than LEGO itself for consumers.
This might seem obvious, but consider how almost all products that we consume daily often have alternatives available to us. These alternatives usually provide some form of competition to each other, and this often forces companies to provide better services to consumers at a cheaper rate.
However, this is not the case for LEGO, which has been a dominant force in the Figurine market for a considerable time now. And this has allowed it to construct a form of market monopoly. This allows them to establish high prices for their normal products and especially for their Minifigures. Which is one of the major reasons why they are so expensive.
8. LEGO Branding
If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past few decades you know for a fact that LEGO is one of the most popular toy brands in the world. Everyone and their grandmother know about what a big deal LEGO is, and how could they not when the company has been around for so long.
It is precisely this recognizability that makes LEGO such a dominant force in the market of Minifigures. Aside from their quality or even media relevance, it is their time spent branding themselves and becoming known that contributes to the prices of the figurines being so high.
Even if someone might not understand why a toy would be worth thousands of dollars. The fact that the company behind said LEGO gives an additional sense of credence and merit to the price point. People understand that if there is any toy or Mini Figure that will be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars then it has to be LEGO.
9. LEGO Minifigures Cultural Relevance
The Danish company has invested heavily in cultivating an image through a variety of media works. The most notable being their movies, such as the 2014 smash hit The Lego Movie or the 2017 super hit the LEGO Batman. But not just movies but also videogames have seen LEGO prove to be a massive force.
LEGO-themed video games about Harry Potter, Marvel Super Heroes, DC Superheroes, and Star Wars have been tremendously popular and have sold millions of units.
What all of these various media productions form is an ever-growing association of the various themed series with LEGO. Along with that association, it also develops the trust and respect of the consumer towards the company, that they know would provide quality content constantly regardless of its form.
This has also added many aspects of LEGO into our cultural existence as well as our lexicon. I mean who hasn’t shared their experiences of stepping on a LEGO before or hasn’t seen the several references to LEGO in movies, TV shows, and games. Even those that would otherwise have nothing to do with LEGO.
It’s clear that LEGO tapped into something special when it came into the media market space and it has captured the vision and attention of audiences since. This is what has lent further justification to the pricing of their Minifigures.
10. LEGO a marvel of Engineering
Our 10th and final reason why we believe that LEGO Minifigures are so expensive is that LEGO itself as a toy is a technological marvel. There is no surprise that LEGO, the company, spends millions on research and development every year.
And all of that investment is translated into an ever-evolving, infinitely complex, and yet simple design that continues to bring joy to children and adults alike.
Each of the LEGO Minifigures leads to new and interesting ways of construction and because of their specific design structure can lend itself to other creations made out of LEGO. One of the biggest reasons why enthusiasts love the toy so much is because of the cerebral nature of LEGO.
And it is perhaps the reason why LEGO will retain its cultural significance and expensive figurines well into the future.
These were our 10 Reasons why LEGO Minifigures are so expensive. If you believe that we missed something please let us know in the comments down below. And if you found this article interesting and informative consider checking out our other stuff. Till we meet next time. Ciao!