Lego Minifigures Series 5

Start here for pictures and details of all the LEGO minifigures in Series 5, along with their accessories. Is it possible to know which minifigure is in the mystery bag before you buy it? Maybe! Read on below to find out how...

Series 5 was officially released on Aug 22, 2011, although there were some reports from Denmark and New Zealand of the minifigures appearing on store shelves earlier in the month. The minifigs are packaged in opaque light blue poly bags which make it impossible to tell which minifig is in the bag. There are "bump codes" on each bag, similar to those on previous Series, but for Series 5 there are so many different sets of codes that they are not a reliable guide. Instead, people who want to find a specific figure in the store are using a "feel guide"! More info below.

Photo: Evil Dwarf product image from LEGO

Here's the shortcut: buy the entire set of all 16 Series 5 minifigures at once! Let someone else do all the work of finding all the minifigs and you reap the benefit.

If you're into surprises then you may want to buy your Series 5 minifig in the bag. Buying online means that you don't get to feel the bag or look at the codes, so it truly will be a surprise.

As well as buying just a few minifigs in their bags, you can buy a whole box of 60 bags, which increases your chances of getting many different figs at once. Of course, you'll also get many duplicates, but you can use those to trade with friends to get the figs you don't have, or even sell them online yourself and recoup some of the money spent. This is the minifig distribution in each box of 60 bags:

3 Graduates

3 Gladiators

5 Grenadier Guards

3 Eskimos

4 Cavewomen

4 Godzillas

5 Zoo Keepers

4 Woodcutters

4 Circus Clowns

4 Aerobics Instructors

4 Detectives

3 Dwarves Warriors

5 Boxers

3 Pharaoh Queens

3 Mafia Gangsters

3 Snowboarders

We're now on Series 5, and there's series 6, 7, and 8 to come. Which of the existing series do you think has the best minifigures in it?

There's another poll below so you can say which minifigure you like best out of Series 5 :)

Here are all the minifigures individually. The detail pictures from LEGO show "action shots" where the figures are artistically posed, but you should be aware that LEGO fig bodies don't really bend and twist like that :) Take a look at the pic of all the figs to see the actual minifigs.

All these minifigs have had their bags opened by the seller to confirm the identity of the fig.

So, you're standing in front of a big display and you just want 2 of the 16 possible figs to complete your set. How do you tell which fig is in each bag so you get what you want?

There are two ways to do this, neither of which is 100% reliable.

Bump Codes

The small polybag packages have patterns of small bumps along the sides, and in theory these "bump codes" should allow you tell which figure is in the pack. In practice, it's been found that there are at least several and possibly many different series of bump codes, making it impossible to tell exactly which fig is present. The bump codes can also be very hard to identify and read.

So, the most reliable method seems to be...

Feeling the Figure Through the Bag

Most of the figures have identifiable features such as accessories or headwear, which you can identify by carefully feeling the bag. PEZ has published a "feel guide" on his blog which tells you what to feel for on each fig. Find it here:

http://blog.betterthantomorrow.com/2011/08/15/a-lego-minifigures-series-5-feel-guide/

One thing to watch out for is that some stores don't like you doing this, so be discreet. On the other hand, some people have convinced stores to let them feel through a brand new box of polybags to get exactly what they want, so you may strike it lucky!

If you missed the previous series, you can still get complete sets of each.

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What do you think of the whole idea of having sealed polybags where you don't know what you're going to get? Is it a happy surprise or an annoyance?