If you remember, earlier this year LEGO ran a minifigure swap event in their stores. Apparently, it went so well, they’ve decided to do another LEGO Minifigure Swap Monday April 18th!
At the last swap, the husband and I were able to trade for many minifigures we wanted, including some Alien Squad minifigures that went well in our moonbase setups. The girl got lots of good ones for herself as well. It was definitely a fun time.
What Is A LEGO Minifigure Swap
A minifigure swap is an event where you can bring any minifigures you would like to trade with others. The hope is that you’ll come across someone who has a minifigure you would like and that you have a minifigure for which they wouldn’t mind trading. You guys then trade your minifigures and voila! That’s the minifigure swap.
What Has Changed With The Next LEGO Minifigure Swap
I can’t speak for how the first event turned out for LEGO, but they’ve made some changes to the event based on feedback, I suppose.
This was the listing from the first event:
In case you can’t read, it says:
Join in a LEGO Minifigure Swap! How it works: Bring 1 Minifigure in to the LEGO Store on January 18 between 4-6pm. Then, you can trade with Brick Specialists or other LEGO fans! It’s a fun way to change up your collection.
And this is the listing for this event:
The LEGO Minifigure Swap Monday April 18th listing says:
“Join in a LEGO® Minifigure Swap! Bring one of your own Minifigures in to the LEGO Store on April 18. Then you can trade with Brick Specialists or other LEGO fans! It’s a fun way to change up your collection and meet other LEGO fans. Open to kids ages 6-14 only.”
There are a few things you should note that are different from the first event:
- The event has gone from a 2-hour event, to an all day event.
- LEGO limited the event to kids 6-14 only. I’m rather disappointed by this move, but I can’t speak to what happened with the first event. I’m bummed that this leaves the adults out of the trading action; however, it leaves me thinking that the adults attending the last event were less than considerate of the small kids who were trying to trade out figures. One bad apple always spoils it for the bunch. Hopefully, stores will bend this rule a little, since adults purchase minifigures and like to swap, too!
- The limit on the number of minifigures you can trade has gone from 1 to as many as you like. No need to pick just one! Woot!
I brought my kids to their first swap. This was yesterday and they are still asking if they can go today to “switch”. Swap, you mean? Unfortunately, it was a one day event. They got a Frozen Elsa princess and a Minecraft Steve and were the happiest kids on the planet!
Thanks for stopping by innling!
Now that is pretty awesome to get such great minifigures right off the bat. If LEGO follows the pattern so far, you can probably expect to see another Swap Monday in July. :)
I’m slightly autistic and 18, but they let me do it probably because of that and because I’m pretty harmless and I’m in there all the time. (I’m so blessed to live where I do! I live five minutes away from the nearest LEGO store and twenty minutes away from the nearest Legoland. I could walk to the LEGO store if I wanted to, and I have!) Anyway, I’ve traded and got all sorts of things such as an Iron man fig with a triangle on chest. They’ve only been in two sets. And apparently the kids take advantage of you, it’s not just the adults. A kid gave me a sand trooper from 2011 and said it was rare. He didn’t say it had cracks on the sides of torso which he covered with the arms! From what I know, the event is monthly now and I plan on doing it every time.
Zachary – Thanks for stopping by!
And thanks for sharing about your trading experience. That’s a good cautionary tale for others to inspect the minfigures they trade for as it’s very easy in all the excitement to trade for a bad minifigure.