Collecting LEGO® Minifigures is one of our favorite past times here at Atlanta Brick Co and LEGO makes over 16k different Minifigures. However, what do you do when LEGO doesn't make the minifigure you want? For example, LEGO never made minifigures from The Walking Dead TV Show or LEGO has not yet made that super random character from Star Wars yet. You can make your own custom minifigure out of parts of your other LEGO minifigures, that is the beauty of LEGO, however, sometimes the parts just do not exist to make it look good enough for you. This is where the market of custom printed LEGO Minifigures exists.
What is a custom LEGO Minifigure?
A custom LEGO minifigure is a minifigure that was not "put together" by LEGO in any of their building kits. If you make your own custom LEGO minifigure out of spare LEGO minifigure parts and LEGO has never put that combination of minifigure parts together in a set before, it is called a purist custom minifigure meaning that all of the LEGO parts are made from real LEGO minifigure parts, and any printing on the parts were printed by LEGO. The value of a purist custom minifigure should be what it would cost to acquire each individual part used to make the minifigure plus the time it may have taken.
What is a custom printed LEGO Minifigure?
A custom printed LEGO minifigure is when someone has printed on real LEGO parts. Typically this is done by a professional company which owns a UV printer or pad printer and the print quality is very high. These companies make custom printed minifigures to resell as part of their business. These minifigures often cost in the $20 to $30 range depending on how much printing has been done on them it the cost is completely justified. Real LEGO pieces are very expensive to by, the cost of the UV or pad printer itself can be over $20k and the time and expertise it takes to design and print on the minifigure parts is immense. Some of the custom printed LEGO minifigure parts may be 3D printed or custom molded if LEGO does not make a piece in that specific shape.
What is a fake or counterfeit LEGO Minifigure?
A fake or counterfeit LEGO minifigure will not be made of real LEGO parts. 99% of LEGO pieces say LEGO on them somewhere, if you do not see the LEGO logo molded into the piece, it is probably not real LEGO. The easiest way to tell if a Minifigure is real LEGO or not is to take the head off and look on top of the neck. A real LEGO torso will have the LEGO logo on the very top of the neck. Atlanta Brick Co does not deal in fake or counterfeit LEGO pieces, we throw them away as they are inferior products and can jeopardize the integrity and value of what is being built. Many times you can tell the difference between real LEGO and fake LEGO by the shine of the plastic. Fake or counterfeit LEGO minifigures have little to no value and this is reflected in the cost, typically selling for less than $8. Buyer Beware, If the price of a brand-new, LEGO minifigure seems too good to be true, then there is a very good chance it is fake. If the seller of custom LEGO Minifigures use words such as "Compatible" or "works with" than it is probably fake and if they do not say they are using real LEGO parts than it is probably not real LEGO. Many parents like to buy their kids the fake or counterfeit LEGO minifigures because they are cheap, however, this is a very bad idea. LEGO owns the patent on the LEGO minifigure design, so any fake minifigure is being and sold illegally and most likely made in China. These are not produced with any type of standards in mind, often using cheap, dangerous chemicals and even lead paint to produce them. After handling these fake minifigures, you can often feel a stinging or tingling in your hands. You do not want your children playing with these! You can buy fake LEGO on Amazon, Facebook, TikTok and other online marketplaces so please be careful. eBay has tried to crack down on the sale of fake LEGO minifigures, however, it is too difficult for them to control since all of their sellers are individuals and eBay is not actually handling the product.
LEGO Minifigure collecting is a very fun hobby and has proven to be a relatively safe investment if the minifigures are taken care of. We take our LEGO Minifigures very seriously and would be happy to answer any questions you may have about them. Please call us at 470-414-2208 or email us at info@atlbrick.com or visit our website at www.atlbrick.com.
Thank you!
