Are LEGO Minifigures GAMBLING? (12 Methods To Avoid Disappointment)

[@MandRproductions]

National Problem Gambling Helpline (1-800-GAMBLER) is operated by the National Council on Problem Gambling. The helpline serves as a one-stop hub connecting people looking for assistance with a gambling problem to local resources.

[@welcometothejungl3]

Hot take, buying CMFs isn't gambling as there's no risk of loss. You always end up with a product.

[@MandRproductions]

@@welcometothejungl3 Yes if that's how you want to define gambling in a literal sense. However not knowing what you're getting has definitely got to be some form of gambling, even if it's not the dictionary definition of it.

[@welcometothejungl3]

@@MandRproductions It's definitely worse than the blind bags that's for sure.

[@JWbricks]

Cheers lad

[@TheFirstCurse1]

​@@welcometothejungl3What are you talking about??? There's a huge risk of loss! You want certain figures and instead you get different ones, and they all have different values to both you personally and on the aftermarket. What's next? Lootboxes aren't gambling because you always end up with something?

[@jacobday406]

Instructions unclear, I am no longer allowed within 15 feet of my local Walmart

[@MandRproductions]

lmaooooo

[@Fly-B0Y5451]

The amount of mis-labeling of characters in this video is astounding! 😂

[@repticare101]

average marvel shill 😂

[@scottdavis_34]

Have to admit the stethoscope method was pretty darn clever!

[@fritz404]

Love when you make totally random videos like this, they're always so fun

[@FloridaMansToys]

3:28 - Awesome Video! It was great meeting you guys, thanks for stopping in. Stop by again soon, as we are moving in to a new, much bigger store next month. Glad to see videos like this helping the community, dont gamble your money away folks, be sure to check out your local LEGO resellers, most sell minifigs open like we do in this video so you can pick exactly what you need! If you’re in Central Florida, stop by Florida Man’s Toys.

[@cashmoneybricks120]

Ryan’s about to trigger every marvel fan by calling moon night vision

[@MandRproductions]

I am no expert for their names hahaha

[@cashmoneybricks120]

@@MandRproductionsvalid

[@TheFirstCurse1]

I mean the character is literally just a stupid Batman ripoff that's worse in every single way so who cares about getting his name right.

[@nunocabreracancelo]

@@TheFirstCurse1 least toxic batman fan, come on man, moon knight is cool, they can coexist since they are not even in the same universe, what exactly is the problem

[@TheFirstCurse1]

@@nunocabreracancelo No he isn't cool. He's cheesy and cringey, and he'll never be anything more than a stupid Batman rip-off. It's disgusting that he's even remotely popular nowadays for such a character. He needed to be left behind after the very first comic he appeared in.

[@jayronauron4042]

When I first found these at my local walmart, 3/4 of the stock had been torn by the top tab by people breaking them open to find which ones were there. It was so bad pieces were scattered all over inside the cardboard holder for the packs. Was super disappointing (though I was lucky enough to get the main minifig I wanted from the few intact ones I found and bought).

[@___David__]

I opted for the method of going to a local LEGO retailer here who sells the complete sets for slightly below the retail price of 12 boxes. - I get the minifigure set. - He gets the profit margin he already has. - And LEGO gets a FU for trying to scam me 😎

[@LibyanSoup]

"They've done studies, you know. 60% of the time, it works every time." Ryan Fantana

[@Nicholas_H]

I collected every CMF series but when the switched to boxes I said "no thanks." But this is a great video outlining the options for those that still want them. Let's hope that if they ever do a Star Wars CMF series you can help us then too!

[@HobbyFilmmaker]

Hands down the best MandR video ever!

[@FabuBrik]

I'm no lawyer or anything but generally curious how are these blind boxes any different than loot boxes in games that were outlawed?

[@MandRproductions]

shhhhh the environment is saved haven't you heard?

[@patricksnoring4739]

I think the loot boxes have more to do with making some things rare and others more common. So you’d contjnually buy for a chance to get the rare stuff. Blind boxes are (assumedly) equal chance for everything.

[@jeremymiller676]

Plus the(possible) contents of the box is displayed, whereas loot boxes usually had no pictures of anything. Get the scope or rip them open and send Lego a message…

[@bakernation]

@@MandRproductions serious question couldn't Lego use the paper bags that they started using in the European magazines?

[@Superbassi0]

Loot boxes are a lot more like slot machines. Flashy colours, the voice telling you how "EPIC" your prize is, constantly dangling that

[@bricktraviiii5848]

Sands never fails to be hilarious in these videos , probably my favorite part

[@rosscalhoun3389]

It looks like they're boxed in lines of three, with a cutoff that means a 3-batch could be split between boxes. That's rather interesting.

[@cureiron9758]

I was deadass expecting the final way to be buying the individual figure WITH TODAYS SPONSOR WHATNOT

[@MandRproductions]

As I was editing the video I did realize I missed an easy one. 😂

[@SomeSteven]

Still baffles me how they don't make Star Wars versions of these blind bags / boxes. I'm sure there's a reason out there, but I'd say that's something literally everyone would want.

[@JohnDoe-bz4yl]

I would buy some if they released a star wars blind bag but they won't because they would rather you buy a lego ship which has the figures included I know people buy the lego sets just for the figures and sell the ship and keep just the mini figs

[@terririnella4032]

i agree, if there was a way to collect generic stormtroopers, army builder figures with only a couple named characters, seems like an easy way to make money hand over fist, but probably the same reason most battle packs/bags aren't really good for that anymore

[@koloth5139]

Lego won't do a Star Wars CMF series because Hasbro has the exclusive license for action figures, and they would very likely sue for infringing on their exclusive license. Lego can add minifigures to builds but selling them separately is apparently a problem.

[@juniorbatman7125]

Sands is nuts

[@funkyrumble0455]

This video felt really high production, keep it up Legend🙏

[@PLC]

What a well thought out video. Glad to see people like you in this hobby still.

[@Whatman2367]

“I’m back from Ohio, I’m unemployed and brought six-packs!” -Best line of the year so far

[@MandRproductions]

I wrote it. He didn’t want to do it. 😂

[@joshuabrickman1641]

Nice skit vibes loving the different comparisons n something... a bit more...

[@ephraimloeser9929]

Ryan bringing science to Lego. This video was fun 😂

[@Shagbert]

I would think the best bet is to combine two of these methods; find a retail location selling the 6 packs and then weight them. Find two with measurably different weights and you have your two distinct sets of 6.

[@extraneus1630]

Just going to put this out there if people actually want to figure out what is in the boxes there is an app called brick search and it scans the thing next to the barcode at the bottom and it will tell you what is inside, it works for all random mini sets

[@terririnella4032]

i loved the "feel the bag method", I had no shame, i'd do it infront of people, i wasn't even after any particular figure, i was just feeling for the figure with the most parts or any unique pieces....eg a bike, a huge headpiece, etc....of course, even a few years ago, the older bags that had Harry Potter, Ninjago, or Marvel characters was like $3.99 Canadian (they were the older sets, on a secondary retail in store location), now i still find Harry Potter bags for like $6.99 or $7.99....and these are like Harry Potter and Grinderwald figures from like the last movies, ....the current ones are as bad or worst....not worth it anymore it should be noted, i am not a collector, i like the figures from whatever set and i like to mix and match between sets, but as someone who knows what "collection fever, got-to-get-them-all" feels like, i would never try to get a complete set, i'd go broke real fast that way

[@gamejitzu]

With bags I would get extras in case my guess was wrong. And if so, all the figures would most likely be unique. So even guessing wrong was kind of fun, I was at least interacting with the package somehow. Meanwhile I haven't even seen a single new box at any store I went to. The retailers know people will just rip them, so why bother

[@xx1norm1xx]

I think the way lego deals with the QR scan of series 25 will be very telling. They obviously have to try to switch to recyclable packaging for political/tax reasons but i feel like the qr code thing is the perfect compromise, kids can have their fun random figure and adults can get their full sets without gambling.

[@WoahThisIsSCrazy]

How is your content getting so high quality??? Fr this is insane

[@jayleeb377]

For the endoscope method there is a better option. They sell ear canal cameras online that are much slimmer and shorter so they would fit in the side of the box better and you won't have to carry around a 10 foot long endoscope camera.

[@BosBrickzYT]

In some stores they have scales for weighing loose fruit and veg so you could use them, and you wouldn't need to bring a set of scales

[@SandsGC]

That's A Really Good Idea

[@raburner3717]

9:43 WOAH DUDE LOL

[@ReeseHosgood]

For method 12 all you need is an ear canal camera.

[@JoshButtSr]

Highly entertaining! I loved this episode and can recommend it to everyone!

[@MultiGasmGeek]

Bravo! fantastic video and all these methods have been tried by all collectors big and small. Now I can only hope that LEGO see's it and changes packaging back to bags.

[@charchar2267]

7:47 think he wanted a different kind of six pack 🍻

[@velcroboy]

I bought a small scale off Amazon that fits in my pocket & measures to 0.1g. This worked perfectly to find the figs. If you find the weights online & use this method you’ll likely avoid any duplicates as long as they all have a slightly different weight.

[@velcroboy]

Btw, tried the code method and it was useless. Those codes are about manufacturing dates like lot numbers, nothing to do with specific contents.

[@DoughnutDragon]

They may kick you out of the store for using scales.

[@velcroboy]

Used the scale in the 3 local Lego stores and they had no issues with it. The staff were actually intrigued to see if it worked.

[@DoughnutDragon]

@@velcroboy In offical lego stores i could see that working but there are no offical lego stores near here. (All a day trip, at least 6 hours on the road for a round trip and without a vehicle at the moment that's not really feasible.) ToysRus will remove people for it and no where else in the city has enough stock that they're not sold out day 1. They also will not let you return them as they're marked as collectibles which means final sale. One of the places that sold them apparently closed recently too. So it's only 2 places to buy them here and 1 is sold out and not getting more stock in. Walmart hasn't sold cmfs since series 10. So it must be all the people in america talking about being able to pick them up there. It's great that you were able to pick them up using that method but it's not feasible for everyone.

[@Bleedblxck]

I went to a few Walmarts and huge majority of the boxes were already torn open. In total I've picked up 5 boxes trying to feel and guess a Wolverine but haven't gotten one so I give up on the random boxes

[@AVeg-f2k]

It’ll be even harder to try these methods since, at least in my area, Walmart has put all their LEGO sets behind glass. If Target does that, I’m screwed. 😞 I’ve seen with series 25 that later CMF boxes have a type of QR code that can be scanned to determine the figure. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find loose series 25 to try out the method, but I hope it works!

[@ArcofZen]

It definitely works, 100% of the time. I use the Brick Fanatics app and it’s flawless.

[@ArtfulDodger94]

I have a pocket scale. Weighing the boxes has like a 90% success rate, as I use it to find Bat Lords, I currently have 14

[@stevenrhodes32]

FYI. That method of buying the bottom half of the case didn’t work for CMF 25. It’s like I got about 3 each of half the set (on the bottom section) but no Vampire Lord or Goatherd.

[@Nomadicgear-sd6tw]

No one has ever gotten that excited about She-Hulk

[@joshuasutherland6395]

I may or may not have opened marvel and Mario cmf boxes before

[@orb3190]

Don't know when you recorded this, but the codes do work on many of the Series 25 CMF packages. The codes on the Marvel Series 2 were different kinds of codes.

[@ZION-THELASTRONIN]

Lego Wants kids to gamble💀

[@TonyPepperoni9212]

That "bag it" caught me off guard

[@tomasfavetto5040]

The app brick search scans the little QR code on the bottom of the box. Not all of them have the same type of code the app can scan but when it does its a great method

[@mccleetoris7296]

The best way is to be a 3 man friend group and just buy a new sealed full box - that way you get 3 sets

[@prairiefarmer5994]

Hey Ryan for the future if they ever make Star Wars blind boxes, when you weigh the use grams. It's way more accurate and easier to tell the weight differences.

[@samcer1002]

I’m not going to lie. The only figure from the CMF I was interested in was Kate Bishop. I went to my local Walgreens and bought the only CMF Box in the store. It was Kate Bishop. I had no words.

[@octobotimus]

Not only do we have video game companies trying to encourage kids to gamble, we now have lego encouraging gambling. 😂

[@Syobnaf]

I think I heard with some printings of the series 25 set there’s larger QR codes that you can actually use to tell which figure it is, but I haven’t independently confirmed this. Please LEGO bring back the bags, or clearly say what each one is, or at least sell sets of 12…

[@landengriffin1853]

This is one of my favorite videos Ryan I laughed so much, thank you

[@NickGardner06]

This reminds me of when you did the LEGO designer video with Sands. Love these types of videos. 👍👌

[@Chimma]

Lego really turning as all into gambling adicts

[@DavoDestroyer]

Do Target make you put things in a plastic bag when you purchase them even if it’s a tiny cardboard box that you could easily carry?

[@taksowkarz.]

I'm glad that now there are QR codes so you can know what figure is inside

[@nathanieltheanimal3694]

I find Ryan’s lack of Marvel character knowledge disturbing

[@Bible_enthusiast]

Love the vids😊❤

[@noturbusiness9736]

Got two of these for Christmas, first one was Agatha & second was Wolverine so I was happy

[@knaussenheimer]

i got a 6-pack from the lego shop and one from amazon and got all twelve first try with no dupes 😌

[@AndrewGarfield_]

I am not allowed within 10 feet of a lego after trying any of these great tricks

[@Yams7780]

Loved this video! I saw another video where they were trying the scale method. Congrats on getting the complete set.

[@ThatWeirdLegoBuilder]

Me and two friends just bought a whole box for 110 and now we each own a complete series!

[@Nic9458]

Have you seen the new CAC fives helmet? It is perfectly accurate, unlike legos….

[@fchelmet]

There's a key at the store I went to, but the boxes are pretty much packed the same. Meaning each figure is pretty much in the same spot most of the time. I have allow them only had a few duplicates with that method

[@cieloazul1205]

I was not expecting this to be the next video

[@BrickHive]

That was a hell of an adventure in gambling.

[@2Horrible]

Sands stealing Lego is classic.

[@tompatchak8706]

I was lucky enough to stumble across a new case at Kolhs. With in 2 trips of grabbing 7 each we got the whole set of Marvel 2. For the new series we did the blind method, cuz that’s the fun part. I did try use my key to open it a bit, just to see. I did end up buying those boxes anyways.

[@ClanLykos005]

6:36 The trick only works for the bigger bar codes

[@Zemincidy]

5:48 I saw Mandr turn into a spray bottle lmaooo

[@LeePrice-r9u]

It's definitely gambling now.

[@GeraldinePetterson-zl9dh]

They made an app were you scan the code in the bottom of the box and it tells you what fig it is

[@DoughnutDragon]

Here I've heard of people getting kicked out of stores for using scales.

[@Fazedinosor]

There is a app on iphone (idk if its on android or samsung) where you can scan the qr code on the bottom to see the minifigure its called minifig scan

[@DUNDOM5]

Sands truly is LegoManiac

[@gaelcross]

I bought a small jewelry scale to balance the fluids for tiny resin castings, it holds in the pocket and has a 0.02g precision. Not very expensive on Amazon. Maybe i would go for this solution, but knowing how Lego complicated things with CMFs, i think i just won't buy them brand new anymore, it's over. I prefer spending some more cents and shipping costs and chosing the ones I want on Bricklink, even though i can't open a fresh bag/box myself anymore.

[@lorenzo2349]

Is this filmed before the release of minifigures series 25?

[@e-mix13]

there is a method that works every time: each minifigure has an id number and a number under the qr code if both are the same as another box then it's the same minifigure inside

[@joshslater2426]

I’ve been super frustrated with Lego for making it so hard to get what I want. I would really like the Ice Bro in the Mario CMF series.

[@celoblalock3324]

My method is to eat the box and spit out the figure. It is better to leave a figure lying around than an empty box.

[@noahaaron6451]

BLUE WOLVERINE? That one made me a little pissed off lmao

[@Deuce_and_a_half]

I love when Sands in is a vid. He’s so funny 😂

[@arthurlehman2163]

Did you try the or scan trick

[@ablindmanslife6850]

I could not stop laughing throughout this video, thank you. Good video.

[@sornreed]

I was curious if the weights differed for each minifig.

[@Bertenburny.]

Code method works, but theres diff codes for areas, i scanned a whole box, every code was 3x in the box, bought 1 of each

[@eliaslopez8626]

Ear Cleaners have a smaller camera so they can fit in even smaller holes, you should try that out.

[@gelatokey]

Did he really need a bag to get a box of Lego twice..

[@spencerboerboom4043]

I think the blind bag/ box thing they do with CMFs is dumb anyways. Just put the name or picture on each corresponding package and there you go. Just makes it easier to get the full collection. The only benefit to doing it blind, at least to me, is that Lego makes more money off of consumers that way

[@McFlyGuy05]

Bro got an entire plastic bag for one minifig… three times

[@rileytrey3]

Not Ryan calling Goliath “Iron Man” 🤦‍♂️

[@panpierniq]

He also called Mr. Knight Vision and Beast "Blue Wolverine" Yeah

[@xMcLite]

I bought 5 packs, I got 2 doubles and 1 unique. It reminds me of being into Pokémon cards except you can’t really do anything with duplicate figures if you don’t want them.

[@TheSmilerLover]

Yes

[@TheCheeseSnatcher]

I saw some minifugure packs at a local store and all the boxes had been opened 😂 They need to keep the well sealed bags not use easy to open boxes

[@lifesabrick5104]

What we've learned is Seminole is NOT half a nole.

[@80Bucks]

This was a funny one! xD These are the ideas we have to resort too without feeling the bags

[@AsianNinjaKaleb]

Road Work Ahead.. I sure hope it does.

[@williamharris8518]

Have you try to scan the bar code..

[@plebastian2300]

I think it's only gambling if you're spending money to get money in return, or something worth more than you're putting into it. The LEGO Minifig packs are worth what they're being sold for.