But be that as it may, Lego launched this new initiative under the radar and only through their online marketing. I likely would have never heard of it, had it not been for my fifth grade informant, a young man of exceptional intellectual curiosity and creative ingenuity that I will refer to as "Tobias".
When Tobias first breached to the topic with me, I think I fell several pegs in his esteem by virtue of my utterly incredulous reaction to such a thing. But he assured me that it was so and by the time I investigated it, I had completely missed the first series of 16. A complete set of which originally retailed for $47.84, and can now be had at the best price I found for $79.99!--the stock market should be so lucrative.
I did manage to purchase 5 people from the second series. This Lego "mime" was one of them--he came with 3 heads which each express a different emotion. I was testing the waters. One of the things about buying these models, you can't choose which one's you want. It's the old "sports card with bubble gum" thing (without the bubble gum)--You pays your dime and gets whatever your get. The fact that I got five unique people encouraged me to try again, but the second series had been discontinued in the interim. Scarcity breeds demand, creates desire, incentives value--like stamp collecting, but on a smaller scale.
For a company that was only recently tottering on the brink of bankruptcy, it's fortunes have completely reversed and this in a time of economic mayhem. Lehman Brothers nearly takes down the largest economy on the planet, and a relatively little Danish toy maker flourishes. New York Times, looking for an interesting business model story? But I digress.
Now I am obsessed with obtaining the entire third series.
So what makes these relatively simple models so compelling? Like all things lego that is not an easy question to answer. As I've contemplated it, I almost imagine that these are just a bunch of little yellow people who are attending a costume party together, right? And no single example supports this more than this guy in a gorilla costume! He is sweating, and there is even a zipper that runs down the back of the torso piece. The gorilla head fits neatly over his yellow one.
Here we have a hula dancer complete with a fabric grass skirt and hair piece that includes a pink flower like the ones on her lei. In her hands she holds a pair of maracas. Like the previous series, you cannot choose your people. Fresh from my unique first purchase I bought 16 of them. Most were unique, but not all. Out of 16, I received 9 unduplicated people.
Here is the winter sports snow boarder. She is a she, which is a little atypical in the all of the series as most of the characters are male. Her snowboard is decorated with snowflakes.
What makes these or any Lego product so seductive to us Maniacs? The answer is the novelty brick. All of the pieces can bereferred to as "bricks." And these little people are rife with novelty bricks!Check out this "rapper" for example. He holds a uniquely designed microphone in one hand and a uniquely designed boom box in the other. Even his hat is a more detailed version of the ubiquitous Lego baseball cap. Oh sure, he's a stereotype, but don't get PC on my ass, these little people are all YELLOW!
And the use of color is also covetous. For ever the Lego came in White, Red, Blue, Yellow and Black. Then there was Gray. Then there was Green and Brown, and then Dark Gray, Orange, Tan, Pink, Magenta, Slate Green, Teal, Light Blue, Midnight Blue, Kelly Green, Yellow-Green, Dark Green, Khaki, Cream, Caramel, Slate Blue, (a whole rainbow of transparent colors--some even neonish), and the shade of this fisherman's pants that I call Marigold! Marigold pants are a hot commodity!
To summarize this, it's a Grand Slam for Lego!
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