Minifigures (Theme), more commonly referred to as "Collectable Minifigures", is a series of sets introduced in August 2010. A new series is released every three to four months with sixteen new minifigures in each series.
Description[]
The minifigures theme was introduced in May 2010. The first glimpse of the theme was in the April LEGO Club Magazine, which included a poster of the minifigures. Each series contains sixteen minifigures drawn from a wide range of different settings: movies, sports, history, everyday life and almost any other source imaginable. They were intended to be collected and traded, and designed so that interesting new minifigures could be acquired without purchasing a whole new LEGO set.
A LEGO Club booklet about the minifigures.
Each minifigure features high detail with special, often purpose-made, accessories and a black display base. The theme features new accessories such as maracas, microphones, skirts, guitars, and other new elements such as hair styles, hats, and helmets. Series 1 and 2 included some spare accessories, but subsequent releases discontinued this practice.
The minifigures are sold in individual opaque polybags, meant to prevent buyers from identifying the contents. However, barcodes on the backs of the polybags of Series 1 and 2 can be used to identify the respective minifigure, and in response, Series 3, 4, and 5 use a "bump code" along the bottom of a package instead. These bump codes are designed to be much more difficult to distinguish. Each series is only available for a limited time before the next series is released and replaces its predeccesor.