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No matter where you go, what you’re into, it’s nearly a guarantee that there’s a way to incorporate LEGO into it.
LEGO is the universal toy, for all ages, that’s been a hit success in sales for decades.
It’s the de facto toy for brands of all kinds.
LEGO sets and minifigures have been made of all the most influential popular media from movies to shows and comic books. In this article, we will dive into some of the most valuable and rare LEGO minifigures.
People build with LEGO, work with LEGO and promote with LEGO in fun, creative ways.
And, like any promotion, some of these events are not meant to be repeated. Once they’ve sold, they’re gone from shelves and new stock moves in to replace them.
The old classics get traded out for the new ones, or get relegated to online shelves instead.
You may only end up paying a few dollars for the LEGO everyone knows and loves, but how much would you be willing to pay for a rare LEGO minifigure only a few people can own?
The wild world of second-hand sellers have turned some particularly rare LEGO sets and pieces into short-term investment pieces.
Spurred on by the second-hand collective market boom of the early 2020s, LEGO pieces and minifigs are becoming more of a value driven commodity, especially from the older out of print sets. The more they are sought after, the higher their value grows.
Some incredible rare LEGO once released in limited quantity have become worth more than their weight in gold – and they’re already made of Gold!
These are the masterpieces for collectors and the driving cornerstones of a potential burgeoning plastic-fever market.
The future will always have more LEGO minifigures to look forward to, but the past has already produced some of the most iconic and rare LEGO minifigures that remain out of reach for many in the present.
Here are some of the most valuable and sought-after LEGO minifigures of all time.
You may have heard of a little film called The Lego Movie. It was a major box office success that spawned a sequel, a spin-off TV series, and was the starting point for many LEGO branded adventure shows then on.
One of the most popular LEGO inspired properties is the NINJAGO series of shows, lego sets, and even LEGOLAND rides.
It’s gone through several iterations, changed its style and even had its own short-release theatrical debut. And for that debut, they crafted some iconic props made to LEGO standards that fit within the world and the set design.
One of those props was a wooden model of one of the key characters, the wise and powerful Master Wu. The wooden figure was used in a scene of the movie, one of only four ever made as backups.
The LEGO Official Ninjago Movie Wooden Wu Movie Prop was never available for sale to the public, and its copies were stored with the rest of the props in a Hollywood facility – but one lucky man, the series director, claims ownership of one of these elusive figures, which has been valued at around $104,500. Chances are he’s not likely to let go of his rare LEGO Ninjago minifigure, though, and hopes are slim of collecting the remaining copies.
A LEGO worth more than its weight in gold – although, not pure gold. This LEGO R2-D2 minifigure is made of a material called White Gold, 18 karat, which reigns in the ratio at about 75% Gold, 25% nickel and zinc for durability.
At just about $40,000, this LEGO R2-D2 minifigure is among the most expensive pieces of Star Wars merch you can get, by weight. What makes it especially rare is the method in which it was distributed. That being, to one and only one person. What do you think of this valuable LEGO minifigure?
It was made as the first prize for a raffle contest of sorts, one exclusive to holders of the Mastercard Black VIP card which itself was tied to the release of a special Millenium Falcon cardholder frame.
Everyone who signed up for the card and purchased the frame was entered into the contest with the chance of winning the 1 of 1 rare figure, with other prizes being signed and marked cards and other such prizes.
A winner was found, and the prize is currently owned by them, sealed in original packaging with a certificate of authenticity.
**As a bonus, the winner even got a custom LEGO designed after himself – just as rare, but made of plastic instead of imitation Platinum.
Far less pricey than the once-in-a-lifetime prizes and movie props is the LEGO Mr. Gold Minifigure that was sold in regular boxes. This LEGO minifigure was once available to purchase by anyone, anywhere.
However, only 5,000 of the LEGO Mr. Gold Minifigures were ever made and included in their respective sets.
The Series 10 Mr. Gold is a figure with a shiny gold polish (not real gold), with a top hat and monocle. A rich man who has made it rich by being famously rare.
When it was released in 2013 with the rest of the set, it only sold at retail for about $2.99. But, due to the limited release and low overall volume of the set, they cleared the Series 10 lineup from the shelves and moved new merchandise in its place. Since then, with the boom of the second hand collector’s market, Mr. Gold has become a golden find worth up to $6,000 for unsealed releases. He’s truly the rich man’s minifig. This is one of our favorite rare LEGO minifigures
This LEGO George Lucas minifigure is a bit of an odd-ball of Star Wars collectibles. A minifig modeled after Star Wars visionary director George Lucas, featuring his iconic plaid shirt and swooping hairdo.
The LEGO George Lucas minifigure a flesh-toned figure that comes with its own film slate prop that fits in its hands. However, being a prototype, though some were produced they were never put into official circulation.
This rare LEGO minifigure was made for a fan display at a Star Wars Weekend back in 2010, which also featured a release of a pink-colored R2-D2 that was named R2-KT by fans.
There were only 50 R2-KT figs made, which may have been sold or collected since then. But George’s figure remains a mystery. A few people since have put forward claims of owning them and showed them off. No official printing number was ever released, meaning the ones seen on the internet may be the only ones.
Strangely, however, the Lego Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary book did have pictures of the George Lucas minifig, not listed as a collectible but as part of images showing off other listed collectibles found in the book. It’s possible it was made just for that purpose and then reused at a convention space.
The few owners that still have these rare LEGO minifigures are sitting on about $2,500 worth of memorabilia.
C3PO is one of the most memorable characters in the Star Wars universe.
A humanoid droid built by Anakin Skywalker, C3PO has been a loyal companion to Luke and Leia for generations.
He is known for his polite mannerisms and tendency to worry about danger – something that often gets him into trouble.
There’s a pattern with many of the more valuable LEGO collectibles. Most of them are one of a kind, and they were made as one of a kind for special giveaways.
These two were attached to a giveaway at the 2007 San Diego Comic Con, a convention and meeting space for fans of all things nerd culture.
One LEGO C-3PO was authentically cast in solid bronze, mimicking the classic look of everyone’s nerve-addled droid, and the other LEGO C-3PO was made of sterling silver – 92.5% silver by weight.
The winners of these contests are the only owners of these prestigious prize LEGO C-3PO minifigures, which were last listed in the range of $34,000 each.
Many other contests have been run by LEGO in the past offering up the rarest of rare one-time-printing figures, and a lot of them happened to be Star Wars related.
The first official Star Wars LEGO sets designed for collectibles came about around 1999 with the first officially licensed line, which came as part of the release of the Prequel films.
Since then, many similar prizes and contests have been offered at subsequent Comic Cons, turning each prize winner into a holder of a unique piece of LEGO history.
Star Wars isn’t the only property that gets collectible love from LEGO. In 2011, Marvel entered into an agreement with LEGO to license their brand through Merchandise.
Around the same time that the Cinematic Universe was really kicking off. It all lined up perfectly, and the celebration of the first Avengers film came the same year as their first partnered collectible release.
Only 125 of each rare LEGO minifigures were made and were given away at the Toy Fair event.
Since then, their price has gone up drastically. Later that very week they were selling online from lucky door-prize winners for around $400. Today, you can try to get one for about $1,900. They’re both in the same quantity, so their prices aren’t much different. These were seen as the first of many iterations on the famous characters, sort of prototypes for future figure adventures that worked out great.
Remember The Hobbit trilogy of movies? Many do, though their fondness is mixed. They were fun movies that most people agreed weren’t necessary.
But that didn’t stop people from enjoying them, and left the door open for plenty of fun.
Some of that fun was had in the 2012 San Diego Comic Con, where attendees were invited to participate in a scavenger hunt throughout the hall to collect all four pieces and assemble their very own Bilbo.
Since these rare LEGO minifigures were given out without boxes or packaging, their lack of minting has rendered them overall cheap for collectors at around $200.
The next year, celebrating another release of the ongoing movie series, was the movie-original villain Azog. It came in its own custom-made unique packaging and was given out at random to attendees that visited the Hobbit related booths in 2013’s Comic Con.
Though not as fun, their condition remained untainted, and they maintained a value closer to $700 for the uniqueness. Later on, both characters would return to other LEGO sets inspired by the movies, in a far less exclusive fashion. What do you think of these rare LEGO minifigures?
LEGO is so big it gets to hold its own conferences for everyone attached to selling their brands. Big box stores, hobby shops and brand-appointed ambassadors from all over get to attend this exclusive space and are given gifts to walk out with, unique limited print LEGO figures that have…not a lot in common. From 2015 is the Zombies figure, released concurrently with a then quite popular Zombies LEGO set. The next year in 2016 was Zack. Then, a Magician, and the 2018 Conference had a Camper.
These are strangely unique pieces, not related to any media other than LEGO itself, given out to those whose primary job is to promote and sell LEGO in their stores and through their own brands. And yet, some have come up for sale in the range of about $1,800 online. It’s mostly for the packaging. Each one is sealed in a branded package for the conference itself, making them most unique in box.
LEGO collaborates with just about anyone, any brand, any show, any personality and for any reason. But sometimes it has great reasons to collaborate with some way-out-there people.
Will.I.Am is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and producer who has achieved international fame as a member of The Black Eyed Peas.
He has released five solo albums and collaborated with some of the biggest names in music including Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez.
Prolific music artist Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas lent his image and his voice to LEGO to make a figure of him as part of a promotion to a LEGO sponsored event for LA’s BEST program, which goes to afterschool programs for kids. Hence, being part of the LEGO Education brand, which usually services younger children with a learning bend.
Only 400 of these rare will.i.am LEGO minifigures were made, and numbered by a display on the standing base that they come with. They even have a microphone attachment. Prices online circle around $1,600.
Another pop-culture icon, but with a darker twist.
The Black Suit Superman figure is one of many of DC’s ties with LEGO, a contract which began around the same time as Marvel’s, making LEGO the meeting point between the two competing comic book titans.
These LEGO Black Suit Superman minifigures depict Superman in one of his iconic looks taken straight from the pages of his darker timeline – and from 2013’s Man of Steel film, which became the basis for much of DC’s future movie line.
The figure was given away as a prize for a raffle held at the convention. 200 winners walked away with their own sealed Superman minifigs which have gone on to become a rarity, and possibly one of the most valuable DC figs of all time. They’ve reached around $1,400 from willing sellers.
You read this list right; these are 10 of the most rare LEGO figures on the planet. But there are three figures even rarer. The problem with them is, for collectors across the globe, they can’t be bought or sold. They can’t even be reached. Because they’re in space, on a probe orbiting Jupiter.
In 2011, LEGO and NASA collaborated under an educational front to create three minifigures that would be loaded into a space probe to orbit the gas giant beyond the asteroid belt.
These three figures depict the Roman Gods of Jupiter and Juno, as well as the famed astronomer Galileo Galilei.
Mad of space-grade aluminum, the printing and pressing process cost around $5,000. However, they are worth far more than that. The “shipping” involved in these three clickable figures totals up to about $2 BILLION.
These rare LEGO minifigures are a part of scientific history and members of our solar system now. LEGO has confirmed that duplicates were made – in case of a launch-related emergency – but their whereabouts are unknown. Possibly in the hands of NASA scientists or in a government lab. Frankly, it’d be easier to get the ones from Jupiter.
Assuming that value relates to quantity, the terrestrial duplicates are still worth half the total amount. That’s still $1.1 BILLION if they could ever be released. But these weren’t made for us. They were a LEGO gift to the stars.
LEGO continues to make impressive, collectible sets and pieces that can be enjoyed by all. Their past successes have only gone on to create successes of their own in escalating values driven by speculation and future collectors. Maybe the rat race of chasing after eBay auctions and convention prizes isn’t appealing to most of LEGO’s fans, but the feeling of owning one of only a few made figures is a price some find worth paying for.
Who knows what new out-of-print sets will be valued in the future? Or what new limited releases will scale up in value after they’re all gone? The real value in LEGO is in how much people like them. Whether that’s in owning LEGO, buying and selling, or just playing with them.
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay updated on our latest LEGO, Toy & Action Figure content. We also do giveaways sometimes :)