When LEGO fans first saw the special set Minifigure Factory (5005356), made to commemorate 40 years of the LEGO minifigure, some might have wondered if “making” one’s own official minifigures as shown here was possible. LEGO answered that question when it began tests of an actual Minifigure Factory, a custom printing service in the vein of their earlier Mosaic Maker.
Over eight months have passed since the LEGO Minifigure Factory was first tested in Copenhagen, Denmark, the home nation of The LEGO Group. Following this intensive trail period, the Minifigure Factory will be made available for the first time in a commercial capacity, in London’s primary LEGO Store: Leicester Square.
As Promo Bricks tells us, the LEGO branded store at Leicester Square shall be the first in the world with a Minifigure Factory for making custom minifigs. This is another “first” honor for that particular retail location, which has seen set unveilings and other events in the past. They also got the first LEGO Mosaic Maker system in the world.
How does the commercial version of the LEGO Minifigure Factory work? First a customer of the Leicester Square LEGO Store must buy a £10.99 Minifigure Factory Pack. This pack is canned at the Factory machine, along with the customer’s name entry, to open a minifigure design interface. They get to choose figure parts to assemble then do a custom design on the torso (only the torso for now). Lastly, they select their custom minifig’s other accessories while it’s being printed.
All in all, the LEGO Minifigure Factory looks to be a popular service for the more discerning LEGO fans with extra cash to spend; after all, almost £11 for a single minifigure does sound steep even if the buyer got to customize and accessorize it. Time will tell when another Minifigure Factory unit is announced, and where in the world it might be located next.
It’s gone! The Minifigure Factory was only a three-day trial. I understand that over 600 individual figures were printed. Speaking to a manager on Friday 22 February, I was told that they did not know if it was coming back in store.